Atlas Gym, Tuesday

[so_hawkward]

Clint's first week in Fandom had been all about getting set up in his and Natasha's place and learning his way around, which had involved a lot more weirdness than he'd expected, even after skimming SHIELD's files. This week, it was time to check out the gym they were expected to run. Overall, the place looked nicer than he'd imagined for a small island - until he opened the closet where the towels were kept and was nearly bowled over by the smell. Needless to say, he was sticking to the front desk, looking through what had been left behind for any kind of organizational system, and a number for some place to do laundry.

[Open! No OCD today!]

Comments

[imablackwidowbaby]

"You could have told me about your doppelganger, you know," Natasha said as she stepped in the front door.

[so_hawkward]

"I wasn't sure if you'd believe me?" Clint said uncertainly. He was certain it sounded too crazy to be believed, but he was uncertain if that was a good enough reason to avoid getting poked somewhere uncomfortable. "I take it you met him?"

[imablackwidowbaby]

"Because I'm so bad at telling when you're pulling my chain?" Natasha asked. Still, he'd been recently brainwashed. She'd lay off the poking.

For now.

"He apparently tends bar. At the one with the zombies."

[so_hawkward]

"We're talking real zombies, aren't we? Not face-eating wannabes?" Look, he was learning not to doubt anything here. "Was he a jerk, or was that just to me?"

[imablackwidowbaby]

"They did appear to be real zombies, yes," Natasha confirmed. "And he may in fact be prince of jerks." Not king. That was Tony Stark. "He also didn't know anything had happened to New York. Claimed he was from an alternate universe."

[so_hawkward]

"Yeah, uh, he might not have been lying about that," Clint said. "I ran into Dr. Banner, at the coffee shop of all places. He didn't know me, or anything about what happened in New York. Said there were a lot of people around who knew him, but he didn't know them. I don't really know what to make of that, to be honest."

[throughaphase]

There weren't a lot of places that had room for her to practice dancing around here, so the gym it was. She was a little surprised to see Guy here, and was hoping it wouldn't be too awkward, but she couldn't not say something, right?

"New second job?" she greeted him.

[so_hawkward]

Sorry Kitty, but there was really no way for this to not be awkward. Clint glanced up, and gave her a friendly smile. "No, this is my one job," he said, even though 'second job' was technically true. "Are you looking for Guy?"

[throughaphase]

"Not so much looking for as thought I was saying hi to," she said, eying him. Then she guessed, "Clone?"

[so_hawkward]

"Why does everyone ask that? And why can't he be the clone?" Clint asked petulantly. "I'm a person, really. Name's Clint Barton."

[throughaphase]

"Because he was here first," Kitty said, tilting her head because she was preeeeetty sure she knew that name. "Kitty Pryde."

[so_hawkward]

Clint wasn't quite as knowledgeable about his own universe damn it, movie companies, so he was just caught up in wondering if her name was really Kitty. "Well, it's nice to meet you. I think you'll find I'm a lot nicer than my red-headed doppelganger." Most of the time, at least.

[throughaphase]

She had to smile at that. "Really? What if he's actually been nice to me?"

[so_hawkward]

"I'm willing to bet I'd be nicer," Clint replied easily. "Or maybe he and I just didn't get off on the right foot. He did prepare me for the rest of the week though, I guess."

[throughaphase]

"Let me guess, you've run into every single person he's ever met?" she said.

[so_hawkward]

"There was that, and meeting someone I know from home who had no idea who I was," Clint said. "He also didn't know about the giant attack of scary aliens we just had, but no one else seems to know about that either. This place is...not what I was expecting, to say the least."

[throughaphase]

"You can pretty much take your expectations and throw them right out the window," Kitty advised. Since she was still being shocked by people. "There were scary aliens?"

And she missed them?

[so_hawkward]

Clint sighed and shook his head. "Not here - at least I don't think, unless they were before the goats." He wasn't getting over that one any time soon, and he wasn't even here for it. "I didn't realize 'here' and 'home' would be two drastically different places, but yeah, there was an invasion. Kind of took out most of Manhattan but thankfully New Yorkers recover pretty quickly."

[throughaphase]

"Yeah, they're pretty used to it," she agreed. "Though 'here' and 'home' might not be as drastically different as you think."

[so_hawkward]

"Oh yeah?" Clint said, leaning on the desk. "Why do you say that?"

[throughaphase]

"A couple weeks after I got here the multiverse stopped existing and people fixed it with the help of a giant fuzzy dragon. If you have aliens invading New York, this place actually might be right up your alley."

And she was totally serious.

