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]

Lois bounced in her seat.

"Ooh, that could be fun. Clark, you up for poker tonight?"

He peered through the moon gate again.

"I could definitely be up for cards."

"Same here," Steve agreed, leaning up against the counter. "It's been ages since I've gotten to play cards with anybody. My deck's been solitaire only for way too long."

[kolodnoykovki]

"We'll bet gummy bears. Everybody can pick a colour to be theirs. But first." He held up a pair of scissors and a comb. "Who wants to cut my hair?"

[stands_for_hope]

Lois spread her hands.

"I'll only do it if you want a buzz cut. That's the only kind of haircut I know how to do for a guy."

Diana shook her head because it was entirely out of her context.

Clark finally walked over to the main apartment and took a look at Jim's hair, head tilted.

"Just looking for a trim or something a little more sculpted?"

[kolodnoykovki]

"I want it out of my face. Easier to deal with. I'm tired of having this little ponytail on the back of my head." But he wasn't quite sure about looking exactly like he used to. Just... out of his face would do for now.

[stands_for_hope]

Clark nodded thoughtfully.

"I can probably do something for you. I used to help Pa when he didn't feel like going into town to get it done. Or when he and Sal were having an argument."

Because you don't sit in a barber's chair if you're not on good terms at the moment.

"Something short on the sides, maybe longer on top?"

[kolodnoykovki]

"Sounds about right. This lunk's probably got an old picture of me on his phone." Jim nodded in Steve's direction. "If you want a reference. But you probably know how to do it more modern than that."

[stands_for_hope]

Steve was looking anywhere but at Jim or Clark, utterly innocent, and it made Clark smile.

"I'll figure out something that works. Come on over to the other side? We can use the bathroom to get it done; I'll grab a pair of scissors and we can have it done before dinner's finished."

[kolodnoykovki]

"Sounds good. Just don't make me wanna shave my head and start over. Took me seventy years to get this grown out." He stood and followed Clark along to the other bathroom. Bathroom haircuts, he could handle. He was sure. And just in case he couldn't, it was Clark, and if anybody could stop him from freaking out, it was him.

[stands_for_hope]

Clark walked in a moment later with a pair of scissors and a comb, closing the door most of the way behind him.

"Dinner smells like it's going to be good," he offered as he gestured to the shower head and tugged it down.

"Let's get this wet so I can make sure everything's even."

[kolodnoykovki]

"Let me take care of that part. You hold the showerhead, I'll do the rest. But yeah, this was Steve's idea. I just told him to make sure you could eat it." Once he'd found out Clark was vegetarian, he'd been determined to make sure to adhere to that.

[stands_for_hope]

Clark patted Jim's back with appreciation.

"Thanks. I know it's a hassle sometimes."

He turned on the water and made sure the temperature was comfortable before holding up the showerhead.

[kolodnoykovki]

Jim leaned his head under it, rubbing his hair wet one-handed. "Not really a hassle. It's just what you do for a friend. But, uh, to warn you, Steve asked for roast so I'm fixing it tomorrow, but with plenty of vegetables. Got potatoes and carrots and green beans, anything else, you just tell me, I'll go get it."

[stands_for_hope]

"I'm happy to eat the vegetables. The whole... aversion has to do more with how the meat looks to me than anything else. I understand the cycle of life when it comes to food. Farm living doesn't really leave you ignorant of that kind of thing."

Clark turned off the water and handed Jim a towel.

"And I know you're going to spoil him a little since you just got him back. Congratulations, incidentally."

[kolodnoykovki]

He laughed faintly. "Thanks." Toweling his hair off, he was careful not to dry it too much, then hung the towel around his shoulders. "It's, uh. Complicated. But... the texting helped."

A lot of texting. More than he thought made sense, but it had made things come around.

[stands_for_hope]

Clark gestured to the toilet, prompting him to sit on the top.

"Whatever works for you and Steve is all that matters," Clark said honestly.

[kolodnoykovki]

With his back turned to Clark, he sat down, raked his flesh-and-blood fingers through his hair to get it in some sort of order, then very intentionally closed his eyes. "We're still working out what works. It's been... what, seven hours?"

[stands_for_hope]

"In some ways. In others, it's been a lifetime. And at the same time, I'll make you a bet he'll still surprise you."

He started combing Jim's hair straight down, careful of tangles, working from a part right in the middle for the moment.

"Lois surprises me, after all."

Then he started snipping.

"It's one of the best parts."

[kolodnoykovki]

It took him a second to let go of his nerves surrounding the sound of the scissors, but then he was able to nod. "Yeah, he's-- I notice things now. Not sure if I didn't notice them before or if they're new, y'know?"

[stands_for_hope]

"Could be either. Could be both. It could also just be that he feels like he can be open about things now. Steve doesn't exactly strike me as simple."

He kept the snipping regular for a moment before settling his hand on Jim's shoulder.

"Want me to do this as quickly as possible or keep it sedate?"

[kolodnoykovki]

He glanced up and gave Clark a slightly shaky smile. "I'm okay. I'm just... reminding myself that I'm not having anything cut out - just something painless cut off."

[stands_for_hope]

"I've given myself a shave with the heat vision before when supplies were tight, but I don't think that's a great idea," he said with a small smile.

[kolodnoykovki]

"Yeah, the smell of burned hair is godawful. But I promise, I'm fine." He wasn't even nearly as on-edge as he had been. "Just more of what I was talkin' about. Normal things like that bein' a minefield."

[stands_for_hope]

"Well, thankfully, you probably won't need me to do this for a while. I'm going to cut it tight on the sides with some length on top to style as you like."

He started clipping the sides off a little quicker than was normal, but it was clear it was more about Clark's tendency to forget the usual pace of normal people than any attempt to rush.

[kolodnoykovki]

"That's about how I used to have it, except when I couldn't afford a barber. Then I'd just let it grow and slick it back." He was careful to hold still just to make sure there was no reason for those scissors to slip. Just in case.

[stands_for_hope]

Clark worked for another couple of minutes, scissors zipping almost too quick to see, the only sensation that of falling hair and soft puffs of air from Clark.

Eventually, he pulled the scissors away and gave one last puff before smiling over at Jim.

"Finished. Hope it isn't too close. I figured you wanted something familiar but a little different."