Who: Fury and Carol What: Birthday Drinks When: July 4 - afternoon (backdated) Where: Lou’s Rating: Low
In truth, he had changed a little since the 80s. Some would argue he changed a lot and they were probably right despite the fact he’d like to think he stayed the same. He had gotten a little harder, a lot older, and much more cautious of the shadows cast by man and others. Here in the village, it was particularly hard not to be constantly waiting for the shoe to drop.
He told himself to lighten up and ended up at the bar a little bit before Carol did. He ordered two beers and found a place to sit where all the exits could be seen and no one could come from behind to surprise you - old habits died hard.
-- Carol planned to possibly attend the firework celebration later that day, but for the afternoon she was solely focused on meeting her friend for drinks for his birthday. Part of her was surprised that Fury had given in, but she was happy he had. They hadn’t had a chance to catch up yet since her arrival and she was looking forward to seeing her friend in person.
Lou’s seemed like the best place in town for that drink. Arriving, she took a moment to look around the place. She spotted Fury, not surprising in a booth that put him in prime position to see all the exits and entrances. No one could surprise him. Smirking, Carol made her way over, plopping down in the seat across from him and claiming the beer he’d obviously ordered for her.
“Happy birthday, baldy.”
***
“You know I did have hair once. Ever stop to think you’re the one responsible for all my hair falling out?” He wasn’t actually bald by choice, at least not entirely. Once his hair had started to thin too much, he had taken to shaving it. It was better this way, though he had to admit he missed his hair on occasion.
“How have you been, Danvers?” She looked good and from what Fury knew of her, she was one hell of an adaptable person so hopefully the village wasn’t taking too much of a toll on her.
-- Carol took a sip of her beer. She doubted Fury lay awake at night worrying about what galaxy might have finally been enough to subdue the strong, stubborn Carol Danvers. Maybe she was wrong, but Earth had enough problems to keep him up at night without a certain glowy fist heroine being one of them. No doubt those Avengers of his gave him more than enough anxiety without Carol being a part of any of it.
“It’s been a while, but yes, I remember, you did have a hair,” Carol replied. “But I highly doubt my adventures in the great blue yonder had anything to do with you losing it.” She smirked, pointing her beer at him. She took another sip before putting it down.
“Surviving. Like I always do. Learning how to live in a world without the need for my specialized talents.” She folded a piece of hair behind her ear. “What about you? Settling into your apple pie life with that white picket fence. I know you must have been dreaming of it forever.”
***
“Not exactly.” He brought his own beer up to his mouth and took a sip, letting the smirk form right before the bottle hit his lips. He drank a little and then lowered the bottle to the table. “I’ve been keeping active, actually. Don’t exactly need the Avengers here, but we need people looking out for the weird and unexplained. It doesn’t sit well with me that us outsiders can’t hold a job in law enforcement here or work at the hospital. I know some people consider it being too paranoid, but paranoia’s what’s kept me alive all these years.”
*** “Didn’t think so.” Carol caught sight of that smirk just before he took a sip from his bottle of beer. At least she had one familiar face here and despite her teasing, she did like Fury. It was why she redesigned his beeper to be able to contact her should something happen. Obviously, only in real emergencies, but she did want him to contact her. It was why she was so worried when she suddenly showed up even if she hadn’t been contacted. She thought it had something to do with him.
Carol took a sip of her beer, letting his words sink in. “Do those people actually get paid?” Carol put down her beer. “As you should be. I suppose you have me to partially thank for that. Me and bringing those damn aliens to Earth.” Well, not entirely her fault, but yes aliens had come because of her.
“People are scared of power, you know that. If a number of us have it, they don’t want to give up what little they have.”
***
“No, they don’t get paid. Not here, anyway. Back home, most of them did, but here it’s more of a… volunteer thing. Under the radar, so to speak.” Which meant no income if only because he didn’t have the resources not to let the money leave a trail.
“I do know that.” He nodded, meaning the power. “I also know that right now the people who more or less simply put up with us have most of it. Leaves us at a particular disadvantage that I’m not thrilled with.” So he kept an eye on everything as best he can, even if people thought he was a curmudgeon.
