Re: Steve/Loki
Steve could hear the wheels moving inside Loki's head, but he decided not to make assumptions and just go with what Loki was saying. "Thor is... straightforward, I'll give you that, but we are who we are at our core. We can try to change, but it's not easy, is it?" It was pretty much Steve's theory when it came to Loki. "You think Thor can unlearn it. He think you can't change. I have to wonder if you two are just very wrong about each other. I hope you are." He wasn't going to forget Thor's warning, though.
He didn't dismiss Loki's comment, trying to come up with an honest answer that explained how much the shield impacted people's perceptions of who he was. "I do what I think it's right, but that's not always what people think it's right. People see the uniform and think that I will support the system no matter what. I don't care about systems and rules, but I care about what's right and wrong, what's moral and ethical and what's not. That doesn't mean I'm perfect," he said with a tiny smile. "I will make choices that will prove to be wrong, but I will always make them, because in my heart, I believe it's the right thing to do at that time, with the information I have. Eating brains didn't feel wrong. I made sure that the person died in a natural way. They make sure that all 'donations' are voluntary. I couldn't find anything unethical on how they came in possession of the brain. Tony dared me and honestly, I didn't think it would have any affect with my metabolism. I was very wrong about that part." He stared at Loki for a moment. "That was a large part of it. I figured nothing, would happen, but a small part of me did it, because the world didn't make sense and for once, I didn't want to fight everyone including Tony, so I figured, why not go along with Tony's dare? I figured with no aftermath, there was no reason to object."
Steve huffed. "Because even if I take a few hours off from righting the world's wrong, I believe in doing the right thing. Always. I believe that people are capable of doing the right thing if they stop worrying about their own needs. And maybe one day Thor will show up, and we can show him that he was wrong. You can change."