driftfleet | the white noise is deafening silence

[In the very early hours of January 20th, as the Marsiva and her captives drift nonchalantly through the depths of the universe, there is a call. Every single personal communicator and console springs to life, spitting out a stream of indecipherable static and showing only gray snow on screen. It continues like this for a few seconds longer, going black and then going staticky, and then the signal switches to the encrypted channel generally used for speaking to the Interceptors when something big goes down.

This is a little more successful. The voice may be familiar to some, at least through the static.]

Zhade here! I trust I ███ your attention? I'm having some ██▓▓ble ██tting through. Some of the ░▓██▓█ are missing. I can't ░▓▓▓ read on their loc█████ns. [A particularly long burst of static.] ███stening. I'll s█▓▓█ more inf██▓▓▓▓▓█ I get it.

Stay sharp! [There's the sound of someone actually doing the fingerguns wink noise, and then static.

Any messages sent back won't get through, and Zhade isn't there to answer.]

[ A blip of lost time passes right after those words, before every passenger mysteriously wakes alone in their own unfamiliar room. The style of decor resembles that of the Marsiva's Hospitality Deck, if any passengers should remember what that's like. It sounds and smells the same as the host ship as well, all clean and chrome.

Welcome back to the Marsiva, dear passengers. It's time for round three of calibrations. ]

[ This mingle will cover all non-calibration room interactions. Please continue to come back to it for the duration of the plot! You are, of course, free to post any other mingles/posts/etc. that you'd like. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

A little. Usually it's more crowded than I'd like.

[Bucky, one person doesn't count as a crowd. But working out on the bag is only one way of working out, and there's certainly plenty of things he's able to do in the privacy of his own quarters, which is preferable. The forced attempts at interaction don't suit him well at all.

But at least she probably understands that too.]

But I suppose there's a small comfort in this being something that apparently happens on some sort of regular schedule.

[No, in Bucky's case, even one person does make a crowd. If Steve said something like that Natasha would tease him, push back. In this case, though... maybe in four months if they're still on speaking terms she'll make fun of him then.

For now, he's doing well enough.]

You could always see about getting some equipment for your ship. Not sure what they have over there now, but... probably room in the cargo bay.

[Which also might get a little crowded, but mostly people who he'd already know. Hopefully people he'd be more comfortable with.]

You mean every year or two? Yeah, seems something like that. It'd be a shame if the audience got bored with it.

It's pretty well equipped for that already. Someone before me must've had the same inclination for physical activity.

[He's grateful for it, at least. Of course the facility on Iskaulit is better but Bucky likes not needing to travel to that ship all the time, or having to share a shuttle since those numbers are limited. Also, in his figuring, he's assigned to the Starduck, which means that the ship is his main responsibility. It's something he can at least attempt to take seriously.]

Still counts as a regular schedule. And I suppose we should be happy that the ratings for it aren't high enough to keep us here longer, or more frequently.

[Natasha has a good guess who, too. It's not really relevant to this conversation, but she imagines Steve would have appreciated Barnes using it after him.]

Not entirely convinced these have anything to do with ratings. That's the line, but... [Natasha shrugs.] The last one was under suspicious circumstances. We'll say that.

Wouldn't surprise me if it was more a control thing than anything else.

[Which hits a little bit too close to home, and is also why he's not going to mention it. Still, all it does is underline one very important point: there are powers at work here who have power over them. This entire exercise, whatever it is, is doing an excellent job of reminding him of that fact.]

Some people don't need very many excuses to run experiments.

No, they don't. And at the end of the day, there's a lot we don't know for sure than we do.

[Which is her way of telling him he's right, that in the end it's all about power and control, whatever the rationalization is, whatever else they might accomplish.

She leans back, glancing up as she lets the conversation lapse.]

[They're on the same page, which isn't as uncomfortable as it could be. Then again, Bucky's had a little time to adjust to life in the Fleet; that most certainly makes a difference. And it's pretty clear to him that even being on the same page, there's precious little information to share because there's little to be gained, at least in their present circumstances.

He glances at her sidelong as the conversation dies off, then lets his eyes slide to the book she'd closed. It's an excuse and she'll know it as well as he does, but part of this truce-like thing between them is respect of boundaries.]

I'll let you get back to your reading. [A pause then, a little awkward maybe.] Thank you for the conversation.

[It's not a surprise that the conversation ends there. Natasha would rather let it end naturally than try to force it.

It's a long game with Barnes, and every step forward is worth guarding.

She smiles a little.]

You're welcome. [She opens the book again, but doesn't immediately start reading.] I can lend it to you sometime, if you want.

I might take you up on that.

[And he really might. Maybe. It's not a sure thing, but she's being more considerate than he would have anticipated. His own efforts don't amount to much in terms of trying, but perhaps the fact that they exist right now is enough.

Considering the last thing he remembers about her before coming here is an order to kill, it's enough. He stands, with the intent to make his way back to his room; solitude is still referable to all else in such close quarters.]

But don't rush it on my account.

No, I didn't plan on it. Just an offer... We end up with a lot of time to kill around here.

[Especially people who were inclined to spend time alone. Like the two of them.]

Might be a way to break up the monotony.

I’ll keep it in mind.

[Both the offer for the book, and the consideration of desiring time alone. After all, it’s not really about the book, is it?]

Thanks.

the white noise is deafening silence

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject