8087/Everything okay

Everything okay
Date of Scene:	28 June 2019
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Karen shares some judgement free time with Bucky, and Steve and Elektra drop in to partake as well.
Cast of Characters:	Winter Soldier, Karen Page, Captain America, Elektra

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Winter Soldier has posed:
Well, there he is, Captain Nemo. Not up at the bar, for once, though he usually doesn't take a table. Tonight's an exception, though. Over the dark denim of his jeans is an arrangement of metal bracing, and there's a cane propped against the wall by him. Lili's lying under the table, head on her forepaws. Before him there's an ashtray, a glass of whisky, his phone....and a piece of paper. Her note, it seems, puzzles him, by the little stitch of frown between his brows.

Karen Page has posed:
A few blocks away, Karen is packing up to head home after working late (yet again). Things are tossed into her bag willy nilly and the bag slung carelessly over her shoulder to free up a hand to close and lock the door behind herself. Her other arm clutches a decent stack of file folders, legal pads, and so on. Yes, she's taking work home. Completely unsurprising.

Winter Soldier has posed:
Which is when her phone goes off. Not a known number. The text reads: "This is Nobody. No, not really OK. But I'm alive. Just got your message. "

Presumably that means he's at Josie's.

Karen Page has posed:
Karen fumbles her keys into her bag and fishes out her phone and... "Oh!" Evening decided then. She quickly types back a text one-handed while rushing out of the building and toward Josie's: "Stay where you are, I'll meet you there." she's presuming that he's still at Josie's, and having seen the 'not really ok', she's bent and determined to get there and see what she can do to help. She pauses by an older beige sedan just long enough to dump the armload of paperwork into the trunk, then practically sprints toward the bar. Thankfully it's really not that far away.

Winter Soldier has posed:
If he had any idea how fast she was hustling....he'd be embarrassed, honestly. That she exerts herself at all on his behalf shocks him. Back comes the text: "Okay. What're you drinking?"

He's sitting with his back to the wall, all the better to see who comes and goes. Lili's apparently dozing.

Karen Page has posed:
Running almost all the way there, she slows to a brisk walk when she gets on the block where Josie's is, partly because the phone pings again, partly so she doesn't show up looking like some kind of windblown lunatic. She spends the last bit of the walk typing her reply one-handed. "Jack Green label Straight"

Not ten seconds after hitting send she reach the bar's doorway and yanks it open while dropping her phone back into the oubliette that is her bag.

Winter Soldier has posed:
The bartender's in the process of pouring - apparently he placed her order for her.

Buck lifts a gloved left hand in greeting. He looks pale and tired. The long dark hair has the front pulled back, that style affected by so many characters in Game of Thrones.

Karen Page has posed:
With a smile and wave in return, Karen steps over to collect her drink and looks at Bucky appraisingly. She takes in his general air of exhaustion, the brace on his leg... the ponytail thing doesn't really register. She's seen far weirder.

"Hey," she offers as if it were just any other day. "No offense, but you look like you stepped in front of someone trying to kick your dog."

Winter Soldier has posed:
The idea of that....he turns it over. He's not exactly slow, but sometimes he's definitely deliberate, when it comes to conversation. "Nah," he says. "Job stuff. I'm healing okay. Someone dumb enough to try and hurt Lili....I'd murder 'em."

Is he joking? Probably not. "'s been a long week or so." It'd've been a long several months at the very least. Thanks, Zola.

Karen Page has posed:
Dumping her bag into a chair at the table, Karen follows it by claiming a chair for herself. "You know, I'd probably try to kill someone too if they tried to mess with Lili." She takes a tiny sip of her whiskey, apparently prepared to nurse the one glass for a while.

"Job stuff, ugh. A perfect example of the modern condition, feeling like a wage slave. Well, for me, at least. No matter how awesome it would feel to just pull my blankets over my head and stay there, if I don't get up and get to work, I don't eat." She's not presuming to know anything about what Bucky does or doesn't do for his job.

"Good to hear you're healing. Hope that means you'll still be able to dance." She offers an innocent enough smile at that, and very likely is thinking a completely different dance style, rave club or similar.

Winter Soldier has posed:
"In time, yeah, I generally heal pretty well," he says, gently. It's...honestly kind of weird for him to talk to a civilian. Someone whose job doesn't necessarily include being shot at on the regular.

