Owner	Pose
Skye Johnson	Skye had taken to practicing with the bow on the archery range at odd hours - specifically odd hours she knew Clint wouldn't be there. He was over at her place enough that she knew his schedule. It wasnt so hard to use that against him, so to speak. As shed told Lara, she'd wanted to get good enough to surprise him. Some surprise, he'd found her at the range shortly after that, so he knew she'd been up to this. But maybe, she thought, not how much. She'd improved quite a bit since those first sessions, even if she wasn't in Clint or Lara's category of archer, and likely never would be. Still, it gave her some satisfaction to know she could hit the target consistently now, and was slowly working her way towards more bullseyes. That's where she was again today: at the archery range. Practicing as shed been taught. Slow, careful movements that she held until she knew shed made her shot. Today was already shaping up to be a good day.
Clint Barton	The danger of predicting someone like Clint's schedule was that he had to stick to it for the prediction to be accurate. In this case though, Clint doesn't just come strolling into the range bow in hand, but his mind is certainly on shooting. Heading out of his meeting and looking all Agent Clint Barton-y, clint pulls out his phone and fires off a text. << Hey. Briefing's done early. I feel like shooting something. You up? >> He heads towards the rec wing, intent on getting his gear.
Skye Johnson	She's been in mid-retrieval of arrows when the text came in, the slight buzz against her hip alerting her. Skye snickering when she reads it. <<Only if you feel like having your ass handed to you. Meet you there.>> She wasn't sure how much time that gave her to pretend she'd just arrived, but she was going to try and make it work, putting her gear back together so that hopefully when Clint arrives it looks like she's only just pulling it out. She's not going to complain about the extra practice she got in.
Clint Barton	<< Why? Is Bullseye going to be there? >> Clint arrives in the gym with a bow case in one hand, a quiver thrown over his shoulder, tie off and top two buttons undone on his shirt. He smiles, apparently coming in just after Skye, "Beat me here," he says. "That means you get to set the bet this time." He was making up rules on the spot. He gives Skye a kiss when he gets to her, then, gets to the business of getting his own gear out. Losing the suit jacket as he does. "How goes the day?" he asks.
Skye Johnson	<<Nah, just his smarter, cuter, better shot counterpart.>> <<Bet? As per usual?>> Okay, as far as disses went it wasn't spectacular, but she was on a deadline here, and thinking about other things. Like that bet By the time Clint arrives, she's only got half the gear away, which is perfect. Looks like she's not only beat him there, but beat him there good. And he's letting her set the bet. "Nice monkey suit." He gets an appraising nod. She might be calling it a monkey suit, but she's not giving him any sort of look that suggests she means it. Rather the opposite, in fact. "Surprised they found something to fit those ape arms of yours."5R5rHe gets a kiss back, complete with tiptoes and tilting her head back at him. She might complain, but she kinda likes that he's taller and she gets to do this every now and then. "Same long assed day as always," Skye shrugs. "Actually, I'm going a little stir crazy. The IT jokes are beginning to hit a little close to home. Might see if May has any fieldwork she can throw me at for a change of pace. You?'
Clint Barton	Clint snorts as he reads her texts and answers back. << Sure thing >> about the bet while grabbing his gear from his locker. The joke about the suit gets a grin, "Hey, no fair, you can't set me up like and then take away the opening. I was going to make an arms joke!" he protests with a smile. Spotting her look though, he does a little cat walk twirl for her before he gets to her for the kiss. "Same. Had to be all officiall-y today, hence the suit, but back to the field tomorrow, hop to the DC area. Shouldn't be dramatic, just a fetch and carry job." Bow grabbed, he heads back over to her. "Field work huh? Have fun. I'd ask May if there was room for me too, but y'know, regs and all that."
Skye Johnson	You snooze, you lose, buddy. Skye chuckles. The catwalk twirl gets a wolf whistle. Take it off, take it all off! Of course she's pretty safe from that given they're in a public place. Which makes it all the more ridiculous and silly that shes doing it. Just their style. All official, huh? No fair looking good while I'm in my street clothes. Seems they don't really give a rats ass if I'm not out where people can see me.  Which might not be precisely true, but generally speaking, when she's not working with others, Skye flirts with the dress code. Severely. Enh, well see. Think May still thinks I need my hand held to cross the street. Bet you never thought you'd hear me complaining about sitting behind my rig, huh?  And shes not really complaining. There's still that impending mission jitters going on. Sitting behind her keyboard leaves entirely too much time to think about all the things that might and can go wrong. She nods, though. Yeah. That regs thing. I was thinking about that. Just wondering how bothered you are by them? She unpacks the bow she'd barely gotten put away before Clint arrived, and settles it with the arrows that never made it back. Totally just got here and all. *ahem* He's watched carefully as he gives his answer.
Clint Barton	Clint puts his free hand on his belt and mimes pushing it down while giving his butt a wiggle before laughing and carrying on. Yep. Just their style. "No fair getting to be in street clothes while I have to wear a suit," he counters. "I mean wearing one to dinner was one thing, that was fun, meetings though? Cruel and unusual. And yeah, not letting you out where people can see you? Definitely a PR mistake." He pauses, before adding, "Now if they didn't let you talk to people, /that/ I'd understand." He grins back at her with that little tease. When he joins her by the firing line, he gives the regs a though. "Don't really care," he says. "I was in the field with Nat all the time when we were together, Bobbi too, people might look, some of the stick up their ass might get on our cases about it, but we can deal with that. Those same people already think we're shitty agents to begin with because of how we got here."
Skye Johnson	"Ouch." Skye mimes pulling an arrow out of her chest and offering it back to him. "That was pretty low, but fucking amazing. Who knew you had it in you, huh? Little longer working on me, and we might let you try dissing kindergarten girls for practice." She grins, looking ever so innocent. "Cool," Skye grins when he answers about the regs. "So.. This bet of ours, I was thinking, since I've gotten better, how about first person to miss loses? No more of this single shot crap." Even if she'd chosen to lose last time. "I'll even let you declare what you want if you win first."
