action | party mingle

[seeingscarlet]

Who: Wanda, Bucky, and you!
Broadcast: No
Action: Iskaulit
When: March 10

[It's a double birthday party! There's pizza with slightly strange cheese and cake. And probably shenanigans.

...definitely shenanigans.]

Comments

Natasha Romanoff | MCU | OTA

[outstandingbalance]

[Natasha is rarely the life of the party, and she has reasons to find this date bittersweet. But she said she'd be here, and even if she hadn't, she would be. She watches mostly, drink in hand, standing to the side with a softer expression than it would have been any day.]

[brooklyn_boy]

[Steve comes over with a piece of pizza in one hand and real ice cream in the other. Considering the slice of pizza is pretty small and the bowl of ice cream is piled high, the preference here is clear. Steve smiles lightly at her, knowing well why she doesn't look overjoyed.

The ice cream is handed over.]

If you need to bail, say the word. Buck and I are gonna celebrate later on so I can make something up to get you out.

[outstandingbalance]

[Natasha takes the ice cream like she expected it, taking a slow bite. Who's she to turn down ice cream?]

I figured I should at least make an appearance. For Wanda, if nothing else. This has to be hard on her.

[A sigh, tapping her lips with her spoon.]

Pietro was here for a while. Not long.

[brooklyn_boy]

Oh...

[Steve feels instantly selfish. Today has been a good one for him; he has Bucky back--one that remembers their past--and can finally celebrate a birthday with him again. They have pizza, ice cream, and a collection of their friends here to celebrate. And, beneath all the merriment, they have a birthday girl mourning her lost twin and a guest mourning her lost love.

Steve punishes himself by eating a bite of the odd pizza. Poor Wanda.]

Why did we have a party, if people knew about this? It seems wrong to force her through it...

[outstandingbalance]

Wasn't my idea. But... [Natasha hesitates, turning over her answer thoughtfully before she continues. It's complicated—complicated for all of them.] Wanda deserves the reminder that there are people here who care about her. And this way she doesn't have to be alone.

And Barnes deserves a welcome.

[brooklyn_boy]

"Still," he puts his hand on her arm, "I'll get you outta here if you need me to. You can welcome Buck any time you need to. And Wanda knows you're here for her. We all do."

He gives her a squeeze and then steps back to eat his pizza. Goddamn his need for calories; this just makes him miss New York.

"It is nice having us all together, though."

[outstandingbalance]

"It is," Natasha smiles slightly at that. Steve can fuss. She's all right—she'll be all right. Generally she'd rather fight though discomfort than hide from it, even if that means bottling it up sometimes.

"Besides, where else was I going to get ice cream delivered."

[brooklyn_boy]

Steve quirks his eyebrow up, relaxing his guard a little in the face of Nat's apparent comfort. Finishing the pizza, he starts eyeing the bowl.

"I wish I had some seltzer and malt. You ever had an eggcream? I used to get one for special days, when we could afford it. They're great. I have no idea why people got rid of them..."

[outstandingbalance]

"We didn't have a whole lot of soda fountains where I grew up," Natasha says it wryly, smile slight. Whether it's age or geography, take your pick. "I wouldn't be against trying one, though. Can't be that hard to get some water with bubbles in it."

[brooklyn_boy]

"Big words considering we couldn't even get proper pizza cheese." Still, how hard could it really be? Carbonation wasn't overly complicated he didn't think. Maybe he could tackle that. Or get Loki to give him a hand. Wouldn't that be something?

"Wish you could had one in New York. I know its forty years before you were even born, but man it was something." He swipes a spoon and tests stealing a little of the ice cream he brought over for Nat. "Bananas too. Way better before they all got ruined."

[outstandingbalance]

"Now you just sound old." Teasing as she lets him steal a bite of her ice cream. Looks like he was thinking of his appetite and not hers when he dished it up anyway. There's more than enough to share.

"You should have banana candy. They say the fake banana flavor tastes like bananas used to." Will that satisfy you, old man? "If that's true, I wouldn't say I'm missing out on much."

[brooklyn_boy]

"Banana candy?" Steve hadn't heard about that and somehow doesn't think that he'll manage to get any here. But he still makes a note of it. Who knew what they might find in their travels.

"If it does taste like the old bananas then you've got your tastebuds ruined, kid." Call him old and he'll fire back, whippersnapper. "Not that it's your fault. Everything from the 80's on is more fake than real."

[outstandingbalance]

Natasha gives him a slow blink and a slight smile. From a cat, it would be a sign of affection. In this case it communicates something more like tolerant good humor mixed with the opinion that comment isn't worth dignifying with a response.

There's a pause, then she glances out at the party.

"So what do you and Barnes have planned?"

[passingthrough]

[Kitty slides her way over.] Oh look, someone I don't remember seeing in any weirdly intimate memories recently. A rare and wondrous sight. Hey. [She gives her a little smile. And while she's starting off easily enough she has a feeling Natasha is going through something considering she and Bucky had been together and now he's back times two, but neither of them are the one she lost. At least not completely. Not with their shared memories.]

[outstandingbalance]

Lucky that way. I didn't find myself in all that many people's heads.

[Any are still too many.]

How you doing?

[passingthrough]

That is lucky. You totally cut a deal with the Atroma, didn't you? [Kidding.]

Not bad. Pizza, cake, reluctant birthday-havers. What's not to love? It's nice to have a little celebration. Things have been kind of tense.

[outstandingbalance]

Hard to imagine why, under the circumstances.

[Spoilers: it's not hard to imagine at all.]

Having a bad time of things too?

[passingthrough]

Not really. I mean, not in the context of my life for sure. Which calibrations decided to remind me of every night. [She smiles.] I'm glad we're on a pretty planet. Not into the hunting motif at all, but the trees are nice. Destroying a planet will really make a nature girl out of a city girl.

What about you?

[outstandingbalance]

Hoping there's no planet destroying involved in this visit.

[She glances over the party, her gaze lingering on Wanda and Barnes.]

The party's okay, though. It's been a while since one of us actually went along with one of these.

[Natasha certainly hasn't.]

[passingthrough]

Fingers crossed.

An Avenger? Are you too cool for birthdays? [She doubts that's the problem.]

[outstandingbalance]

For the most part, we have better things to do with our time. [Which is a lot less complicated an answer than she could give. But who wants to get into details.]

Clearly Wanda is cooler than the rest of us.

[passingthrough]

I don't know. That sounded like shots fired to me. Better things to do with your time. Like saving the world is so much more important than punch and cake.

[outstandingbalance]

See, that's mostly back home. Here... no such excuse.

[passingthrough]

No choice but to party? Such a fate.

[outstandingbalance]

For Wanda. [Clearly, pointed.] And Barnes.

Might as well.