14448/Dear Diary

Dear Diary
Date of Scene:	19 June 2022
Location:	Upper East Side, Manhattan
Synopsis:	Steve meets Jen's dad.
Cast of Characters:	She-Hulk, Captain America

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She-Hulk has posed:
Steve had probably never seen her like this. They'd been in combat together. Social situations such as events for media or things more private. Meals shared as both teammates and friends.

But today Jennifer was on the verge of a nervous breakdown it seemed. She had the window on the car open so the air blew in which wasn't really helping as she wished there was a paper bag in the back of the Uber she might breathe into. Nothing at all. "We should cancel." It was about the sixth time she suggested it. Not that it worked teh first five times but there was always hope!

Currently, she was--mousy. Non descript. In other words, she was not She-Hulk. Instead, she was Jennifer Walters, attorney at law. Average height, average build, brown hair, brown eyes. Plain. She was wearing a summer style dress with short sleeves, the upper body fitted then at the waist flaring out a bit in a more A-line style. It was white with little floral designs, buttons running up the center from hem to heart neckline. She had on a little silver necklace with a locket, a gift from her father long ago. It was something she wore rarely. As Shulkie, too much of a chance it might get damaged or lost.

Captain America has posed:
    "It'll be alright, Jen." Steve's voice is gentle as he rides along with her, the car carrying them both to their appointed destination. Five other times she said the same thing, and five other times so did Cap. He was easy-going, calm, and rather relaxed considering he was about to meet the father of one Jennifer Walters. It'll be interesting at the least.
    "I know you're worried, but I promise to be on my best behaviour." Steve says with a slight smile, even as he leans over and rests a hand on Jennifer's. Just a small squeeze of reassurance given as they roll past street lights and civilians on the sidewalks.
    Though, to be fair, at first there had been a touch of trepidation for Steve. Meeting parents wasn't something he did often, considering... well he didn't exactly date very much. Three people in the last decade. At that thought his eyebrows rise then he shakes his head.
    But if the man had a hand in raising the remarkable young woman beside him, then there must be something to the fella.

She-Hulk has posed:
She smiled over at Steve's assurance. She turned her hand over beneath his to squeeze his hand back. He was being very understanding. She hadn't expected less of him. When she'd invited him to this dinner with her father, she hadn't really thought it through. Certainly she wanted him to meet her father, though they had just started dating really. It was kind of early for the meet-the-parent stage. But she wasn't sure she wanted to face her father alone.

Her father hadn't been able to make it in time for her birthday so he had flown up for the weekend. He had opted for a hotel, though Jennifer had insisted he could stay at her place. Then they agreed to meet for dinner. Tomorrow they would spend the full day together as well as Monday. He'd be flying back Monday night.

Then the Uber stopped. And she stared at the restaurant they were sitting in front of. A slow deep breath and she reached for the door handle to get out of the vehicle onto the sidewalk. A quick smoothing of her dress in a nervous gesture followed. "Here goes nothin'," she muttered.

As they entered the restaurant, they were met by hostess. The woman led them to the table where a rather non-descript man waited. Brown hair, brown eyes. It was easy to see where she got it from. The man stood as they arrived, giving Jennifer a brief hug and kiss on the cheek then offering his hand to Steve.

"This is my father, Morris Walters. Dad, this is Steve Rogers."

Captain America has posed:
    Steve followed after her, rising from the seat and gaining his full height after a moment. He was dressed well, though squarely in that point that is just behind being dressed up but far past informal. Dockers shoes, tan chinos, a white dress shirt. He looks put together nicely and dressed exactly how a man should be dressed at such an occasion, at such a restaurant, and meeting someone like Morris Walters.
    "Sir, it's a pleasure to meet you. Your daughter's told me a lot about you." And then he shakes Morris' hand properly. Firmly, but not pushing, a squeeze and short shakes, then stepping back to rest his hands on his hips.
    "You raised quite an exceptional individual." That said he turns his head slightly to look to Jen and give a friendly nod before he turns his attention fully back on Mr. Walters.

She-Hulk has posed:
"Thank you but that was all her. I can't really take credit there," Morris said as he moved to pull out the chair for his daughter. She sat quickly as he tucked in the seat beneath her. Then he moved around to his seat on the opposite side of the table so the pair couple were able to sit together. "Now if she'd become a doctor, then I'd take full credit."

"Dad!" was the immediate protest from Jennifer.

Morris raised his hands. "Nothing to get upset about. Just kidding." Then he added lower. "Mostly."

Jennifer rolled her eyes, apparently channelling her inner teenager in that moment. "I had wanted to become a doctor when I was a kid and Dad wasn't too pleased when I changed my mind and opted to study law instead."

Captain America has posed:
    "Both strong professions," Steve says as he took a step back and to the side, since it's the father's right to take the seat out for his daughter. Steve moves to the side and then waits for the father to settle in before he takes the seat next to Jen and scooches the chair in enough to be at his place correctly.
    "I can understand, likely he wanted the best for you and medical doctor is right up there." He then looks across the way to Mr. Walters and says as he continues the conversation, "Though Law, and Public Service is also a good way to go. Both can save lives of others and the people they work with."
    Then he smiles a little, "And as an Avenger you've done both." He looks at Jen at the end of that sentence, giving a nod as he then looks back to Mr. Walters with that same nod as if they were all in agreement here.

She-Hulk has posed:
"Of course!" Morris agreed immediately. Then he sort of continued that train of thought. "I'm retired now but I was a deputy Sheriff in Orange County out in the L.A. area. So I believe in law obviously. Though we weren't really on the best of terms with defense lawyers."

