Reality in Motion

reminders

Leaving Q and Steve outside to talk about whatever they needed to talk about - or decided to talk about first, Dawson followed Laura into the kitchen area of her home. It was exactly what he expected a family home to look like, but also still surprised him a bit cause Clint of all people lived there. Clint, the guy who shot arrows and was friends with an ex-KGB super spy. It was warm and welcoming, like a home should be like. Very unlike the home he grew up in and much different than the beach house he and Q had been living in. Without paying too much attention to the details of the house (he'd leave that to Q) he let Laura lead him to the kitchen area. She talked about there being a shower in the guest room for him to use along with whatever was in the bathroom and how if he needed anything, all he had to do was ask. A nice, welcoming gesture from a woman who knew next to nothing about him.

There were sandwich makings laid out for him to pick at. He thanked her once again, then started to build a healthy sized sandwich out of what was left. Laura got the kids out of his way, herding them into the living room to play with their toys. The only person who didn't leave was Clint.

Too focused on building his sandwich, he didn't notice until he went to take a bite only to have Clint snatch the half out of his hand. He kept his now empty hand in the air, momentarily stunned by the action, before growing annoyed. His eyes flicked to where the archer was sitting on the opposite side of the counter. He took a bite of the sandwich and then gave him a satisfied grin. Dawson let out a huff and then picked up his remaining half, leaning down to meet it so that Clint didn't have the opportunity to steal it.

"You know I never really had an opinion about you before, Starowicz." Clint commented, calling him by his last name - which no one ever did, just like no one ever called him by his first name, "But then, you know, you got involved with Tasha and..." he motioned to him with the half-eaten sandwich, "Again, still no real opinion." Dawson rolled his eyes at the clear jab, "Then you went and broke her heart." Clint sighed, examining the sandwich a bit before his eyes flicked to Dawson's, "So now I have the lowest opinion of you."

"Guess it was good that you didn't have one to begin with." he shot back, unfazed; most people didn't like him to begin with, "Didn't have very far to fall." he raised his eyebrows up and Clint chuckled.

"Yeah, right..." he trailed off and chewed thoughtfully for a moment before speaking again with his mouth half full, "You really hurt her, you know." he told him. And for a brief moment, a weird feeling struck Dawson - one he never really felt before but he didn't like it. Didn't like knowing that he had caused Nat any sort of pain. Emotional or otherwise. Even if he had suspected it, Clint confirming it was somehow worse. "And, God, I really want to hurt you too." he laughed a bit as if the threat was in any way funny. Dawson swallowed back a lump in his throat, not liking how this conversation was going, "But my family's in the next room. My kids. My wife. People who love me." he brushed some crumbs from the countertop, "And knowing you'll never have that, never find someone to love you that way again, is enough for me. You don't deserve anything like this and I doubt you'll ever get it." he finished with a serious look. Dawson shifted uncomfortably on the other side of the counter. A rock was beginning to form in his stomach and he glanced down at his half of the sandwich, wondering if it was the food's fault, "That and I just redid the kitchen and really don't feel like destroying it." he made a face as he walked around the corner to toss his crumbs into the trash.

Clapping his hand against Dawson's shoulder, a firmness to the motion to let Dawson know that he was unevenly matched against the archer. That he could take him down if he really wanted. Based on the conversation they just had, Dawson would let him too. He deserved it. Just like Clint said.

Truly alone, Dawson finished the last of his sandwich then cleaned up his mess. It was the least he could do and, while he didn't mind if Clint had such a poor opinion of him, for some reason he didn't want Laura too as well. He wanted to show her he was more than whatever terrible story Clint had told her, even if it was true. There were enough people in the house who hated him, he didn't want more. Though any other time before then, he wouldn't have cared, but now he did. And he wasn't sure why. Maybe because he knew he fucked up and hurt people that he had surprisingly ended up caring about more than he originally thought. Weird. Is that how other people felt all the time when they fucked up? He knew he didn't like it, but he wasn't sure it was going away any time soon.