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

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house of am

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

[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?"

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"Huh," and Steve looked genuinely flummoxed. After all, he'd never been the most popular kid in the world, but he'd known a few guys. He'd had a few friends, none as close as Bucky, and he'd done okay at work with other people.

"Wouldn'ta guessed. He's a solid guy."

Jim nodded honestly. "He is. He's fun to hang out with, he loves baseball. Pretty damn sure he would've been right beside me making sure you didn't get flattened, but I did have to teach him how to dance."

"Not everyone has a gift at it, Rogers," he said with a shake of his head and a laugh. Then he's running up to the front door, holding out a hand for some of the bags. Jim's the one with the key, after all.

But instead of that, Jim dug into a pocket and tossed something into Steve's hand. When it landed, it was half-plain what it was - a keychain with a heavy enamel Captain America shield as a fob, and two keys hanging off the ring: one was painted with stars and stripes, the other with a golden retriever. "Let us in."

Steve stared at it for almost a minute before a warm smile curled on his lips. Then he looked up at Jim and tilted his head to the door.

"Do I use the retriever or the flag here?"

"Flag first, then the dog," he grinned. "Had to."

"Of course you had to. Jerk."

But it's said with such a grin on his face as he slides the key into the lock and turns it. Then he's pushing open the door and holding it for him.

"Come on in. And now, the stairs."

Jim was still laughing as he headed up the stairs past Steve, skipping a step now and then - it wasn't a race, but it was still fun. Coming home with Steve like he used to.

Steve got the door to the apartment too, holding it open for Jim even as he peered in with some surprise. Somehow, from somewhere, there's a dining room table and chairs where the living room used to be and, through the moon gate, Steve could see Clark relaxing on the couch and both of the girls contorted on a pair of pads rolled out on the floor: yoga.

"Hey, we brought home fixings for dinner!"

"And it looks like somebody was sneaky while we were gone," Jim observed, lifting his bags to put up onto the table. "Nice. Was the door big enough?"

There was food to put away, though, so he started stowing things away while he was thinking about it.

Clark looked utterly innocent from his spot on the couch but Lois tilted her head to smile at them.

"Clark's crafty. Don't believe that adorable little marshmallow face. It's all lies."

His bare foot lifted up to nudge her shoulder on the mat and she leaned over and kissed the top of his foot.

"They must know the truth about you, Kent. It's my duty as a reporter."

Clark laughed and peered through the moon gate.

"Door was just fine."

Steve shook his head and slipped into he and Jim's room to drop the non-food items before heading back to the kitchen to put away the roasts. The pasta and the jars of sauce he left out.

"Should I get started on dinner about now?" Steve asked through the moon gate. Then he turned to look at Jim.

"Probably," he agreed. "Baked pasta takes a while. I'll give you a hand in a minute." But then he headed over to the other apartment, reaching into his pocket to hold something out to Diana. "Since you're gonna be with us a while, I got you this."

It was a keychain like Steve's, except it read "Princess" in purple, with one key printed in peacock feathers, and the other in black with neon-coloured stars.

She immediately untwisted from her position, snatched up the key, and then pounced him in a firm hug.

"Thank you, Jim! They are lovely."

A bit surprised, Jim blinked, but then he returned the hug with a laugh. "Hey, no problem. Figured you'd need to get in and out like the rest of us. And I think I remembered something about peacocks and ... uh. The queen goddess?"

"They are the bird of the Goddess Hera, protector and deliverer of the Amazons from the hardships of the world of men," she said with a bright smile, leaning into the hug brightly enough.

"And I will need to get in and out from this place as I have gotten myself a profession in this place, with the help of Lois."

Lois unfolded herself as well.

"She's going to be teaching self-defense down at the community center on 14th. The woman who was doing it is on maternity leave."

"That sounds great," Jim nodded enthusiastically. "Congratulations! I'll... see about getting you the papers you need. Talk to Clint or somebody. I mean, he'd know how - he got my papers."

But he glanced around to see if that was a good idea.

Steve nodded and Lois gave him an encouraging smile.

"Thankfully, they don't ask for much since they're mostly just happy that someone wants to work there. But she will need that."

Diana agreed with a bob of her head.

"They were most anxious for me to agree."

"If I'm not at work and you need somebody to demonstrate against, I'll do it," he said easily. "But right now, I need to help out with dinner. Apparently Steve learned to cook."

"I will happily take you up on that, though Lois mentioned that I might be able to help Clark in his training in the ways of battle," Diana replied with a smile. Then she looked to Steve with a warm grin.

"And I am quite interested to try your cooking, Steve."

Steve rolled his eyes a little and started pulling out the appropriate pots and pans for what he'd be making.

"It's really not that big of a deal. But thank you, Diana. Also, I got you yogurt."

"Thank you!"

"And I got pies and ice cream - not quite as interesting, but... why not?" He shrugged. "We're having vegetarian ziti with a little meat on the side for us carnivores."

Clark leaned over and seemingly looked at the wall before smiling and leaning back.

"I like that brand of sauce," he said as he settled into the couch. Lois, distracted from the yoga, slipped onto the couch to curl up next to him. Diana followed the two of them into the kitchen.

"Is there any way I can assist in making the meal?"

"Well, the pasta part takes a while. Maybe you could set up the water to boil for the noodles?" Jim suggested. "Steve's the one who knows the recipe. And after that, you can try some of the gummy bears Steve picked up. We went through the candy aisle at the drug store."

"Lois took me to a shop wherein we picked out some lovely chocolates. She said that we would share them with you after dinner."

She walked over to the cabinet and pulled out a pot from where she'd found one of the pans that morning, walking over to fill it with water as Steve watched.

"Thank you, Diana. Uh... really all I need otherwise is to find a decently deep pan for frying up the eggplant and a pair of small bowls. But I should be able to find the bowls."

Diana nodded.

Steve looked to Jim.

"Do you mind slicing up the eggplant into slanted pieces roughly a quarter of an inch thick, maybe a little thinner?"

"Gotcha." He washed the eggplant quickly once Diana was done filling the pot and then, without even thinking, he started slicing. He didn't even have to measure. Just a swift series of chops and one eggplant was done and he set it aside to get the other - they'd needed two, given how many of them they were feeding. And then, after that, he pulled out a few more veggies to do roughly the same, since they were going to have salad as well.

Diana settled at the table and stood out of the way as Steve found the bowls, cracked a couple of eggs into one of them, and assembled a breading in the other. Then the pan was filled with vegetable oil and Steve started the process of making the eggplant and boiling the water for the pasta.

"So everything go well, Diana?"

She nodded immediately, leaning on her arms to smile at Steve and Jim both.

"My sisters in this world are no less wonderful than those in Themyscira, no less brave, no less kind. We met a woman who assisted us in buying clothes, another who helped me to purchase the underthings required for them, and Lois stood by every step, ever helpful and watchful. This world has such wonders, so many people, so many smiles. I know that I will never know all of them, but I hope to try with as many as possible. Lois said that working at the community center will help me do so."

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