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Steve does not consider himself a great cook, and if you asked most of his friends, they would agree, most with laughter and teasing included. All his go-to recipes are depression-era makeshift meals, or gelatin monstrosities, or both. He's capable of branching out a little, though, and today, after coming back from the grocery store and loading up the pantry and cabinets of the Clubhouse, he fills a skillet with bacon for starters. He's not sure yet what will go with it--which is a sure sign of a meal about to go out of control--but he's hungry and he's sure anything he can't eat will go over just fine with other visitors to the place.
So. Bacon. Pancakes and eggs? Or should he go a different route and make sandwiches? Or potato soup...
There's something meditative about throwing a meal together, even when you're bad at it.
So. Bacon. Pancakes and eggs? Or should he go a different route and make sandwiches? Or potato soup...
There's something meditative about throwing a meal together, even when you're bad at it.
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Date: 2020-06-29 04:37 pm (UTC)As if he'd ever allow himself downtime, that was ridiculous.
The Clubhouse made a good place to go, especially when there was a light drizzle of rain, so Steve would soon enough have company, in the form of a blond teen with a backpack over one shoulder that looked like it weighed as much as he did, and a duffel bag in his opposite hand.
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Date: 2020-06-29 04:51 pm (UTC)Oh! There's company.
He looks mildly apologetic as he tries to hold the door for Adrien (too late, really, he's already inside, it'll just keep it from slamming on him when a breeze comes from outdoors). "Hey, your timing's great. I was going to make bacon and eggs but the meal is taking on a life of it's own."
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Date: 2020-06-29 04:57 pm (UTC)"Did you need a hand? I'm no cook but I can help out at least."
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Date: 2020-06-29 05:10 pm (UTC)They won't put cake in the noodles, though, that'd be gross.
"You could put some water on for the noodles, though, that would be great." He looks him over briefly, as if checking to make sure he hasn't missed any crises that have left marks on him, then nods with satisfaction. Same kid; too thin, but no new injuries.
"How've you been, anyway? I haven't seen you in a while."
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Date: 2020-06-29 05:22 pm (UTC)"Been really busy," He commented, going to scare up a pot to fill. He didn't look especially badly off, true. Too skinny, like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders, but that was nothing new. "Need to catch up on just about everything, before Fathers new line prep starts. Homework, practice, patrols, the works."
Chuckling faintly as he slid the filled pot onto a burner, giving the water a healthy dose of salt before setting it to boil.
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Date: 2020-06-29 05:53 pm (UTC)"That's a hell of a to-do list," he raises an eyebrow, clicks the mixer arm into place in the housing, and sighs with relief. That ought to do it.
"Do you ever get any downtime?"
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Date: 2020-06-30 05:11 am (UTC)"Well, I've got a little," He tilted his head, considering. "Since there's no shoots right now I don't have to try and cram my homework into the prep time."
Probably not what Steve was talking about using downtime for. Oh well!
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Date: 2020-06-30 09:27 pm (UTC)"That's not quite what I meant," he says mildly, reaching for the box of cake mix. It's a matter of dumping the contents into the bowl, adding eggs and milk and oil, and setting the mixer on low, and once that's managed, he can prod at the bacon to make sure it's cooking evenly.
"What do you do for fun, anyway? You live in Paris, right?"
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Date: 2020-06-30 11:06 pm (UTC)"I'm from Paris, yeah. And as for fun... well, I get to see my friends at school," Adrien replied with a sheepish bit of a flush as he watched the cake coming together in the mixing bowl. "And I patrol as Chat. I mean it's not too different, people know me in or out of the mask even if they don't know that y'know, I'm Chat, but... it's different behind the mask."
Not that he thought of the black domino mask when he said that, but he tried not to allow himself that sort of introspection often.
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Date: 2020-07-01 12:27 am (UTC)If the hue fits..."I'm...glad you have school friends," he says slowly. "That's good." He didn't have many of those, himself, actually. Just Bucky. "But none of that sounds much like recreation. You don't...I don't know, what do kids even play anymore?"
He turns the heat down on the bacon and frowns thoughtfully. "I guess soapbox racers are passe by now. Video games or something?"
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Date: 2020-07-01 12:47 am (UTC)Rude!"Well we do all sorts of stuff. Video games, skating, movies..." A faint huff from the teen as a wry, apologetic smile crossed his face. "I mean, they do. And they invite me along all the time, and I... well I come when I can, but Father doesn't really approve, and I had to fight tooth and nail to get him to even let me go to school. If I slack off too much he'd just pull me out and have me homeschooled again."