Clint Barton	Clint circles back to the situation with May and the upcoming Hydra op. "Well if she's still got you on one of those kid leashes, then maybe some field training, if the point's the blow off steam. No big difference. Or you can just level with her and say, hey May, it's time I wore my big girl pants now. After all you're level 2." The 'arrow' is taken with pride, well, until she slips her own little dig in there and he mimes stabbing it into his own heart. "Couldn't let me have a moment, huh?" he laughs. He kisses her again, only because that innocent grin was irresistible. Which brought them back to regs. "And yeah, cool, besides, like the May thing, you're level two, not a trainee anymore." The terms of the bet earn a long, slow smile. "So, the bet, the one you're taking with Hawkeye, the Avenger, is that the first person to miss loses?" he asks slow and skeptical before he says, "Sure. Sounds fair." Well seeing he was going to win he takes a moment to think about that. "I win, you and me, we go away for Christmas. I don't care who pays, but get out and away from all the crazy. World wide crises dependent of course."
Skye Johnson	"ooo, I like that," Skye grins. "Almost makes me wish I were going to lose." Smug much? "Let you have your moment?" Skye gasps in mock-indignation. "Never!" "I suppose I should pull those panties on and just level with her.. but first, our bet." Skye grins at him. "A trip away, huh? You are cocky. Totally think you're going to win, huh?" Theres a nod with that. "Fine. Heres my terms. I win, and that Stark box of yours moves to my place." She casts him a sidelong glance as she makes to aim with her bow, settling into her stance neatly (fine, she's never going to be him, but she's worked on this! give the girl a break!). "And the rest of your stuff, too." She lets her first arrow go. Bullseye. Yeah, that warmup didn't hurt any. She surprised even herself with that one, but man, if you have to pull one out of your ass, what a time to do it.
Clint Barton	"Holy shit," Clint says. Though if it's because of that shot or her terms it's hard to say. And he doesn't say, at least not yet. Instead he draws and fires turning Skye's checklist of motions into a fluid whole. The arrow clips one of the fletchings on hers before burying itself into the bullseye. The shot was helpful, he was at his best when he was shooting. Clear headed, focused. It stopped him from saying anything he might regret. Instead, he just says, "And I thought I was betting big." He thinks it over. He liked his place. He liked the people who lived and worked around his place, but then Skye's place was where he spent most of his time and it did have one advantage over Brooklyn, Skye lived there too. He smiles. "So, your place huh? Not wanting to move to a beat-ass building in Brookyln?" he teases. It wasn't a no.
Skye Johnson	Skye chose to believe that the 'holy shit' was for her shot. It didn't really bear dwelling on whether it was for her terms or not. They both knew he wasn't going to lose unless he chose to. Hiding behind a bet this way was something of a cop out on her part, but she wasn't brave enough to ask him outright. His response, though, left her pondering how to make a comeback. Blow it off? Make light of it? Make out she'd only been joking? He hadn't said no, though. For once, Skye was afraid to look his way and read what was there behind his words. She took her time setting up her next shot. Every movement slow and precise, until the arrow's release, which she watched until it made a satisfying *thunk* into the target next to the bullseye - just nudged up against the ring. "That depends," she tells his carefully. "Are you changing the terms of our bet?" She's thoughtful a moment. "I could be convinced. Not sure you have room there for all my stuff, though." Skye casts a glance over again, trying to gauge where they are on this. He hadnt said no.
Clint Barton	Clint had meant the shot. Or had he? The offer came as a surprise. He hadn't really thought about it before. He frowns and distracts himself by watching Skye shoot. She was definitely getting it. Her form looked better. He takes his shot, drawn and loosed, easy as breathing. He doesn't wait to see his arrow thud into the target flush against his first shot when he looks over at her. He smiles at her joke, "And I'm not sure you have room for all of mine." In his case he was serious. He had a ton of crap most of it still in boxes. He studies Skye, considering. He could see she was tense. Worried she overstepped. He wasn't sure he was ready to make the jump yet, but he could offer some relief. "And you remember my place right? You sure you want to deal with that kind of mess all the time? I mean my place or yours that mess is going to be there." He was teasing, and also asking. It wasn't just his mess she'd have to put up with.
Skye Johnson	Skye watched him shoot, taking in the ease of his form. The graceful, fluid motion of it. How he barely had to look and his shots were not only hitting, but kissing against one another. Knew that if they kept at this long enough, this discussion of theirs, it was all going to be moot anyway. Even if she had improved. He was right. She was tense. She had no way of knowing where things stood right now. It wasn't a no.. but something about it all sounded like she'd crossed that line. Misread where they were. And now she was almost regretting that she'd brought it up. It had seemed the thing at the time, even if, she reminded herself, he wasn't going to lose. Tense wasn't going to land her any shots, though. It took her moments to gather herself, breathing in and out slowly from her gut, letting her shoulders and hips settle into easy lines instead of the tense angles that they'd been sitting at. Bringing her bow up and drawing in one motion as she inhaled. She envied Clint's motions, even as she understood that was what she was like behind a keyboard. Even Nat had found her skills there something of amazing. To Skye, it was just what she did. Here, though, it was an effort and a challenge. She couldn't dwell on the man beside her, though. Sights lined up, body in agreement, a third arrow was released. This hitting the target alongside her second. A decent shot, but not the beauty of that first bullseye that had punctuated her flippant offering of the terms of his forfeit should she win. "Don't see me losing, do you?" Now that her shot had hit, Skye nods, and turns to face him. Running from that didn't make any sense. It was how they'd always talked to one another. The silences and spaces where the difficult things always made sense, even when they were frightened by them. "All you have to do is win." It was really that simple. She could use a vacation, she told herself. It would be okay. Maybe this had been too soon. Maybe all he needed to hear was it was okay, that it was his choice. That she understood. Skye smiled a crooked little smile at him. "I hear Italy is nice this time of year." It was the closest she could come to telling him it was alright. She understood.