The idea that he could just.....stay in bed? When would he ever? He smiles back, though it's uncertain, tentative.

Karen Page has posed:
With an accepting nod, Karen's smile widens into something approaching a grin. "Good. Maybe when you're feeling up to it we can go clubbing. I haven't been since..." Her voice trails off as she remembers something and her expression follows her voice. Then she blinks and sits a bit straighter in her chair. "Since before I moved to New York. Been too busy since I got here."

She studies James for a moment, then adds, "I haven't had dinner yet. Have you?"

Winter Soldier has posed:
Clubbing. He mouthes the word silently. He doesn't get it. ".....what's that?" Buck asks, finally. Too tired, perhaps, to pretend to knowledge he doesn't really have.

Then he shakes his head. "Nah. I haven't." Eating's an uncertain thing, though less so now that Peggy's around.

Karen Page has posed:
It's almost like Karen expected James to not know what she meant by clubbing. That, or she just rolls with things surprisingly well. "Clubbing is the college student's name for going to a nightclub to dance. Most clubs around here, though, are more the piano bar, jazz music, retro swing dance thing than a rave or dance club that's just an unending beat and too many people crammed onto a too small floor flailing at each other."

At his admission that he's not eaten, she shares one of her own. "Neither have I, I just left the office." She mentally reviews her bank account balance and thinks she can swing one meal. She'll just not drive the car next week so she won't have to pay for gas.

"I know a diner about a block and a half away that makes amazing mac 'n' cheese," she offers as if voicing a temptation.

Winter Soldier has posed:
It's like looking at things through the wrong end of a telescope. He has those memories of tearing up the dance floor as a young man. They're still there. Just....remote. It was another world and he was another person, and all of it seems so distant. "Huh," he says, but offers no more on that front.

Lili's sat up, positioning her head for his palm. "Sure. Sounds good," he says. Apparently he doesn't intend to dine solely on booze and nicotine. No cigarette lit, for once.

Karen Page has posed:
"Great, let's go. I think their dessert special on Thursdays is peach cobbler." She digs her last $10 out of her wallet to leave on the table for her drink as she drags her bag along and stands. "You can regale me with how much worse off the other guy is right now."

Winter Soldier has posed:
"Nah, I got it," he says, as he pushes the bill back at her. Then Buck's levering himself up - the brace and cane make things awkward, but he's got strength and decades of the most functional kind of fitness to counter it, so it's not as bad as it might otherwise be.

There's a little smile for the thought of the 'other guy'. Skye brought down that mountain and laid his nightmare to rest. The wound was more than worth it. But he shakes his head. Not much of a conversationalist in the least, not now.

Karen Page has posed:
Karen looks at Bucky for a moment as if silently checking to see if he's sure, and then relents and tucks the money back into her bag. She doesn't miss the small smile, though, and pounces on it. Metaphorically, not literally.

"Aha!" she says while pointing at Bucky. "So you /did/ kick the other guy's a-- uh, asterisk. Good. I'll bet he deserved every bit of it." She leads the way out, letting Bucky set the pace since he has the leg brace and the cane and all.

Winter Soldier has posed:
"Not like that, exactly. This was....collateral damage," He's stumping along like Long John Silver, but he doesn't seem particularly bothered by it. The smile fades into that habitual somberness, lids heavy. Lili paces along at his good side, her leash wrapped around his hand.

Karen's at his other side. He's apparently in one of those moods where conversation is going to be like trying to push a noodle up a hill.

Karen Page has posed:
Karen has YEARS of noodle-wrangling experience. "But the other guy got his comeuppance at least, right? He better have, or I'll go file an injunction so fast he won't know what hit him." She seems honestly serious about that, too.

They make it to the diner quickly enough, and Karen waves hello to the waitress who seems to recognize her while leading the way to a booth backed into a corner. When did she pick up on Bucky wanting a defensible position? Or is she just thinking that this is where Aragorn would choose to sit? Or maybe she's spent time in this booth herself researching case files. Difficult to say.

Winter Soldier has posed:
Lawyer weapons. He didn't know lawyers in his former life. He and his family and his friends weren't that class of people. Blue-collar at the very best. "Something like that," Buck agrees.

HE settles himself in the booth, carefully. Why is he here? He barely knows her, but he's letting himself be drawn along. Does he have any idea? It doesn't seem to be about Steve - things so often are, when people suss out who he is. Was. When they don't know what he was made into.

