âAs sure as you are for wanting tâ let a guy in whoâll probably get yâ ghosts in your toilet and who the fuck else knows visiting your living room at all hours of the day only tâ leave mucous all over your carpet along witâ its âorrible news âbout the end of the world. Not joking, by the way.â It felt a bit necessary to well⌠emphasize that last part just in case. Just to be absolutely sure he did indeed hear that right, since it wasnât like he had ever exactly hidden what was considered the package deal here.
Well⌠sort of, anyways. There were still things John didnât want Clint in on for very good reason and then some.
And maybe he was selling himself short enough to make Clint double think this on purpose. John definitely was self-aware. He knew he could be difficult to live with, lord knows he wasnât good to Kit in that regard and he was pretty sure the frayed strings of the memories with Dani werenât kind in his favor at all. Not to mention the things he was pretty sure Nick still haunted him for from beyond the grave as well for a number of other offensesâŚ
But was he really willing to risk all of that forâwell, whatever the hell this is?
âI donât got anything for me anywhere these days.â Apparently so, mulling over a few thoughts in his head with the last of his food. âChas has gotten on without me for time on end and everyoneâs used to me disappearing without word. Not like they really care all that much anyways, many more would just be glad to get rid of me. Sure, I got London, but sheâs survived without me as well.â
âI got as many good memories here as I do bad like I do back home, so it wouldnât even be much of a change. Difference really âs just what side oâ the pond Iâm on. And Iâd be on this side with you.â There was a stop, ducking his head to shake it and laugh a little. âGod, think this is more Iâve spoken in a while.â More than to memory, at least, and for a moment John couldnât help but idly wonder if this was just something that Clint seemed to bring out of him.
A comfortable sort of something that honestly scared him a little, but in a good way. A way he thought laid forgotten but⌠maybe itâd be worth it? There was only one way to find out.
â⌠Anyways, if yâ think about it this would also mean I donât gotta yâknow⌠go back just yet.â
Thereâs a stumble of Clintâs expression at that, oscillating between confusion and uncertainty. Features two-stepping over the myriad of images that very long, convoluted sentence seems to try to conjure, all of them stacking more or less into something messy and weird. Which, could honestly be the defintion for them both. Messy and Weird. A hell of a couple name, and Clint made a mental note to float it by Kate; she was always better at these things.Â
Though that in of itself was another whiplash of a thought as well because, well, things were starting to get a bit real. And Clint knew what happened when they got that. A whirlwind that ended in destruction across the Midwest and two sides that never quite forgot the path left from the twister.
Theyâre both dancing around that fact. Clint isnât as stupid as he likes to let on, and he isnât as clueless as he plays it up to be. Itâs almost reassuring that the uncertainty isnât just...him. But thereâs a fierce little competitive streak in him that screams up at the thought of being challenged. And that may not be what John is doing here, but it suddenly is easier to see it as a challenge than as fighting for a sliver of happiness.
(Heâs not ready to ask himself if heâs ready for this kind of happiness.)
So he listens, and he nods and for a long moment Clint looks as if heâs literally chewing on words as he tries to find something that isnât sappy and isnât off-brand reassuring. Because theyâve both heard a million versions of it and they both know neither of them are wired for ordinary.
âI make stupid choices.â It bursts out of him like a confession, and in a way it is. Thereâs a laugh with it, but itâs not the self-deprecating guffaw he usually pairs it with, thereâs no wink, thereâs no roguish tilt of his head. Clintâs hand, warm from the soup container, rubs awkward circles into the back of his neck. Blue eyes glance over and the chuckle is bordering on nervous, bitten back by catching his lower lip. âNot that...youâre one?â
âJust, I get involved in shit over my head.â Which does draw a bit of a bitter laugh. âI knowingly put myself into shit way over my pay grade. Dumb, stupid shit that I should let go because itâs not going to cause me anything but trouble with a capital T. But I do it anyway. And Iâve got a thousand psychologists that would love to tell you why.â The reasons tick off on his fingers as he glances across the roof tops, watching a bird alight onto a concrete brick. âReckless, inferiority complex, problem with authority, overzealous, overconfident to the point of idiocy.â
Shoulders shrug and Clint glances over. ââm not...askinâ for easy.â Which seems like the right thing to say then. âNot like the dinner at five, sharinâ every detail. But...â What is he asking for? It takes him a moment. âI donât mind a bit of slime.â Slowly, he smiles. âOr the idea of maybe having you stick around a bit longer. Never know when another fuse is gonna go.â