lucetilogs | Coffee Shop Construction is a go!

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Coffee Shop Construction is a go!

Who: Natasha Romanoff and anyone ~~conned into~~ likely to swing by and help
What: Before it can open, the coffee shop needs a little tlc and a few touch-ups.
When: Friday, May 10. Possibly extending into the weekend.
Where: The future location of A Shot In The Dark coffee shop. (AKA, Building M)
Summary: Natasha calls in a few favors and bribes a few friends and teammates into helping her get the coffee shop ready to open. Anyone able to hammer a few nails, wield a paint brush or broom, or move some furniture is invited. ~~Or come ogle some of the shirtless males she's put to work, that's acceptable too.~~
Rating: PG. Probably. >.>

Natasha's still not entirely sure why she's doing this. Most mornings, she wakes up with the inevitable realization that she's probably lost her mind. She's not one to put down roots, to make a commitment to anything, because things don't last, situations change and her lifestyle choice of 'don't get attached' is slowly getting buried under a mound of teammates, friends, and persistent pests that somehow end up being debatably endearing.

And, apparently, a coffee shop.

Yup. She's definitely lost her mind. That doesn't seem to stop her from going each day and working on the little shop off the plaza, although she's reached a point that there's not much else she can do on her own. She needs help. A galling realization, but hey, that's what teammates are for, right? So, on a bright and sunny Friday morning, she rounds up what help she can find to pound out the last few renovations needed for the place.

((OOC Note: Most of the work needed is inside the cafe itself, although some work can be done outside as well. The doors will be propped open for people to come and go and they're taking pretty much a blank slate of an interior and turning it into this. So, work your character could possibly be doing is helping construct the coffee bar, painting the walls, hanging light fixtures or the shelving behind the coffee bar. Cleaning up the tables and chairs or the other surfaces inside once the sawdust and nail-pounding clears up. And if someone wants to get creative and make her a sign, she will be eternally grateful.

There will be a constant supply of drinks and snacks as well, for people wanting to take breaks or those wandering by to eyeball the proceedings. Hop in, help out, or just stop by to chat.))

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Steve's making pretty good progress with the bar; Pepper's caught a glimpse of it from time to time, and the work seems to be steadily coming along. She's in between jobs herself at the moment, so she walks over just to check and see if Steve might need a hand.

"Hey. How's it going so far?"

A final nail is pounded into the section he's working on before he notices her presence and looks up. "Pretty good, actually. Once I finish this section it'll be about halfway done."

"This is halfway done?" Pepper takes a better look at the piece under construction now that she's standing closer to it. "Wow. It's a pretty big undertaking, isn't it? Do you need a hand with it or anything?"

"Well assembling it is only half the battle. Once I get that down it'll need to be sanded down and possibly stained." He pulls another piece of wood aside and begins hammering it into place. In between nails he shrugs in response. "I can handle it. The only thing I can really give you to do is to mark where the nails need to go or some hammering, if you think you can manage."

That earns a grin from her. “If I can’t handle hammering, then I’ll have to blame my teacher.” Pop quiz: does Steve remember talking Pepper through it all those months back? Including the part where they broke down in laughter over irresponsible nails and their failure to attend business commitments.

“Just tell me what you need me to do.”

Steve looks at her blankly for a moment before the memory hits him. He grins and shakes his head. "I'd almost forgotten about that. Well, here..." He holds out hos extra hammer for her to take. "Let's see what you remember."

He takes the rough designs of the counter and spreads them out between them so Pepper can see the look they're going for. "I need those boards over there connected to the edge here." He points to the things as he says them.

She just grins, watching Steve’s expression until he puts the pieces together. “It was a while ago—and a lot has happened since then.” To put it lightly. Some were pleasant memories and others were things that Pepper would be very happy to forget. For the moment, however, she has to focus on the present, or Steve will have the chance to give her a hard time.

So hammer in hand she takes a careful look at the plans once they’re laid out, plus various items Steve points to as he gives instructions. “Alright. I think I can manage that.”

He nods, glad that she seems to understand. The plans are fairly simple but it's sometimes easier just to show what needs to be done instead of explaining. He sorts out some of the boards, pushing the ones Pepper needs closer to her. "Good. Let's get started then. Maybe we can finish getting it built today."

“With any luck.” Pepper gets started maneuvering her boards into place, first by measuring and marking where each is to go. She takes her time with it; she hasn’t exactly done much construction since the gallery, and she doesn’t want to make things harder on Steve or Natasha. But she thinks they can manage a little conversation while they work without doing any real damage to their efforts.

“How have you been? It’s been awhile since we had a chance to talk.”

Steve mimics her work, measuring, marking, and even sawing longer pieces in half. He enjoys the work; it helps him to clear his head. Something that is becoming increasingly harder to do as the amount of things he doesn't want to think about increases.

Like the last time he and Pepper spoke, for one. He's only recently pulled himself out of the funk that resulted from Henry's death. He hadn't wanted to talk then. He doesn't want to now. Not about that. But...he had promised her an explanation.

"I've been fine. Much better now than I was...then."

