11036/Red in the Life, Reminders of Strife

Red in the Life, Reminders of Strife
Date of Scene:	05 May 2022
Location:	Recreation Lounge: Triskelion
Synopsis:	Two Widows, one old, one young, talk.
Cast of Characters:	Natasha Romanoff, Yelena Belova

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Natasha Romanoff has posed:
It's a rare quiet time over in the Rec Room of the Triskelion. Personnel coming and going are at somewhat of an ebb, leaving hte place not quite crowded. Natasha has taken it upon herself to enjoy a rare five minutes of actual reading. She has a large, old book over on her lap that she's skimming a few pages of. If one would look at the title it would be Dostoevsky's 'War and Peace' in the original Russian. Going to turn a page of it and taking a sip from a bottle that clearly did not hold water.

Yelena Belova has posed:
Yelena Belova is on the strained end of a very short leash, being allowed to serve and work on select missions. Her clearance isn't as high as she thinks it should be and there's probably still a lot of distrust around her. You don't get Yelena's reputation by -not- slitting a few throats.

She has her own flask in hand as she makes her way in, clad in a white track-suit, the fit slim and flattering. Her blue eyes stare out from under a shelf of bangs as she regards Natasha, "Ah, I see we like same sports drink. Like family, da?" she teases.

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanoff would glance up and over, "Yelena." She would close the book. "I would ask how you were doing, but you're going to tell me whether you are or not." It's a public area and one that occasionally SHIELD might even let public officials come into when some of the weirder agents were kept offsite.

"You seem peppy. Did you kill someone recently? Or just maim and mutilate them?"

Yelena Belova has posed:
Yelena Belova takes a sip from her flask, hopping a little off the groud as she flops onto one of the couches, crossing her legs at the ankle, laying on her back. "No, sadly, I am still very much to be keeping the body count depressingly low. Somebody had to go and set a good example. What is the opposite of a teacher's pet, given who our teachers were?"

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanoff would shrug, "Given who our teachers were I think we set a good example by living our lives as spitting in their faces with each and everything that we do. I can think of little more that would upset and frustrate them." She would smile.

Yelena Belova has posed:
Yelena Belova laughs slightly, "Yes, they deserve it, every dried up rotten dog of them!" she says. "Please, line them up here, Natasha and you and I, we would do an awful lot more than spit in their faces. We would, how does the American saying go, fuck them up?" she says.

"Mostly, though, we just have to make them do sad faces far far away. Political nuance and such, da?" she says. Then she looks thoughtful, "How do you do it? How do you just...?" she says and gestures rather broadly in Natasha's direction.

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanoff would shake her head sadly, "They will face suffering. They have been hurt. Very, very litlte if anything of them is left. And the remnants are being hated by pepole who hate them even more than you adn I do." She would just smile over at Yelena.

"There are people after them who hate them even more passionately than the Winter Soldier does Hydra. Those few that are left. no.. The question is now who gets to them first and how badly they suffer depending onw ho wins the race. That gives me a great deal of comfort."

Yelena Belova has posed:
Yelena Belova snorts softly, "You have always been very competitive. It's so annoying. Because so am I," she says.

"I would put our hate up against their hate any day. In Hate Olympics, the widows are gold medal, da? See, that's more like it, it's good to hear you enjoy some suffering, you are not all soft like some of the Americans are, all gushy and sentimental. Brrrrrrrr!" she shivers.

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanoff would lean back, "Patience. I suppose I'm an old, embittered woman broken by years of cynicism that has learned that these things end with everyone suffering all around. You? You're young, have rough edges, and haven't had all the fun of a lifetime gutting people who deserve it like I have."

Yelena Belova has posed:
Yelena Belova sits up a bit with a playful grin on her face, "My edges are not rough. I had them waxed and buffed, as spa. Big woman with pumice stones and a very hot towel scraped me like shucked oyster," she says.

"But you are right about one thing, I can't let off the gas too much, my bodycount is still much, much lower than yours. But, of course, as you start getting older and slowing down, I will make up ground."

