Natasha and TJ - Kitty's Sweet Sixteen
Apr. 13th, 2019 10:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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ax_mainNatasha and TJ finally chat! And make plans to chat some more.
TJ looked up from fixing herself another drink and smiled when she saw Natasha Stark doing the same thing. "Hey there," she greeted the other woman with a quick smile. They hadn't really talked before, mostly because they weren't in any classes together, but probably partly because the gender thing was weird. But really, when TJ thought about it, it wasn't any weirder than the age thing. And she had definitely seen weirder shit.
"TJ," she introduced herself, as she poured a liberal amount of orange juice over her vodka. She wasn't sure Natasha would remember to associate the name with their comments online, and the mention of alternate dimensions, but she might? She was a genius, after all. "Enjoying the party?"
"Natasha," she returned, automatically pulling out the tabloid smile. Hadn't needed to use it much around this crowd, but it was second nature by that point. Though Natasha's eyes did narrow a second or so later. "TJ. We talked on the messageboard, right?"
"Alternate dimension gal," TJ confirmed with a nod.
"Right. Of course." As if that wasn't still strange. "So how's that working for you?"
"Eh. This place is all right," TJ answered easily. "I could've ended up in lots of worse places."
"Like what, exactly?" Though part of Natasha wasn't sure she really wanted to know.
"Let's just say you guys have had it easy here so far," TJ stated. "No alien invasions - or at least none big enough to be common knowledge - no serious world destroyers, no apocalyptic virus-without-a-cure breakouts..."
"Aliens?" Apocalypses and world destroyers, but aliens? "Seriously, are you fucking with me right now?"
TJ figured word of Teddy's origins hadn't reached Natasha yet, then - and TJ wouldn't out him, although she was sure the rumors would reach Stark eventually. "I don't think I could imagine weirder stuff than I've lived through. Aliens are the ones that stick out?"
"I can't imagine why." It was generally a little dryer than Natasha let herself be with unknown quantities, but everything about the conversation at the moment was so strange that it was hard to find her usual mask for the moment. "All that and now high school?"
"Yeah, that's... been an adjustment," TJ said, lips pursed in an unhappy pout for a brief moment. "But, hey, at least that means awesome parties." This one absolutely counted. She'd had fun with the karaoke, and she wasn't done for the evening. She'd get back on stage, trying to upgrade Bucky's 'pretty good' to something better than that... but mostly having fun. It made her miss her band something fierce, stupid though the boys had been.
"I bet." And there was just a hint of something else there, more than just the party girl frustration with a boarding school. Natasha could probably have been in college now, if she'd worked things out better with Howard. But it was gone a second later, behind a brighter grin. "But if this is the kind of party you throw, you're not kidding."
"Just give me a beat and people who wanna move to it," TJ answered with a sharp smile. A little alcohol didn't hurt, but it wasn't even a necessity. Only fun was. "What's your kind of party, Natasha?"
"Oh, you know me," Natasha returned, tabloid smile back firmly in place. That was the kind of question she could answer in her sleep. "I'm always up for a good time. Any kind."
TJ snorted, amused. "You're as evasive as any other version of you I've met, at least."
"...version of me?"
"Yeah, you know," TJ replied. Now, Tony (any of him she'd met) would totally be self-centered enough to assume she might have run into other versions of him, or at least ask. Especially after TJ's original disclaimer-slash-introduction. It was kind of fascinating, the way Natasha kept defying TJ's expectations - beyond the obvious. "Parallel universes, multiverse, other you's?"
Natasha's eyes narrowed. Honestly it probably should have occurred to her, multiverse theory being what it was, but the whole conversation was so strange that it hadn't been the first thing on her mind. "I see," she said finally, tone flattening a little. Was that a warning that TJ knew more than she was letting on?
That tone didn't escape TJ, and her tail flicked unhappily behind her. "Chill, I haven't told anyone anything. I mean, I talked with Bucky, but..."
Yep, those were some alarm bells ringing loud and clear. "Told anyone anything about what?"
TJ flicked a glance around. Nobody seemed to be paying much attention to their conversation, but she still waited until another one of the students walked past them to answer, offhandedly, "You know. The whole bodyguard thing." She was a little surprised Bucky hadn't warned Natasha that she knew, honestly.
Natasha had seen it coming, but that one simple statement still made her go utterly still for a second before she forced herself back into some semblance of normality. Everything but her expression, which had given up on the sort of bored smile she'd been wearing in exchange for something a lot more measuring. "And what do you want to keep it that way?" That was what this was about, right?
"Nothing," TJ very, very pointedly replied. Starks, seriously. "I haven't told anyone and I don't plan on changing that."
She eyed her for a moment, slightly dubious, before Natasha nodded once. "This is just a courtesy call, then?"
TJ shrugged. "Letting you know I know seemed like the thing to do." She wasn't so sure anymore, though, if Natasha was going to side-eye her forever. Maybe that was why Bucky hadn't given his boss a heads-up.
