3209/We Need to Have a Talk, Skye.

We Need to Have a Talk, Skye.
Date of Scene:	20 November 2017
Location:	New York City
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Melinda May, Quake, Hawkeye (Barton)

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Melinda May has posed:
The pasta and Plastic Band party has pretty much wound down for the night, Darcy having been shooed off to sleep in her own quarters already. May is helping clean up the kitchen, carrying the last of the dishes in from the living room.

"Barton, I need to have a chat with Skye. Go try to beat your archery score in the shooting range again, please."

After Clint has departed, she looks at Skye over the saucepan she's currently washing. She's going to give the kid one chance to try and make excuses or offer explanations or whatever. But only one.

Quake has posed:
There's a slightly wide-eyed 'help me' look cast Clint's way as he's shooed off, but really, she's not surprised by this happening. What she was mostly surprised with was that it hadn't come earlier. Or.. maybe that it happened tonight, not say, next week.

Skye's got drying dute. And bringing the miscellaneous remains back into the kitchen to be dealt with. And while she gets that look, Skye isn't precisely certain what it is May is going to lecture her about. So she goes with the most obvious, "Okay, yeah. We're seeing one another. But you knew that?"

Melinda May has posed:
"Obviously." Clearly, there is more that May is wanting to hear from the younger agent. "Seems to have happened out of nowhere, though. What's the story?" She rinses off the saucepan and sets it next to the other dishes waiting to be dried. "Because it really did seem to me like one day you were eight kinds of indignant, and the next day you two were joined at the hip." Or something else in the lower torso region.

Quake has posed:
There's a crinkle of nose from Skye, "What? You're the one said I should make connections. Hell, you're the one stuck us together in that training session." She shrugs, swiping at a plate with the lone teatowel in the place, and that by virtue of coming with the kitchen set (oven mitts, hotpad, teatowel. Skye didn't even know what it was for until May showed her).

"I don't know. We got talking after that, and he came over with some frou-frou beer to say hello. Caught me making ramen for dinner and dragged my ass out for real food. Nat came along and things kind of got out of hand."

She doesn't make eye contact as she rushes over that whole ending there, setting the mostly dry plate on the counter and reaching for the next.

Melinda May has posed:
"Out of hand?" That's not-at-all subtle prompt to elaborate. "Also, I heard that you and Natasha didn't hit it off well. What happened there?" Because usually, Nat and Clint are just this side of a package deal, so having one like Skye and the other NOT is ... interesting.

With the last dishes washed and that tea towel no doubt nearly dripping wet from drying, May snags it out of Skye's hands. "Go get a small towel from the bathroom. A clean one, please." She takes a moment to wring as much water out of the tea towel as possible then hangs it over the oven door handle to dry while making a mental note to make Skye's next training session include a trip to a Bed, Bath, and Beyond.

Quake has posed:
Skye deals with getting a towel first. It gives her an opportunity to figure out how many shades of truth or lie she's about to lay out in front of Agent May, and whether or not she thinks she'll get away with any of it.

As it turns out, towels, she has. Of different sizes, even. Despite her lack of culinary skills, it turns out Skye likes being clean. Towels are one of the few things the girl has a normal human quota of. And they're even of the decent sort as well. Two hand towels are brought into the kitchen, one held out as an offering to May.

"Nat and I still don't get on. At least not the way you mean it. I think she's decided to tolerate the fact that he does like me and let it go at that."

Again Skye shrugs, setting the towel she holds down, and poking through her cupboards to see which one it was the plates went into again. That, and it gives her an excuse to keep her attention elsewhere.

"Nat walked in on Clint and I at this pub and made some remark about if it was a date, she'd leave. He kinda jumped a little too fast on my saying it wasn't a date and she was welcome to join us. Made some joke about he wished he was dating me. Blah blah.. shit happened. Somehow by the end of the evening we both hadn't declared it all a joke.. and we like each other. Kind of a lot, actually."

Melinda May has posed:
Taking the offered towel, May finishes drying things then wipes down the counter. While Skye's explanation is thin on details, the gist is there. And that's enough, really. "Sounds to me like you need to go have a chat with Natasha as well." She leans against the counter and crosses her arms. It's not the usual intimidation gesture, though. "Because you really don't want to be on her bad side for the long term. And whatever put you two at odds needs to be dealt with, sooner rather than later. Imagine what could happen if you and she are sent out on a mission tomorrow."

Quake has posed:
May is given a look. "What? What happens? I tell you what happens. She does her job. I do mine."

The young woman shakes her head and goes into the fridge, scrounging around for a beer, finind nothing but the frou-frou stuck at the back. "Figures. Whatever, getting kind of used to this crap anyway." Popping back out of the fridge, opening the can, Skye declares, "You don't have to tell him I like it."

