The Perk, Tuesday Afternoon

[so_hawkward]

Okay, so the little horses that had been galloping along the roof this morning were a mild problem, but once Clint was sure that Lucky wasn't going to go up and attack them, and they weren't going to come in and attack Lucky, he had sort of stopped caring about them. He had a much bigger annoyance to deal with today, in the form of an empty closet. Well, it wasn't entirely empty--his pants were fine, along with the one coat he owned, but when Clint had gone to get dressed this morning, the only shirt he'd been able to find was a sweater. He'd debated just staying shirtless indoors all day - hey, if there was any way to convince Kitty to come over, that was it - but in the end he'd decided to throw good sense to the wind, and dug his Santa hat out of a drawer to complete the whole thing.

The barista might have snickered at him when he was ordering his coffee, but Clint was choosing to believe she was laughing with him. He settled down at one of the tables with the newspaper and hey, if nothing else, the lights on the sweater were making the articles easier to read.

[Never let it be said that I'm not easily enabled. Open!]

Comments

[throughaphase]

Oh, you better believe Kitty found her way into the Perk this afternoon, because the horses were getting annoying and she wanted some time away. And was she ever glad she did.

"Hey, sexy," she greeted him.

[so_hawkward]

"Hey to you too," Clint said with a smile. "I'm going to assume you were talking to me."

[throughaphase]

"You're the only hot boyfriend wearing an amazing Christmas... ensemble, so yes, yes I was," Kitty grinned. "This is amazing. I love it."

[so_hawkward]

"You are such a liar, but I appreciate you saying that," Clint said, rolling his eyes. "I think I did something to anger the island, but I'm not sure what. I've been on awesome behavior lately."

[throughaphase]

"I am not a liar. I honestly love this so much," she told him, sitting across from him. "So this is an island thing?"

[so_hawkward]

"Maybe? It's all I could find this morning," Clint said. "On one hand, it's warm, but on the other hand, it's kind of itchy."

[throughaphase]

"But it lights up!"

Seriously, she unabashedly loved this thing.

[so_hawkward]

"Clearly, this should have found its way to your closet," Clint said. "Maybe it still will, don't think I won't put it there if I can."

[throughaphase]

It would not be the worst thing Kitty'd ever had in her closet.

"Sure, if that's what you want to wear next time you end up at my place without real clothes," she pointed out. Which she'd love, personally.

[so_hawkward]

"I was going to just sit around the house half dressed, but I needed coffee," Clint said, sighing a little.

[throughaphase]

"Much as I love that mental image, I'm glad you decided to venture out. Because this makes me so happy," Kitty smiled, and paused. "Shirtless with or without the Santa hat?"

[so_hawkward]

Clint thought about that for a moment before asking, "Which would you prefer?"

[throughaphase]

"What do you think?"

On. She was feeling festive.

[so_hawkward]

"Well, it is the season for some decoration," Clint teased. "I bet I'd look good with just that on."

[throughaphase]

"Just the hat?" Kitty repeated. "I want to have the right picture here."

[so_hawkward]

"For you? Just the hat," Clint agreed.

[throughaphase]

"Okay, I take it back, you should have stayed at home with the hat and called me." She wasn't completely serious, of course, because then she wouldn't have seen the sweater.

[so_hawkward]

"But then I would have had to make you bring me coffee, and that would have been rude," Clint insisted.

[throughaphase]

"Oh, you'd have had to find some way to pay me back for it," Kitty nodded. "We can flirt over anything, huh?"

[so_hawkward]

"What can I say, we're very skilled individuals," Clint said. "I can't believe you want to flirt with me at the moment but I'm not going to complain."

[throughaphase]

"This is how you know it's love," Kitty told him. "I can see past the blinking lights of your sweater."

[so_hawkward]

"I'd hug you but I don't want to make you itch," Clint said with a laugh. "You're so very understanding."

[throughaphase]

"Hey, the sweater won't make me itch through my clothes," Kitty pointed out. "You can't tease me with a hug like that."

[so_hawkward]

"Aww, I don't want to tease you." Clint opened his arms invitingly for Kitty. "Come here then."

[throughaphase]

With an invite like that, Kitty just went ahead and sat in his lap to get her hug.

It was better that way, okay.

[so_hawkward]

Well now, that saved Clint from having to yank her into his lap. It was nice to have something work out in his favor like that. He gave her a hug and then took the Santa hat off, putting it on her head instead. "There, now we're both festive," he said.

[throughaphase]

"I think you've still got me beat," she said, poking at his chest between a couple of the lights on his sweater.

[so_hawkward]

"Yeah. but I don't know if I'm exactly winning," Clint said, squirming at the poking.

[throughaphase]

"You've got me in your lap," Kitty pointed out. Clearly that meant he was.

[so_hawkward]

"... This is true, I take that back," Clint said, wrapping his arms around her a little tighter. "Did you get any weird little horses today? I had to make sure Lucky didn't mess with them."

[throughaphase]

"Yup," she said, sliding her arm around his shoulders. "If he wants, he can come over to my place and chase them out of my apartment..."

[so_hawkward]

"I think he might like that too much. Not that that means we shouldn't do it," Clint said. "It might be fun to watch."

[throughaphase]

"It might. Just to get them on out," Kitty nodded. "Though I'm sure he'll have plenty of opportunities from now until the holidays to chase after whatever Fandom throws at us..."

[so_hawkward]

"Yeah, I forgot what last December was like," Clint said with a scowl. "I mean, I guess it's festive and all, but it's also kind of annoying."

[throughaphase]

"Some of the things I like," Kitty shrugged. "Then there's trying to shower when there's something other than water coming out. At least maybe we can skip some of it once we figure out Christmas?"

[so_hawkward]

"That's true. What were you thinking we should do?" Clint asked. "We've got my world or yours."

[throughaphase]

"Yours, I think. I was just in mine, and not worrying about mutant stuff at the holidays is a plus," Kitty said thoughtfully.

[so_hawkward]

"Plus, fewer opportunities for your friends to try to convince you to come back," Clint said, because conversational subtlety was not his best skill. "We can go to my place. But you've got to help me get a tree up there on Christmas, even if it's a little one."

[throughaphase]

"I can do that," she agreed. "So you decided to do that after all, huh?"

[so_hawkward]

"You made a very convincing argument," Clint said. "And it might be kind of nice to be festive and get other people into the mood too."

[throughaphase]

"Awww. See, it's better when you get to spend the holidays with people." Instead of this 'working through the holidays' thing he used to do.

[so_hawkward]

"When you have people you want to spend the holidays with," Clint said. "Not just random people who might be around."

[throughaphase]

"Well, considering I'm not planning on going anywhere, I hope you can get used to that," Kitty said, kissing his cheek.

[so_hawkward]

Ah, there was that twisty feeling in the pit of Clint's stomach again. But this time it wasn't unwelcome. "Yeah, I think I'll get used to it."