"Fair enough." And she certainly did know, now. What to do about it, Natasha was less sure, but she could deal with that later. "So the bodyguard is a common thing, huh?"
TJ took a sip of her drink, assessing the chances of anybody overhearing their conversation. It was a freaking party; there were people everywhere, and they weren't exactly standing in an isolated corner. So yeah, not answering that question for real. Her lips tugged down into a quick pout, then she gave a one-shouldered shrug, tail shifting with it. "Manner of speaking, yeah."
Okay, well that was a thing. Another one to add to the pile of later. It was still a little hard to wrap her mind around the whole thing, and Natasha found herself studying TJ for a long moment as something else occurred to her.
"So does that mean you've met other versions of yourself?"
TJ shook her head. "None of us did. There was more than one team of us world-hopping - figure the timelines that needed fixing where we existed went to another team." She paused. "I have no idea how much Bucky's told you about what we did, so if you need me to clarify stuff, just say so." She was Stark; she'd probably understand the quantum physics of it better than TJ.
Natasha's eyebrows lifted more than a little. "What makes you think he's told me anything?" About what we did? What did that mean?
Stark was just one prickly ball of defensiveness, wasn't she. "So that's a 'TJ, I have no idea what you're going on about', then?" she checked easily.
"Pretty much, yeah." That much might have been obvious by the absolute confusion on her face.
"Buy me a drink some time and I'll tell you all about it, then, if you're curious," TJ offered. She was reconsidering the whole 'printing out her story to hand out to new kids' thing, if the rumor mill was still failing her, even months after somebody's arrival. Or, more environmentally-friendly, she could just keep it ready to copy/paste into the comments of their intro post on the school journals. "Or ask Bucky, he knows I don't mind people knowing."
Perhaps all of it would be easier coming from somebody Stark trusted, really. And that way, TJ wouldn't have to tell the story, again. Two birds, one stone.
Drinks, huh. Natasha's eyes narrowed consideringly for a second before her expression smoothed out again. "I can do that. Not here." For both of their sakes, probably. And she was definitely going to need to grill Bucky on a few things anyway.
"Not much to buy here," TJ confirmed with a quick, sharp smile, confirmation that she didn't mean now. Besides, she already had a nice drink.
Natasha nodded once, a flicker of a smile of her own. "I'll catch up with you some time, then."
"Looking forward to it," TJ replied, immediately and honestly. Between her general interest in this version of Stark and the fact that Natasha clearly mattered a lot to Bucky, of course TJ was looking forward to getting to know her better. "Enjoy the party, Natasha."
TJ looked up from fixing herself another drink and smiled when she saw Natasha Stark doing the same thing. "Hey there," she greeted the other woman with a quick smile. They hadn't really talked before, mostly because they weren't in any classes together, but probably partly because the gender thing was weird. But really, when TJ thought about it, it wasn't any weirder than the age thing. And she had definitely seen weirder shit.
"TJ," she introduced herself, as she poured a liberal amount of orange juice over her vodka. She wasn't sure Natasha would remember to associate the name with their comments online, and the mention of alternate dimensions, but she might? She was a genius, after all. "Enjoying the party?"
"Natasha," she returned, automatically pulling out the tabloid smile. Hadn't needed to use it much around this crowd, but it was second nature by that point. Though Natasha's eyes did narrow a second or so later. "TJ. We talked on the messageboard, right?"
"Alternate dimension gal," TJ confirmed with a nod.
"Right. Of course." As if that wasn't still strange. "So how's that working for you?"
"Eh. This place is all right," TJ answered easily. "I could've ended up in lots of worse places."
"Like what, exactly?" Though part of Natasha wasn't sure she really wanted to know.
"Let's just say you guys have had it easy here so far," TJ stated. "No alien invasions - or at least none big enough to be common knowledge - no serious world destroyers, no apocalyptic virus-without-a-cure breakouts..."
"Aliens?" Apocalypses and world destroyers, but aliens? "Seriously, are you fucking with me right now?"
TJ figured word of Teddy's origins hadn't reached Natasha yet, then - and TJ wouldn't out him, although she was sure the rumors would reach Stark eventually. "I don't think I could imagine weirder stuff than I've lived through. Aliens are the ones that stick out?"
"I can't imagine why." It was generally a little dryer than Natasha let herself be with unknown quantities, but everything about the conversation at the moment was so strange that it was hard to find her usual mask for the moment. "All that and now high school?"
"Yeah, that's... been an adjustment," TJ said, lips pursed in an unhappy pout for a brief moment. "But, hey, at least that means awesome parties." This one absolutely counted. She'd had fun with the karaoke, and she wasn't done for the evening. She'd get back on stage, trying to upgrade Bucky's 'pretty good' to something better than that... but mostly having fun. It made her miss her band something fierce, stupid though the boys had been.
