[audio - private to Bond]

[unmakeme_tlv]

Have you seen?

[If he doesn't know what she's talking about, he hasn't been to the deck, and that must be remedied immediately.]

Comments

[unmakeme]

[Of course not.]

Put it on and come pick me up.

[lastrat]

Give me twenty minutes.

[If he's going to get fancy, he's doing it right.]

[unmakeme]

If I must.

[For twenty whole minutes, Natasha is going to be expecting some serious style.

What she can manage in twenty minutes is also pretty impressive. Artfully messy updo, minimal makeup that still manages to be arresting, and a dress that redefines the word slinky.

Barge life offers very few opportunities for Natasha to do anything she finds genuinely amusing, a combination of her skewed sense of humour and a lack of variety. She's taking this one while she can get it.]

[lastrat]

[Bond has a very vain streak. He showers, shaves, opts for a tuxedo that he hasn't had occasion to wear here yet. It's very finely tailored, fits him like a glove, and when he shows up at her door, he looks both impressed and impressive.

Her amusement is catching, so he offers her his arm.]

Shall we? [Wherever they're going.]

[unmakeme]

We shall.

[She smiles, takes his arm, and lets him escort her to the deck, subtle nudging at his side letting him keep the illusion of being the one leading.]

Something that very much resembles a gentleman is going to escort something that very much resembles a lady to something that very much resembles a gallery opening.

[lastrat]

[His mouth ticks up at the corner.] I should confess, art isn't my strong point.

[unmakeme]

Oh, don't worry.

[She leans against his side for a moment, shaking her head.]

This isn't really art. But it's something to do, and I don't know about you, but there's only so much the CTS helps me with the whole stir crazy thing.

[lastrat]

The CTS helps? [His eyebrows arch, and the smile grows a little. He's noticed the nudges, the leaning.]

And whose gallery opening are we shamelessly using as diversion?

[unmakeme]

[Natasha just shrugs.]

I enjoy a little violence from time to time. It's more fun with a partner, but if you're going to let off steam, there are only a couple of ways to do it here.

[Sex and violence, that's all she's got, and she hasn't seen Arkin in a while.]

Hannibal is trying to unsettle us all. I think he's also trying to show us how much better he is than his circumstances. Never occurs to him that he might not be the only one.

[lastrat]

And less fun alone. [There's a challenge to it that he enjoys, but there is a certain unpredictability about humans that makes for a better distraction.

At the mention of Hannibal, his mouth quirks; bad enough that he's some absurd figure out of pop culture - worse that he looks like Le Chiffre a few years older. There's been a bad taste in his mouth since their first - and only - interaction.]

I imagine that rarely occurs to him.