The man, not the legend.

Don't think PreCap is going to let you get out of taking credit here, Verity. He has that smile. Usually reserved for busting heads and giving orders. It is the smile of a man who knows what he's doing.

...Promptly interrupted by another coughing fit that turns into very weak wheezing.

He's trying, bless him.

From:

*And Samus is back. She has a question, but she'll wait until he's done coughing to ask it.*

Steve, is the air in here too dry for you?

From:

...oh god, that smile. She's not prepared for the smile. Nobody is ever prepared for the smile. How come it didn't work on the girls back home? Because she's so not into him that way and her knees are still a little wobbly now.

Followup question: "Do you need your inhaler?"

From:

Yeah the inhaler is probably a good idea. Spirit is willing, body not so much.

"I..." Steve clears his throat after a minute. "Felt like things were starting to loosen a bit, but then it just started dripping and irritating my throat. Guess I overdid it."

Aww man, he needs to sit back down. He feels like he just ran up a flight of stairs. Which is a lot, for him.

From:

It's alright. It's going to take some time to get back to what you're used to. I know how tempting it is to push yourself to go faster.

*She offers him a sidelong smirk as she digs out and fills a vaporizer.*

You should see how restless I get when I'm healing from something.

From:

"This is sometimes the part that sucks worst," she agrees before looking to Samus. "I'm guessing you brought a humidifier. Warm or cool mist? Do I fill it from the tap, or does it need filtered water?"

Yeah, if Steve's not declining, she's just going to set it up now. It's for the best.

From:

"But what I was trying to say--" Steve gets back on topic and will not be dissuaded by his body's traitorous actions.

"--Is that you're a genius for coming up with the ideas for Schon's painting. It will be a great way to thank him for the party, as well as give him something decorative to enjoy. You're better at thinking like an artist than I am!"

He gives Samus a look here that clearly says 'back me up here'.

From:

You know what you like, and you've got good taste and good ideas.

*Which is, really, the heart of appreciating art--at least in Samus' way of thinking. Gesturing to the device she's filling, she adds an explanation for Verity.*

This is a vaporizer, you can fill it from the tap. Check the filter here every few days for mineral deposits and the like--just rinse those out. It can do warm or cool mist, warm's probably the better idea for now, just set this slider. And... on.

*Set on the nightstand, the little device hums softly, a thin cloud of warm mist wafting from its top.*

From:

What she's got is a horrible case of the blushing. So much blushing!

"Well, but, Steve asked me for ideas a week ago and that's all I came up with," she protests, weakly. "I'm glad you like it."

Being artistic is nothing anyone's ever accused her of. She doesn't know what to do!

Edited Date: 2015-11-12 04:35 am (UTC)

From:

At least she's not arguing. Steve has a pencil and his sketchbook now that he's settled back into his chair and blanket ensemble.

"...Samus? I know I can't start training yet, but...you wouldn't by chance have anything I could start reading in the meantime would you?" Verity's already given him ideas for sketches, but Steve doesn't think that alone is going to keep him from going batty if he has to spend another week recuperating.

From:

*She thinks about it for a moment.*

I can think of a few things it'd be a good idea to read, yes. You're still sure you want to be a soldier when you get home?

From:

Verity will try not to look too interested in his answer while she finishes tidying up the room. She assumes it's a yes, that it will always be a yes, but she wouldn't be upset if he changed his mind someday. He's not a soldier, he's a leader.

He just needs to learn that.

From:

"Absolutely. Not gonna stop trying until they take me." His jaw and mind are set on this. Hell, his heart is set on this. Even if Bucky wasn't already in, Steve would want to do this.

Protect and serve.

He knows this is what he's meant for.

"...I don't care about whatever other me is doing or has done. This isn't about obligation or fulfilling a destiny or anything like that. I want to do this."

From:

Then I'll start you with something from Earth, to clear out some of that propaganda you've been fed on.

*Digging a datapad from one of the satchels, she queues up a file before handing it to Steve.*

[Sun Tzu]
[The Art of War]

From:

"You are who you are, Steve. We know that."

Yes, really, she does understand that. She had a painful crash course in alternate timelines and the people from them long before she ever saw the Nexus.

From:

Considering someone was asking him if he was trying to die earlier, he feels the point needs to be made. He can sketch and protect his country. Nothing wrong with that.

Except--

"What is this?" Grandpa Rogers form the 40s has not one clue how to use the data pad. Or the phone thing verity got him.

From:

*In the intervening time, he'd also heard the government he wanted to fight for was going to wipe two cities off the map. It would be nothing to be ashamed of, if he had some second thoughts.*

Oh, sorry. That's a datapad. If your sketch pad, there, could fit a library in it, it'd be like that.

*She takes a moment to show him the basic functions of the reader program it's in at the moment--turn pages, scroll, zoom in or out. She'll save explaining some of its other capabilities for another time, assuming he doesn't just figure them out for himself through trial and error.*

From:

Ver listens to the explanation without interruption, in-between making sure the room is ready for him and discreetly checking his medicine cabinet. It may be time to make a pharmacy run for the basics.

"It's like my phone," Ver explains when Samus is done. "The programs respond to the same kinds of input, I mean. Once you can use one, you can probably use the other pretty easily."

From:

Yeah the medicine cabinet is pretty bare. Steve never really considered this a long term housing option, so he hasn't really furnished it with much.

The art supplies Verity got for him is the most things he has, if we're being honest here.

"Okay. I think I get it. Thanks." Having something to read will do wonders for the boredom at least. When he can focus on it.

From:

*Samus hasn't exactly chosen him light reading--it can be hard for an idealist to grapple with Sun Tzu's ideas of eminent practicality at the best of times.*

There's also other books in there, but you asked for a starting assignment, so there it is.

From:

"I'm sure Steve can handle it."

She sounds a little distracted because she's making a shopping list in her head. Aspirin, bandages, things like that.

From:

"Right. Better work, because it's on the test, right?" He chuckles and then coughs again. Okay, laughing is a bad idea. File that under the 'things he should know already' list.

He'll get started thumbing through the datapad and grow a bit quiet. poor guy will probably be dozed off in his little blanket cocoon by the time they talk to him again. With Saums attempting complete germicide and Verity list making, Steve doesn't have anything keeping him focused on the here and now instead of the warms and man he's tired and sick.

From:

*Sleep is an ingredient in all the best cures--Samus won't fault him for finding some, and carries out the rest of her sanitizing quietly.*

From:

Poor Steve. When she notices he's out, Verity taps Samus' arm to have a whispered conversation with her. "He's out. I'm going to stay for a while, but you don't have to. I can finish this up if you show me how?"

From: