Before I jump into the epic meta you've got going on, I'm going to quote two passages from the stories that inspired this series, Bob's small acts of kindness and road to damascus, because part of what I was doing at the end of this section was a direct callback to those fics (and I'm trying to begin the process of tying these stories together).
This is also my way of not being able to take credit for the really great lines--I was really just giving them context.
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Excerpt from small acts (from Nat's POV):
You give him your body. He likes to work it slowly, carefully, and you enjoy how it feels, even if it does not mean more to you than an orgasm and an empty sigh.
Clint is flesh and he is warmth and he is blood. Clint does not speak in terms of emotion but he tells you that you are worth more than this and he will always have your back.
“Don’t forget it, Nat.”
You let him kiss you goodnight. You kiss him back. You break apart and exhale with a hiss of relief and sleep soundly through the rest of the night.
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Excerpt from road to damascus (from Clint's POV):
You own very little and you do not ask for much but that does not mean that you don’t know how to take.
She gives herself to you. Her body is her gift and you are grateful. You are gentle. You take your time and you take your pleasure and you try to mend all the broken parts with your hard worked hands and your liar’s mouth.
You take her body and her body responds and you are grateful. You want her to know this.
What you say is that she is better than this. What you say is that you have always got her back.
You tell her not to forget it.
She sighs and falls asleep in your arms. She has never had your memory for details.
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Notice any similarities? It's easy to write good stuff when you have brilliant source material. ;)
Okay, first things first
This is also my way of not being able to take credit for the really great lines--I was really just giving them context.
-------------------------
Excerpt from small acts (from Nat's POV):
You give him your body. He likes to work it slowly, carefully, and you enjoy how it feels, even if it does not mean more to you than an orgasm and an empty sigh.
Clint is flesh and he is warmth and he is blood. Clint does not speak in terms of emotion but he tells you that you are worth more than this and he will always have your back.
“Don’t forget it, Nat.”
You let him kiss you goodnight. You kiss him back. You break apart and exhale with a hiss of relief and sleep soundly through the rest of the night.
------------------------------
Excerpt from road to damascus (from Clint's POV):
You own very little and you do not ask for much but that does not mean that you don’t know how to take.
She gives herself to you. Her body is her gift and you are grateful. You are gentle. You take your time and you take your pleasure and you try to mend all the broken parts with your hard worked hands and your liar’s mouth.
You take her body and her body responds and you are grateful. You want her to know this.
What you say is that she is better than this. What you say is that you have always got her back.
You tell her not to forget it.
She sighs and falls asleep in your arms. She has never had your memory for details.
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Notice any similarities? It's easy to write good stuff when you have brilliant source material. ;)