A Cafe Gift and DC Trip
Their afternoons were starting to get shorter together as the summer ended and the sun set earlier and earlier each evening. None the less, the time they spent with each other was only increasing. Lunch on Thursdays had quickly turned into a habit, and other habits were beginning, including the occasional dinner at Eleanor's or visiting Museums or the New York Library. For Eleanor and Steve, their days were spent more and more in communication with each other, and Steve was getting very good at texting and understanding what a gif/emoji/meme was. One day, they laughed together at the table, each taking another sip of their respective drinks. Steve watched the brunette look out the window at the street. For a Thursday afternoon, it was a little less busy than it normally was, but he figured there was probably another event happening somewhere else in the city.
"I also wanted to let you know that we need to reschedule next week too"
Her attention turned back to him and she tilted her head, a motion that told him to continue.
"I have to head down to Washington DC to do a field interview and also to speak with the Smithsonian and go through a few boxes."
"The Smithsonian?" She said quickly, leaning forward in excitement. Her earrings of the day were long and made a little noise when she moved her head quickly, she lifted one hand to stop the silver sticks from hitting one another.
Her attention, as he figured it would, seemed to go straight to the history museum, "They want to open up an Exhibit about my life and world war two. I promised I'd give them a few things that Shield put in storage for me and double check some of their information before they get it all printed."
Eleanor laughed and shook her head. "That's fantastic! I've never been to DC. It's so close, but now I really have to make it down there when that exhibit opens. Are you going to visit when it's finished"
Steve nodded. "I'm sure I can get us free tickets—being the feature and all" He winked at her and she reached across the table to take a French fry off of his plate. "Hey!" he laughed. She munched happily before setting her napkin on her empty plate.
"Just making sure you stay humble when an entire museum exhibit is going to be named after your incredible accomplishments and sacrifices. Just a minute, I've got to run to the ladies room. Be right back." She stood and he watched her walk down the aisle, taking another sip of his soda. He was surprised when, seconds later, an old man sat across from him at his table, in the same spot Eleanor had just been sitting. The old man looked not a day younger than eighty, and his face was wrinkled from the many smiles he'd worn over his lifetime, including the one he had on his face at that moment. He wore a button up long sleeved shirt and a white mustache and receding grey-white hairline. His sweater was pale green.
"Uh—Hello Sir," He was confused, but perhaps he had been recognized? Usually, so long as he was with Ella, people seemed to look right past him. Everyone expected the Avengers to always be out alone or with another Avenger, but never with a civilian. Her style also seemed to match the one that he wore, and it helped keep him from sticking out like a sore thumb when he was on his own.
"I couldn't help but see I… I was watching the way you look at that young woman." The man blatantly stated, gesturing his old wrinkled hand toward where she had walked off. The man also adjusted his glasses. Steve followed the motion and glanced at the door to the restroom and then back to the man sitting in front of him. "And I know when a man has given his heart away." Steve's eyes jolted back to the elder, who continued to smile.
"I- What?" Steve felt the modern stutter he had picked up since being awoken.
"Son, you're in love." He stated.
For a few moments, the captain stared at the man, his brows furred and he looked back over to the bathroom door again, it swung open and Eleanor walked out, spotting him talking to the old man and pausing. She gave him a small smile and went to get in the pastries line, glancing down at her phone and pulling the card out of the sliding compartment on the back. He could see her placid smile and the twinkle in her eye from where he sat. And then the wrinkle of her nose when her hair fell into hit her in her eyes. Love? Ella?
Steve's attention was brought back to the conversation when the man spoke again. "She is almost as beautiful as my wife." he laughed and looked behind him. Steve could see on his other side an older woman as well, sitting on the bench across the room and watching the two of them. She smiled and gave a small wave with her own aged hand when he made eye contact. "I wanted to tell you something, a trade secret that I never had a son to tell." More and more attention filtered into what the man was saying, and Steve let the worn, but soft and gentle hands hold his own. "Take her out as often as you can afford—even if it's just for a stroll, tell her how you feel just as often… and… Don't let her go." The man released his hand, and he felt paper wrapped in it. Opening his hand, at least a hundred dollars in cash sat.
"I can't take this from you," Steve started, but he was interrupted by the old man closing his hand again with a slight chuckle.
"I have spent a long time looking for a man who deserved it. Spend it on a nice dinner."
A movement to his right caused Steve to look at Eleanor, who was making her way back to him with a small tray. She paused, unsure if she should approach. The old man's attention also shifted, and he waved his hand toward her to come closer.
"Hello." She smiled, biting her lip unsurely and looking at Steve.
The man pulled her into a hug like an old friend, and she looked at Steve with even more confusion. He could only shrug in response. "I was telling your friend how lovely it was to see such energy from you young people."
Eleanor laughed lightly and looked at Steve again. The tallest of the three had moved his hand and put the money in his back pocket, somehow knowing not to tell her what they were really speaking about.
"Would you like a cupcake?" Eleanor nodded to the tray that she was holding where five cupcakes sat. She set it on the table and smiled as the man stood. A sparkle, much like the one that she had in her eyes when she was happy, found its way onto the man's face and he nodded his head.
"I'll take one to my wife," He chortled.
"No no, take two. One for you and one for your wife. Or two for your wife. Steve doesn't need that many he'll lose his figure."