Karen Page has posed:
Karen sets a menu in front of Bucky and looks at her own copy, though it seems to be more of a cursory glance, as if she's already familiar with their offerings. She is definitely getting the mac 'n' cheese, but what to go with it. Pot roast? Oooh, yeah. And, if she plays it right, the leftovers can be lunch tomorrow.

"I'd make recommendations, but honestly? I haven't eaten anything there that wasn't flat out swoon-worthy. Want to split a think of mac 'n' cheese?" Either she has no idea about the man's metabolism, or she's forgotten, or she's being polite.

Winter Soldier has posed:
He knew diners. He worked in one, once. Smell is...somewhat familiar. Memory supplies fragments of a mission - following some politician out of one, DC, 1950s, making it look like a car accident. Before the age of cameras everywhere. The stitch between his brows deepens.

His gaze is scanning the menu. Then he glances up. "I'm just gonna get a burger, I think. I eat too much to really split something fairly," he confesses.

Karen Page has posed:
She notices the slightly increased furrow of James' brow, but rather than mention it, she opts for taking the chance to lightly tease him. "Oh, still eat like a teenager, I get it." She wags a finger briefly, not at all intimidatingly. She's not even trying. "I'm all kinds of envious, but I get it."

She looks over the menu a bit more, then sets it aside. "I'll bet if we ask nicely, they'll grill up a piece of chicken for your dog."

Winter Soldier has posed:
"I was gonna get her bacon. She loves bacon." Which is when she sticks her head out from under the table, looks up smiling. "And....something like that, yeah. I gotta really high metabolism." She doesn't know the half of it.

There's the sound of his phone going off. "Oh, hey. I was gonna meet Steve back at Josie's. Mind if I get him to join us here?"

Karen Page has posed:
Karen grins at Lili as she clearly perks at the mention of bacon, then looks toward Bucky's phone curiously. "Hey, sure, the more the merrier."

And as soon as she says that her brain puts together pieces she already knew but are occurring to her NOW. Bucky's friend Steve. Who is Steve Rogers. Who is Captain America. Who she spider-monkey-climbed-on at Kate's party. SHIT.

While her thought processes flicker across her face as clearly as watching one of those giant signs in Times Square, to her credit Karen doesn't remain looking freaked out for more than a second or two. "And I can finally maybe apologize for treating him like a jungle gym."

Captain America has posed:
Having finally extricated himself from the mire of Triskelion meetings, Steve then rides his bike into the city. Traffic isn't too terrible and he does slip around slower bunch-ups of cars here and there on his Harley, but eventually, a red light stops him. He checks his phone and sees the redirection from Josie's to the diner -- Bucky's listed the address and all. Glancing up, the Captain orients himself before taking a left turn rather than heading straight.

The sound of his bike announces his arrival. After parking it along the sidewalk, Steve pockets the keys and wanders in. He's immediately recognizable despite what his helmet did to his flaxen hair. Must be the build of his shoulders in his leather motorcycle jacket. He lifts a hand to Bucky and then seems to recognize the woman sitting across from him. The Soldier will know the wry little quirk of a smile even as the Captain pauses beside their table, offering his hand down for Lili to sniff.

"Hey Buck. Wondered if we were going to have company," he says mildly, glancing over at the woman. "Karen, right? Met you at the birthday party."

Winter Soldier has posed:
He....well, it isn't *quite* smirking. But it's that funny, puckish little grin. Then he drops his gaze to his phone, laboriously texts back, before explaining, "He'll be here in just a sec."

A beat or two, and Steve manifests. "There you are," he says, with a hint more animation than he's shown this evening. He's got a cane leaned against the wall by the booth, a complicated brace arrangement on his bad leg. Lili licks his hand, happily.

Karen Page has posed:
At the sound of the door opening, Karen turns to look, immediately turns back to stare at (past?) Bucky with an expression of 'holy shit!' that she manages to blink and smooth away just before Steve arrives at their table. Thus, when he greets her, she's able to look up at him and smile in exactly the same non-judgmental way that she does for Bucky.

"Yeah, hi. And sorry about that, by the way. They don't call alcohol the juice of bad judgement for nothing." She then scoots over to make room for Steve on her side of the booth -- because she knows Bucky's leg is still healing and Lili is there as well -- and settles with her bag on her lap.

"Your timing is perfect, by the way. We're just about to order."

