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Tweak says, "I like muffins."

Steve "Indiana State Hoe" Harrington (mr_mom) wrote in snapthread,
@ 2019-11-11 14:28:00

Entry tags:

steve harrington, steve rogers (mcu)

WHO: Steve Squared
WHAT: The future is wilder than Steve imagined, and nobody thought to tell him.
WHERE: Edge of town by the forest
WHEN: Afternoon, backdated to after Steve's net post.
RATING: PG-13 for possible language

Steve can't help but feel like he's been living in a state of endless confusion ever since arriving to Starklandia.

There's a lot he doesn't understand - look, he gets it. Not only did he somehow travel between parallel universes, but he jumped 30+ years into the future. That's bound to come with difficulties, right? Right. Anybody would be bewildered in his place. It's not just that he's dumb, okay? He's not. Really. Contrary to popular opinion - whatever. The point is, even Nancy would be taken aback by everything - just because Hopper doesn't seem to give a shit (and after everything, can Steve really blame him?) doesn't mean it's not totally weird.

He likes to think he's managing pretty well, all things considered. Tony had run through a lot with him - some of it, too fast for him to fully wrap his brain around - but Steve had managed not to break the phone again since Tony fixed it, so. Points there. He even got a message up! He was talking to people via text, how cool was that? Granted...Gwen had helped him with the - she called it a 'capslock', Steve had been focusing on remembering all the buttons - and she'd filled in some more, uh, details Steve had been lacking but hey! He was trying here, okay, and he thought he was making progress.

Of course, now he had to figure out how he felt about the cancer thing (that couldn't be real, right? Cigarettes causing cancer?), but everything kind of came to a screeching halt after his conversation with Steve. Gay marriage was legal?? And nobody thought that was an important detail!

The thing is, he's not sure if the guy is pulling his leg or not. And it's not really something Steve's comfortable continuing to discuss over a public network (he's still working on the making-it-private thing, best not to risk it), because what if he is fucking with him? There's a reason Robin never actually said it to him out loud and Steve - he feels like he's right to be wary. Especially with everything in the news - well, his news, back in 1985, they're calling it the gay plague and a whole host of other awful things, people screaming profanities in the name of the lord and others, on the other side, dying on hospital steps -

He wants to know if it's true. If things are better. If it is, the future...might not be as bad as Steve thought.

If it isn't, he's just gonna hope he didn't accidentally sign up for an ass-kicking.

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captainhandsome
2019-11-12 09:08 am UTC (link)

No one got it as well as Steve did. What it was like to wake up in the future in a different world, although he had missed The 80's completely and lucky for anyone who was homosexual who could escape that horror in Steve's opinion. HIV was still around though, without some of the stigma but reading about how his beloved New York a place of rainbow acceptance now had been ravaged broke his heart. But he got it, more than anyone else there would.

Steve had been in the gym earlier and hadn't changed when the other Steve invited him to talk so he was still in his work out gear when he arrived at the edge of town, on the look out for a strange face. Who was still just a kid and Steve smiled warmly at him as he approached.

"Steve? Hello I'm Steve, although you can call me Cap if you like," he said as he held out his hand. It might make it easier and plenty of people did. "Welcome, I know it's a lot but if you need anything we're here to help."

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mr_mom
2019-11-13 02:16 am UTC (link)

For Steve, it's not just a blip in history - it's his present, his now. He'd offered, quietly, in the safety of his car, way out near Teepee Field, to take Robin to a rally in Indianapolis. But it wasn't exactly an offer he would have made on the Main Street in Hawkins, where anyone might hear them - it would have made her uncomfortable. Especially if Steve started throwing punches at anyone who looked at them funny.

~~And if there's a deeper part of Steve that might wonder, internally, well...It's not like he's unused to repression.~~

Other-Steve-from-the-network shows up in a workout top that does nothing to mask his muscles, and Steve's first thought is that he's definitely made a mistake. He's smiling, which is a point in the blonde's favor, but holy shit, he looks like he could snap Steve's neck clear off his body if he wanted to.

"Cap?" Steve can't help but ask, reaching out to shake the offered hand. He might be trying to reassess somewhat frantically, but Steve doesn't think it shows on his face. Probably. Probably not. Uh. "Nice to meet you, Steve."

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captainhandsome
2019-11-13 08:04 pm UTC (link)

Steve didn't go around trying to look like he could snap necks, it was just something that happened. But he didn't so much give the vibe of a neck snapper, he was more eager Golden Retriever than surly violence. But of course if he'd needed to snap Steve's never he could. But he doubted some further questioning about the state of things would cause any ill-will.

