catching up with friends

[outstandingbalance]

Who: Natasha + Wanda, Natasha + You
Broadcast: Nope
Action: SS Starstruck, SS Vanquish, Iskaulit
When: Now-ish?

Starstruck

[With Pietro showing up, it seemed like the thing to do to check in on Wanda. Natasha had kept an eye open for the girl, but unsurprisingly their paths hadn't crossed by accident since then. She could have sent a private message—maybe should have—but the kind of distance that talking to someone through a screen would hide clues to Wanda's emotional state that Natasha would rather not miss.

It made the most sense to drop in. Have surprise on her side. See Wanda face to face.

That's how Natasha found herself on the SS Starstruck, standing outside her younger teammate's door like she belonged there and knocking confidently. Will Wanda even be in? On the other hand, would Natasha be here if she weren't?]


Starstruck - later

[It's a less confident Natasha who slips off of the ship after her meeting with Wanda, a Natasha with new memories and nursing a stabbing headache. She'd just as soon sneak off the ship without running into anyone else at this point; she could use a little time to herself to recover and regroup.

Even a spy might have a hard escaping a spaceship unnoticed, though.]


Vanquish

[Back on her own ship, Natasha retreats to her bunk almost immediately. She lays down for a bit—but she doesn't stay down long. After enough time to push aside the worst of her nagging headache, she throws herself into activity. Nothing useful. Nothing that takes focus. But empty action, something to work off a little energy while her thoughts are elsewhere. Pushups. Sit ups. Lunges. Whatever she can do with the space she has.

Eventually, the workout might spill out into the corridor...]


Iskaulit

[But after that, her workout will take her to a real gym, somewhere she can actually open up. Anyone who finds her here might run into Natasha taping up her hands before laying into a heavy bag. Or they might run into her working her frustration off on the bag itself. Spectators might be impressed—if they don't know her, and if they don't know people with superpowers. She's stronger than most people take her for, though, and her form is more or less flawless, if you notice those things.

She stays in the gym for a long while, until she feels herself back on top of her emotions. All of her reactions have been identified, categorized and compartmentalized.

That's when she she finally wanders over to one of the bars.

She's earned a drink.]

Comments

[outstandingbalance]

[Natasha shows up a couple hours later after sending a text, finished with her workout, hair still wet and apparently sober.

That's all that can be asked of her, right?]

We're still on for this, right?

[takingkarabusiness]

[ Kara met her in the bay, having heard her come in from her room. she walks them to the kitchen ]

I hope so! I found some popcorn, even. Let's get this going.

[outstandingbalance]

You guys get that on the last planet and just keep t around, or can you actually find that on the fleet?

[Natasha has seen gardens on ships, but corn seems like a stretch.]

[takingkarabusiness]

Kept it hidden, from the last planet, yeah.

[outstandingbalance]

Oh, I see. Squirreling it away for a special occasion.

[takingkarabusiness]

Yeah, exactly, except unlike a squirrel I never lose my stash.

[outstandingbalance]

Except when you go and give it away to strange women.

[takingkarabusiness]

You're no stranger than the rest of us.

[outstandingbalance]

Maybe not. It all depends how you look at it.

[takingkarabusiness]

Well, you're human, right?

[outstandingbalance]

Born and bred.

[takingkarabusiness]

So already not the weirdest.

[outstandingbalance]

I'm not sure being human makes you less weird. Especially when we're in space as it is.

[A wry smile.]

We're all aliens here, aren't we?

[takingkarabusiness]

Okay, fair, fair. I'm just so used to being the odd one out.

[outstandingbalance]

I know how that goes. [Natasha says it, shrugging off the sentiment more than agreeing with it.] But let's face it, everyone here's strange. The whole situation is.

[takingkarabusiness]

It is, and I think the strangest thing of all is that Anastasia is apparently an interdimensional constant.

[outstandingbalance]

Weird how things like that happen, isn't it? I wonder if it's the same between worlds or if there's differences there, too.

[takingkarabusiness]

Maybe. I kind of hope it's the same, for some reason.

[outstandingbalance]

It'll be disappointing if it's not.

[takingkarabusiness]

As long as John Cusack is still Dimitri, I think we'll be fine.

[ ok ok let's get this set up. let's pretend winn made her a small projector or something so they could have movie night ]

Oh, do you want me to pop the popcorn?

[outstandingbalance]

Sure? [Natasha doesn't see how it makes a difference which of them makes popcorn, but she won't stop Kara from doing it.]

[takingkarabusiness]

[ Kara puts the popcorn kernels in a pot and fixes the lid on ]

The only rule is you can't tell Jim about it.

[ but ok she takes off her glasses and squints at the pot and it... starts to pop ]

[outstandingbalance]

[Natasha is about to ask what exactly she can't tell Jim and why—but the answer becomes clear before she can respond.

Oh.]

[takingkarabusiness]

[ when the popping subsides ]

Instant popcorn!

[outstandingbalance]

So I see...

[She pauses after that a beat too long, then shakes her head.]

That has to come in handy.