Owner	Pose
Clint Barton	Some might wonder why Clint Barton would want to stay in this decrepit building of his, when he could get rid of it and just live at Skye's. Well, there are many reasons why and one is, that the Avenger likes to have his personal space, no matter how old and dusty it is. Some guys have a man-cave. Clint will have a man-cave cave. Or basement, but you get the drift. It's early in the morning - well, for some - but 10:00 a.m. means that Hawkeye already has 2-3 coffees in already and workout done. Now the serious work starts. Having left a note on the coffee pot in the apartment - sure that Skye would reach for coffee right on waking up - Clint had reached the basement of the building, ready to clean the place. The note reads: //9:10 a.m. Gone to the basement. If not back by noon, call the Avengers. Oh, and bring the coffee pot, will you? Love, C.//
Skye Johnson	Grumble. The only thing that she was not too crazy about Clint's when she slept over, was he didn't have as good of blackout curtains as her place. Maybe because Clint was a morning person! Well more than Skye was by a long shot! Between Clint's place, and the apartment in the Triskelion that still was hers, and the Brownstone that she lived in most of the time.. Skye wasn't doing too bad for someone who lived out of her van. Actually, with that, she had 4 places. Carefully she poured a cup of coffee before doing anything else. Checked the time. 10:30. Ugh. And looking around for the thermoses. He's got to have them, right?? Just when she'd been at her wit's , and figured she would have to carry the whole carafe down to the basement - she found it. A supersized thermos sitting beside the coffeemaker, waiting to be used. It took her fifteen minutes to get everything ready, take two cups, and mosey down to the basement. 10:45 "Goodmorning! Don't ask." Skye grinned. And looked around.
Clint Barton	Despite it being mid-morning, the basement is dark. Two very small windows - more like port-holes - and an old yellow lightbulb clinging to the ceiling, are the only sources of light in this cramped basement. There is just enough room to navigate around the piles of broken furniture, travel chests and luggage left by previous tenants, and otherwise piles of everything around. The basement is of a normal height and one can stand upright without problems, and it covers the whole of the building, about the size of 3 small apartments. One corner is clearly dedicated to the old furnace and heating system and hot water tanks. Busy with sorting a pile of things he's not yet sure what they are related to, Clint raises his head, sporting some cobwebs, a bright smile on his face. Yes, the archer already loves his man-cave. "Hey, Keyboard," Clint says in an amused voice, "Ye're up early, and with coffee to boot!" Leaving the pile of undescribed stuff, the archer moves to the stairs to grab the thermos from Skye and find a flat area to place it on. "Working boots mandatory here, there's a pair for you here, and updated tetanus shot." He pauses, smiling as he looks around at all the work needed to clean this place and turn it into his home-HQ. "You can help me, but I'll equally be fine if you just want to laugh at me while I work, granted that you add moral support."
Skye Johnson	"First." Skye lifts up her coffee. "Trust me, it's better this way." Though she does put on the boots, blinking in the semi-darkness. "Definitely, we want to get more light. Are you going to put an archer's range here too?" They had made one in the basement at her house. Along with the upgraded computer and security systems. Her house was about as tight as tight good be (next to the Trisk? It might be a little bit better? Not that Skye would try it out to prove her theory). "Some of those would be better off burned. Good lord, how long have they been here??"
Clint Barton	As often, Skye is right and coffee should always be the priority. Mug in hand, Clint pours himself a nice cuppa from the thermos. Looking around, envisioning the final state of the basement once the cleaning is done, Clint thinks for a moment. "Yup, there could be a single range, kind of short one." Navigating around a pile of boxes, the archer lifts the top of one of them, discovering its content. "Hrm. Old hats." He rummages around for a moment, "Correction. VERY old hats. This one is a goner. Generations of tenants, stuff left behind when they left, never claimed them back. Mostly worthless now. It was all already in here when I got the building." Now, visibly, the archer's enthusiasm has faded a bit. Just a tiny bit. Finding another flat surface, the top of an old chest, Clint sits down to drink the coffee. "I've got a rental container in the backyard. We'll use the old charcoal trap to get the junk out. For now, sorting is the priority. I have guys coming tomorrow to throw the crap out."
Skye Johnson	Skye first takes a long drink of her coffee. Mmmm. Coffee. "Sorta like the one at my place, then" She nods. "Speaking of my place, next weekend to clean up the yard?" Wandering over, she peers in a box. "Too bad, it probably could have been used at a second hand store once upon a time. Maybe some still can? Though it would be simpler to just throw the whole lot in the garbage." "Who's coming over tomorrow? Let me guess - a barbecue at the end of the day?" Always a barbecue to entice them!