With that moment of hesitation, Pepper remembers exactly what their last conversation had entailed--and what it hadn't. She paused in her work, glancing over at Steve for a moment. He had promised her, yes, but he had also seemed like he'd been in a good mood up until that moment.

"Steve...we don't have to talk about this now. Not if you don't want to."

He stops hammering one of the boards into place and brushes his bangs out of his face with the back of his hand. At first, it doesn't seem like he's going to respond. Finally, he shakes his head and sighs.

"I'm not sure I'll ever be able to talk about it. But if you have things you want to know, ask. Won't know if I don't try."

She does wonder if Steve will let the silence stretch on, maybe go back to his work in a refusal to answer. But he doesn't, instead keeping his word by once again making the offer.

So then it fall to her. Does Pepper still want to know? Does she need to? The boy in question is in that shop too, and her gaze turns to Henry, hard at work on the other side of the shop.

"No. I think that it's probably something better left in the past now." Henry's alive again, vibrant and happy. There's no point in making Steve relive those memories, and all the guilt that goes with them.

He hadn't noticed the tension rising in his shoulders until her reply came and he felt it ease up slowly. Without thinking about it, he looks up and follows her gaze to Henry. They had spoken as soon as Henry had come home and had come to an agreement that no one blamed anyone for the series of events. Except in Steve's case, he blamed himself.

Finally, he looks back at Pepper and smiles in gratitude and relief. "Thank you. Talking about it just seems so...useless. It doesn't change anything." He shakes his head. "Maybe it's time for another topic. How have you been doing, Pepper?"

“Pretty well, over all.” She was just as eager for the change in topic as Steve was, and more than willing to put Henry’s death behind them. “Tony’s pretty much back to himself after the whole portal affair, which is good. I think that aside from his voice still being gone, things are pretty much normal.”

“How about with you?”

He nods. His interactions with Tony during the draft had been interesting without Tony being able to speak. Although Steve had been grateful that Tony hadn't been able to say his piece then. He hadn't wanted to hear it, even though look in his eyes at the time had said more then words ever could.

Steve shakes those thoughts away to focus on the conversation at hand. "Things are good. Apparently Bucky and Natasha are together. Did you know that? I kind of...stumbled across the knowledge accidentally."

“I’m really tempted to ask the story behind that.” Pepper favors Steve with a teasing grin, because that’s far too carefully worded to not be hiding something. But she nods a moment later, starting to line up her boards.

“I heard—after I practically pried it out of Natasha.” In this very same place, in fact. But theirs isn’t the only relationship Pepper’s curious about, and she glances over at Steve. “And speaking of things I don’t tend to hear about, how are you and Peggy doing?”

He colors slightly and looks down at the boards he's hammering. "It wouldn't be a very interesting story." Only that he'd walked into their kitchen one morning to the sight of a scantily clad Natasha.

Steve glances at her in surprise at the mention of Peggy. "We're fine."

"The way you're blushing says otherwise, Steve." Don't think Pepper's missed that. It's enough to give her an idea, but she'll spare him from any out loud guessing. At least for the moment.

"Just fine?" Since last they spoke, Steve had mentioned them trying to take their time and build things up between them.

He ducks his head, but doesn't say anything more. There's nothing he can say that wouldn't make him sound either prudish or attracted to his best friend's girl. Both of which he'd never admit to anyways.

"Yes. Fine. We haven't been able to see each other much lately, but things happen." Especially around here.

That's okay, Steve. Between the blushing and the refusal to talk, she's definitely got a guess. At the moment, she's trying to decide if she wants to ask Natasha or Bucky just what happened, or spare Steve at least a little.

It'll be something she thinks very carefully about.

"They do, but it's still important to make time for each other." Pepper smiles gently, not knowing if her advice will be welcome, but still wanting to offer. "Tony and I have date nights. I even make sure he remembers them. It makes a lot of difference knowing you'll have that time together."

Shrugging, he looks down at the mostly put together counter. It's not that her advice is unwelcome, Steve just isn't sure how to apply it to him and Peggy. And admitting that would be admitting to Pepper exactly how new it all is to him. But it's not like he has much to lose.

"It's just...all pretty new to me. Having a...relationship. I know how things are done. I've been on dates. Just...not usually with the same person."

"Well, like I said--just make sure you find time to spend together." Because going on dates with the same person over a long period is pretty different than an equal number of first or second dates. "And talk to each other. It's pretty easy to feel the pressure of what you should be doing. But there's no timeline or set schedule of how things should go. You have to do what's right for you--which sounds pretty vague, but it's really the best advice I've got. Other than enjoy it, anyway."

Being happy with each other is what matters most. Otherwise, what's the point?

He smiles slowly and nods. One of the things he'd been worried about it what Peggy and he would talk about once they got past the 'how are you's and the 'this week in Luceti' news. But somehow her advice makes sense to him.

"Thank you, Pepper. That's good advice. I'll try to keep it in mind."

She nods, grinning a bit sheepishly. "You're welcome, and I hope it helps. I just remember how Peggy reacted when she heard you were here--and how happy you look when you talk about it." She wants them to work, especially since being in Luceti means they have a chance for something they lost back home.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Coffee Shop Construction is a go!

we all appreciate the sacrifices Steve makes--especially the shirt off his back.

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