i. Chalk

Darcy sat at her desk eating candy hearts. She filled the glass dish twice and it sat next to her pen holder.

Her mouth was getting to a weird stage of tanginess and she no longer was differentiating the flavors. She stopped reading them as well. She wasn't ashamed of eating that much candy until Steve walked up to her desk with his eyes widening.

"What?" she snapped, and he just looked from her full mouth to the dish and back again.

"Nothin'," he replied.

"You want one?" she mumbled, swallowing.

He wondered why he was there. Usually he was on his way somewhere else. She usually saw Steve in the kitchen at weird hours like she was, grabbing protein shakes by the pound. Even when he looked like shit he looked good, his hair rumpled from sleep or otherwise. When Darcy looked like shit she looked like the girl from The Ring.

Steve took several, reading the words on each one.

"Be mine. Cutie. All mine," he muttered, shoving them into his mouth and chewing. "They're like chalk."

"They provide me with my daily chalk requirements," Darcy retorted, finally taking the bowl away and tucking it behind her monitor to stop her mindless bingeing. "What brings you to the lowly quarters of Foster and Lewis?"

Steve chuckled, then looked around. "Where is Jane, anyway?"

"You want Jane?" Darcy asked. "'Cause she's napping until at least 2."

"No, I want you," Steve said, and Darcy made a face. "Not like that. I just wondered if you were busy tonight."

Darcy ran her tongue along the front of her teeth, sucking loudly. She narrowed her eyes.

"I get the feeling we had a conversation recently I don't remember."

Steve's eyebrows hiked. "Oh, so you were drunk last weekend even though you said you weren't. Shocker."

"Hey," Darcy snapped, pointing a finger. "Less judgey more explainy. You know what day it is, right? Did the chalk candy give you any idea?"

"It's Valentine's Day," he replied with a shrug. "You said last week that if you were free we'd go on a friend date."

Darcy scanned her brain, hating her past six/seven drinks-deep self.

"Okay." She pretended to look at something on her monitor, clicking her mouse randomly. "Yes, I'm free. I will allow it."

She steepled her fingers and kept her face neutral. Steve just smiled at her, shaking his head. She knew he saw straight through her little charade but he was kind enough to let her get away with it.

Steve got the idea to go to the escape room in Brooklyn because of Sam's recommendation. They were in the middle of a mission and Sam was using his intercom to talk too much about Valentine's Day. Steve just let him yammer on while occasionally Natasha added her own commentary. He'd rather just let them get it off their chests then instead of later when he'd be trying to wind down with a beer.

"Why don't you just ask her out? She obviously likes you," Sam said, and Steve heard him grunt and land a punch.

Steve threw his shield and bounced it off a guy's face, catching it again.

"She doesn't like me like that," he retorted. "I just meant like a friend date."

"No such thing," Natasha and Sam said together.

"At least not with Darcy," Sam added.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Natasha snapped. Steve heard someone's neck broken out of his line of sight.

Steve saw Sam land on another guy and Steve threw his shield again.

"I just mean –" there was a distinct crunch of a broken bone "-she doesn't play around."

"How would you know that?" Steve asked Sam to his face as he caught his shield, bullets bouncing.

"Sounding pretty protective for a girl that's your friend, Steve," Sam said, ducking and landing another punch. "I didn't sleep with her but she dated Robbie."

"Oh, yeah," Natasha said, as if remembering. "Robbie in Forensics. He's cute."

"He's okay," Steve muttered. "And she was pretty sure she'd be alone when we spoke last."

"What is seven drinks Darcy like, anyway?" Sam asked.

"She tried to do a handstand and then had a nap," Steve replied, and he sucker punched someone.

In the quinjet on the way back to Avengers Tower, Sam nudged Steve.

"There's a place in Brooklyn and it's all over Instagram. Escape room. It's quirky enough for Darcy and it gives you an excuse to be in a small space together."

"Sam, I'm a ninety-eight year-old man," Steve said, "I can get a girl to hang out with me without us being in a locked room."

"That's debateable," Natasha quipped, tossing her hair over one shoulder.

Steve turned his head to look her in the eye and rose his eyebrows. "Really? I don't ever hear you complaining."

