Big Reputation

And I Heard About You

As more Avengers moved into the tower, Cheryl began to tread more carefully; less Cheryl, more Cherry.

Bruce Banner was the first addition, with his panic room linking the lab with his suite on the floor above; then Steve Rogers came to live full-time, helping to rehabilitate his old friend Bucky Barnes.

Clint and Natasha were still rarely around, but the newcomers never left, and Cheryl was beginning to go stir crazy. She'd never had to leave the mask on for so long, whole days at a time.

"Morning Cherry." Steve greeted her warmly, smiling, raising his coffee to her before taking a sip as she breezed into the shared kitchen. She'd wanted to be up early enough to have some alone time, but no such luck.

"Morning Steve, how are you?" She tried not to let the disappointment color her tone or expression, shuffling around and grabbing granola, yogurt, fruit, and letting green tea steep while she assembled an Insta-worthy breakfast to snap. Never one to take chances, she'd already slapped on her wig and makeup for the day, getting dressed. Cheryl no longer left the suite, only Cherry. "Jarvis, update me on Tony - remind him that it's Thursday, so I need a date night picture of us, two if we can swing it."

"Of course, Miss Cherry."

"Thanks." Cherry mumbled, fidgeting with a light dangling from the ceiling, trying to get her breakfast picture-perfect. The post would be a great segue into the next cause she wanted to champion; campaigning for healthier options in school lunches, specifically for the kids on free or low-cost meals. Cheese sandwiches and PB&J's just didn't cut it.

"Which app is this for again?" Steve asked, trying to look interested, but just appearing concerned.

"Instagram. The one that's like a public photo album." Cherry finally got her shot, copy and pasting the passionate caption she'd written while drunk on rose the night before and edited that morning. Adding her tags was just as simple.

"Why would you make a photo album public?"

Cherry glanced up. "Depends. Some people just want the attention, validation, to feel famous. Others are just sharing with friends and family. Some people use it just for themselves, some people use it to organize and illicit change in the world. It's accessible, gives people a platform and voice they wouldn't always have." She sat down, absentmindedly taking a a bite of her picture-perfect yogurt, then grimacing. "Ugh, I hate granola." Looking at Steve again, Cherry admitted, "Instagram's probably my favorite. I've got two, one public, one private."

"Why?"

"One's all about Cherry, the face I put on to advocate for humanitarian efforts and environmentalism, and the other is for... for me to be myself, I guess. I don't even allow followers, it kind of really is just an online photo album."

"People don't find it when they look you up?"

"No, Cherry Sundae is a stage name. I work very hard to keep the real me to myself. "

Steve nodded, sipping his coffee. "Sometimes it's nice to be Steve Rogers instead of Captain America." Eyeing the influencer, his face giving nothing away, Steve continued, "Your whole thing with Tony is just... for fame? Like, you're an actress constantly onstage, even around us?"

"Yes and no." Cherry sighed. "Tony and I have a working relationship, and it behooves both of us to be seen as a power couple. I'm very passionate about helping people and the environment, Tony basically bankrolls that and makes sure people care about my opinions. I help Tony manage his image, really dive into the good he was already doing, but put it towards salvaging the public opinion of Stark Industries so we can keep doing what we're doing." She took a slow sip of her green tea, genuinely enjoying it, unlike the granola. "But yes, especially with the tower busier than ever, I'm always onstage. It keeps things smoother. Fewer chances for slips."

"That sounds... exhausting." Steve reached over and plucked a strawberry out of Cherry's mostly-untouched yogurt monstrosity. "I couldn't keep up being constantly Captain America. Sometimes I just need to be a kid from Brooklyn."

"If you finish this damn yogurt, I'll make us some bacon and eggs." Cherry offered, smiling. "But yeah, being this," she gestured to her curated outfit, makeup, and jewelry, "All the time can get old, but I have me time in my room. And I've always got my Instagram."

Steve dug into the yogurt, already enjoying it much more that Cherry would have, watching as she started pulling out pans. "You'll have to help me figure that Instagram one out. Maybe I'll be your first follower."

X

Over the next few days, Cherry really did help set Steve up on Instagram - and showed him how to make a separate, private account, so Steve could get away from Captain America if he needed the space. She walked him through it all during their daily breakfast meetings, a coincidence that was quickly becoming a habit.

Two weeks into their daily breakfasts, Steve brought Bucky along.

"Does he need an Instagram too?" Cherry grinned at Steve, then introduced herself warmly to Bucky. They'd passed each other now and then, but never spoken. Bucky still wasn't very talkative, but he managed a smile and a few rusty words, watching as his best friend pretended to stumble over using an app that even Bucky had figured out a week ago.

"Cher, baby, it's Thursday, and that means date night!" Tony burst into the kitchen, and immediately Steve and Cherry sat up from hunching over his phone, leaning apart. "Rogers, are you putting the moves on my girl?" Tony moved around the table, placing a hand on Cherry's shoulder, kissing her fondly on the cheek, and using his free arm to reach around her and steal the blueberries she was trying to arrange just right around her yogurt cup.

"Tony, freeze!" Cherry conjured up a laugh as she snapped a selfie, Tony wrapped around her, clearly stealing her breakfast. "Look, breakfast date, mission accomplished." She winked at him, already furiously tapping away at a caption.

"I didn't know breakfast could be a date." Tony wrinkled his nose in disgust, finally pouring the blueberries into his mouth. "Breakfast is too early for anything date-like or romantic."

"I think breakfast dates are the best kind." Cherry retorted, glancing at Steve. "What do you think?"

"Um, dating was quite a while ago for me, it seems like things have changed a bit." He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, wishing Bucky had come along that morning as he sometimes did. Bucky was somehow getting the hang of this new century much easier than Steve. "I think any time is good for a date, as long as it's with a good person?"

Tony and Cherry stared Steve down for a long moment, eyes narrowed as they mulled his answer over.

"I'm right!" Cherry declared.

"No! He said any time can be a date, not that breakfast is a date. Besides, if breakfast is a date, then you've been two-timing me." Tony winked at Steve, who immediately began blushing and apologizing, for everything from "stepping in on Tony's girl" to "leading such a sweet girl on."

"You're one to talk about two-timing! You've got girls being brought in the back, signing NDA's!" Cherry made a face. "Like, thank god there's a floor between us, I can't imagine the horror of living directly below you or, worse, sharing a wall." She accentuated her point by flicking a blueberry at her friend'd face, but he just opened his mouth and caught it.

"We're a match made in heaven." Tony winked, then turned to Steve. "Don't be sorry, Cher here deserves some male attention, and lord knows she's not my type, or she wouldn't be having that problem." Snatching up the rest of Cherry's blueberries, Tony swaggered out of the room. "Have fun, you crazy kids."

The second the door slid shut behind Tony, Steve was apologizing to Cherry again.

"I'm very sorry if I'm interrupting your work with Tony, I never meant to disturb, or intrude, or- I don't know what Tony meant by "male attention" but I'm not trying to- I mean, I'm sure you get enough- you're you, what I mean is-"

"Steve," Cherry cut him off with a smile, barely containing her laugh. "love our breakfasts, you're not disturbing anything, always ignore Tony, he's a bonehead."

Steve let his head roll back, heaving a deep sigh of relief.

"You seem pretty stressed. Is everything okay?"

"...Yeah, just a lot on my mind." Steve rubbed his face, then ran his hands through his hair.

"Want to do my morning yoga with me tomorrow?"