InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "I'll always be second to him."

ʙᴀʀᴛᴏɴ (cauterising) wrote in somerealityrpg,
@ 2019-08-14 19:25:00

Entry tags:

active: clint barton, active: wanda maximoff

WHO: Clint Barton & Wanda Maximoff
WHERE: Villa lobby, then onwards
WHEN: Wanda's arrival
WHAT: Giving Wanda the lay of the land; catch ups.
WARNINGS: Potential issues of loss&grief.

Clint wasn't lying about dropping in, taking the fire escape from the roof down to the ground, so he didn't want to just land and surprise Wanda -he tended to only do that when he knew what direction the threat might come in. Startling her in a new place out in the open probably wasn't the best idea.

He wasn't in tac gear, so there wasn't a need to go up and change and he stashed his bow and quiver on the roof safely anyway, so he shoved his hands in his jean pockets and crossed over to where Wanda exited the lobby, giving her a small smile, "You doin' okay?" Supposedly she'd made it to the end, so at least she'd gotten to see the outcome, got to hit the wind down and relax a little maybe. Even if it was all so heavy and hard to move through.

Sacrifices in battle were never easy, but Wanda knew that better than most.

"You hungry, or you wanna walk a bit?" It wasn't like Clint minded, he hadn't seen Wanda in five years, and it wasn't like he expected her to be that different, even through the odd communication that they'd had here before she'd gone back and then returned. No need to bring that up just now. But if there was anyone he didn't mind aimlessly wandering the city with, aside from Natasha, it was Wanda.

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controlmyown
2019-08-14 06:47 pm UTC (link)

It was almost too much to bear, even with the strict control she had developed over her powers in recent years, and emotionally? Wanda wasn't sure exactly how to handle all of this. What helped was the familiar faces, knowing that Clint was there, along with Natasha and Tony and Steve. Even better was the fact that at this moment, Clint was walking up to her. It seemed as though she'd just seen him - standing on the bank of the lake, discussing Natasha and the incredible loss between them - and despite knowing the spy was there she could still sense the heavy emotions practically radiating from the man who'd become a brother to her when her own had been lost.

The question was expected, but instead of an answer the Sokovian stepped forward and enveloped him in a tight hug, taking just a moment to use him to catch her bearings. If she had somehow appeared here alone, Wanda didn't know what would have happened.

"I am now," she said finally, drawing back a little to look up at him and return the smile just as faintly. "How about we walk and then get food?" Was her suggestion. Honestly, Wanda just wanted to spend time with him and make sure he was okay for now.

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cauterising
2019-08-14 07:15 pm UTC (link)

It wasn't terribly unexpected. He'd gotten tactile with Wanda pretty quickly; comforting hugs, supportive shoulder grips, encouraging nudges. She came full circle and lost so much that it was impossible not to try and be there for her, not when she stepped up every damn time she needed to, not when it'd be so easy for her to tell them all to go to hell. So when her arms went around him, there wasn't a pause before he returned it, giving her a tight squeeze just to reassure her that he was right there and she didn't need to shoulder anything on her own.

Clint certainly wasn't going to make her pull too far back, keeping an arm around her shoulders as he figured out a direction towards a little bistro a few blocks along that Wanda would probably like. "Works for me." It was a fairly decent day, so no worries about some random carnage.

"I've got about four blocks in the tank before I'll be desperate for a coffee," because of course he needed a refill, it had been over an hour since his last cup, "I'll bet we'll find somewhere by then."

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controlmyown
2019-08-14 07:27 pm UTC (link)

"And what number cup will that be for you today?" Wanda asked curiously as she loosened her grip on him so that they could begin walking down the street. She kept one arm around him casually, not only for her own comfort but for his as well. The nice thing about Clint was that she could be completely relaxed with him, while also feeling utterly safe. Of course, she was confident in her own abilities should some random threat arise, but having him with her was a boon, and one she didn't want to overlook.

It was strange to be suddenly in New York City - though it wasn't the same one she knew - and to have everything seem utterly normal in comparison to the last few days for her. From Glasgow to the Avengers facility to Wakanda and back again, and finally to Tony's cabin? She felt overstimulated to say the least, but it helped that one of her best friends was beside her.

"Is there anyplace in particular you recommend?"

