@alaptopandatonofweirdcrap

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@xclintcn || Continued from here.

Skye knew it probably made her terrible, that she didn’t want Clint to go with his brother, but she knew Barney didn’t want her to come along, and Clint was the closest thing she’d ever had to family. She didn’t want him to leave. She didn’t want to be alone again. 

As bad as she felt for even asking him, it was almost entirely smothered by the intense relief that washed through her when he turned to her and not only answered, but promised. No one had ever promised her that before, and Clint hadn’t ever lied to her. 

She was moving before even thinking about it, throwing her arms around him and burying her face against his front. “Thank you, Clint.”

Clint wrapped his arms around her, his head buried against hers, breathing her in as he closed his eyes, sighing a little as he let that breath out. Yeah. Maybe this was where he belonged. These were the people who treated him the best, weirdly enough when you’re talking about carnies.

( okay, maybe not all of them are great, but they weren’t putting him out on the street. )

And he loved his brother, he did. But him and Barney were different. They wanted different things, clearly. Barney was ready to be a soldier; Clint couldn’t do that. He couldn’t see himself as an army man.

But he could see himself here, by Skye’s side. That was the closest thing to a future he could see. Maybe when they were older they’d leave this place, find something normal, together, but not today.

alaptopandatonofweirdcrap:

Don’t Belong To No One for Casey!  ( @xclinton ) Happy birthday!!

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❛ Hey. Are you okay? I heard this was a tough mssion and — — — ❜ And he hated that he wasn’t able to hang around base as often as he used to.

alaptopandatonofweirdcrap:

@xclintcn || Continued from here.

She knew that, logistically, mentally, but it did next to nothing to soothe her racing heartbeat or settle her nerves. She couldn’t help it, and that wasn’t Clint’s fault. 

Instead of saying that though, she tightened her hand on his and leaned into his side the slightest, matching her breathing to his in an attempt to regain control of herself. 

“I don’t know if I can do this.” It was soft, and she wondered if he even heard it.

Clint felt her grip tighten on his hand and turned his head a little just as she leaned against him. He bit down on his lip and squeezed her hand back, and for a moment he stopped walking, turning so he was with in front of her path.

“ I promise. SHIELD? They’re good guys. They might seem all — rough around the edges, but everyone here is good. We are fighting the good fight. You’ll be okay. ”

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^{Skye twirled a piece of cotton candy around her forefinger before popping it into her mouth, humming contendedly as it disolved on her tongue. Even if the never ending smell of popcorn got old and there were days when the smell of hotdogs on a roller made her almost want to be sick, she still loved cotton candy.}

^{When he asked when her next show was, she shrugged. “I’m done ‘til we move out.” She explained with an almost dismissive wave of her hand. “I think the last one had a whole six people show up.” Sometimes she wished she could perform more, but really, in the dead of summer, and it was hot, so she wasn’t overly eager.}

^{Her eyes flickered to the darkening sky when Clint’s did, content to watch the sun vanish. Already she could see the tiny pinpricks of stars. She loved the times they stopped farther away from the cities, because it meant they could see more stars, and that they’d be brighter. She loved to watch the sky, which was why she’d taken it’s name. Her gaze didn’t move when his hand grabbed hers, and she threaded her fingers between his without a second thought.}

^{Sure there were moments, large ones even, when the life of a carnie could be miserable, and more than once she’d dreamed of a life a little more normal. In the end though, she wouldn’t give moments like this up for any number of white picket fences or normal days. Nights like this, she was happier than she’d ever been.}

^{Her eyes dropped from the stars to Clint, and her smile grew. With him she was happier than she’d ever been. God did she love him, so much so she didn’t have to words to express it. Instead, she squeezed his hand.}

^{When he asked what she wanted to do, she shrugged at first and didn’t reply. And then, keeping her eyes carefully trained on the sky above them, she decided to be brave. Heart hammering in her chest, she asked, “If… If I tell you, do you promise not to get upset with me?”}

Clint sighed and shook his head, looking over to her. “ More people should be coming to your shows. You’re good. ” Then again, when he did sneak in to watch her, he would see some ‘way too old to be watching a young girl’ old guys, and it always gave him a bad feeling in his gut. It could be a weird situation at times.

