Steve followed Darren Stark, now silent, back up the stairs to the main lobby. Once there, the young man seemed to have no idea where to direct his attention, first looking at the floor, then at the ceiling, then finally and helplessly at Steve.
"So… Where would you like to start?" he asked hesitantly, his arms swinging awkwardly at his sides, shoulders hunched with uncertainty.
Steve had seen these symptoms before, and he'd experienced them many times. "Why don't we start with where you work?" he asked, keeping his voice purposefully light. Maybe he'll warm up if he talks about something he likes.
"Huh— sure!" Darren's voice gained enthusiasm as he gestured toward the stairs. "It's this way. Elle said you're from the 40's. Did you see any of my grandfather's inventions?"
"Yeah," Steve said as they started climbing the stairs. "I worked with him, you know. He came up with my shield and armor and pretty much everything we used to fight Hydra."
"Really?" Darren turned and started up a second flight of stairs. "My dad never talked much about him. Not a good relationship there."
Steve had no idea how to answer that, so they climbed in silence for a moment.
"So your shield is vibranium?" Darren asked, turning to look at Steve. "I've never seen it in person."
"Yes, it's supposedly the only sample in existence." Steve paused, remembering Peggy shooting at him. "Do you want to see it sometime?"
"Y-yeah, that would be awesome," Darren said reverently, stopping at a door on the fourth floor. "Here we are. It's the main lab of SHIELD HQ, but there are other labs in other parts of the world. This lab goes up multiple floors, but this floor holds the computer experiments." So saying, he used his access card to open the door.
Steve was ushered into a beeping, buzzing, whirring world where most of the workers were dressed casually and seated at computers, staring intently at them. They didn't even look up when Darren and Steve entered, which was an interesting change from the attention Steve usually attracted. Then again, if you work with a Stark, everyone else might seem less impressive. There appeared to be a central hub in the middle of the room with around fifty computers, about half of which were filled with men and women tapping away at the keys. At first, Steve thought that this floor must have solid walls instead of the customary windows that the rest of the building sported. Then he noticed that this space was much smaller than an entire floor of the building should be, and that there were handles set into the walls, apparently attached to invisible doors. The walls themselves were a light gray, and the ceiling was tiled the same color, interspersed with hidden lights to give the room a dim glow. The floor was made of smooth white tile, and it was crisscrossed with flat cords whose sources and endings were mostly a mystery.
"So, this is the main area where we monitor SHIELD's data, among other things." Darren said, standing next to Steve and surveying the room along with him. "Here," he guided Steve around the hub and up to one of the handles on the western wall. "This is where I do my work." He slid his access card and the door beeped and opened, revealing a darkened room.
Steve followed him inside as he turned on the lights, revealing a large workspace with the customary window walls. In the middle of the room were several work benches arranged in a sort of open square, like a small parking space. This contained a rolling chair, and the workbenches themselves were littered with mechanical parts, papers, pencils, and shiny things Steve couldn't place. Darren turned from the switches and took in his desk, seeming to realize what a mess everything was in all at once.
He shook his head and grinned sheepishly at Steve. "Did Elle tell you I was messy?"
"No," Steve said amicably. "She just said you're a genius, and that you're nice most of the time. And you've already graduated college."
"'Most of the time'?" Darren chuckled, moving to clear things from his desk. "Well, I could say the same for her. And yeah, I got my first two degrees when I was sixteen. I'm twenty-one now."
Steve looked the young man over, surprised at how young he still looked. The clock on the wall told him they had around an hour to wait before Eleanore would be there. "So how long have you two been going together?" Talking about your girl is still good, right?
"Oh, about three years now." Darren shrugged, still cleaning with his back to Steve. He seemed willing to answer questions, but he didn't volunteer information. Or maybe I need to ask different questions.
"So what are you working on now?" he asked, taking in the sundry parts that Darren was leaving on the workbench.
"In my spare time, I'm building a small computer, like a Raspberry Pie," What? "for emulating game engines from the past. At least, that's what these parts are for." Darren gestured to the rightmost bench, which he hadn't touched, and on which tiny green and gold and silver parts were arranged.
"You… bake in here? With games?" Steve was already at a loss. He knew it was going to be a question-filled discussion. He just hoped this youngest Stark would be patient.
"What? No, I… Oh, the RasPi." Darren picked up a small, flat, green piece of plastic that had copper and wires sticking out of it. "This is a Raspberry Pi— like three point one four one five nine two six... It's the name of a small computer. This thing can't do much by today's standards, but it's useful for writing little games and pieces of software for beginner, and to see how they'll look on an older machine. I tinker around with it in my spare time. Here." He held the plastic thing out to Steve, who accepted it gingerly. What if I break this?
"I use this old DVD player as a display screen for it," Darren brought a rectangle over that was silver, smaller, and thicker than Eleanore's laptop had been. When he neared Steve, he flipped it open revealing a screen, but only a few buttons.
"But this isn't the best part of my lab here," Darren left Steve with the small green computer in his hand, and moved over to a large box that was generating a good deal of murmuring, buzzing noises. Darren reached it and turned to face Steve, pride written all over his face. I guess all he needed was to talk about what he knows.
"This is my 3D printer. This one works with metal, but my other one works with plastic. Want to see what it made last night?" He reminded Steve of a young child showing their pet dog to a stranger.
