OOM; Milliways inlet

[redintheledger]

Milliways is a very, very strange place. It should be expected for what it is, but she's still surprised.

An equatorial inlet. Okay. Okay.





Why not?




The only people to be surprised to find her in the shade of some trees at the inlet, jeans rolled up to her knee and sitting on the jacket Bar provided, reading a book, are people who do not actually know her.

Comments

[redintheledger]

There is a brief flail as she attempts to resettle her balance, and then she has her arm safely curled around his shoulders.

She had been going to make a comment on how he could always shoot things from roofs to add some variation, but, well.

"Hi there," she says cheerfully, shifting a bit to get comfortable. There might be just an element of snuggling into him.

Just perhaps.

[hasthehighground]

Clint grins. "Hey." He's okay with any and all snuggling.

He tightens his arms lightly in a hug, before fishing his left arm out from under her legs to rest over her knees.

"Did you hear about the telepath thing?"

[redintheledger]

She pauses.

"Telepath? Is that related to the notes the Bar passed along?"

[hasthehighground]

"Yeah. One of our scientists got on the nerves of a guy named Xavier. Hill wrapped it up. He was just ..."

Clint liked Xavier, when he met him, but the guy did have an ego.

"... being an asshole."

[redintheledger]

"Xavier? As in Charles, white with that nearly English accent?" Nearly, not quite.

Hmm.

"I've been reading his thesis."

[hasthehighground]

Clint makes a quiet, interested noise. "Genetics, right?"

[redintheledger]

"Genetics," she agrees. "Specifically, he was talking about evolution, and how genes mutate for the next step. A lot of emphasis on his hypothesis that homo sapiens and neanderthals co-habited, with our species coming to dominate. That, rather than fought."

A faintly wry smile.

"He invited me to read it."

[hasthehighground]

Clint's thinking.

"Isn't evolution just adaptation to changing environments?"

He sounds pretty uncertain-- he didn't even finish middle school, he just divorced a genius biochemist.

[redintheledger]

"Mmm. Basically? If you're looking at it as a story. Random mutations that can pass on advantages, so they're kept around. Or are neutral."

She leans her head against his, brief but affectionate.

"Red hair is neutral, so it's kept around just because. But our ability to run for long distances is an advantage, so it shaped how humans evolved.

Or so I've been informed by documentaries," she adds with a quick smile.

[hasthehighground]

"It's okay," Clint says, and his face isn't anywhere as straight as it would be if he was really trying to suppress his smile. "I still like you, even if you are a mutant."

[redintheledger]

"I'm very glad to hear it," she retorts tartly, a smile of her own tilting the edges of her mouth.

Then, a touch more seriously, "With Xavier, did Hill leave any requests for us?"

Technically, they are off-duty here. But, well, SHIELD, and the assistant director.

[hasthehighground]

"Uh," Clint says. "Well, not officially. I'm not sure how far I trust his 'best behavior'. X-23 apparently is keeping her eye on him, but..."

It makes him really uncomfortable. And kind of amused.

Mind-readers. How is this his life?

[redintheledger]

"He can back off," she says, slowly. "At least, he's been doing so for me."

Her mouth slants with amusement.

"It's an interesting place we've found ourselves, Barton."

[hasthehighground]

Clint breathes a laugh, and rests his cheek against her shoulder.

"I kind of like it."