driftfleet | (no subject)

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.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I'll have to keep an eye out for him. Seems like you can pick out a good ally. And if he's had to deal with Starks, he's probably a saint.

[ -- all in all, peggy's almost certain that what howard's done for for mister and mrs jarvis might be one of the more selfless acts she's ever attributed to the man. but (of course) it's not her boon to explain. the man will share it himself should the situation arise; lord knows, he loves to talk about his ana. ]

He's extraordinarily patient. [ peggy admits. ] And yet also extraordinarily pedantic. I'm quite convinced every single one of Howard's estates would have been reduced to rubble by now were it not for Mister Jarvis's even-handed management. Besides, he makes a lovely scone.

What ship is he on? [Encouraging Peggy to tell her more about him, and getting a little more information in the process.] So I know where I'm going when I need to shake someone down for breakfast pastry.

The Tourist. Be warned, however, that he's a very persistent nurturer. Let him feed you one pastry and you'll be eating them until Kingdom Come.

Do you really think I'd strike him as the sort of woman who needs nurturing?

[If she did, then he would be the first person to see it.]

Would I? [ and yet, there she is: mother-henned by mister jarvis. ] Not to mention the fact that his lovely wife could probably give us both a run for our money.

[ not a spy, no, but a force of nature all on her own. ]

I suppose it depends what he's looking for, I guess.

[Somehow, it still seems unlikely.]

And how well he knows you.

-- Care to have a small flutter on it?

[ and why not? it isn't even about winning, really. more about threading a bit of intrigue into their lives ]

[Natasha isn't one to turn down a little intrigue.]

What did you have in mind? Not entirely sure it's fair, considering you two might be in on this together.

-- While I might not be above a little match-fixing, I can assure you that Mister Jarvis's integrity is much further beyond reproach. [ a half-smile. ]

[Natasha returns the smile, amused.]

I'm sure he is. Still...

That still leaves the question of the stakes.

Edited 2017-02-17 21:14 (UTC)

I'm open to negotiations. What's a win worth to you?

Let's say I win, and he doesn't see me as needing mothering...

[Oddly enough, there's not much she wants. Nothing she couldn't get herself anyway.]

You and Steve have fondue.

Just to clarify -- we are talking about fondue-fondue. As in melted cheese. And not, perhaps, what Steve seems to think is fondue.

[ look, she's gotta go by the book on these things. ]

Cheese. Bread. Maybe an apple?

Alright. If you win, I'll invite him for fondue. Whether he accepts or not is his prerogative. But if I win? I want you to very seriously consider transferring over to the Starstruck.

[ she words her offer with the utmost care. consider it, she prompts, because for a bargain as casual as this it would be cruel to paint the stakes in absolutes. ]

Edited 2017-02-17 23:16 (UTC)

[That takes Natasha somewhat off guard. Neither Peggy nor Steve has mentioned anything like that before. Wanting to see her more, sure, but not consolidating more Avengers on one ship.]

Consider joining your crew, you mean. You're recruiting a communications officer?

I'm our only comms officer. [ peggy explains. ] But it's proving a little tricky to juggle that and the captaincy.

[ it's not a challenge she enjoys discussing. evidently. because she's quick to move on with a flash of a smile and a joke. ] Unless you'd rather I wager a fondue 'tag-team' instead.

[ -- that was the word she used, yes? ]

The problem with that is that I'd do it anyway.

[Might even be planning it. Natasha's fine with the redirect. And there's something somewhat comforting about the idea this is about wanting someone on comms, not about trying to get the family back together.]

I'll think about it, but no promises. I wouldn't want to leave Vanquish without.

[ a nod -- of course, of course. she'd poached steve off the pathstone -- it wouldn't do to once again deprive a ship of someone, and this time after they'd already settled into the hierarchy. ]

Not such a problem for you, though -- [ being in a position to do something anyway. ]

How do you mean? [Said with shades of "why would it be a problem," and perhaps "should it be a problem?"]

A bad joke. [ her smile is brief. ] You said the problem is that you'd 'do it anyway' -- makes me think it's not a problem at all, in that case. From a gambling perspective.

That depends on how you look at gambling. What's the point of betting something I was going to do anyway?

[ -- that's why they call it gambling. as moments go, this one is damned inconvenient to suddenly be put in mind of daniel sousa. but it can't be helped. peggy grimaces her way through what otherwise might have been a smile. ]

One might call it a a clever play, actually.

Against someone else, sure. If I was concerned with coming out ahead.

This is just a game.

(no subject)

mucked - 2017-02-23 15:55 (UTC) - Expand

outstandingbalance - 2017-02-23 17:54 (UTC) - Expand

mucked - 2017-02-24 20:53 (UTC) - Expand