The X-Project

Clint gets back to his room and attempts to nap, only to have his efforts foiled by an inquisitive roommate.


Clint made it back to the suite before 8, suppressing a yawn. He had class in the city at ten, so he was meeting Clarice at 9:30. He could totally afford to take an hour-long nap. Right? Right. Naps were awesome. Pushing open the door to the room he shared with Billy, he squinted at the early morning light coming through the window, then waved at his roommate despite not actually checking for signs of life over there.

Said signs of life included loud grumbling and rustling before pulling the blankets over his head. That only lasted a moment before wild hair and bleary eyes poked out. "Are you just getting in?" Billy asked, trying to shade the light from his eyes as he peered across the room.

"Yeah, figured I'd take a nap," Clint half-mumbled. "Got class later." He pulled his shirt off over his head and tossed it to the floor before faceplanting in his bed and and doing a terrible job of trying to pull the covers over himself without lifting his head from his pillow.

"Not so fast, Legolas!" Billy said, scooting up into a semi-upright position. "You have class today, which I know you're not planning to skip, so must've been something big. And wait a minute," he said, focusing on the shirt on the floor. "Did you change clothes? That's not what you were wearing yesterday."

Groaning into his pillow, Clint forced his face over the side of his bed to look at the shirt. He squinted. He tilted his head to the side. Nope - still not his shirt. "Crap," he said, rolling onto his back so he could pull the covers out from under him properly before he even considered attempting to remove his jeans. "No, I didn't change, that's definitely Gabriel's shirt. Again. I gotta not get dressed in the dark next time."

"Hold on. You lost me. Where were you and why would Gabriel's shirt be there?"

Clint considered pretending to be asleep to avoid having to explain things to Billy. He loved him, he did, but sometimes he was so clueless - only then he remembered he actually had to set an alarm for himself. "I spent the night with Gabriel. And picked up his shirt by mistake when getting dressed this morning." Digging into his pocket, he pulled his phone out, and made sure the alarm was set before making a desperate bid to put it on his bedside table without looking. It clattered, but he didn't hear a thunk, so it hadn't fallen to the floor - excellent.

"Hold on just a minute, Mr. Barton," Billy threatened. "You're not getting off that easy. And don't make me magic you, because I've got a spell I'm dying to try." He squinted across the room at the tangle of bedding and roommate. "You 'spent the night with Gabriel,' or you spent the night with Gabriel?"

"Both," Clint answered, voice muffled by fabric as he pulled the covers over his head. "There were orgasms. There was sleeping. I did both."

Billy squinted across the room, trying to peer through the covers. "Wait, I thought you were talking about Mr gorgeous hair and eyes and smile bartender Gabriel. Who is this Gabrielle and why haven't you mentioned her before?"

The sound Clint made was almost pathetic, but he could feel his hour long nap slipping away. "You had it right - gorgeous hair and eyes and smile Gabriel Cohuelo."

The sound Billy made, well, it wasn't so much a sound as lack thereof. He gaped silently for several long moments, then finally rolled out of bed and crossed the room. With one quick motion, he snatched Clint's blankets away. "Ok, I don't know whether to be shocked, upset you never said anything, or....incredibly jealous."

Squinting up at Billy, Clint took a moment to decide not to grab his covers back. Then he smirked, the expression sliding slowly over his face, and said, "Jealous. You should definitely be jealous."

Billy stood there, not quite glaring but definitely staring down, something between flabbergasted and fuming. "You.... you.... you dog...." he finally said flopping down on Clint's bed. He let out a half laugh, half sigh. "Well, this is definitely up there with the weirdest wake up calls I've ever had but....wow. I mean...Wow. I mean...I never....just wow."

Clint grinned despite himself. "You're gobsmacked," he said, nudging Billy his with his foot. "You should be. But I don't get why you're like surprised or whatever. You knew about what's his face at the party last year. That's not the part that's surprising, is it?"

"Yeah, it still is," Billy finally said, worming his way into a sitting position, back to the wall. "I mean, I half thought you were exaggerating it for my benefit. And I definitely didn't think it was anything....you know. But you just said 'again' a minute ago. As in, more than once. Is this a thing?"

Maintaining his silence for a moment, Clint considered that. "I mean, I don't know. Probably not. It's just... like. Messing around. It's not a thing." Then he pulled a pillow up from over the side of the bed and tossed it at Billy's head. "Dude. I'm not gonna play up making out with what's his name just for your benefit. One - he was hot. Two - seriously, did you see him? He was ridiculously hot. Three - that'd be setting myself up for trouble down the road."

"I want to stop the pillow," Billy quickly tried to blurt out. And stop it did. Well, more accurately, parts of it stopped, while others continued along. There was loud tear, then feathers exploded everywhere, pelting Billy and fluttering down atop the bed. "Pleh," Billy muttered, spitting out a mouthful of down. "That...could have worked better." He brushed at his tongue, trying to wipe away the taste. "But yes, he was ridiculously hot. I was kinda jealous. And even more now, even if it is just messing around."

"Smooth." Clint waved his hand in front of his face in an attempt to keep from inhaling any feathers, then gave Billy a slightly unimpressed look. "Dude, you owe me a pillow."

"Sure," Billy grinned. "I'll just summon you up another one...or twelve. Been a while since the gang's had a decent pillow fight."

"Oh God," Clint said, laughing despite himself. "No, don't - I'll snag one out of the common room or something. With my luck, you'll suffocate me with pillows." Scooping up a handful of feathers, he started trying to shove them back into the sad remnants of his pillowcase. "Anyway, now that we've established some sort of weird rule in your head about my sexuality, can I take a nap? There really wasn't much sleeping going on last night and I'm legit tired."

"Fine, fine," Billy agreed. He slid off the bed and snagged his own pillow, tossing it toward his roommate. "But don't think this discussion is over. We have LOTS to talk about," he promised, before snagging some clothes and heading toward the bathroom.