Kitty, Namor, & Clint | Monday Afternoon

[x-hawkeye.livejournal.com]

Clint's got an itinerary figured out but Namor is a little more interested in flirting with Kitty than paying attention to it. And then they get distracted.


It had taken him a couple of days to negotiate with various people at the mansion, mostly Scott, so that he could arrange for Namor to go places, but Clint had finally succeeded. The Atlantean had modern paperwork he might or might not ever need thanks to Clarice agreeing to 'port them to their destinations, which were all handily listed on the piece of paper in his hand.

Mostly, they were places where there was any hint of myth or legend, but either way, they were starting in Greece with at least one stop in China and another probably off the coast of Africa and one likely somewhere in Scandinavia. He did, however, want to make sure those spots were semi-logical based on the actual Atlantean's input, so he'd gone looking for Namor, finding him in the gardens at the back of the mansion near an excessively large fountain.

"Hey," Clint called as he approached, half-jogging toward the other man.

Namor did not allow this to interrupt his kata.

He moved from foot to foot across the cobbled center of the garden rotunda, but the real show came from the play of the Trident of Neptune in the half-named man's hands. The king's style, ancient and as forgotten as the rest of the man's heritage, moved between being a glowing gold and blue-green blur to a point poised sharply against invisible opponents. A stab. An overhead block. A parry. The movements spoke of a more savage time, but the King's liquid grace was undeniable as the momentum of the weapon shifted in his hands.

It took thirty or so seconds for Namor to officially acknowledge Clint. He set the butt of the trident against the floor, its runes glowing faintly blue green even in the afternoon sun, but did not speak. All Clint received was a beckoning motion. Get on with it.

Walking forward, Clint held the piece of paper out to Namor and then tilted his head toward the trident. "Those're the same runes that were on the cryotube. What do they mean?"

Namor straightened as if to display the trident a little more proudly. The runes shifted slightly, changing shape. "It is said that any true master of the weapon will see his name reflected in the scriptwork before he dies."

Quirking a smile, Clint asked, "So that's not your name turning into squiggles there, then?" He forcibly kept himself from reaching out - curious. He was so curious. But somewhere in the back of his head was a voice that sounded suspiciously like Coulson's telling him to stop touching things.

He shook the piece of paper a bit to catch Namor's attention again. "I've got an itinerary for us, but I wanted your opinion on the locations."

"Do not be ridiculous," he replied with no offense taken, but also no amount of humor. His tone took on a little sharpness like he was explaining to a child. "That is a story told to infants.The symbols are the remnants of magic imbued by the founders of Bensaylum."

"As for the other manner," Namor continued, "You have my attention. Impress me."

"I've got a couple of Jacques Cousteau DVDs and a six pack of beer. How's that work?" Kitty called over her shoulder as she strolled past. Then she stopped.

At first, her gaze landed on Clint and her face screwed up as she tried to determine what he was doing there. Then she caught sight of the trident. Her eyes widened as she stepped closer, fingers reaching out to touch before she realized what she was doing and pulled back.

"Right?" Clint asked, voice slightly distracted. He'd seen the hand reach out and then withdraw and, given that his own hands were now safely behind his back, one holding the opposite wrist, he could only sympathize.

The first comment earned Kitty a considered glance from Namor, but that look soured to skeptical right quick. He turned slightly, eyes staying locked on Kitty as if to classify her as player or pawn, to Clint, "Is this your's?"

"She pretended to be my girlfriend once to get me out of trouble with some Russians," Clint offered, glancing toward Namor. "And threw a drink in my face. But I wouldn't classify her as mine. Technically speaking, I don't even actually know her name. Her real one." Straightening, he raised his brows at Kitty.

"It's Kate and no, I'm not his." Kitty snorted, giving both Clint and Namor a side-eyed glance. Could there be any more testosterone in this space? Maybe I should check to see if I've grown a pair. She glanced down quickly, then pinked to repress a childish giggle.

"Anyhow, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt. I just couldn't help looking at your...trident." Her attention refocused, Kitty stared at the shaft. "What are the markings for? Do they serve a purpose or are they just decorative?" She realized then that she'd probably again stepped into a conversation that had already been had. Shaking her head, she said, "Sorry again. Couldn't help it."

