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]

"Well, what goes with pie and has a vegetarian option?" Jim asked - because he wasn't going to leave Clark out.

[justakidfrombrklyn]

"I don't know about an 'option'," he said after a minute, "but I know how to make a pretty good baked ziti with eggplant. I could put that together."

[kolodnoykovki]

He nodded. "Sounds good. We've done something like that a couple times. Get some Italian sausage to have on the side for us meat-eaters, and some salad greens..."

[justakidfrombrklyn]

"I'll leave that to you. I still don't have the knack for sausages," he admitted, "but I'll get the salad done. And that should fill us all up."

[kolodnoykovki]

"I know we've got some salad stuff at home," he said. "But we might wanna get some other stuff, like those bread cubes and things."

[justakidfrombrklyn]

"Croutons. You like croutons?" Because he was kind of ambivalent about it.

"Dressing?"

[kolodnoykovki]

"I like a little bit of crunchy somethin' in the lettuce," he said, "and I know we've got... uh. A few dressings. An orange one, a couple white ones, and one you've gotta shake up before you use it."

[justakidfrombrklyn]

"That'll work," he agreed as he pressed the button for the crosswalk.

"Sometime, I'm gonna ask you to make a pot roast though. Cannot even tell you how much I've missed your pot roast."

[kolodnoykovki]

"Even Clark eats my roast," Jim said, "but I'll still make sure there's enough vegetables for him. If you wanna pick it out tonight, I'll make it tomorrow. We'll need potatoes, carrots, green beans... I'll make it in the oven since I'm feedin' you and Diana and everybody else. Crock pot won't hold a roast that big."

[justakidfrombrklyn]

"That's a deal," he said, a little bounce in his step at the thought.

"We do all seem to have healthy appetites. Even Lois can put away a lot, though it makes enough sense given Dum Dum. He always could eat half a cow himself."

[kolodnoykovki]

"He was even bigger than you," he nodded. "I remember that much. That and that hair - that's the reason I pegged him as her granddad."

[justakidfrombrklyn]

"I saw the look first. Pure guts without a second thought, and just a dash of crazy. She was ready to hand me my own guts that first day."

[kolodnoykovki]

"Believe me." He stepped out into the crosswalk when the light turned. "I know. She told me. She and Clark. She's..." A smile flickered across his face. "She reminds me of Peggy. If she wasn't so determined to be a reporter, I'd recruit her."

[justakidfrombrklyn]

"Yeah," he agreed. "I guess... I guess that's part of why I felt like I could talk to her so easy."

Then he nudged Jim's shoulder.

"Recruit her? She's already saved the world once, from what I heard. We'll be out of a job if she gets any better."

[kolodnoykovki]

"You should'a seen her against those Hydra heads. She almost had me convinced," he said, grinning over at Steve. "She had 'em shaking in their shoes, and they weren't even lookin' at the Winter Soldier standing right beside her."

[justakidfrombrklyn]

"Sorry I missed it," he said honestly, leaning up against Jim's shoulder, "though... I mean, the choice between looking at a lovely dame like Lois and this mug here..."

He grinned over at Jim.

"...I mean, you win, but I'm clearly biased."

[kolodnoykovki]

Jim laughed, rolling his eyes - "Yeah, I guess I'll take that compliment," he smirked. "I'm still deciding what to do about this hair."

[justakidfrombrklyn]

Steve trotted up to walk beside Jim again.

"What're you thinking of doing? Don't like it long?"

[kolodnoykovki]

"Gets in my face," he said, wrinkling his nose. "Gets stuck in my hand unless I put a glove on. It's a pain, but goin' to the barber's even worse."

[justakidfrombrklyn]

"I could always cut it for you," he offered thoughtfully, "I mean... wouldn't be the first time."

[kolodnoykovki]

"Thought about that, actually." He shifted the bag in his hand. "Getting you or Clark or Lois or somebody to cut it. Right now, I just know I don't want it as long as it is. Needs to be either longer, so it'll stay in a better ponytail or shorter so it won't need one."

[justakidfrombrklyn]

"It could work for you either way," and he seemed to be considering the aesthetic appeal in either direction.

"Is it a lot of trouble to take care of as it is?"

[kolodnoykovki]

"Not really. Just kind of a pain in the ass having to keep up with the gloves. Learned that pretty quick, though - almost yanked out a whole patch of hair early on. It hurt like hell." And he rubbed at his head just remembering it.

[justakidfrombrklyn]

Steve winced in sympathy.

"Do you need to pick up more gloves while we're in there?" he asked after a moment, spotting the supermarket on the corner.

[kolodnoykovki]

"Nah, they come in hundred boxes and I usually just use one a day." He shook his head. "It'll be next month before I need a new box."