Owner	Pose
Clint Barton	Since Skye left, Clint had been holing up at his old place in Brooklyn. It was a bit of a mess still, but with fewer boxes, most of what he cared about had been moved in wit Skye. So far he'd only gone to get his TV and game system, which he was currently using right now while plopped on the couch in a hoodie and sweats. There were all the trappings of a man drowning his sorrows around, a half-empty bottle of Jack and a couple of pizza boxes from Gino's down the street. As for communication? He was scarce there too. He'd put in for sick time at SHIELD and been trading off monitoring shifts with the Avengers to continue living like a hermit, plus he still looked like shit. Dark circles under his eyes and a ton of stubble the whole deal. It was all very convincing.
Tony Stark	And Tony is playing the part of friend come to drag his friend out into the light of day. Possibly with hookers and booze. He parks outside and comes rolling up to the door, knocking loudly and expectantly. He brought alcohol and food, and is dressed casually: tight black jeans, Black Sabbath shirt, leather jacket, some of his favorite dark orange tinted sunglasses. For all that, though, Tony is ill; he has an edge to him as if he is fighting a cold or something, in a weariness and drag to some of his motions when he isn't deliberately being a showman of how awesome he is. So - pretty rarely, overall. "Avon calling; we are certain you look like shit," Tony calls in through the door cheerfully.
Clint Barton	Clint pauses his game and gets to his feet with a grin. He recognizes the voice, "Great salesmanship, there, keep it up Mr. Salesman, one day you might be rich as Tony Stark," he calls back, his grin coming through in his voice as he crosses the room to open the door. "See! Worked already," he smirks before he gets a look at Tony and remarks, "And as for looking like shit, you didn't have to get sick to try and keep up with me. Still got you beat though and you better not be contagious," the words are lightly given and Clint gets out of the way to let Tony inside. "So, what's up?"
Tony Stark	"Nothing about me is contagious, unfortunately for you," Tony answers in return, tilting his head down to look at Clint over his sunglasses. He didn't like being seen as sick, there's a slight little catch of dismay there. Tony wasn't aware it showed. "A few /minor/ things, really," Tony says, coming in, fully letting the door shut, with good awareness of not talking about things outside. "Message from some twit that tried to pee in my pool, for you to decipher. I DO require some sharing about what it means, though," Tony says, inviting himself in, though he hands over the booze directly to Clint's hands, and will put down the food itself onto the nearest available surface, even if it's a chair or on top of some archery stuff. He doesn't just say what it is, he watches for a cue about if he can say it here, or what.
Clint Barton	Clint begins to grin at Tony's retort but that hint of dismay is noted and he frowns thoughtfully, dismay was so not Tony. He doesn't speak on it, not yet. Tony brought booze and that always went well with more personal questions. He takes the bottle when offered and goes to a cupboard, to grab a couple of glasses. "Someone pissed in your pool huh? Did they like the picture I sent?" he asks as he heads back to grab the food and lead the way into the living room. "And what'd they say?" he asks as he takes a seat and nods to Tony to do the same.
Tony Stark	"Already drained the sucker. Still, I would have rather done other things with my evening," Tony says offhandedly. Any dismay is wiped away, Tony's rolling again: all cool smiles, relaxed. He wanders in, moving some things out of the way on the couch so he can recline on it, making himself at home, in his sometimes caustic, arrogant - but lovable, right? - way. "Pretty sure the picture got YOUR intent across. Yeah, the message was, 'Tell Reggie it's on.'." Tony extends a hand for a glass, to unload Clint from the variety of objects he'd brought into the living room.
Clint Barton	"So how bad did the piss in it?" Clint asks as he sets down the food so he can focus on the important thing, the booze. A glass was handed to Tony, then Clint balances the other one on the arm of the sofa while he opens the bottle for them. He nods for Tony to put his glass out. The message and the news about the picture gets a chuckle from Clint. "Glad you think so. Crazy what people put online about us, right?" he says, not like Tony doesn't have a million fan sites and probably some with worse content than what Clint had dug up. "And Reggie is my bow. Long story. Like Merida thing, that's her bow, it was just the two of us telling each other we're alright. But since it was your pool people were pissing in, if you have questions, ask away, I don't know a lot, but willing to share what I do."
