No sense in being terrible to your future bride if that's going to make things more difficult, I guess. And if you look at it from a more human perspective, it definitely feels like any other abuser. Girlfriends and wives who don't leave because they're too scared, who don't leave because oh actually he's really sweet most of the time.
Not that you had anywhere you could go. I'm just saying. It's not the most unfamiliar tactic.
[Still. It's not about other people who would want to be in her place. Someone--something, even?--that wasn't Mr. Boots Are Made For Walking decided she was some chosen special one for some reason. As a kid. Before that, even, some predetermined, predestined thing.]
If Boot Scootin' Boogie ends up here, you let me know, okay? Everything can die, and if an arrow in each eye socket doesn't do the trick, I'll figure something else out.
No, you're right. I can't count how many times I told myself I didn't have to be scared of him. I'm important to him, he needs me. And...I can see it now, because it's gone, but he was in my head. Not like he was controlling me, it wasn't like that. Just...influencing me, I think. Clouding my reasoning a little bit.
[It's difficult to put into words the way it had felt like a cloud lifting from her mind, those first few months here. Nadine's not any different, not really, without him. And even with him in there she'd made her own choices when it really mattered. But there's still a difference.]
I did try, once. To get out of it. But it didn't pan out. I figure as long as I'm here and he's not...
[A small shrug as she tends to the now-sizzling fish filet. It does, indeed, smell like natural fish.
Then the fish is forgotten, and she turns to Clint at his next words. There's a funny sort of lightheadedness that comes over her. He doesn't understand, he can't understand, just what a force he'd be dealing with. Even so. His unflinching, unhesitating promise to simply dispose of Randall sends a sudden little thrill through her.
She knows this feeling and she tries to push it away. Now isn't the time to marvel over Clint's kindness, how he makes her feel safe, how she feels so comfortable and accepted in his presence. This conversation is complicated enough without those feelings in the mix.
There's still a damp brightness in her eyes that she can't push away.]
You know something...I believe you would. But I mean it, Clint, he's incredible dangerous. Especially to you.
[Something...changes. He's not sure what it is, exactly. Maybe nobody's stood up for her like that before. Maybe it's his vehemence and certainty in taking on a whole demon. Something about the way he promises to take care of the problem, one way or another, has her looking at him in a way that quietly breaks his heart.
He quickly turns the heat off of his part of the stove so he doesn't forget about the burner entirely, but his focus is entirely on Nadine. His hands come up as easy as breathing, concern written clear on his features, along either side of her face. Fingers against her neck as they brush hair back, light, as his thumbs trace against her jaw, ghost along her cheeks.]
If that son of a bitch sets one foot in this place, he's in for a world of hurt. And I will do everything in my power to make sure he doesn't hurt you. He doesn't get to do that, not ever again. I'll even let you take the first shot at him if you want; you deserve that much.
[And he gets that it's complicated. He gets that there would be some sick comfort in the return of a presence that she spent most of her life with. But it's not happening, not on his watch.
He tries to impress that on her for a few long moments before, shyly, he pulls his hands back. He, uh. Has beans to saute. Obviously. And she's got a fish to tend to. Ahem. His attention goes first to a sip of wine and then to the food and very much no longer directly focused on her.]
'Sides, I've fought gods, ma'am. A little devil doesn't do much to scare me.
[Some part in the back of Nadine's mind notes that is this were a movie, here is the moment the music would shift and swell. They would slowly come together as the curtains blew in the breeze and the light would brighten...
It isn't a movie, though, and when he pulls back she turns away, awkwardly, clearing her throat and hoping her cheeks aren't as bright as they feel. The fish. She has to pay attention to the fish. Not an easy task with all of the emotions stirred up and working themselves into a maelstrom inside of her.
Talking about Randall had brought up more than enough. Talking about him to Clint specifically stirred up even more. Now this. She's been trying to ignore and put aside her feelings for him, but good God does he make it difficult.]
It sounds like you've got the right resume for the job.
[Oh that was corny and dumb. She flinches as she flips the fish, kicking herself mentally. This was just supposed to be a casual, friendly dinner. Here she is spilling the dark secrets of her soul and thinking about how it would probably be so nice to kiss him. That is the last thing either of them needs. She's a mess that's technically still engaged to a demon. She doesn't even know if he feels anything more than friendship.]
But...thank you. Uh. I'm sorry this all got so heavy. Maybe it's a good thing you brought some stronger stuff after all.
[It's fine. Everything's fine. Nothing has to be awkward. And it's just a friendly dinner with a friend. That's all that it is, and that's all it has to be.]
It's fine. [Everything's fine!] You needed to get it off your chest. Needed to let me know. Maybe I might not be able to do much in the end, but I have some friends who are a lot stronger and weirder than me who won't be offput by fighting demon lords from the depths of hell, so. [So Walker Vegas Ranger will have a lot to fear from the oddball pseudo-Avengers.]