[so_hawkward]

Clint's eyebrows were up the moment she used the word multiverse in a genuine way, but he had to admit, she kind of had a point. "I don't know about fuzzy dragons but--okay, yeah, I was a little worried this town would be boring before I got here. Small island in the middle of nowhere? I think the only thing I got right was people getting into everyone else's business, and even that apparently involves squirrels capable of writing."

[throughaphase]

"Which is completely messed up." Seriously. Squirrels. "There are times it gets a little boring, and then something'll happen and you're kind of wanting to go back to the boring part again."

[so_hawkward]

"Like when things stop existing?" Clint guessed. "I guess that's not any weirder than home. Things can be quiet for a while, and then someone's trying to kill Tony Stark again, and it's all hectic for a while. It was a lot easier before aliens became part of the menu." There might have been a sigh at the end there, but Clint would never admit to it.

[throughaphase]

Yeah, she definitely recognized the name then.

"Don't suppose you've gotten used to different versions of people existing yet, huh?" she checked.

[so_hawkward]

"I don't know if I've gotten used to it, but I'm realizing it's a possibility," Clint said. "There's someone here in Fandom, Dr. Banner - I know him, but he apparently has no idea who I am. He was nice about it, said it wasn't the first time it's happened to him, but...I don't know, why do you ask?"

[throughaphase]

"Because you will hear the name Tony Stark again. Probably on radio," she said.

[so_hawkward]

Oh, that so wasn't something he wanted to hear. "I will? Don't tell me he's here. He can't be, the island isn't big enough for a huge compensating tower with his name on it."

[throughaphase]

"There is a Stark Industries," Kitty pointed out. "I've never met him, but you pay attention and you hear names." Or Deadpool came in and started talking about Captain America's private parts or whatever oh god why hadn't she repressed that.

[so_hawkward]

"Oh, wonderful. I'll have to look into that." And then he'd have to decide whether or not to report it to Fury, and yeah, maybe things could stand to be a little less weird here. "And get over the feeling of prying and listen to the radio more."

[throughaphase]

"Think of it as recon." She hadn't, but hey, maybe it worked for some people!

[so_hawkward]

"Oh? You know a lot about recon?" Clint asked, with a teasing tone.

[throughaphase]

"I know it sounds cool?" she joked. "Let's just say I seem to be some branch of your universe, or something."

Which had ALL THE SUPERHEROES EVER.

Except the DC ones.

[so_hawkward]

Luckily, they were the best superheroes, so there.

"Really? That's better than nothing," Clint said, perking up a little. "What brought you here? If you don't mind me asking, of course."

[throughaphase]

"Believe it or not, I wanted some normalcy," Kitty said. "Didn't get it."

It was funny now.

[so_hawkward]

It might have been funny, but Clint still covered his mouth with his hand to try not to laugh too loudly. "That probably wasn't the best decision, no. Do you like it here though? I mean, you've stuck around, right?"

[throughaphase]

She mock-frowned at the laughing, but that didn't last long.

"I do. I figure if I can't get normalcy in some random tiny town in Maryland, I won't get it anywhere. But the break is nice and I like the people," she shrugged. "How'd you end up here?"

[so_hawkward]

"I guess I shouldn't have laughed, since my reasons are pretty similar. I needed to get away for a bit after the whole invasion thing." The best part about that cover story was that it wasn't entirely untrue for Clint. "The gym needed some new managers, so here I am."

[throughaphase]

"They really should put up some website with a big warning on it," Kitty decided. "'If you're looking for peace and quiet, keep looking.'"

[so_hawkward]

"It's been pretty quiet in the evenings," Clint said with a shrug. "But it also explains why the folks here were quite happy to leave. I definitely should have done more investigating before I got here."

[throughaphase]

"And yet even on the quiet evenings, my bar still has zombies," she said.

[so_hawkward]

"Ah, so that's how you know Guy," Clint said, before looking at her more carefully. "Wait, is it really your bar?" Sorry Kitty, that's what you get for looking young.

[throughaphase]

She was so, so used to that. "I manage it. This town's kind of lawless that way," she replied.

[so_hawkward]

"A lawless establishment plus zombies. Sounds kind of awesome to me," Clint said with a laugh. "Do patrons just get used to the smell?"

[throughaphase]

"Enough disinfectant before a shift and you don't even notice it," Kitty said, with a little patting-herself-on-the-back motion. "I've never once heard a complaint."

Well except from Eric but he was a zombie snob.

[so_hawkward]

"I guess I'll have to stop by sometime then and check the place out. On a night when there won't be clone confusion." That was just a headache Clint didn't want to deal with.

[throughaphase]

"You should," she smiled. "I'm there Tuesdays, and Guy's on Sundays. So, you know. Maybe avoid Sundays."

[so_hawkward]

Clint gave Kitty a grateful look. "I'll keep that in mind, thank you."