(no subject)

[outstandingbalance]

Who: Natasha Romanoff + various
Broadcast: N/A
Action: Starstruck, Heron, Vanquish, Iskaulit & Siourew
When: Throughout February

Visits - Starstruck & Heron

[Don't let it be said that Natasha Romanoff isn't good to her word. She's said she would pay visits to a couple of ships, and in early February, she proves good to her word.

First on the agenda, she stops in on the Heron. It gets priority because it's not just a social call. She said she'd help Barnes out with his hair—it's obviously been a while since anyone gave it a trim, and he's agreed to trust her enough to help him out. Hopefully Barnes is in. She didn't call ahead to check.

Later, she'll show up on the Starstruck. She's actually been here a couple of times recently, eating Wanda's cookies and stopping by to see Peggy, but she's trying to make more of a habit out of it. Steve clearly wanted her to. And she hasn't seen him on those visits, so here she is again.

In Starstruck's kitchen.

Making herself some coffee.]

Exploring - Siourew

[Natasha takes the opportunity to get down on the planet. Or around it, as the case proves to be. Either way, she's taking advantage of the opportunity to get outside, to see a real sky, breathe fresh air and stretch her legs.

If anyone wants to join her for a hike, she wouldn't turn down the company.]

Hallucinations - Vanquish, Islaulit & Siourew

[As the month wears on, the tone of things changes for the worse. Natasha hadn't assumed she'd escaped the glitches affecting various members of the fleet, but she had seemed no worse for them so far. That changes as the month wears on.

It starts with flashes out of the corner of her eye. Little girls who watch her with eyes too old for their faces. They stand in ones and twos, tucked around corners and in shadows, glimpsed in the reflection in a window, there for only an instant, then gone. It doesn't end there, though. After the flashes, aural hallucinations. Voices come straight from her memory, clear and distinct, speaking in any of half a dozen different languages. They bark orders. Praise her dedication. Quiz her on training. A few words, a phrase, and then they're gone.

Then the visions escalate. The girls stay are no longer just girls. They're ghosts, sporting evidence of the injuries that killed them—they're students she killed along the way, bruised or bearing bullet wounds. Sometimes they're missing eyes, missing mouths. They float in windows.

They don't speak, because the dead don't. They just follow her. Isn't that fitting?

Natasha tries to go about her days normally. She visits the shooting range, or bars. She makes her meals in Vanquishes kitchen and she stops into bars on Iskaulit. She even goes back planetside hoping getting away from the fleet will ease the glitch, but there's no such luck. By the end of the month, she might walk into a room and for five full seconds, it's as though she's stepped into the past, back in Russia, back in the Red Room, watching girls be winnowed away until only the weapons remain, or she might turn a corner and find herself standing face to face with the distorted face of one of her marks from her early days as an assassin. She tries to hide it, but as time goes on, even she can't entirely hide the signs of stress.]

Comments

Hallucinations

[passingthrough]

[Kitty is out for a walk on the ring when she notices Natasha isn't far ahead of her so she picks up her pace.] Hey.

[outstandingbalance]

[Natasha had thought getting out would help, and she wasn't entirely wrong.

But she wasn't entirely right, either.

When someone calls out to her, she almost doesn't turn thinking it's not real. She's heard a lot of voices in the woods today. The voice is familiar, though, and cuts through the whispers and orders. She turns just a little late, obviously tired.]

Hey—Kitty. I wasn't expecting you here.

[passingthrough]

[She notices little signs saying something's amiss, but she doesn't put too much into it yet.] Probably good for the crew to get used to a half absentee captain now. [And this place is beautiful.]

[outstandingbalance]

[Natasha smiles, a little thin.]

Already planning to be derelict in your duty?

[She might sound more serious than she intends, but even so there's no force behind it.]

starstruck;

[uprightness]

[ it's a slower sort of an afternoon. it's been rather peaceful since the raiders have come and gone and the repairs, in steve's opinion are almost done. there wasn't that much to do and it has given everyone something to do to fill their time.

he's on his way to the bridge but stops once he passes the kitchen. ]

When were you going to tell me you're here?

[ there's no accusation, only a smile and a little nudge as he shifts to stand beside her. ]

pass me a spoon.

[ coffee it is. ]

[outstandingbalance]

[She fishes out a spoon for him and hands it over with a half smile.]

Depends how long it took you to notice me. After I made sure I wasn't going to have to drink tea, at least.

[Some people he lives with can't be counted upon to offer. No reason to get upset, Natasha will just help herself.]

Had the feeling you'd notice before long, though.

[uprightness]

Don't let Peggy hear you say that.

[ he's happy she's here and it shows, he lets his fingers bump against her; a gentle, affectionate way of saying hello. some things between him and Natasha go unsaid and yet, they both understand one another even without speaking up. ]

How have you been?

