A little bit more development between our two main characters.
Mention of past Steve/Sharon relationship
Celeste's POV
It's been two weeks since Sokovia. I moved out of the infirmary the day after I woke up, and into my own room. It was wonderfully spacious with my own en-suite. Natasha was my next door neighbour, as well as Wanda.
Two days after I woke up, we held a memorial service for Pietro. He was only 17 years old. He had his whole life ahead of him, especially since he and Wanda had, like myself, finally found a place they could fit in.
We had gone to a compound in upstate New York that Tony had, to hold the service. Wanda and I had found a lake on the property, where she decided would be a good place to say her goodbyes. Natasha had helped me organise a beautiful wreath that we thought we could push out into the water with a small plaque, Pietro's name and a Sokovian saying Wanda said was his favourite. One their parents used to say.
I took it upon myself to do what I could for Wanda. I knew what it was like to lose loved ones, and no longer have them around. Although I was young when I lost my family, the pain was ever present. So I was empathetic towards Wanda, and said if she ever needed me, I'd be here. Steve also felt a sense of responsibility for the teenager.
After the memorial, they went for a walk where he told me he invited her to join the Avengers. They'd be a new family should she ever want one. He told me the same thing the day I left the infirmary.
A couple of days later, Tony announces the compound would be our new headquarters, where we could train and live. But he'd keep the tower in the city if we should ever need it.
Today was our move in day. Natasha and Wanda remained my neighbours, and our rooms were even larger than the tower. I suppose such a large area allowed for more personal space.
Us girls had organised to go shopping to buy what we wanted to make our designated spaces our own. After shopping we decided we should get some lunch, which is where we were now. In a coffee shop just outside the city.
"So..." Nat says. I look up and see a mischievous look on her face. Honestly, it should just be her normal face. I raise an eyebrow, waiting for her to continue. "How's things with Steve...?"
"Not that it's any of your business, but they're good. He actually asked me out on a date tonight." I responded, picking at my lunch.
"That's exciting, what does he plan to do?" Wanda asks.
"I think he just suggested dinner in the city."
"What are you wearing?" Nat asked me. I look up at her.
"Clothes... why does it matter what I wear?"
"Well do you know where he's taking you?"
"No. I don't actually... have anything date worthy. I didn't come over to you guys with any personal items..." damn now that I thought about it, a date was kind of a big deal. "I've never actually had to worry about this before. My time with... HYDRA... was kind of very controlled in that regard. Any time I spent with someone was a colleague, and if we went on dates, it was kind of just the cafeteria on base, then a walk, and maybe a visit back to either of our quarters..." I looked up to the girls, who both had a bit of a sympathetic look on their faces. "Oh god, what do I do?!" I started to panic. "This is basically my first real date!" I put my head in my hands.
"Hey, it's okay! Steve's a good guy, he'll just want to spend time with you." Nat rubs her hand on my back.
"I have to agree, Celeste. I haven't known him long, but I don't think he'd mind what you're wearing or doing, so long as it's with you. I mean, have you seen the way he looks at you?"
"How about we go for a quick clothes shopping spree? Get you some nice clothes?" Nat suggests.
"So long as you guys get something too." I insist.
"Hey, I won't turn down a chance to buy anything. But enough about that. Wanda?" Nat turns to Wanda, "what's going on with you and Vision?"
"Yeah, I've actually be wondering the same thing."
"N-nothing..." Wanda stammered. "We've just been talking. He has a lot of questions..."
"I bet he does..." I said under my breath.
We paid our bill, before we found a boutique. We each got some nice clothes before heading back to the compound.
We'd just walked into the compounds living quarters, where I saw Steve speaking with a handsome man I hadn't seen yet in the kitchen.
"Sam!" Nat greets him with a kiss on the cheek.
"How are you, Romanoff?" He asks. They speak for a moment, before Steve introduces him to Wanda and myself.
"Celeste? This is her?" Same asks as he shakes my hand, looking to Steve for confirmation.
"You've mentioned me?" I say to Steve, who tries to hide his blush.
"Oh yeah! Said you can mess with the elements or something like no one else! I can't wait to see both of you guys in action, your abilities sounds pretty cool."
"Sam will be joining the Avengers officially with you two." Steve says to Wanda and I. "Don't forget to be here in two days for training. Your room is ready for you whenever you are." Steve says to Sam.
"Copy that, Cap. I'm looking forward to it. I'll see you all later!"
Nat and Wanda walk up to their rooms, as I'm left with Steve.
"So, what's the plan for tonight?" I ask. I feel like I have butterflies in my tummy now.
"I'll come pick you up about 6? I booked a table for dinner, that should give us enough time to get into the city."
"Sounds good. I'll see you at 6."
"I'm looking forward to it." He smiles at me, taking hold of my hand.
"Yeah, me too." I play with his fingers. "I'd better go, I got some shopping to unpack."
I go back to my room and unpack my shopping, putting my new sheets and towels into the laundry to be washed. After I put a load in to be washed, I start to decorate my room to make it feel like my own. I didn't get much. I don't have any photos or anything of sentimental value. I place the red throw over the back of the couch, and set up my new lamps.
I then chose to get ready for my date with Steve, having a shower and doing some light makeup and an easy up do. I changed into my new summer dress, putting on some sandals and then putting some gloss on my lips. After I put the cap on my gloss, I heard the gentle knock at my door. I look at the time, and it's just gone 6.
I walk to door, seeing Steve in a pair of black slacks and dark blue button down shirt, bringing out his eyes.
"Good evening, Steve." I smile at him.
"Good evening, Celeste." He returns my smile. "You look lovely."
"Oh thanks. You look pretty good yourself. Not a small feat, I know." I joke trying to ease my nerves.
