practice for [teleios] .

[relicta]

5,890 years and 2 months

This isn't the way I counted it. [ her ledger is substantial, but the numbers before her eyes are making her head spin. she swallows, tries to compose herself, and looks again. but the numbers don't change, those zeros are next to her name. ]

Comments

[valuedstrength]

Your count is probably right. They go out of their way to make it higher than it should be.

[relicta]

[ there's a little jump in her gaze almost like she didn't realize she said it aloud. either that or like she forgot he was there altogether. ]

Their opinion is what counts here, I suppose.

[valuedstrength]

I wouldn't go that far. [The whole thing is meaningless at the end of the day.] We're dealing with a pair that makes snap judgments on us and runs off. Their opinions don't count for much in my books.

[relicta]

[ she knows they'll never see eye-to-eye on this. she doesn't want to have another conversation about how she's not a monster. her life experience has proven her otherwise. she forces a wan smile. ] Yeah.

It's good to see you. [ even if for her, it hasn't been long at all. in fact, she can't even remember getting home after giving him bucky's file. her poor cat. ]

[deadandred]

Could be worse. We could be in Russia. [All joking aside, though that wasn't a very good joke, he clears his throat.]

Uh. Sorry I tried to kill you.

[relicta]

[ that actually gets a laugh, though it's a mirthless choking sort of one. ] Russia is the devil we know... [ but he's right, there's nothing left for them there. it's surreal, to see him again. but nothing registers in her expression that would give that away. like she's merely talking to an old friend.

it isn't inaccurate. ]

I'm sure they've accounted for it in your tally. [ yes, she knows that isn't what he meant. ]

[deadandred]

After two years, I think I know this place pretty well too. [Yeah, he knows. At least she isn't freezing up like Sam did, the first time he saw him. Then again, he didn't pull her out of the sky, either.]

They've accounted for a lot of stuff. Steve tried to talk 'em out of it.

[relicta]

[ two years. she neatly files it away, again without reacting. she can freeze up and panic and react when she's alone. now she slips into that automatic role of putting those around her at ease. ]

He would. [ it's said with a note of fond exasperation. he better not try to pull that stuff on her. ] Let me guess, he didn't contest his own count.

[efficacy]

Try not to take it very personally. Whoever crunches the numbers around here has a tendency to be somewhat heavy-handed and arbitrary, to put it mildly.

[relicta]

Coming from you, that means a lot. [ yes she's calling u a math nerd deal ]

[efficacy]

[ wow rood!! no actually it's p accurate, so no harm no foul. ] If it's of any consolation, Tony's got more debt still.

[ Which it probably isn't, but small victories and such? ]

[relicta]

That's what Banner said. [ which okay, it doesn't surprise her exactly. but she's done more cold-blooded things than tony by a mile. by several miles. her conflict is probably obvious to pepper even if it wouldn't be to others. ]

What about you? [ she doesn't need a number, or even really a ballpark. but pepper potts was no criminal. she only belonged here to wrangle stark, but beyond that... ] You're here for him. [ it's what she wants to do for steve, she's already got her claws in this. ]

[brokeharlem]

If it makes you feel any better, Tony's still winning.

[Tony's got a couple hundred thousand years of debt, after all]

[relicta]

Stark would think of it that way. [ always a competition with these boys. one side of her mouth quirks up. ] It's been a few years, Doc. For me anyway. [ sup ]

[brokeharlem]

Which is why I put it like that.

[he smiles a little, himself, before sobering again]

But, uh -- yeah, hi. [a beat] It's been a couple of years for me, too. [three, in November, in fact. Jesus, has he really been away from home that long?]

[relicta]

Am I the only one who didn't get the memo? [ she should really check her spam more ]

[morethan084]

"Sucks, doesn't it?" Skye asked, standing off behind Natasha. Realizing that was probably really creepy Skye cringed inwardly.

"I'm Skye."

[relicta]

"I didn't say that." Natasha turns around like she's used to being snuck up on, mostly bc she is. Spies. She opens her mouth to say she didn't ask, but that name sounds familiar and there her jaw goes clicking closed again.

"Natasha." Easy enough.

[morethan084]

"Yeah, I know." There she goes again.

"I mean, I know who you are because I work for SHIELD." And she followed the news. Everyone in her world knew who the Avengers were.

[avengeme]

It's not exactly the most accurate. I remember seeing something from my high school days in there.

[relicta]

[ phil. at last. she wants to ask him so much, but for now she's just grateful for him. anger and all the rest will come later, she's sure of it. but until then she can at least be pleasant. ]

You were a bad boy, weren't you? [ when he had hair, maybe. ]

[avengeme]

[excuse you, he has lovely locks now]

I admit I had my gangster phase.

Late to poking you, hope this is still good. :)

[withmoreme]

Those unpaid parking tickets really add up around here.

ofc!!

[relicta]

You would know best, right? [ or so she keeps hearing. ]

[withmoreme]

[His astronomical debt still isn't exactly funny, but he's definitely been in the city long enough that it kind of is, too.] You know how it is. "Go big or go home" is part of the Stark family crest.