Clint Barton	"Next weekend?" Clint replies, almost blinking. Chances he won't have time to finish here first. But hey, whatever the girlfriend wants. "Hrm, sure, why not." Right, you could have shown more enthusiasm there, buddy! Coffee being drunk, the archer returns to his duty of the moment and opens the chest on which he was seated. "Holy crap," comes the archer's surprised voice, "Full of photo albums, and old gramophone records. Phew. Ok, this one to be set aside, maybe for local archives or whatnot." It would be more morale lifting to actually find something that can and will be thrown in the trash container, so Clint then turns to a pile of old newspapers. "Oh, former tenants, yeah BBQ time, which reminds me, we'll need to go buy the steaks, beers and all. This job calls for something better than just plain pizza."
Skye Johnson	"Soon, anyways. If it's not next weekend, at least before the snows come on." Which kinda gives a little bit to work around in. Of course, autumn means fall rains. So they will have to work around that. Skye came over, to peek at the box of gramophone records. "Weird. You don't think there is a record player for these?" She has to agree, someone at the library, or similar, would be very interested in this. "Probably the newspapers too?" Fashion she knew nothing about. But info? Yes. They may not be quite the same as data, but info was info to someone!
Clint Barton	The newspapers he had in hand are dropped, as Clint hears Skye talk about their possible informational value. "At this rate," the archer laughs, "I'll keep everything in order to send it to someone. Let's get back to your first idea: throw everything out. But if you see something you want, grab it." Glancing around for a moment, Clint can't find any hint of a gramophone being among the old furniture. Moving around piles of broken chairs and nightstands, the archer finally reaches one of the small windows and opens it with some effort. "At least, we won't die from suffocation!"
Skye Johnson	The sun shone through that little window, and Skye pretended to melt. Of course. "I'm melting!" Her hands went over her face to complete the tableau. But she was laughing. "At least there aren't squirrels in the basement. Can you imagine?" She looked around with the natural light, and shakes her head. "There's so much junk - real junk - down here. I thought the upper storey was bad. And the smell of mould. Eww."
Clint Barton	With some difficulty - trying not to break it - Clint opens a window, and now fresh air is coming in. This should take care of the smell, at least for now. "Yeah, now you tell me you're a blood sucker?" the archer laughs, "That explains your working all night." It takes a couple hours to get rid of the real trash - and as in all cleaning sessions of this scope, many boxes are retained to be donated. But still, the trash has been sorted into categories: to throw away, to give away. Boxes are neatly packed by the back window, ready to be moved outside when the guys come to give a helping hand. Of course, Skye and Clint could do it, but hey, there wouldn't be a BBQ then! "Well," Clint says, observing the now vacated space in front of him, "Once the boxes and junk are out, this will be a grand room."
Skye Johnson	Skye laughs even harder. "I was thinking about the Wizard of Oz, but now that you mention, it's water she's afraid of. Vampire it is!" Taking a different look to see it as Clint sees it, she nods. "It really has the potential to be grand. It's even from floor to ceiling. Other than the support beams you could do anything you want with it." Except for the junk. Ugh. Eventually they got it neat and tidy in the piles. "I'm beat. You're going to have to call in the calvary because I've done my share." Skye kisses his cheek.
Clint Barton	Even the moldy smell seems to have vanished - or they have gotten used to it by now! Sitting on the stairs, Clint laughs, "Careful with the kisses, cuz I'm all dirty now, need a shower." And Skye knows very well his line of thought, and they still have some work to do before enjoying a shower. The archer looks around, "Yup, the guys will come later, or tomorrow to take care of the boxes," he says, then pointing at the large wall on the left side, "Oh yeah, it will be grand, for a basement. There, nice wall for maps and blueprints, and over there," where the boxes are, "I'll have the small indoor range." Standing, Clint walks to the far end, where the target will most likely be placed, "And since it's a basement, with a single, too obvious way in, I'll have an escape route dug here. Cuz I don't want my man-cave to turn into a man-trap."
Skye Johnson	Skye listens to his plans with a grin upon her lips. "Sounds really good. Especially the secret way out. More lights. I like the maps. Sort of a home away from home away from home." After all, one of the reasons Skye place was the way that it was, was for a period of time, it was the Trisk. Kind of. Of course, Clint was thinking about the shower - just as she's planned! "You know, we wouldn't want to use the water separately when there is so much drought all over the world.." Yes, if Clint didn't get the hint by now, she would have to try harder! Like drag him up to the shower and jump right in with him with their clothes on them. "We could talk about this upstairs?" *nudge nudge* *wink wink* *say no more!*
Clint Barton	"Yes, a shower," Clint agrees, turning but instead of walking to the stairs, rather walks to the opposite corner, where for a moment he looks down and up the wall, "Good idea. Yes, a small restroom here, with a shower. Glancing at Skye's reaction - playing dumb rarely works, but hey, it's fun to try - the archer checks the pipes around and, indeed, it could be quite possible to have a small restroom here. That done, and planned, Clint finally heads towards the stairs, grabbing the now empty thermos of coffee. "Now, let's plan the BBQ. We'll need some booze too. Hrm. We'll fix a list, or improvise. Most important, the meat." Try as he may, Clint can't help but tease Skye. It seems their minds are headed for the same gutter anyway. "So, let's start with the meat." Up to Skye to catch the ball.