Clint Barton	Clint mulled it over. He'd done what he could to help the people in his building, and Ivan and his crew weren't around anymore He wasn't needed at his building any more. On the flip side, Skye's place was in the Triskelion. While convenient to work it was also under the watchful eye of SHIELD and that made him a bit uncomfortable. He'd lived in similar digs until he'd become an Avenger, and hadn't been a fan. Though to be fair, he didn't share those digs with anyone at the time. He cocks his head watching Skye shoot. She really had been practicing and that makes him smile. Her defiant comment earns a nod, "No, definitely not losing," he replies then snaps off a shot. It sails into the target just before she tells him all he needed to do was miss. He understood what she was asking with that. "Italy? I was thinking like maybe Niagara or the Poconos. Italy..." he thinks that over too. Italy could be fun. He asks the question that had been on his mind since she asked him. "Why?"
Skye Johnson	He wasn't shooting. That, Skye wasn't sure what to make of. He'd watched her shoot, and even she had to admit she was doing well. Funny what a little bit of *this matters* could do. Toss in some stubborn. Some defiant. A dash of plain old luck.. Yeah. She was doing okay. But he still hadn't shot again. "Why what? Why'd I make that bet?" Skye shrugs, setting the bottom arm of her bow down on the ground and placing her hands lightly over the top arm. "To be honest? It just felt right. You're always there anyway. Or I'm at your place. I can't imagine waking up without you anymore." She gives another shrug, and smiles again. Less crookedly. Wryly, even. "What does it matter where our stuff is. And what do two system rats want to share an apartment with each other for, huh? Just take your shot. We'll go to one of those places you said.." Skye looks thoughtful, and shakes her head, "Can we go somewhere else? Somewhere not for newlyweds? I don't want to pretend we're something we're not. People will think that's what we're about and I don't want to spend my time making conversations about it. Hell, I'll pay." She thought she might have enough for Italy. How much could Italy cost anyway?
Clint Barton	Clint draws an arrow from his quiver holding it in his hand and not putting it to the string. He listens to Skye's reasons. The first don't move him, but that last brings a smile to his lips. "Yeah?" he asks. Though he didn't doubt her. It made him consider how he felt about the idea of waking up alone, it'd been a bit since he'd done it. The morning of the date night, maybe? He couldn't remember. He takes a breath. "Good point," he says about the spots he chose. "Italy, that might work." He puts the arrow to the string, but he stops short of drawing then lowering it again. He turns to face Skye. He'd planned on saying something but what that was had abandoned him and indecision took its place. It wars on his face until he says. "I haven't really thought about it," he admits. "I absolutely want to keep sleeping over, you're right about not wanting to wake up alone, I don't either, but there are some things I need to think about first." He looks up at her, knowing this wasn't going to be what she wanted to hear. "Is that okay?"
Skye Johnson	Skye rolls her eyes at him, "Oh, shoot the fucking arrow already. And tell me if you want me to lose on purpose to get it over with. Italy is fine. Wanted to get out of that shitty secret Santa thing anyway." She just shakes her head and gives a soft sound of amusement. They'd been through worse than this. He wasn't going anywhere. What did it matter where his shit lived. "Go on, Hotshot, show me what you've got. Haven't seen you split an arrow yet." 5rShe's smirking at him as she says it. Yeah, things were going to be okay.
Clint Barton	Clint grins. "Oh, you're doing secret Santa, even if I have to do the shopping," he says with a chuckle. He returns his arrow to the string and actually takes a moment of focus before he looses the arrow and puts it through the back of his first one, sending his second arrow tumbling as the first one splits. "And now you have," he says with just a touch of smugness in his voice. Though he doesn't seem to be done. He draws another arrow, puts it to the string and fires. This one shot wide of the target, thudding beside the outer ring. He lowers the bow and looks at Skye. "Not saying no," he says. "Just, not now."
Skye Johnson	Skye makes a face, and complains, "Though you loved me? Why are you making me do that stupid thing anyway?" 5rThe face remains. "You know what it's like. I don't have any good memories of the holiday, Clint. Only filled the stupid survey out to shut Darcy the fuck up." Yeah, she just called him Clint. She does watch him shoot the arrow and split his first shot neatly in two, nodding as the bits hit the floor. "Pretty impressive. I think I'll just stick with being happy I hit the target. You do that. I'll hack Hydra. It all evens out." When he goes to shoot again, she's confused, caught with her bow halfway to her hand. "You made your point, Hotshot." And then his shot is loosed and misses the mark, leaving her more confused than ever. His words leaving her even further behind the conversation than before. "I don't get it? What's that supposed to mean?" *That* being his missed shot, Skye nodding at it with her chin. "I heard you the first time. It's not a thing. Got it. Was stupid to.." His words stop her short, and she looks away, angry with herself now over the unexpected. "Jesus, Hotshot, don't do that. 'kay? Don't fucking.." And suddenly, as much as it was okay, and she knew it would be okay, she couldn't do this. "I gotta walk for a few. See you back at my place. Need.." She exhales, still without looking his way. "Need an hour. Just let me get my head on straight." That's what they'd agreed on, right? Time. Place. And they'd be back. She'd checked all the boxes. If she looked his way, she was going to cry, and she didn't want to send that message. At least not until she knew why things had gone from okay to this when he'd not done anything wrong.
Clint Barton	Clint's face falls when she takes the Christmas thing so hard. He cringes internally, he'd been lucky, since the boys home, and life on the road, he'd had Phil as his S.O., Nat, the Avengers and Bobbi, to slowly ease him into the idea of actually enjoying the holidays, hell, he even liked them. It definitely wasn't the case for Skye by the look of things. "I do, and I was being dumb. I'm sorry." The rest is heard and processed, if numbly. ~Fuck. Way to go, Clint~ Still he wasn't choked with fear or looking for the door when she turns away from him and asked for space. "One hour, your place. I'll be there." He doesn't do more than that, but doesn't turn from her either and doesn't try to stop her when she goes.
