8086/Row that Boat, Captain

Row that Boat, Captain
Date of Scene:	28 June 2019
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Row, row, row your boat, gently around the lake - OH MY GOD, CANADIAN GEESE, WE'RE DOOMED! Steve and Janet survive, don't cry.
Cast of Characters:	Captain America, Wasp (van Dyne)

---

Captain America has posed:
A quiet day deserved a quiet pasttime. At first, it was an idea that made Steve laugh, coming across it in a magazine. However, it grew on him, and now, here they both are:

In a borrowed rowboat in the middle of the lake, with the Captain manning the oars and leisurely moving them about the water. He keeps up a brisk pace, comfortable in the forwards and back lean to keep the oars engaged. It also allows for a cross breeze when the wind dies on the lake's surface. He's in a t-shirt and jeans, comfortable at his work, and grinning at Janet across the way.

"Bet I can leave a wake behind us if I row hard enough," he muses, his expression far too innocent and thoughtful.

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
"If you mess my parasol up, I will be /very/ cross," Janet advises Steve.

Is there a reason for the parasol? Not really. But there she is, looking regal as a queen and in a dress radiantly Tiffany blue in color. Officially so-- there's a Tiffany copyright on the tag, not that anyone would ever see it. It's worn off-the-shoulder, a horizontal line of silky material four inches below her collarbone and wrapping around her triceps. Admittedly, the dresses's hem is a little brief; a faux petticoat worn under it peeks out with a wispy translucence, though it exposes only her knees to the sunshine.

And she has an authentic Chinese-style parasol on her shoulder, the hand-painted white silk made translucent by the sun.

"The whole point isn't to go fast, it's to admire how beautiful I am while we're paddling around," she advises him.

Just to drive the point home she sighs dreamily and looks over her right shoulder (port side), presenting a profile to Steve.

Captain America has posed:
Inasmuch as the Captain might chuckle at the overt display, he does end up dimpling. She's a fine sight in her dress, even if in his pragmatic opinion, the parasol is much -- he won't say it aloud. The fashionista is in her element. Why ruin the fun?

"I can admire how beautiful you are when we're going a good couple of knots too," Steve notes in the same nonchalant manner. "But I wouldn't splash you or your parasol. That'd be un-gentlemanly of me." He does side-eye some geese swimming nearby. Their beady eyes wink towards the boat and its occupants. "If those birds come any closer, I'll be splashing them though. Feathery mooches..."

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
"Geese are dicks," Janet agrees, and gives her parasol a lazy twirl. It dances in the air, the reflected lights of the lake illuminating the imagery painted upon it. Not an antique, or a knockoff-- an authnetic, hand-painted Japanese parasol, though of modern make.

"And please don't splash it. It's real silk and it is totally unique. Kimiko-san only makes a few of them a year. She's a dream, I adore her work," Janet advises Steve.

Even her low-wedged slippers match her outfit, one foot bobbing in the air. "If you're going to row fast, you have to do it with your shirt off and me sitting behind you. I want to enjoy the view," Janet tells Steve with a mischevious smile.

Captain America has posed:
"Behind me? Thought you might appreciate the frontal view better...but hey, who am I to deny you the enjoyment?" It appears, however, that Steve's not about to shuck his shirt. He's content with the movement of the wind across the lake yet. The only sweat on him shines on the back of his neck. He does one mighty row to set the boat briefly to skipping across the surface and then tucks the oars as momentum carries them along.

"You want a muffin? Brought a couple, an apple or two as well. Water bottles." He comes up from under his seat with a Nalgene bottle of filtered bottle, still cold from the ice packet stuck next to it in the large lunch box. He offers it out to Janet.

The geese take notice of these and continue following, their necks stretched tall in interest.

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
"Thank you dear," Janet says, accepting the bottle. It's uncapped and she takes a demure sip before setting it in a cupholder with the lid loosely screwed in place.

"And I'll take a quartered muffin," she bids Steve. "Chocolate if they have it," she clarifies.

Janet isn't going to give up her parasol. It's keeping the sun off her skin so all she's exposed to is the glittering reflection from the water itself. "And," she says, wagging an index finger at Steve in a side-to-side motion. "I'm allowed to appreciate your aesthetic from multiple angles. You've got a back like a bag of snakes, sweetheart. Let me enjoy it," she instructs Steve.

