17443/Quest for fire

Quest for fire
Date of Scene:	18 March 2024
Location:	The great outdoors
Synopsis:	Looking for some kindling for the fire at camp, Wanda and Clint find some kindling of their own.
Cast of Characters:	Clint Barton, Wanda Maximoff

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Clint Barton has posed:
It's cold. Camping with the Avengers in snow is one of those few joys that can only be experienced, never truly explained. Snowmobiles, skiing, ice fishing... all have their places. Central to being comfortable then, is a bonfire. In order to light a proper one, wood and tinder must be acquired.

Who better, then, than an archer who is rather adept at wood stuff?

Clint is dressed up in a dark winter coat, gloves on his hands, a woolen cap on his head to keep his ears warm. Jeans and snowboots finish the outfit. Out in the woods, he's checking on dry wood, or at least wood that can be dried easily. "Okay," he's offering up his advice, clear, keen blue eyes looking at the trees, branches, the fallen limbs. "Something in the lee of the wind. That's the way the rain and snow go too, so the other side should be relatively dry."

Wanda Maximoff has posed:
It has been a while since Wanda had truly been out here in the great outdoors. It had first been by necessity, on the run with her brother, moving from camp to camp to evade pursuers that wanted to take advantage of their powers but she had eventually grown to enjoy travelling, perhaps a bit of her Romani heritage showing. Now though? It was all about enjoying some time off. Relaxing. Or at least as much as the Avengers could truly relax. Yet for the first time she was now surrounded by friends and ...., Clint.

A fond smile is on her expression while the archer busies himself explaining the merits of finding dry wood for a fire, just the faintest hints of amusement showing on her expression while he speaks. Does she know more than she shows? It's not like she had told Clint much about her past back in Eastern Europe and Wundagore.

"Soooo..., something like this?" gloved hands pick on a branch hanging from a tree, the large tree trunk protecting it from the hails of the wind and snow. She cracks it down.

"Where did you learn all this? SHIELD or...?" clearly a topic for Clint to expand on.

Clint Barton has posed:
Clint kneels at a fallen log, pulling some of the bark, and looking over his shoulder, his expression is, at first, quizzical before a chuckle exits his throat. "Okay. Next time, just tell me to shut up." He's taking it in stride, and once he's got a good piece of deadwood, he's straightening up once again. "Exactly like that."

He ventures towards her, at her side once more, and is ready to continue on in search of kindling. "I could ask the same question. For me, it was when my brother and I ran away from.." Clint shakes his head, his expression moving to recall that now distant past, ".. more than a few foster homes. He lit the fires, and he taught me a bunch." Back in Iowa, farm country.

Once again, Clint's in the here and now, and he glances to his lovely companion. "Your turn."

Wanda Maximoff has posed:
"But I like hearing you talk." Is the immediate teasing reply out of Wanda, picking up another loose branch on her way back, closer to Clint. She has chosen to go with warm clothing today, coat and pants, gloves. A beanie hat that keeps some of that long red hair under control even if there's no controlling the smile on her expression when Clint finally decides to open up about his brother.

"What made you and your brother run from those foster homes?" She asks, arms wrapped around the wood pieces she got, pace keeping up with Clint. Yep, she is no indoor witch.

"Much like you I learned it on the road. With Pietro." Her brother, "We were always on the move back then when ...." they became alone. Some of her smile falters and she looks over to the beauty of the forest around them, "... running from our heritage." she finishes. "We learned a lot with roaming Romani camps and learned to survive on our own eventually. We saved one another in a way."

Clint Barton has posed:
How is it that Clint hadn't seen the parallels of their histories until just now, as he thinks about his own path to where he is now and Wanda describing hers? Is that the cause of the attraction? Two wanderers that have finally made their way to a place that perhaps is safe? A 'home base', as it were?

Clint is quiet for a few moments as he considers the question, and her own answer that almost so echoes his own. Almost scary. "Our parents died in a car accident," is the easiest way to explain all those emotions that lingered for so long. Abuse, abandonment, the loss of a happy childhood never lived. "And we were too old to be adopted. So, foster care. Neither of us liked it, so we kept running away. Eventually we found a circus.. a carnival that would take two runaways." Clint chuffs a breath, "In hindsight, probably not the best choice, but when you're a kid?"

Her own story is given a weight in the hearing, listening to the recounting once again, like his, almost rote. Almost. But it's something that is still lived; still unhealed in its own way. He'd experienced that with her, and he offers to take her slight burden before reaching for a hand to walk hand in hand. "You did. Still do."

Wanda Maximoff has posed:
The loss of his parents. The pain of it. As Clint starts talking about his past he will find a hand resting on his shoulder, both in thanks for him sharing but also to let him know that she is *here*. For him.

"We travelled with a circus for a time too. A few months which was as much as we could afford doing so without endangering people around us." she presses her lips to a thin line, "We learned the hard way that those we became close with would not be safe. You found a home then, with your brother." a soft, hopeful tone to the last part of it.

There's a brief, pregnant pause before she then questions, "Where is he now?" his brother. She knows the answer can be a painful one to remember. But there is only one way to heal from the past. Sharing it. Her hand slides down from Clint's shoulder when the hand is offered and she curls fingertips with his.