Captain America has posed:
"Not gonna hold it against you," Steve replies to Karen with an easy-going shrug of his shoulders. "You wouldn't be the first to have tried it and probably won't be the last. Thanks," he adds as to making room on the booth seat for him. He sits and shucks his motorcycle jacket, hanging it on the small hook on the outer face of the partition between boothes. He's wearing a plain steel-blue cotton t-shirt and jeans, combat boots without fail.

"Lemme take a quick look over the menu. I managed to scrounge something up before I left work, but I hear the mac 'nd cheese is pretty good here." Steve deftly snags Bucky's menu for a second, looks it over, and then slides it back across the table. "Mac 'nd cheese it is." He looks between his oldest friend and Karen. "What the occassion then? The fact that Buck's realized he needs to work on dodging?"

The Captain gives the man across the table a blithe little smile -- all in grateful tease, of course.

Winter Soldier has posed:
Winter Soldier rolls his eyes theatrically at that. "Like you should talk," he says. "You never were any damn good at it," But his tone only has the most token grumble to it. This is one of those outworn, eternal, nearly marital arguments. There's a whole sheaf of them they've been nursing along since the 1920s.

Buck pats himself down....and then promptly rethinks it. That's right. No smoking in eateries now. "Me getting out of the house, I guess." He tends to live like a monk in the Triskelion, as it is. "Gave Peg a night off from babysitting me."

Karen Page has posed:
"Celebrating the existence of sunlight, maybe?" is Karen's suggestion. "Wait, no, we're celebrating that the OTHER guy looks worse. And he totally deserved it." No, she has no idea what Bucky was doing when he got injured, but she knows Matt. She can very likely guess reasonably close to the truth.

"If you're hungry enough, get today's special, too. Their pot roast is--just really good." She mentally hopes neither of them caught that hitch in her words. She really doesn't want to have to explain and make herself out to seem all 'oh woe is me'. Everyone's lives are shit in some way or other.

Captain America has posed:
Steve glances between his friend and Karen, nodding to himself at their answers. "To getting out of the house then, no matter where the house is," he says as he lifts up one of the glasses of water. "And to the other guy getting what he deserved." Even if the whole ordeal has kept Steve up for a few nights running now. He hides his weariness well.

"Pot roast sounds like a good idea. It'll probably go with the mac 'nd cheese." Delightfully enough, just as he's finishing this thought, the waiter arrives to take their respective orders.

Winter Soldier has posed:
There's that glint in his eyes, for a moment, though he tries to hide it by a quick glance out the big plate glass windows. Karen may not catch it. Steve almost definitely will. But he lifts his glass, clinks it against Steve's. Even if it is just ice-water. "Hear, hear," he agrees.

He gets a burger and a limeade. And will no doubt have a shake, later.

Karen Page has posed:
Karen lifts her water glass as well to join in the toast. "Heck yeah. All the best reasons to celebrate. That and, well, we're hungry." She then leans over the table a little to give her order to the waiter, choosing pot roast and mac 'n' cheese. Then her phone somewhere in her bag pings and she spends the next several seconds rummaging around before she locates the device.

"Huh," she says as she reads the text. "Matt's girlfriend is over at Josie's and is wondering where I ran off to with cane-boy and his dog." Her words have a definite tone of sarcasm to them. She glances at Bucky, then at Steve. "Should I be honest, or say something completely ridiculous and horrible?"

Captain America has posed:
Across the table from Bucky, his oldest friend smiles faintly, a barely-noticeable curl of lips. It's more in his true-blue eyes, filled with relief and pained understanding. Just as quickly, he too composes his face.

Steve orders the same thing as Karen, in the pot roast and mac 'nd cheese, with a side of a Cesar salad. Whatever he must have eaten at the Triskelion doesn't pass muster a few hours later. The waiter departs to deliver their order to the kitchen and the Captain glances over at the phone going off.

His eyes slide to Bucky. "You know my answer."

Winter Soldier has posed:
"Steve's boring. He'd say to be honest and kind," Buck's voice is fond, tolerant. He's withdrawn a little in on himself. Not physically huddling, but the subtle gradations can be read. He's out in public, in pain, among strangers. That none of them are actually hostile and some, at least, kindly intended, doesn't seem to salve the problem.

Karen Page has posed:
Karen looks between the two men for a moment longer. "So, honest and ridiculous and horrible it is." She taps at her phone's screen for a moment, then with a final flourish announces, "There. Sent. I give her ... three minutes to appear at that door." And her phone is dropped back into the abyss that is her bag.

