Running had become second nature.
Clint hadn't been a wolf for long, he had counted the weeks. Days. Hours. All since his life had been turned upside down and he didn't quite know what to make of anything anymore. Several months ago he had fell into a state of relaxation when he was out with a group of his own friends before he had been attacked. The attack had killed two of the men he had been traveling with at the time, it was not so pleasant waking up in pools of their own blood. Their mangled bodies surrounding him and all Clint could think was 'why aren't I dead too'. It was a miracle, his friends and brother had said. A fucking miracle he had walked away from that, but it didn't feel so much like a miracle the following month. Or the month after. His brother had been the first victim of a 'wild animal attack' and it hadn't been something Clint was entirely proud of. How full he had felt the day afterward, how disgusted he felt with himself. No amount of vomiting or therapy could take that away from him.
So he ran. It seemed the logical thing to do. He left his friends behind. The life he had come to know, even if he had always been running. The circus was always something that didn't logically mean that someone had settled down in their life and was happy with everything. It just meant they had no where to go and that was the only option.
The man had just hitchhiked from Arizona to New Jersey over the course of three months. Every time the full moon would come around and he would feel it's pull. He would just simply...disappear out of sight for a couple days. Then back on the road he went. A little sore, but okay. Alive. His mind had literally abandoned the rules of a normal person's life. He didn't believe it was going to ever be like that again. He chewed on his bottom lip as he contacted the friend of his he had ditched when he was on the road with the circus. The man had been someone who...arrested him and his older brother when they had gotten into a mess. Barney had been at fault but apparently being eighteen in a bar automatically meant that he was in trouble as well. There had been no excuse for the beer he had in his either but...still. It ended up with Clint alone in a holding cell because Barney had tried to choke him with his belt and the teen laughing along side the man who had remained straight-faced until he allowed the tiniest hint of a smile to leak through.
That guy had bailed Clint out of a couple situations he didn't know about. The last he had heard from him (through postcards) was that he was off to the Army. He hoped he would be where Clint had last seen him. Living the nice sort of life...it almost made him feel guilty that he was bringing this to his doorstep but there was nothing he could legitimately do about it. He didn't have anyone else he trusted. Clint scaled up the wall of the two story house that he had...sniffed the other man out at. For all he knew? This was his girlfriend's house or something and he was still off. He didn't strike him as the settling down type. Phil had been married to his job for far too long and pushed people away from the phone conversations they had. It was the perfect place to hide as he pushed the window on the top story open before slipping inside.
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There was never a moment in this conversation where Clint didn't think to himself he should have came back into Phil's life sooner. Before everything happened to them and maybe they would have been on normal footing if that accident was pre-destined or something and he would have gotten bitten around this place rather than where he had been. Clint allowed Phil to guide his head, offering up a shrug when he said that. "I gotta get into the mindset. Monster, danger to society, etc. I won't be careful without that." Clint unfortunately didn't really see it much like that either, or he believed he didn't. The words left his mouth before he had time to filter anything.
Otherwise he would have still been lamely attempting to flirt with him. "I...huh." Clint tilted his head to the side, a smile tugging at his lips at that. "Good, cos I don't have the legs to pull a skirt off. It'd be embarrassing for...jus' about anyone, sir." Fortunately, Clint didn't take the ample time to refuse. He instead switched it to 'what the fuck is taking you so long to kiss me', leaning in to press his lips against Phil's. And it was just like everything he ever thought it would be (cheesy, yes. But Clint had many years and tons of time to think about what kissing Phil would be like).
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"You're not a monster, Clint." Maybe in the technical way that he could become a strange creature, but not the philosophical way. If he wasn't in control, he couldn't be blamed. It was that simple. Furthermore, Phil knew that there had to be some way to control or contain it. They would figure something out, even if it just wound up being locking Clint up on full moons or whatever they had to do. He would protect Clint. He would find a way to keep him safe, including from whatever was inside of him.
"And stop calling me 'sir'."
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"'m glad you think so." He grinned a bit, shifting a bit on the sofa before laying his head down on Phil's lap. Making himself comfortable for the most part. If he was already allowed to invade Phil's space, he was allowed to use him as a pillow. It was how these things naturally progressed. Move in. Flirt. Kiss. Pillow. Well, usually not in normal people world. But he doubted they were anywhere close to normal as he watched the screen. His focus was purely on Phil though. Even if he wasn't facing him. "I like it. Sir. Better than 'baby'." Meaning, he'd already adopted a pet name for the name and was planning to use it to it's full potential.
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"I'm going to come up with a terrible, embarrassing pet name for you. We'll see how you like it." He hoped that comment wasn't... what? Presumptuous? God, he really wasn't this awkward most of the time, but this was Clint. He didn't want to fuck this up and he didn't want to chase Clint away when Clint needed the help.
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"Sir is not an embarrassing pet name though." He pointed out with a smile, finding it endearing that Phil was coming off a little bit awkward in all of this. He twisted his hand a little to wrap around Phil's. "Would it defeat the purpose if I like whatever terrible, embarrassing pet name you come up for me?" Cos he knew he would.