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Comments

[controlledvariable]

What, a guy who can summon tea?

[She won't let this go. Because:]

Can this guy summon coffee too?

[enshields]

I wish. Sounds like they haven't had coffee here for months now.

[He misses army coffee like you would not believe. Even if caffeine doesn't work on him so well.]

[controlledvariable]

I'm starting to think I need to just sew some coffee beans into the lining of my clothes so I don't keep getting stuck without it.

[help her]

[enshields]

[Eyebrows up.]

Go big or go home, I say. Why not one of those fancy single serve machines? Starts with a K?

[SHIELD HQ has one, but he always bought his coffee from a little old man that pushed a cart around downtown Washington.

[controlledvariable]

Do I look rich to you?

[jeez, Steve]

[enshields]

I have no idea what they cost. I still grimace every time I hear a Coke's more than five cents a bottle.

[NO REALLY, HE DOES. IT'S AWFUL.]

[controlledvariable]

You should try going to the hospital, that's what'll kill you.

[laughcries]

[enshields]

[He snorts.]

Yeah, I avoid those when I can.

[He hates hospitals for a variety of reasons. More than anything, it's the smell.]

[controlledvariable]

Its one of the good things when you're living somewhere outta a dystopian novel: no hospitals.

[that-- that isn't a good thing]

[enshields]

[Steph, honey, you've got a lot of issues, and Steve is starting to realize just how deep the rabbit hole goes.]

Technically, Haven has a hospital.

[... so, you know...]

[controlledvariable]

It doesn't count if its practically broken.

[also shush you]

[enshields]

Doesn't mean it doesn't help.

[So he starts making tea, just because. What little he has is precious, but he hardly minds sharing.]

Gotham's a pretty rough place, huh.

[controlledvariable]

[She just offers a wry smile and a shrug for his first comment. Hospitals are complicated things for her, and she hasn't even been to one for fourteen months.]

She'll chew you up and spit you out if you don't treat her right.

[Steph is weird about Gotham.]

[enshields]

New York was a little like that, growing up. I can't imagine it being worse.

[But hard cities grow hard people who can survive anything. Brooklyn made him what it was, and he wouldn't trade that for anything.]

[controlledvariable]

The rest of the country gave up on her, cut us off and left us to die, but she looked after us.

[Even broken and crumbling, even when half her people were dead or gone, Gotham still looked after the people who stayed.]

[enshields]

The earthquake.

[Cass had mentioned it a little, enough for him to get a picture of what it might have been like.]

[controlledvariable]

That's the one. It's how Cass came to us.

action;

[enshields]

[He happened to find a shirt in her size over in Haven East that is coincidentally purple and yellow and in pretty decent shape.

So here it is, neatly folded and wrapped in brown butcher's paper at her door one morning.]

action;

[controlledvariable]

[Steph can't help but smile when she finds the gift, but as soon as she's actually put the shirt on, her next move is to start thinking about who it could be from.

She... doesn't really have a whole lot of friends; there's the Bats, but this isn't really their style, nor is it Rose's or Kon's, so she's mostly left with Bucky or Steve as the responsibility party.

Which is why she heads to their house and knocks on the window of their bedroom, because doors are for suckers.

Or for people who want to deal with Steve and Bucky's other roommates, and Steph isn't one of those people.]

action;

[enshields]

[And Steve is definitely there, sitting at the kitchen table and buffing out his shield which is not a euphemism for anything g o s h. He glances up at her grand entrance, but doesn't look at all alarmed. She and Cass have probably made a habit of it by now.

Oh, but she does get a smile when he sees her wearing the shirt.]

Hey. Glad to see it fit.

perma that

[controlledvariable]

[Cass also knows that doors are for nerds.

Steph's going scramble in and join Steve at the table.]

Well that was the quickest mystery solving I've ever done.

[thx steve]

[enshields]

Well, it wasn't really meant to be a mystery...

[BUT YOU'RE... WELCOME...?]

Next time I'll do a scavenger hunt, how's that?

[controlledvariable]

There wasn't a card.

[Therefore it is a mystery.

Just ignore the fact that cards are essentially impossible.]

But a scavenger hunt sounds fun, god knows Haven ccould use a little more excitement.

[uh...]

[enshields]

Next time I'll wrap it with blue ribbon.

[And there's going to be a next time so dwi.]

But you might want to knock on wood when you say that last part.

[controlledvariable]

I didn't realize this was gonna be a thing.

[Giving presents. Not that she minds, as long as he lets her return the favour.]

And knocking on wood won't change anything, shit's always gonna go down.