"So, Steve, what's your day job when you're not playing jungle gym for ridiculous drunk people? Enquiring minds want to know."

Elektra has posed:
Two minutes fifty eight seconds later, Elektra strolls in the diner door, pausing as the bell announces her presence. Lips upturning in infinite amusement at that fact, even as she searches out the table where Karen and Bucky are. She's not yet aware that there is other company, but once her eyes light upon the trio and their little dog too, that smile takes a turn for the sly.

The woman reeks of confidence as she makes her way over, announcing herself with a, "Pagey, you didn't tell me you were dining with two fine specimens of manhood. No fair hogging, hrm?"

She's dressed rather casually - designer jeans that are designer enough there isn't a label and unless you know... you don't know. And one of Matt's t-shirts. It's an almost hilarious counterpoint to the jeans, being both faded and rather worn in places. The logo on it once reading "Lawyers do it in motions".

Her smile falls upon Bucky, and gentles somewhat. "James."

Then drags across to Steve. "Now, you. You I haven't met, but I have guesses." She holds out her hand. "Elektra Natchios." Her handshake both firm, and calloused in places not quite expected.

Captain America has posed:
"You're boring," Steve shoots back to Bucky under his breath with no real ire along with a flick of his brows. He shifts in the booth seat, careful to not touch Lili with his boots, and gives Karen a mild look at her question.

"It's mostly office work these days. There's paperwork to shuffle about the Sentinels." He shrugs a little. "Fieldwork happens when necessary." Yes, it's vague, but it's entirely true. He looks up at the arrival at the newcomer, Matt's girlfriend (whomever this Matt is). Steve returns the confident handshake offered by Elektra with a professional amount of pressure.

"Nice to meet you, Elektra. Steve Rogers." This probably confirms her guess, especially in light of the chiseled jaw and blond hair and shoulders a bit broad for being perpetually sitting behind a desk doing oh-so-innocent paperwork.

Winter Soldier has posed:
"'s Steven Rogers," he says. Surely she knows that face from the history books....or whatever pictures the paparazzi can snag.

"Elektra," he says, scooting over awkwardly to make room. Leg's got a brace on it, and there's a cane propped by the side of the booth. Lili is tucked under the table.

Another roll of the eyes for Steve's bland reply, but....he doesn't try and explain further. This isn't one of the nights he feels compelled to really rag Steve. Then....those nights are very rare, these days.

Karen Page has posed:
Karen waves hello from around Steve, sitting on the same side of the booth as him. But then she clearly already knows James, and that elicits one of those brief but sharply curious looks that she almost as quickly shuts down.

After introductions are done, she looks at Steve and replies to his comment about his job. "Sounds like your job and my job have a lot in common. Shuffle all the paper with random moments of complete and utter panic." She's rather clearly joking, and then explains for Steve. "I work at a law firm here in Hell's Kitchen. Elektra's boyfriend is my boss."

Elektra has posed:
"Or so that's the rumour," Elektra agrees.

She's utterly careful not to bump into Bucky's leg as she takes her seat, but neither does she brush his offer of moving aside. She knows better than that. She's also more than aware of Karen's curiousity, and lets that cat be unsatisfied for the moment, though she does ask Bucky, "Dare I ask how your opponent looks?"

There's a light quirk of brow as she asks that, entertaining the possibility this might not be a discussable topic.

"Fieldwork?" she asks of Steve. "Let me guess. Detective or Agent?" Which isn't as much a guess as a question, but she has narrowed the field down considerably to career choices.

Captain America has posed:
"Sounds similar enough. Wish there were less moments of complete and utter panic. It's like herding cats sometimes," Steve replies drolly to Karen. His eyes shift back to Elektra and he tilts his head slightly.

"'s'both, depending on the day, but more the latter. I appreciate the fieldwork more than I like sitting behind the desk, but protocols gotta be followed."

Bucky gets a ghost of a smile on the sly, as if the Captain might predict what grumping is going on mentally. The blond appreciates the fieldwork with a little too much enthusiasm sometimes, like...forgetting his parachute.

Winter Soldier has posed:
"Doesn't look like anything, now," Buck's voice is soft, flat, matter of fact. His face is.....too calm. There's the jingle of dog tags as Lili shifts beneath the table, finding his hand with her nose, slipping her muzzle beneath it. His fingers are shaking as he finds her ears, pets her with a kind of exaggerated gentleness.

