threecenturyman (threecenturyman) wrote in spinningcompass, @ 2013-12-05 16:47:00 |
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As usual, Steve was hungry. He didn’t want to bother Peggy to make something for him and he wasn’t in the mood for anything at the diner or the pub, so that left the bakery. It had been a long time since he’d been able to actually go into the bakery. He usually had anything he wanted delivered because it was too painful to go in there after Peggy’s death. But this was a different time. Peggy was alive and happy. Most of his friends were still around. And he didn’t want to cause too much trouble if she were busy. He smiled as the smells hit him from a block away. This part of town always smelled good because of that bakery. Sometimes he’d go for a walk in the area just so that he could take advantage of the aromas. They were exquisite. He licked his lips before stepping into the bakery and looking at the case. The place had been redecorated a few times in his life, but it was still basically the same. --- She was singing terribly in the back room and Sook was happily covered in flour and sugar like she always seemed to be. There was music and whirring and lots and lots of noise so she could have her thoughts to herself. So Sook really rather saw Steve than heard him come in but she washed her hands so she could go look after him. “Hi Steve.” she beamed, walking through as she dried off her palms, “Something catch your eye again?” she asked softly. --- He chuckled when he heard the singing coming from the back, shaking his head. It was also nice to hear, even if she was off key. “Hey, Sookie.” He looked through the case, trying to decide just what he wanted. “I’m just starving is all.” He laughed. It seemed like he was eating constantly. --- “You’re always hungry. God knows how that girl keeps up with all of you boys, Bucky included.” Sook pulled out a menu, “There’s also a lunch special sandwich today. I managed to buy a whole side of pastrami in New York just before the door closed so there’s a pastrami on rye if you like. It’s a good thing it’s already preserved.” she grinned. --- “Pastrami on rye would be heaven. Especially if you have some swiss cheese to go on it?” He gave her his most adorable pouty face. “There are a lot of mouths to feed in the house, that’s for sure.” He ran his fingers through his hair, chuckling softly. The gray at the temples wasn’t all that obvious in the bright daylight. --- “I don’t got any Swiss cheese but I got some smoked jalapeno cheddar and thousand island dressing?” she turned on her Southern charm grin in response to his pouty face. “And I ain’t Peggy, mister, you can have whatever you want as long as you say please.” --- “Just the cheddar, please.” He smiled. “And thank you. Though I’ve been told that my pouty face is almost irresistible.” He chuckled. --- Sookie pulled down the pastrami hanging inside her little fridge in the front and heaved it onto her cutting board, “You like thick slices or thin?” she asked, slicing one slice of each off to put on a plate for him to try. --- “Thin slices are good.” He nodded. He pulled one of the chairs up close to the counter so he could sit and talk to her while she got the sandwich ready. “How have you been?” Hers was the first death that happened that really affected him emotionally. And he did miss her a great deal. --- She slid the tasting plate over to him while she cut slice after slice of thin pastrami, knowing that man could pack away the food like breathing. “I’m good actually. No more headaches or bad things happening, I went to Cairo on an adventure and this place did great over Thanksgiving.” Sook nodded, moving the slices to the flat top grill she had behind the counter for making pancakes. “How are you doing lately?” --- He picked up one of the slices and started to munch happily. “I’ve been….okay.” He shrugged. “Things are really weird right now so it’s hard to say exactly how I am.” He finished off the thin slice first. “I’m glad things are going so well for you.” --- “How do you mean weird?” Sook asked, slicing up four slices of rye bread for him to have double portions like he normally did. Her eyes caught sight of his temples and the grey but she didn’t like to embarrass him so she kept her lip zipped. --- Steve tilted his head as he looked at her. Just watching her for a few moments. “I’m….not the Steve you think I am.” He bit his lip. He knew that he was going to