14380/Chillin' at Clint's

Chillin' at Clint's
Date of Scene:	12 May 2022
Location:	Apartment 3A, Marcy House
Synopsis:	Home made chili, donuts, and a chat at Clint's.
Cast of Characters:	Hawkeye (Barton), Phantasm (Drago), Quake

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Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Aside from the old disparate furniture, what will strike the visitors is the smell. Oh no, not the smell of the full trashbin because it has been taken care of. It's not any unpleasant smell, because despite the fact that there is no maid here, the place has been reasonably dusted and cleaned. Bachelor style, so please don't look under the carpet. And remember that windows are part of the building, ergo are not included in the regular cleaning.

No, the smell welcoming the visitors is one of chili con carne. A lot of carne, actually. The door has been left unlocked for those coming to enter at their leisure, while Clint is busy in the kitchen corner, keeping an eye on a large pot steaming on the stove. Yes, before you ask, the stove works. At least, it does now. Might be different next week.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
It's a good thing Nick's not a vegetarian. Having gotten an invitation to come over to Clint's. Nick accepted. Partially fueled by curiousity and partially because he didn't want to cook tonight. So it is a win win for the musician.

While he may be avoiding cooking tonight, Nick does not show up empty handed. He comes through the unlocked door carrying a six pack- of bottled black cherry soda. He's learning! A brief glance is given around the main area of the apartment before the Clint comes into the field of view. "Hey, thanks for the invite."

Quake has posed:
For once Skyee isn't the host! Lots of times she came to Clint's and they enjoyed supper, but this time Clint's was inviting more people! Okay, one more person: Nick. But she was counting it! A whole supper, without cleaning up the dishes!? Count Skye in!

(Ok, the rule was whatever got dirty, everyone chipped in to clean up. It was the principle that counted.)

Skye didn't bother knocking. "Oh god, it smells wonderful! I brought a case of pop?" She knew that for a time Clint had given up alcohol. "Where do you want it?" Seeing that Nick was here, she nodded, and laughed when she saw that he too had brought pop!

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Steering the chili before lowering the heat under the pot, Clint looks up at those that just arrived. Perfect timing. The chili is ready - well, it is cooked. It would taste better the next day, but hey, you do what you can. There was no time for him to cook it earlier as he was helping clean the alley with the neighbours earlier that day. A bit of communal endeavours always keep good relations with the neighbours - as long as they are not of the Russian mafia kind.

"Come in," he greets, "Nice to see you, Skye and Nick," he says, smiling. Yup, he's relaxed. He grins at Skye, adding to her comment, "Yup, makes for a change from glue and oil, hey?"

With that, he turns on his heels and opens the fridge door. "You can put the cans here," he directs, "Oh, and grab the grated cheese and sour cream in there?" Yes, the fridge is also working. Amazing, isn't it?

The coffee table has been freed of all fletching jigs and other items not related to eating.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Skye's laugh is greeted with a grin upon Nick's face. Well, they won't run out tonight, that is for certain. To the mention of glue and oil, Nick glances to the rest of the apartment. Seeing the 'clean' stack of what was once upon the coffee table, the blanks are sufficiently filled.

With the invite extended to put stuff in the fridge, he holds back to allow the one who brought the larger amount of soda first dibs on the fridge.

"So is most of your free time spent on making arrows?" Nick asks Clint curiously.

Quake has posed:
"Holey cow! So in order to clean up, I just have to bring Nick over?" Skye is kidding, of course. Mind you, her flat surfaces had computer stuff. Neat, but computer stuff. Well, cat toys. Lots and lots of cat toys.. Okay, a few archery bits as well. And those weren't specifically Clint's. Some were hers.

A quick kiss for Clint. And getting out the bowls, seeing as Nick got the sour cream and cheddar cheese. "Normally there's just a wee little space between the archery bits and the pizza." Not that she minds. She used to have a suite with nothing in it for the bulk of the earlier bits of the relationship. She had nothing to complain about. Clint had never said boo.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Nick's glance around isn't lost to the archer, which he shrugs off. "Don't mind the place," he says, "The maid eloped with the butler." Yeah right. This is no plush millionaire condo. Nope. You would never catch Clint Barton living in such a place.

