justanotherdudewithabow :
Clint nodded as he stepped around Aurora to pour himself another cup. He took a large gulp before he turned back to her and said, “Well, I gotta say, thanks for forcing this one on me. It’s been a while since I’ve had coffee this strong.” He smiled softly and raised an eyebrow, laughing a little as he caught her joke. “Actually, I never made it to high school. Ran away and joined the circus as a kid. The most bullying I dealt with was usually having knives thrown at me.” He stopped laughing when Aurora turned around.
He had seen his fair share of battle wounds in the time he’d been with SHIELD, and he certainly had plenty of his own, but that didn’t stop the frown on Clint’s face from running deep when Aurora lifted her shirt. In the aftermath of Berlin and Vienna, it was so easy to forget that everyone around Elysium was a warrior. Clint wished he could forget that about himself. He swallowed hard and prepared to make a joke to lighten the mood, but Aurora cut him off. Did she say girlfriend?
“Girlfriend?” Clint sputtered, choking a little on his coffee. He clapped himself on the chest to clear his pipes. “Kate isn’t my girlfriend. She’s my - she told me not to call her my ward, uh - I dunno? She’s my partner.”
Great, Clint. Go ahead and use another buzzword that could be misconstrued to have romantic connotation, dumb ass. He could feel anxiety bubbling up in his chest, could feel Aurora’s eyes burning into him. Clint fumbled, running a hand through his hair, pulling a little to try and stabilize himself. “Uh, that is, she works with me. Well, worked. She’s Hawkeye too - well, was.”
He turned and set his mug on the counter behind him, resting back on his palms against the cool marble, gripping the edge just a little too tight. He coughed weakly, trying to buy himself more time. Why was he so anxious? Aurora wasn’t a threat, she was just making friendly conversation. Friendly, polite conversation about someone who Clint has spent years avoiding confrontation of his feelings for. He wasn’t even sure if he could label how he felt - and he really didn’t think he was ready to.
“She’s - she’s my Kate,” he decided with a sigh. “She wasn’t in Berlin because she was back in New York holding down the fort for me. I’m a landlord - well, I was. I have a friend back there who keeps an eye on the building now.”
She watched his back as he knocked back some more coffee ( he was like a machine ). "No problem dude, It is nice and strong isn't it ? Kinda taste like turkish coffee yet it's not too bitter." She wasn't much a coffee snob but she liked to know what she was drinking. She's a bit taken aback by his story and silences herself and takes another sip of coffee. " Well hey, you didn't miss much. It was pretty shitty for everyone." She says with a small smile before lifting the mug to lips again. A small frown grows on her face before she mumbles; " Well that's a lot worse than be called Cunt or Clit."
He had gone oddly silent when she showed him her back. Maybe the scar wasn't as cool as she thought. To her it was her medal of honour. It might not have been given the real deal, but the scar and her back reminded her that she stopped something from happening, whether it was good to bad, was up to her. She decided to not mention how difficult yet funny it was when she took her first shower.
"Yeah, Kate. Your girlfriend." she said as she lowered her shirt and turned back to him, her face riddled with confusion. Her eyebrows perked up and she tilted her head to the side. " Ah, really ? Oh partners, that's cute ! how long have you been together ?"
Love was such an odd thing when it came to superhumans and their super trained friends. Relationships were a hard thing to maintain when the two of you are working around the clock to keep your city safe. She understood that confusion of wondering where you stand yet sometimes, the whole we work together, not sleep together thing got jumbled in her scattered brain.
"Oh fuck— sorry, I thought you two we're like bang— I mean we're like a thing thing." She said waving him off. She watched as he leaned against the counter, clearly flustered. She knew that feeling, when someone mentioned the name of the person your heart was still deciding on ( a friend, or more ? ). A small smirk decorated her lips as she begun to play with the ends of her hair.
"Oh, uh-huh, your Kate. Ahh, keeping an eye on the old bachelor pad. Well mister landlord, I think there's a little more to this hawkeye squared thing than I thought." She grabbed the coffee pot and refilled his mug before sliding up onto the counter and taking a sip of her coffee.
"Spill the coffee beans, lover boy ! I'm no romantic but you're into her, tell me; do her eyes sparkle ? does she make you laugh ? Does she look great in yoga pants ? "
