@vdova ; video

[waytodie]

[Her hair is in two messy twin braids. Her eyes are glassy. The sharp-eyed might notice she's probably, definitely drunk. The less-so might just assume she's overly tired. Her tongue presses into her cheek as she considers how to start this one, but in the end she just rips the bandaid off quickly: ]

So, tell me, how is it that you handle grief?

[She probably won't be elaborating on why she's asking, unless she has a certain level of familiarity with you, but you can try. People closest to her probably already know what this is really about: Her sister is gone. From Moorecroft. From Etraya. From the top side of the dirt. Gone and back to dead, and Yelena is spiraling.]

Comments

[westcoasts]

( he makes a noise, a grumbled 'pah!' at the (another) 'old man' comment that implies displeasure but it's clear he's not actually that bothered by it.

but even so— ) You keep calling me 'old man', and I'm gonna change my mind and reassign those missing years to you.

So how old are you?

[waytodie]

[She snorts a soft laugh. Oh, he has marked himself as SO fun to mess with. A mistake on his part he will probably live to regret.]

Thirty-three. [Which just makes her grin wider, because she's barely younger than him anyway, despite giving him hell about it.]

[westcoasts]

( it's two years, if he's honest. he hasn't clarified that 'thirty four' and 'thirty five' are not, actually, the same thing, but given it wasn't almost his birthday back home, he thinks he can get away with not actually being thirty five.

like a little birthday gift to himself. )

Ohhh, I get it. ( careful, pointed, deliberate. ) You're a hypocrite, is what you're saying.

[waytodie]

[The narration would like to point out: he gave her a technicality to run with, so HE should get to use one, TOO.

She lifts a hand and pinches her fingers close together.]

Little bit.

[westcoasts]

( clint barton loves technicalities, but only when he gets to benefit from them.

he hates them in every other instance. )

Ha. Knew it.

( or— takes one to know one.

but then, not to be a debbie downer—. his expression softens, takes on a touch more of a serious edge, and— )

Look, Yelena. Back home, you and I know each other. I might be the wrong Clint, or you might be the wrong Yelena, but I like to think that means something, y'know?

[waytodie]

[She grins, but it softens when his features do, too. She can feel that tonal shift, even over the video.]

You are not the first one to tell me you know me from another world. [She admits, tilting her head a little to one side.] Are we friends, you and the other-me?

[westcoasts]

I mean, you said you know me, so is it really a surprise? ( but whatever, that's not the broader point here. are they friends? is that the word he'd use for it? hard to say. ) We're not not friends, ( he admits. ) Mostly, you find me annoying.

And I broke into your house and ate your leftovers once.

[waytodie]

Iiii mean-- [Her face scrunches a little, hands teetering to the side.] trying to kill you is not exactly the same as knowing you...?

[Her jaw drops, dramatically.] RUDE!

[westcoasts]

They would've gone to waste! You were—. ( he gestures a weighing motion with a hand. it's not clear what it's supposed to mean, and his follow-up may or may not add clarity. ) Indisposed.

( tied up. )

You'd've given them to me if you'd remembered who I was.

[waytodie]

Indisposed? [She perks an eyebrow at that.] Is this code for kidnapped?

Would I? [She squints at him now.] I take my food very seriously.

[westcoasts]

Kiiinda?

( "taken hostage in your own home" is not a good answer to this question, clint is very aware. )

Bucky'd upset you.

( —better. also not a million miles from the truth, even if it's ... not exactly the truth. )

You weren't gonna eat them — and you've offered me food before as some kind of weird punishment not-punishment, like eating is supposed to be horrible for me or something.

gif = same energy, minus the very drunkenness going on there lmfaoooo

[waytodie]

[Her face scrunches a little.] The hell is a Bucky?

[She maybe talked to him once, here. But they didn't exactly exchange names. Whoops?]

How is food a punishment? That's silly. Other-me sounds Very weird. [She nods definitevely.] Clearly, I am the superior me.

HAHAHA

[westcoasts]

( there's an abrupt snort of laughter at her question like it pleases him, deeply and inherently, for reasons he does not elaborate. instead— ) Winter Soldier? Now, I know he exists in your world, 'cause I spoke to him here.

