Steve grinned. "Yeah, but I bet it comes in handy. Bet no one would try pushing you around if you suddenly grew a tail and a lot of scales on them."

"It's not that easy," Hillary said, looking down a little. "I have to sign agreements practically anywhere I go that I won't suddenly shift and threaten anyone. School was the worst. Work isn't so bad, and we have an agreement with the landlord that I'm allowed to shift as long as I don't threaten anyone in the building. But at work I had to sign an agreement not to, and I wasn't allowed in school until I did, too."

"Ah." Steve could understand, sort of, why they made her sign agreements, but it was still wrong. "They're all idiots as far as I'm concerned. You don't have to be a mutant to threaten coworkers or fellow students. Sometimes plain old people are much worse."

Hillary nodded a bit.

"Yeah," she said quietly. "They can be." She shook her head a bit. "Sorry. I didn't mean to be such a downer."

"It's fine. I mean, it's what you've had to deal with." Steve shrugged. "I know a little about that, but only a little and only from the Army."

"Even still, it has no place here right now," Hillary said firmly. She looked at him, trying to stamp down the last of her anxiety. "You needed to know what you were signing up for, that's all."

Steve nodded. "I know now," he said. "It's fine, really. If I have any problems with anything, I'll let you know. I promise."

Hillary nodded cautiously. She really, really wanted to believe him, and she already trusted him. So she would let the subject lie for now and see what happened.

Steve settled down a bit when she didn't object further.

"So when is the rally you were thinking of?"

"Next weekend," Hillary replied. "Saturday."

"Next Saturday." Steve went over what he knew of his schedule and then nodded. "I'm free, if you wanted some company."

Hillary blinked.

"I couldn't ask you to do that," she said. "I know mutant rallies aren't exactly everyone's thing, and sometimes they get a bit... weird."

"I know. I have been to some before, remember?" Steve grinned. "It's fine, I did volunteer."

"Alright, as long as you're sure," Hillary said. She grinned a bit. "Hopefully, your schedule stays open."

"Hopefully. I can never tell when I'm going to be busy." Steve grinned. "People don't tend to give us advance warning."

"So I gathered," Hillary said, grinning a bit. "Hopefully, I'll actually be prepared for it next time."

Steve chuckled and nodded. He let her order first when the waitress came around and settled in there.

Hillary barely needed to glance at the menu.

"Eight-ounce filet, rare," she said, handing the menu over. Hey, she had to have meat, may as well make it a good cut.

Steve grinned at that. "Filet is good," he agreed. "Never got much of it before, though. Tony is intent on feeding us the best of everything when he gets his way, so I've had more in the past two years than I'd seen in my whole life before."

"It's really good," Hillary agreed. "I have to get it as rare as I can, but it's still just so good." She looked at him, curious. "So what's it like? Living where you do?"

"Living in the tower?" Steve snorted. "Crazy and wonderful. I live with some of the oddest people I've ever met, and yet somehow it works. Natasha secretly rules us all, because she knows where we sleep and would do worse than kill us, Clint climbs around in the air vents and likes to try and startle people. Bucky is getting a lot better. Bruce cooks a few nights a week, and he cooks really good food. Thor is even more confused by this age than I am, so we kind of help each other out. And Tony is crazy. He doesn't sleep much, he drinks too much coffee, but he builds the most amazing things."

Hillary blinked as she listened, and then grinned widely.

"That sounds like the most amazing sitcom," she said, trying not to laugh. "And it's not even something you could make up."

"I couldn't have made any of that up, there's no way I ever thought I'd be living in a situation like this," Steve said with a grin. "It's insane and yet somehow it all works."

"You sound like you enjoy it a lot," Hillary said, smiling a bit.

"I do. It's... nice, in a way, to have these other people around. Especially these people, they understand more than most." Steve shrugged.