( closed ) smol and not as tol as tol finally meet

[smoothaf]

Who: Napoleon Solo (smoothaf)and Gaby Teller (smolaf)
When: 18 June
Where: Cargo Bay
What: Napoleon wakes up from cryo to find that someone he knows is here
Warnings: n/a


Napoleon had been very disconcerted to find that a whole month had suddenly gone past. He didn't feel sick, but he'd gone to sleep one night and woken up the next month in the cryo pods. Objectively he knew it sometimes happened, but it was a very different thing when it applied to him.

The first thing he did was figure out what he missed. Nothing jumps out at him until he came across the crew list.

Gaby.

He'd seen Illya come and go and now it was the other third of their trio. At least here he knew she wouldn't be inclined to kill him. That was a worry with Peril considering Napoleon's last memory of him before he arrived here so thankfully there's no need to plan out their unavoidable meeting. It says she works in the cargo bay so that seems like a good a place as any to start looking for her.

Because he's been unconscious for a month his hair has gone back to their natural curls and he chooses not to fix up his appearance. Instead he puts on Clark Kent's glasses despite the fact that the man himself was no longer around. Napoleon got by the glasses by somewhat legitimate means so if anyone mistook him... well, it was their mistake.

Napoleon does find her in the cargo bay. Perhaps she's eyeing up the various vehicles stored there instead of working, but it matters little to him as he walks up silently behind her.

"Hello Gaby."

Comments

[smolaf]

She's actually somewhat hard at work, Napoleon, thank you very much.

The machinery that Gaby suddenly found herself surrounded by was definitely different than what she was used to. The basics were there, but the similarities stopped there. To say that she was equal parts fascinated and frustrated with her new environment more or less summed up how she was feeling. The new machinery was technically the only perk.

Gaby couldn't help but have a hunch that someone she knew was on the ship. She had known Napoleon long enough to know that he wasn't the type of man to be open about his true identity and even though the man that listed in the crew list didn't have his name, he had his initials and looked suspiciously like him. She had been keeping an eye out for him in her short time here, but hadn't actively looked. So when a very familiar voice greets her, she can't say she's entirely surprised.

She turns, hands on hips, scrutinizing him but still sounding completely confident (and already a bit tired) immediately. "Solo. When did you glasses?"

[smoothaf]

He touches the rim of his glasses and ducks his head down in what might look like a self-conscious gesture to anyone watching. In contrast to his body language which is merely a show for anyone looking at them, his voice is playful and just as annoyingly vague.

"I got them in the mail one day. They belonged to a former member of the crew, but since he's no longer here to complain I figured I'd keep them."

They're not prescription lenses because there's no way Superman would need them for anything other than as a disguise which means he's free to wear them for as long as he wants.

[smolaf]

"A little bit morbid, no?" she asks, her nose wrinkling a little. "They make you look less assuming than you are."

She knows that he's not the sentimental type and can only assume that it's to play into his occupation. Spies, she can't help but think with a sigh though she knows she's one to talk when she's recently come into the profession too. Who he could be possibly hiding from is beyond her. Gaby was smart enough to search the crew list and there wasn't a single name on there familiar to her.

"How long have you been on board?"

[smoothaf]

"I think that was the point." He doesn't elaborate further and instead Napoleon straightens up because his next words are going to be a little difficult for her to believe. The way she greeted him told him volumes about how long ago she last saw him.

"Six months."

They may be living in space when the Russians had only just managed to send a man up two years ago, but it still wasn't something they could easily wrap their heads around.

[smolaf]

The length of time isn't the longest that she's heard (others had been there longer than Napoleon had), but it was still enough to make her eyes widen.

"What?"

Maybe it had been naive of her to assume that he had been there as long as she had. After all, she had essentially just parted ways with him when she had woken up quite literally in the middle of no where. "But -," Her frustration with not being able to grasp this leap in time shows on her face. "Has Illya shown up at all during that time?"

[smoothaf]

There's a genuine moment where Napoleon is heavily tempted to pass Ivan off as Illya. It would certainly be entertaining, but he still has to work in close quarters with Gaby and he doesn't doubt her ability to make him regret it.

"Once." And because this is somewhat important information to him he adds, "He seemed surprised that I had the disc."

Still had. He hasn't had the opportunity to do anything with it, didn't know what he could do with it as it seemed terribly outdated now.

[smolaf]

Gaby isn't familiar with the pang of feeling that flashes through her for a brief moment when she hears that Illya had in fact been there before. She tells herself not to be some silly, lovesick girl. After all, she had just seen him but their time aboard the Moria had not overlapped.

"When was the last time you saw me?"

There are more pressing matters than her feelings at hand anyway.

[smoothaf]

At least that he could answer easily.

"After our mission was wrapped up and we were packing to go our separate ways."

This is the most truthful he's been in months and he feels oddly comforted by it. The time he spent with Gaby and Illya as himself was not the norm and he'd fallen into old habits on the Moira, but now confronted with her again it felt like this was better.

[smolaf]

"Do you know that we've been assigned to work together on something else then?"

It's the next logical question. She needs to understand what he knows and what he doesn't know. But, in her short time with him, Gaby has learned that there isn't much that can be classified into that second category. Aside from knowing all that though, Gaby is still, somehow trying to wrest control of the strange, strange situation that she's been thrown into.

[smoothaf]

Napoleon is thrown off by her words, although he maintains his composure. He did expect that he and Gaby would team up in the future as their countries were on decent terms with each other, but Peril? That assumed both of them survived the fight over the disc and there was yet another situation that eclipsed the frosty relationship between America and Russia.

"Don't tell me there's another bomb that needs retrieving."

He leans back casually against a crate. The cargo bay isn't empty, but no one's close enough to see them clearly let alone hear them and Napoleon is going to do his best to ensure they don't feel the need to. The subject matter may be of a sensitive nature, but his body language says they're merely having a pleasant conversation.

[smolaf]

Gaby's body language is always defensive and she still stands there with her arms crossed, stance wide. She had learned from a young age that her small stature may be against her, but that didn't mean she could act like she was bigger than she was.

"We weren't told the details. Just that we've been officially become a 'family' now. Aren't we lucky?"

Her lips quirk into an ironic little smile. Lucky her. She had such high hopes that her mother status among the three of them would end with their former mission but that had been nipped in the bud rather quickly. That being said, she did get some satisfaction knowing that she knew something that the dapper spy didn't.

[smoothaf]

...She's serious. Well at least he won't have to worry about getting killed by an angry giant Russian for the foreseeable future. Carefully and blandly he adds, "That must have been great news for you two."

He on the other hand is still waiting to serve out the remaining years of his sentence. He doesn't get a choice in any of this, but this was a far better situation than he expected. They're capable and inclined to come back for him.