Steve considered himself a fairly open guy, not ashamed of his emotions or his weaknesses (he'd never been proud of his physical weaknesses, but he'd never been ashamed of them, either), but the fact of the matter was, he'd been born and raised in a time when it was expected of men to be stoic and put-together. It had been one more way he hadn't quite fit the mould back then; he'd been called 'sensitive' by his mother, and while she'd meant it as a compliment, it had taken society a great deal of time to begin to see it the same way. But while he felt a great deal of connection with Marie, just from their relatively short (but intense) conversation, the fact of the matter was, she was still a virtual stranger to him, and it was impossible to let his guard down any further with her. At the moment, anyway.
Saying she might understand better than he thought struck Steve as a little odd, but he figured she was still talking about what she thought were the ordinary troubles of a recently-returned veteran. But still... her offer was so tempting. To be able to talk to someone who was in no way connected to SHIELD, or the Avengers, someone who was removed from the entire situation, but was sympathetic, sounded so nice, even if she couldn't adequately grasp the finer nuances. And so far, no matter what he'd said, she had been sympathetic, no confusion or scoffing at him. If they did stay in touch - and now, he found himself thinking of ways to get that to happen - he would tell her, soon, about his patriotic alter ego. He'd just have to wait and see where it went from there.
At her gesture, he did wait, but while she darted off to the supply closet, he began pouring more punch. She returned just as he finished, and he set the bowl down to take the small business card she handed over. His lips ticked up as he read it, the unwilling thought that he'd actually gotten a girl's number, and he hadn't even had a chance to try yet. He smiled and gave a small huff of laughter when she suggested he could use a smoke signal. Even he wasn't quite that old.
"Thank you," Steve said, flicking the edge of the card a few times with his finger. The words came out softer than he'd intended. "Maybe... Are you... doing anything on the holiday?" Despite having just thought to himself jokingly that he'd gotten a girl's number, it took a second to realize just how that question sounded. "I mean-- just-- I've never really--" He finally made himself stop talking, took a deep breath, and tried again. "I've never really been alone on 4th of July. It's my birthday, and I've always had someone drag me out and enjoy myself." He rubbed at the back of his neck self-consciously. "I make absolutely no promises I'll be any better company than I am today, but... getting something to eat and watching the fireworks with a friend sounds a lot better than sitting alone in my apartment."
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Saying she might understand better than he thought struck Steve as a little odd, but he figured she was still talking about what she thought were the ordinary troubles of a recently-returned veteran. But still... her offer was so tempting. To be able to talk to someone who was in no way connected to SHIELD, or the Avengers, someone who was removed from the entire situation, but was sympathetic, sounded so nice, even if she couldn't adequately grasp the finer nuances. And so far, no matter what he'd said, she had been sympathetic, no confusion or scoffing at him. If they did stay in touch - and now, he found himself thinking of ways to get that to happen - he would tell her, soon, about his patriotic alter ego. He'd just have to wait and see where it went from there.
At her gesture, he did wait, but while she darted off to the supply closet, he began pouring more punch. She returned just as he finished, and he set the bowl down to take the small business card she handed over. His lips ticked up as he read it, the unwilling thought that he'd actually gotten a girl's number, and he hadn't even had a chance to try yet. He smiled and gave a small huff of laughter when she suggested he could use a smoke signal. Even he wasn't quite that old.
"Thank you," Steve said, flicking the edge of the card a few times with his finger. The words came out softer than he'd intended. "Maybe... Are you... doing anything on the holiday?" Despite having just thought to himself jokingly that he'd gotten a girl's number, it took a second to realize just how that question sounded. "I mean-- just-- I've never really--" He finally made himself stop talking, took a deep breath, and tried again. "I've never really been alone on 4th of July. It's my birthday, and I've always had someone drag me out and enjoy myself." He rubbed at the back of his neck self-consciously. "I make absolutely no promises I'll be any better company than I am today, but... getting something to eat and watching the fireworks with a friend sounds a lot better than sitting alone in my apartment."