Tony Stark	"Well, lots of them have given my starving lawyer shark tanks some prey to chew up, which is what I pay them for, so that's not so much a problem, and they got-- nowhere, really, because, well," a pause. "I'm me," Tony says, extending his glass immediately when beckoned. "But I don't like being pulled into this nonsense to be a target - at least not without my okay," Tony adds. And he points across the glass with index finger on the same hand that is holding it, at Clint. "Because I'm a great philanthropist and prefer certain flowers to be alive, well, this one time, but there's limits. Twice now I've been used to deflect, pretty sure," Tony's tolerant of whatever is happening, and clearly has some guesses about all the motives of it all. "Fortunately I'm somewhat smart, I can see what's happening, but hey, I'm not an agent, I don't get paid for this," Tony winks.
Clint Barton	Clint pours into Tony's glass until Tony says when, then he gives himself a couple of fingers. "Glad you handled it," Clint says. "Don't know too much about the attack, but I gathered it was the Rising Tide who picked you as the target, not SHIELD. Skye is just working them and had to play the part. What was the other time you had to play deflection?" he asks as he sets the bottle down and takes a belt from his glass. "Did they try you again?"
Tony Stark	"No, pretty sure it was when I was 'visiting' the Triskelion about Helicarrier upgrades, while staring across a desk at your director," Tony says offhandedly, drinking with pleasure and then opening up the food. Hawaiian barbeque - mixed chicken and pork, primarily. "You were shot that night, right?" Tony watches Clint more narrowly, as if attempting to judge his wellbeing. But he doesn't ask about any emotional part of it directly. Of course.
Clint Barton	"Ah, during the break out. That time I think that was Skye," Clint says breathing in deep as the scent of the BBQ hits him. "Good choice," he remarks as he pops up to get them some plates. "And yeah, she shot me, it was just an ICER though, stun round, no permanent damage." He is however walking with a touch of a limp in his left leg. "Did catch a stray in Madripoor trying to track Skye down," For all he's beaten up though he seems a hell of a lot better than he was that night at the safehouse on the emotional front. The proverbial weight lifted off his shoulders. "So, how much do you know?" he asks Tony. "They read you in on all of this, or did Fury just surprise you?" He brings back the plates and sits down again. "Sort of a dick move if so, even for Fury."
Tony Stark	"I'm on my own with my guesses, here, that's why I'm such a pleasure," Tony chuckles, with a mid-air toast to nobody. "Fury didn't tell me anything. It was more what he didn't do that tipped me. I stayed out of it." A pause. "Mostly," Tony says, admitting he did muck around a little bit. "I got a tipoff about an attack, and when it was likely. But I suspect that maybe was just so that I wasn't entirely pissed off and fill the Helicarriers with an excessive amount of bugs - I mean, 'features'," Tony adds. He considers. "I must be considered very unpredictable and potentially vengeful," Tony observes.
Clint Barton	Clint grimaces and shakes his head. "Jeez, sorry," he says of Fury not filling him in. He does chuckle about the unpredictable and vengeful part. "I am pretty sure they wrote that in bold letters on the front of your SHIELD file," he says with a grin and hands Tony a plate. "Keeping in mind, I am probably breaking a dozen SHIELD protocols and that my girl's life is on the line if you spill," he gives Tony a level look. "The gist of all this is probably what you guessed, they sent Skye into Rising Tide to take them down from within. Which I guess meant going along with them to piss in your pool. Nobody was really told about it when she escaped to make it look good, heck, even I didn't know, which is why I was trying to crawl into a bottle the other night. And that's about what I know. See the fun I get to have with SHIELD?" he asks Tony, he says a little of his own distress showing through.
Tony Stark	"Not arguing that you were on the worst end of this. That was pretty terrible to watch, I prefer not needing reasons to drink heavily," Tony comments evenly, with a shake of head at the topic of Clint's fall into despair over his lost girl. "Which is why I'm mostly done complaining about this." 'Mostly', of course, because Tony NEVER just drops things, unless he forgets. He collects a bunch of meat onto his plate with some really tasty looking macaroni salad. "If I were going to break all your SHIELD protocols into little bits I would have done it well before now. I am not, in fact, that much of an asshole. I mean, we're low on Avengers," Tony says serenely. "Speaking of that, I got Simon back into the fold and set up."
Clint Barton	Clint flinches at what flashes of memory he has about the night after Skye left. "I am sorry you had to see that, Tony. Not my best me," he says quiet and quick, lips half hidden by his glass. He takes a swallow then adds, "Thanks for being there, though." The glass is set down, then when Tony's done, Clint loads his plate in a similar fashion. "And sure, we can call it 'dropped'," he says knowing the subject can return at any time. "So, you know about how things are about my girl, sort of, how about Pepper? She make you any more dinners?" he asks. Simon's return is met with a grin. "Really, Sunglasses is back? Right on. We're going to have to get a get together going or something. Bring the team together."
