felicitygs | Happy Steve Bingo

Another fill for happystevebingo. You can find my card here

Uniform

Steve has worn a lot of uniforms in his day. Almost all of them, some variation on his Captain America uniform. There's some satisfying about putting it on, too, but Steve thinks a lot about how much violence his uniforms have in them--defending others, yes, of course, but that doesn't change how many punches his thrown or people he's killed while wearing it.

Sometimes, he wonders if that's all he's good for. Not often, not during the day but...

This one is something else.

To start, it's not a real uniform, not in the official sense. It wasn't issued by anyone, he doesn't have to wear it. But... well, Steve likes having something he can wear for a job, even if the 'job' here is really volunteering. That doesn't make it less work, but the only exchange going on is bettering someone's life with a bit of his time.

Jeans, collared flannel, leather jacket. Notebook in one pocket, pen. Key in the other, wallet in his back pocket. Combat boots--even all these years later, nothing else feels quite right on his feet. (What if something happens?) It doesn't look much different from what he usually wears, if he's honest, but it's always these specific clothes when he makes his way down to the community center.

"Hey, Steve," Maxine at the front desk says, smiling at him. Her hair's done up different today, a magenta ribbon a bright splash of color against the black of her hair.

"Hey, Maxine," Steve says, signing in. "Your hair looks great."

Her brown cheeks warm, and her eyes crinkle at the edges. "Oh hush you. The kids are waiting. What're you reading today?"

"I was thinking another chapter of Harry Potter," he says. They make a little more small talk before Steve heads towards the room.

It's already a zoo, and Steve can't help grinning as he steps inside and nearly gets hit with a stuffed ball. There's a group painting at one of the tables, a total mess, and Steve knows that he'll have some somewhere on him when he leaves.

That's fine though--that's why he has a uniform.