Skye Johnson	"Maybe a sauna and a hot tub?" If you're going to dream, dream big? As for the bar-b-cue.. "I don't have any clues. Unless we could have a rump roast?" Skye pinches Clint's rump roast, to make a point. "Or would you prefer hotdogs?" Yes, Skye was teasing, as she moved her hands to his front and began to undo his buttons. "Maybe we should talk about this more upstairs?"
Clint Barton	Oof, yes, they are decidedly of the same mind. Laughing as she pinched him, Clint let's go of all ideas of teasing, feeling that time for teasing is already over. Swiftly, the archer gently grabs Skye by the waist and places her over his shoulder, "Fine!" All thoughts of plans for the basement, or even for the BBQ, are left behind as Clint carries Skye up the stairs, to the apartment and its small bathroom. "Damn, this man-cave turned me into a cave-man. Let's talk later, we've got better things to do."
Skye Johnson	Skye squeals and laughs as he puts her over his shoulder. "It's about time!" Of course when they got upstairs (after they had said hello to the nice lady who lived below - Skye still on his shoulder, he turned around tell let Skye wave at her) all bets were off. And their clothes were strewn around the apartment. (Then again how was that different from normal?) Later, finishing on the bed, they snuggled, and caught their breath. "You weren't kidding about the he-man! What have we got for a barbecue anyway? We may as well do two shopping - one for here, and one for the Brownstone?" She laughs. "Think your renter was appalled?"
Clint Barton	Oh, a nap would be welcome! But by now, it's about 4 p.m. and if they want to do something else - something requiring to be clothed, that is - a nap would not do. "Don't worry 'bout her," Clint says, "She's seen way worse in her life, trust me." Beat. "The lack of hot water might appal her tho." Rolling on his back and staring at the ceiling for a moment, the archer starts planning for the BBQ. For real, this time. "Right, might as well do both, including for the cats. Huh. OK, so, beer, burgers, hotdogs, chips, pops. What else? Marshmallows?"
Skye Johnson	The hot water! Good grief they had forgotten about that. "Maybe we should think of putting a new hot water heater in. Maybe twice the size of the one currently?" What does Skye know about hot water heaters, and size. Still lazing about, staring at the ceiling. "Are you thinking about smores? You know, that time we went across the country was really nice. Even with the troubles we had. I don't think we had smores then either?"
Clint Barton	That's a good idea, having another hot water tank. "Yup, one for my apartment, and another for the tenants. That way, no complaints!" And again, staring at the ceiling, joining Skye in their shared memories of this Wild West trip, as the archer calls it. "Oh yeah, that was fun. Remember the midnight swim, and the guard catching us skinny dipping? We should try again. I mean, the trip AND skinny dipping." The archer laughs at the memories for a moment. "Yeah, smores on the roof, why not."
Skye Johnson	"I'd like that. I mean going on a trip with you. Do you think it's too late in the year to attempt another Wild West Trip? We could stop at an actual Wild West resort. You could play dumb and win the shootout." Skye grins. It would be like Skye pretending to be stupid about computers. "Okay. S'mores it is. And extra marshmallows." Because.
Clint Barton	Yes, why not? SHIELD always find a way to contact them if they are needed, so going on a small trip wouldn't be a problem. No, the only problems would be during their trip, lucky as they are! "Yup, we should go ad lib, but I can't play dumb, cuz, y'know, I can't lie." Huh! That said, Clint rolls out of bed, grabbing his pants to put them on. That done, Skye is playfully thrown her own clothes, "Alright. Let's grab the food before I start thinking about something else." Which this /something else/ is to resume the previous activity. Grinning at Skye still on the bed, the archer shakes his head. "Damnit, too late. I'm already thinking about something else."
Skye Johnson	Skye throws a pillow at him. "Yeah yeah. I like it too. But we've got groceries to do before tomorrow. Unless you have changed your mind about getting help?" "I should think not!" All the while she gets up, and redresses herself. "After supper, then dessert." *wink wink* After all, they have a whole night to fool around in - once they've got their groceries..