[ and he's got a gift wrapped box sitting opposite him alongside with the second cup of coffee that he 'accidentally' made. It's not a terribly large box, but it has an obscenely big bow on it. ]
Because I will let you give me coffee? Do people not like free food and drinks here?
[After sending that text, she heads toward the mess hall, showing up a few minutes later wearing some clothes with actual color in them because now that she's away from the Featherstones and enjoying some down time, she's done with monotone for awhile. The Featherstone suits would have been so cool if they could have just been red or purple or something.]
That bow is bigger than the box it's on.
[She observes this as she takes a seat at his table.]
[ It's more because she humors him. Because she'll clearly see his bullshit, but let it slide. Sam thrives from Bucky and himself needling each other, but he values people who will join ranks with him like this, too. ]
That bow has the exact right size.
[ He nudges the box further towards her. ]
Happy Easter. It's for you.
[ The fact that she's embracing color now that they're back on the station makes him think he picked something nice for her. Inside the box is a vast selection of several coffee creamers in wild colors from, apparently, all over the galaxy. They are, all of them, flavored for things Sam has never even heard of, or wild combinations of things he never thought could go into coffee. Many of them will dye the coffee an unusual color, some will make it glitter, others will make bubbles rise from it instead of steam. It seemed like an extremely eclectic, wild selection of random things for the adventurous coffee drinker. ]
Thought you'd like some space food. Or space coffee, as it were.
[She blinks a little, surprised. She wasn’t expecting gifts.]
I thought it was time for Halloween…
[She says that as she takes the box, but trails off as she opens it. She takes out one of the creamers, and then another, taking time to read the labels.]
These are amazing. The drinks were the best thing about that planet.
[Both alcoholic and otherwise. She opens one of creamers and pours some into her coffee, then watches as it starts to glitter.]
Hah. Look at that. [She offers him the creamer she used.] Do you want to try it?
[ Sam flashes a smile. Welcome to the delight of unexpected gifts for utterly no real reason, Yelena. ]
One of the few redeeming qualities honestly. Well, the clothes weren't half bad, just... boring.
[ Sam nudges his mug towards her, offering to let her dump however much she wants into it. ]
If I'm puking pure glitter after this, I'm choosing to blame you. Ain't gonna stop me, long as you're offering. Speaking of... you good? I can help patch you up a bit if you got banged up in that mess at the end.
[A few bumps, bruises and scratches but nothing very serious. She pours some glitter creamer into Sam’s coffee. She shows some restraint and only pours in the equivalent of a tablespoon or so.]
I was lucky. Everyone in front of me got hurt and left me an opening to hit Cheri with the gauntlets Stark made for me.
[It helped, of course, that this was exactly the kind of thing she’d been doing all her life. Espionage, infiltration, assassination. Though she hadn’t actually killed Cheri, at least. But the electric shock had stopped her, which was had been the goal.]
[ He appreciates the restraint. Yelena is a braver soul than him when it comes to this stuff. Still - it's nice to share in it with her, so he grins and raises the mug in a faux-toast to her. ]
It's good to have you on the team, y'know.
[ Not the first time the thought crossed his mind since meeting her. He knows she worked with Bucky too, while undercover, though he's not fully aware of the nature of their missions, and hasn't pressed Bucky on the topic yet. ]
[She's joking. Partially, anyway. She still not sure what to make about being surrounded by all these Avengers, and working with them. Especially now that Natasha’s gone again. As much crap as she’d given Natasha about running off with her cool kid friends, Yelena never actually thought she’d fit with them. She can’t help but feel on some level that Fate, or the Orbs, or whatever, screwed up somewhere and stuck them with the wrong Widow.
[ She might be joking, but they're brushing against something Sam should probably bring up with her anyway. Sam taps the side of his mug in thought. ]
I mean, on a casual note... Far as I'm concerned you're part of this mad shindig, and should have been made the offer long ago. On a more serious note... I got no damn clue if I got the authority, but I mean. If no one else claims the honor, yeah, I'd love to be the one offering you an in officially.
[ He raises the coffee up - but then pauses. ]
The Avengers used to stand for a lot. I want them to stand for everyone who got left behind by that, too.
[ And with that he takes a long swig of the coffee, wrinkling his nose. ]
I had a cocktail during Mardi Gras once do that. Had a glittery tongue for a week. Shit is coarse.
[The coarse glitter on the tongue for a week, that is. Though if she’s honest, now she’s curious about the cocktail in question.
But really the comment was more a way to buy time before responding to the first part of what he said. If it were anyone else she might have been irritated or defensive. But Sam continues to be nothing but genuine and kind and besides, his comment about people being left behind kind of acknowledges one of Yelena’s big issues. The fact the Avengers weren’t able to help everyone that needed it, and it didn’t feel great to be one of the ones overlooked.
So instead of being angry she decides to be honest.]
[ It's not that he can read minds, it's more that he's beginning to see some things in Yelena he things he can figure out. That certain... hunger of a person who has not been able to just be. He sees it in Bucky, too, sometimes, though Bucky tends to be more surprised when he realizes he's being allowed to be a person. Yelena seems to have a hunger for experience. So... ]
I'll take you sometime, get you that drink. 'cause it is gross. Bet you'd love it.