"I spoke with Pietro the other day." She then says quietly, "He told me our biological father wanted to return to our lives." and by her expression she isn't sure on how to handle that.

Clint Barton has posed:
"Our circus wasn't run by good people," Clint responds slowly and quietly. "My brother and I weren't really taught.. well." He chuckles softly again, but it's not an amused sound. "I got out, but Barney didn't come with. He's probably got a list of warrants now, but he's still my brother. Goes by 'Trickshot'." Yup, another archer. "I see him occasionally. Usually when he wants or needs something from me."

Squeezing her delicate hand once it finds its way into his, he looks at the path ahead and then down to her, and back once again. "I'm glad you and your brother are together. As much as he might drive me nuts." There, there is the tease that creeps its way into his tones.

The news of a potential family reunion is one that gives Clint pause, and brows rise. He takes a moment to collect his thoughts, and finally, "You get to decide now who is in your life. You're not a child anymore. It's up to you who and how much."

Wanda Maximoff has posed:
"You still found your light though." Is the talking about SHIELD? Wanda's smile remains on her expression even as her fingertips squeeze Clint's hand when he talks about his brother, "Maybe your brother just needs a bit more time to find his own light." even with her past she seems to be the glass half-full kind of person. Optimistic.

"But you can tell him when you see again that I think Hawkeye is a much better name." A bit of levity to her tone to not let the conversation drag them down too much from what is supposed to be a joyful camping time.

"Pietro is an acquired taste. I am just used to him because I lived with him all his life." Then she lowering her voice, "And he still drives me nuts all the time. Which also reminds me, we are invited to go have dinner with him and Micola soon. Pietro's suggestion too."

She looks down at the snowy ground a moment and then back up to Clint, "I don't know what to do. In a way he's our father, and I always dreamed of having a family. Parents. But he also abandoned us." did the bright forest turn a touch dimmer?

"I fear he just wants to use us for his War." and that would break her heart.

Clint Barton has posed:
Clint bobs his head in agreement with her singular statement. He did find his light. "You're right," he says readily. "Made my own way. Got to make my own mistakes, and learn from them. If I didn't? I wouldn't be here." With her, in these beautiful, snow drifted woods, just a short distance from friends. "I found my light." He does breathe a laugh and shakes his head, shrugging a little, lifting some of the tension from his shoulders. "Maybe. Either way, it's his life, not mine." The breathed laugh turns into an actual one, and the hand is gently squeezed once more. "I like mine better too. It's so cool, someone else wanted it." Kate.

As they walk the ground, Clint isn't so much interested in gathering wood as he is seizing the opportunity to talk, just talk, with Wanda. It's so rare an opportunity for him. News of their invitation however gains a noisy breath in. "Do.. you think that's smart? I mean, it's your brother, I know.. but that whole 'happily married, 2.5 kids..'.." Actually not a life he envisions for himself. There's simply too much. "He actually mentioned my name in invitation, or am I a plus-one?"

Clint is on a mission now to keep Wanda's spirits up, and to keep the conversation from getting too deep.. again. She deserves it, but it needs to be countered ever so gently. "It is hard," he agrees. "But, you deserve more. You deserve someone who has earned that right, your respect. Your father abandoned you, mine, well.." beat the boys on a daily basis. "If he weren't your father, would you even be considering this? What is it that makes it different?" With her hand in his, he lifts it and points to first her head and then the spot where her heart is. "Listen to both. If you even think that might be the case, then it very well could be."

Wanda Maximoff has posed:
"You were...." Wanda's expression shifts as she considers how to broach the topic, "I name-dropped you during conversation and ..., my brother is just able to see right through me. He knew we were together. So the invitation is to you specifically." she does smile at the mention of kids though but says nothing further on htat, instead chuckling, "I won't force you to go. Only if you are comfortable meeting them.

The next topic, about her father, is a lot more sensitive and she listens to what Clint tells her attentively, lips moving from side to side as she considers all the options, "In the end it goes to that ..., what if he really wants to make amends and have a family? If there's even a small probability that it's what he wants.." she breathes out. "Shouldn't I try it? But you are right. I need to think. And listen." this is no decision that she will take with any hurry.

She stops their walk though, setting the branches down before turning fully to Clint, curling her warm hands over his cheeks, "I have found my light too." her eyes on his. His light.

Clint Barton has posed:
"Hoo boy," Clint offers with a breathed air. "Okay. For you, I'll go. He's your brother and you actually like him." He's teasing her now, his tones are light. "Just remember that I'm a really, really good shot." It's said with a smile, the half-smirk that plays when he's being half-serious.

"No matter what your decision is, I'm here. I'm not going anywhere."

Their pace is slow, the woods still lovely in their natural state, with the snow still clinging to most of the branches. Beyond, an iced-over shallow stream winds. When it stops, Clint lets the kindling and small bits of firewood fall to their feet as they face one another. Her fingertips warm cold, pinkened cheeks weathered by years of being out of doors. He can feel the tracings of her hand, and he reaches to lift her hand to his lips and gives her palm a kiss. "I was gonna say that too."