As Skye places the pop in the fridge, Clint places a large hand on the small of her back, returning the kiss. "Thanks for the pop. And no, this was the biannual cleaning and I thought you guys should see the place at its best," he says, chuckling. "I got a couple cold ones in there somewhere, if you guys want one." Hopefully, there isn't an expiration date on beers. Or maybe there is.

As he starts to fill the bowls Skye got on the pantry with the very smelly - and spicy - chili, the archer grins at Nick's question. "Free time? What's that?" he replies, joking, "Training, helping the neighbours," he says, which includes actual neighbours and anyone on this planet the Avengers might be called to help, "A bit more training. Making arrows when I have time, or need to relax." And the relaxation doesn't come from the glue fumes, he's been used to them for so long anyway.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
"Not minding." Nick assures with the clink of the bottles he brought set into the fridge. Hearing the commentary about pizza inbetween Archery bits, Nick glances back to the other two. "You guys certainly like your pizza." He turns, setting the sour cream and cheese on the counter, shaking his head. "Even the studio switches it up a little when it comes to work luches and dinners."

The fridge door paps shut before Nick mutters a mild curse, opening the fridge to pull OUT a drink. "So you like to keep a busy schedule then." He checks the cap on the bottle and upon confirming it was a twist off, sets his palm down on the top. "...Can't blame that."

Quake has posed:
Skye grins. "The biannual cleaning? Who are you, and where did you put Clint?"

"It looks really good, Clint." Thanking him for the bowl of chilli, she throws on copious amount of cheddar, and a tiny bit of sour cream - just to be polite. Hey, it wasn't a vegetable! Sitting down she shrugs. "Is there any other way? And, hey, pizza we could agree upon!"

Until they had discovered the Chinese restaurant that treated Skye like family. She didn't mind eating her vegetables from there!

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Clint laughs good heartily at Skye's comment about his cleaning habits, "I guess you can say it's a hidden power of mine?" Grinning, he quickly adds, "But it only applies to /here/." Just in case she got the idea that he would clean her brownstone house!

He also helps himself with a good portion of chili, adding cheese and lots of sour cream. It's a relaxed setting here - except when uninvited guests drop by, armed to the teeth set on killing him - so it's everyone for themselves.

"Yup, gotta keep busy and stay sharp, Nick," the archer replies, as he heads for the /living room/ part of the room, which is where is the sofa and coffee table. Grabbing an old wooden chair, he sits down, leaving the two to be comfortable on the sofa - which might be older than any of them.

"What do /you/ do of your free time, aside from dodging hired men?" Pause. "Daydreaming?" Ah!

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Nick takes a sip of his drink and sets it back on the counter before he grabs a bowl to prep his own serving. To the mention of the hired man, he pauses, looking over to Clint. "I don't think the guy from yesterday really counts. I've encountered paparazzi that could blend in better than that."

He goes back to serving himself up some chili. "Well, when I'm not booked for anything and I'm not practicing or song-writing or being asked to do a favor." He pauses, "Reading. Sketching. Volunteer work. Climbing. Church." Another word starts to form on his lips but he doesn't give it sound as he thinks better of it. He moves the bowl over towards the toppings, adding his share to the bowl before he collects the bowl and drink to go find his own perch to sit upon. "It can vary but those are the basic ones."

Quake has posed:
"Trust us, the best housewarming gift was from Tony! The cleaners. After the year was up, we crunched the numbers and made it fit to continue." Skye does not talk about the fact that Clint had moved out during his 'walkabout' figuring out who and what he was, and where did his father fit in.

She listens to the men talking."Me? I surf the web all day." For her job, and for her pleasure. "So did anyone hear anything about my mother since our little lunch?"

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
The archer can read on lips - born half deaf, then hearing sense screwed a bit more over the years, fixed and rescrewed, being able to lipread has often been useful. The archer caught the word Nick was about to pronounce, guessed which word it was. But since the rock star decided against uttering the word, Clint lets it drop.

"Quite a variety, Nick. I wonder when you have time to do anything else," he states between spoonfuls. Then he grins at Skye as she mentions surfing the web, "Skye, you work in your free time. Your work is your passtime."

As she directs the conversation on her mother, Clint frowns, stopped eating for a moment. "That bitch," he says, "No news, is it good news?" Pause. "Did you? I mean, get any news from her?"

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
"That's the point." Nick replies, giving a bit of a chuckle, "Also why I have managers to help with things. Well... manager." The smile fades, "Won't be surprised if ARA drops me."

