xp_logs | Sam, Mel, & Clint | Introductions - backdated to January 27, 2024

When his younger sister comes to visit, Sam and Clint take her out to lunch.

“Clint oughta be down soon.” Sam said as he and Mel waited for the other man. “An’ I’m sure you’ll get on- in fact I’m a little scared of that cause I’m fairly certain the two of ya are gonna raise my blood pressure.”

When he’d expressed this to Clint, trying to get a promised ‘we’ll behave’ he had instead gotten a sly ‘I can always help you lower your blood pressure again.’ He shook his head and looked Mel in the eye. “I’m excited to have you meet him- Jay n’ Paige won’t hardly give him a chance.”

Mel gasped, a hand to her chest. “Me? Raise yer blood pressure? Why, I would never. I’m practically an angel Sammy.”

"Melody Grace, I think it's yer life's mission to raise my blood pressure." Sam said fondly, voice lilting just like Mama's as he said her name. He spotted Clint from across the room and waved, almost instantly perking up a little. "See, I told you he weren't far behind us."

Smiling as he walked up to the Guthrie siblings, Clint offered his hand to the younger one. "Hey, nice to meet you. I'd apologize for being late, but I know I'm not. Mr. Terminally Early over here, huh?" He said, gesturing toward Sam with his free thumb. Then he grinned and tugged Sam into his side so he could brush a kiss over his temple. "Hey. Quit making me look bad."

Sam leaned into Clint's embrace easily and smiled softly at the kiss against his temple. "And I done told you- you try gettin' 8 kids anywhere on time without plannin' to leave way earlier than you think you need to! Ain't I right Mel?"

“Don’ even start,” Mel groaned. “I can barely handle the 5 of ‘em, let alone all of us like you did. S’like herdin’ cats.”

Mel shook Clint’s hand, noting his firm grip and taking in his appearance with a discerning eye. Was that gray in his beard? How old was this fellow anyways?

He was handsome enough for Sam, she decided, and polite. Satisfied, she smiled at Clint. “It’s real nice to meet ya too, Clint. Sammy’s told me all about you."

"Oh has he?" Clint asked, glancing from Mel to Sam and back again. "I'm sure it was all mostly true. If he told you about the pansexual pans, then yes. That's accurate. Blame my younger brother."

Eyebrow raised, she gave her brother a look. “He didn't mention it. Do I even wanna know?”

"You do not and I mostly just told her 'bout how we met and a lil 'bout our first date and a bit about the Labor Day picnic." And had avoided talking about the fight with Jay. Sam reached down to take Clint's hand and squeezed. "So Mel- what kinda food you wanna get?"

On the one hand, they were getting along. On the other hand...he knew the both of them enough to know this might not bode well for his anxiety.

“I’m good with whatever, preferably somethin’ you can’t get back home.” Which was a low bar to set, but hey, she was going to take advantage of everything being so close.

"There's a good Chinese place in Salem Center," Clint offered. "Or there's Indian. And the Brazilian meat I can't remember the name of. Oh, or the Japanese steakhouse where they cook all the food on the table in front of you!"

Sam wasn’t kidding when he said there would be choices. Lots of ‘em. “Hm..” Mel pondered. “Chinese, sure. Y’all will jus’ have to tell me what’s good.”

"Yes, I love Chinese," Clint said, doing a little fist pump. "I'll drive, it's not too far." In almost no time the three of them were in one of the mansion's cars, nondescript and expensive with it, heading into Salem Center. Once parked, they found themselves seated, food ordered, served, and eaten. Leaning back in his chair as he reached for his water, Clint gave Mel a lazy sort of smile and asked, "So, what's the verdict? So far I've got one Guthrie in favor of me being a serial killer, one against, and then you and Paige are undecided..."

“Well Clint,” Mel said, twirling her chopsticks and grinning conspiratorially. “Sammy done told me yer a superhero, and he ain’t smiled this much ‘round me in a long time… so I reckon I could be convinced in yer favor if you showed me a move or two.”

“Mel- remember that conversation we had about how you stress me out? And how you stood there and tried to tell me that you were ‘practically an angel’? Fairly certain you lied to me young lady.”

"Oh, shit," Clint said, just loud enough to be heard by both Sam and Mel. "He 'young lady'd' you..." Then, grinning, he asked, "What kinda move you wanna see? I win all the carnie games, tumbling's easy, got a compact bow and a quiver in the trunk of the car."

Mel’s face lit up with delight. “In the trunk? I gotta see!” Turning to Sam, she half complained, “How come you get a cool boyfriend? All I get are assholes lookin’ for an easy lay.”

“You’re too young to get into bar fights and unlike you Cora Mae doesn’t want to cause me social ruin?” Sam said shaking his head.

He raised his eyebrows at Clint knowingly. “Behave please.”

"Absolutely," Clint said, keeping as straight a face as he could even as he hid his crossed fingers behind his back and waggled them at Mel. "I'll even explain all the range rules and safety protocols while I'm showing your sister how to use a bow and arrows."

Mel put on her most innocent smile. “What’s the worst trouble we could get into anyways? You worry too much Sammy.”

Sam stared at both of them, thoroughly unimpressed. He rolled his eyes and then grabbed the hand Clint was holding behind his back and intertwined their fingers. It was primarily a measure to get his boyfriend to behave, but he still got a bit of a thrill from getting to be openly affectionate with his boyfriend in front of his family. "If I didn't know no better, I'd think yer both tryin' to give me a heart attack."

“Yeah yeah yeah, love ya too,” Mel said, making heart hands at him. Sam would survive any shenanigans. He was lucky she was only here for the weekend, or they could get up to much worse.