Forum Block
Stacked With: Hogwarts; Shipping War; SF
Individual Challenges: In a Flash; Click Bait It; Yellow Ribbon; Yellow Ribbon Redux; SHIELD MC (x2)
Representations: Clint Barton; Phil Coulson; Office setting
Bonus Challenges: Bee Haven
Prompts: Demisexual (auction); Collapse (365 words); "Love is a friendship set to music." - Joseph Campbell (Insane Prompts)
Word count: 849

Clint dropped down from the ceiling and onto the purple couch that waited below. His hawk immediately flew off his shoulder and onto Coulson's. The other agent showed no reaction, and Clint didn't expect him to. From the very first meeting, Clint's hawk had taken a liking to the stern but kind agent. Watching the hazy form of the being that was supposed to show him his soulmate, Clint wondered what Coulson's was like and if it had decided to start wandering as well.

The archer couldn't deny the fact that he had thought about the behaviour of his hawk meaning he was soulmates with Coulson. It would be nice, he thought, to be linked to a friend. Clint liked Coulson and was even starting to actually trust him more than tentatively. That was evidenced by the fact that as soon as he was settled on the couch, he dropped off to sleep.

Sure, the couch was in a corner that was easy to both defend and escape from if he was attacked, but that didn't explain the deep sleep he fell into each time. He didn't feel a need to stay slightly aware when he slept on the couch with Coulson working away at the desk nearby. The clacking of keys was the soundtrack he fell asleep to.

As Clint kept returning to Coulson's office and Coulson kept allowing him (and providing blankets, pillows, and a comfier couch), Clint felt himself trusting the man more. Each new layer of trust brought with it another layer of emotion that was a bit peskier than trust. Clint was falling in love with the badass SHIELD agent, his quiet competence and his dry humour being the perfect mix for the archer.

He watched his hawk with considering eyes as it preened its feathers on Coulson's shoulder. Phillip J. Coulson was the only other person that the hawk went to on a regular basis, and certainly the only other person it rested calmly upon. Maybe his crush wasn't such a futile and dangerous thing like he thought.

When Phil—and it was Phil now—somehow managed to gain every scrap of Clint's trust and loyalty, Clint started looking at him in a different light. He knew this man, knew every facet of his personality and was known in return. That was when the fantasies started playing through Clint's mind. The scenes of domestic bliss that were already common in his dreams accompanied by the new visions of adding onto his knowledge of Phil by learning his body in the way only a lover could.

Clint dropped from the vents again and the hawk flew to Phil once more. Phil looked up from his work, smiled at Clint, and then turned his attention back to the open file on his desk. It didn't stay there for long as Phil soon looked back up, blue eyes scrutinising Clint. That was when Clint realised he had been still for too long and staring at the other agent for the whole duration of that time. He flushed and looked down at the floor.

"Will you tell me?" Phil asked softly.

Clint jerked his head up in surprise and saw in Phil's eyes something he had only dreamed of and thought he had imagined appearing on occasion. "Hawk," he rasped out.

Phil nodded, his lips twitching at the animal. "I should have known. Teacup dragon."

"You never…" Clint trailed off as the animal registered. "You have a dragon?" Could Phil get any better?

"A small one, it likes curling around my neck. And yours."

On instinct, Clint raised a hand in an attempt to feel the dragon that he knew was there by Phil's gaze. He couldn't feel it at first, but gradually he felt a subtle weight grow on his shoulders and his hand rested on scales instead of thin air. Soul animals were only visible and corporeal when their form had been shared with a soulmate. He let his fingers trail along the smooth scales for a moment before returning to his first question.

"Why didn't you say anything?"

Phil smiled the smile that Clint only now realised was reserved for him. "You didn't trust me, Clint. I wasn't going to thrust soulmates on you when you barely knew me, didn't trust me, and were ready to bolt from what I hoped would become your home as much as it is mine."

Apparently, Phil could get better and just had. God, Clint loved this man far more than he had thought possible. The Fates had done him a kindness with Phil Coulson. It even made up a little bit for the horrible childhood Clint had had. If he hadn't run away to the circus with his brother, he never would have become Hawkeye, and SHIELD would never have sent Phil after him.

"So, what now?"

"Now?" Phil rose an eyebrow. "Now, you get some sleep. You look half-dead."

Clint nodded in agreement, yawning as he was reminded of his exhaustion. He let himself collapse onto the couch and said, "Good plan," sleepily before losing consciousness.