Owner	Pose
Clint Barton	It is still early in the day, and Gino's just opened less than an hour ago. Not many customers yet, but in the back, there's already one seated, alone, at one of the tables. The place is rather quiet at the moment. Clint seems focused on his Iphone for now, but a keen observer could see him watching the door, quite often, as if he was waiting for someone, or maybe it is just out of habit. The full glass of water in front of him on the table is left untouched.
Skye Johnson	It had been some time that Skye had eaten from the pizza joint in Clint's old neighborhood. Almost as long that she had ordered from them. Skye thought this was probably the best (or the worst) place they could meet. Drawing her shoulders back, she put a time grin on her face, ,AFTER all, Clint lived with her for a couple of years, but she's trying? and entered. Not that the grin should be hard to see what really was "Hey. I'm here?"
Clint Barton	Ah, he was right to keep an eye on the door. For days he's been hunting Gino's, waiting, and hoping that someday - never soon enough - Skye would drop by. He has it all planned in his head. What to say, what to do, how to go with it all... so many choices, and any choice he might have made, just went up in smoke as she finally appeared. As soon as he spots her, with that charming - oh, a bit forced and maybe sad - grin on her face, Clint can't help but jump to his feet, waving at her from the back of the joint. Well done, hero, you just froze on your feet just at the sight of her. "Skye!" he calls, "Over here!" There something strange in his voice, something that could be heard as a bit of desperation mixed with uncertaintinity.
Skye Johnson	There was that grin that she loved so well. And he was also sad. She shook her head. "One of us should be happy." But she understood. It was still so new. But then again, he brought her some flowers - admittedly, they were roses. Did he need so help? Or? "Can I sit here?" Like she really was going to stay standing! hah! while she waits, she sits.
Clint Barton	Now a large smile replaces the grin on Clint's face as Skye sits down. Yup, he seems happy. Maybe even more. He sits down, facing her, and for a moment, just looks at her, speecheless. "Hey Skye...", he finally comes with. Way to go! Say something that makes sense. "I... how are you? You look wonderful." Riiiiight, you drop her without any notice, and the first thing you ask her is how she is doing.
Skye Johnson	Skye made such an awful face. "What are you up to, huh? Spill." After all, flowers? Looking great? She peers over at Clint, and laughs.
Clint Barton	Oh, ok, so Skye didn't kill him! Good start. Everything can work out now. Well, with a little attention, of course. "Ok, right... I... somethin' happened," Clint finally starts to explain, now with a more serious look on his face.
Skye Johnson	Ah, see? She was right. Wait a minute! She was right! "What an ass. Treating me like all those girls!" For a moment she looks to be thinking about a smack to his head. "Okay, what do you want of me. I told you, I'm here for you whenever. Just because you dumped me, and Gino shouldn't have served you, ahem." And then she pauses. "You're alright, yes? Everything is okay? Talk with me!"
Clint Barton	Tell her? Tell her! But all comes at the right time, what Skye wants now is an explanation. "Yeah, I'm awright," he finally replies. "Look... on the last job, I.. hrm, well I met someone." Realizing the sound of what he just said, he right away raises his hand in a defensive gesture and adds, "No, no a girl, not a woman... I mean, listen. I met a man and we had a talk about things." He sighs, then adds, "Man, that's so complicated..."
Skye Johnson	Sigh. For just one moment.. and what? Get back together with him? Nothing had changed, really. He needed to find himself without her, and maybe they would find each other. Hell, she had things to think about herself. But it was nice to believe, if only for a little bit.. "Back to the beginning. You found this man, and?"
Clint Barton	The sigh doesn't escape Clint's attention. This is not going the way he kind of hoped for. Go for it, dang it! Hoping against all odds that Skye can make any sense of what he's about to say, he shakes his head, clearing his mind. "Look, Skye. OK, I needed some time, and it wasn't working. So I went on that assignemnt... the man, well, made me realize things about myself..." For a moment, he pauses, then adds, "Look... I could have gone anywhere in the world, but I came back here. For you."
Skye Johnson	Skye sat for a moment, quietly. "So, okay. Now what? I'm not a normal girl. A lot of these things go over my head. It's better.. remember how hard it was to admit how deeply we cared about each other?" There is a betting pool that they wouldn't last - not because they didn't care, but they we both stupid about relationships. "Okay. You came back for me." Stupid man. "I was glad."
