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Natasha Romanoff ([personal profile] deaddrop) wrote2025-05-01 02:11 pm

Xim Inbox

// @romanoff
TEXT • AUDIO • VIDEO
XIMILIA
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[personal profile] heroooic 2023-02-08 02:05 pm (UTC)(link)
[Finn doesn't address the indirect compliment outright, but the telltale mixture of embarrassment and pride in his grin make it obvious he's flattered. Even passively, her approval is clearly important to him.]

Oh yeah, no. That's Professor Mikotoba's job.

[Laughing at his own catty observation, Finn takes a large bite of his stew. Table manners don't seem to be a priority for boys that did the majority of their growing up in a treehouse.]

What about you guys? Anything I get to be green about?
Edited 2023-02-08 14:09 (UTC)
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[personal profile] heroooic 2023-02-10 01:59 am (UTC)(link)
[Alright, that is enough to make Finn a little green. Not the lack of walking, a good hike was one of his favorite things, but the new sights sounded better than muddy roads and horse droppings.

He leans on his hand, smiling a little wistful.]


Can you still see it? It's probably about sunset there, right?

[The implication is obvious; give him a peek!]
Edited 2023-02-10 02:00 (UTC)
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[personal profile] heroooic 2023-02-12 03:45 am (UTC)(link)
Way better. [He turns his own camera, towards the ramshackle camp. It actually wasn't too bad; less breathtaking, but certainly cozy.] It's all mud and sweaty guy smell over here.

[Finn returns his gaze to the ocean Natasha showed him, surprised by the progression of emotion in his gut. It was beautiful. Not just beautiful, either -- nostalgic. There was something so familiar about the way the sun reflected off the home. Maybe that was the same no matter where you went -- would he and Nettle be staring out at a similar sea on their next mission? That is, if they made it out of this one.

Though Finn was optimistic. A day of travelling at Jun Shortaxe's back filled him with newfound encouragement. They would make short work of whatever monsters lay ahead of them and get the orb in hand -- together.]


Y'know, when I was little, the ocean was like... my number one fear. I was totally petrified of it. [He takes another bite of stew, humming thoughtfully.] S'weird, how something could be the scariest thing in the world and one day it suddenly it isn't, huh?
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[personal profile] heroooic 2023-02-12 06:30 am (UTC)(link)
[She'll find that weariness, but it's somehow older than the journey they were now on. Maybe even older than his relatively short time on the Ximilia itself. Though when he sees Natasha again, his smile seems to redouble. Her face was comforting, smoothing away those cracks in Finn's armor as quickly as Natasha might've noticed them.]

Heh, now we're getting into some real campfire talk. [Wistful, aimless, thought provoking -- there was just something about the crackle of embers that evoked such topics of conversation. Now was just about the time his brother would usually snuff out their fire, declaring their naval gazing over and sending him to bed. It was almost thrilling to not have anyone around to tell him to stop thinking so much.

He leans on his hands, setting aside his now-empty stew bowl and looking at Natasha with keen interest.]


So what scares you, Nettle?
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[personal profile] heroooic 2023-02-12 07:56 pm (UTC)(link)
[Her confidence earns a laugh from Finn, as it always does. Truthfully, it's a comfort. Natasha's steady ease with her emotions was always a comfort, in some small way. She was dependable and sturdy and Finn never found himself worrying about her the way he did other people. Not because he cared about her any less, that much was obvious, but because... well...

Something about the thought sits strange in Finn's throat as his laugh peters out. Why didn't he worry?]


Pfft, no. Not since I was like... fifteen. [Finn mumbles the last part, not sure if that was too-old or not.] And I get that. I mean, the stuff that scares me now is, like...

[He trails off, looking uncomfortable for a brief moment. When Finn resumes speaking, his voice is breezy and remote.]

I dunno. People dying. Normal stuff.
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[personal profile] heroooic 2023-02-13 10:08 pm (UTC)(link)
Nah, nah. [He says it maybe too quickly for that to be the absolute truth, but it's not a lie either.] I mean, not more than I usually am when I'm marching towards a big fight, right?

[It's meant as a joke and Finn chuckles a little, stoking the fading embers of his fire back to life with a branch. They popped to life in a brilliant glow, sending up sparks to catch fresh kindling. It kinda reminded Finn of Nettle's hair.]

