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]

"Idiot," Jim laughed, but settled his hand at Steve's waist for one more fleeting moment. "We gotta get you some clothes. Even though that shirt looks almost as hot on you as one of mine used to."

[justakidfrombrklyn]

"Milkshakes, clothes, and then home," he agreed with a little grin of his own.

He pressed his body against Jim's hand.

"And you get to pick some of it. The clothes, I mean. After all, you're the one lookin' at me."

[kolodnoykovki]

"Think I'm gonna call in while we're having milkshakes and take a couple days. Tell 'im we had a family emergency and I'll need some time..." He slid his hand around to Steve's back before stepping away. "Gotta have some time with just us."

[justakidfrombrklyn]

"I could do that."

Then the tips of his ears went a little pink.

"Gotta... get the new bed in and all. Make sure it works for us."

[kolodnoykovki]

And then-- "...Occurs to me we don't have sheets. Gotta get those tomorrow."

[justakidfrombrklyn]

"Tomorrow, definitely," he agreed before glancing at the street. Then he breathed in deep.

"You good?"

[kolodnoykovki]

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm good," he exhaled. "Milkshakes?"

[justakidfrombrklyn]

"Gotta show me the way, Jim," he said before tugging him out of the alley and back onto the sidewalk. He took a moment to check the bags that were looped on his arms, but everything looked to be in order.

[kolodnoykovki]

Bags intact on Steve's arm and on his own, and he tugged his arm down toward another crosswalk. What was a few blocks' walk for the two of them. The milkshake place was a little spot with a drive-thru, a small dining room, but a much larger outdoor space with picnic tables under an overhang. The menu was extensive to say the least, and Jim looked at it with a smile. "Here we go."

[justakidfrombrklyn]

"Any recommendations on the milkshake? Other than your usual, of course."

Lemon wasn't his favorite, but he wasn't opposed.

[kolodnoykovki]

"Lois had some kind of chocolate coconut thing," he said, "and she liked it, but I guess I'm more for fruit flavours. I think there's a list over there..."

[justakidfrombrklyn]

He looked at the list and pointed at what seemed like an obvious choice for him.

"Banana Fudge. Without a question. You sticking with lemon?"

[kolodnoykovki]

"Yep. I was feeling bad the last time I had it. Wanna see if it's as good as it should be when I'm feeling good. Get the large one. The cups are huge and they come with whipped cream and a cherry on top."

[justakidfrombrklyn]

"Two cherries for me," he said smugly before walking up to the streetside walkup window.

"A large lemon pie milkshake and a large banana fudge, please?"

[kolodnoykovki]

While Steve ordered, Jim put a few dollars into the tip jar just on principle. The shakes were handmade and it took time but soon enough, there were two huge cups delivered up, a straw sticking out of each, a cherry on top. "There we go."

[justakidfrombrklyn]

Steve took up his milkshake like a kid at a candy store and sipped in deep.

"It's not as good as the pancakes, but it's damn good."

[kolodnoykovki]

Jim, meanwhile, plucked the cherry off his and held it out to him. "Here."

[justakidfrombrklyn]

Steve smoothly took the cherry and popped it into his mouth with a wily grin.

[kolodnoykovki]

He couldn't help a laugh at that grin. "Keep grinnin' like that and they're gonna think you won the lottery."

[justakidfrombrklyn]

"Who's to say I didn't?" he answered with a waggle of his eyebrows. Then he was focused on sucking through as much of the thick shake as possible, banana chunks be damned.

"One of these would be amazing with the bananas at the house."

[kolodnoykovki]

"We're spoiled to that, y'know?" But he pulled Steve over to a picnic table to sit with him. "Makes me worry about taking advantage."

[justakidfrombrklyn]

"I'd worry about it more if he didn't look pleased as punch every time one of us had one," Steve admitted as he settled on a bench.

"It reminds me a little of Tony sometimes. Not quite as smug as Tony, of course, but no one is."

[kolodnoykovki]

"I didn't think they made people as nice as Clark. Even you aren't as nice as Clark," he teased, nudging Steve's foot. But once he was seated, he reached into the bag and pulled out the purple-wrapped chocolate bar he'd picked out.

[justakidfrombrklyn]

He snorted.

"Irish temper. What am I gonna do, eh?" and he nudged Jim's foot in return.

"Nah, when Lois calls him Smallville, I know what she means. Dumb luck itself that you managed to stumble on him out of everyone in the whole wide world."

[kolodnoykovki]

He laughed. "Other way around, actually. I was in a bus shelter and he stumbled into me. Literally. It was raining like hell, he ran into me. I was still... not doing so great, but I managed not to growl at him too much. I was on my way to a mission to get a meal and he was on his way there to investigate some thefts. I ended up having to teach him how to look homeless."