driftfleet | blameless mingle

[ so, what do you do when your bff/mentor disappears? well, according to kate motherfutzing bishop, you carry on as though all is normal. you make scrambled eggs for breakfast, 'cause you have eggs to scramble and that's a silver lining. you shoot a helluva lot of arrows just to keep your fingers from trembling. and you brew a lot of coffee. a lot of coffee. the little french press with which they've been making do in the blameless's kitchen seems to always have something in it -- except, of course, for when kate finishes the last cup. and then, slavish to her craving, she makes some more. she's often in the kitchen, trying hard to stay relevant. stay useful.

although she puts forward many smiles and friendly greetings, it's obvious that something's not right. when asked, of course, she owns up to it: clint's gone. but she promises that's not a big deal. it's not like it's the first time he's gone mia.

some afternoons, she lays on the shuttle bay floor after a particularly strenuous workout. lucky sits curled up against her side, head snuggled on kate's hip. when she thinks they're alone, she whispers soft assurances to the dog -- reminding him that she'll look after him, now, and it'll be just like california. you'd like california, she promises, even if the pizza sucks.

in other moments, she can be found carting laundry through the halls back to her bunk. mostly, she's sorting through some potential formal outfits. however, nothing seems to pass muster. a passerby might catch her tossing aside a skirt or a pair of shoes, grumbling aloud that nothing has the right je ne sais quoi for the upcoming ball.

or visitors and crewmates can come looking for her with a purpose. she won't be difficult to find.

[ Kara's a bit worried about Kate, but she can't exactly place why... just that Kate's been a lot less present lately. Luckily, Jarvis has made some cookies (after her kitchen privileges were slightly revoked) and she is bringing them over for her friend, along with a thermos of kind of terrible coffee. she hasn't told kate she's coming, but that's part of the strategy. she lands in the shuttle bay and calls out in the hallway ]

Hey, Kate, you in?

[ -- lucky shows his snout first. at kara's voice, he pads down the hallway and drags his side against her calf. leaning, just slightly, into her solid presence. kate's quick to follow, but rather than approaching kara she leans out from the kitchen doorway. ]

Down here. [ her hair is done up in a messy bun, and her style for the day is casual. but that's never been anything strange or rare for her. ] I didn't know you were coming by.

[ she holds the plate above her head and bends down to scritch Lucky before moving on to the kitchen ]

I can come back if it's a bad time. Jarvis just made some cookies and for once in my life I thought I'd share.

Man, you know. [ she snags one off the plate. ] I wish our Jarvis made cookies as good as these ones. Mostly, though, he just seems to glare with this judge-y look whenever I used to try and sneak into Avengers Tower.

[ gee, wonder why. ]

Okay, you have to tell me why you were sneaking into Avengers Tower.

Once? To steal back my gear.

[ clint's gear, she thinks with a pang. kate grimaces -- and turns around to check on the makeshift omelette she's been trying to perfect all morning. ]

And every other time was 'cause they never seemed to properly activate my ID card. I'd swipe and swipe, but the locks would never open.

[ look, she's an avenger, honestly. ]

[It just so happens there is a Mon-El coming to a shuttle bay near you!] Kate! You're just the person I wanted to see. [Who needs to call before coming over? Not this guy who is holding a bag of mystery!] Oh, and you have a dog friend.

[ at the sound of his voice, she does manage to prop herself up -- elbows planted on the hard shuttle bay floor. kate's clearly fresh(ish) off a workout. her hair is pushed back with a headband, and there's a nice spandexy athleisure appearance to her outfit. ]

Lucky, meet Mon-El. Mon-El? This is Lucky. He's not just my dog friend, he's now my best friend. [ she digs her fingers gently, affectionately into the scruff at lucky's neck. ] Aren't you, my handsome boy? Yeah you are.

[Natasha isn't exactly what most people would call a comforting presence. There were exceptions to that. Probably Steve. Maybe Barnes. It's a short list.

But she pays attention.

She knows when Clint leaves. And she can guess who'd be affected by something like this. She stops by the Blameless after a few days not seeing Kate out. This Clint might not be her Clint, but she'd spent enough time with him to see her Clint in him. Her Clint would have definitely mentored a girl like her too.]

Have some of that coffee for a guest?

[From the door, without preamble.]

[ -- somewhere, deep inside, she'd been unconsciously steeling herself for exactly this meeting. kate hadn't thought about it (not officially) but nor is she surprised when natasha shows up. at first, it's like a held breath being released.

and then, after a moment, the tension builds once more. ]

I can. Yeah. [ she nods her head towards the table. ] I think I know why you're here.

[Well that doesn't sound great. He walks over closer, keeping the bag a little further back as he bends down to offer a hand to Lucky.] So, who got downgraded to give Lucky a promotion?

Edited 2017-05-09 04:24 (UTC)

[ -- the dog lifts his snout, sniffing first before introducing a bit of affectionate slobber all over mon-el's hand. sorry, buddy. ]

Clint. [ she doesn't go overboard discussing the man, but it's clear the guy means a lot to her in their own twisted, dysfunctional way. ] He's gone. Back home. Good for him, I guess.

Oh, Kate. [He sits down on the floor with them, setting the bag down too so he can wrap a non-slobbered arm around her.] I'm sorry. [She'd talked to him about things she newly remembered and how they weren't good with Clint, but he's sure this was still a blow.]

[ kate is never -- never -- one to turn down an embrace. she anchors her arms around mon-el's neck and tugs herself close. friendly, unabashed, and tinged with sadness.

(even though behind her back, lucky is quick to nose the contents of the set-aside bag. ]

I know. So am I. [ a tight squeeze. ] He was a disaster, you know? But he was my disaster.

What? Not for the dark roast? [Natasha will let Kate decide if she wants to talk about Clint or not.]

I'm sure it was just an honest mistake.

Are you cooking?

See, I'd question whether you could smell the dark roast from four ships away. [ a departure, however, is easier found out. kate's smile might be diluted, but it's still there. ] Sorry. I know he was never your Clint. But -- sorry all the same.

Thanks. You're right, he wasn't my Clint. And even if he were... Well. [They have their ways of dealing with it. Sometimes circumstances split them up. But they're still there for each other.]

I think we were getting along okay though.

[A pause, then:]

He was your Clint though.

-- An attempt is being made. [ she steps aside to let kara witness that attempt. honestly, it wouldn't be so bad if they only had better ingredients. ]

He's a bastard and a trainwreck and a disappointment but -- exactly. [ he was hers. kate bites down on her bottom lip. ]

-- You still take your coffee black?

[ she assumes some things never change. ]

I do. [Because she's not a wimp.]

Some people don't get that.

[Either the black coffee, or a trainwreck being important because he's your trainwreck.]

Some people haven't watched Barton trip over himself to get the coffee order right on his way into the office. So to speak.

[ she'll never know quite how he did it -- working with two exes and a current girlfriend. who all knew and liked one another. that all sounds way too complicated for her.

she pours a mug. bitter, black, and it might be one of the few things in the kitchen she's actually good at. once upon a time, her coffee even got old man logan's approval. ]

[A little huff of a laugh in response to that. Her Clint might have his shit marginally more together, but only marginally. Natasha leans against the counter, watching.]

He does try, doesn't he. You know, when I first ran into him here he was trying to figure out a way to smooth things over with Wanda after pissing her off.

-- Of course he was. I could stick a note on his hand reminding him that messing with the Scarlet Witch is, like, the last thing he of all people should be doing and he'd still go mooning after her. Goddammit.

blameless mingle » may

first week of may »

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You saw nothing.

i saw everything!!

sob!

oh look i have hug icons now just in time

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