IC Voicemail, Driftfleet:

[tothefly]

[There is no recording, just a few clicks and a beep.]

[Leave any IC voice messages or texts for Natasha here.]

Comments

[enshields]

[Soft,]

He's not-- please don't call him that.

[It's not like he disagrees, even, but hearing it outloud is a different matter. There aren't many people who hear broken and think worth saving and though he knows rationally that Natasha is different, he needs the distinction.]

[tothefly]

It's the name he's chosen. While he tries to figure out who he's supposed to be.

[Steve knows about the scars she bears that were given to her by the man they're discussing. Knows if anyone would hold a grudge here, she'd have the reason, and yet she's also the one perhaps best equipped to understand what they did. And...they've talked. In their way. She's watched him, listened to Captain Barnes talk about his progress with hope and affection and excitement. She's listened to all the things he's said, and saw what he let her see in his calibration. It's not every day someone gets the chance to rebuild themselves from the ground up, into what they want to be. Steve...she knows at least a little how he feels about it. What he hopes for. It's a dangerous thing, hope. She shifts her stance, one hand running though hair grown way too long before dropping to her side again.]

We've talked.

[She does conveniently leave out their first meeting.]

[enshields]

[Gently,]

Tasha. 'Broken'. Winter is-- that's fine, if that's what he wants.

[tothefly]

[It's what he's been. Broken. He's fragments of who he used to be, fragments of who they made him, all rough edges rubbing against each other. It's not a bad word or a negative statement, just a fact. But this is Steve. And so she only shrugs, conceding to him.]

He's got a lot to figure out. Knows about the bridge. Some of what's happened since, to us.

[She might hoard knowledge, but some things should be shared.]