Cats are smart and crafty and probably can outsmart all humans put together.
Who: clint and Cameron what: Random encounter outside a pet store Where: outside a pet store When: Tuesday Rating: Pg for our kitty overlords status: complete!
Was it ridiculous that Clint didn't know all that much about what you actually did with dogs? Probably, he thought, as he shifted the bag of bribe items he'd picked up for when Laika came over with her trainer to see if they'd bond or not, but then again, it wasn't like he'd had the chance when he was a kid, and then the army had happened and he hadn't really given the working dogs much thought. You know, up until he was probably having one come to compensate for his worse ear, so he'd be learning pretty fast now. Eowyn had probably been right about dogs liking bribes though, so...couldn't hurt to be prepared, he'd thought, shifting the bag in his arms as he started making his way back down the street to where he'd parked.
Cameron had gone out for a walk, that had turned into a longer sort of trip than she'd planned. She wanted to explore, and two bus trips later she found herself in an unknown commercial neighborhood.
She was staring at a puppy in the window when Clint came out. She glanced at him and smiled awkwardly.
Clint paused to glance at the puppy too. "Oh cute." he commented, giving her a little smile back before tapping at the window a little. "Hi Puppy." he added, and what probably made this funnier was that he didn't try to use any sort of voices that people usually used with dogs. He figured they probably didn't appreciate that shit. Lucky guess but...
"Do you think anyone will take him home? I can't." She looked down at the puppy. She didn't understand why people used funny voices with dogs either. They generally weren't that stupid, and it made people look stupid instead.
"I wonder if he understands us. Or if he just understands that we give him food."
"You know, that's a really good question." Clint said to the second one. "Haven't actually been AROUND dogs much but I don't know, I get the impression they probably have a lot more going on than they show off. You know, guarding it and all." He'd probably reserve judgement if he were a dog. "Cute guy like that? I'm pretty sure somebody will."
"It would be a shame if he was lonely," Cameron knelt so she and the puppy were eye level. "I think he's a retriever."
She looked a little sad. She would absolutely love to bring the animal home. They moved around so much that wasn't really an option. Maybe if they stayed longer.
"Definitely. Poor thing." Clint had to agree. "I've got one coming home pretty soon or it'd be tempting. Not that I know what you really do with dogs but...pretty self explanatory, right?" You know, dress them up in scraps of your clothes, feed them stuff they weren't supposed to eat sometimes, just because, cart them around with you, argue with people about who they got to sleep with....Sort of like his unit's kitten, really, right? Though for the record, he had actually not been the one to give her a hat. He'd supported that one, but...
"Sarah would probably kill me if I brought a puppy home." She tried to ignore the great big eyes on the golden retriever pup as he begged her to take him home.
"Perhaps a cat, or a bird. That would be easier to care for."
She straightened, chewing her lip as she turned to face Clint, "What do you think?"
"Cats are great." Clint said, a little grin crossing his face there. "It's amazing what they squeeze themselves into, but they're smart and crafty and probably can outsmart all humans put together."
Cameron tilted her head, raising one eyebrow and asking rhetorically, "Can they?"
"Well, given the cats I've known, I'd think it's possible." Clint admitted. "Sure, they don't like to peform for humans or show it off but..." He eyedarted a little. "The last one I had was like that. We'd come back from wherever we'd been and she'd be wedged somewhere creative or have gotten into something humans had trouble with."
"It seems like she outsmarted you," Cameron replied, giving him a shy smile. She held out her hand, "I'm Cameron."
"Clint." Clint took the hand and shook. "She was always good at that." He snickered.
"Do you worry about how that makes you look?"
"Nah," Clint grinned. "The guys it was in front of, well. I'd already proven myself to them. And she did it to them too." he smirked. "Nothing like seeing a bunch of grown ass adults with action skills get taken down by something that weighs maybe two pounds."
The mental image made Cameron's smile grow a little wider. She wasn't one to display overt displays of emotion, though certain things could get her to. This was one of them.
Yeah, that had been the case with the big tough rangers and the kitten, actually. They weren't anyone who displayed emotions over stuff that wasn't generally important or extremely emotional either. Clint...kind of missed that sometimes.
She looked down at the puppy again, "How did you and a bunch of tough guys get a cat?"
"Afghanistan." Clint said, "Lots of strays running around and she was curled up in an engine when we started back. It was too damn cute to pass up taking her back with us. I think that was her cover now, but..."
"She probably just wanted to be warm. It's good you didn't kill her when you started the engine."
"Definitely." Clint agreed. "That would have been...so not good. I'm glad we heard. And she knew the right one to pick. If there's anybody that's going to be the type a kitten has wrapped around her paws, it's the big tough soldiers."
Cameron looked away from the puppy, "There's a kitten in this store, you should bring one home."
"Well, actually I've got a dog coming in pretty soon." Clint said. "Probably fairer to her if I wait a little bit and don't try the bonding thing all at once, but I've thought about getting another cat sometimes. Always talked myself out of it, which is dumb." And he wasn't even sure why. It wasn't like he didn't get occasional emails from the powers that be about the kitten who was now quite grown up, and still ruling the roost.
"That's too bad." She really was considering the puppy. Sarah would kill her. John wouldn't mind. Would he? She could ask.
"It kinda is." Clint nodded. "But hey, worth thinking about in the future and all." And hey, who knew? The insane friends who regularly invaded his house might actually appreciate having an animal like a cat around. And if not, maybe Eowyn... It was worth thinking about, right?
Cameron tucked some hair behind her ear, like she'd observed the more popular girls back when she was in high school doing around guys, "Are you busy later?"
"Sadly, I'm taken." Clint said, grinning. "But no, I'm not busy in terms of friend stuff."
"Oh." She flushed a bit, and clasped her hands behind her back, "I'm sorry."
"Hey, not a problem." Clint assured her. 'Just, you know. Wouldn't want to give you a wrong idea from the start is all."
"I appreciate that, thank you," Cameron replied, a little sheepishly. She felt like she hadn't completely embarrassed herself, for once.
Hey, nothing to be worried about there. Clint was the one who opened his mouth without thinking too many times.
"It was nice to meet you," She said, ducking her head.
"Hey, you too." Clint grinned. 'And don't worry about...if there was any awkward. Cause I do a lot worse on a daily basis."
"That's good. I mean, it's good that this wasn't too awkward."
"Oh it can be good the other way sometimes, actually." Clint snickered. "or at least funny."
"It was good to meet you." She glanced back at the puppy, and made her decision, "I need to meet this puppy." Then she walked inside.
"Hey, good luck." Clint said, both to her and to the puppy, giving him an approving nod, "Be extra cute and I think you'll play the right cards, man." he told it, with another little tap on the glass.