You'll waste more of my time denying my assistance than you will accepting it.
[ Which is to say two can play at that game, and only one of them has a gaping wound. Stephen doesn't move an inch, neither to intervene nor to go away. He knows this space. It's his. His workplace, his business, his shared operation - he and the team here have their own language embedded by now, from the medically proficient to those helping with laundry and food. He runs periodic checks with his chest glowing blue to ensure nobody's pain is going ignored or unnoticed, nobody slipping through the cracks.
So it's with total confidence that he stands and waits her out, unperturbed by the suggestion that he might be neglecting somebody who needs his attention more than she does, unswayed by her determination to take care of things herself. He knows how capable she is, but they all have their roles here.
She finishes another stitch. He marries the reality of her present up to the blurred images of a few hundred pasts. One thing is for certain, if this isn't Natasha Romanoff he'll be surprised. ]
no subject
[ Which is to say two can play at that game, and only one of them has a gaping wound. Stephen doesn't move an inch, neither to intervene nor to go away. He knows this space. It's his. His workplace, his business, his shared operation - he and the team here have their own language embedded by now, from the medically proficient to those helping with laundry and food. He runs periodic checks with his chest glowing blue to ensure nobody's pain is going ignored or unnoticed, nobody slipping through the cracks.
So it's with total confidence that he stands and waits her out, unperturbed by the suggestion that he might be neglecting somebody who needs his attention more than she does, unswayed by her determination to take care of things herself. He knows how capable she is, but they all have their roles here.
She finishes another stitch. He marries the reality of her present up to the blurred images of a few hundred pasts. One thing is for certain, if this isn't Natasha Romanoff he'll be surprised. ]