(no subject)

[boldygoing]

Of all the things Jim Kirk wishes he could do right now, getting good and drunk to drown his sorrows is certainly towards the top of the list. But his doctor says no, absolutely not, and never in his life has he wanted to go against doctor's orders less than he does lately.

So the captain finds himself in the Forum, unsure even what the hell to do with himself, and he gingerly eases himself down onto one of the couches, moving with the careful patience of the recently physically injured, before he notices the date on a nearby calendar.

Father's Day. Huh. How... stupidly appropriate.

"For those who've lost a parent... how the hell do you honor their memory? Even if you haven't, do you bother doing holidays like this?"

Comments

[aw_hawkguy]

A scruffy blond man in purple sweat pants and an old t-shirt looks up from where he's walking his dog. "Holidays? Crap, is it Christmas again already? Did I sleep through it?"

[boldygoing]

Jim shakes his head. "Nah. Father's Day, apparently." Keeping track of time is hard when he's just spent two months in a hospital, particularly when he was out cold for a quarter of that. Sleeping all the way until Christmas sounds absolutely plausible to him at the moment, so he can't really fault this guy for jumping straight there.

[aw_hawkguy]

"That's today?" He scratches the back of his head. "Oh. Right. That's why you asked about losing parents." He crouches down, scratching his dog's ears while he gives it a think. "I didn't really have a 'Father's Day' kinda family, gonna be honest. You lost someone? I'm sorry, man."

[boldygoing]

"Not my dad, but he was close," Jim says, nodding slightly in thanks for the sympathy. Even after two months, the loss still weighs heavily on his heart. "I missed the funeral, too."

[aw_hawkguy]

The scruffy man gives a sympathetic wince. "I'm sorry, man. You been by the grave yet?"

[boldygoing]

Jim shakes his head. "Wasn't one. There's a kind of memorial wall up with pictures of everybody, but the press is gonna be there and I'm not ready for that."

[aw_hawkguy]

"Ah, yeah, that's fair. Well, I gotta say it's usually the, y'know, the sentiment that matters, more than going to the actual headstone and all. So... have a drink to remember 'em by, and carry on in their memory?" Glancing down to his dog, he adds, "this's Lucky, wanna pet 'im? He's friendly."

[boldygoing]

That gets at least a little laugh out of him, though it isn't very funny. "I would but I'm not allowed yet. Doctor's orders. But once I am... yeah."

Jim is very much a dog person, so the question gets a more genuine smile out of him. "Sure," he says, reaching out a hand so the dog can smell him first. "Hey there, Lucky. I'm Jim," he adds, more to the man than the dog, although you can never tell these days. "Jim Kirk."

[aw_hawkguy]

"Aw, doctor's orders, been there," the scruffy man groans. Lucky, meanwhile, just loves pets, panting and snuffling happily.

"Jim Kirk, no shit? Clint Barton," the scruffy man (Clint, apparently) introduces himself, putting out a hand. "Like from outer space?"

[boldygoing]

Jim reciprocates with the hand that isn't occupied with scritching behind the dog's ears, though he's careful not to lean over too far to reach. "If you wanna get technical, I'm from Iowa but I was born in a shuttle outside the Sol system. But yeah, captain of the USS Enterprise, that's me."

[aw_hawkguy]

"Well how about that? I'm from Iowa, too," Clint laughs, shaking the offered hand. He's got a firm grip, and some impressive calluses--whatever his line of work, he does a lot of it with his arms, apparently.

[boldygoing]

Jim's handshake would normally be a bit stronger, his muscles still recovering from the ordeal he put his body through, but he makes a decent effort.

Iowa isn't particularly Jim's favorite place, but it's a bit of a novelty to run into someone who shares his home state. "Really? Where at?" Jim asks, curious. "I grew up in Riverside." Well, he did some of his growing up there, anyway.

[aw_hawkguy]

Clint isn't out to crush any hands here, or prove anything, he's just being personable. "Waverly. Well, started in Waverly, anyway."

[boldygoing]

"Moved around a lot as a kid?" Jim guesses. He ruffles the dog's fur under his hand, relaxing ever so slightly. Dogs are great at helping out when you're upset, after all.

[aw_hawkguy]

Lucky is the best dog for getting torn-up ex-Iowans to destress.

"Ran away an' joined the circus. For real," Clint answers, with a prove-me-wrong grin.

[boldygoing]

There hasn't been a real circus that Jim knows about in centuries, but this place seems to collect people from all sorts of timelines, so that's actually one of the less-weird things he's heard here. "We'll that's more decisive than all the jobs I ended up working when I took off," he muses. "Why the circus? Tradition? Lifelong dream?"

[aw_hawkguy]

"I was eight, and it looked better'n foster care," Clint admits with a smirk. "What kid doesn't wanna run away with the circus, right?"

Just noticed autocorrect screwed up the previous comment... *shakefist*

[boldygoing]

"Got me there." It wasn't ever something that Jim thought about at that age, but maybe if it had been an option. Either way. "You still with them now?"

It happens, no big

[aw_hawkguy]

Clint shakes his head. "Nah, I left a long time ago." With another of those prove-me-wrong grins, he adds, "I'm a superhero."

[boldygoing]

"Yeah?" That earns him a couple raised eyebrows. Still not the weirdest thing he's heard here, but it's up there. "You have a cool codename?"

[aw_hawkguy]

"Hawkeye. World's greatest archer." Lucky chimes in with a "werf!"

[boldygoing]

Archer... that'd fit with the calluses and the muscley arms. Jim gives the dog an extra scritch while he reflects on that. "You ever get anybody who disputes the 'world's greatest' part?"

[aw_hawkguy]

"Oh, yeah. My brother, the guy who taught me, some other jerks, my protege--she's not a jerk, she's great." He pats himself down, then admits, "I shoulda brought my bow, I could show you some tricks."

[boldygoing]

The list of people gets a little chuckle out of him. "That'd be something to see. Outside the competitive kind, and some hobbyists, there's not a lot of archery in practice anymore. I learned a little for survival hunting but I'm not great at it."

[aw_hawkguy]

"Yeah, there's not a lotta archers in my world, either," he admits, "but a bow's better than a gun almost every time, y'ask me."