Chapter Text
Their watery and tepid drinks are still there the next morning, and Phil clears them away so they can have a leisurely breakfast on this, their day off, and actually talk about this thing. Clint hates it, of course. He turns his chair around to lean on the back, shoulders hunched as he mutters his responses like a truculent kid in the principal's office. Phil probably shouldn't like that, but it's too late. Clint actually forces himself to talk about the whole crying thing, and Phil has mercy on him and doesn't bring up the fact that Clint is two for two on calling him 'daddy' during sex. They'll have to talk about that sometime, but now is not the hour. Now it's enough to know that yes, this is a thing. An old-fashioned exclusive thing, and that they're going to do their best to be professional through the euphoric haze. After that it's back to necking like a pair of teenagers.
There are a lot more conversations to have, of course. There's the awkward sad one where Phil edges around the brittle question of whether or not Clint was raped in prison and if there's anything he should or shouldn't do accordingly only to collapse in relief to hear all about Logan, who had taken Clint under his wing with no expectations at all.
"We fucked sometimes, of course," Clint says, holding Phil and rubbing his back, "but that was my idea. Feel better?"
"Yeah," he admits, feeling pathetic for being the one taking comfort here. Clint just smiles at him, like he's reading his mind.
"Hey, I knew I was fine, you actually had room to worry. Nah, Logan's fucking amazing. He actually escaped last year and they're still looking for him." He grins, and Phil has to laugh, hoping Clint never asks him to harbor the guy because he knows he'll cave in.
There's also the conversation about eventually meeting the Coulson clan, but Phil's family can be… judgmental. They're best saved for a fortified boyfriend, not a brand new one still quaking in his boots after being caught by Nick and threatened with all manner of horrors should he turn out to be a dickhead like some of Phil's past choices. To Clint's credit, he had stood up to Nick and only collapsed afterward. Phil had petted and soothed him, and then called Nick up to yell at him for a nicely therapeutic interval before taking Clint out for cheesesteaks to ground him.
"Don’t worry about Nick," he says, stealing one of Clint's fries. "He just doesn't trust my judgment."
"Really?"
"I've got some bad exes, but I think my taste has improved with age."
"Well. I told your buddy I don't cheat, I don't hit, and I don't lie, and you know that's the truth."
Phil smiles, kissing his cheek. "I know, baby." They're new yet, but he hopes Clint never stops blushing when Phil calls him that. So far, it's looking good.
Life goes on at the studio at its usual uneven pace, with Natasha quietly teasing them both and Tony telling them, in a nice way, every time he finds a particularly promising sex shop or offbeat date venue. Some of his suggestions are actually quite good, and the others are horrible enough to be bonding experiences and give them good stories for later. Clint joins Phil and Pepper on one of their occasional brunches and meets her tentative approval. She likes a little more polish, but is pleased to find him polite to wait staff and capable of telling good wine from bad. And out of his earshot, she acknowledges to Phil that his body is a work of art, eyes sparkling.
Meanwhile Thor is nearly done with his first task, many more lined up as he becomes part of their crew whether he likes it or not. He's down to the small components, huge hands making movements too small to see with fine grade sand paper. One of Olorun's ribs has always stuck slightly no matter what anyone does, but Thor just rocks a little and hums to himself and somehow makes something the exact right shape, hands glistening with baby oil as he strokes it into the wood. Tony actually says filthy things (which just make Thor laugh) while Phil merely thinks them. Clint just watches the action and grins.
"He's pretty straight," he tells Phil later. "Down for the odd shared hand job and willing to kiss a boy if he's going to fool around with him, but it's women he really likes."
"…If you have direct experience will you be angry if I ask to hear about it in graphic detail?"
"Are you kidding? I love story time."
Phil has to wonder how he got so lucky. He doesn't pick at it much; just superstitious enough to believe that well enough (and far better) is best left alone. Nick calls him up from some undisclosed location via satellite phone and tells him that he can tell Phil is getting laid just by watching the show, and to pass his commendation on to 'your boy', which is a little too close to home, perhaps. Still, Phil appreciates the sentiment, and lets Clint know that he's on that short list of People Nick Doesn't Hate. Clint is duly honored.
Sam does end up doing a bit on the raptor rescue where he works, and Steve gives him all the puppeteering lessons they damn well feel like, while Bucky peaceably nods in greeting and brings extra on days when Sam's presence and Steve forgetting his lunch coincide.
"We need more scientists," Phil murmurs, lounging on the green room couch and chewing the stem of his reading glasses.
"I'm a scientist."
"Tony, I would love to have you do a few bits on mechanical engineering, but we'll have to script it very carefully and you'll have to keep it simple. And really, really try not to say 'fuck' so much."
Tony laughs, looking as close to sheepish as he ever does for anyone but Pepper. "What about Bruce?"
"I was in a Christmas play once," Bruce murmurs, collecting some pretzels and dip from the table. "Forgot my lines and wet my pants."
"C'mon, big guy. Water under the bridge, bygones doing their bygone thing."
"I still have stage fright. And telling kids about radiation just scares the hell out of them." He makes his way back to the corner that he and Tony claimed for their nefarious purposes long ago. "Isn't Jane going to be here for a while?"
"Three months, I think."
"Sounds like enough time for a spot or two about stars and the northern lights."
It's definitely enough time, and Jane is delighted to be on the show. "I was too busy actually studying to watch it in college, but my niece loves it," she tells Phil over the phone on the very night of her arrival when she must be exhausted, "and I love Senator Octopus."
No one has actually described her to Phil, so he's not expecting Dr. Jane Foster to be a knockout, but she is. Fine bones and one of those delicate little heart-shaped faces, and eyes that make Phil think of something shy and sweet that lives in some undisturbed forest somewhere. She seems fragile, but steps lightly and beams at the crew, taking a few pictures and getting Steve's autograph as both himself and Bill for her intern Darcy.
Later on Phil and Clint will agree that here is a real case of love at first sight, that they heard it ringing in the air like someone had struck a huge bell. Now they just watch from the safety of the catwalks as Thor drops everything to come and kiss her hand. Clint chuckles, duplicating the gesture and meeting Phil's eyes, his own alight.