Skye Johnson	Skye hadn't expected to be the one to need their 'walk' rule first. She'd expected it would be Clint. And really, she'd been fine, up until the point where he'd shot that arrow and missed. It had been like a slap in the face. She knew she wasn't going to win. Knew he wasn't moving in. She'd been okay with that. So why'd he have to go and miss like that, only to tell her no? She wasn't even sure if it meant she'd won the bet or not. Snarkier Skye would have told him to pay up. That he'd lost fair and square by shooting that miss. That he knew what the rules were. Hell, she'd lived up to the bargain when /she'd/ missed her shot on purpose - even if he wanted to argue that she probably would have missed anyway. The point was: she'd missed on purpose and she'd lived up to it. So what was it? What was it that was bothering her? Skye paces along the halls of the Triskelion until she finds herself up on the roof, where she found herself a quiet corner to hunker down in and figure this out. "Why. Why'd he have to go do that?" Her words were an angry press of lips and sound into the chill of early December night. "Fuck you, Clint Barton. I was good with it."
Clint Barton	Clint takes a different tack to the time apart. He shoots. There was calm in that. It made sense. It wasn't like the jumble his thoughts were right now. He just had to work through the list, each item a memory worked into muscle and bone until it wasn't even like an action at all, it was like a thought. Look there, think hit, the body did the rest and the arrow hit its mark. Then why did he miss? He wanted to show her he wasn't rejecting her and he didn't want the contest to end with her feeling like she'd lost something important. "Damn it, why didn't I just say yes?" he asks himself. It would have been fine, they would have been fine. The answer surprised him. He was afraid. Fear had slipped in without being noticed and it had stabbed him in the heart. No, it wasn't entirely invisible, his question about the mess, and if she'd get sick of it, that had been sign of its presence. He'd really been asking, if she'd get sick of him being in her space all the time. He reaches back for the next arrow and finds it empty. The bullseye though is covered by a cluster of tightly packed arrows. He shakes his head. Then, setting down his bow he goes to collect them. He'd need to get moving if he wanted to be at Skye's within the hour.
Skye Johnson	Up on the roof, Skye has no answers. None. Other than she was hurt and angry. Had she gotten her hopes up too high? She didn't think so. She'd been fine, or so she thought, when he'd started with the questions - a sure warning sign that the answer wasn't yes. All jokes aside, she'd heard him. It was one thing to spend all his time with her, and quite another to move himself fully into her life. Skye supposed that hurt a little, too. Even if she understood it. Having him around all the time in the only thing she had to call her own.. it would have been different. It was like the boxes of stuff he had in his apartment. None of them meant anything - if they had, he'd have unpacked them. They were just symptoms of the bigger problem. The same reason she didn't have anything of her own in her own apartment suite: It was too easy to lose things you loved when you settled down. So you pretended you didn't care (when you did), and you didn't let anyone in. Except they had, hadn't they? Moving himself into her apartment was so much more than that, though. He'd be giving up the one thing that was his, and his alone, to be with her. She thought she could understand why he wouldn't want to. She was afraid too. What if they did that and it changed everything? What if they did that and he decided that being with her all the time wasn't the same as having the freedom to walk out that door and go home whenever he wanted? Taking that away from him (from herself).. was it any wonder he'd balked? And that shot. That damnable shot. It was just insulting. She'd already offered to lose. What was he trying to prove? Skye didn't even care anymore that he'd lost by their terms. That she had something to throw at him and grind her hurt into. She just wanted the hurt to go away. "Dammit, Hotshot. Why didn't you just let me lose? I told you I was okay. Why didn't you believe me?" A quick glance at her phone told her she'd used up most of her time. Skye really wasn't sure if she were any closer to being able to talk to him about this without making it into a problem it wasn't. ...and sitting here on the roof wasn't fixing anything. "Big girl panties, Skye," she told herself, getting up, not feeling any closer to a resolution or a thing she could say to him. Ten minutes. She had ten minutes to think of something while she walked back to her rooms. Maybe she'd think of something.
Clint Barton	Clint yanked arrows by ones and in groups from the target until there were none left. Cleaning up always took more time than making the mess. It was just a fact of life, but that didn't mean he couldn't hate it. If he was keeping to his usual routine he would have checked the arrows but instead he dumped them all into his quiver and hefted it on his back. One arrow was left out, the one he'd plucked from outside of the target ring. That one he broke over his knee and tossed in the garbage. So it wouldn't jinx the rest of them. Shut up! You grow up in a circus and not have any little superstitions! He grabbed his suit jacket and bow and then headed off the range checking his phone on the way, he had plenty of time. When he arrives at Skye's he lets himself in with a swipe of his SHIELD ID. "Hmph," he says to that. That was part of it. Skye's place was part of SHIELD and sometimes he needed to be away from that. He enters and the lights turn on. His bow is leaned up against the wall, his quiver and jacket set down beside it. He takes a look around, really seeing the place for the first time. Not just as the place Skye lived but as a place he might live. The new perspective didn't give him any brain waves, so, as the clock ran down he decided he'd go with the simplest plan. Just tell her the truth.
Skye Johnson	By the time she got to her rooms, Skye still didn't have any answers, other than she was still hurt and angry.. and she still loved the man entirely too much to walk away. Even if they were her own rooms. Which made her laugh: the thought of running away from her own rooms. Except what were they? Nothing, really. Just a place she lay down in at night. Even her Stark Box was part of the landscape of nothing. She'd thought it would make Clint happy, and it had, but without him, it was just another thing she could easily walk away from. She let herself into her rooms, and checked to see if he'd made it there yet or not. Half thinking maybe he'd have gone. They'd never tested this whole walk rule out before. It might already have failed them. Seeing his bow and jacket near the door gave her some hope, even if she didn't have answers. "Hey." Her greeting was subdued, but it wasn't angry. She'd at least made that much progress on the way down. She might be feeling it still, but she wasn't lashing out at him.