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cauterising
2019-08-14 07:38 pm UTC (link)

It was still a shocker how alive the city was, even with the randomness of being there, nothing felt as bleak as it did after the snap. There wasn't that shocking silence around the place, the mellow and hollow feeling of there being less than what was once there. There was nothing all that haunting about this place, so it wasn't like he minded just picking the direction, keeping a loose arm around Wanda and heading that a-way.

"Um, five? Maybe six. But the third one was exceptionally milky because the barista insisted I milk up the coffee, like I'm a jittery child." Still, he probably did need to ease up of the amount of caffeine he was putting into his body, but at the moment it was probably all that kept him running. "There's a place Nat and I keep using for breakfast, they've got some pretty cool stuff." Not just breakfast dishes and pastries either. "They don't limit my coffee either."

Which frankly won them points.

"So have you hit information overload yet?"

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controlmyown
2019-08-14 08:51 pm UTC (link)

The lack of some of the buildings meant fewer cars and people, which gave it an odd sense of peace that was discordant to her memories of the city; still, what mattered was that they were safe.

For now, at least.

"If you're trying to avoid coffee limitations with me, you may be out of luck. I'm going to have to insist you switch to tea for at least one cup," Wanda told him. "But let's go there. I'm sure I'll like it too, since both of you do." She had no plans to be a pest about his caffeine intake, but it was obvious - to her at least - that he wasn't sleeping and that he was nearing his breaking point, and there was no way Wanda would let him hit it with her around.

"I'm drawing close, I think," she admitted with a shake of her head. "I'm not entirely sure I understand what you mean by alternate worlds, honestly."

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cauterising
2019-08-15 02:32 pm UTC (link)

Clint made a point in exaggerating his response, groaning and rolling his eyes as he smirked at her, "I'll maybe slip a tea in closer to six tonight, how's that?" It wasn't like the coffee really helped, in the long run, because he was still bone tired and he was still dealing with whatever was going on in his head at the time and frankly, he wasn't ready to deal with nightmares of Loki or whatever else his consciousness would throw at him. So he self medicated with coffee and ran on little to no sleep and just kept plugging on.

"Yeah, it's kind of a mind fuck and kind of not." Thankfully, there was the time to walk and talk about it, without having to deal with too much around. That was probably a benefit of this place having a smaller population density and lacking the bustle of actual New York. "Kinda like, a what if thing? What if we didn't beat Ultron? Kinda what James, that's Nat and Steve's kid from alternate world, that's what his world is like." It was still a bit weird to Clint, the whole Nat and Steve thing, but whatever.

"Stark said Strange told him there were 14 million versions of our fight with Thanos, so that's 14 million versions of our timeline that we didn't live." Or one they did and whatever they did to change it, who knew. "Ripple effect I guess." It wasn't like Clint could explain it with all the fancy terms and break downs like all the smarty pants could, but he was starting to get a grasp on it all.

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controlmyown
2019-08-19 03:37 pm UTC (link)

"That's better than nothing," she said with a shake of her head, but she smiled at him anyway. At least he was there, and she wasn't alone.

Wanda couldn't help but agree with what he said next. "That is a good way to describe it, and...if we hadn't defeated Ultron, I can't begin to conceive what might happen. He wanted to destroy all of humanity. That was his goal." It was what had driven her and Pietro away from him and to the side of the Avengers, ultimately - seeing his true plans in his mind, in the body he'd created for himself, which had eventually become Vision.

"That makes a little more sense, but it's hard to believe there are so many outcomes." So many different ways that could have gone. Letting out a quiet sigh, she looked up at him. "Well, at least we're here, yes?"

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cauterising
2019-08-19 04:49 pm UTC (link)

Better than nothing was basically what he was going for right there, and he was definitely going for broke with it.

"I think that's kinda what happened, ish." It was more likely that Tony and Steve knew more about James' world than Clint did. Clint just knew the kid came from a fucked up place where the parents all died and Ultron was still fucking around trying to murder everyone. So, business as usual for the murder-bot son. But trying to condense what was basically the theory of literally everything into something sound and easy to swallow, probably wasn't going to happen.

And that was okay. It wasn't like they needed to understand it anyway.

"It's a bit much for my head to wrap around," he nudged Wanda around the corner, onto the stretch of street that'd lead to the little bistro he was talking about after a few more blocks, "So I'm leaving it to the brainy people." That was what Clint did, he was just there to point and shoot (or stab) anyway. "It doesn't suck, at least," most of the time, "so there is that." He threw Wanda a tight smile, because there was little else to add to that particular point without getting in to nightmare creatures and leprechauns.

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