Despite all of Tony's plotting, Steve doesn't really talk to anyone about waging this little war on HYDRA. Mostly, he talks to Bucky and some of their high school ROTC friends. It's a long skype conversation that lasts until the sun comes up. Not that Clint keeps track of Steve, but their rooms are next to each other, after all they do share a bathroom, and the walls are thin. While he takes out his hearing aids at night and he can't really hear a thing, Phil does not have that problem. The grumbly faces he makes while Clint's up cramming in biology homework tells Clint everything. As annoyed as Phil is, though, he won't go over to ask him to be quiet. There's some kind of hero worship going on with Phil and Steve, and it's almost adorable and slightly strange, in Clint's opinion. So Steve continues with his late-night conversations, even though he sleeps through his 8AM "Mass Media and Elections" lecture. Some things, Clint thinks, are more important than academics.

Tony frowns at Steve from across the lounge during floor meetings, from the other side of the table when everyone gets together twice a week for dinner, makes faces at him when they meet in the bathroom. Even though no one else makes their annoyance and disappointment so obvious, it's pretty clear that they all feel the way. Steve tries to get them to back down, and he's only marginally successful. They're not very close, he tells them, even though it feels rude to say so. They don't know each other very well, so it wouldn't be fair to involve them in his affairs.

Still, it doesn't stop the concerned looks they throw at Steve when they see the huge circles under his eyes (the consequences of his nefarious plotting, Tony calls them), it's super hard to miss.

And then there's Loki. Clint doesn't really know much about Loki, except that he's Thor's brother and they seem pretty much like polar opposites. Pepper and Sam, even, don't know much about him, and they're the friendliest people on the floor. It's weird as fuck, Clint tells Phil. Phil just sort of shrugs, doesn't agree or disagree. That's just the way he is, Clint's learned. Phil likes to appear neutral, too. It's part of his bland facade designed to make people underestimate him. Clint, for his part, rolls his eyes and calls him a "typical politician."

Honestly, though. Loki's weird. Well, more than weird, a lot of his views seem antiquated. He seems very… Plato-esque, to quote Natasha (who would, of course, be well-versed in classical texts). He gets into political debates with Steve, arguing for what he says is an enlightened monarchy but what Steve calls despotism. Clint's not stupid, but he's also not a philosophy or political science major - he doesn't know all the fancy terms or anything, but he's perceptive enough to judge for himself from their arguments which one seems better. Loki talks about subjugating people, about how people are too "dumb" (Clint bristles at this word, and Steve takes offense on his account but Loki just steamrolls past him) to make decisions for themselves and need to be ruled.

To make matters worse, Loki asks Steve, "Isn't that what your beloved Founding Fathers would have wanted? They didn't want the people to vote, remember? They hated the masses. That's the ideals that you said you would protect when you decided to serve."

Steve flinches, but stops Loki before he can say anything more. "Sure, that's what they wanted, but they were wrong. Tyranny will never work, just look at history - people tear down oppressive regimes, and rebuild things better. And yes, I served because I wanted to protect this country and its people. But that's not the only thing we did over there. What I did, what I was a part of, is hurting other people. Real people, and it needs to stop. It stops when this government starts to listen to its people, good people who don't want to hurt anyone else. That's what I'm here for - what are you doing here, anyways?"

Loki just walks away muttering about how "ridiculous" Steve is, and how "useless" it is for him to argue with such an idiot. It's an excuse Clint's used before, to be sure, like when he talked with Barney about disability rights, but it rubs him the wrong way. When Clint had used it against his brother, it was because his life experiences were being invalidated and Barney didn't get it; but with Loki, it was something else. A statement of his superiority, or something just as obnoxious and arrogant.

Still, in-between debating Loki about politics, going to the gym with Clint, and arguing with Tony over something-or-other, somehow Steve found time to figure out a plan. It didn't really involve anyone else, and so of course they didn't see it come.

Luckily, HYDRA didn't either. Admittedly, it wasn't the most sophisticated of ideas, or even the most mature. But it was annoying and practically harmless, and in accordance with Sam's advice to not make extra work for the janitorial staff ("No TP-ing," he'd said sternly once Fury had left them alone), it didn't do that, either.

