The Perk, Wednesday afternoon

[heroic_jawline]

Steve sat at a table in the Perk with ashes on his forehead, a large mug of decaf tea and his StarkPad out, researching the new Lenten fast rules that had been set out by the Vatican since he'd gone into the ice. Mass this morning had been soooo much faster than he'd remembered: he'd gotten used to the priest facing the congregation and speaking in plain English (well, for given value of plain. He'd never used "consubstantial" in conversation in his life), but he needed an update on what was allowed and forbidden during Lent. He could eat eggs, butter, and cheese now! He didn't have to fast for all 40 days any longer (which his super metabolism was selfishly thankful for)! Sushi counted as a meat-free meal on Fridays!

Man, 21st Century Catholics were wimps.

[OOC: Open!]

Comments

[throughaphase]

"Let me guess where you just came from," Kitty greeted him, stopping at the table with her coffee.

[heroic_jawline]

Steve smiled up at her. "Thank you for not telling me I've got a smudge on my head."

[throughaphase]

"People actually do that?" Kitty frowned. "I mean, I get not realizing what day it is-" She hadn't! "-but once you see the ashes you should be able to figure it out."

[heroic_jawline]

He chuckled. "Yeah, you'd think, but I've had a couple people tell me about it. One tried to remove it for me."

She was hitting on you, Steve.

[throughaphase]

To be fair, that was an awful way to hit on somebody.

"That had to be a fun conversation," Kitty said sympathetically.

[heroic_jawline]

"Yeah," Steve said, sheepishly grinning. "Turns out that me being a single Catholic guy who remembered to go to church on a weekday wasn't really what she was looking for."

[throughaphase]

"Well, she's dumb," Kitty said. Come on, look at him. Even if you're not religious, you make an exception. "Besides, I feel like the ability to sit through a Catholic mass says you're into commitment."

[heroic_jawline]

"Or pain," Steve said, laughing. "At least it's not in Latin any more."

[throughaphase]

"It was in Latin?" she asked. Hope you didn't mind her siting, Steve.

[heroic_jawline]

Not at all! He was so looooonely.

"It was," he said, nodding, "and the priest never turned around. Now he talks in English. Well, English plus 'consubstantial,' which I had to look up."

[throughaphase]

"Huh. I mean, my knowledge of Catholocism comes secondhand, but I had no idea any of that was a thing," she admitted.

[heroic_jawline]

Steve's smile turned sheepish. "Yeah, sometime between crashing and waking up, the entire Mass changed. First time I showed up, some little old lady, who's probably twenty years younger than me, smacked me with her cane for not knowing the correct responses."

[throughaphase]

"She didn't recognize you?" Kitty wondered, and then thought about that. "Possibly a dumb question, with alternate universes and such..,"

[heroic_jawline]

"Nah, she didn't know me," Steve said, shaking his head. "I prefer it that way, even if she had quite an arm with with that cane."

[throughaphase]

"You're sticking with anonymity?" Kitty asked.

[heroic_jawline]

"I don't want to go full-scale Tony 'Do You Know Who I Am' Stark," Steve said, laughing as he sipped from his mug. "If they recognize me, that's fine. If that don't, it means I get through my day slightly faster."

[throughaphase]

"Not a bad way to look at it," Kitty said. "Also two people competing for the attention Tony gets on one team might be a little much."

[heroic_jawline]

Steve snorted softly. "There's no space for that much ego," he agreed, "possibly on the planet."

[OOC: Ugh, notifications. NOTIFY ME.]

[throughaphase]

"It is good to know that some things transcend alternate realities," Kitty smiled.

[heroic_jawline]

"Would you believe that the version here is way less annoying than the version I have in New York?" Steve asked, arching an eyebrow.

[throughaphase]

"Yes. But mostly because I haven't hung out with this one much," Kitty said, sipping her coffee.

[heroic_jawline]

"He's not bad," Steve said with a slight smile. "Insisted I move in as soon as I arrived--the idea of me being in a hotel was totally insulting to him."

[throughaphase]

Kitty looked totally interested. "What's it like to actually live with Tony Stark?"

[heroic_jawline]

"You mean on the nights he doesn't pass out down in the lab doing God knows what with electronics or is off Avenging?" Steve replied. "It's quieter than I expected."

[throughaphase]

"Huh. I'd have actually figured it'd be loud," Kitty admitted.

[heroic_jawline]

Steve nodded. "I mean, there's an almost constant running conversation with JARVIS, but no...women or anything."

And now he was blushing.

[throughaphase]

"I wasn't assuming there were." Because it was a small town where people didn't talk much these days. Made it hard to hook up. "I mostly figured it'd be a lot of 'Cap! Look at this impossible thing I just did!'"

Her Tony impression was terrible.

[heroic_jawline]

Steve laughed. "Oh, I've gotten used to that."

[throughaphase]

"Yeah, I guess you'd have to," Kitty said.

[heroic_jawline]

"I'm still not sure he's really expecting feedback, or if he just talks out loud because it helps him think better," Steve admitted.