NETWORK [video - open]

[bossyboiler]

Who: Kate Cordello
Username: bossyboiler
Warnings: N/A (will update when/if necessary)

Could everyone maybe check in, even if I don't know you. I feel like there's a few people I haven't seen around here lately.

Comments

[bossyboiler]

A once a month sound off if you're dead or missing? [ Have a sad smile Steve.] I could get behind that.

[punched_hitler]

Exactly - although honestly, we might want to make it weekly, at least. You never know around here, right?

[bossyboiler]

Weekly, huh? I see your reasoning. You do never know. But man is it depressing.

[punched_hitler]

Maybe. [His smile is a little sad. A little tight.]

Guess we could think of it as keeping in touch. Staying social.

[bossyboiler]

We can start a group chat. That would be easy for everyone to keep up with.

[ It is a sad subject. ]

How have you been besides?

[punched_hitler]

That sounds very modern, [Steve grins a little, even if there's some small tinge of sadness to it.]

All right. A little jumpy, but - no paranoid, I'd like to think. Winter would probably tell me if I'm being stupid. He's good at that.

How are you holding up? [She's the one about to lose her roommates. And, ideally, keep them in information from the inside.]

[bossyboiler]

Do you need a tutorial? I could help you with that.

[ She's not going to tease him for being an old fart. It's not what she does. Well. It's usually not what she does. ]

He would tell you if you're being too paranoid. [ She thinks anyway. Winter doesn't really have a filter. ]

I'm okay, Steve. I'm managing. There's a lot of things changing, you know?

[punched_hitler]

Better let me see if I can stumble into doing it right for myself. If not, you can laugh.

[But he agrees - Winter is straightforward and unfiltered enough that he'd say something if it needed to be said. Steve appreciates that about him, among other things.]

Yeah, it sure feels like it. Feels like it's accelerating, too, doesn't it?

[bossyboiler]

I wouldn't laugh at you for that. Not everyone has your... life experience.

It does. Usually I'm ambivalent to change but this feels like too much and too quickly, you know?

[punched_hitler]

Or very weirdly specific lack thereof, when it comes to cell phones.

[But he appreciates the way she doesn't laugh.]

Life is change, [he agrees,] but this does feel... rigged. I don't think I can be surprised, but I can be unsettled about it.

All we can do is try to rig it in our favor, I think. By sticking together, for one, even if not physically.

[Just staying in touch will help a lot, he thinks.]

[bossyboiler]

Just keep trying. You'll get there.

[ She's not going to laugh. It's not his fault he's an old man trapped in a younger man's body. Kind of like Winter. ]

Don't jinx yourself, Steve. That's like asking Gloucester to surprise you. You may not like what you get.

But we're not really sticking together are we?

[punched_hitler]

Just because some of us are choosing to live somewhere else and work on the problem on our own doesn't mean we're not sticking together.

Is that really how you see it?

[bossyboiler]

No. I phrased that poorly. I know that I'll always have a space with you guys.

[punched_hitler]

Good. Good, that's important, Because it's true.

But it still bothers you that we're going, [he guesses quietly.]

[bossyboiler]

I understand why you guys are leaving. It just makes me a little sad is all.

[punched_hitler]

I wish things were different so that we didn't have to, yeah. But I guess that's just life - things change, right?

But we don't have to let it change us, or how we're always going to support each other. If you need anything, you just call, and you know we'll come running.

[bossyboiler]

Yeah. I guess it is. Life is change and all that.

I know. You guys will be here as quick as you can. And I fully intend to help out at the house.

[punched_hitler]

We could definitely use it. [He certainly doesn't want to make her work for it, but he does want her to feel like part of the group. She is.]

And maybe some of your expertise in the kitchen, once everything's working in there.

[bossyboiler]

I've seen pics. I know that you can.

I don't think you have to worry about being fed. I've been teaching Winter and Yelena both how to cook and bake. They've both come a long ways.

[punched_hitler]

[That, at least, makes him laugh a little.] We really can.

Have you? Well, ma'am, I salute your dedication to doing your civic duty.

[His stomach will sure appreciate it.]

Although I could probably use some pointers, too, honestly. I wouldn't want them to carry all the cooking.

[bossyboiler]

I have. I've enjoyed teaching them. Maybe they can teach you?

[ This causes her to laugh a little bit because now she's imagining Winter trying to teach Steve how to make pasta with his usual demeanor. What? It's humorous. ]

You won't starve. I'll be cooking there fairly soon I think.

[punched_hitler]

[Yeah, that makes him laugh a little, too - probably picturing the same thing. Though it would be fun.]

Maybe. I think it'd involve astronomical amounts of eyerolling, though.

And then we won't get to see you, [he adds.] Staying ignorant in the ways of the kitchen is worth it, just in case we need an excuse.

Not that you need one to come by. [Just to reiterate.]

[bossyboiler]

You never know until you try! You could be amazing, you don't know.

You don't need an excuse and I know I don't need one either though it is nice to hear it repeated.

[punched_hitler]

I don't know about that. I grew up with a terrible sense of taste and I think it might have put me at a disadvantage.

But you're right. Maybe it's worth saying things like that, to make sure people get to hear them more often.