MHA #10- Sunday evening

[throughaphase]

Kitty was finding she'd really missed all the stuff that came with the beginning of a relationship. The feeling of just being happy with it, wanting to see someone all the time, and just thinking that everything was great because of it all.

What she hadn't missed was like that slightly self-conscious, completely-not-nervous-really feeling of making sure anything potentially embarrassing or messy had been dealt with before he came over. There were a few things that'd just been shoved into a closet because it was too early to really look like she was a nineteen-year-old who lived on her own and didn't usually get visitors.

So if Kitty was checking over to her apartment until Clint arrived to make sure she looked like an adult, really, then that would be why.


[For that guy!]

Comments

[so_hawkward]

"Yeeeah, that was a little dramatic," Clint said, smirking. "Is he a good guy or a bad guy? Or somewhere in the middle?" He liked to think that there were still gray areas, sometimes.

[throughaphase]

Kitty thought that over. "I think it depends," she said slowly. "He's a mutant, too, even ran my school for a little while. He's got some, uh, more extreme ideas on how to deal with not being accepted by people. I think it all depends on what his angle is. I don't think he'd get away with a ton here, though."

[so_hawkward]

"Probably not. The school seems pretty good about that sort of thing," Clint said. "I'm just glad I didn't run into anyone who knew me, or who I knew. That's gotten to be a surprise blessing."

[throughaphase]

"You're so lucky with that," she said, and waved him towards the sofa. "Sit. Tell me about the creeper while I get the food."

[so_hawkward]

"Oh man, this guy," Clint said, shaking his head as he sat down. "First, I catch him lurking around watching people, and he won't give me a straight answer about what he's doing there. Then, I see him grabbing this poor kid by the shirt - I think they're from the same place, but not the same time? So I stepped in and got glared at, like that's going to scare me or something. It was really weird."

[throughaphase]

"He does have an impressive glare," Kitty said as she came back with a plate for each of them. "Sounds like a good thing you had your eye on him."

[so_hawkward]

"It wasn't my intention. I was just there for the free food," Clint said. "But I couldn't just watch some kid get threatened, you know?"

[throughaphase]

"I know," she said, putting the plates on the table and taking a seat next to him. "You were probably that kid's hero for the day. Like the first day at a new school isn't stressful enough."

[so_hawkward]

"Especially at this school," Clint said, sliding right over to get rid of any extra space between him and Kitty. "It's like, 'Hey, this place is crazy and someone's going to beat you up. Aren't you glad you came?'"

[throughaphase]

She was completely fine with the lack of space there. "At most schools it's either/or, I think. At least, I've never had to deal with both at the same time..."

[so_hawkward]

"Me neither... but I also never really did the school thing." Yeah, Clint would just be taking his plate now and trying not to look awkward. "I'm assuming your school was more about the weird, with all the mutants?"

[throughaphase]

"Yeah. Probably not too much different than Fandom, since everyone had powers," Kitty said. "I missed a lot of it for huge stretches because of that, though. I'd be gone for this long because I was off on a mission, and then a little time off led to a much longer time off fighting brainwashing, and then more time off for powers issues..."

She paused, realizing she might sound a little more bitter than she meant to. "Yeah, you could say it was more about the weird."

[so_hawkward]

"I'm sorry," Clint said sympathetically. "You should have been able to have as normal of a school experience as you could. Missions? Maybe. Brainwashing? Definitely not."

[throughaphase]

"That one was actually my fault, sort of. If I'd stayed at Xavier's, nothing would have happened to me," she admitted. She'd sort of needed it, though, so she didn't know that she'd trade it, exactly. "I just wouldn't mind sometimes being able to go back and do it over. And I really didn't mean to be complaining."

[so_hawkward]

"Hey, you're not complaining. There are a lot of things I wish I could do over too," Clint said. "It'd be weird to be near a school and not think about your own experience, right?"

[throughaphase]

"I guess. I usually try to be positive," Kitty said. "Especially with so many people here that I know. Just because things didn't work out for me doesn't mean it won't for them, right?"

Or, you know, she'd been able to hide most of who and what she was for long enough that it hadn't come up before.

[so_hawkward]

"I wish I could say I believed that, but considering what I've heard about the different versions of our world..." Clint trailed off with a shrug. "Maybe it'll be different for the kids here, at least?"

[throughaphase]

"Maybe. Again, staying positive, and it's really all about doing the best with what you've got," Kitty said. "That's completely possible to do."

[so_hawkward]

"It's the best anyone can do. And hey, you're pretty successful," Clint said, nudging her gently with his knee. "You're running a business and occasionally helping save people and all."

[throughaphase]

Kitty smiled over at him. "You know, it sounds pretty good when you put it that way..."

[so_hawkward]

"I guess that's a skill of mine, finding the silver lining on things," he teased. "Or maybe I just like making you smile like that."

[throughaphase]

That definitely wasn't going to make the smile go away. "I don't even think you need to try to make me smile," Kitty admitted.

[so_hawkward]

"Sure I do. It just happens to be kind of easy," Clint said, grinning in return.

[throughaphase]

"I could make it harder," she teased.

She so would not.

[so_hawkward]

"You could try, but my charm will win you over every time."

So modest, he was.