Instead, he steals their room keys. Which they shouldn't even be leaving by their doors, Sam says during a floor dinner, so it's more okay than trashing their lounge. And they do get the first five replacements free, so it's not like it'll cost them anything (it's only the third week, and if someone's lost 6 room key cards already, they're a lost cause, Tony adds).

Steve also shoves little envelopes in their mailboxes, each with a card that said, "Congratulations! You've Won Racist of the Month!" and had a… cute animal drawing, according to Bucky, in each of their mailboxes.

"Nothing pisses off white men as much as being called racist," Natasha had told him when an angry HYDRA floor resident had stomped onto the elevator, the card in hand. Maria had added in that guys like those guys couldn't stand to have their masculinity threatened, either, which was the point of the cute animals. He sure looks pissed off to Clint, that's for sure. The guy walks up to Steve's door and pounds on it. Clint watches him from the lounge with his History of Ballet notes spread out on a table, a pile of notecards next to him as he prepares from his midterm. The angle is a bit weird, but if he tilts his chair back just right….. he can see what's going on. Or at least, what would be going on if Steve wasn't in class right now (not that Clint is a creep who keeps tabs on his neighbors, but he'd seem Steve waiting for the elevator 20 minutes ago with his backpack on, so yeah). It doesn't stop the guy, Brock if Clint remembers correctly, from continuously banging on the door.

And then Natasha pats his arm gently, trying to get his attention. She'd been sitting on one of the couches rather than the table, curled up with her Physics 10 textbook, a mug of coffee, and a confused facial expression. But in the 5 seconds or so when he'd been trying to watch whatever drama unfold, she'd apparently moved from the couch to the chair next to him.

"Stop it," she said sternly. If it was easy to in that chair, she probably would put her hands on her hips, Clint muses as he picks up his notecards again. Auguste Vestris, Carlotta Grisi… He gets through two more names before he looks back at Steve and Bucky's door. Brock Rumlow is gone, but the paper is crumpled up at Steve's door. Natasha, on the other hand, moves back to her seat on the couch, pulling her feet up underneath her as she pulls her textbook back into her lap.

Loki snorts at him from across the lounge, seated in a dark corner of the room with the blinds drawn. While Clint's sitting by the window for more natural light (fall's approaching, and he'd like to take advantage of the sunlight while he still can), Loki seems to love the darkness. He dresses in just as much black and dark green as he did that first day, and his hair is as greasy as every, but he seems comfortable with it, so Clint just kind of ignores it.

"You can't help yourself, can you? You're drawn to conflict," Loki says. Clint doesn't know if he's talking to him, or maybe to himself - Loki never really volunteers to start conversations, not even with his brother Thor. It's sort of weird, but Clint's had a lot of trouble getting used to talking to people, so he lets it slide. He assumes that Loki is just really, really shy. Or he tries to. It's a nice illusion, at least until Loki opens his mouth once in a blue moon, and says something super fucking pretentious, like "drawn to conflict." Or when he tries to debate Steve, Clint supposes.

Unfortunately for Loki, his next step is to actually leer at Natasha. Like, that lecherous look that you see shitty movie villains do, that you don't think people do in real life. He basically stares down her shirt. Natasha notices, her spine stiffening and her eyes narrowing to tiny slits. Loki grins when he notices, and he opens his mouth to say something - probably something rude and gross. But before he can say anything, Pepper comes through the doorway and calls out to Loki. She just just as upset, and when Loki does (slowly, finally) look up at her, she tells him that he's in trouble for inappropriate behavior.

Loki protests, of course. He says he hasn't done anything wrong.

"Threatening behavior," she tells him in a clipped voice. "The way you looked at Natasha gives me reason to believe that you're threatening her safety. ID, please. Now. Before I have to write you up for refusing to comply."

Of course, he complies. As much as Loki loves to act like he's some kind of hotshot lawyer who can talk circles around them (all because he'd taken a logic class, once), he won't do anything to fuck up his housing. If there's anything that Clint's learned about Loki because his overall douchiness, it's that he hates being home. While Thor's gone home once already, Loki definitely has not.

The moment Pepper's gone, Loki whirls on Natasha.

"You little bitch," he starts, but he doesn't get far before he notices that Natasha's disappeared. While Pepper was distracting Loki in his dark, dank, creep corner, Natasha had slipped off, probably into her room, if Clint's any kind of judge.

Loki loudly and angrily collects his books and laptop, then stomps out of the lounge. That guy needs help, Clint thinks.