Karen Page has posed:
Karen answers Elektra on Bucky's behalf, and does so with SMUGNESS. "The other guy looks WAY worse." No, she has NO way of knowing that, other than her belief that James wouldn't have let the other guy get away without giving as good as he got. R
She caught the sound of Lili's tags, but pretends she didn't hear it at all and instead keeps her attention on Elektra. "We already ordered, so when the waiter gets back you should add yours to. We're getting mac 'n' cheese." She waves her hand between herself and Steve. "Because it is the /best/." She is really doing her best to NOT use any choice phrases here, and she feels like she's doing okay so far.

Elektra has posed:
"I've.. already ate," Elektra says simply. Not that Karen would know, but rightly, Elektra doesn't need to eat. Funny thing about not being truly alive anymore - so many things you don't need to rightly do. Mind, Elektra does most of them out of memory, and because it does make her rather more 'human' through the process. "Though Matt might be jealous. Perhaps I'll take some home to him."

He'd likely laugh and call it college food, even if Elektra knew that prior to her setting up the Hugo fun, he'd been eating quite a lot of it, and similarly cheap foods, to make ends meet.

Bucky is told, "Well, I do hope you heal quickly. I know how disheartening such things can be. I was going to suggest until I saw your injury, that you might like to come spar with me sometime. I could use a partner." She almost says 'that isn't Matt' and catches herself in time. She'd really become to casual and careless in the company of those who knew his secret and is reminded to watch herself better.

The near slip is covered in a chuckle that is offered to Steve, "Ah, both, but more the latter. And given your familiarity with James here, I'm going to hazard SHIELD?" An agency she's more than passingly familiar with.

Captain America has posed:
Quietly, Steve eyes his oldest friend over the rim of his water glass. He finishes sipping down at least half of it before he seems to flinch a little. Reaching down into his pants pocket, he pulls out his phone. Squinting at it, he grimaces.

"Somebody's asking after you, Buck. She misplaced a file and is wondering if you've seen it floating around." He gives the Soldier a lingering look. "Sounds like it's time sensitive." Exiting from his half of the booth, he rises as if he'd be there to guide Bucky to the door at the very least, knowing Lili has him in good paws onwards.

Elektra gets another glance. "I spend a little time there now and then when I'm not needed elsewhere. Keeps things interesting, that's for sure. The cafe doesn't do great mac 'nd cheese, but their meatball sub sandwiches aren't half-bad," he relates.

Winter Soldier has posed:
Winter Soldier edges around the booth at that, carefully. "Yeah," he says, quietly, "I'll go deal with that." Clearly, the file being misplaced is a euphemism for some other matter. "You can have my burger, if you want it, Steve." Knowing the big blond could likely inhale it as an appetizer.

As he's retrieving his cane and levering himself up, he says, "I'm sorry, gotta go take care of this." He does sound genuinely apologetic, as he looks to each woman in turn....but he's already clipping Lili's leash to her collar. Duty calls, whatever it is.

Karen Page has posed:
Karen looks from Steve to Bucky in a bit of concern, especially as the world SHIELD had been uttered just moments ago. "I'll talk at you later, okay? Text me if you have some free time."

She watches him leave, then looks at Steve again a bit more seriously. "Okay, what really happened to his leg?"

Elektra has posed:
True to her pondering, despite not needing any mac and cheese for herself, Elektra orders some - with bacon, and extra cheese - for Matt, as well as a strong, black coffee. She, too, is curious what really happened. And she's also not fooled by the coded language of that 'missing file'.

Captain America has posed:
Steve is sure to usher Bucky and Lili to the door and leaves him with a few quiet words alongside a gentle pat on the shoulder (on his good side). Returning to the booth, he slides in on Karen's side where he was once sitting and glances between the women again.

"It's not my place to explain that. It'd be disrespectful to his privacy if I did. You're welcome to ask him the next time you see him," the Captain offers quietly. "I can share that he'll heal up quickly, so he won't be in the leg brace and using the cane for long. It's a blessing."

Karen Page has posed:
Karen can only nod her agreement to Elektra's opting to order something to take back to Matt since she's already eaten, heaven knows the man seems really bad about feeding himself normally. Then that text comes through and she unashamedly watches Steve walk Bucky to the diner's door before hastily covering up her nosey-ness by sipping at her glass of water as he walks back.

