Time for family movie night on the Windrose!

[pain_train]

Who: Crew of the Windrose
Broadcast: Nope
Action: On the Windrose, mingle time!
When: 11/25 and onward

[Wow, the ship's a little smaller, but lookit that view! Let's talk awkwardly about it and mingle!]

Comments

[dancingmd]

[She crosses her arms.]

I only want to know if you're in this with me or not.

[tothefly]

[That pose and that comment are both so very Steve that she can't help a huff of laughter. Not at you, Bev, really. It's just...weirdly apropos.]

I'm not against you. So yeah, I guess I'm on your side.

[dancingmd]

[Beverly takes the laughter as more or less a positive sign, so she offers Natasha a small smile back.]

Good enough.

[But then her expression gets serious again, thinking of some other things she saw in the calibrations.]

Is there anything you think I should know about you? Anything that might be [to use Natasha's word for it] a liability to our friendship?

[tothefly]

[The smile Bev gets in return is a little twisted. More than a little self-deprecating, hardly a smile at all.]

Nothing you couldn't figure out on your own. I've done bad things for bad people. Now I do bad things for better people. At least that's what I tell myself.

[Her tone is light, not quite flippant, but it definitely doesn't match the words. But then, what could? It is what it is. She is what she is. Nothing she can do about it.]

[dancingmd]

[Beverly gives a slow nod in response, not saying anything as she mulls over this. An agent of some sort, is Beverly's guess. The way Natasha moves and speaks... well, it's similar to the actions of those who trained Beverly herself in spec ops. It does, admittedly, make Beverly plenty wary of her, but well... she likes Natasha and wants to give her the benefit of the doubt, no matter how naive that might seem to the other woman.

Her voice goes soft as she asks:]

Trying to make up for things?

[tothefly]

[Wary is good. Wary is smart, and she knows that Beverly isn't stupid. Every step she's made towards trying to be friends with Natasha she's made with more or less open eyes. Not that she's seen everything--Nat's not that open with anyone--but she certainly can see what's right in front of her. Even this choice is made with that understanding, that there's more to what Natasha is and has been than what she's given to the fleet. So Natasha tells her just what she's told others before, people who've asked the right question, or just people who needed to hear the words. They're true enough.]

Got red in my ledger. I'm just trying to balance the books.

[dancingmd]

[That is exactly what she needed to hear. Natasha isn't making excuses or trying to gloss over what she's done in the past and so: they can move forward. Beverly gives her one short, sharp nod of understanding, then reaches into the pocket of her uniform, pulling out a poker chip and setting it on the console in front of Natasha. The chip has a print of a galaxy and stars on it.]

Allen got these for me for my birthday. They didn't come over to the Marsiva, so I haven't had a chance to break them in yet.

[tothefly]

[Beverly doesn't answer her, but then, she doesn't have to. The nod, acceptance, is answer enough. It's a start. An honest start.]

[Natasha picks up the chip, eyeing it curiously, before glancing sidelong at Bev. There's the hint of a smile in the corner of her mouth.]

Didn't peg you for the poker type.

[After all, they weren't acquainted at the time of Space Vegas, and on the Western Moon she'd only met the other woman a few times for drinks.]

[dancingmd]

[She smirks.]

Isn't that kind of the point of poker?

[tothefly]

[Another one of those quiet laughs.]

You aren't wrong. We'll have to see if we can talk some of the others into a poker night.

[dancingmd]

Exactly what I was thinking. We have regular poker nights on the Enterprise and well... I thought it'd be nice to start that up again.

[tothefly]

It wasn't exactly regular, but my...colleagues and I had something similar going, back home. When they forgot they'd banned me from playing.

[A brief hesitation there. They weren't all friends. Partners, sometimes, teammates, occasionally. It was...complicated.]

[dancingmd]

You were just too damn good, huh?