[Console: Video]

[leaptopudding]

[The feed kicks on to an empty chair. The video is streaming, but there's no sign of Makoto anywhere. She may or may not be sitting on the floor, out of view.]

Alright, real talk.

I have something super important to ask you all, so listen up.

[She actually sounds pretty serious here too.]

How uh... How many of you know baseball?

[Home is far away and out of reach, so she's on the hunt for common ground.]

Comments

[leaptopudding]

It's pretty huge! We have our own league and everything. I mean, you guys still have the rep as number one, but the NPB is a big deal in Japan.

[She sounds pretty proud of it all too.]

Cool, huh?

[starspangled]

It's very cool.

[It's one of the nicer changes he's learned about.]

[leaptopudding]

When I go home, I'm gonna make sure I go more. My friends and I always talk about going but we don't get to go all that often.

[Being a high school student probably counts for a lot there. That said, there's something Steven mentioned that's got her attention.]

Hey um, I don't mean to be rude or anything but... How old are you? Or well, what year are you from?

[Cause he said 1934 like he was there, but Steve doesn't look like an old guy...]

[starspangled]

That sounds like a good plan.

[He wishes he could say the same, but maybe Sokovia is it for him. Even if it's not, do any of his friends even like baseball? Natasha? Sam, Sam has to. He's too perfect to not love baseball.

She asks a complicated question. Questions, really.]

Technically, I'm 96. It's 2015 back in my world.

...i just realized i typo'd 'steven' in the last tag. can't stop laughing.

[leaptopudding]

[And she frowns, then leans a little forward to squint at him.]

You're totally making a joke here, aren't you.

[Dry tone is dry.]

\using his full name, he must be in trouble!

[starspangled]

I'm not at all.

[But he can see why she'd been doubtful about it. He expected as much.]

I sort of ended up frozen for around seventy years. That stopped the clock.

[leaptopudding]

Whoa.

[Makoto sits back, a little blown away.]

That's... rough.

[What do you even say to that. Just how many frozen people are there out there that she doesn't know about.]

Is that something that happens often..? Or are you kinda special.

[starspangled]

It's okay.

[He gives her a little smile, because he can see that she doesn't know what to say in response at first.]

It doesn't happen often. I have a serum in me that made it possible.

[leaptopudding]

[Her expression softens, though there's still a hint of a frown. She's not scared at all, but rather worried for him.]

Did you want the serum or..?

[Did he want any of this?]

[starspangled]

I volunteered for it.

[Granted, he would've volunteered for just about anything if it gave him a shot at the Army.]

Still, it was pretty surprising.

[leaptopudding]

Huh.

[It's a surprise to her, but she doesn't know his story more than what he's said. Makoto assumes he must of willingly signed up for being frozen, along with the serum. She really can't understand it.]

Well, if you were okay with it I guess... I mean. Are you happy with that choice?

[starspangled]

[If Steve looks caught off guard, it's because no one's ever really asked him that. Is he happy? It made him healthy, made him strong. It made him a hero.

And at times it's made him feel lonely, a man out of time, his time. But if he knew everything that he knows now, would he have chosen anything else?]

Yeah, I'm happy with it - it made me taller.

[leaptopudding]

[At his pause, Makoto worries that she's said too much. It wouldn't be the first time that she's done so. But then, he speaks and she lets go of a breath she didn't know she was holding. She shoots him a small, reassuring smile.]

I'm glad. If you're happy, I'm happy. I mean, you're a good guy from what I can tell, and good people deserve to have things work out for them.

[A beat.]

Man, maybe that's what I need. I'm a shorty.

[She's kidding. Mostly.]

[starspangled]

Don't worry about it. I bet you're just fine the way you are.

[leaptopudding]

[That... actually means a lot.]

Thanks Steve. For hanging out and being a good guy. It means a lot.