[log] give me that sportsball I'm gonna throw it in the garbage [closed]

[awwnoun]

Characters: Clint, Natasha, Ecks, Davesprite
Location: Building 124
Date: Day 195, evening
Summary: Introducing: dog!
Warnings: None, at the moment.

124: This house, covered in snow, is dark and cold, but better than outside. The snow presses in on the windows and makes the roof creak and groan whenever it shifts, but it seems to be holding up alright. It's a standard, single-story house with a living room, single bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, and dining room. The bedframe has been taken apart, and its pieces arranged neatly from largest to smallest on the floor. The house is sparsely furnished, unfortunately with mostly metal There's a back door leading off into darkness, but it isn't locked. There's a blue smear on the bathroom cabinet. "Hsiaoke Pass" is written in spray paint over the door facing the residential zone, and in sharpie on the back door.

Comments

[mrcreamsicles]

[Davesprite's day of travel has been spent nervous and jumpy. Natasha he trusts, Natasha is safe, but after seeing a nebulous something flick past the corner of his vision this morning, he's been on alert for things following them. Natasha surely would have noticed it, the way he kept checking back over a shoulder now and then, but he hasn't seen anything unusual since morning.]

[Arrival to the house that serves as the tunnel entrance is a relief. Clint and Ecks are there and they're safe, something good to write over the memories of the last time he was here, huddled up and unable to sleep for fear Bucky or House would start shit with each other in the night.]

[He comes in the door, holding it for Natasha, and calls out to the house:]

'Sup, I'm here for your dog. Ecks, have you still got my handcuffs?

[awwnoun]

[ Davesprite gets Lucky running in from the other room at top dog speed, barking happily and jumping up on Davesprite to lick his face. Sorry, buddy. ]

[mrcreamsicles]

[Davesprite would be freaked out if a good part of him didn't expect this. Still, the sudden rush of dog leaping at him is enough to make him squawk, and the momentum pushes him back against the bit of wall beside the door.]

Ooof, jesus, hey—

[He pulls his head back, but Lucky is so friendly and enthusiastic that it's hard not to laugh anyway.]

Clint! Clint, come help, your dog's murdering me with dog germs!

[He tries to nudge Lucky back down to the floor. If he'll cooperate, there's a reward of careful but enthusiastic ear scritches in it for him.]

[awwnoun]

[ Clint comes clambering out of some room, grinning a little. Lucky does cooperate, and his tongue lolls out happily when Davesprite starts scritching at his ears. ]

Oops. Infected with dog germs forever. [ Clint teases. Also, he makes his way over because he definitely wants a hug. Please. He doesn't force one, but he reaches out carefully to rest a hand on Davesprite's arm. ]

[mrcreamsicles]

[Davesprite looks up, returning the grin. There is just something heartwarming about a friendly dog saying hello, and he's glad Clint is back to normal.]

I know, it's a terrible fate. You gotta put a muzzle on this monster.

[Lucky gets a fond pat on his shoulder, then Davesprite rises up.]

It's good to see you, man.

[He'll allow the casual hand, but if he wants a hug, he's going to have to ask or initiate it himself. It's just not something Davesprite thinks about.]

[awwnoun]

He'd probably eat the muzzle. [ tbh ] It's really good to see you too.

Hey - hug me? [ Davesprite doesn't react poorly to the hand, so Clint goes ahead and asks because that's polite, right? And Davesprite's touchy about touch, sometimes. ]

[mrcreamsicles]

[Davesprite's eyebrows lift. Just as he's not used to getting hugs, he's also not used to being asked for them. So, after a moment's hesitation,]

... Yeah, alright.

[Arms, arms, where do arms go? They end up looped around his shoulders with the air of someone who's not sure he's doing it right. One hand gives a requisite straight-dude-hug pat on the back.]

You're a sap, you know that?

[ecks]

I do have your handcuffs.

[It's not that she means to sneak up on Davesprite a little while after he's had his initial meeting with Lucky. It's just that it's very dark in this house and she's been trained to move very quietly. It doesn't even occur to her that hearing her voice very close by out of nowhere might be unnerving.]

[mrcreamsicles]

[Davesprite shouts and jumps about a foot, the best he can manage with a useless flap of his wings. Fuck gravity, fuck the admin, fuck not having a sword anymore because people sneaking up on him has historically never been good. His hand draws scissors from his belt instead, normally tucked into one of its loops beside a wooden spoon, and raises with them in a hard grip as he whips around to face the source of what he heard—]

[Ecks. It's just Ecks. He is breathing harder than he should.]

Don't do that.

[His tone is hard. His hand is still raised.]

[ecks]

[Her own reaction is sharp and instantaneous, the figure before her shifting from 'Davesprite' to 'threat' in her mind as she takes two rapid steps back and as her own hand goes for her hip and finds nothing there. The stance into which she drops is the stance of a fighter, though her own breathing is even. She is ready rather than afraid.]

Do not do what?

[Said without relaxing, without taking her eyes off him. She's waiting for those scissors to swing at her.]

[mrcreamsicles]

[Fuck. Fuck. Neutral tone and a fighting stance put to mind countless rooftop battles, and Davesprite's own stance changes like instinct to match. He can't see as well in the dark, but like hell he's taking his shades off. Showing eyes shows emotions, intents, and it's a vulnerability he can't afford even for clearer vision. His hand tightens on the scissors.]

Don't sneak up on me.

[Terse, tight, flat as he can make it despite the tension cording through him.]

What do you want?

[He doesn't swing, and she said she had the handcuffs (once his mind caught up with his ears), but he can't relax with her facing him this way.]