Clint Barton	Clint had been looking around the place when Skye returned. Turning, he sees her and smiles. "Hey." She was back, that was good. It was a start. He could feel the awkwardness coming and speaks into it. Trying to cut it off. Defend against the damage any true silence between them might cause. "I'm sorry, Skye," he says. "I made a mess of that, but I was just trying not to hurt you. I hope you understand." He looks at her as he says it. Trying to say that he loved her without needing the words.
Skye Johnson	Skye shakes her head. "Nope. Don't understand one bit. At least not what you did back there. I knew I'd lost. I offered to lose. I didn't need you being an asshole and shooting that stupid arrow just to tell me no. I heard you loud and clear." "All you had to say was no. Was fucking insulting to have it rubbed in my face like that. Just what the hell were you thinking anyway?" Okay, so she was still angrier than she thought about that.
Clint Barton	Clint looks at her, horrified. "What? No. That's not what I was doing. I didn't take that shot to rub it in your face, I did it to say, I wasn't rejecting the idea or you. It just surprised me and I needed a bit of time to think on it. I did it so you didn't have to lose. God," he says moving to the couch and sitting down. He looks up at her, "I'm probably not making any more sense, am I?"
Skye Johnson	"What the hell, Hotshot?" Skye's words are a wealth of confusion, her features twisting up to give him a look that says she thinks he's lost his marbles. "How the hell is you losing the bet and telling me no supposed to make me feel better? You fucking lost the bet and said no. What the hell was that anyway?" "I offered to lose!" Skye's voice raises a notch before she exhales slowly. "Dammit, I knew you were going to say no. I told you it was okay. You didn't believe me. I don't fucking care where your shit lives. I cared where you were." She sighs, and moves over to the couch to sit with him, worming her way under an arm and settling up against him, even though she wasn't any happier with him. "I'm sorry I even brought it up. I just wanted you to know I liked having you around enough that I was willing to go there. It was pretty stupid of me." "I'll get over it. Im not upset you said no. It was that other bullshit." She attempts a weak smile. "Really I should be saying too bad, so sad, you lost, and you knew the rules. Just.. So, Italy, huh? If I can't afford Italy, anywhere else you might like to go? Provided Fury doesn't say no, or plan the counterattack for the holidays."
Clint Barton	Clint throws a confused look back at her in turn. "I wasn't saying no, I was saying not yet. I just needed time to process. I got scared and didn't want this to fuck things up." He sighs. "I know that's dumb, but that's what happened. I know I can be hard to be around. I just didn't want you to be sick of me and be locked in with neither of us having a place to go." There were other little logistical things as well, but they hardly mattered. "Listen I want to make this work. I like being around you, I was never saying no to that. I just got confused." The vacation he leaves be for now.
Skye Johnson	Skye elbows him without looking up, staring off towards the door. She's still snuggled up against him, though. "Then you should have said that instead of pulling that crap with the arrow. It fucking hurt to watch you do that and still .. fine. You didn't say no. But it amounts to the same thing." She does turn then, "Just what do you think we've been doing all this time, huh, Hotshot? Do you remember the last time we didn't spend all our downtime with one another? I hate to break it to you, but we're already living together except we both have extra large closets we visit with the other person from time to time." Skye settles back against him and tugs his arm about her, threading her fingers through his. "I'm so damned angry with you right now. You're not the only one afraid. Just next time, don't be such an insulting asshole. Just tell me. Let me lose when I say I see the writing on the wall and I'm okay with it. That hurt."
Clint Barton	"I'm sorry. Hurting you was the last thing I wanted to do. I know I failed but I was trying to do the opposite. You're right I should have said it outright," he leans his head against hers for a moment before she turns towards him. He listens. "Yeah I know," he says about them all but living together. He lets her tug his arm around him and entwine fingers. He lets out a breath. "I'm sorry. And I should have done this all better." He lets out another breath putting together the thoughts he'd had while he waited for her. "What if we find a place together?" Clint asks suddenly into the forming silence. "I don't want to live here, I love you and we've got some memories, but it's still SHIELD and there are times I just need to be away from this place. At the same time it seems dumb us trucking all the way out to Brooklyn. Maybe somewhere closer?" he suggests. "Provided there are closer places that don't cost a fortune." He looks to her then. "Am I making any sense? I'm sort of second guessing myself after fucking things up just now."
Skye Johnson	"Well, I'm still angry. But I'm not running. So we're good. I'll get over it." Her words sound petulant to even her own ears, making Skye make a wry face and sigh. "I know you didn't mean it. I'm trying to not be upset. I think it just sort of blindsided me a bit. Maybe I wanted to be the bigger person and you doing that took away my chance to be some sort of fucking martyr. Who knows. I just know it wasn't about you saying no." When he continues on, she quiets, and listens, remaining still within his embrace. Even if she did sort of make him hug her. It just seemed to her the easiest way to say that she could be angry and still love him at the same time. That this wasn't going to break them. "I don't care where I live, Clint. Here's just a place I sleep in. The only thing that ever made it more of a home was you. You want to be somewhere else, I can be somewhere else. There's nothing here I'd miss. Not even my laptop." Okay, she might miss that, even if she can replace it. I mean, she'd want to wipe the hard drive and all, but it's a measure of what she's trying to say that it doesn't even rank in the list of things she'd care about taking. "When you're ready, we can look at other places. If that's what the stumbling block is. But if it's something else, say it, don't make this about SHIELD." She's quiet a moment before asking, "Is my working for SHIELD going to be a problem between us?"
