outstandingbalance | Drift Fleet IC Contact

It's.. not really something I can explain. You'll just have to trust me.

[ Not to mention it would sound completely weird coming from him. 'Follow me into the main room where everyone can see you even if we're sitting in a secluded corner and just listen to music for a while so neither of us has to think about it alone' doesn't have as good a ring to it.

Without waiting for her, he turns and simply walks down the long hallway. She'll either follow, or she won't. Though he hopes she does. ]

[She does. There's a moment, brief, where she considers not. She could just stay safely in this bare metal room where at least she doesn't have to pretend she's not bothered by any of this.

But she trusts him. And since she does trust him, at least in this, she follows him, catching up well before he reaches the common area.]

[ He feels her follow before he hears her, and something sits warmly in his chest at the fact that she does trust him. It's been building for months, but thankfully, her trust in going into the situation blind won't heed anything terrible.

He continues to lead her through the common area and to the almost-secluded alcove he's claimed for himself. When she approaches, what she'll see is a nest of blankets and pillows. There is a small basket of snacks and a few bottles of water tucked to one side, and a stack of various books. A pair of headphones is plugged into a port in the wall, accessing a database directly above it.

Not wasting any time, he settles into his spot. It's got a vantage point of the room, but nobody would happen to notice them until they rounded the corner. Looking up at her expectantly, he pats the empty spot beside him. ]

Sit.

[Whatever Natasha was expecting, this was not it. She gives him a confused look, a smart jibe on her tongue—something about inviting girls into his pillow fort?—but she doesn't make it. Not when he's giving her a sincere invitation. He doesn't deserve defensiveness.

After another brief hesitation, she sits beside him. Not close enough to touch, feeling acutely the fact that they're technically in public, even if the vantage is largely private.]

Is this where you've been spending your time?

[She shifts a little, helping herself to a blanket. As good as she is at ignoring it, she never enjoys being cold.]

Might be.

[ He knows it's probably surprising, the Winter Soldier doing something as mundane as reading in a nest of blankets. One good thing about the Marsiva is the massive amount of media. It means he can catch up on things he's missed and visit things he read before and had no access to.

He fiddles with the wall panel, scrolling through the music selection. With the Beatles queued up, he sticks an earbud in and hands the other to Natasha. Once she takes it, his boots come off so that he can get more comfortable. Bucky plans on being there for the long haul. Or. Until the Calibrations send them into unconsciousness. ]

[Her lips twitch. It's a sorry excuse for a smile, more perplexed than joyful, but she's trying.

She puts in the earbud, the novelty of this kind of intimacy while they're trapped on the Marsiva amusing in its own right.]

Does Steve know you're listening to music from after 1950? He might consider it a betrayal.

[It's still a flat joke, but a friendlier one.]

If that's cause for betrayal, wait until he sees what I've been reading. He might have an aneurysm.

[ Which he doesn't sound all that concerned about. If Steve wants to live with his head in the sand with only what their time had to offer, who is Bucky to burst his bubble? ]

And what does the centenarian reality TV star read in his free time?

[Because now she has to know. She's not sure she can guess. He's not married to reading things from his cohort, at least, which is something.]

It depends on what sounds good, but I'm not picky. I do enjoy more fiction than that biographical shit.

I've read a lot of good books since I got here, at least? The last one I finished was The Once and Future King. [ Which he picks up and hands over to her from the top of one of the piles. ]

Did you like it? [She takes it and flips it over in her hands, scanning the back cover. She leans closer as she does, her shoulder brushing his.] Kind of seems like you're recommending it to me.

I liked it. Charles recommended it to me, he said it was his favorite.
[ He shrugs. ]

Some of the characters were relatable.

I've never read it. [She gives him an almost apologetic look. Arthurian retellings hadn't been high on Red Room's priority list for her.] I'm familiar with the story, though? Sword in the Stone, right?

[That, she had seen. English practice.]

That's it, yeah.

So who do you relate to? The kid, or the old man living alone in the forest?

[Teasing. Gently teasing. Not because she really feels better, but because she doesn't want to deal with their current situation, and because Bucky doesn't make her.

She can pretend they're in his room on the Heron.]

From the movie? I can't say I saw it. But if we're talking about who I can relate to from the book?

..Probably Lancelot. [ As Charles had predicted he would when he initially suggested it. ]

That part didn't make it in the movie. [She doesn't know if he'll take that as an invitation to explain or if he'll tell her to read the book, but she doesn't mind either way.]

...One of us is going to have to give. [ Because this conversation is now a train wreck. ]

It's probably easier to watch a movie, but it is a good read.

I'm not saying it's not. I'm just saying, I haven't read it.

[It's a better train wreck than it could have been. Better than the train wreck it would be if Steve had shown up and tried to give her a hug.

She rests her head on his shoulder. if someone sees them... well, then someone sees them. That's their problem, not Natasha's now.

Or so she tells herself.]

[ It's a comfortable gesture, a position Wrath used to take up when he read to her. It's surprising coming from Natasha, though he doesn't say anything. Instead, he briefly rests his head against the top of hers. ]

What else haven't you read? There's time to fix that.

[When she leaned against him, giving into the need for physical contact, she had more or less expected him to ignore it. Let her, but not acknowledge it.

When he returns the gesture, even just for a short moment, it gives her a a shock of the gentlest kind she could imagine—a light flush of comfort that more than rewards her for taking the risk.]

It's gonna be an awful long list if I start listing books I haven't read.

Then how about movies you watched instead of reading the book like you should have? Since that's a trend.

[ A disappointing trend, but one that exists. ]

Are you having an old man moment at me, Barnes? Because you sound very disappointed in the youth these days. [He has that teasing coming. Listen to him.] I haven't read Lord of the Rings. And I didn't read Harry Potter either, but I only watched the first three movies because of Clint's kids anyway.

.....I'm sorry, what?

That's unacceptable. [ Aaaand he immediately stands up and leaves their little nook. When he comes back, it's with an armful of books. That's right. You dug this eleven-book grave for yourself, Natasha. ]

Hey— [She was leaning on him, thank you. It's rude to go taking away someone's headrest.] Just how long do you think we're going to be here, Barnes?

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

1/2

2/2

no subject