[ecks]

[She doesn't understand. He sees that it is her, but he is still holding the scissors and himself like he is going to stab her. It is Davesprite, but he is not acting like Davesprite. He is acting like an enemy. She would like to back away, but there is a certain equilibrium here that she is unwilling to be the first to disrupt lest he burst into motion.]

I want to not be stabbed with the scissors in your hand.

[mrcreamsicles]

[He feels a bolt of exasperation well up.]

Well that's great, 'cause I don't want to stab you either. You want to maybe stop squaring off like you're going to fight me?

[Because so long as she's like this, he can't quite get himself to put his guard back down. If he does, how does he know she won't attack him?]

Morning 198

[ecks]

[Dr. Strange's message is awaiting Ecks when she wakes up this morning and checks her tablet from "bed." There's a low groan from the nest she's made of her possessions, then she doesn't stir for a while other than to page through the network. Anyone nearby, though, will soon hear her leaving a message in House's inbox.]

[awwnoun]

[ Clint hears it, and kind of laughs because that's how he feels. When he hears her finish the message, he calls over to her: ]

Hey, send him one that says Clint said he's an asshole and that he'd better come back, would you?

[ecks]

[She freezes for a second...and then does it. Clicking the tablet off again, she rolls over and peeks her head out from under the tablecloth and bed sheet she uses for nearly everything.]

Do you think he will come back again?

[awwnoun]

Yeah. He's gotta. [ Clint says, rubbing at his face. Lucky huffs from where he's sprawled out in Clint's lap. ] He's gotta brag about being back from the dead for a seventh time, right? Don't worry.

[ecks]

Fifth.

[She's seen the census. She knows exactly how many times Doctor House has died.]

This is the fifth time he has died.

[awwnoun]

Fifth. [ Clint pulls himself up so he can scoot over to sit next to Ecks, and Lucky makes a grumpy sound at being dislodged. He follows, though, and sits at Ecks' feet. ]

Sorry. Even if he doesn't come back, we'll all be okay.

morning 196 - for Ecks

[mrcreamsicles]

[It's the morning after their chaos that Davesprite goes to find Ecks again. He goes about it carefully, hands empty and belongings left in another room. He doesn't need them just now, and with even his coat off in favor of just the t-shirt beneath, it means no obvious place to hide something dangerous. When he finds wherever she's settled down for the moment, he knocks against the door frame to announce his presence.]

Hey. I wanted to say sorry for last night.

[His voice is purposely soft in tone, and he holds his hands out—palms up and open, absent of weapon apart from the talon-like nails he can't get rid of.]

[ecks]

[Morning means time to pack up her bag and get ready to travel, but Ecks hasn't got ready just yet. Davesprite will find her with her leather armor off, wrapped up with her stuffed animals in a sheet, a tablecloth, and her coat as she tries to decide whether she wants to check the network. Her shovel is tucked partway under her, outside the bundle and in easy reach, and her hand slips out toward it when she becomes aware that she is not alone.

That's just reflex, though, and her hand makes a sharp retreat without picking up the weapon as she realizes who it is. She thinks about it, decides not to hide that she's a little confused about the apology.]

You did not hurt me.

[mrcreamsicles]

[Davesprite stiffens visibly when he sees her reaching for the shovel, but he knows what it is making him wary now. He pushes at it, reminds himself what it is, that he's unarmed and safe anyway. It helps when she pulls her hand back away from it, and he lets out an undisguised breath of relief.]

Nah, that's not the thing I did wrong.

[He moves into the room now, but only just to take a spot up against the wall. It helps to have something to his back, and he figures it's less threatening than coming over to sit by her just yet.]

I got startled last night because I didn't hear you coming until you spoke up. Normally realizing that much would have been enough for me to back down, you know?

[Talking with Clint last night helped to lay it out, but actually saying it is the harder thing. His jaws shifts a little as he chews his words. His arms fold up across his chest.]

I shouldn't have drawn a weapon on you, or kept up that kind of stance even when you said you didn't want me to stab you. I didn't actually want to hurt you. And it's... It wasn't even your fault. Not like someone actively threatening me would be at fault, because all you did was try to come give my handcuffs back. So, I'm sorry for making you think I wanted to hurt you, and for not backing down when I should have fucking known better.

[Deep breath.]

I think I've got paranoia, from MN poisoning. That doesn't make what I did okay, but I think that's why it happened.

[ecks]

[She saw his fear just now, and she keeps her hands inside the bundle. She listens, and she remembers when he touched her and she flinched, and she thinks about how he looked when they were facing each other, the scissors in his hand.]

I'm sorry also. I did not know it would frighten you, and then I was afraid also.

...I still have your handcuffs. And if you get blood that will stop the poisoning for a while.

[mrcreamsicles]

[Okay. Okay. It feels better to hear a return apology from her, even if it was more his fault than hers in his mind.]

Thanks, Ecks. [Hm.] How about if it's dark or if you're coming up from somewhere behind me, you try to walk a little louder? If I had heard you I probably wouldn't have jumped like that. I've heard about the blood thing, but for now that might help.

[You know, until he can get to a doctor or whatever. He doesn't really like the idea of doing more blood stuff, even if he understands the benefit.]

Can I have my handcuffs back now, too?

[ecks]

I was always taught to walk quietly.

[You know, for creeping up on people and murdering them.]

But I can try to walk more loudly for you in the dark. You can have your handcuffs back now.

[She finally sits up all the way and tugs her bag over to herself, unzipping an outer pocket and rummaging around for the cuffs.]