ʀᴇᴀᴅʏ ᴀs ɪ'ʟʟ ᴇᴠᴇʀ ʙᴇ

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Tony just looked at her, quirking a brow in return. “Well, yeah, it’s cool,” he said, as if this should be obvious. “Yeah, so? Does that mean I’m supposed to eat the BRAT diet? Because bananas are disgusting. They start out mushy. Look me in the eye and tell me that’s right.”

Yelena scrunched her eyes at his definition of cool. “Your ‘cool’ and my ‘cool’ mean different things.” She stated as a fact. “I like bananas.” Yelena defended, stubborn as ever. “And there’s better things to eat then gummy worms wrapped in a fruit rollup. Like macaroni and cheese. Macaroni and cheese is the best.”

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     If there was any apprehension to his questions, he didn’t notice, nodding as if she was telling him what she had eaten for breakfast that morning despite the actual weight of her statement. “You didn’t confirm your kill?” The words flew out of his mouth without a second’s thought, Damian’s palms sweating as he heard himself. That was a different life, one that he didn’t like to think about anymore, but he supposed that in some ways his training during his childhood was ingrained in him still. 

“My sister did the first time,” She remembered how sure Natasha had been in her kill, no doubt about it, only shock at the insinuation she hadn’t succeeded. “It didn’t take.” Well, it did take a little girl’s life and free will, but she was rescued. Eventually. “This time it was different.” Yelena stated. “Even if he had survived...” She mused the thought. “Nothing left for him.” They had burned down his supposed ‘empire’ to ash and dust. The memory made a faint smile press at her. “Not much time to check a body in all the crashing, fire and smoke.” Perhaps she shouldn’t have said that as cheerfully as she did. 

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Lucy smiled and shrugged as the other woman spoke. “Yeah, something like that,” she said. “You know, whenever people talk about what kind of superpowers they want, flying never really seemed that high up on the list for me. I feel like that would just freak me out. Being up on the roof is nice, though. Breezy. Plus you can drop water balloons on people from up here.” She shrugged again. “Perspective is your reality,” she said. “Reality ain’t as concrete as some people like to think it is.”

“I think flying is cool.” Yelena didn’t know if flying is ever something she’d want to do herself but she did like being high up like this. The idea of sitting on a cloud was somewhat appealing. Being in solitude whenever you felt like, being able to reach wherever you wanted. It wouldn’t be so bad. “Water... balloons?” Yelena had heard of the concept but she’d never been given the chance to try them before. “They do sound fun.” Hitting people with water. In battle you could even hit them with something worse than water, but that was a future idea. “Reality is fickle.” She agreed. Once upon a time her reality had been lacking free will. Now, Yelena relished in the free will she now had gained. “You water balloon people often?”

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     “I’m excellent at reading people, but I wouldn’t declare myself an expert by any means..” he explained with a sigh. “But if you take a big old bowl and you through in some daddy issues and people pleasing tendencies and mix it all up you get, well, somebody that’s far too considerate or concerned about other’s feelings. Even when it’s detrimental to my own” He said it as casually as he might have told her that he’d noticed that broccoli soup was the special of the day, but that was only because he was well aware of his faults. It was all of the things that were great about him that Atticus wasn’t so perceptive of. “It feels like I’m out with one of my brothers” he chuckled, although there was no malice in his tone. He had moved out into his own place recently and he missed them a lot. “I’ll take my usual” he smiled sweetly at the waitress. “Thanks”

“What are you an expert in?” He did have that brainy sort of look but she’d yet to see it actually go into action. With the almost dying and all it really softened any edge he could hope to harbor. “Now that you mention it, you are too considerate and concerned with everyone else. Especially with the almost dying and all. You should work on that.” She told him, taking one of his fries and shoving it into her mouth without much fanfare. “I know you don’t want to die.” He had told her as much last time they’d spoken. “What do you plan to do about it?” He needed to start living his life differently if he intended to change things. “How many brothers do you have?” she asked, a hint of curiosity. “Do they bully you?” That would explain a lot if they did. Yelena was becoming a bit more curious as she saw more of the kid, and why he was the way he was. “Or was it the father who did it?” He did mention daddy issues. 

Continued from here for @belovcwidow​

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     “Well, no-” Atticus frowned as she told him that he was terrible at reading people. He supposed that he should have been used to her barrage of insults by now, but it still managed to catch him off guard every time. As somebody that suffered from social anxiety, however, he had to disagree with her assessment that he was bad at reading people; Atticus had grown to make a habit of it in the years before his father had left for his own protection, it had turned into a skill in the years that had passed since. His apology had come from general politeness, his mother had raised a gentleman, after all. “Alright, you got it” he nodded, shrugging weakly. “Are you ready to order?” He was ready to leave, but the growling in his stomach reminded him why he was here in the first place.

She liked poking at him. It was a type of fun Yelena didn’t usually allow herself to engage in. Not that she usually held back her opinions, but usually her retorts were passing and unable to actually be enjoyed. The life or death situations she retained throughout her life forced things to be serious most of the time. S she took this opportunity to ‘un’-serious them. Just enjoy the moments for whenever she could, even if it wasn’t as frequent as she wished. “No?” Her brow arched in the question of his defense. “Then you’re a reading people expert? Or just not as bad as I’d seen.” Though, given the fact she first met him when there was an attempt on his life who was to say. The fact he survived at all could be considered a point in his favor given he had the survival instincts of a cat loving mouse. (Was she being too mean? Probably. But it was fun). “Yes.” She said hastily, having been ready to order for a small bit. Somewhat excited too but that needn’t be mentioned. “Your finest macaroni and cheese,” She told the waiter. “And chocolate milk.”

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     “I see” he nodded slowly. “It must have taken an incredible amount of strength to overcome something like that” he observed, having picked up on the fact that Yelena wasn’t exactly the type to enjoy or wish for sympathy. It worked to his favour, really, because while he wished to be comforting in some settings, he never really knew what to say. “Is there…do you know who’s responsible for it?” 

She frowned, momentarily taken aback by the compliment. She hadn’t been expecting sincerity like that. In all fairness, Yelena didn’t expect sincerity from most anyone. Nonetheless it took her a small moment to respond, hesitant on how to go about it. “.... thank you.” The words were stiff. “Yes.” She answered this question faster this time, more assured. “Should be very dead this time. Unless they faked it again, which is probable.” Unfortunately. 

Tony nodded, chewing laboriously. He held up a finger to indicate that he needed a minute to finish. “Yep,” he said finally. “I bet my tongue is blue.”

Yelena quirked a brow, unimpressed with every single choice Tony Stark made, potentially in his entire life. “You sound proud.” She observed a scrunch to her eyes. “I thought you were supposed to be a superhero.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty obvious. Doesn’t help that I get along better with wild animals than I do people.” Those words almost made him miss the times he went off and hid in the woods. Except for that time he found an injured bear. That memory just filled him with rage. “Yeah, one of the places I come to a lot. Not like this shit actually has much of an effect.” He says holding up the glass of bourbon before taking a heavy sip.

“Wild animals are easier to get along with people.” She stated as the fact that it was. “They don’t hide the beast inside, people are the opposite. Hide and hide until it suits them, then they shed their skin. Animals skip all the trickery.” Yelena would prefer sharp claws buried in her chest than her back at the very least. That way she knows the face of who to strike revenge upon. “Poor you.” She commented dryly, though she did feel for him. Sucked not being able to get drunk. “Have one of those science minds cook something up, I’m sure you know one or two.” All supes knew eachother somehow or way she was finding.