The Metropolis Not!Vengers in... Location, location, location!

[stands_for_hope]

[continued from here]

Steve wakes up slowly, happy and warm and content enough he's not sure where he is at first. The clues he gets initially aren't helpful because they're such universal parts of his life, as far as his hindbrain is concerned, that they're just a part of 'how he should wake up'.

There's a warm body up against him, deep brown hair pressed up against his nose and mouth that smells like home, a ratty old mattress beneath him that's too firm for anyone but someone like him--

And a metal arm across his stomach. Huh. That shakes some things loose.

It doesn't halt the grin on his face, though. That's... probably never going away, or at least it won't be budging anytime soon (probably until Jim looks at him, disgusted, and tells him to 'stop lookin' like a loon'). Instead, he just reaches over to grab his phone from the the bedside table (amazing the things that survive a plain crash when they're kept in the right pocket) and peers at the time.

Huh. Nearly two. That's fair. But--

"Hey, sleepyhead. You get some good rest?"

Comments

[kolodnoykovki]

"We'll figure it out," he chuckled, then pulled out his phone to poke at the map search. He still wasn't sure just how it worked, but it was intuitive enough he didn't get it extremely wrong.

[justakidfrombrklyn]

"I'm following you for the moment. Not really in any kinda hurry, after all."

He trotted down the stairs towards the front entry.

"Where were you thinking we could go for the clothes?"

[kolodnoykovki]

"I need to hit the sporting goods store for sleeves, might find some stuff for you there," he said, "but just shirts. I get secondhand stuff for myself, usually, but they usually just barely have my size. Hey, the bed place is about three blocks away." Pretty short walk just for the two of them.

[justakidfrombrklyn]

"I was wondering where you found those. They look pretty good."

He dropped back to walk beside Jim.

"I'm sure there'll be something good there. Most of the rest of it, we can probably find at the grocery store and the pharmacy. They've got everything at the pharmacy these days, I swear."

[kolodnoykovki]

"Except for milkshakes," he agreed. "The one thing they took out of 'em. Kind of neat to look around 'em, though. All kinds of candy."

[justakidfrombrklyn]

"Where do you get your milkshakes from nowadays? I usually grab one when I'm at a diner but I haven't found anyplace to get them on the go much. Just... smoothies."

[kolodnoykovki]

"Lois knows a place. We went there yesterday. Makes a fantastic lemon milkshake - you should try it," he said, nodding. "Lemon milkshake and a chocolate bar? It'd be perfect."

[justakidfrombrklyn]

"Bed, then milkshakes? Drink 'em while we walk to the sporting goods shop?" he offered, glancing around the neighborhood.

[kolodnoykovki]

"Sounds great. Want the cherry off mine?" Keyboard slid back into the phone, he dropped the phone back into his pocket. He could find the bed store from where they were. Mattress, box spring, frame - just something simple. They didn't even need a headboard, really.

[justakidfrombrklyn]

"If you're offering," because he may have a sweet tooth. May very well have a sweet tooth he couldn't indulge much for a good portion of his life due to a family tendency towards diabetes that he indulges a lot now.

[kolodnoykovki]

He smiled faintly. "I'm offering. And I'm suggesting we go to the pharmacy before we get milkshakes, so you can have a lemon milkshake with a chocolate bar. You gotta see some of the candy they've got in these places."

[justakidfrombrklyn]

"Sounds like I'm being taken out for a real treat," he said with a little grin.

[kolodnoykovki]

"S'the kind of thing you're supposed to do with your best guy," Jim said more quietly, slightly cautious, but more shy.

[justakidfrombrklyn]

"And lucky me, my best guy's knows how to take me out in his town," he said, keeping his voice pitched low but warm.

[kolodnoykovki]

"On your dime - but we'll do it on mine next time."

[justakidfrombrklyn]

Steve shrugged, because he'd never really thought of his money as 'his' so much as 'theirs' for most of his life. Steve reached up and pointed towards one of the shop fronts.

"That the mattress place over there?"

[kolodnoykovki]

"Yep. Last time I saw so many beds in one place was my first barracks. And no way in hell were they that nice." It was a little intimidating - almost. "Let's just hope they've got one firm enough for us."

[justakidfrombrklyn]

"Did you want to put together your own frame or are we going to be grabbing one of those as well?" he asked as he headed up to get to the crosswalk.

[kolodnoykovki]

He'd gotten used to this particular flashback.

This one, where he saw the street, saw the street from the middle, saw an SUV heading toward him, and shot a single explosive disk, saw his aim utterly unerring.

Explosion. Smoke. Lift. One step, a breeze. And then he turned and walked toward the battered husk--

"I think we need a frame," he said, voice distant but growing more present with every word. "Just a simple one."

[justakidfrombrklyn]

Steve heard the difference, though, and reached back to settle his hand gently on Jim's shoulder.

"Simple and strong. We're both pretty big."

[kolodnoykovki]

Back to himself, he nodded. Slow and sure. "Yeah, we are. Futon fits well enough, but I don't think it's a size."

[justakidfrombrklyn]

"Probably best if we see what the sizes are like in the store and just judge there," he admitted as he walked across the street. Then they were at the door, which he opened as a matter of habit for Jim.

[kolodnoykovki]

Jim stepped through without thinking twice about it, looking around with a certain measure of disbelief. So many beds. A part of him was almost disgusted. So many here, and so few for the homeless people he'd slept amongst...

"Better than the barracks for sure."

[justakidfrombrklyn]

Steve noticed a bit of the hesitation, raising an eyebrow at him carefully out of curiosity before stepping forward, looking around for a bed that looked about right. After a moment of being unsure of what he could even start looking for, he trotted over to one of the folks who appeared to work for the store. She pointed him over to one of the sections of the store and Steve ran back, tilting his head in the same direction.

"She said the firm ones are over that way."

[kolodnoykovki]

Jim had been wandering around, pushing on some, and he'd stopped at a memory foam mattress that he just wasn't sure about. He pushed his hand in and watched the foam slowly take shape again. He tugged at a corner, sat on it -- and he hurriedly stood. That just hadn't been right.

When Steve came to tell him where the firm beds were, he gladly followed, leaving the memory foam behind. "That thing was just weird..."