Clint Barton	Clint looks at her, "As long as we're good, then be as upset as you want. I'll live," the other stuff it gets a nod, he squeezes her fingers between his own. "Sorry," he says of whatever it was that had set her off. "Just, if you ever figure it out, tell me, I don't want to do this again over the same thing." It seems silly, on the surface, the remark about the laptop meaning so much, but it does. He had things that were a part of him too and he knew what it meant to part with them. Even if they would be eventually replaced. "I don't really give a crap about my stuff either, as long as we're together I'm good. And really, I don't care that much about where. I guess all of that is just noise that I kicked up because I was afraid of the other stuff, of you getting tired of me." He squeezes her fingers again, "What I'm saying is I'm in. We can workout the details whenever, but I want to be with you Skye." The SHIELD stuff, that gets a slow breath. "It's a complication but not a problem. Like I said, when I we first started talking, I like the people more than the organization and sometime the organization might push me too far." He looks at her. "If I have to walk on SHIELD, I don't want you to think it means I'm walking out on you too. You're more important. And as long as you know that, then we'll work out the rest."
Skye Johnson	"It stung when you shot the arrow and said no. It was a no, even if you don't think it was. And it wasn't the no that stung, it was.." Skye sighs. "It was like you were rubbing it in my face. Hey, look, I could have won but I didn't, and you still lose. Instead of just talking to me. I thought.. I thought you understood I was okay with it all. I guess I didn't see you were trying to do the same thing. Just crossed wires. We talked. It's okay." She allows for a wry little smile, leaning back and looking up at him. "I'm sorry too. You weren't trying to hurt me. I should have just changed my forfeit request when you started acting all squirrelly about it." Which makes her chuckle some. "You still had to hit the ballast, though, didn't you? Damned showoff. Couldn't just aim off into nothing like a normal person." She's still chuckling when she tells him, "You have a lot of crap for someone who doesn't care about it." It's teasing, though. "I think you're doing what I am - just occupying space. I guess I thought I'd feel more like I belonged in a space than I do. I still don't. It sort of shocked me to realize how much I looked forward to you being with me." He gets a shake of head, "I thought I was dumb about this relationship stuff. Don't you think I'd have kicked you to the curb long before this if I were going to get tired of you? I made a career out of pushing people away, Clint. After everything we've been through, and you still wonder if I might boot you?" Her smile for him is crooked. "Idiot. Then, It felt like you were saying you needed to be able to walk away from me. That stung. And SHIELD.. I don't know. I mean, I don't care where you work. Just, this is.. what do I have instead? It's not like I can go back to Rising Tide. I have SHIELD. I hear you. I get it. They.. They're what they are. You're probably a better person than I am." "I'm okay if you're okay."
Clint Barton	"I know now," Clint says about the arrow. "And it's fine about the request. I should have just said what was on my mind. But we've said, that, crossed wires," he leaves it at that. It felt good to move past it. Even if he trusted her to stay the fight had been a weight on his heart he was glad to see lifted. The part about the shot though, that gets a laugh. "What? I'm a showman," he says with a smile and his free hand spread out, he'd have done both if it didn't mean letting go of her. "Yeah, yeah, guess we just balance each other out in the grand scheme of things, I have all the stuff, you have none," he says shaking his head. "Still don't care about it really. When we figure this moving in together stuff, I'll probably have to junk a bunch of it. But anyhow, I'm glad you want to be with me Skye. Really." The stuff about her getting tired of him, he lets out a breath. "Sometime my head gets screwed up. I think people think about me like I think about me sometimes," he nods his head to her. "So, it's less that you'd get tired of me, and more that I would and sometimes I don't see how other people wouldn't either." He looks at her with a furrowed brow "it's dumb because I know you won't but," he makes a noise and shakes his head. "It's dumb. Anyhow, I don't want to walk away from you, I had that chance and I didn't take it and it's probably one of the best decisions I've made. So, yeah, that's not what I was getting at." He nod about SHIELD. "I know, you don't have the options I do, and I don't blame you for wanting to stay and if I do leave, I won't make it a them or me thing, I promise." He nods then. "And yeah, I'm okay."
Skye Johnson	"Showoff," she repeats. It's the rest, though that has her leaning back, offering up her lips for kisses. "Not so dumb. I have a lot of the same thoughts. Keep worrying that you'll leave me even though I keep saying I have faith in you. I have to, because if I don't, then.. then my brain says you'll leave me like everyone else did. Stupid, I know. It's not like I'm tying you up and making you stay." She murmurs, "I.. can we just go to bed and hold one another? Even if you feel like maybe you want to go home tonight, could you hold me for a little bit? I just need to feel you near for a while."
Clint Barton	Clint grins. "I like that one almost as much as Hotshot." He takes a moment though to assure her, "Almost." He did like that name she had for him. The offer of her lips is accepted, and for a few moments that's how he speaks to her, wordless reassurance of his love. Her words though touch him and he smiles. "Thanks," he says for sharing that she had the same thoughts, the same worries. He holds her a little closer. Clint blinks, still holding her. The idea that he'd go home surprised him even if she had just told him she had those same irrational thoughts as he did. Then the surprise fades and understanding comes and he kisses her again. "Sure I will, Skye," he says when their lips part. "Though I'm not sure where you think I'd go," he says before squeezing her one more time. "You're right here."
Skye Johnson	"Fat chance of losing the Hotshot now," Skye grins back. "But you can fill out the requisite forms in triplicate and we'll see what we can do after they're been filed in the circular file." read: never happening. The kiss, though, reassures her where so many others things haven't as much as they might. The language they still speak best soothing her and telling her things they're both inadequate to. Even so, he blinks, but she sees when he understands. The small thing within her that had threatened to grow into something more fading away. It had been safe to say these things. All the old fears from childhood hadn't won. They'd been wrong. "Well, I hear there's this lousy apartment in Brooklyn," she jokes, getting up off the couch and offering him her hand. "Heard you were kinda fond of the place." When he rises, she nods. "Yeah. I'm here. Wherever you are, that's where I'll be." It's her nod to his I'm in'. Even if she didn't quite allow herself to trust those words yet. Like the I love you they'd struggled with before, this would be their new unfamiliar territory. They'd get there. But first? Holding one another in bed.