have to explain this a lot since not everyone checked the network. “I’m from the future.” --- She blinked. There was so much weird here. “Right. Okay. So, how many of you are there now, exactly?” she laughed, finding the whole thing kinda ridiculous. Oh boy. “I mean, how is Peggy coping with dealing with all of you at once? It must be driving her to insanity.” --- “Well, there’s Stevie, little Steve, Steven, Cap and then me so….five now.” He nodded. “The others are easy enough to tell apart but the only thing distinguishing me from her Steve is this.” He touched the hair at his temples. “She seems to be okay with it, though. Especially now that there’s two super soldiers to do the work around the house.” He laughed. --- Sookie made up his two big sandwiches and put them on a plate, “Hey, she’s got to be lucky to have you both in the house.” she grabbed the plate and put it in front of him. “How far in the future are you from then, Steve?” --- Steve looked at his sandwiches for a moment before looking up at Sookie. “Couple…..hundred years. Give or take a few.” He made a face before picking up one of the sandwiches and taking a bite. --- Sook dropped the knife to the counter with a clatter, “TWO HUNDRED YEARS?” she balked, mouth gaping open. “You only look about 40.” she couldn’t believe what she was hearing from his mouth. --- “I’m surprised I’m aging at all, to be honest. And I was about 150 before the gray hairs started showing up.” He shook his head. “This serum is crazy. I have absolutely no idea how long I’m going to live. Could be another seven hundred years for all I know.” He sighed, then took another bite of the sandwich. --- “So… you come from the future, you know a lot about it, right?” Sook sat on her stool behind the counter, slicing herself some pastrami, “Am I allowed to know about any of it?” she asked, licking her fingertips. --- Steve finished chewing his bite and took another, chewing slowly as he contemplated exactly what he could and could not tell her about her future. “You’re allowed to know some of it. I’ve already told Peggy and Maryanne more than I really should have.” He sighed. “Ask me anything you want and I’ll figure out what to answer and what not to answer. That sound fair?” He took another bite of the sandwich. It really was very good. --- Sook nodded and thought about it for a moment, twirling a blonde curl around her finger, “Does the bakery still exist in your present time?” she asked, figuring that wasn’t too much of a spoiler to start with. --- Steve nodded. “Oh yes. Though I don’t come in here all that often. It’s just not the same.” He cleared his throat. “Don’t get me wrong, the kids that run it are fantastic, but the food just isn’t quite right. If that makes sense.” He looked down at his sandwich. --- “You know that it probably tastes the same but your brain is telling you that there’s something special missing and it must be something in the recipe.” Sook beamed, “OH! I meant to tell the other you...s that I found some seltzer. You want a chocolate egg cream? I got a great recipe.” --- Steve stared at her for a full minute. “You’re not just playing with me, right? I haven’t had one of those in…..forever.” He nodded. “Yes, I would very much like one.” He smiled at her. --- Sook beamed, “1920s New York door, remember? I found a deli, charmed the big Italian guy who owned it and he got me the pastrami and his wife made me an egg cream. I walked out with a marriage proposal, three sides of pastrami, one salami, a bag of rye flour and seltzer plus a recipe for egg cream. It was awesome.” Sook hopped off her stool and bent to the under counter to grab her bottle of seltzer. --- “I think I was ten the last time I had one of those.” He sighed. “And that was because the lady that owned the shop had a soft spot for me. Pretty sure she wanted me to marry her daughter.” He chuckled. “She was a beautiful girl, just kind of big. A lot of the guys were afraid of her.” He shook his head. “I was always nice to her, though. Being familiar with the ways of bullies.” --- “Well, honey,” she said, bringing down a sundae glass, “I got taught by the best in New York in the 20s, I just hope you like it enough to want to marry a girl like me.” Sook hummed softly as she prepared the seltzer, milk and chocolate syrup, stirring like crazy. “Oh yes. Look at that beauty.” --- He laughed as he watched her. It definitely brought back memories. “You know, I never told Peggy this, but I actually