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[Even Steph finds that a little hard to believe, despite being from a world with crazier shit, but she doesn't see any reason for Steve to lie.]

So you're not really all that old.

[Being stuck in ice doesn't count.]

[Wryly, as he dries the dish--]

Not in a literal sense, I guess.

[But damned if he doesn't feel every year, some days.]

It kinda doesn't count if you're not actually experiencing the years. Which I guess makes Superboy like five, but that's Superboy.

[he is actually five.]

[His smile is just the tiniest bit fixed as he comes to the table and sits down, resting one hand on the cheap laminate.]

Should've stuck with the circus, huh?

[She tilts her head as he sits down, trying to gauge his reaction, because she doesn't know him well enough to just tell.]

I tend to prefer the truth.

[He cants his head off to one side.]

Guess we've got that in common.

And we're both cute.

[It's a way to lighten the mood a little; she doesn't want him to worry that her opinion of him has changed or anything.]

Has Bucky got it too? That serum.

[Oops, she may as well have just run directly into a wall for all that question does. Steve's jaw shifts, a brief show of stubbornness.]

You'll have to ask him about that one.

[He's had so little privacy in his life these last few years, the last thing he wants is to compromise Bucky's. Even if he doesn't think he'd care. Stephanie already knows that neither of them are quite base-line human, but the circumstances of Bucky's exposure to the serum are intensely private.]

[Ah, there's a sore point.]

Sorry.

[He shakes his head and offers a slight smile.]

Don't apologize. You don't know me.

[Or what makes him tick, or any of that. It's not her fault if she pushes the wrong buttons, and he can't expect to hold her accountable for an accident. She's a good person, and that goes a long way.]

But that's what this is for, right?

[Casual conversation. So to speak.]

[Her smile in return is grateful, just for a moment, before it shifts into something a little cheeky.]

Sure, but for the record, I'm a lot better at first dates if they're actually dates.

[Stephanie why are you this way.]

[He laughs.]

Well, I don't date, so--

[He doesn't like to discuss Peggy with people to begin with, and he's also pretty sure he wouldn't classify what they do as dating. Dancing, maybe, and his smile turns fond.]

[There's something in his smile that suggests there's a story there, but rather than push it, Steph just pours at him.]

Why is it always the cute ones?

[He glances down to his hands.]

Guess that's just the way of the world.

So what you're saying is that I need to find an alternate universe that works opposite to that?

[yes that is exactly what he's saying]

[Blandly,]

You don't think Bucky's cute?

[He has no idea Steph isn't technically single, oop.]

I don't let honesty get in the way of a good joke.

[Jeez, Steve.]

[He shakes his head with a smile.]

Fair enough.

[shrug]

I do think he's cute, though, but you don't need to worry about giving me the regular best friend threat.

[She knows how best friends work.]

[???]

'Best friend threat'? Am I missing something?

[Things that don't even occur to him to do: that.]

The whole "if you break his heart I'll break your face" thing.

[doesn't everyone do that??????

She's pretty sure Saul got it from at least ten people.]

[UM.]

First of all, Sergeant Barnes can take care of himself. Second of all, even if he couldn't there's no way he'd want me to threaten a dame on his behalf.

[He's honestly halfway to scandalized over here wow.]

You past people are so weird. My boyfriend got death threats when we started dating.

[Steph that's bc he's almost old enough to be your dad]

[Wow excuse you.]

I'm not going to say it never happened, but it was usually fathers to their daughter's dates, not-- you know, best friends to the girls they were stepping out with.

What else are best friends for?

[overprotective best friend 4lyf]