[muffled spooky scary skeletons playing in the distance]

[geonomy]

Who: You! Me! Everybody!
Broadcast: idk but we've sure got a pretty broad cast of folks eh, eh
Action: HECK YEAH PLANET MINGLE
When: 10/7 until plot update or recaptcha

It's a deep, deep forest filled to the brim with fungi, mysterious life forms, and pitch black darkness. Explore if you dare and discover all these things and more! Just don't get lost...

Comments

[uprightness]

[ some things steve rogers will never understand, no matter how hard he tries; some modern sitcom jokes, funny cat video and the spy-logic of not simply asking or saying things outright. it's a pattern of behavior that seems to repeat itself, having a conversation within a conversation and it's not something he was ever very talented at. he stops walking, looks from one woman to the other before shaking his head. ]

Are you two really going to talk in circles like this all the way there and back?

[ he gives them both a dry sort of look. it seems that that captain America has reached his first level of disapproval. what is it with spies and games. ]

You know, I've found that having honest conversations is usually the easiest way to get things done.

[ when he turns to Natasha again it's to say: ]

Similar training is about the one thing you do share, I think we can all agree on that. Wherever it is Miss Underwood came from, it's the one thing you have in common and now it's on the table.

[ and then he just turns and starts walking again. ]

Don't know how you two don't find this tiring.

[mucked]

[ steve rogers! it's a wonder he wasn't outright killed behind enemy lines with an attitude like that. peggy appreciated the gentle give-and-take between herself and natasha, but here comes the soldier barreling through the proceedings. she can't even be angry. instead, she laughs.

whatever else she hopes to suss out, it can wait for a time when it doesn't get under steve's skin. for now, she knows enough. ]

Our conversation is honest enough. However, if it offends your straightforward sensibilities? I'm certain we can change the subject. Can't we, Natasha?

[ enough ice has been broken, she decides. she goes straight for the first name. ]

[outstandingbalance]

[Honest enough, and more productive than Steve realizes. But it's fine. Natasha and Peggy have left enough clues for each other to continue this at another time if they want.

Natasha intends to.

For now...]

All right, Cap. What is it you want to have a straightforward, honest conversation about?

[uprightness]

The weather.

[ as dryly as that. ]

Training sessions, the local flora.

[ pick and choose, ladies. ]

[mucked]

Boring. [ she drawls. ] He wants us to be boring.

[outstandingbalance]

That's what I'm hearing.

[A pause, then slyly.]

So tell me more about this lipstick. You strike me as a woman who likes a red.

[uprightness]

Don't really think you're capable of boring.

[ he counters but it's too late and the subject shifts to make up. ]

I'll have to remember back up next time.

[ preferably Bucky. ]

[mucked]

Red? Of course. Red is timeless. [ she resists the urge to glance at steve -- there is a shortlist of timeless things, and red lipstick is in good company. ] But this particular brand was called Sweet Dreams. Number 2. The first edition had the unfortunate effect of being a little too potent -- the kisser was just as apt to pass out as the kissed.

[ backup will do you no good, rogers. ]

[outstandingbalance]

I was wondering about that. Seems like it would be a danger.

[They are having a very professional conversation here, Rogers. And it's not about you. Isn't that good enough?]

Thought maybe you'd use a barrier.

[She smiles a little.]

Clearly I shouldn't underestimate your tools.

[uprightness]

It knocks them out?

[ he does have to snort a bit, why is even surprised? he looks back at the pair of them ]

How much of that stuff needs to be -

[ you know what, no. it's probably one of honestly-don't-need-to-know questions. ]

Nevermind.

[mucked]

[ don't worry, steve. if peggy has her way, she'll have sweet dreams 003 in her possession soon enough and she can offer demonstrations. ]

We have good gadgetry at the SSR. And if there's something I can't source through them, I know I can always lean on Howard. [ ... ] I'm sure the tools are different, but I imagine it's much the same in 2015. [ a pause while she eyes natasha. ] Or 2016.

[outstandingbalance]

When everything's going well.

[Right now, back home, Natasha can't exactly reach out to Tony or SHIELD.

But the Black Widow wouldn't be entirely without resources.]

Even when you don't have gadgets, there's a lot a good agent can do.

[uprightness]

In the end, they're just that, gadgets, technology, they're props. What makes a good - soldier, agent, anything, is thinking on their feet and having their hearts in the right place. technology changes, that those things don't.

[ two cases in point are his company today, as it happens. ]

[mucked]

Are you giving a masterclass, Captain Rogers?

[outstandingbalance]

I think he's looking for an excuse not to modernize.

[uprightness]

It has nothing to do with that -

[ dryly, as close as he can get to an eye roll. ]

It's just that we shouldn't be dependent on those. Everyone got technology, we've got people, that matters more.

[mucked]

There are times when you need something a little more subtle than a right hook. [ ... ] And a lot more admissible in court than your photographic memory.

[ she wags a finger. ] Like when you need to bug an exclusive villainous and secret society when they don't exactly allow women through their doors.

[outstandingbalance]

She has you on that one, Steve.

[uprightness]

She usually does.

[ he admits at once. ]

Which goes to show the importance of having a team, really.

[mucked]

[ -- did he just turn this around into a lesson on teamwork? oh her giddy aunt nora... ]

Some days, I pity your recruits.

[outstandingbalance]

Oh, don't. At least not for that.

[They put up with a lot worse.]