With hands that shook very little for his age, he nodded and took two, thanking her profusely. Steve watched as Eleanor interacted with him, throwing another joke and causing him to chuckle before taking her own seat. She glanced over at him and laughed at something the man said, Steve was too caught up staring at her to notice the actual joke. But with a motion, the old man balanced the cupcakes in one hand and shook theirs, smiling and beginning to walk back to where his wife sat.
Steve and Eleanor watched their interaction, and the woman's laugh before turning back toward each other.
"Another cupcake?" Steve asked, causing her to gasp at him and nudge him underneath the table.
"You were busy! What else was I supposed to do?"
The Captain chuckled and took one off the plate, "Did you really buy two for that man?"
"Well I figured He'd take at least one, and I'll eat one, and you'll eat the rest you pig." He laughed aloud and pressed the bottom of the cupcake toward her face when she was taking a bite out of it. Frosting got stuck on her nose and she smacked at his hand.
"It's my metabolism"
She stuck out her tongue, "Whatever. It's totally unfair." With another pause, she took a bite. "So—Your trip to DC. Is that by a stark private plane?"
As Steve got off the plane on Monday morning, he flipped his phone off of airplane mode and slipped it into his pocket. Immediately, his phone buzzed in his pocket.
Ella: Did you land? How was the private plane?
With a chuckle, he waited until he was sitting in the shield car before sending his response. Also attaching a photo he had taken of the interior of the plane. It was only 6 in the morning, so she would just now be getting out of bed he figured. She had to be subbing classes if she was up this early though.
Steve: The seats were nice, but I don't understand the purpose of a stage and a fully stocked bar.
Ella: ITS TONY STARK. What do you expect for cross country flight entertainment?
Glancing out the window as the city got closer, he could see some of the monuments at a distance.
Steve: I think it's excessive. Are you teaching today?
Ella: Yes! At a Middle School in Queens for their History teacher.
Steve: Call to talk about it tonight?
Ella: Yeah! Let me know when you get to where you're staying, and I'll ring you after dinner.
Lucky for Steve, his time in DC went by quickly. Each morning he would go for a run around some of the main monuments his hotel was closest to, go to shield for whatever testing they wanted to do, see his therapist, work with a team for training, spend time with Clint who was in town for a week before he was going to who-knows-where
On Thursday he sat in his hotel room on the couch and stared out the window into the dark sky, laughing into the phone as he had every other day the previous week. Recapping what he'd done and also listening to Eleanor's play by play of her days at school and the Humane Society. "I can't believe you sent me that photo of the Statue of Liberty. I'll be back on Saturday."
Eleanor laughed back "She Misses you obviously, New York doesn't know what to do without its homegrown Avenger. All the others are Expats."
Steve shook his head, knowing she couldn't see it, but also not having the words to convey his thoughts. "Let her know I miss her too. But you've gotta see the Smithsonian, it's huge. They've got this extension called the Air and Space Museum where they have the real pods that the astronauts landed back on earth in, just like in that movie we watched last week." He thought of the film's ending when one of the pods landed with a splash into the ocean. What a work of science.
His childish excitement made Eleanor giggle. "I would love to see that. Actually, I'd love to see your face when you saw that."
"I still can't believe we went to the MOON." The world calls him a scientific miracle? What would they call the people who made a trip to the moon and back? Just the idea of space travel had him in a bit of a tizzy. He could briefly remember the words of the mad scientist Johan Schmit talking about the universe before he touched the tesseract and fell through what looked to be like the space hole of the plane. But the Idea that it might actually be feasible?
"We did! I'm sure if you asked the president he'd introduce you to Armstrong. Celebrities love meeting other celebrities, it'd be a great photo op," He knew she was teasing him, but it didn't stop him from considering it. She wasn't wrong.
He popped a question back over to her to continue their conversation. "What celebrity would you want to meet?"
"The Queen of England. Obviously." Her British accent was horrific, but it did briefly remind him of Peggys'. He shook his head when he thought of her, trying not to get distracted and bring the mood down.
"How am I not surprised. Are you really an American?" He could imagine the scoff she was giving him, her hand covering her heart.
"How dare you. To think I was going to bake Captain America brownies for the next time you came over." He could hear her sarcasm through the phone, and he could practically make out her facial expressions at that point. She'd promised that the following day they'd try for a TimeFace chat or Video chat of some sort. After all, she was his self-appointed pop culture and technology teacher for all the things he needed to know in the 21st century.
They laughed on the phone for another half an hour before hanging up. Even then he stared out the window for a few more minutes, feeling surprisingly at peace. The sun had set almost an hour previous and he could see the moon out his fancy hotel window seat. Eleanor had complained earlier that her dream was to have a window seat like the one he sat in, but just for reading and preferably looking out into nature of some type or another.
Thus far he had enjoyed his trip, DC was a whole new world for him, and the Shield HQ was top of the notch. Stark Tower was tech savvy, but it was a far cry from the military feel that he'd missed since waking up. He couldn't help but still feel out of place in every aspect though. The only place he felt truly at home was when he sat there with his phone to his ear. Was that a sign? The bucky that coached him through his life in his head yelled something at him, but he still couldn't make out the words.
Just another day or two, and then he'd be back in Manhatten and he could spend more time with a certain brunette that had quickly become one of his closest- if not the closest- friend in his life since waking up. Just another day or two.
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Thanks for Reading and Lots of Love from the Middle of Nowhere Asia!