I guess what I'm thinkin' about is, like... it's weird how people change, I guess. Like, I only know the you I know now, but you must've been like a hundred other people before I met you. And I'll never know any of those people, not unless you tell me about 'em, and does that even really count as knowing them?

[Oh yeah. The campfire was doing its job. Finn looks a little sheepish, realizing how he'd been rambling.]

Is that weird to say? I dunno if other humans think about this stuff.

[What comes off as typical teenage self-absorption (could anyone else possibly feel the same as I do?) actually has a much more literal source. Being a part of the Ximilia crew was the first time Finn spent any significant time with other humans. He could now at least say he'd met other humans in his world, but the deeper parts of knowing someone? The stuff they feared, the way they thought... Finn never got the chance to get that close.

Maybe that's half the reason his interest is trained so keenly on Natasha now, hesitatingly reaching across the physical and metaphorical distance between them for some sort of connection.]


Do you think about this stuff?
Edited 2023-02-13 22:14 (UTC)
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[personal profile] heroooic 2023-02-15 08:21 pm (UTC)(link)
[Though Finn doesn't fully realizes it, the same feeling held true for him. All around him were others at work fortifying their camp, discussing the next day's itinerary, or simply enjoying a little late night conversation. It should have been distracting, but it wasn't. They were all miles away, as far as he was concerned.

Meanwhile, the person who actually was miles away felt as if she were right next to him. Funny how that worked.]


I mean... [It's hard to bite back the urge to counter her assertion; that stubborn insistence that, no, of course nothing from Natasha's past would change how he felt about her now. In the end, he does swallow it. There were versions of him he wasn't too keen on Natasha knowing, either.] It's a good thing, right? You grow up and you get more and more like the person you're supposed to be in the end.

[Even as he says it, the words feel strange in his mouth. If that were true, why did each passing year older make him feel less comfortable in his own skin. Finn frowns, looking to Natasha with genuine curiosity.]

Like, you. You're the person you're supposed to be now, right?
Edited 2023-02-15 20:21 (UTC)
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[personal profile] heroooic 2023-02-17 03:49 am (UTC)(link)
[Something about the way Natasha spoke reminds Finn of a storyteller. It's not the first time he's thought that about her, but it may be the first time he's realized it consciously. Each word left her mouth imbued with a careful sort of meaning (or sometimes, the notable absence of meaning) that came together in the end to paint the picture of who she was.

Natasha; tough as nails but without the arrogance, good humored but not too flashy, thoughtful but never too personal. Each piece of her that Finn could see was muted by another, buttoning her up into the person she felt comfortable showing the rest of the world.

Was this person she was letting him see now still that Natasha? Finn leans on his hand, watching her keenly as she speaks. It's as if he's waiting for the answer to leap out at him at any moment.]


Well, the Nettle you are now is pretty cool. [No answers yet, but Finn is smiling anyway. Not just smiling, grinning.] But maybe the next version of you will get a better nickname.
Edited 2023-02-17 03:50 (UTC)
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[personal profile] heroooic 2023-02-20 02:06 am (UTC)(link)
[ The shift of expression is almost imperceptible; subtleties sanded off by the headset connection and Finn's own youth and experience. Still, he does notice something. Around the eyes, maybe? Finn feels his own expression tightening in his efforts to place it.

Was she... okay?

Finn opens his mouth to ask exactly that, clearly tentative, when a new voice makes shouts across the connection. Finn jumps as if he'd just received an electric shock. ]


Finn! [ The voice shouts; Natasha might recognize it as Felix. ] Let's hurry it up!

[ Scrambling anxiously, Finn is already gathering up his things. He casts an apologetic look to Natasha, whatever he'd been about to ask gone from his mind. ]

I'm coming! [ He frowns, guilt obvious. It's not just because he's making a quick exit, either. ] Ugh, sorry Nettle. I gotta go. See you tomorrow?
heroooic: (084)

THE CURSE

[personal profile] heroooic 2023-02-20 02:42 am (UTC)(link)
[ Finn flashes her a brief parting smile, the sentiment clearly shared. ]

Right back atcha, Nettle.