Still, she deserved more of a change to show off, prove herself here. While she should be safe from being left behind, both of them were, it wasn’t fair for her to perform so little compared to everyone else.

Clint smiled to himself when he felt her thread her fingers through his, and he squeezed her hand tight in response, taking another bite of cotton candy. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see a few people walking out, the circus slowly but surely winding down for the night. He smiled again and sighed contently. It was always better when there were less people floating around. More freedom to do whatever they wanted.

Clint looked back at Skye again when she didn’t say anything, raising an eyebrow at her curiously. When she got her question out, he sat up a little more and leaned forward, resting his chin on her shoulder as he tilted his head, a smile on his face. “ I could never be upset with you. ” He assured.

And that was true. There wasn’t really anything Skye could do that would really get him upset. Things were… easy with her. Right, even. He was still holding on to her hand, his thumb brushing over her knuckles softly as he watched her, another smile playing on his face as he offered her a bite of his cotton candy while he waited for her answer.

Skye meant so much him, and he wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to find the words to explain that, and sometimes he wished he could find away to let her know.

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_{Skye’s shows for the week were over. They weren’t nearly as popular as The Incredible Hawkeye, and therefore only ran about once or twice in a given town. She didn’t mind too much, nine times out of ten the only people who really came to the gymnastics shows were men looking for entertainment cheaper than a strip club. Of course, that hadn’t meant there wasn’t work to be done. She’d helped some of the hands care for the animals and took a few shifts managing games, if only for something to do. And if she picked a few pockets in between each job, well then that was that.} 

_{Still, she managed to pause just long enough to watch Clint perform through a crack in the tent. It didn’t matter how many times she saw him do it, it still took her breath like the first time he’d shown her. How anyone could be simultaneously so intense and nonchalant at the same time was beyond her, and more often than not, she watched him in lieu of the arrow. She knew it’d hit its mark, it always did.} 

_{As the people started to disperse and the mask came off, a smile broke her face. That was the last one of the night, she knew, which meant the rest of the night was theirs. As he started for the cotton candy booth, she slipped between the tents to their meeting spot, sitting up on the bed of one of the trucks used to move the equipment.} 

_{She heard her name before she saw him, and, if possible, her grin grew wider. True, their life wasn’t perfect, but they got nights like tonight, where it was really just them, and really, she couldn’t imagine anything better. So what if they were all each other had? They were all they needed.}

_{“You did good out there Hawkeye,” She greeted him with a laugh, reaching for a cotton candy and scooting over to make room, “But I think a few of the kids were a little disappointed you didn’t shoot the guy.”}

Clint reached the truck, seeing Skye sitting on top of it, the sun setting behind her. He smiled, his eyes never leaving hers as he climbed onto the bed of the truck, plopping down beside her and handing her the treat before pulling a piece of blue fluffy cotton candy off of his own and put it in his mouth, smiling as it dissolved.

“ Why thank you. ” He smirked, turning to toward Skye with a shrug. “ You know, sometimes you just disappoint kids. Can’t help it. We’re not that kind of circus. ” They apparently had to draw the line somewhere. The could steal and cheat people out of money as much as they wanted, but killing someone in front of other people? No of course not. “ When’s your next show? ” He asked, bringing his gaze up for a moment.

Clint leaned back, looking up at the sky as the pink, blue and purple colors filled it, slowly darkening as the sun fell. He looked to his Skye, and he slowly reached over with his free hand to grab hers, gentle as he grabbed it and looked back up.

Sometimes they didn’t really need words. Sometimes just eating cotton candy and holding hands was enough for them around here. And he liked it. He really, really liked it.

Everything with Skye felt like the closest thing to normalcy he’d ever have in his life. And runaway carnies wasn’t normal.

He could hear a muffled call of his name and he rose his eyebrow, but shrugged, figuring it could wait. If anything, someone wanted him to clean his own damn stuff up. instead he focused on Skye and their cotton candy. “ What do you want to do tonight? ”