Hearing Skye's question, Nick looks over to Skye as he sets his bowl and drink down. "Well, based from what I overheard, I got the general feeling that we're not her favorite people." He uses one of his newly freed hands to indicate towards himself and Clint when he reaches the 'We're' part. He pauses, "...Although it turns out we didn't get charged for the hotel room at least. She probably thought you were paying for it somehow."

Quake has posed:
Skye shakes her head. "It's like she disappeared into thin air. I'd be better off looking for IcedLotus and taking her out to lunch." And they all knew how hard IcedLotus was to find. "Even the rooms were ordered under an assumed name that translates back to Daisy. Cul julua. Only it read like a name." Ha! Cui Julua. Those people at the hotel weren't very smart.

Cui julua. The aster family. Which daisy were a part of.

"No. You aren't. Especially Clint. Then again no one without powers.." A particular kind of powers. Inhuman powers. "Seems to be good enough."

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
And there's a point that keeps nagging at the back of the archer's mind, and might be one of the reasons he invited Skye and Nick here. The cats.

Not the cats per se, but rather how one of them was used and so close to Skye's house. Actually, inside the house.

Cui julua. Right, he'll make sure to wear a shirt with daisy imprints for the next family dinner. "It's good that she paid for the room," he agrees, "I don't care if she hates me, cuz frankly, I feel the same about her. But I'm still worried about how she gained access to our house," he says, for some reason not calling it Skye's house, "How she, of any of her agents, gained access to the cats, to us." Pause. "And if it's still the case." Right, because they don't just watch TV there.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Nick gives a curious glance, "Iced...who?"

He looks over to the pair as Clint wonders aloud how the woman got access to Skye's home. He looks back to Clint's door. "...Do you guys know how door locks work?"

Of course they do.

But...they're not very good at practicing it.

Quake has posed:
Skye frowned. She has a pretty good idea why Clint doesn't want to be at their house to talk about her mother. Hell, the entire team worked at her house because it wasn't to talk about Karl the SHIELD. Same difference only now it wasn't safe at home.

"IcedLotus. She's probably one of the people who are better than me." And was saying a lot. "The thing is, Nick, she used teleportation. Keeping my house where it is, makes a lot more sense than moving it. We know she has access there. With her using it means that when I want to really talk in private, we can use Clint's, and talk about her."

Of course to make it work they would have to 'talk' in her house too. Just not sensitive stuff.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
And the thing is, they don't just talk, in the brownstone house. At Nick's comment about locking the doors, the archer raises an eyebrow, looking at Nick.

"We lock the doors when we aren't at home," he states, "Don't you?"

That said, Clint stands and brings his empty bowl of chili to leave by the sink, coming back with a box of Krispy Kreme donuts and a soda and sits back down. The box of donutes is placed on the coffee table and opened, silently inviting anyone to help themselves.

"We'll have motion detectors put in place," he says, "Any foreign DNA will be automatically detected." Then collected and compared to SHIELD's large database.

After a moment, he adds to what Skye just said about her arch-enemy. "IceLotus is a high level cyber hacker. Wreaks havoc in some circles. We've been on her track for years, always a step ahead of us. But she's not a top priority." It would still be nice to catch her someday!

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
"I'm just saying. The first time I came over, the front of the home was unlocked while you were in the backyard chasing a cat. And just because there's people that don't need doors to get into a place doesn't mean you need to make it easier for those who do need them."

Nick grows quiet, focusing on his serving of chili.

Quake has posed:
Skye sighs.

"The reason we leave the door open is so our friends feel at home. Whether we know them or not." She shakes her head. "It's not about how easy it is to them to break in - hell, all our enemies can break anything we put in front of them."

"Don't you get it?"

She put her bowl down. "When Bucky came back he didn't trust anyone. We told him he was a friend, to come on over. When he didn't have to knock, just come on in, like family, we were the first people who trusted him. It's important."

"If we don't want company we lock the doors. Otherwise, it's open, day or night to our friends. Our families."

Considering that Skye and Clint grew up as orphans, it really matters to her. Clint too.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Clint nods at Skye, agreeing with her. Opening the soda, he gulps down some of it. "Skye has a point, most of our enemies would laugh at a locked door." Pause. "Anyway, we had no problem before, we'll make sure it remains that way." Because, frankly, there isn't much more that can be done against a teleporter and Skye's mom.

