Lessons in Rule Breaking and Other Reader-Inserts*Steve Rogers*Reader*

Surprise Me - Pt.1/2

His expression was torn, a hint of red staining the tip of his ears as he swiftly closed it.

"It's beautiful," you said without thinking, instantly smacking a hand over your mouth. What did you just say?! He blinked in surprise and you went to correct yourself. "I mean... yeah. The drawing is amazing. The way it speaks, not so much, but... it's almost as a photograph. You're incredible."

At that, his eyebrows actually rose inconspicuously and you closed your eyes, mentally counting to ten. You did not just say that to Captain America, right?

"Thank you," he whispered, making you snap your eyes open. A self-depreciating smile appeared on his lips and he scratched the back of his neck as if embarrassed. He was embarrassed? What did that make you then?

Awkward, the word you're looking for is 'awkward'.

"Well, it's the truth." You bit your lip, when he smiled again, a bit wider, but the light faded away from his eyes. You hesitated, suddenly seeing a man feeling much smaller than he was.

"The... incredible part, I mean, not the message of the picture," you babbled, earning a head tilt from him, his eyes searching in your face.

You could only guess if he was used to hearing it and now was trying to decide whether you were being honest or was just fawn over him. Oh, you were being honest. Sometimes brutally so and this was no exception.

He surprised you when he lowered his gaze, setting the sketchbook on the table delicately, right next to the papers you had brought. Oh, you barely remembered the reason for your visit now, intrigued by the man in front of you.

"It's just... it does feel like the old times. I'm ridiculous, making a fool of myself when asked and... it's like everything I tried to fight for means nothing..." he said quietly and then shook his head abruptly. "I'm sorry, this is a total overshare. I'm sure you have-"

You sat beside him on instinct, barely stopping yourself from putting a comforting hand on his shoulder.

What the hell was wrong with you? Boundaries!

But god, he looked so... lost in the world. It made your chest tighten, seeing a huge man in every sense of the word struggling; in an unfairly endearing way, needless to say.

"That's not true," you whispered, not quite believing what you were seeing.

He chuckled bitterly at the note. "I should be doing better than this. It's like when I got injected, but was the only one and the colonel told me that he had asked for an army and only got me and I wasn't enough."

"Sounds like a bit of a prick, if you ask me," you blurted out automatically, earning a raised eyebrow and another chuckle, this time sounding amused. "Oh crap – I mean. Sorry. There's one on foul language too, isn't there?"

You gestured to the screenplay and he nodded with a silent laugh.

"Yeah. Yeah, there is. It's okay though. I did serve in the army, trust me, I'm used to much worse."

It did not ease the heat colouring your cheeks, but it made you feel a bit better. Enough to pluck up your courage to speak and explain your sentiment.

"Exactly. You did serve in the army. And people remember that, Captain Rogers. That's what they see. Not to mention how many kids, hell, people in general, are looking up to you. You have the power to help raise a generation of people who actually have manners. But just because you're doing few videos, it doesn't mean that that's all of you. You're still you. You're still Captain America, the war hero, the Avenger who helped to save Manhattan during an alien invasion, you're still... you're still Steve Rogers. You're so much more than a figure on a screen reciting lines like a dancing monkey, Captain," you finished with a gentle incredulous smile.