“However there is something I’d like to ask you.” He made it look and sound serious, but then a small smile spread over his lips. “My ward, Lyra, would like you to come over so she can meet you in person.”
*** Carol had fought for the planet without a solid paycheck before. It wasn’t hard for her to agree to do it again, especially for Fury. “If you need help…” Carol trailed off, lifting her beer to her lips for another sip. He knew he could count on her to help him out. “You don’t even need me to rig a beeper for you this time.” She smirked from behind her bottle.
She heard the people in Madison Valley were not too keen on letting the refugees hold any sort of power. It wasn’t ideal by any stretch and Carol was definitely one of those people that did not like anyone having any kind of power over her. She’d had someone pulling the strings on her for too long once upon a time. Like hell she would let it happen again. “So I’ve heard,” Carol replied. “You know me. You know I don’t particularly like people having any kind of hold over me.”
Oh boy. Fury asking for something. “It better not be a date because you hit your quota for the year and I don’t date the people I work with.” She could help,but tease him just a bit. But what he asked had nothing to do with work and Carol broke into a smile.
“I think I can make that happen.”
***
He was definitely going to keep Carol in mind if he needed help with something. She was essentially the first superhero that he’d ever trusted and he’d continue to do that because he knew she could be trusted and she could deliver. He was also happy she agreed to meeting Lyra. She’d be happy about that.
“She’ll be excited to meet you. I think if she had it her way, she’d like there to be a party where only the people who knew me from home attended so she could ask them all the questions.” Not that many of them could answer a lot of them.
*** Carol happened to be good with kids. She was more than okay with meeting Fury’s ward. Lyra seemed quite smart for a child. “I look forward to it.” Carol reached in her pocket and pulled out a small box, placing it in the center of the table between them. “I bought you a little something. Lyra approved by the way.”
***
His eyebrow went up as he looked at the box. He wasn’t exactly used to gifts unless the gifts were something like ‘here’s the bad guy’ or ‘yeah, we stopped that terrorist invasion’. He picked up the box and examined it, then looked at Carol with a small smile. “Well if Lyra approves, I should like it, then.”
He opened the box slowly and peered inside.
*** Carol smirked. He was opening it slowly as if it might explode in his face. She shouldn’t be surprised. This was Fury they were dealing with and he was alway suspicious. “It’s not going to jump out and take out your other eye if that is what you are concerned about,” Carol replied, shaking her head. “I thought you could use a little color in your life and since you are the embodiment of patriotism, I thought this would be fitting.”
Inside the box, true to her word to Lyra, was an eye patch with an American flag design.
***
When he saw it, he full-on smiled and then even chuckled as he lifted the item out of the box to get a better look at it. “Not really the most discreet eyewear out there.” Though he didn’t look like he hated it. In fact, he gestured to Carol with the hand holding the patch and there was amusement in his eye. “You’re going to get Cap jealous, you know. Then where will I be?”
Since they were mostly alone at the bar, he had no qualms of looking down and replacing his black patch with the flag one. When he looked back up, he raised his eyebrows. “How’s it look?”
--
“Keep it for a special occasion, like your birthday,” Carol replied, silently proud she was able to bring a true smile to her friend’s face. It was something she wasn’t sure she would ever get to see again. Traveling space, she wasn’t sure if Earth was ever going to be in her sights again. Madison Valley had given her quite the shock in bringing into view a hell of a lot sooner than she planned, but she didn’t mind too much. As long as she had her friend here, she could handle it.
“Believe me, I can get him one too. There will be plenty to go around. It could be like an Avengers thing,” Carol teased. She was surprised when it tried it on, but also happy too. She gave him a genuine smile. “I like it.”
---
“Thank you for the gift.” He meant it. He appreciated the gesture and he appreciated the actual gift. At least it wasn’t some awkward necktie like the one Ned Leeds tried to give him at Christmas. “Did you want another beer while you tell me what you’ve gotten up to lately?” Because he was interested in the space exploration and what she had been up to.
-- “Anytime. I know it’s not as fancy as that beeper I gave you, but I thought I would try anyway.” Carol was just glad to see he was still alive. If she had anything to say about it, he would stay that way too. “And sure. I figured you would probably want to hear what the other side of the galaxy looks like.”