Which was maybe why he'd brought up gay marriage in the first place, to let this new comer know that any old fashioned beliefs wouldn't be welcome here, in a place where there were all strokes and all folks. Steve cared too much about the people there, he wasn't about to allow any ignorant and hurtful talk in Starklandia.

"I was a Captain in the army," Steve explained as he shook his hand. "Let's sit," he said as he steered them toward where there was a small pile of trees Steve had pulled from deeper in the woods, to dry out and be used for firewood.

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mr_mom
2019-11-20 06:38 pm UTC (link)

It's not necessarily that Steve gives off any particular vibe, but Steve grew up in the Midwest. In the eighties. Even the nicest of neighbors had...a certain view of things. Steve's caution is warranted, that's all. Hell, Steve wasn't immune to that line of thinking; he knew better now (he knew better then, too, but he still said some awful shit anyway, because he was hurting and he lashed out in ways he shouldn't have), but still. He knew how bad it could be.

"Oh. Uh, thank you for your service." Steve followed Cap to the pile of trees that looked like they needed to be split into logs. He was kind of glad he'd picked this place to meet, despite the proximity to the forest Steve would certainly not be entering. At least he was sure no one would overhear them. "So you uh - said some things, on the phone text thing? I just wanted to - er, hear more about it, I guess?"

There that was nonchalant enough, right?

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captainhandsome
2019-11-21 11:03 am UTC (link)

Steve wasn't one to revel in recognition, although he appreciated the thanks, he wasn't about to dwell on it. That wasn't what they were here for, they were here to talk about something more important than that. Steve had few complaints about how things had progressed in society, for minorities, for women and while he felt there was more work to do things had moved in the right direction. So he hoped someone like this young man could appreciate it too.

"About same-sex marriage?" Steve said and while it was a question he knew what he was asking. "It was legalized in all 50 states in 2014 and announced by our African American President," and hadn't that been a fantastic day in history. Steve had watched it sitting on the edge of his couch, his mouth dry and his eyes wet.

"It was a special day for a lot of people, I just wish everyone who'd fought for it and the people we lost could have been there to see it," Steve said.

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mr_mom
2019-11-28 11:05 pm UTC (link)

"Yeah." Steve takes a seat on one of the logs, tucking his hands under his thighs to stop from fidgeting. It didn't entirely work, with his knee bouncing anyway, but he was trying so that ought to count for something, right? "But - like, how, I guess? People...come around?"

It just seems so foreign, so far away. He's in 2019 right now, and it might just be crazier than Back to the Future implied (and that was 2015). He'd be 53 right now. He would have been 49 when same-sex marriage was legalized. 49. It seems like lifetimes away, when you're 19.

He's so focused on that, he barely registers the words 'African-American President', but when he does, Steve blinks at Cap in bewilderment. "Wait, did Jesse Jackson run again?"

He remembers that well enough, the push for the Democratic nomination, but Mondale had won out in the end. Election day had found Steve begrudgingly handing out flyers as part of his Senior year Government class required community service.

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captainhandsome
2019-11-29 07:03 pm UTC (link)

"Like most things that matter, people fought for it. People died for it," Steve said softly. "It started with a few brave people who refused to live in the shadows and it spread, I think there's more of us than anyone thought, that we're everywhere and we're all different kinds of people and who we love doesn't actually matter," he said.

It had been a long journey from where young Steve had come from to where old Steve had been, one that had been far from a straight line. It was easy to celebrate the wins and forget the loses but Steve wouldn't forget the heroes often unnamed who'd changed the world for the better for him and everyone like him.

"He didn't, no," he said. "There's a lot of American History to watch up on, World History really. But you'll get there, I did," Steve said kindly. "The people here are good, they look after each other."

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mr_mom
2019-12-06 03:16 am UTC (link)

"Yeah, I've seen, uh, that." One of the reasons Robin had been reluctant to go to anything was the recent die-in in Chicago. These peaceful protests turned into, more often than not, the exact opposite. Steve, while a little bit dense, couldn't miss the multiple uses of the word 'we' in that sentence. He hesitated for a moment, unsure - was it rude to ask? Cap had been so open with him thus far, and things were different here - he should go for broke, shouldn't he?

"Are you - " Steve made a complicated hand gesture, full of nervous energy. "I mean, are you actually - like - yeah?"

"There's a lot of everything to catch up on," Steve sighed, offering a half-shrug. He's not even sure he has enough capacity to store what he was supposed to learn back in his own time. "Everyone's really nice here, it's - kind of unexpected, I guess. It's nice, though."

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