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

[justakidfrombrklyn]

He couldn't help it. It wasn't the smart response or the best response, but it was the one he had.

Which was why his face broke into a slightly manic laugh.

"You'd put all that work in... and you didn't want anyone undoing a lifetime of... scraping me off the floor because of some war off somewhere, eh, Buck?"

He didn't even realize he'd slipped because it was all just... insane. Ridiculous. Utterly him.

"That... explains why you looked half ready to kill me when I showed up to drag you out of that factory. Half confused, half ready to kill me yourself. Damn. Just... damn."

[kolodnoykovki]

"I wanted you to be safe," he protested. "You were... You were important. You were the reason I had to get back from the war, and then I woke up, and I was either hallucinating or dead because there you were, two feet too big and dragging me out of that damn place... And I wondered why the hell they'd let you get there because you were too important to risk to these arrogant idiots with guns."

[justakidfrombrklyn]

"Eleven inches," he said, a little less... wild. Nodding and smiling crooked. He gave Jim's shoulder a squeeze.

"But, Jim... you were important too. If I hadn't gotten that ride from Stark, I was aimin' to steal a truck. And when I ran outta gas, I woulda walked the rest of the way."

He finally found Jim's eyes.

"And I woulda done that at 5'4'' too."

[kolodnoykovki]

"I know you would'a," Jim said quietly, "and you probably would'a got killed doing it. And then both of us would'a been dead."

[justakidfrombrklyn]

"And now we're not."

Because that's the important thing. Both about what Jim'd originally mentioned and all the rest.

"We're alive, and we're... us. And 'us' too."

[kolodnoykovki]

He nudged Steve sideways. "You always were a lucky little punk."

[justakidfrombrklyn]

"Except when I have to turn," he said, nudging back, back in step towards the sporting goods store.

[kolodnoykovki]

"Good thing you're durable." He led Steve into the store and back to the area he'd gotten used to shopping at. He'd bought a few colours of sleeve, just so he could toss it up now and then, but this was the first one he'd actually managed to tear up.

He went right to the department where he'd found the others and started prodding around.

[justakidfrombrklyn]

Steve gave him a pat on the back and went to go look for jeans, picking out a few pairs and grabbing a few pairs of khakis as well.

[kolodnoykovki]

He ended up choosing a neon green one and then headed over to find Steve, sneaking up behind him to run a finger up his back.

[justakidfrombrklyn]

Jim would feel the muscles there practically ripple, each one relaxing in turn as he picked out a plaid shirt or two. His basket already had a couple of packs of briefs and socks, Clark was going to donate the t-shirts...

"Hey."

[kolodnoykovki]

"Hey," he answered, peering over Steve's shoulder to see what he had. His arm slid around Steve from behind, stealing a moment. "Looks like you've found some stuff."

[justakidfrombrklyn]

"Found what you needed?" he asked, glancing over to check Jim's basket.

He added the plaid shirt to the basket, making sure to cover up the tiny visible corner of a certain white button up shirt he'd grabbed earlier.

[kolodnoykovki]

"Yep, for now. Think I wanna stop by this grocery store I know of on the way home, just to get some stuff for around the house, but I got my sleeve thing. Think green suits me?" He held it up and it truly was an embarrassing shade of green, but the colour choice was limited.

[justakidfrombrklyn]

He looked at it thoughtfully, intending to be honest.

"I think if you wear it with darker colors, it'll work for you. Teal brings out your eyes, though."

...he's thought about this.

[kolodnoykovki]

"Give the guy colour vision, suddenly he's a fashion consultant." He tickled Steve's side with a smirk.

[justakidfrombrklyn]

He squirmed out of the way with a laugh before nudging Jim with his shoulder.

"Art student to be," he protested.

[kolodnoykovki]

He laughed, taking hold of one of Steve's belt loops and giving him a little shake. "Fine. Art student."

[justakidfrombrklyn]

"And professional expert on your eyes," he said firmly.

[kolodnoykovki]

"You've been looking at them long enough." But he was smiling.

[justakidfrombrklyn]

"Damn right," and he gave Jim one last nudge before tugging him along to get to the checkout. He knew he couldn't hide the button up there, but maybe it would make Jim smile, seeing it on the stack of shirts.

[kolodnoykovki]

He actually didn't see it, jogging off at the last moment with a tossed off - "Hang on, I forgot something."

A few minutes later, he joined Steve at the door, looking smug again. "Okay," he said. "One more stop."

[justakidfrombrklyn]

Taking the opportunity, he tucked the shirt down into the bag and made sure that it wasn't visible. When Jim came back:

"Food?"

[kolodnoykovki]

"I want to get some pies," he agreed. "I'm thinking apple, blueberry, banana cream, and chocolate."

[justakidfrombrklyn]

"I'm not going to object to pie," said the man who'd gone out and tried a piece of just about every pie from every bakery in a two mile radius over the first month of his time at Avengers Tower.

"And I think, if I figured it out right, the grocery store is on the way home."