"The Trident of Neptune is an heirloom from the very founding of the Atlantean Empire," Namor held out the weapon for closer inspection with one hand. His voice — still haughty — had shifted to something more velvety. Inviting. He locked eyes with her intently, and it was like Clint didn't exist at all. "I can use my trident quite potently. I could give you a demonstration."

Clint's expression morphed into something caught halfway between disbelieving, amused, and tenuously impressed. He looked from Kate to Namor and back again before asking, "You want me to give you a moment to experience his potent trident?"

"Actually, yeah." Her eyes didn't waver from Namor's for an instant. "Why don't you show me what it does?"

"It was forged at the dawn of our Empire."

Namor lifted the trident straight him as if it weighted nothing, twisting it in a slight rotation as he stroked it affectionately with his freehand.

"Our ancestors took metal from the heavens and used it to shape a key that the world would bow to. It has an edge that can cut the very sea."

With these words, Namor turned sharply and gestured the pointed end of the weapon toward the center of the rotunda. The glyphs along its golden inscriptions flared as water burst forth from the calm fountain and hung there, suspended, in a floating globe. …

With a sly smile, Namor turned back to Kate. "I have been heralded as the most talented wielder of the Trident in ten generations."

"Mmhmm." Kate tried to disregard the smile with a quick toss of her head. "What do you mean, a key? Does it unlock the gates of Atlantis or something else?"

"The one who controls the Trident controls Bensaylum."

"Hang on, back up," Clint said, eyes on the floating globe of water. "The trident controls water, it's not an innate ability of yours?" He glanced back toward Namor, brows rising as he pointedly ignored the King of Atlantis getting his mack on.

All Clint got for this was a glance matched with a pair of very pointed eyebrows raised in an expression that didn't need an ancient Atlantean to English dictionary. After a beat, the King's attention settled back onto Kate.

"There are much more entertaining ways to unlock my empire's gates."

Clint valiantly suppressed a snort and then folded up the piece of paper Namor still hadn't taken from him and gave the other man a salute that was only slightly mocking. He could, after all, respect the eyebrow wiggle that transcended millennia. Still, he gave the trident one last, lingering look because really. The trident controlled the water? Maybe it didn't, maybe it just amplified Namor's own abilities.

Walking over to the globe of water, he reached up and poked at it.

"Entertaining? Like how?" Kitty asked. She glanced back over at Clint, wondering if he was going to somehow provoke an explosion either from the water or Namor. "And what's Bensay—"

She cut herself off, realizing that she was asking far too many questions. Something about the attention that Namor had given her made her think that perhaps she was about to jump down the rabbithole.

"Bensaylum is the jewel in Atlantis's crown: the walled city that has never been breached. Home to a thousand traders and the wealth of the emp—" Namor had closed the gap between himself and Kate, and the predatory aura that rolled off him was palpable.

However, the trident's runes blinked once before going dark and the globe of water dropped like a stone.

"Ack!" Clint squawked, managing to jump up and over just enough to avoid actually getting spattered when the globe hit the ground. "Jeez, man," he said, eyes flicking from the trident to Namor and back again. "Also, possibly dial back the whole 'I will eat you alive and you will enjoy' it vibe you've got going on."

Kate took a step back, her eyes still focused on Namor. "It's cool."

She gave the Atlantean a shrug, then cast her eyes back on the trident. Those runes were glowing...why? The thought was written on her face as she reached down to touch the water.

Namor, eyes narrowed, looked between Clint and Kate as if he wasn't sure how to answer, but he finally decided that this was apparently enough. He sighed. "Kate, you are a creature of resplendent beauty but I can take a hint."

He tapped the trident against the paving stones once, and the runes gradually blinked back to life. He held out the trident for Kitty to inspect.

"Scholars," he commented dryly, "What is a man to do?"

"Let us get our geek on," Clint suggested, turning on his heel so he could face the trident properly. "Tells us science-y, interesting things about the thing we're geeking out about. Be enthusiastic about the science-y stuff." His eyebrows attempted to convey the that's how you get a smart chick in bed but he wasn't sure it really worked.

