not-at-all-Christmassy fic

[themonkeytwin]

Title: set fire to the third bar
Ficverse: The Avengers, AU
Series: one shot
Rating: PG
Length: 4500 ish
Characters: Clint/Natasha
Teaser: It was a strange thing, to know you were living a life that wasn't quite your own.
Notes: This basically grew out of a tangental comment to workerbee73 about what Clint would be like if he never ran away and joined the

Comments

[workerbee73]

Best Christmas present ever.

I've been dying to read this story ever since the day we started talking about it, so many long months ago. And now here it is and it's better than I could have possibly imagined. The longing is palpable but its also so full of closure, so complete and supremely satisfying that I'm sitting here with a big contended smile on my face.

I love the way you write Clint. I love how strong he feels, and how real he is; I never doubt his intent or his sincerity for a second. I love the glimpse of Natasha that we get here, even though she was the one being beheld as it were... and what I wouldn't give for a snippet of her the week after this incident sitting at her desk with a cup of coffee staring out into space and feeling the pull of molasses and amber and a dark grey Iowa sky. I want to see them meet up again, maybe just once; I think it'd be enough and never enough all at once (could it ever be enough?)

((And selfishly I want them to have just one kiss.))

The honesty in this is beautiful and it makes what at first appears to be an impossible premise so incredibly believable. And the prose is gorgeous too, as always. As is the imagery. Fire and violence and a world full of distance (and I bet she feels him near, always near, feels handprints all over her body because that's how she processes.)

This fic is like all those beautiful discussions come full circle. I'm in awe.

(oh-- and you better post this over at be_compromised or I'll be forced to take drastic action. we clear? :)

So much love, my dear. Merry Christmas. <3

[themonkeytwin]

I am so, so glad it hit the spot (so to speak :p)! In the end, just one look between them simply wasn't enough, really, they needed their little adventure too. :)

I love how strong he feels, and how real he is; I never doubt his intent or his sincerity for a second.

When I stop to think about it, it keeps taking me by surprise how effortlessly simple he is - as simple and true as an arrow striking center-target. He's unique, really, and a pleasure to write. And, of course, the way Renner plays him, he's such a *visceral* actor, it's magnetic. (I just saw The Town. *flail* :'( He gives such good anti-hero.)

sitting at her desk with a cup of coffee staring out into space and feeling the pull of molasses and amber and a dark grey Iowa sky.

You know, I do get the feeling a tiny bit of SHIELD's resources might get diverted to doing some intel-gathering in Nowheresville, Iowa. After all, they're always on the lookout for extraordinary personel, right? Who knows what might happen in a few years' time? :)

((And selfishly I want them to have just one kiss.))

((I can't speak to that. After I wrote it, I realised there was highly figurative, fire-and-violence version of quick-and-desperate against-the-wall sex lurking in metaphor under all there. Ahem. *cough*))

impossible premise so incredibly believable.

Thank you! I seem to be making a habit of that with you. :) It's either that or a super-slow burn, I don't know if I have any middle gears!

and I bet she feels him near, always near, feels handprints all over her body because that's how she processes.

... I hadn't even thought of that, but YES. OMG, yes, that's EXACTLY how it'd be for her. Well, if another bunny ever pops its head up for what could happen later on, I've got my imagery hook for it.

you better post this over at be_compromised or I'll be forced to take drastic action.

Haha, sure. Although I do kind of want to see what "drastic action" would look like ;)

<3

[workerbee73]

When I stop to think about it, it keeps taking me by surprise how effortlessly simple he is - as simple and true as an arrow striking center-target. He's unique, really, and a pleasure to write.

Simple and true but those still waters run so deep. As I write him more what I love is how I never quite know what he'll say or do until I get there. And i love that. He's deliciously complex in so many ways, while being so perfectly grounded in who and what he is.

I do get the feeling a tiny bit of SHIELD's resources might get diverted to doing some intel-gathering in Nowheresville, Iowa. After all, they're always on the lookout for extraordinary personel, right? Who knows what might happen in a few years' time? :)

My thoughts exactly. ;)

After I wrote it, I realised there was highly figurative, fire-and-violence version of quick-and-desperate against-the-wall sex lurking in metaphor under all there

HEADCANON ACCEPTED. I hereby declare this a deleted scene.

I need you to write me the follow-up Natasha snippet. No rush. I'll wait. <3

[themonkeytwin]

He's deliciously complex in so many ways, while being so perfectly grounded in who and what he is.

Yes, complex without ever being complicated. Complex like the musculature of an arm, simple like a knock-out punch. :) And so internal, and as you say, perpetually unpredictable because of all of this.

[workerbee73]

Beautifully said. He's become one of my absolute favorite characters to write, and for those reasons. There's no pedantic psychodrama to get lost in, no inner hordes of manpain to maneuver around. All is straight and sure and true.

But stubborn. Oh my god stubborn. That will is made of iron. :)

okay now i'm just spamming you.

[workerbee73]

i regret nothing. <3

i was just listening to the civil wars and this song came on and it demanded to be shared:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iKLl6LeJxU

I've got this friend
I don't think you know him
He's not much for words
He's hidden his heart away

Oh I've got this friend
A loveless romantic
All that he really wants
Is someone to want him back

Ohh, if the right one came
If the right one came along
Ohh, If the right one came, along

I've got this friend
I don't think you know her
She sings a simple song
It sounds a lot like his

Oh I've got this friend
Holding onto her heart
Like it's a little secret
Like it's all she's got to give

Ohh, if the right one came
If the right one came along
Ohh, if the right one came, along

It'd be such a shame
(If they never meet)
She sounds lovely
(He sounds right out of a dream)
If only
(If only)
If only

Ohh
Ohh, if the right one came
If the right one came along
Ohh, (I've got this friend) if the right one came
If the right one came along
Ohh, (I've got this friend)
If the right one came, along

Re: okay now i'm just spamming you.

[themonkeytwin]

Haha, spam away! That is awesome, those lyrics are absolutely perfect :)

Re: okay now i'm just spamming you.

[workerbee73]

Aren't they though? That song gives me a lot of feels. :)

Re: okay now i'm just spamming you.

[themonkeytwin]

Paired with your Thoughts, I think it's the song of the fic, actually. Not to get ahead of myself or anything.... XD

[workerbee73]

Could you be whispering sweet sequel nothings in my ear?

Dying to get your thoughts on Thoughts, btw. ;)

[themonkeytwin]

I c u thar, instigating!

Haha, coming. Got distracted by leftover pudding for breakfast. (With ice cream, and cherries and coffee. I love leftovers breakfasts.) :)

[workerbee73]

dude, that sounds awesome!

got your email too. <33333333333333333333333

[themonkeytwin]

Hang on, I just realised ... what's "pudding" in America? Is it the sloppy, in-a-tub kind of pudding? I can't keep things straight in my head any more. 'Cause I'm talking about the Christmas pudding, solid and full of bits of fruit, and doused in brandy and set alight (only we were out of brandy, and so we used gin instead, it was delicious).

... You know. In case there was any confusion. ;)

[workerbee73]

i just assumed it was something infinitely more palatable than the stuff we have. :)

[themonkeytwin]

Pudding!

And yes. It's YUMMY.

[workerbee73]

oooooh! i have seen this before! delightful!