@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

@octavius

[doctopoda]

Losing myself in work, I suppose.

[To take a slightly poetic view of things - but that seems fitting.]

But I can't really recommend that. Even if it works for you for a little while, it always runs out eventually.

[waytodie]

I don't know if I can exactly do what one might consider my "work" here.
People would not take very kindly to it, I think.

[She can't exactly continue the legacy of: one of the greatest child assassins the world has known, as her father put it.]

[doctopoda]

I understand. I can't really do that anymore either.

[For rather different reasons, even if he has no idea what it is she's gesturing at. Still!]

I think it might not have been a very good coping mechanism anyway. But I'm afraid I don't have many more ideas.

[waytodie]

I was kind of surprised at the number of people that opted to talk to me about this. Grief is so personal, and I am a stranger to many. But I suppose it is also a universal thing, too. So... I appreciate it, even if you don't have any other ideas.

[doctopoda]

It's something we must all have in common here, at least a little bit. We've all had to leave people behind in our own worlds, if nothing else.

[But that plainly isn't what she meant. It's not what he meant either.]

Well, I'd certainly be glad to talk about it as well, if you'd like. Though perhaps in a less public forum.

[waytodie]

Part of the human condition, I suppose.

[She hates that it is so common, that so many people have been in the same position she is right now. Life is so full of suffering, and for what?]

I might like that. [She nods as she considers the idea.] We could meet at the pub?

[Yelena has no idea what she might even say, but she's finding it easier to not be in the compound alone right now.]

[doctopoda]

I'd be happy to.

[Otto's not really sure how this might go either, but he's certainly not going to back out after he was the one to offer. It's probably better for him to get outside and speak to people anyway. Taking his stupid walks for his stupid mental health, etc.]

[waytodie]

Harry's Hideaway, I'll meet you in an hour.

---

True to her word, when he arrives at the pub, he'll find her in a secluded booth in the back. If he's observant enough in the moment, he might notice the way she has chosen the best vantage point to see the rest of the bar, and the majority of the exits. It's nothing to do with him specifically, just old habits she'll never let go of.

Yelena has a beer in front of her already, and she's been trying to decide how to start this whole conversation while she waited. It's... hard to be open, particularly with strangers, especially about things so personal, but... she refused to let herself drown alone in it all, and so far people have been genuinely helpful in their endeavours to keep her occupied or otherwise talk about Natasha.

[doctopoda]

Otto is fairly obvious when he enters the pub. He's always been a big guy, but now with the actuators...well, he doesn't really go anywhere unnoticed. At least it's only companion robots, outside of the woman he's meeting.

He offers her a wave, and gets his own drink before heading over. "I'm still not used to robots running everything," he comments, just making small-talk while he navigates sitting in a booth with his large back tentacle situation. It's a little tight. That's a little frustrating - can't he do the most basic of things anymore? "Though I know that's ironic coming from me." The tentacle thing is fine and he can joke about it!

[waytodie]

Her brows arch up toward her hairline when he walks in- he's a little, uh, conspicuous, as it were- but all sense of surprise or judgment is smoothed from her face by the time he joins her.

She huffs a laugh at his joke, "My mother would be very fascinated with your... extra appendages," she has no idea how to be polite about that, but she took a stab in the dark and feels pretty good about where she landed.

[doctopoda]

Otto wouldn't have been offended. He knows how he looks. He did consider whether or not to mention it before coming, but...he just couldn't make himself do it. Who wants to give out disclaimers about their terrible inhuman appearance every time they meet someone new?

So he appreciates the poker face, even if he suspects it is one. And he's not really offended to have it brought up either; frankly it'd be probably be strange if we all just pretended they weren't there.

"Oh, yes? Is she a scientist?" He isn't doing much to restrain the actuators right now, so one is watching her while the others seem to be idly keeping an eye on the room. Otto himself ignores them entirely, taking a sip of his drink. He hasn't removed his sunglasses even after settling down indoors. It's dimmer in here, yes, but not that dim.