We head out to the car, Steve driving us into the city. We pull up to an Italian restaurant where we're soon seated. I decide I'd like a wine, it just might help me settle a bit more. Steve suggests we get a bottle, "I can't really get drunk, so I don't have to worry about driving." I'm not going to say no to more than one glass. After we order our meals, we just look at each other for a moment. We both chuckle.
"I'm sorry, I don't know why I'm nervous." He says.
"You're nervous?" He nods. "I'm nervous!" We both laugh.
"Okay, well at least that's out there." He returns. "I haven't been on a date in..."
"70 years?" I joke.
"Ha! Very funny" he pulls a face, jokingly. "I'm 90, I'm not dead."
"So when was your last date? I'm truly curious." I take a sip of wine.
"Maybe a year ago? It was after S.H.E.I.L.D. fell."
"Did it go anywhere?"
"No... she got a new job with an agency, I moved back to New York and committed myself to raiding HYDRA bases."
"So timing was bad?"
"Yeah I guess you could say that. She was nice, but I think I just wasn't ready. Didn't stop Nat from continuously trying to set me up though." I laughed at that. "How about you? When was your last date?"
"Yeah, I guess about a year ago too. Though I realised today, the idea of dates were a bit different in HYDRA then the real world."
"Oh? How so?"
"We basically just hung out on the base... we didn't really go out like we are now."
"So your first real world date?" He asked with a hint of a smile.
"I guess so, yeah." I chuckle.
"Well," he holds his glass up to me, "here's to your first official, real world date, with me, and I couldn't be more honoured." He smiles at me as I raised my glass to meet his in cheers. We each took a sip.
"No pressure, but I have high expectations for being on a date with Captain America."
"Oh god, okay." He laughs as he jokingly pulls at his collar and we laugh together.
Our meals come and we each have a bite of the others.
"Oh wow!" He says as he has a bite of my pasta. "That's amazing!"
"It's just tortellini." I giggle.
"Its 'just' tortellini to you, but it's kind of heaven to me." He chuckles. "We didn't really have this back in my day."
"Back in your day..." I laugh. "I get it's been 70 years, but you're not biologically 90, Steve."
"Well I can't fault you there," he chuckles, "but it was a very different time."
"I guess you're right. So no pasta?"
"Not really. If there was, I know I couldn't have afforded it or didn't know anyone who made it. I didn't have many friends and I wasn't very well off. We basically used to boil everything. Potatoes were cheap."
"Well... I'd like to suggest that we try a different cuisine, every date we go out to eat."
"So there'll be another date?"
"Only if you don't fuck this one up." I wink at him, to which he smirks.
We continue our dinner, laughing and truly enjoying each other's company. Steve pays the cheque, and we head out.
"Would you like to go for a walk?" He asks me, taking my hand.
"I'd love to." I smile up at him.
We weren't far from the river, so we head in that direction. We walk along the river hand in hand without saying much, we didn't need to. After a while, Steve breaks the silence.
"So how are you settling in?" Steve asks, looking over at me.
"Good I guess. Haven't really had a lot of time to really think about it."
"It has been a pretty busy few weeks, hasn't it?"
"You're not wrong."
"Did you get some stuff to do your room up?"
"Not too much, just enough to make it feel like my own space. I don't have any pictures or anything yet, but I hope I can get some to hang up. I've always wanted to have good memories surrounding me."
"Nothing from your family?" He asks. I'm silent for a minute. "Oh, Celeste, I'm sorry. I didn't even think."
I turn to him and see that's he looking down in shame.
"No, don't worry about it Steve." I try to reassure him. "I know you didn't mean to make me feel bad. It's a valid question."
"I'm sorry..."
"You don't need to be." I touch his arm. "No, I don't have any. Pretty sure they all got destroyed. I wouldn't even know how to go about finding any, even if I could find any. I was so young anyway. It would be nice to have something from home, from my family..." We had started walking again, and I reached for his hand. I got close to him, feeling his warmth.
"Have you got anything like that? Pictures I mean?"
"I've found a few from the archives. Sometimes they're hard to look at though."
"I can only imagine. What was it like? Waking up in this new world?"
"It was... strange. Everything I knew had suddenly changed. I remember after I woke up, I was so scared. I thought HYDRA had caught me after all. Then running into the streets, getting to Times Square and looking around. Seeing all the screens and all these people dressed in such a different way, I remember realising everything was different. I was in New York, I recognised some of the buildings, but not my New York... not to mention realising almost everyone I knew was gone."
"It would have been really hard..."
"It was. Is. But, I guess after that day at the salvage yard in Africa, the dream I had... I realised that there was no going back... everything I ever wanted had not changed per se, just... I don't know..." he trailed off, like he was searching for the right words.
"Shifted?" I offered.
"Yeah... I guess my priorities have changed or evolved in some ways."
"Do you know what you want now?"
He thought for a moment. That's fair, it's a big question. I don't even know what I really want.
"Do you know what you want?" He turns the question to me.
"Touché" I giggle. "I guess I don't really know either... maybe just... a chance at some form of happiness. True happiness. Finding out everything I was ever told was a tall tail, it... it killed a part of me." We both stop again, turning to each other.
He places his hands on either side of my face, thumbs gently caressing my skin.
"We'll figure it out." He simply says.
I smile at him, and lean in to brush my lips against his. He returns the kiss, leaning into me. I place my arms around his neck, as we continue kissing. He eventually runs his tongue along my bottom lip, so I grant him access. We kiss for a few moments, before pulling away for air.
"So how'd you like your first real world date?" He asks, giving me a gentle smile.
"It's the best one I've ever had." I smile, pecking his lips again. "Thank you."
"Thank you." He grins, taking my hand again as we make our way back to the restaurant to get the car and head back to the compound.
Who's getting ready for some lovin'? Eyebrows eyebrows…!