[OPEN] apple pie is officially banned from this party, aka Steve Rogers' birthday

[anotheroldsoldier]

who: ANYONE
what: 616 Bucky, Peggy, and 616 Tony throw a birthday party for Steve.
when: July 4th, afternoon into the evening
where: A nice park
warnings: Birthday fun. :v


Steve Rogers, former (and still) Captain America, was born on the Fourth. It was pretty much fated. That said, he deserves a party that has nothing to do with Independence Day, and that's what Bucky, Tony, and Peggy set out to do. They rented a nice little park with some good open, grassy space perfect for a pick-up game of football (American, of course). On one end of the park, in the relative shade of a couple of large trees, they've set up two long tables - one for food, and one to deposit presents for the birthday boy on. The picnic tables already in the park have nice blue tablecloths to eat on. A banner hung between the trees proclaims, "Happy Birthday, Steve!", in blue letters on white.

The decor tries to stay away from Fourth of July colors - there isn't a speck of red, just shades of blue and white, and it's all very put-together and classy looking (thank you, Peggy and Tony). It's the sort of party they thought Steve would want, outdoorsy and casual, just a gathering of friends and whoever else wants to come by to wish the birthday boy a happy one.

Invites
Invitations have mostly been word of mouth and texts sent to people Steve is friends with, nothing too fancy. They just say to drop by and wish Steve a happy birthday, have some food, and spend some time hanging out; Rogers wouldn't want anything fancy anyway. That said, they won't turn anybody away from the barbecue if someone decides to just crash the party, as long the behavior stays respectful.

Food
The food is mostly standard American barbecue fare. Two large grills have been set up near the tables and someone (often Bucky) is usually cooking on them - an array of burgers, hot dogs, steaks, even some ribs and chicken. Side dishes are laid out on the food table, the usual simple things. Here and around the picnic tables are a good place to mingle; there's plenty of food for everyone, and metal tubs full of ice and bottled soft drinks. There isn't much alcohol present at this party, though, just one of the tubs set aside with beers in it.

There's also a massive cake for Steve, with close to a hundred candles dotting its layers - Bucky's idea, payback for the time he couldn't see his own cake for all the candles.

Tossin' the Old Pigskin
They're all (mostly) adults here, so there aren't 'party games' necessarily, but there are a couple of footballs and some frisbees in the grass for anyone who wants to play a game in the lush field. Just be careful if the heavy hitters decide to arrange a game, it could get pretty out of hand.

Comments

[anotheroldsoldier]

You'd have to ask Steve for a sketch. [His grin turns wry.] You're just gonna make fun of my domino mask. I was the only kid in the Army whose gear kit had a bottle of spirit gum in it. [Honestly he figures he will get made fun of for the blue short-shorts and the red tights, more than anything. God he's glad he never has to wear that again.]

What kinda trouble? We've got trouble just about every other day where I'm from. [He makes a distasteful face; it's slight, but on Bucky, it's almost an exaggeration. He's not the most expressive these days.] It's the two-thousands an' I'm still punching the lights outta neo-Nazis. Some people never goddamn learn.

[stevegrogers]

[ the mention of a sketch had a smirk filling steve's face and he made a mental note to do just that later on. there had to be SOMETHING more embarrassing than his time during the tour. ] I'm sure you looked dashing. [ already teasing? just maybe. ]

[ but his face looked a little more solemn a few moments later. ] In my time, we were battling against this thing the government wanted to pass. The Accords. It would force a registry of all superpowered individuals and make it harder for the Avengers to do what needed to be done. Plenty of red tape. [ he shook at his head head, sadly. ] It divided us. Pit some of us against each other.

Were they like HYDRA in your world or were they something different?

[anotheroldsoldier]

Damn right I was. ['Was', past tense. He doesn't exactly think much of himself these days, appearance or otherwise.] Me an' Toro got all the girls when we went out in our olive drab.

[And then - yeah. That's a lot to take in right there. Bucky blows out a slow breath, wondering how much he wants to say. This is supposed to be a birthday party, after all, and the corresponding time period in his world... It was one of the worst.] It was the Superhuman Registration Act for us. We can have that talk if you wanna, but it ain't much of a birthday conversation.

[stevegrogers]

[ Oh, Steve picked up on the was term because how could he not? He tended to have varying opinions of himself and knew the signs to pick up in others of the same thing. Given the whole 'Cap' thing with this Bucky he could understand the guilt and remorse better than most. ]

Since this is a birthday celebration, maybe we can talk about it later? Looks like we'll both have the time here. [ He offered a small smile. ] For what it's worth, I'm sure you did a better job with things than you think.

[anotheroldsoldier]

Plenty of time. [That much is true, at least. The portal is difficult to control, which means Bucky is planning to be here for a while longer still. Not forever, but... in a way, he kind of likes it on the moon. Sixteen year old him would have gone nuts for this.] Whenever you want. Just text me, we can meet for drinks. [Because if they're going to have that conversation, it needs to be later, and over some supersoldier-grade whiskey.]

Better job with what things?

[stevegrogers]

The Cap things.

[ The words were simple but deliberate because he knew very well how difficult they were to accept. There were so many things he felt he handled incorrectly and he always questioned whether they should have made him the leader in the first place. During the war, he knew the score but leading the Avengers had been a much different and often times very unsettling experience. ]

I'll take you up on that. I haven't really gotten the chance for drinks yet.

[anotheroldsoldier]

Oh. I didn't know anyone had... mentioned that. [He seems a little embarrassed, almost, like he's been caught out playing dress-up or something. At least Steve isn't judging him for it. That's a plus. Then again, did he ever think any version of Steve wouldn't get it?] Thanks.

[He shoots him a smile at that, still a little sheepish, but genuine. Bucky reaches into one of the tubs of ice and pulls out a couple of beers, handing one over to Steve.] First one's on me.