'Course, I say I fought gods, it's more that the gods we know are really just aliens from other worlds with magic and powers we don't. Thor's one of my friends. Like, actual Thor, god of thunder, has a hammer only he can lift, all of that. Turns out, that whole pantheon? Royal alien family who visited Norway ages ago and left an impression.
[There we go, less heavy. No less weird, but at least less directly hefty.]
I guess I did. I've never talked about it, really. But that's why I missed out on a whole lot of things, and why I keep people at arm's length usually, and why I never really drank.
[She lifts her wineglass to emphasize the point.]
Too big a risk of saying something without thinking, or making a stupid choice.
[Nadine listens as she finishes up the filet and gets it off the stove to rest. She'd been right about one assumption - Clint's world was a whole lot weirder than hers. No wonder none of this is getting a shocked reaction, this sounds like the kind of thing he's used to.
Unexpectedly, she finds herself the one surprised with entirely unexpected revelations. Clint is friends with the Norse god of Thunder.
Who is an alien.]
Wow. And here I thought I'd be shocking you. But it sounds like 'arranged marriage to a demon with a funny name' is not even close to the weirdest thing you've ever encountered.
I'm glad you could share that. I mean that, I'm glad you feel you're in a safe enough place here that you can get all that out of you without feeling like you're either go insane or alienate all your friends.
[It means, yeah, for some people, this really is a safer place to exist. It really is safer and better and preferable to whatever they had going on before. She's got a life she's building away from the apocalypse and all of that demonic predestined bullshit.
He gives the beans a quick saute, shrugs his shoulders, considers switching his drink for something harder--no, no, not yet. They should at least finish the wine over dinner.]
Still ranks up there. I've had my mind controlled with magic, but the guy doing it wasn't exactly a demon. Bunch of evil robots accidentally made by a teammate [sorry not sorry Tony, there's no lie in that] lifted a chunk of a small eastern European country into the sky, and we had to fight in that kind of atmosphere. Been to space. Traveled in time. It's been...eventful.
[At this moment, here in her familiar motel apartment. With Clint. Nadine doesn't always feel safe, she still sometimes wakes up in the middle of the night in cold terror, but for now....]
Okay, I had no idea I was friends with a literal action hero like from the old Saturday morning shows.
[She shakes her head in wonderment as she steps away to get plates out of a cabinet on the wall. Randall was one thing. Aliens and traveling through time and entire countries being abducted by robots is on a whole other level.]
I'm sorry, going to space and time travel sound so much more intense than my deal. No wonder you've got you the skills you do.
I dunno, promised to a demon lord in cowboy boots before you were ever even born is pretty intense. Only time I ever had someone in my head was magically forking me to be his general to help try taking over New York with an alien army.
[Which is perhaps not polite conversation for a nice dinner date! Colloquial date. Date in the casual, not actually a date sense. Clint brings over the drinks and their glasses to set up, dishes out the beans.]
I promise I'm not weird or magical in any way. I'm just a guy who shoots good enough to be part of a hero team. You're just a gal who caught the attention of beings way above either of our paygrades. We don't necessarily get to choose these things sometimes.
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no subject
Not that you had anywhere you could go. I'm just saying. It's not the most unfamiliar tactic.
[Still. It's not about other people who would want to be in her place. Someone--something, even?--that wasn't Mr. Boots Are Made For Walking decided she was some chosen special one for some reason. As a kid. Before that, even, some predetermined, predestined thing.]
If Boot Scootin' Boogie ends up here, you let me know, okay? Everything can die, and if an arrow in each eye socket doesn't do the trick, I'll figure something else out.
no subject
[It's difficult to put into words the way it had felt like a cloud lifting from her mind, those first few months here. Nadine's not any different, not really, without him. And even with him in there she'd made her own choices when it really mattered. But there's still a difference.]
I did try, once. To get out of it. But it didn't pan out. I figure as long as I'm here and he's not...
[A small shrug as she tends to the now-sizzling fish filet. It does, indeed, smell like natural fish.
Then the fish is forgotten, and she turns to Clint at his next words. There's a funny sort of lightheadedness that comes over her. He doesn't understand, he can't understand, just what a force he'd be dealing with. Even so. His unflinching, unhesitating promise to simply dispose of Randall sends a sudden little thrill through her.
She knows this feeling and she tries to push it away. Now isn't the time to marvel over Clint's kindness, how he makes her feel safe, how she feels so comfortable and accepted in his presence. This conversation is complicated enough without those feelings in the mix.
There's still a damp brightness in her eyes that she can't push away.]
You know something...I believe you would. But I mean it, Clint, he's incredible dangerous. Especially to you.
no subject
He quickly turns the heat off of his part of the stove so he doesn't forget about the burner entirely, but his focus is entirely on Nadine. His hands come up as easy as breathing, concern written clear on his features, along either side of her face. Fingers against her neck as they brush hair back, light, as his thumbs trace against her jaw, ghost along her cheeks.]