Captain America has posed:
"Sure, shortcakes." Steve might be agreeing to hand over a quarter of muffin, which he does -- chocolate with small chips scattered throughout its dense dough -- or he might be agreeing to continue to let Janet enjoy the view. Regardless, the rest of the chocolate muffin is his. He's content to sit in his seat and eat it and glance around the lake surrounding them. The pastry disappears quickly enough and he stashes the wrapper away into the lunchbox.

So, what're your thoughts on -- "

The Captain pauses and his eyes go wide.

"Geese?!"

The first bird's wings resound like thunderclaps on the surface of the lake as it tries to perch on the edge of the boat, its neck snaking in to dart at Janet's own bit of muffin! The others in the flock aren't far behind.

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
"Ack!" Janet rebuts, with her usual witty rebuttal. Her finger is much more eloquent, and a crackling surge of bioeletricity curls around her fingertip. There's a whipcrack in the air and the goose falls back honking and screeching in angry protest with a single singed feather on its breastbone. Other geese agree, squalling and yelling, and the whole pond descends into some chaos as some /outrageous/ tourist deprives a hardworking goose of his lunchtime meal.

Janet looks at Steve, then blows on her index finger and slides it into an imaginary holster across her belt. Her muffin is kept safe and she takes a delicate nibble of it, careful not to get any on her dress. "You were saying, dear?"

Captain America has posed:
Steve's got both hands on the prows of the boat and he's busy stabilizing it rather than concerning himself with the influx of angry honking wild waterfowl. He flinches at hearing the zap infurled at the bird and blinks as he watching it splatter off away across the surface, rejoining its startled bretheren.

"I, um..." He then begins laughing as he sits up, putting a palm to the side of his face before running it down. His hand lands on his thigh with a slap. "Oh god, I don't even remember, the goose..." The Captain's howling now, almost helplessly, pink in the cheeks.

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
There's a sudden splash of water! It's well aimed, right for Steve's face and chest. "Some hero /you/ are!" Janet declares, hotly. She retrieves her parasol and frets over it, looking for damage when it was dropped. She folds it up and sets it aside, then shifts in place to recross her legs. "Here I am, looking adorable, /fetching/, even, and a dratted goose attacked me, and you did nothing but /laugh/."

She eats the last bite of her muffin. "Hmph!"

Captain America has posed:
Steve laughs all the more for having been splashed, so alas: its stifling affect is averted entirely. He wipes at his face and the lake water glistens in the front third of his hair. It darkens his t-shirt and he huffs out a chuckling sigh as an end to his own amusement.

"Maybe you should fire me," he replies with an unabashed grin. "I'm not a hero at all."

Unfortunately, that's a stubborn goose -- and there it is again, with the Captain now a target! He yelps as the creature lands on his half of the boat, out of immediate reach of Janet, and the vessel heels heavily to one side!

SPLASH!

There goes Steve, into the lake.

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
"No, Steve, you're gonna-- don't-- aieee!" The boat overcorrects and before Janet can react appropriately, the whole thing capsizes as the sudden shift in mass sends the keel plunging up out of the water. Cooler, drinks, bottles, Janet, all go into the lake. At least she has the presence of mind to keep her parasol up overhead, preventing it from going into the water.

She emerges with a burble and starts trudging up the embankment, scowling furiously. The parasol's shaken out and she hangs it from a tree limb, then hikes up her skirt and starts wringing water from it.

"Good thing you didn't go into the Navy, Cap," she calls back, and pushes her water-slicked hair away from her face. It's growing out a bit more lately, and she's forced to fuss with it a bit. Alarm crosses her face and she touches her neckline, then sighs in relief when she finds her necklace is still there.

Captain America has posed:
With a whoop of sound, the blond soldier pops up like an otter beside the boat. He's got the lunchbox in one hand and with the other, he tries to push the craft back over again. It's a futile attempt and he lets out a grunt of frustration. The geese in their flotilla of snaking necks and warbling honks, depart, their mission accomplished: suckers, those humans.