To which Jennifer piped up, "So of course I became a defense attorney. I had a lot of anger issues as a kid. And after. For a bit. Though we've got all that behind us now."

Morris nodded in agreement with his daughter. "Took us a bit but we got over it. And now here she is at 35 years old!" Then he looked quickly between the two of them. "Or was that a secret?"

Captain America has posed:
    "Need good people on both sides of the courtroom." Cap says, and Jen can tell he's in that mode he takes when he's often out doing events or public facing things. That polite calm way of his, holding to his beliefs but not doing so aggressively. If there is one thing about him that people find it hard to quantify in Captain America... it's his way with people.
    But then Mr. Walters offers up the faux pas of mentioning a lady's age and it does trigger a small smile for Steve as he looks at Jen first, and then Mr. Walters. "I don't believe that's a secret, but it's definitely less candles on a cake than if it was my birthday." Considering the small inferno that would create.
    Then, ever so gently, Steve changes topics. "Being a Sheriff in LA though, that must have been an interesting corner of the world to look after. What years were you there?"

She-Hulk has posed:
The comment about the candles on the cake got a laugh from Morris and Jennifer. Jen was feeling more at ease, as Steve fell into that role. He had such a charisma, a way with people and turn of phrase. There was that genuineness to him that just was so utterly disarming.

"From 1993 to 2023. Got my 30 years in. Was in investigations when I retired five years ago. Now I spend most of my time fishing." And Morris seemed very happy about that as he smiled. "Just bought a boat."

That got Jennifer's attention. "You finally bit the bullet?"

"Yeah. It's not huge but it's able to handle heading out into the Pacific for some deep sea stuff or I can head inland on the river if I prefer fresh. And there's always the lake."

"Dad has a cabin on the lake," Jennifer offered in explanation.

"You fish? If so, you should join me sometime."

Captain America has posed:
    "Ah a /boat/." Steve says with no small emphasis, "That's not a small undertaking. At all." The blond man smiles a little, exhaling slightly with a chuff of breath as he recognizes all that is entailed in taking care of such a thing.
    But when the conversation swings to Jen and her father talking he seems content to sit at his ease and listen, blue eyes drifting from him to her and back again. His smile remains there, good-natured and easy-going. Then when Jen mentions the cabin on the lake his eyebrows lift, "Oh that's nice."
    But when Mr. Walters turns his attention to Steve and asks him if he fishes. "Oh very little, sir." He smiles a little and then says, "When I was a munchkin, I was able to rustle up a bamboo pole and a hook, did some fishing on the river right around Coney Island. Never caught much except a hassle from some of the local kids."
    Likely they can imagine the stories of what life must've been like for him at that time, "Though I did do some more during the war, when we had a long deployment across the Rhein. Couldn't carry many supplies and had to forage. Luckily managed to catch a few then."

She-Hulk has posed:
"It's hard seeing you and putting it together with being the same person from back in the day," Morris admits as he shakes his head a little. "I know you are. I've seen all the footage." And he likely saw /all/ the footage. "Was one of those kids who had all the posters and things when I was a kid."

Which puts it all sort of in focus. Steve was older than Morris. By quite a bit. Yet he actually looked younger. Because he was. Physically. Having been frozen and in suspended animation all that time.

"You need to go fishing more. Take a week or two off. Come out to L.A. with Jenny."

"Jen."

Morris continued talking as though she had never interrupted. "We'll stay at the cabin for some of it then head out to the ocean for a couple of days. There's enough room to sleep four." Then he glanced over. "You could take him to the beach. Since I can always barely get you off it to visit your old man." He looks back over at Steve. "Jenny can teach you to surf."

"Jen."

"Unless you already know how to surf?"

Captain America has posed:
    As Mr. Walters talks on without quite sparing a pit stop for poor Jen, Steve watches and listens, paying attention rather well and nodding at a few points. Though when Jen starts to correct her day his smile grows a little. But it's at the second 'Jen' that he lightly rests his hand on her leg just to give her a touch of support. Then he unfolds his napkin, as cover for that motion.
    "That sounds like great fun, Mr. Walters. Though I have to admit that my time is spread awful thin these days. Last time I tried to take a vacation well..." He stops to take a glance over at Jennifer and then back to Mr. Walters, "I ended up having to come back rather early."
    But then he picks up the idea so it's not entirely abandoned, "But good thing about what we do for a living, is that it's not hard for us to get across the country at a moment's notice. So maybe at the least some time we can take advantage of your hospitality and have dinner one night."
    Steve looks again at Jen as if getting her okay for it, then looks once again back to Mr. Walters.

She-Hulk has posed:
Feeling that hand, Jennifer glances over to him with a brief smile of thanks. It was a long term thing with her name and her father. As she'd been Jenny in childhood, it was difficult for her father to accept using her choice of nickname or even her full name. In some way, she realized it was his way of hanging onto his baby. She was his only child and she just turned 35. She needed to be more tolerant of it.

At the suggestion, she gave a nod. "We can do that sometime. Visit. Spend time for dinner." Then she grinned. "Try to get you on a surfboard before the trip back," she warned Steve.

"Excellent. Just give me a couple of days notice so I make sure I'm not out on the Money Pit," Morris said, since of course that was what he named the boat.

Captain America has posed:
    "We'll be sure to do that, Mr. Walters."
    And, of course, that was the moment when the server comes by, all smiles and warm words to the three top for dinner. Steve lifts his chin and says, "Oh sorry, miss. We've been chattering away..."
    Though he does open the menu and takes a quick look over the offerings and says, "This looks like it'll be a lovely evening." As he gives a nod and then lowers his head to peer at the menu.
    Which is when he asks, "What is... Molecular Gastronomy?"