Eventually, once the pie was gone and he was nearly done with his second cup of coffee, Steve smiled rather apologetically.

"I should probably be getting back," he said. "Before Natasha gets too curious. But this was fun, we should do this again, I mean, if you want."

Hillary nodded.

"We should," she agreed, smiling a bit. "Maybe in a few days? Dinner?"

"Sounds good to me," Steve agreed with a grin. "Where should we go?" Because he figured that she would want to meet somewhere first.

Hillary considered for a moment.

"Here?" she suggested. "Since it's easy enough to get to?"

"Alright," Steve agreed. "We'll meet here in a few days at six-thirty? Seven?" He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Seven is better," Hillary said, smiling a bit. "Gives me time to get out of work and make sure I'm presentable."

"Seven it is," Steve agreed with a little grin. "I'm looking forward to it."

"Me too," Hillary said. She grinned a bit. She was pleased that it was all working out so far. It gave her hope that maybe it would continue to work out.

Steve wasn't quite brave enough to give her a kiss on the cheek yet, but he did touch her shoulder before he left. He was feeling hopeful, and he knew it wasn't just him, which made him even more hopeful.

Talk about a feedback loop.

Hillary was feeling the feedback loop too, and couldn't help but smile a bit. She leaned unconsciously into his touch.

Steve's smile widened a bit at that but he didn't do anything more for the moment.

"You've got my number, so just let me know if anything changes," he told her, looking at her.

Hillary nodded.

"I will," she promised. She reluctantly took a step back from him.

Steve nodded and made himself leave. It was harder than he'd thought, but he headed back to the tower. He knew he needed to, and he couldn't keep her all day. Besides, he'd see her again soon.

Bucky was waiting back at the tower, distracting himself with a video game. He knew where Steve had been all afternoon.

Steve was still grinning when he dropped down next to Bucky on the couch. "Having fun?" he asked, leaning back. Bucky had taken to video games much better than Steve had.

"Be having more fun if I could get past this boss," Bucky grumbled as his thumbs flew over the controller. "How'd it go?"

"Great. We had a coffee date. We're having dinner in a few days." Steve snorted when the boss killed him, yet again. "How many tries is this?"

"...Eight," Bucky muttered, starting again. "So it worked out? Scales and all? I distinctly remember telling you she has scales."

"We didn't bring that up," Steve said. "I'm giving her time. I mean, we just met, I don't expect her to tell me everything straight out, Buck."

"I dunno, it seems kind of important," Bucky pointed out, glancing at him.

"She wasn't comfortable bringing it up," Steve said. "I asked about the itchiness, and she said dry skin. She doesn't want to tell me yet." Which he understood, really. They had just met, after all. So he didn't blame her.

Bucky glanced at him again, but didn't comment. For all he knew, that was normal. He didn't exactly have experience with women outside of missions, anymore.

"So, any plans to talk to your dame?" Steve asked, not quite prying yet. So far, it was just an inquiry.

So far.

"Nothing solid," Bucky replied, carefully not looking at Steve this time. "I need to keep checking to see when she'll show up at the coffee place again."

"So you're still watching her from afar." Steve sighed. "Buck, go talk to her. You did it before and things went fine."