Movie Night IV: Movie Harder

[unrecovered]

Who| Wash and anyone who wants to join
What| Movie night!
Where| The same lounge movie night is always in
When| A few days after Silent Horizon and No Sanity Clause
Warnings/Notes| They're watching Clue, because Tim Curry is the cure for everything.

It has been, to put none too fine a point on it, a shitty week. Everyone needs a place where they can relax and get their minds off what's happened; to that end, Wash figures it's about time for another movie night, and goes for a comedy this time. Sure, Clue is technically a murder mystery with a slow build, but he's pretty sure people will enjoy it as long as he's up front about it.

There's tables full of snacks and drinks set up, per usual. Extra blankets are piled on the arms and backs of chairs and sofas, because blankets make things better and therefore need to be available. There's a sign outside the door with the movie's title, MPAA rating, and a brief summary, along with a note at the bottom: Movie night is neutral territory. Might as well make it known up front.

Comments

[vata]

She can see it then, how much the idea of it disturbs Lena. It makes it easy for Azúcar to step in, blocking Reaper from her eyeline entirely, taking Lena's hands firmly in her own.

"No."

Open and honest and entirely invested, there's so much conveyed there with so, so little.

"I don't even know him yet— I've only seen him around twice."

[zippity]

Perhaps as predictable as ever, Lena relaxes, torn between frowning at Azúcar's need to cut her off from the problem and smiling at her concern. She ends up somewhere in the middle, a halting smile as she glances down where she's chosen to grab her hands. A bit forward -- did she really look so distraught.

"Well--that's good," is what she manages. "You must think I'm barmy as ever," Lena chuckles, folding their hands over each other and patting them as a show of solidarity before trying to let them drop away. "Sorry."

[vata]

"Like I said, esta bien." It's played out in a relieved little sigh as her hands drop, resting instead on the table behind her so that she can lean back instead.

"Feels like it's been forever since I last saw you." Given the circumstances— and the high flush across Lena's cheeks— it's probably a much-needed segue.

"I'm glad you're okay."

[zippity]

Lena settles in to pop some apple slices into her mouth just as Azúcar offers her concerned segue, to which she responds by rapidly chewing to try and get her sentiment out before the moment is gone. "Right. Been a tick, hasn't it? I'm glad you're alright too."

Sure, she left her behind after she had swooped in to save her, but -- well, she wasn't looking for thanks anyway. And Azúcar had an important job of her own at the time. She probably should have confirmed some time ago that she w as s alright. But in that moment, something else dawns on her.

"Oh--congrats, by the by! Saw they was gabbin' about you and that guy you picked up--what's name again?" Lena appears to be genuinely interested, in spite of her aloof reply.

[vata]

"Wh—" It's a sputtering start to a reply that doesn't kick in as quickly (or as smoothly) as it should, clearly cut short in her train of thought. "—Uh."

Uh. Good one, Sombra.

"York?" The 'r' rolls a little harder than she intends for it to, as if the name's been run over by her accent— and followed by the brief idea that this might not be the name he actually aims to go by: first York, then Taylor, but to the public, Locksmith and it's possible it all means absolutely nothing to Lena. Lena, who apparently pays attention to local tabloids or gossip or...

"It's not like that. Créeme."

[zippity]

"Oh! York, is it?" Lena replies, apparently even more delighted now that she has a proper name for him. She leans forward on her knees and tries to offer her the plate of apple slices. Her insistence that 'its not like that' just causes her to giggle. "Right--course it's not. So tell me 'bout him!"

The wink she passes, alongside the surprised giggle, hints that she didn't get the memo.

[vata]

She opens her mouth to respond before that entirely unsly wink, coupled with the beaming offer of a few apple slices, has Sombra's brow furrowing— lips thinned out alongside her expression.

"Lena..."

Say it with her, Tracer: "This isn't what you think it is. We're just friends— se entiende?"

[zippity]

After the slow introduction of words, Lena seems to catch on, but that doesn't make her any less confused. She takes her offer and puts another in her mouth, chewing around thoughtfully for just a moment before offering a more coherent reply. "But you were on a date, yeah? Friends don't usually..." she starts, tapping her lip.

Lena weighs the circumstances, trying to figure out a way to say what she wants to say without being entirely rude. When she can't think of an alternative ending she just finishes with. "...do that."

[vata]

"That's..." Difficult? Complicated? Sombra might spend her time however she wants to with whoever she wants to (friends, enemies and everything in between in varying degrees) but it's hard to say whether Azúcar should or would. She purses her lips together, snagging an apple slice and stuffing it into the side of her cheek as she chews.

"We're Legionnaires, Lena."

[zippity]

"What's that got to do with anythin'?" she asks, genuinely interested still and perhaps not understanding her angle. Lena smiles when she finally takes up her offer of snacks. "Your life doesn't stop just because you're making other lives better. That's not how it works." She chuckles at the idea, echoing someone else's words more than her own.

She might not be on Jack's level in terms of martyrdom tiers but she understands the approach. If Emily had been a different person, it wouldn't have worked between them.

[vata]

Sombra shrugs soberly, using the seconds spent meandering in conversation to calibrate a more appropriate angle.

"We were both still coming down from the last mission." Her chin tips down, expression open, eyes shifting to focus on some abstract point in the middle distance before darting back. "After everything that happened? We needed a break, you know?"

[zippity]

Lena clearly is not following. Her eyebrows pinch and she looks mostly unconvinced, but she doesn't want to think her friend is lying to her either, so she just shrugs. "Suit yourself, love," she concedes, putting her arms back behind her head. The idea is wholly unappealing to her for multiple reasons.

Surely that kind of behavior wasn't part of being a Legionnaire. It felt -- insincere. Or maybe she was thinking too hard about it. That's probably more accurate.

This would be the part where Emily would have dragged her back out of her unnecessary looping thought process. She suddenly really misses her.

[vata]

She can only guess at what seems to be running upstairs behind Lena's unhappy expression, but the bottom line that Sombra can dredge up? Root topic: Azúcar's supposed love life. End result from determining that it might not be real: not a happy camper.

Her lips purse, eyes shifting around the room for a beat.

"We want to take it slow." It's whispered, barely audible.

Is it the truth? Not at all. But the rest of the galaxy at this point probably assumes the same thing already - it doesn't hurt to let Lena hold out hope.

[zippity]

Perhaps predictably, she fights down a scoff and sits back up so that she can lean on both of her legs. "You pullin' my leg?" Lena asks, keeping her voice low in turn. "Look, you ain't gotta explain yourself t'me. It's your life, you know? I'd say I wouldn't tell anyone but--well. Bit late for that, innit?"

She shrugs, holding out her hands to either side of her legs.

"Either way, I'm happy for you, love."

[vata]

"Well you weren't exactly quiet about it either."

There's an upturned scoff from Sombra in turn. For the moment, at least, it's settled and done with for better or maybe worse.

"Thanks, Lena."

[zippity]

"Doesn't exactly happen every day, does it?"

Lena winks at Sombra, and leaves the matter there, imagining that she will either stay and watch the movie, or that she will wander off to find another friend to sit with. Her mind has successfully been taken off both the issue at hand...and off of Reaper, though she hasn't forgotten about his presence.

If he had intentions of shooting someone, then he would have done it already. Even if it doesn't make sense -- that's what it is.

[vata]

Thank god it doesn't.

"Hey, I was thinking..." It's a snapped segue, a little off the beaten path and peppered with sincere curiosity, memories coming to her in an instant now that the dust has cleared. "You know Jack too, right? Soldier 76. Dígitos."

She'd called him by name, after all. The opportunity is an easy one to find.

As she asks, she settles down on her stomach beside Lena, chin propped up across the span of one hand - familiar and easy and affectionate enough.

[zippity]

Lena doesn't answer right away this time. He hadn't exactly been forthcoming with his identity back home -- and for a good reason, mind. You don't just bury a man and then bring him back. The whole idea still makes her supremely uncomfortable.

"Yeah. How'd you know 'im?"

She assumes that she doesn't actually know who Jack Morrison is -- or at least, finds Soldier : 76 unrecognizable enough from that man not to draw the connection. She has a hard time that anyone on Earth doesn't know the name "Jack Morrison" by now.

[vata]

"From here, actually." Not surprising given how secretive the old soldier is back home. Here, at least, it's a small, small world— figuratively speaking. "First day."

Funny, looking back on it now. Some people would call it fate; she calls it having a good eye.

A beat, and then, with an affectionate little huff, Sombra adds: "He wasn't an easy friend to make."

[zippity]

The second bit causes Lena's smile to fade. No, she doesn't imagine Jack being warm to many people any more. She'd been cross with him for abandoning them initially -- but how do you come back from death? She can't imagine that it had been easy...and he was still trying to live with it.

"He's not a bad guy," she says, managing to keep the defensiveness out of her tone. In truth, Jack Morrison was a hero to her and had been for years. To see him struggling wasn't easy. But shortly after, she smiles. After all: "Thanks for givin' him a chance. I don't reckon too many people do any more."

[vata]

"I think that's how he wants it, vata." It's said with a wan little smile, returned interest laid out on the table between them sans pretense— for a change.

"Isolation."

[zippity]

"Only because he thinks its all he deserves," she replies with a heavy sort of sigh. A few weeks ago, she would have agreed out of anger, but she couldn't even stomach the thought of it now -- the idea that Jack thought they didn't want him around. And the idea that he doesn't support the recall hurts a little.

She clears her throat and forces herself to smile again. "Don't much matter now. He's not gettin' away from me anymore."

[vata]

"Or me." Solidarity, though she knows it means less coming from a stranger rather than someone Jack knows intimately. Trusts intimately. Still, she leans over all the same - bumps her shoulder against Lena's in a way that's familiar, considering how often Lena does it to her.

At least in this, for a change, Tracer won't be alone.

[zippity]

She understands the intent behind the gesture (or, at least, she thinks she does) and that means more than the idea that Azúcar would also be watching out for Jack. Already in mostly good spirits, she presses back somewhat aggressively, as if the first press had been a challenge issued to her.

They made a pretty good team, if Silent Horizon was anything to measure by. She doesn't want to think about that too much, but there's definitely some relief in knowing that the other woman seems to be invested in watching her back.

[vata]

Challenge accepted, apparently.

And met, as Sombra's head tilts over to rest comfortably across Lena's shoulder, eyes drifting shut as the pre-movie screen flickers off in the distance, running through a series of preliminary silent tests.

"Hey."