[ All joking aside though, Sam settles in to listen here. Hands loosely clasped around the mug, attention fully on her. ]
No, you're not.
[ Gentle, that one. He doesn't mean it as an insult - it's not a compliment by default either. Just a fact - she's not like Natasha just because they come from the same place. Natasha was out for a long time in which Yelena was not.
Sam keeps his posture relaxed, not expectant. He knows how to set the tone of his body language to invite conversation without demanding it. Tries to signal to her that he's here and listening, but leaves the choice up to her. ]
[She makes a mental note of the offer, because she will absolutely take him up on it if she gets the chance.
For now she stirs her coffee, watching the glitter twinkle before she continues.]
She was always kind of heroic, you know. When they came to take us back to the Red Room, she tried to protect me. I wasn’t like that. My experience was different.
[Natasha had known about the Red Room and had some time to learn independence in Ohio, and then later after she got out. Yelena had thought she was a normal little girl until suddenly she just wasn’t any more.]
I’ve been killing people since I was a little girl, and after Natasha got out, they tightened our leashes. They used chemicals to control us, both our actions and our emotions. I’m still not sure how I really feel about the things I’ve done. I’m not a hero. I’m not sure I want to be one.
I’m not sure of anything, except that I like dogs and pockets and bright colors.
[ Sam doesn't know as much about the Red Room as he does about the Winter Soldier program, on account of his work tailing Bucky, and Natasha carrying her wounds different than Bucky does. Some people think Bucky's hard to read, but that's not quite true. His emotions are right there, if you can bear to witness them. It's... not nice to hear this, because life has been impossibly unkind to this young woman, heaped unimaginable suffering onto her. And yet here she is - and she likes dogs and pockets and bright colors. Sam thinks he wants to love her a little for that alone, and wishes she knew how to let him. ]
You got room to figure it out. All of it, I mean - how to feel about what was done to you, what they made you do, what you wanna do now. Don't gotta have all the answers now.
[ She gets all the choices, now, like Bucky does. It's their damn prerogative, far as Sam's concerned. He shifts a little. ]
From what I hear, what you chose to do is bust the whole operation, right? Got the other girls out?
[About The Red Room and what they did to her, and the others. She knows that much. She doesn’t have to take any time to figure that out, at least. And she’s too blunt not to say it.
The corner of her mouth turns up when he brings up what happened to the Red Room, though.]
Yes, we destroyed it. Blew it right out of the sky.
[ No questions about it. There are some people on the station who have fooled themselves into thinking Sam is some sort of bleeding heart person who will have a long conversation with any opposition and try to take the non-violent approach all day, every day.
There's things you can't solve by talking. The Red Room is one such thing, no ifs and buts about it. ]
I'm glad you got to. Sorry you guys had to do it on your own, though. It's the kind of thing we should have helped with.
[ He contemplates their coffees for a moment. ]
After this. After the orbs, after we get back home. I'd like to stay in touch, assuming we remember our time here. Don't have to be work. Can just be coffee.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
[ and he's got a gift wrapped box sitting opposite him alongside with the second cup of coffee that he 'accidentally' made. It's not a terribly large box, but it has an obscenely big bow on it. ]
no subject
[After sending that text, she heads toward the mess hall, showing up a few minutes later wearing some clothes with actual color in them because now that she's away from the Featherstones and enjoying some down time, she's done with monotone for awhile. The Featherstone suits would have been so cool if they could have just been red or purple or something.]
That bow is bigger than the box it's on.
[She observes this as she takes a seat at his table.]
no subject
That bow has the exact right size.
[ He nudges the box further towards her. ]
Happy Easter. It's for you.
[ The fact that she's embracing color now that they're back on the station makes him think he picked something nice for her. Inside the box is a vast selection of several coffee creamers in wild colors from, apparently, all over the galaxy. They are, all of them, flavored for things Sam has never even heard of, or wild combinations of things he never thought could go into coffee. Many of them will dye the coffee an unusual color, some will make it glitter, others will make bubbles rise from it instead of steam. It seemed like an extremely eclectic, wild selection of random things for the adventurous coffee drinker. ]
Thought you'd like some space food. Or space coffee, as it were.
no subject
I thought it was time for Halloween…
[She says that as she takes the box, but trails off as she opens it. She takes out one of the creamers, and then another, taking time to read the labels.]
These are amazing. The drinks were the best thing about that planet.
[Both alcoholic and otherwise. She opens one of creamers and pours some into her coffee, then watches as it starts to glitter.]
Hah. Look at that. [She offers him the creamer she used.] Do you want to try it?
no subject
[ Sam flashes a smile. Welcome to the delight of unexpected gifts for utterly no real reason, Yelena. ]
One of the few redeeming qualities honestly. Well, the clothes weren't half bad, just... boring.
[ Sam nudges his mug towards her, offering to let her dump however much she wants into it. ]
If I'm puking pure glitter after this, I'm choosing to blame you. Ain't gonna stop me, long as you're offering. Speaking of... you good? I can help patch you up a bit if you got banged up in that mess at the end.
no subject
[A few bumps, bruises and scratches but nothing very serious. She pours some glitter creamer into Sam’s coffee. She shows some restraint and only pours in the equivalent of a tablespoon or so.]
I was lucky. Everyone in front of me got hurt and left me an opening to hit Cheri with the gauntlets Stark made for me.
[It helped, of course, that this was exactly the kind of thing she’d been doing all her life. Espionage, infiltration, assassination. Though she hadn’t actually killed Cheri, at least. But the electric shock had stopped her, which was had been the goal.]
no subject
It's good to have you on the team, y'know.
[ Not the first time the thought crossed his mind since meeting her. He knows she worked with Bucky too, while undercover, though he's not fully aware of the nature of their missions, and hasn't pressed Bucky on the topic yet. ]
no subject
[She's joking. Partially, anyway. She still not sure what to make about being surrounded by all these Avengers, and working with them. Especially now that Natasha’s gone again. As much crap as she’d given Natasha about running off with her cool kid friends, Yelena never actually thought she’d fit with them. She can’t help but feel on some level that Fate, or the Orbs, or whatever, screwed up somewhere and stuck them with the wrong Widow.
She sips her coffee thoughtfully.]
Do you think it will make our tongues glittery?
no subject
I mean, on a casual note... Far as I'm concerned you're part of this mad shindig, and should have been made the offer long ago. On a more serious note... I got no damn clue if I got the authority, but I mean. If no one else claims the honor, yeah, I'd love to be the one offering you an in officially.
[ He raises the coffee up - but then pauses. ]
The Avengers used to stand for a lot. I want them to stand for everyone who got left behind by that, too.
[ And with that he takes a long swig of the coffee, wrinkling his nose. ]
I had a cocktail during Mardi Gras once do that. Had a glittery tongue for a week. Shit is coarse.
no subject
[The coarse glitter on the tongue for a week, that is. Though if she’s honest, now she’s curious about the cocktail in question.
But really the comment was more a way to buy time before responding to the first part of what he said. If it were anyone else she might have been irritated or defensive. But Sam continues to be nothing but genuine and kind and besides, his comment about people being left behind kind of acknowledges one of Yelena’s big issues. The fact the Avengers weren’t able to help everyone that needed it, and it didn’t feel great to be one of the ones overlooked.
So instead of being angry she decides to be honest.]
You know…I’m not like Natasha.
no subject
I'll take you sometime, get you that drink. 'cause it is gross. Bet you'd love it.
[ All joking aside though, Sam settles in to listen here. Hands loosely clasped around the mug, attention fully on her. ]
No, you're not.
[ Gentle, that one. He doesn't mean it as an insult - it's not a compliment by default either. Just a fact - she's not like Natasha just because they come from the same place. Natasha was out for a long time in which Yelena was not.
Sam keeps his posture relaxed, not expectant. He knows how to set the tone of his body language to invite conversation without demanding it. Tries to signal to her that he's here and listening, but leaves the choice up to her. ]
no subject
For now she stirs her coffee, watching the glitter twinkle before she continues.]
She was always kind of heroic, you know. When they came to take us back to the Red Room, she tried to protect me. I wasn’t like that. My experience was different.
[Natasha had known about the Red Room and had some time to learn independence in Ohio, and then later after she got out. Yelena had thought she was a normal little girl until suddenly she just wasn’t any more.]
I’ve been killing people since I was a little girl, and after Natasha got out, they tightened our leashes. They used chemicals to control us, both our actions and our emotions. I’m still not sure how I really feel about the things I’ve done. I’m not a hero. I’m not sure I want to be one.
I’m not sure of anything, except that I like dogs and pockets and bright colors.
no subject
You got room to figure it out. All of it, I mean - how to feel about what was done to you, what they made you do, what you wanna do now. Don't gotta have all the answers now.
[ She gets all the choices, now, like Bucky does. It's their damn prerogative, far as Sam's concerned. He shifts a little. ]
From what I hear, what you chose to do is bust the whole operation, right? Got the other girls out?
no subject
[About The Red Room and what they did to her, and the others. She knows that much. She doesn’t have to take any time to figure that out, at least. And she’s too blunt not to say it.
The corner of her mouth turns up when he brings up what happened to the Red Room, though.]
Yes, we destroyed it. Blew it right out of the sky.
[It was very satisfying.]
no subject
[ No questions about it. There are some people on the station who have fooled themselves into thinking Sam is some sort of bleeding heart person who will have a long conversation with any opposition and try to take the non-violent approach all day, every day.
There's things you can't solve by talking. The Red Room is one such thing, no ifs and buts about it. ]
I'm glad you got to. Sorry you guys had to do it on your own, though. It's the kind of thing we should have helped with.
[ He contemplates their coffees for a moment. ]
After this. After the orbs, after we get back home. I'd like to stay in touch, assuming we remember our time here. Don't have to be work. Can just be coffee.