pursuitofcappiness | inbox

[ He knows that smile. He's given that smile more times than he can count, but they're not at the point in their relationship where he feels entitled to calling her out on it, to cheer her up some more.

So he offers one back, a warm one, genuine and kind. He reaches out across the table and gently places his hand over hers, not too much of a romantic gesture, something that could easily be construed as friendly or maybe a little more than that. ]

Yeah. Anytime.

[ He really means that, he could use having someone else around to just be there, to just kind of understand. No obligations, no expectations, just show up and have a conversation. Yeah, he thinks he could handle that. ]

And, um.

[ He bites his lip a little as he looks down, trying to put together the words. ]

Thanks. For. Inviting me here.

[ Mmmm okay, he's gonna work on that. ]

[ Julia, out of habit, often bit her lip when she was thinking. It was habit, but there was no denying that watching him bite his lip... Was that just a little bit of a flirt? Paired with the comforting hand over hers, she couldn't help but let the sad smile turn into a much lighter smirk.

Her other hand moves to rest on his. Like a growing tower of comfort Jenga. ]

Hey. [ Her attempt to get him to look at her. She shifts the hand beneath his so their palms are touching. ] Thanks for coming and taking a chance to meet the lady who barged unannounced into your room on the ship.

[ Because he very easily could have brushed her off. Even if they'd created something of a routine in that brief time on the Titanic, a kinship of sorts that spanned the unfair class divide. A story for the ages. ]

[ He's not mad about that at all. Even though he'd been an artist in that life, she hadn't been a threat to him. And Steve was mostly used to people barging in on him only when they were being a threat. So very honestly, he says: ]

I'm glad you did.

And that I wasn't out.

[ Would've been awful if his door had been locked and she'd gone to the next one. Then their paths wouldn't have crossed.

It's funny, how something like that happens by accident, but changes your life. ]

Let me do the dishes.

[ He gets up once they're all done, to clear the table, to take it away to the sink. He does all his dishes by hand, even if there's a dishwasher. He seems not to trust it or something, like it's just much better when he does it by hand. ]

Me too.

[ She could have barged in on someone who was more interested in making a quick buck by turning her into the person she'd been running from. Even if she'd have found out quicker that he'd been doing the same - sneaking around third class to breathe. She'd hated keeping up with the pretenses, the motions of dinner settings and etiquette and which fork to use when.

She smiles, letting him take the dishes and she just watches him - gathering up the few things she’d brought along. Rising to her feet, she meets him when he comes back, unsure of the goodbye protocol. This… wasn’t a date. But, it wasn’t wasn’t a date. Like, date!lite. Kind of.

Before she can overthink it, she looks up at him - taking his hand again and giving it a squeeze. ]

Seriously, thanks again. And I look forward to next time we do this.

Edited 2020-04-29 03:06 (UTC)

[ If she's unsure about the dating protocol, well. Steve is at a worse disadvantage, probably because he used to just watch Bucky say goodbye on their double-dates and copy him, and then after that, had only gone on some pretty awkward first dates.

And he hadn't, at least for a year now, not since Sharon. That hadn't worked out for a lot of reasons, and he just had kind of given up entirely.

So, he doesn't have any expectations. He gives her hand a squeeze back, and then pulls her in for a little bit of a hug - it's so brief, it's not really a hug, more like, a tap. Oh, no, he really is awkward. ]

Yeah.

[ There goes playing it cool since he doesn't have expectations. ]

I'll call you?

[ It’s grounding, honestly. That reminder that she wasn’t the only one who could be awkward at times. Even if she was incredibly smooth in other aspects of her life. This piece was still rusty. It had been one thing with Penny, someone who had come into things already in love with her and she’d been the one trying to figure how to feel about it. It made hard conversations and opening up to chances easier. Even if she’d figured out she couldn’t return the feelings he had for her with the qualifiers he kept putting on her and her grief, it had been a great stepping stone.

Accepting the quick hug, she smiles, a coy expression settling on her face - playfully light. Yes, this part she could do. ]

Hopefully sooner rather than later. [ Biting her lip, she takes a step back - putting a little space between them. ] Bye Steve. [ And with that, she grabs her bag from the table - giving him one last look over her shoulder before heading out of the coffee shop. ]

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