Re: Steve and Isabel
He gave her a small smile and a nod. "Thanks."
He sighed and looked back at the crowd. one. two. three. four...
"You know," he started after a minute, after he had his count. "when I was a kid, we could never afford a birthday party, so my ma and Bucky convinced me that the fireworks and the block party was for me." He wasn't looking at her, his eyes still on the other people, "I think most of the neighborhood just felt bad enough to play along."
"I loved the fireworks, even when I was a baby, was never afraid of them." He smiled a little bit to himself and looked down to the cupcake, peeling off the paper and splitting it in half, offering one to her. "Ma always said my courage filled up where my common sense was supposed to be." He looked back down to the sweet in his hand, just sort of staring at it. He wasn't sure why he was telling her all of this, maybe just to fill the silence. "Now people are afraid of what'll happen if they set them off too close to me."