Thinking about Jiaying, this reminds the archer of one point that is still bothering him.

"Skye, your mom mentioned something in the line of you succeeding her, didn't she? Did you hear the same, Nick? That's a nice job offer, you're tempted, Skye?" He grins at that, quite sure that his girlfriend has no intention of doing so.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Of course Nick has his mouth full when the others talk. It's the best time to eat. But it does lead to him having to respond to points being made with a head tilt. At least until he swallows.

"I get what you're saying but I think the very act of you getting off your ass to let someone in speaks of trust as well." Nick comments. Yep. He's still going to lock at least one of the locks.

Nick scoops a bit more of the chili, looking to it as Clint mentions the succession discussion. "Nepotism sucks." He comments before consuming another spoonful.

Quake has posed:
And that is the other point. If someone wanted to, they already could break in. Other than Magneto prison, which was built for him and him alone, nowhere was really safe. And Magento was broken out - so there goes that theory.

Jaiying did mention her succeeding her. And while Skye really didn't want her mother's reign, a small part of her did. Couldn't she imagine what good she could do? Instead of building a wall up between Inhumans, she imagined tearing it down. Like she had done in SHIELD.

(Or tried to.)

"Well.. nooo.."

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Clint nods, "Nepotism? I'd vote for psychopathy instead, but hey, I'm not specialist."

And he waits for them to finish eating before indulging in the donuts.

"You don't sound quite convinced, Skye, that you don't want the job. I'm not clear on what she does, aside from annoying you. But something tells me it wouldn't be in the kosher range of activities.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Clint is awarded with another head tilt from the musician as he continues working on the chili. At the moment there are some perks to the conversation topics of choice as Nick gets to finish up his food pretty much uninterupted.

Quake has posed:
Skye picks up her bowl, and continues eating. "I don't want to be like her. It's just.. the people. I just can't help thinking there must be another way to be than what she's been telling them. That's all."

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
"Alright," Clint says, "If you change your mind, lemme know," he laughs at that as he's reaching for a donut. Either he was starving, or they are slow either - or the chili is too spicy, which is also a possibility - the archer isn't waiting for them to finish before grabbing a donut.

"In any case, I'll fix the basement and make it a second private HQ. I have a prospect for tenant, and he'll help keep the mafia behaving... hrm, or dead. He promised to /not/ leave any dead bodies on the premises."

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Nick arches a brow at Clint's mention of a tenant and the odd promise. He parts his lips for a moment before he closes it again. Instead he picks up the bottle to drink its contents.

He was going to ask if this tenant as a problem with leaving dead bodies where he stays but-

Well.

It's probably a good thing Bucky's not here to be giving him that look of his.

Quake has posed:
Skye doesn't even wonder. Given the sparse bit that he'd told, it was probably better not to dig. If Clint wanted her to know, he would tell her later.

"What about the two of you? Anything new?"

Smooth move. Deflection!

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
These are very good donuts indeed, and Clint takes the time to eat one before answering, "Nope, nothing new here."

He then stands, stretches, and goes to wash his hands at the kitchen sink. Checking the cracked glass in the window, the archer takes a mental note to replace it. At least, it's not a bullet hole.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Nick considers the events since the coop, lowering the bottle, "...Just the usual. Went to a bar one night. Went supply shopping the next. Tried impulse buying. Have a bit of buyers remorse." He lifts up the bottle again, "Want a bookbag? I have an extra. Probably could haul around a laptop and a couple accessories in it."

Quake has posed:
Finishing up her chilli, Skye takes her empty bowl out to the kitchen. "I won't go without warning you. 'kay?"

She knows him well enough to know when he is nervous he jokes. Alot.

Skye kisses his cheek. ~Skye/DarkSkye loves Hotshot/Clint~ "Come on, let's throw Nick out and.." What? She did say they locked the door for extracurricular 'sessions'!

He will have to tell about the extra bookbag another time..

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Hearing the conversation in the kitchen, Nick frowns. Unlike Clint, he has good hearing and it's become apparent his welcome is worn out.

Giving a sigh, he gets up and walks over to the kitchen. Wordlessly he sets the bowl down with the dirties. He looks to Clint, "I'll save you the trouble... Thanks for the food. Bye." He looks to Skye for a moment before he turns, heading out the door.