[outstandingbalance]

[The touch, light and brief as it is, is welcome. Steve is on the short list of people Natasha is genuinely comfortable having close to her like this. Through training and effort, she doesn't show her discomfort with others but suspicion is part of her nature.

Not many people are allowed within her guard.]

About the same. Maybe a little better with Wanda, so that doesn't hurt anything. But otherwise...

Not much changes around here.

starstruck.

[mucked]

[ she can smell the coffee brewing from down the hall. a hard but pleasant smell that always seems to belie the bitterness of the drink itself. peggy heads for the kitchen -- and when she arrives, she doesn't expect to see natasha standing at the counter. ]

-- To what do we owe the pleasure? [ a jaunty enough tone of voice. ]

[outstandingbalance]

[Sorry to disappoint.

Natasha seems to be drinking her coffee black, too; she holds one of Starstruck's mugs cradled in both hands, leaning against the counter.]

Someone told me I should stop by more often. I'm just making good on my promise.

[mucked]

[ she'll get over it. just in time, in fact, to cross the room and grab a tea bag from a small wooden box where she keeps a funny little assortment. tea got from sam's supply, or from various planets. ]

He's not wrong. [ at this point, the name's moot. they both know who she means. ]

[outstandingbalance]

What? You two ganging up on me now.

[Her tone is dry and light, familiar as Natasha's sense of humor at this point.]

video.

[vagabond_code]

Hey, I'm gunna go put some arrows in some things. Wanna come?

video

[outstandingbalance]

Up here or down on the ring?

[She shrugs, because let's be real.]

Either way, the answer is probably yes.

video

[vagabond_code]

Ring. Got a new bow string, and I wanna know what kind of distance I can get off it. I haven't had a good look 'round down there yet either.

video

[outstandingbalance]

Can't say I don't need the air.

[And she might be curious to see how he matches up to her Clint when it comes to skill. Especially after her conversations with Kate.]

Or some target practice.

exploring - siourew

[universal_charm]

<sub>[ Hope you like surprises, Natasha. Maybe you do, maybe you don't - either way, surprise!

Kirk hit and rolled from high up on a tree, absorbing the impact and bringing himself back to his feet. He blinked, shaking his head from the daze, rough leaves and needles falling out of his hair like confetti. ]</sub>

Okay, note to self, tree limbs here are not as sturdy as you might think.

[outstandingbalance]

[Natasha skids back half a step in surprise when the branch comes down, tensing for an attack that doesn't come. Luckily she figures out what's going on before he finds out why surprising a spy might be a bad idea.]

They usually are. Especially evergreens.

[Her answer is just a little flat.]

You okay?

[universal_charm]

<sub>[ Yes, well, he hadn't been meaning to surprise her! The branch had given out beneath him, which had not been the plan, and he had been trying to get a closer look at the skyline because he could never quite resist high places.

He looks to her when she speaks, honestly surprised at her presence. ]</sub>

Uh? Oh, yeah, yeah I'm fine. Nothing I haven't recovered from before.

I didn't hit you or drop anything on you, did I?

Heron

[reconstitution]

[ Natasha should count herself lucky that her visit comes before he and Erik have been able to put their security measures in place. Bucky wasn't sure when to expect her, but it certainly hadn't been this soon. He assumed she would want to spend time on the planet instead of hanging around the ships.

Honestly, he'd forgotten what they talked about in the midst of Wrath leaving. It's been more and more on his mind, and the Heron has been far more quiet than it used to be. Bucky is completing his afternoon rounds when he spots her heading toward the kitchen. ]

Wasn't expecting to see you for a while.

[outstandingbalance]

Is it a bad time? [Natasha doesn't mind surprising him, but she also doesn't mind leaving if she's caught him busy or his ship in an unwelcoming state. Maybe she ought to have called ahead, but that just wouldn't be her.]

I said I'd trim your hair. How much longer would you want to wait?

[reconstitution]

[ He shakes his head. ]

No, it's been quiet lately.

[ Suspiciously quiet for the Heron, but then again, there's only six of them. ]

Heron

[stabsbothways]

There's a new face.

[ Small ship, you notice when people visit. ]

Welcome to the Heron. I'm Summer. What's your business?

[outstandingbalance]

Summer, huh?

[Natasha's lips twitch. While she never really got in the habit of thinking of Barnes as Winter, the symmetry isn't lost on her. She has to wonder if it's intentional. Seems like a hell of a coincidence, if it's not.]

I came by to see Barnes. He's probably not expecting me.

[stabsbothways]

[ She might have to rethink the name just because people seem to peg it so instantly. ]

I don't know a Barnes. Sure you're on the right ship?