Naviadna Mingle

[thespaceopera]

Who: Everyone
Broadcast: If you want!
Action: Anywhere on the fleet or in the system
When: The month of June



Welcome to Naviadna! Enjoy the beautiful sights, amazing technology, and all the other wonderful things this system has to offer! Where will you go? What sort of shenanigans will you get up to? How are you dealing with the planet's insistent singing at you?

Have fun!

(( System Info here ))

Comments

[sinistral]

“Out of your face is out of your sight picture.” Not that Natasha needs a clear sight picture to land a clean shot on a target; she might not be the kind of sniper he is but she’s still very, very good at what she does. He knows it firsthand and he doubts that whatever has traversed for her has negatively impacted her skill.

What he doesn’t understand is the emotion lurking behind her smile, or why it’s directed toward him.

“I suppose not,” he replies cautiously, knowing that she can probably hear the question in his own words: why are you bothering with me? He’s pretty convinced that she doesn’t need him; why would she? “If you like it, that’s all that should matter.”

[outstandingbalance]

"I suppose you're right about that," she says, pushing a sweaty tendril of hair back from her face. Leave it to Barnes to think about it that way. And leave it to her to agree, on some level.

Her smile fades quickly though, and her gaze drops. His confusion is palpable, and Natasha regrets it. She can't regret her James returning. Nothing's made her happier in a very long time. But she still wishes she'd had more time to earn this Barnes' trust first. Time enough that she'd believe she say him as something other than the man wearing the face of someone else, someone who she cared about.

"You know, I get the feeling lately you're not comfortable around me." She shrugs, giving him the privacy that comes with watching the view of the hills below instead of his reaction. "Not that I blame you for that, but... I'm sorry for it. I won't keep you if you'd rather keep going. Seems like a nice climb."

[sinistral]

“We’re all right about something, once in a while.” It’s not really a statement about her hairstyle or its suitability to the kind of work for which they’ve both been trained, and he thinks she likely knows it as well.

They’re not really talking about her hair though, or what he thinks about it. He knows she didn’t ask his opinion because she expected approval or condemnation of her hairstyle. He’s not even really surprised by her question; it’d be bad form indeed to not take a clear shot at a notably difficult target.

His initial response takes the form of a shrug. “It’s nothing against you, if that’s your thought pattern.” The statement is true enough, it just doesn’t explore the entirety of his own thought process. He doesn’t know that he'll offer up those thoughts in their entirety either.

Following her line of sight, he looks out over the landscape. It’s picturesque, a reward for those attempting the climb. “Nice enough view too.”

[outstandingbalance]

"No, I don't think it's personal." She takes another drink from her water bottle, then puts it aside, hiding her mouth behind her hand briefly, then shrug. That wasn't what she was worried about, in a way she's not sure it's worth articulating. Sometimes it's better not to push, and she knows that. Natasha won't change his mind by pointing that out.

That leaves the question of how she can let him know she doesn't see someone else when she looks at him. And that she doesn't want to.

"It is a nice view. Worth the trip up."

[sinistral]

He thinks he's supposed to ask what she thinks. That's how the conversation should progress, right? But it feels awkward to say those words, like he doesn't know how to shape the question that it's not an insult, or something to just be laughed away. It's especially hard considering who they are: two people trained to see what others don't, and aware of that talent in each other. It makes navigating these conversations even more difficult.

"There are people who wouldn't see it that way, I think." He frowns a little; they're talking about the view, but their conversations are never just about such superficial things. This is no different, and is just as hard to navigate. "They'd see the struggle only, and not the reward. Or they'd want the view given to them without the effort of finding it themselves."

[outstandingbalance]

"You're right about that. Not everyone appreciates the effort." Talking around the issue is more in Natasha's comfort zone than she likes to admit. When Agent Carter was in the Fleet, they'd used to circle each other in conversations like a pair of cats—until it got Steve lost patience with both of them.

She thinks Barnes is less likely to snap and demand they speak plainly.

"A lot of them don't get that the struggle is part of the reward," she says. "Seeing where your effort gets you."

[sinistral]

"They don't." A more honest answer than he'd normally give, but the fact that she isn't pushing leads him to admit it. He's still not sure why she's bothering at all, save for the effort they're so determined to discuss as the view midway through a hike and nothing more.

It's easier, this way.

"Why should they see it?" He shrugs and looks out at the view; the landscape looks a lot different from up here than from standing on the ground but with the way this world has been tended so carefully, the ground view offers up its own beauty. "If they have everything they want out of something more easily obtained, what need is there for the effort?"

[outstandingbalance]

"And miss out on this?" She keeps her eyes on the horizon as she says it, but the meaning is clear. She leans back on her rock for a moment, chin up, a little bit of a smile touching her lips. She's not sure what else there is to say. "The view's different every time."

She huffs and rolls off the rock and back to her feet, stretching her legs in a quick recovery from her less than cushy perch. "Still got a ways to go, though."

[sinistral]

"As I said," he replies slowly; there's really no mistaking her meaning at all. "They just don't think it's worth the effort." He's not sure at all how to feel about the potential implication that she might; it's something he's going to have to digest and compare it to his own view of their situation.

He steps back as she slides off the rock, but it's a simple slide, not a more acrobatic flip needing room. "Guess I'll have to get you a coffee sometime. For sharing the view." It's an awkward thing, not really an invitation but not not an invitation, and she'll probably be able to read that awkwardness clearly. But it calls back to their previous interaction and how he'd refused her own offer of the same.