"Yeah, would've turned out worse if I had! Watch out," he shouts as warning. The lunchbox is hucked farther down the lakeside's beach and tumbles, remaining shut. He then swims around and gathers the oars. The T-shaped bend of the non-paddle end is hooked across the bow as he splays across it, sopping wet, and with a grunt, flip! The boat is righted.

Coming to the surface again with a pfffft of water, Steve then swims and drags it over to Janet on the beach. Water spills off of him as he slogs up, swiping his hand back from his forehead.

"Geese," he says drily.

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
"/Geese/," Janet repeats, mocking Steve's tone. "/Geese/, he says." She laughs.. "God, big bad soldier, survivor of a hundred battles, scared of a /goose/," she teases. Her humor seems to be outpacing her irritation, though the combination of both is giving her neck a flushed look and her eyes a dark, glittering amusement.

"Lookout, here comes a GOOSE. Careful, Cap! It's the RED GOOSE," she hoots, and hangs on Steve's arm when he gets to shore, hopping around. "He's a nazi waterfowl with a taste for BAKED GOODS." She titters at her own humor and walks towards the shade of the tree with a flick of fingers over her shoulder, and starts casting around for something with her back to him. "We didn't bring any towels, did we?" she asks, hands on her hips.

Captain America has posed:
"Nope, no towels. It'll be a walk of shame back to the boathouse unless you want to come with me. I have to return the craft and inform them of the invasion of the Red Geese. Feathery rats are getting bold. Somebody needs to put them in their place." Steve turns and walks back to the boat, uncaring of the water sloshing up to his shins now. After all, his socks are soaked.

"Maybe you can beat them off with your parisol and yelp more," he says blithely over his shoulder with a faint smirk as he clambers into the rowboat again.

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
Something wet slaps into the back of Steve's head. It's Janet's dress. A thumbelina-sized woman wearing lacy blue designer underthings lands on his shoulder, lounging as indolently as if she were being borne on a litter by servants.

"I'm not /walking/, Steve. Can you imagine me trudging through a marsh in these shoes?" She kicks up a foot the size of a grain of rice. It's a little blue. "They're adorable and I got them just for this occassion to go with my new dress. Hang it in the prow to dry, would you? It's quite lightweight, it should be nice and dry by the time you row us back."

She claims a spot in front of Steve on a bench. Her parasol's proportionally about the size of a beach umbrella, so she props it up to shield her from the sun as Steve settles into the boat again, sighing with indolent relaxation as she soaks up some indirect sunlight.

Captain America has posed:
Reaching back, Steve plucks the doll-sized dress from where it lands on the spine of his neck. He blinks at it before glancing over at Janet, equally shrunken on the wide line of his shoulder. The size-shifting remains a point of perpetual surprise to him, even after the months they've been dating.

The Captain smirks again as she makes herself comfortable. The oars dip into the water once more and the boat begins to travel after being aligned for the boathouse in the distance.

"'m sure we'll be mostly dry by the time we dock again," he assures her as he gets to rowing again. With each stroke, he chooses to engage his entire core, and the boat takes up a merry speed across the lake. The rush of passing air is brisk at first, but the sunlight takes away any true chill.

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
Janet's obliged to close her parasol due to the breeze, and emits a sigh of complaint. "At least it's sunny out," she says, and looks around once. With a rush of air she's full size again, and stretches out once more across a long seat. "I guess if anyone catches a glance, they'll think I'm in my bikini," she allows.

She rolls onto her stomach and trails a hand in the water, watching the wake it leaves. "Slow down, Steve, why're you suddenly in a hurrry?" she queries him. "Like you said it's nice and sunny out."

A thought occurs to her and she looks at him. "Can you tan?" she asks, apropos of nothing.

Captain America has posed:
"Nope, can't tan -- 'nd 'm not in a hurry. Figured we'd take a loop around the lake as a whole before heading to the boathouse. This's a good workout 'nd 'm not going to pass it up," the man explains. The dip and pull of the oars make a hollow scrape along the hull of the boat in their circular moorings. Lake water sparkles as it jumps up alongside them.

"It's the serum," Steve picks up again, his voice breathy in concentration and effort as he works the oars. "I can get a tan, but it never sticks. Never saw a point in it. Skin heals up before it starts to peel. Guess 'm gonna be Irish fair until the day I die." He grins at the idea.

