IC Inbox - Ximilia

[nothinglasts]

// Red

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XIMILIA

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[nothinglasts]

It's not bullying if it's said with affection.

[ And her heart wanders a little to Yelena who is aware of the Avengers and who really wouldn't care about meeting them because they're the Avengers, but she might have enjoyed meeting Sam and Bucky. They could all tease Natasha the way Natasha teases Sam and Bucky, all laugh together with the sort of warmth that only comes with long-won love. ]

I don't have a real sister for you to meet, but you could meet my fake sister and get a go at my dignity with her.

[unclesam]

[ Sam's got the witty retort on his tongue, the quip, the tease.

And then Natasha proceeds to short-circuit his brain a little bit. ]

Run that by me one more time. Fake sister?

[ Did he mishear?

For a moment his chest clenches and his stomach rolls with a mixture of emotion he can't quite lock down. Eventually, it settles on guilt and shame and grief - because either Natasha is joking, or she has some sort of connection back home that's important enough to earn the moniker 'sister', and Sam never even knew. Would never have known if not for this place. Someone's who grieved Natasha, too. ]

[nothinglasts]

Oh, you know how it is. Sometimes when a man-spy and a woman-spy have to pretend to love each other very much, they get a couple of orphans for a little while so they can complete a mission and then toss them back to the wolves when they're done.

[ It hadn't been a long time, so it's hard to grapple with the fact that it had meant something to her. Maybe it hadn't been real to her the way it had been to Yelena, but it hadn't been nothing, either. ]

I never thought it was real, so it's not a big deal.