Clint Barton	Ah, good ol' Skye, always to the point. "And I still care... even more," he replies. "So, right, I was thinkin'... what about we give it another try?" Clint looks at her intently, trying to detect her reaction to his words. Oh, he's not begging - he never knew what begging is - but he sounds hopeful.
Skye Johnson	"I mean, I don't expect you to go back to what we had.." Skye stops up short. Did she just hear what she thought she heard? "Pardon?" That seems the most easy was to see if she had heard what she *thought* he said. "I thought you said someone about we could give it another go?" She pretty much, in her head, thought he was joking. Wasn't he?
Clint Barton	The grin on Clint's face is an indication that he's quite happy with her reaction. He positively looks like a teenager in love and, right now, that's really how he feels. He laughs lightly. "You heard me right," he says, "I wish we could go back to what we had. Something like, learn from the past, and make it better this time?" He pauses, realizing that he might be pushing her a little bit here and adds, "If you want to think about it, I'll get it. I mean... yeah, back from wherever, out of the blue, and here I'm like courting you. Crazy hey? Yeah... but I mean it. Skye. I mean it."
Skye Johnson	"Yes, and mean.. yes, but.." Skye is a little bit lost. "Okay? Good lord, I don't think we did that the first time. We just stumbled and fell into a relationship." Laughter erupts from her side of a table. "We really did fall into the relationship." And then she stops, looking very serious. "I'm sorry. I didn't know to be a girlfriend. Everything was me. I know you loved me, and we really did not have a time where we could slow things down. What with the undercover operations, and my father, etc. No wonder you felt something was missing. I'm sorry. Before I say yes, my mother is still out there. I want you to have all of the picture."
Clint Barton	"Your... mother?" Clint replies, visibly more concerned now. Glancing around, instinctively, he frowns. At least, at his place, he would feel more at ease to talk about that. "We'd better grab a couple slices of pizza, and go talk at my place, wha d'you say?" He actually decided so, because he's already pushing his chair back.
Skye Johnson	"Sure. Regular beer, or the usual frou-frou." After all, they hadn't decided yet, and if they did, perhaps they would have new things to define them. "Double cheese, extra pepperoni." Because some things you do not improve upon!
Clint Barton	With a nod, Clint walks to the counter by the warmer, and orders what they want, including a can of beer and a bottle of water. With the not-so-healthy meal in hands, he joins Skye at the door and they then proceed to his appartment, a few doors away. As they enter what Clint uses to call his / hole/, he walks to the coffee table and places the meal there. "S'cuse the dust, I had stuff to do..." he kind of explains, grinning. The appartment is the same, plus an additional layer of dust. The only main difference can be seen on the wall facing the couch: an old crushed rusty beer can, pinned up on the wall with an arrow.
Skye Johnson	"About the same. Only the other times I've come I didn't know how to shoot an arrow." Skye grins, and plunks herself down. She really is not afraid of dust. Hell she lived in her van. This was pretty decent in comparison. "Soooo? Shoot."
Clint Barton	Clint sits besides Skye, and reaches for the pizza, first offering her one slice, then getting one for himself. Plates be darned, this ain't the Mansion, and hey, he's not so sure he actually have any plate in here. He opens the can of beer - some half-diluted local beer - hands it to Skye, then grabs the bottle of water, opens it, and takes a long gulp. Glancing at Skye, he asks her: "What's up with your mom? Got some intel on her?"
Skye Johnson	"Ohhh, fancy!" Skye laughs as she takes her beer. "You know, those frou-frou beer were really gross, but every time they reminded me of you. After a while, it just became ours. Don't make this our new beer." She shudders. As for her mother.. "I got an idea where to go next. I've just been nervous."
Clint Barton	He's not explaining it now, time will come for it to be said. For now, he's only replying with a cryptic few words. "No more alcohol for me." That said, he takes a bite of the cooling pizza, seemingly lost in his thoughts for a moment. This doesn't last long, and he comes back to the present time. "Y'know, you don't /have/ to meet her," he says. "Sometimes, things are best left in the past." Realizing that what he just said might be misunderstood, he hurredly adds, "But I'll be there if you want to."
Skye Johnson	"I guess the closer I get to finding her, the more I stick in my heels and refuse." Skye thinks long and hard about that. "I want to, but something tells me she's playing along for her own reasons why, not for mine. You know?" A grin breaks out over her face. "You don't have to, you know." A pause. "But I really would like you. Anyways, I'm still thinking about it. I have a few person who I can count on, not SHEILD. We'll see?"
