It was an off day for Cyndi and the weather was just right for a walk in the park with Belle. So, she put on her best friends leash and the two made their way to Capitol Hill Parks for a day of peace and quiet.
On the other side of town, a certain soldier was also having an uncharacteristically quiet morning at the park as well.
Steve had woken up early, per usual, and took a long run with Sam. Well, not so much with Sam as it was that they had simply arrived together. Sam always ate Steve's dust by several miles.
The two sat on the grass, leaning against an old tree and talked as Sam got his heart rate down.
"So, what'd you do last night?" Sam asked casually as he took a swig of his water bottle.
"Nothing, got home...read a book. Sleep." Steve shrugged, his cheeks heating up a little at the thought of the time he and Cyndi had spent together in her apartment.
"You're blushing." Sam accused to which Steve shook his head fiercely.
"Yea, you are. What happened last night, man?" Sam asked with a laugh.
"I just...well, my neighbor, she saw that I had hurt my shoulder and she offered to bandage it for me." The Captain replied.
"You hurt your shoulder?" Sam grinned, looking over his friends arms revealed in a tank top. Any trace of injury now gone from the day before except for a few fading marks that would likely be gone by that afternoon.
"Super healing, remember?" Steve shrugged.
"Ah, yes." Sam nodded in understanding. "So, I'm guessing this neighbor, she's pretty right?"
"If you notice that sort of thing." Steve sighed.
"I think you more than noticed." Sam laughed knowingly.
"It doesn't matter what I noticed. I'm too busy for that." Steve answered.
"So, let me get this straight. You let her play nurse on you, soldier boy, knowing that it would be healed up in a matter of hours? Steve, I'm shocked..." Sam joked.
"It wasn't like that..." Steve defensively replied, throwing his hands up.
"Did you thank her properly?" Sam smirked with a wink.
"If you're implying what I think you're implying, no. I do owe her coffee, though." Steve replied stiffly.
"When are you gonna take her?" Sam pressed.
"I, I don't know. I never seem to have a day off even when I'm given days off. Usually crisis or state of emergency...emerges." Steve admitted.
"Well, it looks like you have some time today. Why don't you ask her today? Instead of embarrassing yourself with these runs." Sam replied with a smirk.
"Captain America doesn't get to date." Steve sighed dejectedly.
"We gotta get you laid, man." Sam chuckled as he stood and did a few stretches.
"It's not about getting 'laid'. You know I'm an old-fashioned kind of guy. I just don't think like most men do." Steve grimaced.
"Old fashioned doesn't have to mean celibate. You're a man. You want what any man wants. And I call bullshit on that last statement. You guys had USO girls...you'd have to be dead to ignore that stuff." Sam teased as he started up again on his run, leaving Steve with his thoughts.
"Stop living in the past, man!" Sam called back to his friend before disappearing around a corner.
On the other side of the park...
"Belle, 5 more minutes!" Cyndi called out to her loyal friend who was playing in the dog run with the other dogs.
She couldn't believe her luck last night. Steve had finally said more than a few words to her. As silly as she deemed it, she had a bit of a crush on the Super Soldier and it made her heart race that he had been sitting so close to her in her kitchen. That he was even IN her kitchen to begin with!
Obviously, she didn't exactly want their first real time alone to be spent wiping at a bloody wound, but she took it as being better than nothing.
Truth was, she didn't know how else she would've gotten the chance to spend a moment with him. He was always rushing here and flying there, saving the world and such. The only time she did see him was when he'd finally get to come home and sleep, and even then, she could hear him leaving his apartment before the crack of dawn.
She chuckled to herself thinking about how they'd talked while she tended to his injury. How polite and sweet he had been. How handsome he was up close and how his light blue eyes seemed so sad.
"Captain America doesn't have time for you, girl. Don't be silly." She thought to herself as she stood and got Belle's leash ready.
"You ready to go or what?" Sam asked Steve once they were finally finished.
"Yea." Steve replied as they began to walk to the car. The two got in and started to drive when Steve noticed Cyndi and Belle walking along the curb.
"That's her!" He blurted out. Sam turned his head to the right and caught sight of the young brunette and her dog happily walking together.
"Damn, Steve. She's more than just pretty. She gorgeous." Sam gawked, easing his foot off the gas and slowing down.
"What are you doing?" Steve asked, his eyes going wide as the car started edging closer to the curb.
"Saying hello." Sam smirked.
As they were starting to leave the park, Cyndi noticed a black car pull up beside her and the window slowly rolled down. It was Steve...and a friend of his on the driver's side.
"Hey, Steve!" Cyndi replied, not expecting to see him just then.
"Uh, hey, Cyndi. I saw you walking and thought I'd say hello." Steve smiled shyly as Belle tugged Cyndi closer to the car, getting up on her hind legs and resting her front paws on the open window to greet him.
"Hey, Belle." He laughed as she went to town happily licking his handsome face.
"Oh, God, Belle no...don't do that!" Cyndi winced as she approached the car, trying to lure her pet away from the car window.
"I am so sorry." Cyndi blushed when Belle finally relented and sat down on the cement.
"It's alright. Say, you wouldn't want a ride back to the apartment, would you? My friend and I were heading that way." Steve offered with a grin. Sam smiled and waved from the driver's seat.
"Sam Wilson, at your service." He winked as he leaned over Steve and the two shook hands through the window.
"Cyndi Cohen. It's nice to meet you." She replied, smiling at Sam's charm. The two men before her very different but immediately understanding their friendship.
"Pleasure's all mine, Darlin'." Sam grinned up at her.
"She's gonna want that hand back, Sam." Steve replied in a warning tone to which Sam released her hand and got settled back in his seat mumbling how he was just "being friendly".
"There's room for Belle in here..." Steve pressed as Cyndi chuckled.
"Alright...thanks, guys." She smiled as Steve got out of the car to open the back door for her.
It was things like that, that she could easily get used to. They didn't make men like Steve anymore, that's for sure.
"Your shoulder looks...a lot better. Wow...like really, a lot better." Cyndi noticed as her eyes settled on his shoulder that she had so tenderly patched up last night.
"Yea, um, fast healer." Steve blushed.
"Right. Super Soldier." She chuckled as she got in after Belle who had bounded right on in and made herself at home in the back.
Steve sighed as he closed the door behind her and got back into the car.
He was going to kill Sam for this.
