milliways_bar | (no subject)

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When Steve sits at the bar, the first thing he gets is a cupcake with red, white and blue frosting and Happy 95th Birthday!.

"Yeah, yeah," he says in a good-natured tone, because even he has given up trying to keep track of how old he is. Twenty-eight, ninety-five, two? Ninety-five is probably the most accurate.

The second thing he gets is a napkin: Want to bartend today?

Yes. Yes, he does. The Big Book of Drinks even has a patriotic section.

TODAY'S SPECIALS
Stars and Stripes Forever
Patriotic Margarita
All-American Beauty
Apple, cherry or blueberry pie by the slice

[ooc: As of 6:30 PM MST, bartending is closed to new threads. Thanks for tagging in, everybody!]

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"I have plans," Steve says. "I'm just waiting for my--my particular friend to come in."

"Oh, I see."

She sips demurely at her bourbon.

"Say no more, then. I didn't mean t'pry."

"No problem," he says easily.

"What's your where and when, Miss Barlow?"

"Texas, eighteen-eighty-eight. I hang my hat in Galveston, for the time bein'."

No, really. She has the hat and everything.

"How 'bout yourself, Mr. Rogers?"

"New York City, 2013."

"Mm — "

She sets her drink down.

"I've visited New York from jus' about that time. Y'must enjoy it."

"It's my home," Steve says simply.

She smiles warmly.

"Texas has always been my home, but I've always had a fondness for New York. Hard not to. They jus' finished the Statue of Liberty in my day. I was surprised t'see her turned green when I went t'visit with my friend."

"It's the copper," Steve says. "I understand that's why the artist chose that metal--the patina she got as she aged."

He's very fond of the Lady, obviously.

She nods with enthusiasm.

"It must've been somethin' t'see her change from year t'year. Maybe I'll get the chance."

It's a dream she doesn't think will be realized, not with her circumstances. However, it's nice to think about.

"I bet it was," Steve says softly. "I wasn't around for that."

"Oh, of course. Y'were probably born long after she'd started t'color."

Steve pauses, then says, "Not that long after. I was actually born in 1918."

"Oh."

Beat.

"Oh, but then — ?"

She does some quick math, which doesn't seem to add up at all.

"I'm ninety-five years old today," Steve says, with an expression that says he knows how weird it is.

"I was... the subject of a scientific experiment in 1942," Steve explains. "It gave me strength and agility and healing, and when I crashed a plane into the Arctic in 1944, it basically put me to sleep for seventy years."

"Oh, good gracious."

Her voice, ever soft, spills quietly from her lips like water over smooth stones.

"That must've been an awful experience for you, I'm so sorry."

"Waking up was hard," Steve says. "Coping with being seventy years in the future and not able to go back--that was hard. I don't remember being in the ice."

Sometimes, though... some of his nightmares are so quiet. So cold.

A line forms between Kate's brows.

"So much must've changed. I've heard that I might not even recognize Texas in the future. That would be — "

Difficult? Strange? Trying?

" — lonely."

Steve gives a startled laugh, then says, "Yeah. It was. Sometimes it still is.

"Fortunately I've got this place, though, and people who love me here. It's helped a lot."

She smiles wanly.

"That's good. Milliways does have a way of wormin' into your heart, an' providin' jus' what y'need."

After a pause, she points to the jar of spiced peaches.

"I bet you've never had a good, honest-t'-goodness, buttermilk biscuit, with summer-ripe peach preserves before."

"I don't think I have," he says with a warm smile.

She grins.

"Well, the peaches are yours, an' if y'check back t'morrow mornin' I'll be sure there's a basket of biscuits with your name on it."

She wouldn't want to interrupt his birthday plans with his special friend, after all.

"OH, that's so kind of you. Thank you."

"S'my pleasure. Happy birthday."

Really, it's the least she could do.

[ooc: perhaps a nice place for a fade? ^__^]

[ooc: Perfect place. Thanks for the thread!]

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ikissdhimbck - 2013-07-05 04:42 (UTC) - Expand

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