Clint Barton	"Good," Clint says with a smile. "And I wouldn't hold my breath on that paperwork." After the kiss he murmurs, "Why don't we ever open with these?" he asks. It would have been so simple rather than get tangled up in words. See, even in the wake of the kiss, the blinked confusion, the looks, and they understood one another. Words, still it seemed, got in the way. Well, except when they were jokes. "I am somewhat, but right now, it's a distant second to here," meaning, what she did, he went where she went. He doesn't take her hand right away, he places hand palm to palm with hers before brushing a quick kiss across her lips. Only then does he take the hand and with nothing further to say, he leads her to the bedroom. The rest, it could wait. The silence continues to the bedroom, where their hands part and they undress for bed. He begins with his ears. Slipping the hearing aids out and putting them in the little box he kept here for them. As though this wasn't home Even with the hearing aids gone, he could hear, some, and the room was quiet. Ears put away, he loses his suit pants and button down shirt, before slipping between the covers in his boxers. Laying on his back, he takes a deep breath, one hand is moved behind his head while the other is stretched out beside him, creating a space for Skye to join him.
Skye Johnson	Words complicate them. There are still too many times things would have been simpler if they'd led with a kiss like he'd said. Skye watches him a moment while he undresses, waiting until he's climbed into the bed to strip down to panties and tank, climbing into bed beside him, taking the space he's held for her. The are still some raw edges, but this helps, Being able to be near him. Touch him. "It was cold on the roof," she tells him, whispering into the darkness. "I'm sorry I had to leave. I didn't want to say the wrong thing." Or cry, she told herself. She didn't want to cry in front of him.
Clint Barton	He breathes deep, feeling the warmth of Skye beside him helped. It always did, it told him they were going to be okay. Even in the darkness of the room he turns to face her, the motion of her lips adding to the whispered words. "I know," he says gently. Turning over, so he faced her. "It was the right call. I needed time to get my head together too." He kisses her then, quick and gentle, before he says in words what the kiss had meant. "Glad you came back."
Skye Johnson	There's a wry little chuckle from Skye. "Figure the one thing we get right is running away." Not that she'd run away. She knew he'd understand, though. And he had, kissing her and saying almost that, thanking her for coming back. "I almost texted you to come get me." And she almost had, not being able to find her own way in this and bring afraid to come back. It was almost too hard to do on her own. Seems they'd both had their moment that way. But she had come back.
Clint Barton	Clint smiles. "Yeah, we're good at that at least." The kiss said all he needed it to say about her returning. "I would have," he says about coming to get her. "That sort of thing, totally okay to text." Goodbyes, as they established. Not so much. She had come back though. So, that thankfully didn't matter. "Think it'll ever change?" he asks. "Us and running away. Think there'll be a point where it's not our instinct when things get tough?"
Skye Johnson	"Almost wish I had, now," Skye murmurs. "I was stuck." She smiles, then. "Of course, we'd both have froze our asses off. This way I had a reason to come back in." She kisses him softly. The 'other than you' implied. "I don't know," she continues, having wondered the same thing about them. They were such a product of their pasts. "Past me would have been gone by now," she tells him. "No amount of good sex could have kept me. We're getting better?". She hoped so at least. "It worked. The running away rule." And it had. Surprisingly.
Skye Johnson	"Almost wish I had, now," Skye murmurs. "I was stuck." She smiles, then. "Of course, we'd both have froze our asses off. This way I had a reason to come back in." She kisses him softly. The 'other than you' implied. "I don't know," she continues, having wondered the same thing about them. They were such a product of their pasts. "Past me would have been gone by now," she tells him. "No amount of good sex could have kept me. We're getting better?". She hoped so at least. "It worked. The running away rule." And it had. Surprisingly.
Clint Barton	"We know for next time," Clint says about reaching out for the other when they're stuck. He chuckles softly at the image of them both standing heartsick in the cold together and smiles into their kiss, taking those unspoken words to heart. "Past me, too," he confirms with a nod. And likely would have done a bit more damage on the way out the door as well, just to make sure she didn't follow him. Spotting the opening, he can't help but say, "Better? The sex? Nah, we were pretty good the first time too." Though, as their feelings grew that had improved as well. He kissed her again and yes, despite his joke he knew they'd gotten better at facing down their pasts to be together and he was grateful for that. Clint smiles as their lips part and he nods, "It did." He was surprised too. Who knew they could figure these things out?
Skye Johnson	"So 'help' would have flown, huh?" Skye smiles against his chest. "Was afraid. Didn't want to trap you. I got up there and didn't know what to do. Wished I'd not left." "The only person I had to turn to was you and I'd already told you to fuck off." Not in so many words, but in the cold and dark, that's what her fears told her. Said she couldn't turn to him now. Except she had once she'd made up her mind to return to her rooms. Which in and of itself was ridiculous - they were her rooms. "Next time, I'll remember that." She can't help snuggling in closer. "We're figuring this thing out."
Clint Barton	"Yeah. I would have come freeze with you," Clint says. "And I get it." It had hurt when she left, basically telling him to fuck off, but he hadn't held it against her. Really, he understood it. When he'd needed space, he found, perversely, the only person he really wanted to talk to had been her. He smiles as she snuggles close, and her shifts to help her do it, wrapping both arms around her when she has. "Do that," he says of remembering kissing the top of her head. "And I'll try to do the same." He gently strokes her back through her tank top with a hand. "We are, kind of surprising really, but I'll take it." It was certainly better than the both of them burning down what they had out of the fear of losing it.
