InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "A joy forever"

with liberty and justice for all. (

withliberty) wrote in

utr_logs,
@ 2012-06-16 22:40:00

Entry tags:

jean grey, steve rogers

Who: Steve and Jean
Where: A Starbucks in NYC.
When: Saturday afternoon.
What: Steve meets Jean, all official-like!
Rating: Gish.

Steve liked coffee. With the steamed milk and sugar, it felt like a luxury to a man who was used to wartime rations. He was waiting quietly, playing with the shiny new phone that he barely understood. Making calls was easy enough, but some of the touch-based functions that seemed instinctive to other people were still eluding him. (The zoom-in and zoom-out functions were especially hard for him. Swiping, not so much.)

He sat alone, the random anachronistic blond in the middle of the Starbucks. In spite of the summer heat, he wore a button-down with the sleeves rolled to his elbows and long pants.

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alwaysjean
2012-06-17 04:04 am UTC (link)

Jean was a veteran of New York summers and was wearing a sundress and sandals. In spite of the whole Phoenix thing she found she tended to get as overheated as anyone else. Not strictly fair, if you asked her.

She was nervous though, if she was honest with herself. Steve Rogers hadn't been a close friend any more than Tony Stark or any of the Avengers had been, but they all apparently came from a fracture of the multiverse where she hadn't existed, as far as they knew. So for her to throw herself out like such a good friend wasn't fair to anyone. Just a sign of how lonely these months had been. Kitty was the only one she really knew, and she wasn't a lonely soul by nature.

Scanning the Starbucks, she spotted him finally. He hadn't been that attractive last time they met.

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withliberty
2012-06-17 04:51 am UTC (link)

Steve wasn't unfriendly by any stretch, especially now that he was over the worst of his time-jump adjustment. Since he didn't know what to expect, he looked instead for women who looked at him for more than a few seconds.

Aha. The smile was instantaneous, and oh wasn't he going to be embarrassed if he was wrong, but it seemed like the kind of risk worth taking. Jean had been kind and he didn't want her to feel unwelcome.

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	alwaysjean 2012-06-17 05:18 am UTC (link)
	Seriously, he was significantly younger, and there was an innocence about him she knew wasn't there before. It seemed to surround him, and she wasn't entirely this was just the Phoenix playing tricks. Down, girl. "Steve?" she hedged, smiling as she walked over to his table. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	withliberty 2012-06-17 06:29 am UTC (link)
	Excellent. He'd made the right call. Steve got up to greet Jean and reached out a hand. He had already forgotten that they'd met before, at least on her end - shaking was the polite thing to do, and it was instinct. "Jean? Hi." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	alwaysjean 2012-06-17 06:33 am UTC (link)
	Jean just smiled back, shaking his hand before sitting down at his table, feeling awkward. How many hundreds of years (relatively speaking) had it been since she'd felt awkward? "I'm glad to see you settling in. You've already found the best of this world," she teased, motioning to the coffee. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

withliberty
2012-06-17 09:52 pm UTC (link)

"I know. They even put steamed milk in it." The statement was a joke. A dry, self-deprecating joke, but a joke none the less. He'd learned what a latte was, but they hadn't been popular in the United States in the forties. Best to prepare poor Jean for the whole string of missed references and polite huhs? she was likely to endure.

The amused eye-twinkle was supposed to say 'joke.' Steve didn't realize that he probably should have been less subtle.

"Do you want anything? The woman at the counter said they had iced drinks as well as hot."

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	alwaysjean 2012-06-17 10:09 pm UTC (link)
	He was too precious for words. Jean found herself really curious just what caused that earnest innocence, since clearly he wasn't the Steve Rogers from her world. "I'll grab something, yeah." An iced machiatto sounded like heaven. She stood up, grabbing her purse. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	withliberty 2012-06-18 04:05 am UTC (link)
	Ah. That hadn't entirely been what Steve meant. He was old-fashioned to the point of opening doors for people, and he absolutely wasn't going to send Jean up by herself. "I can get it?" He offered. And then, after a faintly embarrassed pause, "...if you'd like." Okay. So maybe Jean wasn't the only one feeling awkward. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	alwaysjean 2012-06-18 04:10 am UTC (link)
	Jean blushed for the first time in decades. Or at least, that's what it felt like. She cleared her throat, sitting down. It'd been a long time since she'd had someone offer anything so gentlemanly. "Oh. Thank you, Steve. You don't have to but... thank you." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	withliberty 2012-06-18 04:13 am UTC (link)
	"Oh no, it's fine, I'd... uh. Like to." Geez. Why? Why could he face down a massive invasion force of Chitari, but not buy a coffee for a woman without stammering? "What would you like? I'll get it." It would give Steve a chance to breathe and calm himself down, for one. He could do this. He could talk to Jean like a normal person. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	alwaysjean 2012-06-18 04:16 am UTC (link)
	Her cheeks were pink, and she felt as awkward as she had at sixteen with Warren and Scott asking her on dates. God, that'd been ages ago. Not that she was remotely her 'real' age thanks to the Phoenix, but still. "Iced machiatto. Thank you." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

withliberty
2012-06-18 04:19 am UTC (link)

By the time he got back with the drink, Steve had reclaimed some of his confidence. He wasn't pink and stammering and avoiding eyes, at least. Yeah. He was still so young. "So. How long have you been here in this universe?"

She might have told him already. For an instant, Steve tried to recall if she had, but it had passed from his memory. The past week or so had been madness, but that was no excuse. Oh well.

