driftfleet | (no subject)

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(no subject)

Who: Natasha Romanoff + you (+ maybe some Bucky Barnes)
Broadcast: Video
Action: Mostly no, but we could work something out.
When: Now

[The video feed start, focusing tightly on Natasha's face, the only visible backdrop a rather generic portion of cabin wall.]

So checking the date, seems like it's been a while. Nice to see everyone's back in the air. Hopefully in one piece. I see a few people have left.

Anyone want to fill me in on the important details? Or should we let sleeping dogs—

[The sound of a door cuts her off the, and Natasha looks up. Whoever she sees, her expression softens. She smiles slightly, lifting her chin slightly and turning her head to catch a kiss from some loser tall enough that only the lower half of his face makes it in the frame. The stubble on his chin and the shape of his mouth might be enough to identify him though.]

A lot of catching up to d—

[Suddenly the feed cuts out.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

-- The drinks say otherwise.

[ but peggy smiles. there's no hope in hell she would have played it differently, no matter what the time frame. after setting aside a jacket and her communicator, she grabs the waiting glass with two fingers on the rim. ]

Did you know, they've got a board out back with pictures and warnings about the members of the fleet whose appetites are so overwhelming they threaten to eat the bistro right out of business?

I feel like I should take a look at it, see how many of them I know. But, I mean...

[She lifts her drink and sips. It's still mostly untouched.]

As long as they don't go all you can eat, the profit margin should be safe.

I daresay you know a couple of them. [ carter herself included. ] But I'm surprised he hasn't yet seen fit to add Steve to the cork-board.

Probably they just haven't found a good picture yet. One more thing super soldiers can't get enough of.

[Amused. Very amused.]

Seems like I'll have another friend up there soon. Have you met Thor yet?

I have, actually. He stopped by earlier today.

[ helluva set of shoulders, actually, but that's neither here nor there. ]

Has a bit of an appetite as well, does he?

You don't get that big eating light.

[In Natasha's experience, none of the Avengers were exactly light eaters.

Except Vision, for obvious reasons.]

I'm sorry he's here, but I can't say I'm sorry to see him.

It's a common sentiment, I believe. [ the idea that any one of them could be glad to see a familiar face -- especially a friendly one -- despite the toll the fleet takes. a toll that's become all the more evident thanks to recent events.

At least, from what I hear, he could be useful addition to the fleet.

Not a whole lot of people I'd rather have on my side. He's definitely one of the big guns.

[The kind that makes a spy, however special, seem out of place. On the other hand, it's a very, very different skillset.]

[ -- peggy takes a fortifying sip of bourbon before adding: ]

Truth be told, I never thought I'd live to see shoulders bigger than Steve's.

To be fair, I think Steve's only look that big because his hips are so narrow.

[What are those proportions really.]

Not that he's not broad shouldered. Don't get me wrong. But in context...

[ -- oh god she is too sober to start talking about steve's hips.

however! ]

I suppose I've never quite shaken the difference between now and -- well -- before the serum. Which is a whole other vein of context. [ still. wow, god of thunder, fella's got some arms. ]

[Yes. Yes, he does.]

I'm sure it does. For Steve too. You know, I think on some level he's convinced everyone who didn't know him before the serum doesn't know the real him. Like we're all taken in by the looks.

[It could be insulting, if Natasha didn't understand the insecurity. She shrugs away from that topic though.]

Maybe we should just have him stand next to Thor all of the time? At least he could be shorter than someone again.

[ she raps her knuckles on the table. ]

He's shorter than Mister Jarvis. I pointed out one time -- I swear the man sulked for an hour. [ something she very much enjoyed, if she's honest. but that was simply another odd layer to their odd relationship. peggy felt she was owed at least that much play. ]

[Of course he did. Natasha shakes her head, drinking long and slow for a moment.]

And you're all taller than me. He focuses on it too much.

[Not that it's the same, but to be clear that it doesn't much matter when it comes to taking people down.

Between her and Jarvis, Natasha's very confident of the outcome.]

Jarvis is tall, though.

-- He does. [ focus on it too much. ] In his very thin defense, his whole country was the first to focus on it too much.

Maybe that's what put it in his head. That doesn't excuse him for keeping it there.

[Natasha has a different perspective on it, probably, since she's only seen Steve small when it was an effect.]

It'd just be nice if he had a little more faith we're not all dazzled by the wide shoulders and strong jawline. And maybe if he'd believe this is just as much the real him as he's ever been.

[ peggy considers natasha's words with an earnest silence. she can acknowledge the concern, she thinks -- that those who sincerely care for the man might wish that he would take them at their word and deed. heaven knows, that's all she ever fought for in the war's wake. for herself and for steve.

there conversations she has with steve that make her think that being invisible is a eerily similar to being hyper-visible.

but because she can acknowledge what's well-meant behind natasha's words, she doesn't counter them to suggest that maybe, just maybe, the 'real him' never came out of the ice. or that steve spent so long around those that were dazzled that he doesn't always know when to see the absence of it.

which means that she settles on what is (weirdly) a safer reply: ] Oh, but what a jawline it is.

Edited 2017-12-10 17:06 (UTC)

[That is exactly what Natasha would say Steve believes.

To his own and everyone else's detriment. It does him a disservice to think that how he's changed was only the serum, or that those changes made him somehow less himself.

It's been a thing weighing on Natasha's mind for a long time now, and this is as close as she's come to actually voicing it, oddly enough.

And that level of exposure comes with a price. Natasha smiles and inclines her head, accepting the safer reply.]

It is that. You're a lucky woman, when he's not driving you up a wall.

[ she takes another drink. natasha has hinted at a certain missing comprehension when it comes to the odder beats of peggy and steve's relationship, and she doesn't mean to tread that ground again just now -- except that she doesn't want to fall back on the subject of steve's self-image. it has nothing to do with a 'safer' reply and everything to do with it being steve's business. peggy doesn't share it lightly. ]

Oh, I don't know. I don't always mind being driven up a wall. [ ... ] Keeps me on my toes.

[ right up until her toes no longer touch the floor. ]

All things considered, I figure you must not.

[It's the only way to figure their relationship makes sense]

I suppose there's something bittersweet about the opportunity to drive each other batty. [ peggy touches the edge of her thumb to the glass's rim. ] It's easier to enjoy it when the alternative might be not seeing each other at all.

I guess not driving each other batty isn't an option. [Natasha smiles as she says it, clearly amused and even appreciative, even if it's not a dynamic she'd find comforting.]

You've known us both for some time, now. [ peggy returns the smile. ] So I'd ask what you think about whether that option even exists for us but -- I'm worried you might answer me honestly.

[ it's a joke! she's joking. ]

When I first met him, Steve could barely make it through a sentence without stammering and sticking his foot in his mouth. And perhaps now he's only marginally better but...I'd like to think the banter helps.

[ it's a bit like sparring. training. teaching. ]

[Natasha can take a joke, and does so with a wry smile. She can also accept on some level that banter looks different between different people.

That doesn't mean she won't tease.]

Banter is all well and good. I like banter. What you two get up to... that seems exhausting.

[The funny thing, in a sideways sort of way, is that in he end Natasha and Barnes are far less confrontational in their verbal matches. Or maybe just in general.]

Yes, well, I've got to exhaust him somehow. [ a beat. ] Conventional means don't always apply.