Skye Johnson	Maybe well stop being stupid and needing to do this. I dont know. Youre the one whos been here before. You tell me. Do people keep doing this? Or do they figure it out finally and move along? Every time it happens I get scared again. Keep thinking of how it was when we started out and we couldnt talk to one another at all. Her brow furrows. It was harder and easier then. I dont know. But they are figuring it out. There were any number of bridges she hadnt burned even though shed held the matches firmly in hand, against the strike plate, arguing with her inner demons. He wasnt the only one whod have taken them down with collateral damage if shed decided to run. Theyve had had to have taken a sieve to the remains to find any pieces when she was through.. Dont think you get a choice, Hotshot. Your get out of Skye free card expired. She makes light of things, because, really, short of chaining him to her bed, and some fast and loose talk with Fury and May about how she didnt know where hed gone.. hadnt they sent him off on a mission? See, I have the texts from him.. .. she couldnt force hit to stay. Still, it felt grounding to tease about it. Better than shed felt on the rooftop not knowing what to do.
Clint Barton	Clint licks his lips before answering, "Sure I've been here, but, not very successfully." He looks at her then. "I honestly don't know. Sometimes it is other times not. I guess it depends on the people involved, but you and me, we are getting better at this, so, I have to hope for us, yeah, maybe we do get past it." He kisses her forehead gently. "And I think we're past that point at least, where we can barely talk to each other." And that he was putting words to that was proof of that. He was glad, because they'd both played with the matches since they'd come together. And so he had to have hope that one day they'd put them away. "Good," Clint says as he's taken from his thoughts by her words and the lifting of her tone. "Because, got to say, out of you is not the direction I usually want to be headed in." He could joke too and it made him feel good, but all the same he clung a little tighter to her, slipping a leg across her own as well, subconsciously as a bit of added assurance that he wasn't letting go.
Skye Johnson	"Yeah, Skye admits, "We're talking a lot more these days, aren't we? Still not our strong suit. Which she has to laugh at somewhat. It is funny, if not so funny at the time. "Riiiight. Mr. Needs a Roadmap thinks he can find his way around this ride. She jokes, but Skye also makes a point of shifting her limbs to let his tangle better with her own. They might be joking, but there's that, too. A whole lot of nope. not running. not letting you run' going on as well.
Clint Barton	"Totally not our thing yet, but, yeah, we talk now, sometimes even as a first step to solving a problem," Clint says with a chuckle. "Guess it helps that we have compatible issues." r Whatever made them be okay with the fumbling and the little flare ups of fear and pain, he was grateful for it. As they entangle each other, Clint smiles, they were funny sometimes. Though that doesn't mean he let's Skye's tease go by without something to say from his end.. No way. "Roadmap huh? And when have I ever needed one of those with you?" he asks, a few times come to mind, but it was fun to play along.
Skye Johnson	Skye chuckles right on back. "I thought talking first was what started all our problems, huh?" "Helps? Sometimes. Well, I guess I get it when you're freaking about something. I'm usually freaking about the same thing." Now she's chuckling again. "Almost kind of ridiculous when you think about it. If it weren't us, I'd be laughing at us so hard right now. Right on down to the bucket of popcorn to throw from the balcony." Except she is laughing at the two of them "So need a roadmap. And a seeing eye dog. Maybe one of those white canes too." Hey, he's missing one sense, why not throw in another? She could play up the ante on the personal diss game. And he started it with the short joke. Skye was so seriously going to find herself a you must be /this/ tall to ride this ride' tee-shirt and flaunt it in front of him.
Clint Barton	A grin when Skye points out his contradiction. "True," he laughs. "I dunno, I guess the trick will be finding the right way of talking it out for the problem. Sometimes that's words, other times, really, really not." Of course the trick was picking the right time for each. Yeah, he'd be right there with her on that balcony, throwing popcorn at the two of them. "Ouch," Clint says, with a smile when she doubles down. "You really don't play fair do you?" he eyes how they're tangled up and adds. "Good thing we're set up for mutually assured destruction right now or I'd be tickling you right now."
Skye Johnson	"Hacker!" Skye sing-songs a la Pirates of the Caribbean. "And ooo, you're learning. Mutually assured destruction for the win."5R5rThe laugh she gives reaches her eyes this time. Things are totally on the mend. "Yeah, we're going to stub our toes on one another a lot, I imagine. That whole too many of the same demons in our closets. Though you'd think that would make it easier, huh? Just not sure there's much of a way to realize you're hitting someone with the same thing that would cut you. At least not until it flies out of your mouth." Skye shrugs, then lays her head down, looking thoughtful. "You know, even that first fight, we play pretty cleanly." Impressively controlled for two people who learned how to keep people out, not let them in and keep them there.
Clint Barton	That laugh reaching her eyes? It puts Clint at ease. They might not be all the way patched up but they'd get there. He kisses her forehead, what? She was cute when she laughed. He nods, "Would be nice if it made it easier, but yeah, doesn't seem like it's in the cards," he looks at her then, eye to eye. "And I'll take the stubbed toes and whatever else if in the end, I'm with you. In the end that's what all I want, no matter how hard it gets." Did he just say that aloud? It was progress. Not long before he wouldn't have been able to say that with words but now it was out there and he wasn't afraid. Okay, maybe a bit, but he wasn't freaking out over it. When she lays her head down, he watches her, nodding. "True. I am sure we both could have said things that would have cut deeper and left us both alone. I'm guess we love each other more than we're afraid of it all going to hell."
Skye Johnson	"Likely," Skye agrees of the whole 'this more than that' of the matter. "This isn't where I saw myself ending up. Not even when we agreed not to not date." Their complicated ending up as a couple as much a matter of circumstance and refusal to back down on either part as much as acceptance and agreement that this is where they wanted to be. "Things totally could have and should have imploded. Sleep?"
Clint Barton	"Yeah, me neither. I don't think I really had an end in mind when we started, it was just something I found myself wanting," he lifts a shoulder at that. Their relationship was weird, he'd made his peace with that. "Yeah," he says about things imploding. "But glad they didn't." He pauses a moment then lets himself settle down on the pillow again. "And yeah, sleep would be good."
Skye Johnson	Sleep happens. All is good. Nobody burned bridges. Even better