Perhaps a bit surprisingly, she accepts his answer about respecting James' privacy. It's kind of like she understands that. Instead, she opts for a response in keeping with the way she'd been chatting with the just-departed man before the others arrived. "Fast healer? Well, that probably explains why he'd still be eating like a teenager. I offered to split an order of mac 'n' cheese with him and he said no, 'cause he'd eat the whole thing."

Elektra has posed:
"Some people are just anomalies," Elektra says cryptically, though she's referring to herself as much as anything else, not knowing the exact specifics of Bucky's situation other than the bits and pieces Kate had informed the Defenders of. Which was to say not a whole lot more than the man had apparently been alive since the early 1900's.

Then again, Elektra wasn't really in a place to judge.

Instead she turns to Karen. "I've been meaning to ask, have Matthew given you a raise?" Knowing both Foggy and Matt it may have slipped their minds to do so when their income had become stable. Karen, she knew, deserved a raise and more for putting up with the pair of lawyers.

Captain America has posed:
"Yep, Buck'll eat like a horse if you let him." Steve smiles to himself despite the worry lingering about his mein. "I'll take him his burger in a doggy bag. Lili will probably get some of it."

He nods at Elektra's comment. It's true -- some folks are anomalies, and yet they all manage to fit into this weird and wonderful world. The double orders of roast beef and mac 'nd cheese arrive alongside the burger; Steve quietly asks for the burger and fries to be packaged up, he'll deliver it to his friend, no worries about the check.

"You'd better get a raise if you're dealing with half of what I deal with," he asides to Karen as he digs a spoon into his cheesy macaroni.

Karen Page has posed:
Karen can only nod at Elektra's comment, as she isn't exactly going to blurt out what she and Kate realized last time they hung out with James and Lili. If Elektra already knows separately, cool.

She smiles as Steve confirms her quip about Bucky's appetite, then ohs as he mentions taking the burger to his friend, and promptly asks the waitress for several strips of bacon to go in with the burger. "He mentioned that Lili likes bacon."

Ooooh, her mac is here, her mac is here! She looks gleeful for a moment then takes up her fork -- left handed out of deference to sharing the limited booth space with Steve -- and just has to take a taste of it first. "Oh, man," she says around that first small mouthful. "As evil and wonderful as always." She turns her fork's handle toward Elektra. "Sure you don't want even a small taste?"

Elektra has posed:
"Positive," Elektra says with a smile. "And I'll take that as a Matt hasn't gotten around to it yet and you're much too polite to say. No matter, I'll bring it up when next we discuss business." Not that she has a very large hand in the fund - that was something she'd made certain of, so that the monies were never connected to her business with the Hand - but then again, Elektra conducted all sorts of 'business' with Matt. She was certain she could find a way to slip that small matter in.

Captain America has posed:
This is...really pretty good mac 'nd cheese, Karen wasn't lying in the least. Steve's got at least third of his serving gone by the time he comes up for air. He eats neatly and tidily despite the speed, a holdover from time spent without a proper dinner more than once a week.

"So if you work for a law firm in Hell's Kitchen, I bet this is Matt Murdock we're discussing? Know him through Jennifer Walters. He's good people from what I can tell," Steve relates in his usual calm honesty as he glances from Karen to Elektra.

Karen Page has posed:
Karen shrugs at Elektra's refusal. Her loss. And then she mentally rewinds the other woman's words, her brain almost making that sound a turn table's needle scraping across an LP makes. "But... uh..." She can't exactly say 'oh hell no!' because she REALLY could use even like an extra twenty each paycheck. Okay, fine. You win that one, Elektra.

She looks over at Steve and is amused at how much he's already plowed through. "Let me guess. You both eat like teenagers. More envy. This is SO not fair." She does then take up a bite of the pot roast because yum.

Elektra has posed:
Elektra's mac'n'cheese arrives, as well as her coffee, which she ignores in favour of rising from her seat. "One and the same," she tells Steve. "Too terribly ethical for his own good. But I'll pass the good words on. He'll be glad to hear them."

Karen only gets a knowing smile that says she /will/ be having words with Matthew. That raise may come retroactively.

"If you'll excuse me both, I believe this is best warm, and before reheating. It was lovely meeting you Steve. Karen."

Both get a nod, and without much further ado, Elektra leaves.