For chuju

[iamsteverogers]

Steve normally didn't mind giving these little tours. He didn't have to do them often, usually as a favor to one person or another, but they were generally pretty fun and the people he got to walk around were enthusiastic. Every once in a while though he got to give a special sort of tour, the kind where it meant at lot to the person he was giving it to.

This tour for Chloe was definitely one of those. After talking with her it was easy to see how much SHIELD, and to a lesser extent the Avengers, meant to her. Plus she had just been fun to talk to. She treated him like he was a real person and not some icon. Anyone who could joke with him in a way that they weren't afraid to take a few shots at him was a good person in his book.

So while he waited out front of the compound he found himself actually looking forward to this tour. Even doing a few silly pictures at his desk for her seemed like a fun idea. He just hoped that it was going to be everything she hoped for.

Comments

[chuju]

The invitation was the definition of unexpected. There'd always been something of a disconnect between the Avenger's and Daisy's team, despite their shared connection of one Phillip J. Coulson. (Of course, there had been that whole thing of Fury insisting that the superhero team be kept in the dark about Coulson being back in the land of living... She still wasn't sure how much Steve and the rest knew about all of that.)

Still, after the initial shock wore off, the excitement had started setting in. She'd been a bit of a superhero fangirl back in the day, and it seems that enthusiasm hasn't waned even after joining the super ranks herself. But more than that, she was excited to spend some time with the man himself.

Steve Rogers. Captain America. The man Coulson idolized and told a hundred stories about over the years. Sure, he's still just a guy, but he's also a genuinely good one — those are hard to find these days. None of that means that she'll hesitate for even a second to tease him, though. He'd worked for SHIELD once upon a time, not to mention the SSR, so that practically made him family.

The black SUV that pulled up in front of the compound is nondescript, lacking the giant SHIELD logo that had once graced everything from their cars to their water bottles. They've scaled things back a little, of which Daisy highly approved. (It's hard to do spy things when you've got a giant eagle on your back.)

Climbing out of the vehicle, she didn't miss a beat before calling over with a smile, "Hey, do you work here? I'm here for the 11:30 tour. I heard lunch was included and, you know, that's really the only reason I'm here."

[iamsteverogers]

Steve was dressed casually, fairly certain that Daisy wasn't going to expect him to be in the suit or anything like that. Even if she was expecting it there was no way that was going to be happening. He spent enough time in that thing that he avoided it for the most part unless he was on a mission.

He watched Daisy exit the SUV and had to think that she knew how to make an entrance. Or maybe it was just one of those things that certain people like Nat and Daisy did by nature of being deadly, gorgeous bad-asses.

"Oh for sure. I think Vision is cooking today. Really interesting, eating food cooked by someone that doesn't need to eat, he said with a grin. "Don't read anything into the fact that the visit to the infirmary is right after that. Total coincidence, I swear."

[chuju]

She's glad that he isn't in the suit. With the both of them dressed like normal people, they can pretend to be just that for a little while, focus on the parts of their lives that don't include wearing tac gear and fighting for the future of humanity.

Putting on an exaggerated grimace, she stops a few feet away from Steve, gesturing back toward her car and even taking a couple of steps backward. "On second thought, maybe I'll just..."

But then she laughs and gives up the act, continuing to cross the rest of the distance between them. The visit's already off to a good start, which puts her in an even better mood than she'd started with. "Sorry, Rogers, it's gonna take more than that to scare me off."

[iamsteverogers]

“Well I guess I’m stuck with you then,” he said with a laugh, beaming broadly at her as he offered her his hand. Just like how easy it was to chat with her over the phone it was the same here, which was nice. “And please, call me Steve.”

Since they were already on a semi-informal basis he wanted that to be official. He was just Steve, a guy showing her around HQ and apparently his desk, which she was very interested in seeing for whatever reason.

“And I promise the food is pretty good. Tony is too… Tony to have anything less that the best. Definitely better than the army.”

dw pls stop eating my notifs

[chuju]

It strikes her in a very unexpected way that he has a good laugh and an even better smile. She hopes she'll get to experience more of both in the future.

Putting her hand in his with a smile of her own, she gives him a warm, solid handshake before stepping back — though not too far. He's made it clear that this is a casual occasion, after all. She'd much rather this be as easy an exchange as they'd shared over text.

