Sue & Clint | Early Thursday Afternoon

[x-hawkeye.livejournal.com]

Sue and Clint are eating lunch in the dining hall on campus when some unexpected 'guests' arrive.


Clint had three different online applications pulled up on his laptop - one for Columbia, one for MIT, and one for Cal Tech. He also had his homework for the next week for Mechanical Engineering tucked into his textbook, but Sue had stolen that and was ooh-ing and ahh-ing over everything in there, so he'd decided to focus on essays and personal statements. He reached for his drink, glancing up for a moment as he prepared to ask Sue a question, only to pause with his hand halfway to his glass. "Sue," he said, blinking slowly. "There are people standing in the door to the dining hall. Taking pictures. Of us." He had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Sue looked up from the textbook she'd been poring over and reached up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear as she tilted her head in the direction Clint had indicated. "Ah god not these guys again," the blonde sighed before quirking her lips up into a wry grin, "Smile and wave Clint, we're on candid camera."

Pasting a smile on his face, Clint said, "Christ, is that the paparazzi? Here? Isn't there on-campus security or something?" Billy was going to have a field day with this. He'd probably be getting a phone call from Maddie, too - he didn't even want to imagine what the tabloids were going to put as headlines. "The chance of them assuming we're anything more than classmates or friends is really, really small, right?"

"It's the paparazzi, they can get anywhere, it's like their evil super power...you don't think they're mutants do you? Cause that would totally explain a lot," Sue grinned comfortingly at her friend, "It'll be fine, I mean a picture tells it's own story doesn't it? They can't make a picture support one of their wild and crazy theories unless we do something wild an crazy." She grinned impishly at Clint, "So the real question is, are you feeling crazy today, Mr Barton?"

"That would be a 'no,'" Clint answered, finally following through and picking up his drink as he studiously ignored the men standing at the dining hall entrance. "I'm feeling like finishing up these applications and stealing my textbook back from you and going to class and then going home where I'll pretend paparazzi didn't take pictures of me for an hour while I ate a burger and squinted at my laptop. Maybe I'll hit the gym or just bury my head in a pillow. Whatever works."

"Noooooo! My Precious! You can't take the precious away," Sue replied clutching the book to her chest before winking at Clint and patting him comfortingly on the back, "It's not really that bad, they were probably wishing they could come over here and have the burger, I have to give it to the cafeteria here. They do pretty decent food, not as good as Miss D...Lorna's but better than I expected."

"Yeah, but y'know, for all the tuition we're paying," Clint pointed out, laughing a little despite himself. "The burgers better be awesome." The rapid clicking of cameras distracted him again, though, and he fought the urge to put his head down on his laptop's keyboard. "Sue - Namor says we're not supposed to feed the paparazzi."

Sue glanced over at the paparazzi and pulled her hand away from Clint's back slowly with a wry smile, "Maybe, but they're going to take photos of everything we do so might as well just ignore them and wait for campus security to realize they're hiding in the bushes over there. Besides, isn't this whole plan that Julian and Tandy cooked up just a way of feeding the paparazzi to see what will happen?"

"Don't remind me," Clint muttered, shaking his head as he went back to his applications. "It just makes me want to punch Keller in the face even more - and I know that's still an awful idea." Some strategist he made - put Keller in front of him and all thoughts of actually coming up with a plan of attack that might work - in theory, it's not like he'd ever actually attempt to execute one - went right out the window. He just wanted to pummel him. "Stupid TKs - they cheat at life."

"Don't think of it as cheating, just think of it as a challenge," Sue offered with a conspiratorial grin, you just have to find a way to sneak up on them or distract them and then pow, nerf arrow to the chest." Sue shrugged, "Besides, I think Tan would object slightly if you and her new 'pookie'" the blonde pulled a face, "got into a fight."

"Pookie?" Clint couldn't stop himself from faux gagging - which turned out to be alright, given campus security chose that moment to show up and intercept the paparazzi at the door. "Ugh - I can't stand that dude. I swear, if he gets either of you in trouble, I'll try to punch him even though I know he could just pin me to a wall."

"I know exactly," Sue took a sip of her coke and shuddered, "I can't even imagine someone calling me pookie, it's...it's very Julian." Sue leaned back in her chair and looked over the table at Clint, "Why do you dislike him so much?"

"It's difficult to... explain," Clint said, frowning. He gave up on finishing his applications right then, figuring he could wrap them up when he got back to the mansion. "It's very... like, he's..." He waved his free hand before closing his laptop and setting his glass aside. "Fake, I guess? I mean, for all his airs about nobility and everything, Namor is nothing if not completely honest with people - probably to a fault. But Julian's like... I don't know. Nothing he does or says comes across as being genuine, I guess."

"Namor is nothing if not forthright, that's kinda his charm, no pretense around him, if you're his friend it's really cause you're his friend." Sue shrugged, "Julian, seems to be the opposite, likes to wear a mask I guess. Did I ever tell you about the first time we met? He came falling outta the sky at the beach and introduced himself as Otto Henry. then when I saw him at his party he kept up the pretense. That was a little bit of a shock."

"No, you never told me that," Clint said, shaking his head. "But like. I don't... that's like the same kind of thing all the rich kids at my old school used to do - it was really nice to come here and not have anybody act that way. It's not like you and Johnny are all..." He waved his hand in the air again. "I don't know. Obnoxious. About being well off. With Keller it's just like - here, let me throw money around and fake being jovial or friendly or whatever."

Sue grinned, "You have met my dad right? I mean I love him but he's never really emphasized money or society. He'd rather be in the lab tinkering than at any society event or board meeting. He's good at them but he has different priorities." Sue gazed down fondly at 'her precious', "I guess that rubbed off on us. I don't really think about it, the money, the society events, they're all just things that are." She shrugged, "I guess Julian was brought up just a little differently."

Clint snorted. "Y'think?" Then he shook his head. "Tan says I shouldn't judge him based on what he shows everybody, but man."

"Well, she does spend a lot more time around him and his," Sue made air quotes with her fingers, "girlfriend, should know him best. He is kinda fun in a weird kinda way."

"Yeah, cause spending time with him would mean I actually had to spend time with him," Clint muttered, shaking his head. "C'mon, let's head out before the paparazzi decide to try and get around security again. Jeez, they're persistent. Who even cares who's dating who? Mass media is ridiculous."

"You mean you don't want to know all the latest gossip? Who's dating who, it's serious business," Sue grinned and shrugged, "People seem to love finding out about every aspect of the lives of celebrities. They sell what sells, now people, people are totally ridiculous."

"But is Julian a celebrity? I get Tan's like... fashion thing. And your family's like high society. I guess his is, too - but it's like. I don't even know," Clint said, shaking his head in bewilderment. "Pay attention to like. The President or a movie star or something. None of you've even actually done anything except go to lunch with one another."

Sue held a hand to her mouth in mock outrage, "Are you saying that going to lunch isn't as interesting as the President?" she asked in an shocked voice. "I honestly don't know. Must be a slow news week or something. But then I guess they need something to fill the magazine space." She grinned impishly at Clint, "What can I say, we're all of us just beautiful people living wonderful lives."

Clint scoffed, though quietly. His friends were sometimes very, very weird. And so were the people who thought their lives were glamorous or interesting. They went to class. They ate lunch. They went to movies with one another. None of it was actually any different from what other people their age did. Why did it matter? "Let's just hope nobody decides to think I'm one of you people living a wonderful life. That's the last thing I need."