519/Ripped That Stitch, Did You

Ripped That Stitch, Did You
Date of Scene:	14 March 2020
Location:	Prospect Park, Brooklyn, New York City
Synopsis:	Lois and Steve exchange thoughts on personal privacy. Lois enjoys her mocha' Steve's boot gets attacked by ducks. Ducks, oy.
Cast of Characters:	Steve Rogers, Lois Lane

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Steve Rogers has posed:
Why not take a saunter around Prospect Park in Brooklyn? The suggestion stemmed from an inclination to be on comfortable, known turf and the weather itself: not balmy, but not cold, with grey clouds scuttling over the sun now and then. With coffee in-hand, Steve waits off to one side of the collection of busts dedicated to artists. Concert Grove, as it's called within the boundaries of Prospect Park in Brooklyn, is home to a pavilion where musical groups gather during the warmer months.

He wears his usual dark-brown leather motorcycle jacket with shearling lapels and jeans, worn but comfortable combat boots, and for anonymity's sake, a Dodgers baseball cap.

Because now he's invisible, of course, and absolutely NOT Captain America, even with that build and chisled jaw.

His phone appears from his coat pocket for an idle glance, in case another text had come through from one Lois Lane about needing to reschedule or being lost, etc, etc. There's a lump of worry in Steve's stomach as it stands. Last they had spoken, he'd suggested ripping stitches in terms of expressing affection for one of Steve's newer and trusted friends, Clark Kent. The realist in him expects a report of a debacle.

Lois Lane has posed:
Eventually, though, there she is. Lois appears, dressed in a very casual jeans and a t-shirt with a light jacket over the top of it. Her hair is pulled back into a ponytail. It's not her normal look, certainly, but she does seem comfortable, and certainly not nearly as stressed as she was the last time they met.

She walks quickly to make her way over, offering him a sheepish smile. "Sorry about that," she apologizes, though the sheepish smile becomes a more honest one. "It's good to see you. I wanted to make sure you got a bit of an update, since you were the one that helped me."

Steve Rogers has posed:
"Got nothing to do for another hour. No need to apologize at all." Steve's certain to give her a good-natured half-smile in accompaniment to his gentle dismissal. He does gesture towards the nearby coffee stand, bravely run by a young woman enclosed by the thin walls of the place and still needing to wear a stocking cap down over her ears to stay comfortable.

"Want a coffee while we talk? My treat," the man offers with a little lifted gesture of his own cup. By the scent of it rising in steam from the lid's aperture, it's another mocha, this one far less sweet than the previous one he'd sipped in her presence; must be the dark chocolate syrup used instead of milk chocolate.

Lois Lane has posed:
Lois hadn't even been thinking about coffee. How unusual! She nods after a moment. "Yeah, coffee would be great." She moves to the coffee stand, ordering herself a mocha as well. His did seem like a good idea. While she's not spilling secrets, she does wait until the coffee is in hand and they're headed away before starting her conversation.

"I did end up talking to Clark, and I took your advice. The, uh, kiss one."

Steve Rogers has posed:
Bills are exchanged, change is asked kept by the barista, and they depart from the stand now equipped with a better chance of avoiding cold fingers. That, and who can say no to coffee, even from a park stand?

Steve sips his and looks over at Lois as mildly as he can manage when she speaks. They're a good number of meters down the pathway leading towards the 'lake' -- what the city park service deems as such. The man nods acknowledgement of her words before asking, "'nd how did it go?"

There's a skip of his heart regardless, trepidation that things might not have gone as well as he wished for his friends. Lois doesn't seem particularly distraught, but...Steve is aware his wisdom of the fairer sex is limited in comparison to many in this modern time.

Lois Lane has posed:
"I was probably a little more aggressive than I anticipated. You had suggested I do it to know how I felt about things, I went in intending to find out how he felt about things." Lois sips her coffee, peering towards the lake as they walk. "He, uh, certainly seemed interested. And then I realize how awkward that made things. Clark immediately started falling on his sword, saying he'd be fine, just getting all self-sacrificial. And that got to me. It got to me a /lot/ more than I thought it would."

She taps the top of her coffee with a fingertip. "... so I picked him. I went with my instincts and my heart and they told me that he'd been there all along, the relationship was half there already." She takes another sip of her coffee. "I know, it wasn't the /intended/ plan but it felt like the right one."

