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"You're going to sit on a ledge and try to peek what you can through windows and sort of watch someone else do some violence. If you were actually an active part of the mission..."

Well, it gets a bit of a laugh out of him. "I like getting shit done, yeah. But I get to watch you be competent and efficient, with a bare minimum chance I'm gonna have to take a swan dive off that ledge and involve myself. I won't go so far as saying that sounds fun, but it's got its own kind of appeal."

At least knowing who the target was and as long as Clint came out of it with an acceptable levels of injury, anyway.

"Your very own action movie to watch, and you don't even have to pay ridiculous theater prices." There are perhaps other comments he could make about the potential appeal of watching competence and efficiency, but he'll just keep those to himself. "Your turn to be eye in the sky overwatch for me. If I stuck you in some of the sniper nests I've been in before, you would probably start going a little crazy."

"A little role reversal never hurt anyone." There's a bit of a smile with that one.

He could make a pretty reasonable guess or two about reasons he wouldn't love some of those nests, but he's way more interested in Clint's reasoning, so. "Yeah? Why?"

"I get you're fine with stillness and boredom, but it'd probably still make you itch to get on out and do something up close and personal. And some of them have been particularly uncomfortable."

But maybe that wouldn't bother Steve, either. He hums out a thoughtful noise. "Anything's probably tolerable after the ice."

"It'd make sense if it worked that way. It kinda worked out the opposite. I can keep myself still just fine. Anything keeping me that way, and I'm pretty uncomfortable. Throw in cold and wet and I'm ready to climb out of my skin. Won't and don't. Want to. Probably a good thing the war was over by the time I came out of the ice." Besides the 70 years of war and the... less than ideal that would be. "...and that I wasn't exactly somebody they were gonna shove in a tank, anyway." Or foxhole, for that matter.

"So no snow missions if you can help it. Noted." There's nothing really to note; it isn't like he's planning missions for Cap. "Nothing underwater. You ever been in a sub?"

"Mission, no, but you take long enough to show up somewhere I can predict and get to, I might take a week and go somewhere with some decent snow just for the hell of it. I've got time to kill, might as well see if I can unwire at least some of that." But t hen he shakes his head. "Never been in a sub and that can stay that way. The only person I can think of as a worse idea in a pressurized tin can under miles of water is Banner." That'd be... really fucking fan.

"Clearly what you need is to learn the art of snowboarding. Or skiing. Right off the side of a mountain, maybe. Learn it and then do the most extreme version of it possible."

Steve startles a tiny bit and stares at Clint for a little longer than necessarily makes sense, as he processes that.

Then realizes, and laughs.

"I think you just found a way that I can burn off some energy and get a good adrenaline rush going." Can stop being restrained and controlled and go hard, anyway.

"Just don't start any avalanches. Otherwise, yeah, go learn something new and then hit up all the hardest trails and highest jumps. Learn to enjoy the snow. Go nuts."

Even Clint has to laugh, a little chuckle under his breath. "What, you never thought about picking up any sports before?"

He still looks kind of stunned, even if he's amused at himself and has a half smile lingering around his face. "Nope. Sports have never crossed my mind. Not once in my entire life."

"Obviously team stuff would be harder. You'd be an unfair advantage, but solo outings would be good for you. Next thing you know, you'll be skateboarding, surfing, biking..."

"I'm not sure snowboarding didn't appeal to me by virtue of going off the side of a mountain, but there's other recreational stuff I can probably make work. Hell, cliff diving." There's a... dangerous and speed element that's appealing. "Maybe biking if you leave the mountain in."

"Base jumping." Okay, wait, this is slowly actually getting Clint's attention. "What happens if you go splat at terminal velocity?"

Actually getting Clint's attention is a pleasant surprise for Steve. He quirks a wry grin at the question. "Not sure, since I've never done it. Best guess is that as long as I manage to adjust my position enough to avoid my skull inside my brain, a rib in my heart, or impaling myself on something when I landed, I'd scream. Then get back up and want to do it again. I fucking love free fall."

Edited 2024-11-26 15:49 (UTC)

"Break your spine in seventeen places and shatter your pelvis, but give you five minutes and then you're climbing your way back up, huh? Rollercoasters are a good simulation, but bungee jumping is more a genuine free falling sensation. Base jumping at least means you're in control of when you open your wings or chute."

"Yeah, I went cliff diving for a reason. I went out of a plane or two without a 'chute before I knew SHIELD was Hydra, I just went over water. Plenty of time to adjust how I hit the water, a lot of time in the air and a softer landing. That dive out of the elevator onto concrete was a little much and I don't exactly have the shield to absorb any of the impact anymore." He's considering. "Base jumping's a good idea. Feels dangerous enough to be worth it, even with having a ripcord."

"Better than actually slamming into rocks and trees and brush at terminal. The idea is to get the rush and have fun, not actually beating yourself into a pulp." Hopefully. But if that is actually the idea, he can't even judge.

"Kinda depends on the day and my mood, but if I was gonna beat myself into a pulp as a coping mechanism, it probably would have occurred to me by now." Probably. He's a little thoughtful about it, though. It's extreme but... is it actually more extreme than him cracking Clint's ribs. Hell, less, maybe? Clint's going to take longer to heal, by a lot.

Either way, he's more animated and interested in possibility than he's been.

"...there's something wrong with both of us," is the only real conclusion he's reached.

"You're telling that to the guy that dresses up like a ninja samurai and slices open hordes of gangsters. That there's something wrong with him." A slow smile cracks across his face. "Man, what was your first clue?"

"I knew something was wrong with you before I showed up." There's a return smile, and maybe it's strange, but it's sincerely bright and warm. "It's the realization that I probably need to put myself in there with you that caught me off guard."

"You need something that makes you let go. You need something like me needing you to take me down a few pegs. It feels so good that even the shit that doesn't feel good feels good."

"Yeah." Maybe. Probably? He's got some stuff to work through on that one, but he can do it on his own time. "I might take the scenic route back. See if I can work it out. The equivalent of me taking you down, scaled to my bullshit, is so extreme I don't want anyone else anywhere near it."

"Maybe you should go find Bruce."

Because if anyone can put the hurt on...

"And when you go back, maybe you should also make sure you get as much touchy feely touch from Tasha as you can so you're not so starved for it."

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