◉ Video + Action

[vagabond_code]

Who: Clint "a Hawkeye" Barton and yous guys
Broadcast: Fleet-wide
Action: Marsiva
When: This evening

[Clint begins his broadcast with his hearing aids in, but the result is a series of false starts where it’s obvious from the wincing and the head-turning that he’s dealing with some sort of loud or high-pitched feedback. It isn’t long before he ditches them - rips them off and pockets them - and starts over again. lips it is, then ]

Alright this isn’t going to be a big thing - I just want to put my face out there.

[And he pauses, counting out the seconds for whoever might be looking to take a look at their beep-machines and catch sight of him.]

Oh, and to whoever brought us here, nice ship. Also, you’ve got some balls, kidnapping someone who carries one of these in his wallet:

[Casually, meaningfully, accidentally, he produces a blockbuster membership card, with the printed name Clinton F. Barton and a signature. When he catches his mistake he tosses the card down out of frame and the camera catches him thumbing through the inside of his wallet. Following that, the sound of him mumbling:]

Futzing Avengers ID, never around when you… [He trails off. The feed doesn’t.]

[A little later, sitting wherever there’s a seat to be claimed aboard the Marsiva, he’ll be found picking cards out of his wallet and tossing them down onto a table. Reorganizing, dismissing some, yet the cards that he doesn’t tuck back into their leathery hideaway are all landing corner-to-corner in a perfect even pile.

A little later, you might catch him sprawled out and napping. Because he naps. He’s a napper.]

Comments

[touchofrogue]

[Oh no, this usually worked backwards -- she knew the person's name and face and just said nothing.

...if he was a comic book fan like Shawn, then -- but maybe she was just in his world? Just because she wasn't in Tony's or James' didn't mean she should forget Billy's. Or maybe there was just a different one all together, who knew?

But ugh, the icky squirmy sensation of someone knowing her by sight where, if she didn't see his ID Card she would have never guessed in a million years that he was Clint Barton.]

What was your first clue?

[vagabond_code]

The white.

[He gestured vaguely to where he guessed her head would be if he imagined himself looking at himself as her. Which is to say, uppish.]

And you don't sound like her, but you talk like her. Plus your gloves.

[It was a little crass now that he heard himself. Boiling someone down to three or four characteristics and saying -- this is you, even across dimensions.]

[touchofrogue]

[Right, well. The white was distinctive. And it was a little disconcerting to be told she didn't sound like herself, but it was oddly comforting, in a way. And the gloves...

...of course the gloves. Of course.

It is maybe a moment or so too long before Rogue responds.]

Well, I guess this spares me the 'I'm not the Rogue you're lookin' for' speech. Which... is somethin'. Sorry if ya two were close. [So. Weird. Less strange than the first time. But no less weird.]

[vagabond_code]

We're colleagues.

[He says, wondering if that's a little too distant. They were never really teamed up and barely ever spoke to eachother, so it would be fair to say he only really know her by reputation... but they'd shared the same space, physically speaking.]

At the Avengers' place.

[touchofrogue]

[Wait, what?]

What? Really? [She, a mutant, part of an organization that gave out ID cards? Really?

...I'm not an X-Man?] ...your version of home sounds a lot more acceptin' than any I've heard, then.

[Since, you know, Rogue's just sort of assuming that the whole mutant thing isn't as big of an issue where Clint's from, then. That's the only thing that makes sense.]

[vagabond_code]

[Then he'd better leave out the part where shortly before Rogue joined up, the Avengers were actively hunting mutants. The X-men had done a lot of things that he didn't agree with, but he wasn't one to paint with a broad brush. Besides, when she did wrong, Rogue always seemed like the sort to do the wrong things for the right reasons.]

I'm not about to speak for a whole world, but it is what it is.

[Of course he could sense the apprehension in her voice, and her language bordered on the euphemistic. So he spoke to her people as well as her person when he added,]

You're alright by me.

[touchofrogue]

Considerin' we just met, I call that right generous. [Slightly tart with her tone, there, but only with enough defensiveness to indicate she'd been thrown a curveball. She felt that reiterating some basic facts, not just for the sake of their conversation in general but to provide herself with a foundation was important.

Her tone gains some certainty and a more even keel as she continues:] Can't lie an' say that what you're tellin' me doesn't make me curious, but it doesn't have much ta do with where we are. I can't take credit or blame for her. Won't hold ya ta any standard of a Clint Barton I've ever met before either. [...] Doesn't mean I'd mind gettin' ta know you, or the situation back at your home a little more. Not much else ta do but talk while we practice our best space sardine impression.

[vagabond_code]

Yeah yeah blank slate, I get it. Okay.

[The problem was, he didn't get all of it. When people talked in too-big chunks, he was liable to miss bits in the middle. Especially when talking to people with non-standard accents. At any rate it accounted for his momentary frustration.]

Yeesh, are the other ships really that small?

[This in response to her mention of sardines. He caught the bit about sardines. That had to be the most important bit.]

[touchofrogue]

[She addresses the camera directly, at least, though she's not put all the pieces together in a logical, strategic order yet, but she functions mostly on instinct anyway.]

Depends on the ship. Some of the older ones have plenty of space. The Blue Fish is almost hotel-like.

[vagabond_code]

That's where they put you.

[A guess, but, he was getting sick of asking questions. It would be worse if he could hear the sound of his own voice.]

[touchofrogue]

Oh, heck no. I'm on the Vanquish. We're sardines. [A quick smile, because she loves her ship.] But it's gettin' better. They let us cash in for upgrades.

[vagabond_code]

[There had to be a price for something like that - and yeah, the term that she used confirmed it. But would could the captives do to earn this ship-improving currency? Perform humiliating game-show challenges, he didn't doubt. Bobbing for apples or completing obstacle courses. Jumping through literal hoops.]

Cash in? Should I be concerned?

[Although come to think of it, he'd have the edge in all of those scenarios.]

[touchofrogue]

[A shrug.] Only if ya feel like the audience watchin' at home will find ya borin'.

[vagabond_code]

So it's a cash-for-views sorta thing?

[He'd already decided that one way out of this might be to actively make a point of being the single most boring thing on TV.]

I do a pretty good 'carny'. Usually a hit with the crowds.

[touchofrogue]

I don't know how it all breaks down. [She has put two and two together by this time and is speaking more slowly, putting an effort into enunciating.] It seems like sponsers get involved, but are mostly useless.

[vagabond_code]

But not totally.

[touchofrogue]

[Shrug.] If ya like tacky, misspelled T-Shirts, you're in good shape.

[vagabond_code]

[Is it wrong that he kinda does like tacky misspelled t-shirts?]

Don't know if I'd call that an upgrade.

[But see, he likes his own shirts more.]

[touchofrogue]

'cause it's not an upgrade. It's a gift from a sponser. [She shakes her head.] Two separate beasts. Upgrades we pay for by giving our salary directly back to Atroma.

[vagabond_code]

You ever get a t-shirt?

[touchofrogue]

Nah. Guess they don't like me that much.

[Who'd have thought?

And look how bothered she is. By that smile on her face she is just heartbroken.]