Who: Steve and Sam What: Reconnecting Where: The Tower When Back not long after Steve showed back up Warnings: None Status: Complete.
Steve was settling in - which meant his room was sorted out to his liking, he'd procured notebooks and pencils, and he'd found himself plenty of comfortable clothing. Sometimes adjusting to the future was hard but he found clothes made it easier. If he was comfortable, he could focus on everything else.
He was sitting in the communal kitchen in the Tower, a notebook open in front of him, he'd gone back through the network to try and get a handle on what was going on for them. Plenty of things, by the look. He wondered if that was what Strange meant by the universe needing him.
That man was never not enigmatic. Steve liked things a little simpler. Complicated things tended to get messy.
He lifted his glass of water as he added a couple notes to the page, looking up when he heard footsteps.
Having Steve back was a good thing. Despite having a shield and knowing that his friend trusted him to take up the mantle of Captain America, Sam was not ready for that particular honor and preferred having the original flavor around.
“Hey, man,” he said, unsurprised to find Steve in one of the many communal areas of the Tower. Sam had only popped by to see if there was coffee because somehow he and Carol were out in their place, but he figured it was just as easy to make a pot here and join his friend for a little while. “Looks like you’re settling in okay. Need anything?”
Steve set his pencil down and leaned back in the chair and looked at Sam. He trusted Sam with the shield, and he was glad he was doing okay with it too. He knew how much of a responsibility it was.
He would not say no to coffee. "Trying to wrap my head around everything, but I'm settling in okay. Catch me up on you. What have I missed?"
This reality was a lot to wrap your head around. At least Steve had experience adjusting to drastically different circumstances. Though Sam suspected that sort of thing never really got easier.
As he got the coffee going, he thought about all the things that had happened since his arrival here. He couldn’t believe he was about to be That Guy, but he’d been regretting that he never mentioned his relationship with Carol to Steve months ago, so it was time to rectify that.
“Well, I recently moved in with Carol Danvers,” he said, leaning against the counter and giving his friend a shy smile. “So that’s probably the biggest thing that you’ve missed with me.”
Steve was 'used' to being thrown out of his own time and dragged every which way. It didn't get easier to handle, just easier to accept. He was a little bitter, he'd finally had a chance to be happy. But, alas, the universe had other plans.
"Is that so?" He smirked a bit at his friend, "congrats, then. I'm glad you both are happy. It is really good to see." He was honest, obviously, he liked when his friends did well and were happy.
"Tony gave me a lot to sift through but it is more or less official things." He gestured to the notebook in front of him.
Sam grinned. “She’s pretty great,” he said. “You’ll have to come out for a drink with us sometime, get to know her better.” He figured they’d get along pretty well since they both had that whole ‘punch first, ask questions later’ mindset.
“So you reading all about the insanity we’ve dealt with in this universe?” he asked, nodding at the notebook. “Giant monsters, floods, getting trapped in a virtual reality…” There was never a dull moment, that was for sure.
Steve smiled at Sam, "I will be happy to." He wanted to know who made his friend happy. He knew of her, at least a little in passing. They hadn't had time to actually get to know each other. He would be sure to change that as soon as possible.
"I am, yes. I don't want to be caught blind to everything so far. I said to Tony this place sure isn't boring." He shook his head a bit, "How long have you been here?"
That was a harder question to answer than it probably should have been. “Uh… a year? Year and a half? We skipped ahead like five years at one point, so it’s hard to say.” Sam figured that Steve would understand that having woken up from the ice after seventy years.
“It’s good for you to be aware of what’s happened,” he agreed. “Especially given that some things never really go away.” Something else he would understand after the discovery that HYDRA had been active inside SHIELD for all that time back home.
Steve made a note about time skips. "That's a good thing to know about." He shook his head a bit, but he understood. Time jumps were always hard to reconcile. Five was a lot easier than seventy but still not fun.
"No, some things certainly seem constant no matter where I am. Comforting in a strange way." He laughed a bit as he set his pencil back down. "Not that I enjoy trouble but it is easier to be trouble I know." That was almost a lie - he needed something to focus on and trouble kept him busy.
He blinked as his stomach rumbled.
The coffee was ready and Steve poured them both a cup. He didn’t miss Steve’s stomach rumbling. “Is that your way of asking me to make you breakfast?” he teased. “Cause, I gotta say, you’re not as cute as the blonde in my bed right now, but I’ll still feed you.”
Steve actually snorted at that, “Or pointing me in the right direction.” he smirked a bit then pushed to his feet, tucking his notebook into his back pocket, tucking the pencil in place. “I’m a growing boy, after all.” he laughed again as he took the coffee. “I will never say no to breakfast. And you know more places than I do right now.” he smiled, just happy to see his friend. He was close to reconnecting with everyone important and that made this whole thing a lot easier.