Clint Barton	Done eating, barely finishing one slice of pizza, Clint leans back on the sofa, gently pushing the pizza box over the coffee table so he can rest his feet upon it. He listens to each of her words, already starting to plan their next step. "Bobbi was up for back-up," he recalls. "But ye're right... I just wanna make sure that you really want it. There's no rush, is there? You can think about it." He pauses, still planning anyway. "Who are these persons you're talkin' about?" he then asks, not one to trust easily and wanting to make sure they don't turn out to create more problems. Maybe run some checks on them if necessary.
Skye Johnson	"And Natasha." Probably more than that. Everyone was behind her, surprisingly. "My friends?" Skye thought for a moment, and made up her mind. "The Birds of Prey. They really don't have to bend the rules, like SHIELD does."
Clint Barton	Clint nods at that. And briefly rolls his eyes - Bobbi /and/ Natasha. Really. Try as you may, sometimes the past clings to you like misery. Hopefully, Skye doesn't notice his reaction. After a moment, he replies. "I'd like to know more 'bout them, these Birds. And maybe... we can just forget about SHIELD."
Skye Johnson	"Well, they're a group I helped found. Girls. Different skills. Some like me.. actually when I helped found them I didn't have powers. We work where the law can't. And no, we don't use it against them, but sometimes SHIELD and other groups have their hand tied." Skye as very serious. "I trust them with my life. Implicitly." That should tell him something. Skye was very cautious about *who* she trusts.
Clint Barton	That makes the two of them to be very careful with whom they are dealing with. Clint nods at that, stretching his arms. All naturally, his arm comes to rest behind Skye's shoulder, quizzing it reassuringly. He trusts her, and listens carefully to what she's saying. "I'd like to meet them. You trust 'em, that's good enough for a start." he says. The mention of SHIELD, again, makes him tense for a split-second. "Trust me, SHIELD has /no/ hand tied. They do whatever they fucking want to do!" The last is said in a low, almost manacing voice, full of ressentment. On that, Clint jumps to his feet, grabs a bow and arrow - they are all over the place at the ready - and shoots right at the old rusty can of beer on the wall, groaning under his breath, "Asshole."
Skye Johnson	Okay.. something has him bothered. Something to do with SHIELD. "Clint? Remember, long ago, we agreed that you can go and leave us for the Avengers. I know my life has not allowed you to try it, but, did you want to back off SHIELD, and try going to the Avengers instead? It might be worth it. You wouldn't have to choose because I was in danger. We'd have our own group. Actually, I think for both of us, we should not be partners."
Clint Barton	Eyes focused on the can of beer for a moment, Skye's words bring him back to reality. Clint lowers the bow, slowly places it on the coffee table, then sits back on the sofa. He sighs, letting time for whatever is eating him to abate. "SHIELD... made me do things I didn't really want to," he explains. This is not easy, a lifetime of mistakes to reckon. For now, back to present and, hopefully, to the future. He's calm now, and explains a bit more, a grin appearing on his face as he talks. "I went to the Mansion the other night. Man, that was such fun with the guys, and then.. well, with ShellHead, to some mission. Just like good ol' days..." He obviously enjoyed himself!
Skye Johnson	"Damn, I'm sure gonna miss you." Skye sighs, but it is a good sigh as well. "Then quit. Go back to doing what you should have done. Damn it, Clint. If you don't like working for us, hell, I will back you on dropping the Agent." Of course, he does not need her to do it. He needs to do it himself. "Whatever you do, I'll be in the background, holding two thumbs up. I am sorry for my part in it. Forgive me?"
Clint Barton	Clint turns to look at Skye directly, his hand slowly raising to gently turn her face so she meets his eyes as he tells her, almost whispering, "Skye. I'm not decided just yet, things will be just a bit different." He pauses, adding with that Hawkster's grin on his face, "You have /nothing/ to be forgiven for. 'member? I came back for /you/. For. Us... That is, if you want to?"
Skye Johnson	"Okaaaay. I'll have to trust you will pick whatever you need. And I'll give you my opinions.. Well, I will probably give you my opinion regardless. You have my permission to tell me to F right off when needed." But it's the rest she listens to. "Oh yeah. I think I would like that."
Clint Barton	Theree are no more comforting words than heres to his ears. Skye said yes! So maybe theree is hope that everything will work out fine this time. Yes, it will, it has to! As his lips slowly touches heres, he whispers. "Wheree from here?"