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
"Okay, so..." Janet frowns. "Howcome workouts do anything for you?"

She looks over at Steve again. Even with the shirt on, he's a marvel of masculine perfection, and her eyes linger appreciatively on the dimpling flesh under his light, water-logged tee. "I mean, uh," she says, jarring her thoughts into motion again. "Workouts are just... damaging your muscles and letting them heal. But you're already in peak condition. Can you gain muscle mass? Or, lose it?" she inquires. "I mean, aside from not eating. But like, what would you do if you just quit working out for a month?"

Captain America has posed:
Steve quips, as he angles the boat into a small cove on the lake, "Lose my mind." His grin doesn't fade a lumen's worth as they curl around this section of the water more sedately, coasting as one oar is used to steer the travel of the boat.

"Figure the serum boosted my body to the upper echelon of fitness, right? Maybe I can gain muscle if I wanted to, maybe it'll linger and maybe it won't. Lose muscle, sure, but it's easy to put it back on. Why not enjoy what I have? If you'd've told me I would be rowing a boat about with a beautiful woman aboard back in '41? I'd'a told you to pull the other one, it has bells on." He takes up rowing with both oars once more as they emerge back out onto the main body of the lake proper.

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
Janet grins radiantly over at Steve, face screwing up happily, and she buries her nose in her crooked elbow for a moment. "Sweet talker," she challenges him.

"I still have to work out. I have to work out less often, and I get more out of it," she allows. "But I can't just... not do it. I'll pudge up and lose muscles. I can live without the muscle, but I don't wanna start getting flabby." She puts a hand on her belly and scowls, poking at some nearly non-existent body fat there. "Besides, we're coming up on four months," she tells him. "Since we made it /official/ official. At the six month mark, that's when we start getting complacent and everyone gains ten pounds. I want to be well ahead of that bell curve."

Captain America has posed:
His smile takes on a humoringly thoughtful cast. "Is that so? Six months? Better stock up on the Ben 'nd Jerry's ice cream 'nd potato chips at my place then. I've developed a fondness for the salt and vinegar chips. They've got a bite. Oh, can't forget the take-out. Crab rangoon and pizza too. Start forgetting to do my morning sets."

Their path swings along the lake shore and ducks take up quacking in the nearby reeds. "Start putting my feet up 'nd rotting my brain on whatever's on TV these days. What're their names, the...Karbashan twins? Triplets? Sisters, those sisters who make a living making fools of themselves."

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
"So, what, just lean into it?" Janet inquires, arching a brow at Steve. "Start plonking down in front of the TV on Friday nights for Netflix, no chill? Fattypants and sweats and flipflops from now on?"

She rolls onto her back and stretches langorously. Arching her back /just/ a little, a model's pose that displays the trim lines of her stomach. "Well, I guess if you want me a lil' flabby and squishy in the middle, I can't complain too much," she exhales with an airy insincerity. There's the sound of voices not far off as the come around to the docks, and Janet clambers quickly over Steve to get her dress back on and in place.

Captain America has posed:
"I like you exactly how -- ow -- geez, my fing -- Janet -- !!!" Steve tries to keep the boat from overturning again and succeeds even as he's surmounted as an obstacle between the fashionista and her dress. Water furls up from the oars being planted to slow the boat and he laughs quietly as he watches her primp and smooth at the clothing.

"Look. You be you, and I'll be me, and we'll sail along smoothly," he assures her with a fond smile even as he takes up rowing again. The boat comes into view of the docks now and somebody hails them, wearing the nautical themed costume seen before. Blue-and-white stripes, baby, cap and all. Both the Wasp and the Captain make it up onto the dock without an issue and the lunchbox, still sealed, is retrieved.

"Think there's still an apple if you want one." Peering inside the opened lunchbox as he walks on the dock, this proves to be true.

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
Janet pinches Steve's rear when no one's looking. "No more nautical puns," she warns him, then giggles and rests a hand on his arm. "I'm not all that hungry. C'mon, let's get back to my place. I need to change, and then we can figure out the right ratio of Netflix and chilling for four months in. I'll /graciously/ allow you thirty minutes of sweatpants time if that's crucial to your happiness," she says, and walks off with her head high and an impudent grin lurking around the corners of her mouth.