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Date: 2020-07-01 01:12 am (UTC)"I mean..." he shakes his head, aware he's being a bad influence now. "Never mind. It just seems like you really need a break. Does time pass at the same rate here as at home?"
Turning, he rests his back against the counter and folds his arms. "It's just, in my experience, once you get into this line of work, you don't get back out. And I look at you and the others like you and I worry that the responsibility is going to steal chances from you that you should have had. And that the adults in your life should be trying to protect for you."
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Date: 2020-07-01 01:45 am (UTC)"And... I don't know how to explain it really but being Chat Noir is... well, it's freeing. Even outside being able to really help people, I don't have to be something I'm not. I don't... have a lot of chances to do that as Adrien."
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Date: 2020-07-01 03:01 am (UTC)"Sometimes it feels like that for me," he says thoughtfully, falling back on sincerity, as he always does when he's not sure what advice to give. "Sometimes it feels like the complete opposite. Growing up, all I wanted was a chance to prove myself, show I was worth as much as any other guy. When the war started, I was ready to walk across coals to get into the army. I had asthma, a messed-up back, anemia, flat feet, the works. I lied on my application five separate times before Dr. Erskine picked me up for Project Rebirth."
"And then he turned me into this. And some days I still look into the mirror and get a little bit rattled when I see this face instead of the one I had before the experiment. I guess it took all of this, the shield, the uniform, to get people to look at me, and I'm never sure what they're seeing."
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Date: 2020-07-01 10:16 am (UTC)"That sounds kinda like something you'd read about in a comic," He mused thoughtfully, processing the story, the sincerity it was shared with. "But... with all the parts about it that they don't write about because it's too real."
A faint huff of sound as he gave the pasta a stir to keep things from sticking, time to gather his own thoughts a moment before responding.
"I... it's kinda the opposite for me. Like this, everyone looks. And for the most part I know what they're seeing because it's what they're supposed to. I mean, it's my job to make sure of that, no matter where I am or what I'm doing." Adrien lifted his brows on a wry, almost sheepish smile. "One of the unspoken perks of world-wide fame, you don't really have 'time off' anymore, even at home. Father, his assistant, the staff, they all expect basically the same of me. I guess... Chat kind of lets me have that time. That's not to say I don't take it seriously, I do, but..."
"It means I don't have to be 'on' all the time. And if someone is seeing something about me, it's because of things I did or said, rather than the image I'm expected to project."
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Date: 2020-07-01 05:00 pm (UTC)It doesn't, he knows.
The baking pan is already greased and flour-dusted, and he pours the batter in and pops it in the oven. The mixing bowl goes into the sink. It's just a box mix and store-bought frosting, but fresh, hot cake is still fresh, hot cake.
Listening to Adrien, he finds himself thinking of Tony Stark. Wondering if his childhood was like that. As an adult now, it seems everything he does is performative, and Steve didn't realize that was a defense mechanism at first, but he does now. (Now that it's too late.) Of course, Stark also seems to take immense delight in trolling the world that watches him, both in and out of costume.
He sighs and gives Adrien a gentle pat on the back. "I think I understand. It's not the same experience for me, but I get it. I don't know, I keep telling the others that it's important to know who you are underneath the armor. Who you are, and what you stand for. And it is, but...being able to communicate that freely is something everyone deserves, too."
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Date: 2020-07-03 05:19 pm (UTC)There were some parallels there, like as not. Rich families seemed to breed dysfunction, for all Adrien wasn't ready or willing to call what he and his father had such a harsh thing. Surely there was a reasonable explanation.
He still offered a small smile at the light pat. "Yeah, I think I get what you mean. I can't really... do much as Adrien, but as Chat I can kinda... figure out where I fit."
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Date: 2020-07-04 02:46 am (UTC)Steve nods to his explanation, though he still looks serious. There's so much that can go wrong in their line of work. He still doesn't think it's ideal to have minors fighting, no matter how talented they are. At least they seem to get something out of it, some sense of identity and purpose.
"Just don't forget to take care of yourself, too," he says, which is vague advice almost to the point of being useless, but he's not sure what else to say, caught between an urge to protect and a conscious effort not to be overbearing.
"Anyway, if you want to talk about it, consider me a free sounding board," he smiles at him, then reaches over his head to grab a couple bowls from the cabinet. "What do you like to drink? Milk, juice, soda pop, water?"