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanoff would fold her fingers, "Yes, just give me anotehr few decades then you'll be in your prime and maybe start to match me when I was your age then. And it's not just about racking up the bodies. Anyone with a gun can kill. There's nothing difficult about killing. Or killing lots of people."

Yelena Belova has posed:
Yelena Belova pushes up enough to fold her legs underneath her in a variation of lotus style. It's one used primarily within the Red Room training, a flexing designed in Russian Sambo to maximize explosiveness. Even now, with both of you broken free, her legs slip automatically into that position in which you literally had to learn to sleep at times. "Being so easy is part of what makes it fun. It allows for little flourishes and personality to shine through. Take a little pride in your profession, assassin. Even most of your most super of superfriends could not begin to approach the level of dedication and control that you and I have. Only two like we can understand just how weak they are compared to us. They all live at our mercy, Natasha. Because we allow it," she says.

"Because we are...fully reformed and about to get in line for a green card!"

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanoff would smile over at Yelena, "Death is but a welcome escape from them. It means that they are freed of us making them suffer. Of anyone making them suffer. THey deserve an extended agony. Death is a mercy. They do not deserve mercy." Natasha's edge only went so far. The Red Room was a personal thing. There were lines she might very well cross that SHIELD might bury her for, that the Avengers would disown her for.. It was a possible one she would take the leap if it was there. They had taken so much.
    "I suppose that's one way to go with it." She would watch at Yelena, "And you're softening as you get older. Your jokes are actually funny now."

Yelena Belova has posed:
Yelena Belova points a finger, "I was always hilarious and you know it," she says accusatorily.

"I do like the idea of watching them suffer, but it does get so boring after a while. You get all the fun stuff at the beginning, all the screaming and the thrashing around and the 'oh please stop the pain for the love of god'...but that's over in, what, an hour? Maybe hour and a half? More than that, torture is not worth time investment. Diminishing returns. Ha! See? Maybe I am becoming a good little capitalist after all," she says.

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanoff would put up a smile, "We have to start somewhere. And Yelena.. You are better than they are. Each day you live in control of your own life and make your own decisions is one that you spit in their faces for. You are a better person. A stronger one. A defiant one." Natasha was not a hugger. Giving someone compliments in this style was bout as close to positive reinforcement as she could get.

Yelena Belova has posed:
Yelena Belova looks away for a moment, almost letting emotion get the best of her, before she does as she's always been trained, as a reflex. Swallow it down. Stifle it. Smother it. Let it die. And when she opens her eyes, that momentary flicker of the softer depths of the woman, before it freezes over again. But there's a real smile there, too.

"Defiant? That I have always been very good at. I still have most demerits for two years running back in juniors."

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanoff would let the rare moment of emotion slide. Her almost as unsure of giving it as Yelena would be at receiving it. It was still there. Even as the dynamic between the two shifted back to the norm. Suppressed and buried because it had always been used to channel them to fuel for the mission.

"I thought you just would have handled the teaching staff whenever they would hve tried to assign you punishment."

Yelena Belova has posed:
Yelena Belova shrugs softly, "I always took my punishments as a point of pride," she says. "Scars I earned. Sometimes my own suffering, it was as close as I could get to theirs. Sometimes, when they would hurt me, I would put them in my place, just for the satisfaction of imagining it and knowing really how it felt," she says.

She holds up her flask, "I think I may have had a little too much," she admits.

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanoff would click her tongue, "Then, little one, you should go and rest. Sleep it off, then get somethign to eat. Then go and train or if you really must go and watch some of the interrogations of some of the Hydra rank and file tkaen in from the last operation. You might learn something."

Yelena Belova has posed:
Yelena Belova chuckles, "At the very least, it would be good to see the Winter Soldier in action. He's always very impressive," she says. She sighs and puts a hand on her hip, "There really isn't anywhere around here where someone can smoke a cigarette? Honestly? Like, just one? Will it burn whole place down? I do not think so."

Natasha Romanoff has posed:
Natasha Romanoff would tsk, "I'm sure you can find such an area. The issue is if you are going to do it is making sure that any of the sensors don't do off and you're not noticed. So.. Consider that an excuse to get some practice in."