got a kiss from that girl once. Her name was Agatha. When she actually stopped growing she was six feet tall. I swear about four feet of that was legs.” He shook his head. --- “Sounds like a modern supermodel type to me.” Sook finished off the egg cream, humming softly in her throat as she popped a straw into the cup and slid it next to his plate. “Marks out of ten please, Future Steve.” --- Steve nodded, then studied the egg cream for a minute before taking a drink. He closed his eyes and actually moaned before taking another drink of it. “I want to marry this egg cream.” He chuckled. “It’s absolutely amazing. And just like I remember.” He sighed before taking another drink of it. --- Sook grinned and laughed in victory, bouncing on her heels, “Oh Steve, you are the awesomest customer I ever had. You can have an egg cream any time you want.” --- “I might take you up on that.” He nodded, his sandwiches now completely forgotten for the egg cream. “It really is amazing.” He smiled at her. Seeing her again was starting to bring back a lot of memories. He cleared his throat and blinked a couple of times, trying to keep his eyes from getting all misty. He set the egg cream down and picked up one of the sandwiches, taking a huge bite. Eat away your feelings, Steve. He figured if his mouth was full of food he couldn’t do too much damage as far as talking went. --- Sook beamed brightly at him, patting his arm, “You enjoy your snack, Steve. If you need anything, just shout for me or help yourself.” she turned on the radio to low and grabbed the washing up, going through to the back. She hadn’t noticed him getting upset but was happy that someone liked her retro food. --- “Thanks.” He smiled and sipped his egg cream again before digging back into his sandwich. He was going to have to get better control of his emotions if he was going to be stuck in this time for a while. He still wasn’t sure exactly why he’d been sent back. Maybe it would present itself. At least he hoped it would. He sat there munching quietly on his food. Two very big pastrami sandwiches was really just a snack for him and it made him chuckle. --- Five or ten minutes later (she wasn’t really sure), Sookie came back through with a tray of miniature fruit pies she had stashed in the back, “You know something, Steve?” she heaved the tray up, being tiny and slight. “I wish I had your muscles.” --- “You want some help with that?” He got up immediately and came around the counter. “You’re not exactly a weakling, you know?” He smiled before taking the tray from her. “Where do you want it?” --- Sook opened her countertop fridge, “Top shelf please.” it was above her head and she could not heave that tray on the top, “They need to chill down before I glaze them and then I have some to deliver.” she beamed gratefully. “Thank you, Steve.” --- “No problem.” He put the pies on the top shelf and looked around the bakery. “Anything else you need me to do while I’m here? I’m not really needed at the farm today so….” He walked over and picked up his empty plate and glass, starting to take them to the back. --- She chewed on her lip, looking him up and down. “Well, how are you with electric ovens? One of mine won’t heat up quickly enough and I don’t have a replacement.” she put her hands on her hips and pouted. --- Steve thought about it for a minute. “I’d love to be able to say I could help you with that but when it comes to fixing things, I’m really only good with carpentry. But, I bet if you ask Tony very nicely he can come take a look at it. Just, you know, don’t let him do more than repair it. He might try to put a reactor in it or something if you’re not careful.” He laughed. --- “That’s what I was scared of.” Sook sighed, rubbing her head, “God these ovens are going to be the death of me, aren’t they?” She shrugged, “Well, thanks anyway, Steve. It was nice of you to offer.” --- “I’m sure if you tell him exactly what you need done, he won’t overdo it. It’s just an oven.” He shrugged, scratching the back of his neck. “It’s no problem, really.” He nodded. “I should probably go see if they need me or something…” He cleared his throat. “See you later?” --- Sook nodded, “Well, thanks Steve. I’m glad you liked the egg cream and the sandwiches. Come over any time and I’ll make you one.” --- Steve smiled. “I will definitely be coming back for one of those egg creams.” He kissed her cheek before heading toward the door. “Later, Sookie.” He smiled, then left. |