Day 19 – Clouds
"Two more hours. I can do this." Clint mumbled as he paced around the apartment. "James will be back in two hours." James was Clint's; well, he wasn't sure what their label was. James was his best guy, if he were to guess. They had met when James had shown up at Clint's gym, having been sent by Tony Stark. Due to injuries sustained while overseas in the Army, James lost his left arm. After getting a prosthetic from Stark Industries, he was sent to physical therapy and was referred to Clint, a licensed physical therapist and co-owner of the gym.
Clint thought back to when he first saw James walk through the door of his gym. He recognized a kindred spirit, someone else who'd been wounded and scarred but was working to overcome it and move forward. Clint lost most of his hearing when an IED exploded and blew up the vehicle he was riding in through the desert. He'd been in a convoy protecting Tony Stark when the IED hit. Due to the incident, Stark Industries had turned away from making weapons to being at the forefront of R&D for wounded veterans. He'd developed Clint's hearing aids, and, thanks to the government, Clint was able to get a college degree and made enough money to open the gym. It didn't take long for Clint and James to bond over their shared experiences.
Along with both of them having been injured in the armed forces, they each had best friends supporting them while simultaneously driving them crazy. Steve was to James what Nat was to Clint. The four of them had become a tight-knit group, eventually adding Thor, the most popular personal trainer at Clint's gym, and Bruce, a medical professional Clint had met while at college. Tony had continually tried to recruit Bruce, but Bruce kept insisting that R&D wasn't his field, which made the group chuckle because no one said no to Tony Stark.
James was with Tony on a speaking tour to talk about his arm and share his story, hoping to inspire other veterans to seek help. Clint was so proud of how far James had come and sometimes worried he was holding him back. James was showing his vulnerability, putting himself out there and talking about things, while Clint was still ashamed that, even though he had the top-of-the-line aids, he still missed parts of conversations. James always told him no one thought any less of him for his hearing loss, but Clint had trouble believing that. He got so tired of people slowing their speaking when they found out he was deaf. He wanted to tell them that being deaf did not equal being dumb. James had grown to be a calming influence for him, softly speaking to him or lightly touching him, grounding him in the present. They'd both had nightmares because of their experiences and spent those nights holding each other and talking through the images.
Clint paced around the apartment, doing last-minute tidying, trying to work off his nervous energy. The limo was dropping James off at Clint's apartment, and Clint was planning to ask James to move in with him since he spent most of the time there anyway. Clint jumped when he heard the door being unlocked. He spun around and saw James walking into the apartment. "Hey, doll." Bucky smiled as he dropped his bag and approached Clint, wrapping his arms around him. "It's been a long month." James pulled back and lifted Clint's chin. "What's wrong? Is everything okay?"
Clint's eyes had clouded over, and he couldn't hold back tears. "I missed you, James." Clint tightly clung to James.
James took Clint's hand and led him to the couch. "I've been thinking." James was tracing the veins in Clint's hands. "I like the direction we're moving, and I have a suggestion." He looked at Clint. "Why don't we find a place large enough where we can live together?"