Steve Rogers has posed:
As Lois talks, the man's true-blues rest upon her. He keeps careful pace beside her even if a subtle case of tenterhooks makes him want to take off at a ground-eating pace or even break into an effortless jogging lope to carry him miles and miles to burn away the itch to move.

Another sip at his coffee and Steve follows her gaze towards the distant glint of open water not covered in a skein of ice. He smiles to himself just the smallest amount to hear of Clark's immediate reaction; of course -- can't take the humbleness out of the man, red cape or not.

"'m glad to hear you feel comfortable with your choice. Wish I'd had a..." Musing over the word, the Captain pauses for a breath. "...less volatile suggestion for you, but at the same time...sounds like it was a good one in the end. Bet Clark's happy as a kid in a candy store though." Now Lois gets one of those dimples so lethal in their innocence.

Lois Lane has posed:
Lois grins. "That's an understatement. I've never seen Clark so happy. I didn't really understand the depths of how he felt at first, but I'm getting there. We've got a lot of years together, plenty of history. It's just strange to get told something and watch it color everything you thought you knew." Just about Clark's feelings, right?

"I don't regret telling him the way I did, I don't regret all of it happening for a second but it does leave me with a bit of an awkward conversation to have with our blue and red friend." It's one she's been putting off. It's awkward and she doesn't know what to say. Besides, Clark's been kind of distracting me from even thinking about that conversation."

Steve Rogers has posed:
"Definitely the other half of this sword," agrees the Captain. Above them, a small vee of ducks come in for a landing with a clatter of quacks and distant splashing upon the small lake. "Figure you could talk to him immediately, sure, or you could let it sit for a while, enjoy what you've got right now for the sake of things being clarified. Sure, it's selfish, but...mean, you know our red and blue friend better'n I do."

A soft huff of a laugh leaves him to silver before his lips, his chin briefly tucked. "Just remember 'm not the best source of wisdom about relationships in general," the super-soldier adds with another smirking glance over at Lois.

Lois Lane has posed:
There's a wry smile from Steve. "I'm well-aware. But what you are is a compassionate person who cares about people and their well-being, so your opinion on matters does help a great deal more than you probably think." Lois looks at her coffee, glad for the distraction for a moment as she sips.

"The red and blue friend of ours, you're right, I probably know him a lot better than most. But even with that, I'm hoping that he doesn't close off entirely. He needs someone there to talk to, and I still want to help him with that." She offers a small nod. "I think Clark and I sort of ended up with the position of figuring out how to best showcase our friend to the world, but it's a balancing act and I'm not sure how best to procede."

After all, telling the world that Superman's not dead needs to be done in the right circumstances and in the correct way or there could be quite a bad chain of events. "I know this presidential election might just seem like a matter of choice, but Lex Luthor is not someone I would trust with anything, much less a country. Clark and I have a history with him and I can guarantee that as much as Tony Stark has his flaws, he's a saint compared to Lex." She does scowl. "So it's a matter of not making his campaign look good in the middle of letting our friend get back out into the open."

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve's glad for the distraction of coffee as well. He can feel the tips of his ears pink in embarassed pleasure at confirmation that his well-meaning opinions are taken as they are meant to be: well-meaning indeed.

Along the lake now they walk. Cattails sway in the winter breeze, some devoid of their brown tops, and the dried leaves rattle in a near-silent sound. Thoughtfully, Steve says, "If our friend thinks he doesn't have another ear to talk to, remind him about me. 'nd it probably doesn't need to be said, but it's something to ask him about, showcasing him to the world -- his life, his decision. You're thinking that if he comes back to life in the middle of the campaign runs, Lex'll use him as a scapegoat about how he wasn't present to aid in some of the past troubles the cities have had?" By the wry lift of one corner of his mouth, Steve is aware of the irony of his word choice. "Lex'll build himself up as a hero in light of our friend's absence?"

Lois Lane has posed:
"I'm sure that he's going to try and make Superman look bad by complaining that he wasn't around for things. Then again, he /died/ and has been recovering from that in more than one way. But Lex hates him. He'll do anything to tear him down. Maybe he'll even slip up somehow. He's smart, though." Lois sighs. "I'm not sure the best method. I want to help, but there's only so much spin I can put on a story to tilt things in a particular direction before you stray away from the truth."

Truth, honesty? These are things she values. Things that... "Hey, Steve? I know this is another weird question, but last time you spent some time alone with Clark did you notice anything... unusual?"

Steve Rogers has posed:
Those broad shoulders rise and fall in a little shrug even before Steve answers. "Last time I saw him was when we'd been fitted for the suits. Figured he's been up to his ears in stakeouts 'nd reports, things like that. Not that I can say I've been good about reaching out either. Things have been busy enough with my own job to warrant a finger on a pulse to it all. Haven't felt like I could step away much."

Lois is still privy to that patient blue-eyed attention. "Guess you'll have to define 'unusual' while you're at it. I see a lot of unusual things, my coworkers 'nd associates notwithstanding now and then. Came from a time period where we boiled everything," he reminds with a dry poke at himself.

Lois Lane has posed:
That is probably what Clark has been spending his time doing, yes. Paperwork. Lois glances around for a moment, taking another sip from her mocha. "Well, I'm just wondering if it seems he was concerned about things. Self-concious. The suit fitting is a great example. He was very shy about the whole thing." She's got an idea of why, she's just wondering what other people around might have gleaned.

"There are times when he's /very/ secretive."

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve nods. "Always struck me as shy, to be honest. Behavior's nothing new from what I can tell. You must mean more'n normal. Are you thinking he's concerned about you 'nd him now or something else entirely?"

Because if there's a concern bleeding into Clark's persona, it might warrant a visit to an abandoned rooftop again and a text sent off to the man in a red cape.

Lois Lane has posed:
"I mean, there's nothing I can specifically mention," Lois says, as there /is/ some measure of privacy in the issue. "And it's not as if there are /bad/ things, it's just that I'm not sure if I know as much about him as I thought I did. Somehow I missed some things over the years and I wasn't sure if I've just been blind to it or if there's something more in the way he acts."

She shrugs a little. "I trust him to tell me if there's something up, but he just..." She shakes her head. "Little things he does make me wonder. Just small enough that I think, but never big enough to add up."

Steve Rogers has posed:
"Hmm." Steve slows his steps deliberately as they near one of the park benches. It's open, devoid of trash or gum upon the metal seating, and he gestures to it that they might sit for a bit.

"'s'good that you trust him to tell you. Be honest with yourself though: you just told me he's the private sort 'nd I agree. He doesn't volunteer much about himself, not even to me. This might be another thing where you should sit down 'nd hash it out again. Take a temperature of how you're feeling about his propensity to be quiet. Mean, 'm not a great orator myself 'nd I try to keep my personal life personal, so I understand if he's slower about opening up about things."

Lois Lane has posed:
Lois sinks down onto the bench, giving a small nod. "I suppose I just want to... gather all the facts so I don't jump in and nearly screw everything up the way I did confessing my feelings. I thought for sure I had screwed everything up for good and that he'd never talk to me again. That's /not/ a situation I'm going to let happen again. So, if there's something up that he's not telling me, I like to know it's not me just overthinking things."

Steve Rogers has posed:
The Captain too joins Lois on the bench. Most of the remaining mocha in Steve's cup disappears as he tips it back. A small circling of the drink swirls up the settled syrup from the bottom as he thinks again, eyes now upon the lake and its small bevy of ducks.

"Think it wouldn't be a bad idea if you touched base with him. Don't frame it in terms of privacy, more like...is something on his mind he wants to talk about," the super-soldier suggests. "More neutral. 'nd don't start with, 'We need to talk', because Janet apparently feels like that's an end-all type of opener. Don't think she'd survive long in the military." A fond little smirk flits across his face before he sighs.

"However you figure to do it, you'll do it right. If not, then...guess you'll have to bank on the trust you have in one another. You said you've known each other for years. Maybe that familiarity might guard you both against trouble brewing."

The ducks, having swum closer, appear to be eyeing the pair on the bench. One steps up out of the water and meanders over, eyeballing them. Steve eyeballs it right back. "...we don't have any popcorn for you, buddy, 'nd don't peck my boot."

It's a staredown.

Then, a laugh. "HEY! I said don't peck my boot!"

Ducks.