Who: Kate and Steve What: Random Encounter When: Mid-August Where: Park Rating/Warnings: Low/None Status: Complete when posted
Kate was getting soft. Living with Clint was making her a little lazy about certain things, and she found that her jeans were getting a little tight. Maybe it was the beers and doritos, but whatever. She could jog it off. She made a date with Lucky, three mornings a week, to come out and jog. It sucked. She hated every minute of it, but she was out there with the dog. It was too early, too, and she hadn’t had her coffee, either. Kate was already in a grumpy mood because of her latest Dreams, but then… The day kept getting worse and worse.
Taking Susie out for a run each morning was something that Steve enjoyed greatly. It gave him time to think, to get her exercise in and well, it was nice. He'd probably have to start running Angie each morning for Peggy, and that was fine by him. He'd do anything to help Peggy out, and well it was at least he could do. He didn't run nearly as fast as he could technically run, instead it was a nice even jog that Susie enjoyed. He paused about halfway around the park and pulled his water bottle from his side. Cupping his hand, he filled it with water, offering Susie a drink. He heard footfalls coming closer to him, and he gave a nod to the woman and her dog. "Morning." He called, a light smile on his face.
Kate slowed at the sight of some man with a dog feeding it water, and then he turned. It made her stop dead in her tracks. Lucky hadn’t got the memo, though, and continued to jog, giving Kate a yank on the leash. She bucked forward, coming back to reality in the jolt. Her face went a little pink. “Hi.” She said, then took a couple of steps, speaking in a numb way. “...you’re Steve Rogers.” As if he didn’t know that already.
Steve winced as she was jerked forward by the dog she was running. That couldn't have felt good at all. Susie's head cocked to the side, and her tail was wagging softly. "Hello," he gave a small nod of his head in her direction, a brow raising slightly as she knew his name. "Yes, that would be me." He gave a soft chuckle, "I'm sorry, but I don't know your name." Steve felt bad, he knew that some people knew who he was from the dreams, but he didn't know everyone yet.
“Oh. Um.” Kate tried to wipe her hand on her pants, then held it out to him. Only, her sweatshirt was the kind that had those awesome thumb holes in the cuff? So she had to tug it back and pull the shirt sleeve up. Because a person didn’t shake Steve Rogers’s hand with sweatshirt cuff in the way. “I’m Kate. Kate Bishop. Hawkeye.” She was super proud of her name.
Steve could hear the note of pride as she spoke her name, and he knew that it was some sort of code name. He hadn't been in the hero game that long, or at least, he hadn't dreamt of much but he knew what that meant. He took her hand, giving it a firm shake. "Nice to meet you, Kate." He offered her a smile, and then pulled his hand away from hers. "Again, I wish I could say that I knew you in my dreams, but I don't." He glanced down, almost in shame before he looked back up at her quickly. "I haven't had that many dreams. They stopped for a good while, but have only recently started back up. Of course, I'm in the 40's in my dreams, and I have no idea what's going to happen." He had a feeling though that the serum would have him living for quite a while.
“Oh, it’s… it’s totally okay,” Kate said, possibly a little disappointed. But hey, she got to meet Steve Rogers in this world, and that was still really fucking cool. “I mean, maybe you’ll get there eventually?” Until then he could have a semi-normal life. Maybe. Possibly. “I’ll try my best not to spoil it for you.”
With a laugh, Steve gave a small nod. "Thanks, I appreciate that." He did, since he was looking forward to seeing what exactly happened in his dreams. "I think that I'll get there eventually though." He did still feel bad that he didn't quite know who she was, but he really did figure that one day that her name would make sense to him. "Do you want to go a lap or two together?" He asked, looking down at Susie who seemed ready to get back to it.
Kate broke into a bright grin. “Yeah? I’d love that, actually. If you think you can keep up with me.” It was a total joke. Hawkeye knew well enough how fucking fantastic Captain America was in her Dreams, so she had a feeling that this version of Steve Rogers could leave her in his dust, and lap her moments later. “Y’know, I’m looking for someone to jog with, if you’re ever interested in an exercise partner. My boyfriend’s a bit squishy, and I should make him go with me, but we distract each other too much.” And running with Pietro was absolutely painful.
Steve laughed, "I think I might be able to manage." Steve didn't think he'd have any issues keeping up, even if his powers from the dreams weren't exactly the most reliable. They came and went, although lately they'd been more steady. Steve wondered if that had to do with the new dreams that he'd been having. He chuckled, and gave a small nod. "I can understand how that is, your partner being a distraction that is." He was pretty sure that he and Peggy would be just fine if they went out for a run together, however, there were times that he was sure it could be a distraction to be out there with her. "Yeah, that would be great though. I'm typically out here around this time every day."
“Hey, that sounds great.” Kate said, smiling brightly. “Let’s plan on meeting here again tomorrow? Bring the dogs and jog a 5k?” She was looking forward to it, actually. Being with Clint romantically made her feel soft, too. When she was in college and doing the whole sorority thing, there was a lot of pressure to look and act a certain way--lots of yoga classes and salads. But now that she was comfortable with her partner, she was finding her diet contained a whole lot less greens and a whole lot more pizza. Not that she was complaining. “But for now, a couple laps sounds great.” She gave him a smile, then nodded to start. It would be fantastic to have a jogging partner. And Steve Fucking Rogers, even. This was turning into the best morning ever.