brandingproblem | open post

"I'm very tired of this apartment. Going to physical therapy is the highlight of my day." Phil's not even allowed to swing by his office and pick up things. He needs to rest, sure, but his apartment is getting old.

Maybe it's just him but the air between them feels cleaner, easier, than before. His expression is stays a soft smile.

"Thor says that's going to make me famous in Asgard. Not many people have seen through Loki's tricks and lived to tell the tale." He draws himself up and tries to puff up his chest as he imitates Thor's accent. "You will be a legend, Son of Coul!"

The imitation is adorable, and Clint finds a dam to be cracking, tension easing, and his laughter is genuine. And feels so good.

"He has got to take you for a visit. Parade you in the streets. The mighty Son of Coul, whose keen eyes see through the slyest of tricks! Bring me back a shotglass."

"I think he would take Earth's Mightiest Heroes first." Phil's seen the headlines talking about the Avengers. That title seems to have stuck around outside of all the others.

"But it would be pretty great to go to another realm. I bet they make really good food there."

There's his Clint. There's the man struggling to get out from under all the trauma weighing on his shoulders. Phil is so glad to see him.

"I think we've had enough of the otherworldly for the moment. Then again, I bet Stark would love to get his hands all over the kind of magitech they've got." That could be a disaster. Orrr bring about a new age of enlightenment for humanity, who knows?

"Is this you forgiving me for being a shitty boyfriend?" he asks with a tilt of a smile and a drink of wine.

"Well, most Asgardians would have to stop regarding us as a backwater first. Then it might be a fun trip." Phil's aware more think like Loki than think like Thor about Midgard. Only time will tell if that can be changed.

He smiles back. "Yeah, I forgive you. Next time, though, I'll make you fill out official apology forms. In triplicate."

He sets down his glass and fans himself. "Ooo, baby, paperwork. You know how to make a scene steamy."

He might have to tweak his flirting and his sexy jokes if he is aware that sex itself is gonna be a touchy subject for a bit. But not right now!

"You have, more than once, wanted to throw all the paperwork on my desk on the floor so we could fuck on it. Don't pretend like you haven't."

Sex itself isn't a touchy subject now that Phil knows Clint's limits. If he wants to talk about it but not have it, that's fine. They'll get there eventually. Phil doesn't believe he'll die from blue balls.

His hand works just fine until Clint feels okay again.

"Because it was in the way, not because the paperwork itself was sexy. My pants look better on the floor than the paperwork." He bobs his brows. "Actually, come to think of it, I look better on the floor. If you get back to the desk and decide you need someone under it keeping you warm and cozy, you know who to call."

"That might be the only way to make a desk job bearable." Phil has some fairly strict lines about professionalism at work but maybe... well maybe when they're better they can break some of those.

He almost died. Clint got taken over. Who the hell cares about professionalism after all of that? If it's late enough no one would catch them...

"I would make you pick up the paperwork. Like I make you pick up your pants."

"And hey, if you take the Stark job, you know he's gonna be a little more flexible about anything that may or may not be going on."

In spite of the conversation, Clint's look is soft. "See? I flirt. Might miss being able to do anything about it, but I can still do that much."

"I don't think there's anything I can to stop Stark commenting on my sex life." Phil is resigned to this. There's no way they can really hide a relationship from the Avengers. Stark's going to have a field day.

"Oh, that was flirting?" Phil squeezes his hand. "It's okay. We'll get there."

"Ow, now I know I must be rusty. Just you wait until I take you out to dinner and get all romantic on you. Then you'll be in trouble."

"I can write a performance review," he offers in mock seriousness. "Give you the points you need to work on."

The idea of going out to dinner again alone is enough to get Phil excited. They might look like two friends out to dinner given everything going on but that's fine. They'll be together which is really all Phil needs.

"I'll learn how to seduce you all over again. Don't give me too many pointers, or I'll never learn." He closes his eyes just to feel Phil's hand, trying not to feel anything awful about it. Feeling the difference in touch.

"Thank you. For waiting for me."

"I am really looking forward to that." That Clint is willing to close his eyes around Phil says a lot on top of everything he's explained and said tonight. He's glad Clint can try that, can give that.

"I've waited for you before. I'll wait again."

"Do you still want me to stay the night?" His eyes flutter back open. "Or we can get wine drunk and see how we feel about it later."

"Let's see how you feel. If you're really worried you can sleep on the couch." But Phil would love for Clint to stay the night. With the air clear it's a lot easier for him to feel relaxed and at peace.

"I'm not against finishing this bottle of wine together." He picks up his mostly full glass and takes a sip. "It's good."

"I'm not opposed to sleeping on the couch if I feel like I have to. But it might be nice to try in bed first." He lifts his glass. "Wine first. Make it a sloppy awkward romantic night. Maybe it'll loosen me up. Or keep our nightmares at bay."

"Like our first date?" Phil brings up the memory because once again he had tried too hard and it had taken some time to untangle that mess he almost made. "Because I remember that as very awkward."

They had figured it out. They had figured this out. They were here after all this time.

"Hopefully not that awkward. You're lucky my standards are all kinds of skewed, or you might not have gotten a second date," he jokes.

"I'm lucky you're patient with me too." Phil laughs softly at himself. His romantic streak can be fairly ridiculous sometimes. "I think by now we can have a decent date without making fools of ourselves."

And when Phil is a dork, he's lucky that Clint finds it attractive. Or endearing.

"What can I say, you still managed to sweep me off my feet. Or pound me into submission to make the rest of it worthwhile." He waggles his glass in lieu of his hand. "One of those. Hard to say."

Phil ducks his head and chuckles softly. "You're usually better with actions instead of words."

He might be able to sweep Clint off his feet maybe once. Maybe not anymore after the surgery and physical therapy. "I'm secure enough in my masculinity to let you sweep me if you ever get in the mood."

"I can still promise I liked you for your personality first before your way with fucking did me in." Phil's always been terribly sweet and tender when he sets Handler Mode aside. Which was a blast to start to navigate as someone not used to sweet and tender in partners.

"But if you want physically swept off your feet, I might want a good reason. A timely rescue to swoop in. Kiss passionately while things explode in the distance."

Well, he likes being tender and sweet. He blames his romantic streak and Clint's rather adorable when he gets awkward about it. "It was my personality? Huh. For me it was your arms." He smiles slyly because he's teasing. The arms help but Phil's never dated anyone long for purely physical reasons.

"Avengers fieldwork might give you that chance. There's a lot of explosions involved."

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