Not like he doesn't know that already, but still, principle.

"Look," Skye sighs over a sip out of the can. "We had it out. That whole thing at the bar? We had it out. The whole while we're bitching at one another, there's this constant side order of snark passing over and through Clint, like he's this bit of glue between us. Keeps us from killing one another. To quote her, we don't have to like one another to work together. Not sure what you think there is left to deal with. Message loud and clear, she doesn't like me, but she'll die before she lets that interfere with the job."

A pause. "Feel better?"

Melinda May has posed:
May takes a deep breath. "For now. I just have to hope that you and she don't get stuck in a life or death situation together. Because you don't feel you can one hundred percent trust the person at your back in a bad situation, it could get very bad for you both." She's not doubting that either of them will do their jobs. She's just been around long enough to see the worst possible scenario. Multiple times. And how people react when stuck in those scenarios. There's no room and definitely no time for doubts or second-guessing.

"But, if you don't think that can be worked out, we'll just have to flag both your profiles to make sure you're not thrown onto teams together unless there's plenty of backup or neither of you will be going anywhere dangerous."

Quake has posed:
Skye turns slowly, giving May a long stare before setting her beer down on the kitchen counter. "Is that some sort of slur on the fact that I don't play well with others? Because I get it. I get I wasn't a team player, but what makes you think out of anything I've done when the chips were down - hell, even in fucking training sessions - what makes you think I can't be trusted to watch her back like it's my own? What kind of piece of shit do you think I am anyway?"

Melinda May has posed:
May's eyebrows draw together in a faint frown. "You need to calm down. I'm not accusing you -- or her -- of anything. I'm saying that when bullets are flying you have a third of a second to decide if you're going to move so a bullet hits you or hits her, you won't have time to THINK about it. In that kind of situation even an eyeblink is enough for someone to end up dead."

She sets the towel in her hands on the counter and moves to take her leave. She really did NOT need to be reminded of old scars tonight.

Quake has posed:
"No, you are too accusing at least one of us, and I'm pretty sure it's not her. What I do has nothing to do with whether she likes me or not. You honestly believe that of me, then you should never have recommended me for promotion. Seriously. Shoulda have flat out told Fury there was no way to get me on board and let me walk because that.. that there.. you pretty much just said I can't be trusted to be there for my teammate."

Skye leaves her beer on the counter and marches herself into the livingroom, where she parks her ass on the couch. "Real fucking great. Fucking get with the program only to find out the program didn't get with me. Whatever."

Melinda May has posed:
May stops short of the door and turns to stare at Skye. "No, I'm saying that I didn't completely trust a teammate and in a firefight they ended up dead because I hesitated. I did. And I get to live with that. I'm trying to make sure that doesn't end up happening to you." And then she's out the door. But at least she takes care to not slam it.

Quake has posed:
Skye sits there for a moment, glaring at her ceiling. "Oh, for fuck's sakes. Really? Seriously? I am not equiped to fix these things. I am not the better person here!"

All the while dragging her ass off the couch to head off after May, because after her fight with Nat, the one thing she'd learned was part of the fester was leaving. And, unlike Clint, they didn't have a nice catch phrase to say what sort of cooling off period was needed. Not to mention.. this could very well turn into another of this 'need to flag the pair of you so that you're not thrown onto teams together' because of a lack of trust.

The young woman heading out of her unit to chase after her Senior Officer. Good thing Skye's in the boonies and literally at the end of the residential hallway here. There's only one way to head after May..

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Clint, as one might expect isn't great at following orders. So, he's lingering in the hall tapping away at his phone when May makes her exit. He looks at her as he passes, a questioning eyebrow raised. Less like May's vulcan thing, more like what the heck is going on?

If he doesn't get an answer he asks Skye when she appears, "Well that didn't look good," he remarks falling into step with her.

Melinda May has posed:
May is walking down the hallway away from Skye's quarters as if absolutely everything were completely normal. Because she doesn't throw punches at walls even when she wants to. And yes, she noticed Clint loitering there and just kept right on walking.

Not good, indeed. She gets to the end of the hall and turns the corner.

Quake has posed:
Skye rolls her eyes at Clint. "No. In fact it isn't good. Not one bit good. We are not leaving me alone with normal human beings anymore. And I am not letting her march off without us clearing the air. Frou-frou beer is on the counter in the kitchen. I just cracked it open. Have at."

She continues on her march after May, and unlike the other woman, she's not walking, she's doing a trot down the hallway, intent on catching up.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
May blowing on by was to be expected, and when Skye fills him on the details. "Thanks, but I'll tag along, no leaving you with normal people right?" Clint echoes to her, matching her strides with his. If she pushes the issue, he'll back off, but for now, he's got her back.