Kitty blinked. Is--was he-- No, it seemed a little too implausible to be true. Scowling at Clint--this had to be some joke he'd dreamed up with Namor--she sighed, then took the trident in both hands. Unable to help herself, she stroked it thoughtfully with one palm, her mouth quirked up in a grin.

"Science-y?" She looked over at Clint, then at Namor. "Do your people practice science in the same way we do?" Native cultures had their own way of interpreting the natural world. She was eager to know if this was the same, or different.

Namor rolled his eyes. He had given up feigning decorum and retired over to the fountain. He preened himself in his defeat, and only looked up when it was clear that the attention was back on him. "Do I look like a scholar?" His words were drawn out in exasperation. "The Trident is a relic of the ancestors. I know not how your people practice science."

Clint would have facepalmed, had he not gotten immediately distracted by the trident in Kate's hands. He gestured to it for a moment, then said, "He came out of a cryotube, right? Same runes. Same type of metal — no known alloys are comparable. Which makes sense, if it was from a meteor or something, but to have enough for more than one item... we ran so many tests on that thing..." Then he quirked an eyebrow at her and said, "Anyway, yes. Science-y." Looking back toward Namor, he asked, "What other... I dunno, origin stories do you have for this thing? Legends, tales, historical accounts?"

"Forged from the heavens, the ancestors as gods themselves, the power to raise land from sea, the might of magic and the city's grand design..." And the king read these off like he was reading a grocery list. He stopped, however, as some terrible realization dawned across his features like a storm at sea. He recited his next line like a prayer:

"Heir to the all the ancestor’s boons and winged with glory, Will sit as king in the water that is under the water, He shall rule time beyond time, once and future, Or else all the arches of Bensaylum shall fall."

"Are you the heir?" Kitty whispered, her voice capturing Namor's reverence and reflecting it back at him.

All Kate got for that was a glare that practically spelled out "well, obviously" in giant marquee letters (underscored and highlighted with a pain as deep as the sea itself). Namor, however, did not dwell. He turned sharply to Clint, emotion scrubbed from his voice, and remarked, "Tell me of this itinerary. You have had ample time to prepare."

Clint found himself biting his tongue a lot around Namor, but the guy was so tetchy. He pulled the folded piece of paper out of the pocket where he'd tucked it and handed it to the other man. "I figure we can hit up the expected places - Greece, the Caribbean, some place off the Alaskan coast a friend of mine swears is practically mythical for whatever reason. Then there's this whole underwater city in China," Clint said. "Clarice is cool with 'porting us in and out, so that cuts back on our travel time a lot, which is awesome."

"Good," and it was unclear if Namor was judging the merit of the plan or Clint's presentation as his words were still flat, "I am pleased to find that sailing is still a preferred means of travel."

And then, abruptly, he cut back to Kate. "That was a line from a prophecy foretold before my birth."

It must have been a heavy weight to carry, Kate thought. She wondered if that explained the way Namor acted.

With a smile, she said, "It sounds like the two of you have plans. Maybe I should leave you to it."

Looking over toward Kate, Clint quirked an eyebrow and asked, "You know of any places the city of Atlantis might be hiding? Or any places that might have information about where the city of Atlantis if hiding? Cause that's what we're looking for."

"I thought Atlantis was already lost," Kitty tilted her head. "You lost it again?"

"Not again, just the first time," Clint said. "Hasn't been found yet, so we're gonna try and find it." He offered her two thumbs up. "So yeah. Rumors, myths, mysteries. Not the Bermuda Triangle, though. At least not yet. I'd prefer not to go down in a blaze of fiery plane parts."

"Ahem," Namor interrupted, "This trip is also to recover any wayward Artifacts that were stolen from the Royal Vault, presumably when my city fell. And, blood in the water, if it was by the Lemurians I will not be able to hide my shame."

There was a pause as if Namor needed a minute to collect himself. "Still, that is our goal. To find Bensaylum. I must know what happened."

After a long pause, Kitty said, "I might have some connections. If you wanted me to ask around." It would mean getting involved again...what would Scott--what would the others think? She bit her lip but said nothing more.

Clint grinned. It was crooked, but genuine. "Any help would be awesome."