Tony Stark	Tony is generous to the thank you. "You're welcome," he says grandly, easy arrogance, as if he were accepting an award just for being himself. He'll throw it onto the pile. The topic change to Pepper brings a brief laugh out of Tony. "No. Well, not that I was told about," Tony says, shrugging, as if it didn't matter. It probably does matter. "But that..." He gestures with a piece of chicken, "Is in a holding pattern." He considers Clint carefully, trying to remember what Clint knows about this. Tony was drunk at the time.
Clint Barton	Clint smirks at Tony's acceptance of the thank you in a very Tony fashion. "Any time," he says with a shake of his head and takes a bite of the take out. "Damn, this is good." "Well, if she did make you more dinners, I figure you'd be the first to know, so I think what you're saying, is no," he says with a little roll of his eyes. Though for all that, he can sympathize, especially when he hears things are in a holding pattern. "No!" he protests. "What happened there man? I thought you two were trying dating?" Or was that what he said? Clint was pretty drunk too.
Tony Stark	Urgh. Is there an easy way to dodge this? Tony isn't even sure he's in the mood to. "I know," Tony agrees with the food being amazing. Look, a distraction! "The pork, especially. Then again, I tip well, so, I think they go all out when I show up," Tony observes. It's good to be Tony. Well, in those situations. Less so on the one that follows it up. "She did ask about a date," Tony says, with arrogance, as if 'of course she did', but he is deflecting a little, here. Gotta keep the ego intact. "But I don't need her staring at me like I'm a porcelain unicorn that's in danger of breakage, so we're going to wait until I've cleared my tiny health hurdle." Meaning, he's probably on verge of death.
Clint Barton	Clint chuckles. "Yeah, that probably helps," he says about the big tips. "Still, pretty damn good though, they throw a menu into the bag?" he asks, peeking, Though that's as much deflection as Tony gets away with. "Huh, so, more than just a cold huh?" Clint asks. "What's up Tony? Why would she be looking at you like that?" Clint has theories but nothing he'd voice.
Tony Stark	"Yeah, probably have to open up my chest, issue with the casing and mount on the arc reactor," Tony says flippantly, reaching into the bag to pull the menu from the side, since it was near him, handing it over. "I haven't tried the seafood at all yet," Tony adds, as if the topic of food were more interesting than the other part. But he does relent: "That's why I'm not on active combat roster. ----But if I'm really needed I'll still do it, you know," Tony adds in a sort of private aside, as if to assure Clint that the lack of roster thing is in name only. Yeah, that's exactly what they need: Tony thinking he's still combat ready. Tony and his insane level of belief in his own indestructibility.
Clint Barton	"Jesus, Tony," Clint exclaims when Tony mentions opening his chest. "That thing," he nods at the reactor. "Is busted?" he doesn't try to escape to some idea of a safe distance. "You can fix it right?" he ask. By which he means, are you going to die. Though for both of their sakes, the other words are easier. The roster? Clint understands that kind of crazy, it was the same need to feel invincible that drove Clint to fight along side gods, monsters and guys in metal armor with a bow and arrow. Still, there were differences, "Hey man I get it. I got shot in the leg, but if I get the call I'm going anyhow. Though depending on how serious this is, might be worth taking, five, I dunno. Not a doctor, but you're Tony Stark, it's sort of a big deal for a lot of people if you're not around." Clint offers a smirking aside. "Though tell anyone I said that, totally going to deny it."
Tony Stark	"If the world starts caring about what you think or say about me, I'll let you know," Tony teases back immediately with a roguish smirk, unable to resist reversing that dagger. So much easier than the other topic, honestly. "Technically, it's not the reactor; the reactor just is causing some decomposition in the housing," Tony feels a need to point out, defending his own creation, obviously. He indicates with a circle around the reactor with his hand, tapping on the edge: the piece that's actually against his insides, pulling shirt down some to show an edge. He considers it. There's some discoloration on the skin right next to it. That's new. "Huh. That doesn't look good," Tony observes idly. He lets his shirt go back into place. "But yes, got some top minds - including mine - solving it. No problem at all," Tony says, confidently. Which, if he were actually as confident as he sounds, he may not have diverted Pepper. So, either he's using it to dodge the Pepper date (which could indeed be the case, Tony has no real record of actually doing any dating that actually mattered), or he's aware open chest surgery could potentially be dangerous.