"I'm good at pretending. I think you forget I'm a spy," Natasha drawled. "But Sam's right. An escape room is perfect. Darcy's geeky enough to appreciate it."

"She likes Star Wars, not Star Trek," Sam added. He narrowed his eyes. "Or maybe it's the other way around."

"It's a friend date and I'll make sure she has fun is all," Steve said.

Robbie sent Darcy a dick pic after work and she sent back a picture of her disgusted face from below so that her neck and chin morphed into one unflattering shape.

She shaved her legs and put on makeup, but tried to tone down her enthusiasm. She put on a white dress she bought for a cowboys n' cowgirls dress up party she went to a few years ago but wore Doc Martens instead of heels and she didn't take a ridiculous amount of time doing her hair.

She didn't want to look like she didn't care about how she looked but she didn't want to seem like she was trying too hard. She figured this was Steve's way of making sure she was okay after that weird encounter last week she couldn't fully remember.

She just hoped she didn't come onto him. Drunk flirting was never cute.

Another dick pic. Darcy rolled her eyes.

Oops, sorry! Didn't mean to send that! was the accompanying text. Darcy thought her eyes might get stuck from rolling them too hard.

Really Robbie? What about the last one? she replied, but there was no response. How convenient.

She felt like a streaker with her coat ready to pop open when she wrapped herself up in it. Too short and not nearly warm enough for February but she still wanted to look cute.

Darcy sighed, knowing she did care about looking good for Steve.

Darcy met with him in the foyer, her hands in her coat pockets and smiling at him.

"You ready?" she asked, and Steve couldn't help smiling back.

"Yeah, let's go," he replied.

He wore his leather jacket and a white t-shirt, but he knew Darcy wearing her little short coat and no pants would likely freeze her to death if they stayed out too long. They stepped out together, a space between them.

Steve might have tucked her hand in the crook of his elbow but he couldn't gauge whether physical contact was an issue with Darcy. With Natasha it was a no-brainer. She frequently punched men for even looking at her for too long.

They walked to catch the subway and Darcy eventually touched his arm, letting out a long whistle.

"Nice jacket," she said.

"Thanks," he replied. "Nice… boots."

"Thanks," she said with a smile. They ducked into their train and Darcy opened her coat to reveal a flowy white dress that reminded Steve of the Civil War. "I was trying to not look too country."

Steve was confused by that but didn't say anything, and just nodded. He couldn't understand women's fashion growing up and now it was just as perplexing. But never dull. He liked what some of them did with fabric, especially if they fit well. He noted that women tended to be thinner all over, at least in the magazines he came across. And then there were girls online who emphasised their rear ends a lot, throwing whatever Steve thought he understood out the window.

The 21st century seemed like a very jumbled and confusing place, but he knew Darcy was a beautiful young woman by any standard, except her body was significantly curvier than the norm. He tried not to stare at her when he noticed her shape but it was hard to miss, especially when she wore something with a cinched waist like she was now as they travelled to Brooklyn.

She was kind of short, too. Slightly taller than Jane but not any taller than Natasha, who was definitely short and hated people pointing it out. Steve kept looking at Darcy as they sat together, hoping she didn't think he was checking her out. The longer he took her in, the more he could see that she was absolutely a tiny woman. It made Steve want to put his arm around her, but this wasn't a date.

Darcy shoved her phone in her handbag and looked up at Steve.

"Where are we going?"

"It's a surprise," he said, and she pursed her lips.

"Okay," she replied slowly. "We just better not be going to Chuck E Cheese or something like that."

"I don't know what that is," Steve said, laughing. She was so serious.

"It's a franchise with a creepy robotic mouse that encourages childhood obesity and gambling," Darcy said.

"Sounds wild," Steve said, laughing again. Darcy mirrored his smile.

"Oh, it is," she said. "But it's hardly worthy of a Valentine's Day."

Steve averted his eyes, looking out at the dark beyond their train car. He was dreading this day last week and it was finally there and he felt so much better about it.

"No, it's something special."

Darcy put a hand on her chest, pretending to swoon.

"Just for me?"

"Yes, just for you."