If that son of a bitch sets one foot in this place, he's in for a world of hurt. And I will do everything in my power to make sure he doesn't hurt you. He doesn't get to do that, not ever again. I'll even let you take the first shot at him if you want; you deserve that much.
[And he gets that it's complicated. He gets that there would be some sick comfort in the return of a presence that she spent most of her life with. But it's not happening, not on his watch.
He tries to impress that on her for a few long moments before, shyly, he pulls his hands back. He, uh. Has beans to saute. Obviously. And she's got a fish to tend to. Ahem. His attention goes first to a sip of wine and then to the food and very much no longer directly focused on her.]
'Sides, I've fought gods, ma'am. A little devil doesn't do much to scare me.
no subject
It isn't a movie, though, and when he pulls back she turns away, awkwardly, clearing her throat and hoping her cheeks aren't as bright as they feel. The fish. She has to pay attention to the fish. Not an easy task with all of the emotions stirred up and working themselves into a maelstrom inside of her.
Talking about Randall had brought up more than enough. Talking about him to Clint specifically stirred up even more. Now this. She's been trying to ignore and put aside her feelings for him, but good God does he make it difficult.]
It sounds like you've got the right resume for the job.
[Oh that was corny and dumb. She flinches as she flips the fish, kicking herself mentally. This was just supposed to be a casual, friendly dinner. Here she is spilling the dark secrets of her soul and thinking about how it would probably be so nice to kiss him. That is the last thing either of them needs. She's a mess that's technically still engaged to a demon. She doesn't even know if he feels anything more than friendship.]
But...thank you. Uh. I'm sorry this all got so heavy. Maybe it's a good thing you brought some stronger stuff after all.
no subject
It's fine. [Everything's fine!] You needed to get it off your chest. Needed to let me know. Maybe I might not be able to do much in the end, but I have some friends who are a lot stronger and weirder than me who won't be offput by fighting demon lords from the depths of hell, so. [So Walker Vegas Ranger will have a lot to fear from the oddball pseudo-Avengers.]
'Course, I say I fought gods, it's more that the gods we know are really just aliens from other worlds with magic and powers we don't. Thor's one of my friends. Like, actual Thor, god of thunder, has a hammer only he can lift, all of that. Turns out, that whole pantheon? Royal alien family who visited Norway ages ago and left an impression.
[There we go, less heavy. No less weird, but at least less directly hefty.]
no subject
[She lifts her wineglass to emphasize the point.]
Too big a risk of saying something without thinking, or making a stupid choice.
[Nadine listens as she finishes up the filet and gets it off the stove to rest. She'd been right about one assumption - Clint's world was a whole lot weirder than hers. No wonder none of this is getting a shocked reaction, this sounds like the kind of thing he's used to.
Unexpectedly, she finds herself the one surprised with entirely unexpected revelations. Clint is friends with the Norse god of Thunder.
Who is an alien.]
Wow. And here I thought I'd be shocking you. But it sounds like 'arranged marriage to a demon with a funny name' is not even close to the weirdest thing you've ever encountered.
no subject
[It means, yeah, for some people, this really is a safer place to exist. It really is safer and better and preferable to whatever they had going on before. She's got a life she's building away from the apocalypse and all of that demonic predestined bullshit.
He gives the beans a quick saute, shrugs his shoulders, considers switching his drink for something harder--no, no, not yet. They should at least finish the wine over dinner.]
Still ranks up there. I've had my mind controlled with magic, but the guy doing it wasn't exactly a demon. Bunch of evil robots accidentally made by a teammate [sorry not sorry Tony, there's no lie in that] lifted a chunk of a small eastern European country into the sky, and we had to fight in that kind of atmosphere. Been to space. Traveled in time. It's been...eventful.
no subject
[At this moment, here in her familiar motel apartment. With Clint. Nadine doesn't always feel safe, she still sometimes wakes up in the middle of the night in cold terror, but for now....]
Okay, I had no idea I was friends with a literal action hero like from the old Saturday morning shows.
[She shakes her head in wonderment as she steps away to get plates out of a cabinet on the wall. Randall was one thing. Aliens and traveling through time and entire countries being abducted by robots is on a whole other level.]
I'm sorry, going to space and time travel sound so much more intense than my deal. No wonder you've got you the skills you do.
no subject
[Which is perhaps not polite conversation for a nice dinner date! Colloquial date. Date in the casual, not actually a date sense. Clint brings over the drinks and their glasses to set up, dishes out the beans.]
I promise I'm not weird or magical in any way. I'm just a guy who shoots good enough to be part of a hero team. You're just a gal who caught the attention of beings way above either of our paygrades. We don't necessarily get to choose these things sometimes.