"Sure," Steve was in way over his head, and he was feeling it. He looked at the clock. Forty-five minutes, then Eleanore might explain some of this. Darren Stark seemed like a kind person, but one who was used to talking to people who knew what he was saying, which Steve did not. He stood awkwardly, still cradling the small green piece of computer in his hands, sorting through everything the young genius was saying and saving questions for later.
Darren leaned over and opened a hatch at the top of the box, and the humming and whirring ceased. He stuck his head and shoulders into the machine, and Steve held the lid up so it wouldn't slam back on him.
"Thanks," Darren said, righting himself with what looked like a helmet in his hands. It was not unlike a knight's helm from the heroic tales Steve had read, but it was definitely feminine. It completely covered the face, but it looked as though the face shield folded up when needed. The visor was not filled in, and this gave it an eerie look. It was made of lusterless dark-silver metal with black and violet trimmings. "This is armor I made for Elle. I'm going to take it home and have my dad's machines put in the power source and the mechanisms. "When it's powered up, it can fold into a backpack, so she can carry stuff in it. Although it will drop the stuff she'd carrying when she activates it, so I'd better warn her about that. What do you think?"
Steve looked at the helmet, then at Darren, who was casting his gaze between Steve and the helmet. "I think she'll like it." Steve said, trying to be noncommittal. Talking to couples could be awkward. They got offended so easily. He'd once accidentally angered one of Bucky's girlfriends just by remarking that her brother was good at sports. Bucky had dumped her when she refused to forgive Steve. "Er… is purple her favorite color?" Nice, Steve. Very smooth.
"Yeah, it is. This shade especially." Darren looked fondly at the helmet, then put it back into the box machine. "Don't tell her about it yet, please. I want to surprise her tomorrow when it's done."
"Sure thing," Steve hoped nothing would slip out. Fifteen minutes…
"So do you have a computer yet?" Darren was focusing on Steve again, and asking him questions.
"Um, does this count?" Steve pulled his phone from his jeans pocket, handing it to Darren.
He laughed, and Steve felt no malice in it, "If you want to get technical, I suppose it does. It can do more than my RasPi, at least. Here." Darren pulled up the contacts list (which Steve did know how to use, after spending some time that morning tinkering around with it) and put his name and number inside. "If you ever need tech advice, call me. Eleanore's good for beginner things, too, but if you want something fixed, I'm your guy."
"Thanks," Steve was feeling less and less awkward around this boy. "You must never have met someone who knows so little about your technology."
Darren made a face, raising his eyebrows and quirking his mouth in derision. "You'd be surprised at how many of my dad's fellow CEO's don't know how to work their own computers except to email. It's crazy. At least you want to learn, instead of calling me all the time to do stuff."
Steve didn't know how to reply, and Darren seemed to realize that as he walked back toward the work bench. "So—uh… do you know about the Internet yet?"
"No," Steve said assuredly. So at least I know what I don't know.
"Okay, let's start there." Darren looked away from Steve and toward the ceiling, collecting his thoughts. "The Internet began as a way to share military data in the early 1960's, and it grew more and more useful. The government ran cables all over the country, and other developed nations did the same until basically every major city had a connection. Then they released it to the public in the 1970's, but almost no one used it until ten years later because normal people didn't have computers. Now the Internet has basically every bit of information known to man, and some that most people don't know, like government secrets and—"
"And conspiracy theories," Eleanore's voice came from the doorway, where she stood with her hand on the knob and Jet at her side. She smiled at Steve, then her face lit up when she saw Darren. He moved towards her, and she moved to him, and they met so naturally in the middle of the room that Steve wondered if he should look away. Could Peggy and I have had that? His heart ached a little stronger.
They only hugged, however, and he heard each whisper greetings to the other before Eleanore's attention was back on Steve.
"Hey," she greeted him. "I have your move-in papers already. Mrs. Hirsch apparently likes you, so whenever you're ready you can stop by and get the keys."
"Oh, thanks." Steve said, just as Darren asked, "He's moving in with you?"
"No problem, and no," Eleanore answered them in turn. "Steve took 216A across the hall, the one that crabby couple lived in."
"Oh," said Darren. "Well, congratulations," this to Steve, with a grin. "Hey, puppy," to Jet, who sidled up for an ear rub.
"Thanks," Steve said again, trying to detect any note of jealousy in the young man's demeanor. He found none, though he suspected things would have been different if he'd actually moved in with Eleanore.
"Babe, I told you to show him around the building, not dazzle him with your toys." Eleanore seemed to be teasing, her eyes crinkling at the corners even as her expression remained serious. She walked over to Steve and held out her hand, into which he carefully placed the RasPi machine.
"Yeah, but my toys are so much more interesting than the building." Darren teased back, wrapping his arms around Eleanore again and kissing her on the forehead. Steve wondered if all couples displayed affection this much.
"I'll take it from here, then," Eleanore backed out of Darren's embrace, handing him the tiny computer. "C'mon Steve! Let's get your I.D. card and badge-whatever, and then we can go get your keys! My classes are canceled tomorrow, so we can go furniture shopping if you want. I know this flea market that's open every day of the week, and maybe we can find some old-fashioned things to make it feel homey. We can move your stuff in, too, and you'll have to get a bed, and…"
Steve followed her out of the room, listening to her happy chatter. This much, at least, he could understand.