"I haven't experienced either, personally, but I've definitely heard stories," she comments with a nod, smile still firmly in place. "Especially about Stark."

Oh no!

[iamsteverogers]

“I promise all the stories you’ve heard about him are true or not nearly as wild as the truth,” he said with a laugh. Tony had a larger than life personality for sure and while he wouldn’t want his friend any other way it wasn’t Steve’s style. He hoped that Daisy was okay with something more down to earth than whatever Stark would have provided.

“But if you’re okay with it I thought I’d show you the training room first? I looks a lot like a big warehouse but it’s a good place for us to work on our skills,” Steve said as he opened the door to the compound for her and gestured for her to step inside.

“Then I can show you the garage, the gym, the kitchen, and the living quarters,” he continued. Not all of the Avengers lived on the grounds but they all had a place to stay here when they were “on call” and some of them like Vision were here full time.

[chuju]

He gets a laugh out of her with the remark about Stark that perfectly lines up with everything she's heard from Coulson over the years. The man is beyond ridiculous in some respects, but in others he's exactly what the world needs — so long as he has someone around to tell him when he's going too far. That's something they all need at times.

Stepping through the door, she nods at his suggestions, filing away the itinerary in her memory. All of it sounds good, she's really just along for the ride, but then he gets to that last one...

Look, how is she supposed to resist when he just gives her an opening like that? Expression turning playful, she crosses her arms and tilts her head, frowning while still smiling. "The living quarters, huh? Captain Rogers, is that invitation to see your bedroom?"

[iamsteverogers]

Steve’s cheeks turned a bit pink at that comment. You’d think after spending so much time around Natasha and Tony he’d be immune to that sort of thing but apparently he wasn’t quite immune. He did like that smile on her face though, it was a very good smile even if she was teasing him. Or maybe it was because she was teasing him?

“You did say you wanted to see my desk,” Steve said with a bit of a cough. Oh, Daisy was going to be trouble, he could already tell that. Fortunately for Steve, he never minded it when women were trouble. “But I guess technically that is an invitation to see my bedroom. I promise you though it’s not all that exciting.”

[chuju]

That hint of pink on his face is absolutely perfect. Daisy never teases anyone who can't take it, so she's glad to see that her estimation of Steve wasn't off. Bruising his feelings or making him overly comfortable is the very last thing she wants to do, but he just rolls with it, which is a very good sign. (Of what, she refuses to admit.)

"Maybe you should let someone else be the judge of that," she informs him, expression softening and all teasing set aside. Watching him for a moment, something flickers across her face before disappearing. "Come on, tour guide. We're wasting daylight."

[iamsteverogers]

“Does your ride turn back into a pumpkin at midnight,” Steve teased before he took her into the facility. There was a brief security check and then after that they were off to the indoor training grounds.

“So this is there the magic happens, by which I mean the grueling and repetitive training that we do. I’m sure you know what that’s like- it looks flashing but it’s a lot of doing something over and over until it’s perfect when you’re not even thinking about it.”

[chuju]

His teasing return gets raised eyebrows in response but then she just shakes her head, appreciating that he feels comfortable enough to throw it back to her like that. It's a good start.

Looking around the training area, she turns in a circle to slowly take it all in, trying to read between the lines to discern the different areas and recognize whose strengths they might be tailored to. She can see signs of his own training in all of it, which is confirmed by his description. Smiling, she nods and agrees, "Oh yeah, I know all about that. The first months of my field agent training with May were nothing but grueling repetition."

After her transition, though, things had been far less monotonous. Which leads her to a question. "How do you handle people with powers?"

Sorry this is so late, time got away from me!

[iamsteverogers]

"How do you mean?" Steve asked, wanting to make sure that he understood the question. "Handling" people could go a lot of ways, especially when it came to people with powers. "If you mean helping people understand what they're doing, Dr. Banner is very brilliant and talented. If you mean the destructive nature... well we try and practice control. Believe it or not we hope to cause as little damage as possible."

That wasn't always how it worked out of course, sometimes they caused A LOT of damage, but Steve knew they did what they did as safely as possible.

"But we do have some places we train at where we can let loose now and then," he said with a grin. "You can't expect the Hulk to not smash through walls every now and then."