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"Fine. Spent some time this afternoon helping Buck pick out clothes for a date tomorrow night." Steve grinned. "It's been very entertaining."
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"I can imagine," Hillary replied, grinning back. "So where should we go for dinner?"
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"What are you in the mood for? It's not like we've got a lack of choices here." Steve made a vague motion at the street. Because he was fine with whatever she picked.
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"Hm," Hillary mused, looking around. She shyly gestured towards a steakhouse. "There? I know they have really good-quality beef there."
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"Sounds good to me," Steve agreed, offering her his arm. It was a short walk, but he wanted to. Besides, this was going to be the kind of thing that he did on a regular basis, so he figured she may as well know about it now.
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Hillary smiled a bit and took his arm. He was pleasantly warm, and that pleased her; clearly, he tended to run a bit hot, and that was good for her. Maybe she could subtly leech off a bit of his body heat.
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Steve noticed she was a bit on the chilly side, but he didn't mind. Instead he walked with her to the steak house, and then managed to get them a decently quiet little booth to themselves.
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"So," Hillary said once they were seated and put in their drink orders. "What's your life been like since yesterday?"
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"Oh, pretty normal." Steve grinned. "Got some looks from Natasha, I'm pretty sure she knows where I am and what's going on. So, life as usual. How about you? Anything new?"
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"Not really," Hillary said. She paused for a moment, weighing what she was going to say next. "Though there's going to be a mutant rights rally pretty soon that I might look into." She glanced at him, trying to gauge his reaction.
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Steve nodded. "Yeah, I've gone to a few of those before." He grinned. "They love it when I show up. Tony helps fund a lot of them, I think he and professor Xavier are good friends."
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Hillary blinked.
"Really?" she asked, hardly daring to hope that he might possibly not mind mutants. |
"Really. It was a bit of a shock to learn about, but it's interesting. Besides, mutants are people, just with a bit... extra." Steve shrugged with a wry little grin. "I can understand that."
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"So you don't mind mutants?" Hillary pressed, wanting to be sure. She started to feel a bit anxious. She didn't know how much he knew about her that way, but she had to be certain before she flat-out told him.
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Steve shook his head. "Not at all," he said, looking at her. "Mutants are fine with me." He had the feeling that was what she was looking for, and he wanted to be sure she got it.
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"You're sure?" Hillary pressed. "Not just the pretty ones or the invisible ones?"
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Steve snorted. "I'm sure. I've met quite a few now, and so far I haven't found one I've disliked." He paused. "Except for maybe Magneto and the Brotherhood, but even they are more misguided than actually evil."
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Hillary nodded a bit, considering that.
"So if someone you knew admitted to a mutation...?" she asked cautiously. |
Steve shrugged. "Well, as long as they're not trying to take over the world, that's fine," he said honestly. "I would kind of have to object to anyone taking over the world, but short of that, anything is fine. I really don't mind."
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"I see," Hillary said slowly, sitting back and just looking at him. "How are you even real?"
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Steve blinked, looking startled. "I... what?" He was starting to blush.
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"You're a perfect gentleman," Hillary said. "You're a nice person. And now this? How are you even real?"
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Steve snorted. "I spent too long in ice," he said dryly. "At least that's Tony's favorite explanation."
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"Well, whatever it is, you're somehow perfect," Hillary replied. "I'm not sure I want to question it, but I still don't think I deserve that level of perfection."
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"I'm far from perfect," Steve said, shaking his head. "I can't deal with cold, I don't sleep much anymore, I can be crabby, I don't always know when to shut up..." Those were just a few examples, but he figured she'd get the gist of it.
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