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Steve is released from the hospital the day after being submitted, with a good few prescriptions. He calls up Robin, as promised, to let her know that he’s made it to his house. She immediately tells him she’ll be there as soon as she can and hangs up before even saying bye.
When she arrives she’s out of breath and sweaty. And she’s… out of uniform… Which- Obviously, she would be, but Steve hasn’t seen her out of uniform before. The personal effects she always added to her uniform made Steve think she would be some kind of punk. The studded bracelet, the rings, the chains, the dark nail polish, the—frankly—snappy personality.
But seeing her first time out of uniform, the outfit she’s wearing has much more muted colors than the uniform. It throws Steve off guard a bit, and his sense of imbalance is pushed even further when she immediately surges for a hug.
“Shit, sorry,” she mumbles, and pulls away when he grunts at the irritation of the bruises on his stomach. He gets an even closer look at the outfit, suspenders and a vest. Her style of choice could almost be described as dapper. “You ok, dingus?”
“Is that how you dress?”
Her face grows defensive. “So?”
“I’ve just- never seen you out of uniform before.”
“Well. You have. In Click’s class. You just don’t remember.”
And yeah, he doesn’t remember her from then, but this get up she’s wearing…
It clicks into place.
“Holy shit…”
“Is it a problem how I dress?” she challenges.
“No, just… you got a haircut.”
She reels back slightly. “What?”
“Since Click’s class. You had long hair. And you didn’t wear lipstick before. Or eyeliner.” She’s not now either, but she wore them every day at Scoops.
She crosses her arms defensively. “I’m not going to do makeup just for school.”
“But you’ll do it to sling ice cream with a guy you didn’t like for a bunch of annoying toddlers?”
She sighs, looking almost guilty. “I was trying to look confident. Because I wanted you to know that I knew you weren't better than me. I already told you I was obsessed with you. Are you really surprised I put in a little effort to try to show you up?” She looks so uncomfortable having to confess this; annoyed with herself and cringing slightly.
“Obviously you weren’t obsessed with me enough to know I wouldn’t care. But I think you look good without it too. Just so you know. Any lady would be lucky to have you.” She sort of jolts at his words and looks over his shoulder.
“Are your parents here?” she whisper–yells. She’s clearly worried they might have overheard him. He scoffs at the question and gestures for her to follow, silently letting her know they have the house to themselves.