Clint Barton	Clint snorts almost choking on some pork when Tony turns things back on him. "Touche," he coughs before he washes down his food with his drink. Clint nods, he knows what a housing is. "So, it's breaking down and letting shit leak into you?" he asks. The discolouration though earns a flinch, "Jesus," he breathes about to ask if Tony's seeing a doctor about all of this, but Tony answers that for him. "Alright, so you've got some pretty heavy surgery coming up and you've got a lot of big brains to fix all that," he waves in the direction of Tony's reactor. "So, why no date with Pepper? I mean, were it me I'd be all about seizing the day, locking that down before I had to deal with surgery and rehab and all of that." All of that including the possibility of death.
Tony Stark	"That's close enough, yeah," Tony agrees with Clint's assessment on leaks, not sweating the details about the reactor problem. Clint has the gist of it, and Tony doesn't tend to wax technical when he can give a partially realistic version of things. "I'm seizing a hell of a lot of things," Tony says, taking a big drink and a suggestive smile. But he shrugs, noncommittal, "It was her idea. Something like wanting me back to 'normal', supposedly I'm acting oddly," Tony scoffs.
Clint Barton	"See I may not grok all the big tech words, but I'm no dummy," Clint grins as he takes another bite of the food. Clint laughs. "Wait, is the waiting her idea or is the seizing? If it's the seizing then, well I don't know what you're complaining about," Clint says before getting serious again. "So, she doesn't think you're serious then, is that it? She thinks the dating is just a symptom like that gross skin around reactor, and when you heal up it's going to vanish?" he asks.
Tony Stark	"Hmh. Maybe. She suggested a date, /after/ I'm 'back'. The thing is, though, I am being ... the /best/ version of myself," Tony declares with a flash of charismatic smile. Well, he is being what HE sees as the best version. That's a bit of a point of view thing. "She'll no doubt fall for me hard, and it'd be terrible to see yet another one of you drown in liquor--- since I wouldn't be around to drink too," Tony says 'sadly'. The man seems to not be aware of Pepper's current feelings. He's only mildly serious at the end, seeming to review Clint's words. That wasn't something that he'd really thought about. "Maybe she is afraid of that," Tony says. "I'm a little inconsistent, I've heard."
Clint Barton	"Just a little?" Clint teases Stark with another laugh, then holds up a hand in surrender towards any retort. "Joking, joking," he warns before he dives into the rest. "First, off, got to ask, because you and me seem to be the same kind of dumb when it comes to this stuff, did you tell her all this? You being the best you and I presume you not wanting to wait until after to date her?" He blinks, frowns, tilts his head. "I am assuming that she wants to wait is an issue, right? If so, then definitely tell her man. As for the whole you might not be here and Pepper alone and drinking? Sorry to break it to you Tony, but in our line of work, that's sort of a daily thing, can't let that stop you man. Seriously."
Tony Stark	"The smallest of little amounts, invisible," Tony agrees, willing to mock himself on consistency. He owns stuff like that, generally. He watches Clint over the top of his glass, disliking all the serious talk. Everyone is getting so serious around him. "This is why I haven't been tellin' people," Tony says, rolling his eyes. "I like being shallow." Tony swirls the liquor in the cup. "I maybe told her about setting everything up so that she wouldn't be under a pile of shit while I was recovering," Tony clarifies. "And mostly assumed the kiss covered the rest of that message," Tony finishes, with an ease of arrogance and suggestion that it went well. He refuses to let his mood stay down. "But come on, it'll be fine. Always is. D'you want to finish off that chicken?"
Clint Barton	Clint glances at Tony, "You kissed her?" he asks him with a grin. "Well man, sometimes that's not enough. You got to lay it out with small words, or if that doesn't help, then have a lethal Russian spy in the room to help clarify things, that's how Skye and I got together," he says. "True story." Getting the message about the serious Clint says, "We can do shallow. And yeah I want the chicken," he says. "But seriously Tony, last bit of serious, tell her. No kissing, use your words. Let her know how you feel." He slides the box with the chicken over to Tony and glances at the TV. "So shoot the shit and watch a movie or something?" he offers.
Tony Stark	"Of course I did," Tony says, a bit surprised about being questioned on that. "I'll pass on the lethal russian spy, but now I want to hear THAT story," Tony indicates in a 'spill it' motion of fork. "Last bit of serious: Pretty sure we're actually together," Tony says, finally. "Even if the date got delayed. It's ... different, now." Tony's emotion to that is sort of amused, but not unhappy. No, not really. Maybe unsure, but it's positive. But food, and shallow things, yay! "Eat it then," Tony laughs, when Clint says he wants the chiken. "But that last pork is mine," Tony says, shoving the chicken back, but claiming the other box, and stretching back. "What game are you playing?" he asks, of the paused screen. Yay for shooting the shit: Tony is good for it and relaxes to have a good (if often sarcastic) time. Even if he'd never admit it --he did need a friend.