( but that's not important. food's important— )

That's what I said. ( incredulous and vindicated all at once, like yelena agreeing with him is precisely what he needed. ) All I did was say "it feels late", and you just said "eat some more egg rolls, Barton", like there's some correlation between the two. Like I'd be unhappy about eating more egg rolls.

Normally if you want me to shut up, you just tell me to shut up.

[waytodie]

[She has no idea what's so funny, but she loves this energy. This man is some kind of weird magic, she thinks, being able to consistently keep her out of her otherwise very depressed mood.] Oooh, okay. Did not know his name. [A beat. She leans in.] Why does his name just sound like you are talking about a bucket?

I guess it was just a nicer way to say "shut up"? [She gives a wide shrug, arms up.] I cannot speak to her reasonings, but that would be mine, in that situation.

[Yeah, this is weird. Talking about herself in some weird alternate world. But at least Sharon had already told her a bit about the other Yelena.]

[westcoasts]

( clint, just for a second, looks dubious and surprised. it's an odd combination of the two, his lips twitching before he leans forward and declares— ) I like this you. ( being an asshole to bucky barnes is clint's favourite hobby, even if bucky is an asshole right back. ) And I dunno. Probably just 'cause it goes with the image — y'know, monosyllabic, ( he's not ), brooding, ( he's not, ), and really greasy.

—Yeah, 'nice' isn't usually at the top of the list.

[waytodie]

I am very likable. It’s part of my charm. [She takes all of these descriptors with a grain of salt, but it’s amusing to listen to him prattle on anyway, and the shine in her eyes says as much.

She feels the need to point out: ]

Nicer does not have to mean nice.

[westcoasts]

( it's the exact response clint would give if their roles were reversed and she'd declared she likes him, and it's — a little unsettling, if he's honest. are they similar? the question hangs unsaid, thought cut short when she says about nicer not being nice, and—

oh, thank fuck. that's not what he'd have gone with. )

By definition, if you're charming, you're likeable. ( he's just sayin'. ) What else is there to your ( finger quotes ) charm?

( pause. )

'Part from a lack of niceness.

[waytodie]

I think you can be charming and also be annoying. [She might just be arguing for the sake of it, or she might really believe that, Clint will never know.]

I have an excellent sense of humor.

[westcoasts]

( at that, clint leans back away from the feed, giving what he can see of yelena a very visible once-over, arms folded against his chest. there's a non-verbal mm? followed by an hmm— that sits in his expression, before— )

Cute. You gotta be cute in order to be charming and annoying. ( breath of a pause. ) I'd know.

And as for the rest of it, that you're gonna have to prove to me.

[waytodie]

Would you? [She challenges, arching one eyebrow at him with a little smirk on her face.]

Don't worry, Clint Barton, you will witness it all soon enough.

[westcoasts]

( the challenge earns a broad gesture as if to say 'look at me', then a grin. )

Is that a threat or a promise?

[waytodie]

[She just grins in response.] Why can’t it be both?

[westcoasts]

( touché. )

It can, I guess, but one implies a much more fun time than the other.

[waytodie]

I guess you will just have to find out which one it will be.

[Natasha may have thought he was the wrong Clint, but Yelena kind of likes him.]

[westcoasts]

( that earns a laugh, genuine and amused, softer than it'd be usually because— )

Good thing I like surprises.

( a fleeting, passing look of hesitation crosses his features, a glance away from the device like he's weighing something up. he'd almost said it earlier — or a variation of it — and then the conversation had become what it was. )

Yelena, I know what it's like to lose 'Tasha. ( the truth of it, the one that it's taken him this long to get to and to admit. even if it's tasha, not nat.

what he doesn't say is that he knows what it's like to live somewhere there's hope she'll come back, too. how long he'd spent in denial, even if he'd been right, there'd been no guarantee, not really. bucky had been right, he'd been hopeful, all because he didn't want to believe the alternative.

different, but not so different to here, where the dead don't say dead. it's uniquely cruel to bring someone here who'd just died, to dangle that hope in front of someone who has the right to process their loss. ) You ever need to work that out in person, now or in the future, with someone that—. ( pause. silence. abrupt.

"loved her."

that's not fair to say, because it wasn't yelena's natasha he loved. ) Understands, you let me know.

Meantime, I'd recommend some water.

( it's not quite a 'goodbye' or a 'goodnight' or a 'take care of yourself' or whatever, but it's close enough. maybe. )