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alwaysjean
2012-06-18 04:24 am UTC (link)

Jean couldn't have told him if she had either, so she certainly wouldn't have held it against him. "A little over a year now. The world I came from was one similar to the one you did; although it appears while the people were the same, the events were very different."

She took a sip of her coffee. They'd covered the mutant things already, and she didn't feel like rehashing it. "I only sometimes worked with the Avengers, I primarily was an X-man while I was alive."

That just slipped out, and she really wished badly she could pull it right back.

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withliberty
2012-06-20 02:43 am UTC (link)

"X-Men?" Steve asked, the polite (but blank) look on his face clearly saying I have no idea who they are. He must have realized what he was telegraphing, because he smiled an embarrassed smile and reached up to scratch next to his eye.

"...I should probably give you a frame of reference. I was asleep for seventy years. I've been trying to catch up, but the Chitauri invaded and then I landed here, so--"

Oh heavens, he was so embarrassed. With SHIELD, he didn't have to explain anything, but with people who knew other Steves, well. He had to give perspective, and that was awkward.

Wait. Alive? "...wait, did you say--?"

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alwaysjean
2012-06-20 02:51 am UTC (link)

That explained a great deal then. The poor guy had been stuck in a stasis.

She knew that particular feel, as kids said these days. She was about to comment when she belatedly realized her slip. Jean's cheeks turned a little red, and she took another drink of coffee to buy time to figure out how to explain.

"It's... well, it's weird. My powers and abilities are partially given to me by something called the Phoenix Force. Unfortunately it sometimes would go rogue. When it did... well. You know the myth of the Phoenix. Someone would put me down, and I'd just eventually... come back."

Oh great. She sounded like a mental patient.

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withliberty
2012-06-20 11:50 pm UTC (link)

Well, as a positive, Steve had gotten over his embarrassment regarding his lack of recognition of Jean's team name?

...because he was too busy trying to figure out what to say to her other admission. Jean was a nice woman. Jean had reached out to him, and hard as it was, he did not want to judge her by the actions of... uh. Whatever a Phoenix Force was. But. It was a lot for an anachronism to take in.

He frowned for what felt like forever as he searched for the right words. Then, "...that had to be hard for everyone involved. I'm sorry. It makes a few years on ice seem like nothing. Thank you for sharing something so personal with me."

Steve didn't want to trivialize. Words like go rogue and put me down weren't to be treated lightly, but overreacting would do no good, either.

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alwaysjean
2012-06-21 12:08 am UTC (link)

Jean felt her eyes tear up. She'd always been a soft touch, comparatively, and hearing someone completely separate from the whole mess express such empathy... well. It was a relief and difficult and wonderful all at the same time.

"Thank you," she said quietly, feeling it wholly inadequate. "It was... well. It was a long time ago." Her fingers were clenched around the plastic cup.

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withliberty
2012-06-22 01:37 am UTC (link)

Steve didn't know what to do. Were it one of the boys - Howling Commandos or Avengers, he might have reached out to offer a clap on the shoulder. It wasn't, and this was no ordinary setback, so Steve floundered a moment before deciding to reach for her forearm. It was probably still too familiar a gesture, but it seemed less presumptuous than trying for a hand.

"So what do you do, here?" He asked, trying to change the subject. "I'm supposed to be a policeman. I feel honor-bound to at least give it a try."

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	alwaysjean 2012-06-22 02:02 am UTC (link)
	Jean felt all the warmth in her body rushing towards that one point of contact. God, it must have been awhile for him to provoke that kind of reaction, she thought to herself. "I replaced a socialite. She did nothing all day," Jean said with a wry twist of the lips. "I try to volunteer, use the money for good instead of stupidity." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	withliberty 2012-06-22 11:43 pm UTC (link)
	Steve opened his mouth to say something, then thought the better of it and grinned an embarrassed grin instead. "Grew up poor," he admitted. "But we were lucky enough - my mother kept her job through the Depression. I don't really know what I'd do in your shoes. Ask Tony for advice, probably." And even Steve knew how that would go. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	alwaysjean 2012-06-22 11:52 pm UTC (link)
	Jean's lips twisted slightly in amusement. "Yes, that always ends well. Don't get me wrong; Stark's not a terrible team leader. As a rule. But his advice here would probably be bizarre to say the least." It would probably involve that neon dinosaur he inflicted on Vegas awhile back. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	withliberty 2012-06-23 07:11 pm UTC (link)
	"Yeah," Steve agreed. "And I'm not sure he wouldn't tease me a little." Or a lot. Steve was a big boy and could take it, but why give openings when Tony could find them so well on his own? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

alwaysjean
2012-06-23 10:40 pm UTC (link)

Jean smiled at him in what would almost be collusion. If they were up to something.

"I'm pretty sure that's what he runs the suit on. Teasing and scotch." She sat back slightly in the chair, both hands around the coffee. "But I'd hope even he'd draw the line here. Time or fate or both just keeps picking you up and putting you back in new places. It's unkind."

And vaguely familiar.

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	withliberty 2012-06-24 08:38 pm UTC (link)
	"It does get easier every time?" He was trying to be positive, because the alternative (general grumpiness) didn't seem productive. Steve smiled a small smile. "Which is not to say that I'd like to do it again, but I think I'll adapt." Because hey: what were the alternatives, really? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	alwaysjean 2012-06-24 08:41 pm UTC (link)
	A shadow crossed over Jean's face. She couldn't help it. "Not really. But my circumstances are a little varied. If it helps, I've been here for a year now, and some have been here for almost five. It seems reasonably stable." (Reply to this) (Parent)