"I bet." And there was just a hint of something else there, more than just the party girl frustration with a boarding school. Natasha could probably have been in college now, if she'd worked things out better with Howard. But it was gone a second later, behind a brighter grin. "But if this is the kind of party you throw, you're not kidding."
"Just give me a beat and people who wanna move to it," TJ answered with a sharp smile. A little alcohol didn't hurt, but it wasn't even a necessity. Only fun was. "What's your kind of party, Natasha?"
"Oh, you know me," Natasha returned, tabloid smile back firmly in place. That was the kind of question she could answer in her sleep. "I'm always up for a good time. Any kind."
TJ snorted, amused. "You're as evasive as any other version of you I've met, at least."
"...version of me?"
"Yeah, you know," TJ replied. Now, Tony (any of him she'd met) would totally be self-centered enough to assume she might have run into other versions of him, or at least ask. Especially after TJ's original disclaimer-slash-introduction. It was kind of fascinating, the way Natasha kept defying TJ's expectations - beyond the obvious. "Parallel universes, multiverse, other you's?"
Natasha's eyes narrowed. Honestly it probably should have occurred to her, multiverse theory being what it was, but the whole conversation was so strange that it hadn't been the first thing on her mind. "I see," she said finally, tone flattening a little. Was that a warning that TJ knew more than she was letting on?
That tone didn't escape TJ, and her tail flicked unhappily behind her. "Chill, I haven't told anyone anything. I mean, I talked with Bucky, but..."
Yep, those were some alarm bells ringing loud and clear. "Told anyone anything about what?"
TJ flicked a glance around. Nobody seemed to be paying much attention to their conversation, but she still waited until another one of the students walked past them to answer, offhandedly, "You know. The whole bodyguard thing." She was a little surprised Bucky hadn't warned Natasha that she knew, honestly.
Natasha had seen it coming, but that one simple statement still made her go utterly still for a second before she forced herself back into some semblance of normality. Everything but her expression, which had given up on the sort of bored smile she'd been wearing in exchange for something a lot more measuring. "And what do you want to keep it that way?" That was what this was about, right?
"Nothing," TJ very, very pointedly replied. Starks, seriously. "I haven't told anyone and I don't plan on changing that."
She eyed her for a moment, slightly dubious, before Natasha nodded once. "This is just a courtesy call, then?"
TJ shrugged. "Letting you know I know seemed like the thing to do." She wasn't so sure anymore, though, if Natasha was going to side-eye her forever. Maybe that was why Bucky hadn't given his boss a heads-up.
"Fair enough." And she certainly did know, now. What to do about it, Natasha was less sure, but she could deal with that later. "So the bodyguard is a common thing, huh?"
TJ took a sip of her drink, assessing the chances of anybody overhearing their conversation. It was a freaking party; there were people everywhere, and they weren't exactly standing in an isolated corner. So yeah, not answering that question for real. Her lips tugged down into a quick pout, then she gave a one-shouldered shrug, tail shifting with it. "Manner of speaking, yeah."
Okay, well that was a thing. Another one to add to the pile of later. It was still a little hard to wrap her mind around the whole thing, and Natasha found herself studying TJ for a long moment as something else occurred to her.
"So does that mean you've met other versions of yourself?"
TJ shook her head. "None of us did. There was more than one team of us world-hopping - figure the timelines that needed fixing where we existed went to another team." She paused. "I have no idea how much Bucky's told you about what we did, so if you need me to clarify stuff, just say so." She was Stark; she'd probably understand the quantum physics of it better than TJ.
Natasha's eyebrows lifted more than a little. "What makes you think he's told me anything?" About what we did? What did that mean?
Stark was just one prickly ball of defensiveness, wasn't she. "So that's a 'TJ, I have no idea what you're going on about', then?" she checked easily.
"Pretty much, yeah." That much might have been obvious by the absolute confusion on her face.
"Buy me a drink some time and I'll tell you all about it, then, if you're curious," TJ offered. She was reconsidering the whole 'printing out her story to hand out to new kids' thing, if the rumor mill was still failing her, even months after somebody's arrival. Or, more environmentally-friendly, she could just keep it ready to copy/paste into the comments of their intro post on the school journals. "Or ask Bucky, he knows I don't mind people knowing."
Perhaps all of it would be easier coming from somebody Stark trusted, really. And that way, TJ wouldn't have to tell the story, again. Two birds, one stone.
Drinks, huh. Natasha's eyes narrowed consideringly for a second before her expression smoothed out again. "I can do that. Not here." For both of their sakes, probably. And she was definitely going to need to grill Bucky on a few things anyway.
"Not much to buy here," TJ confirmed with a quick, sharp smile, confirmation that she didn't mean now. Besides, she already had a nice drink.
Natasha nodded once, a flicker of a smile of her own. "I'll catch up with you some time, then."
"Looking forward to it," TJ replied, immediately and honestly. Between her general interest in this version of Stark and the fact that Natasha clearly mattered a lot to Bucky, of course TJ was looking forward to getting to know her better. "Enjoy the party, Natasha."
