Another talky one, sorry.
At least it's short?
Darcy caught Cap Steve shuffling sideways into her office out of the corner of her eye. He looked ... not abashed, but definitely nervous, shifting from foot to foot and looking around randomly. "What brings you to my neighborhood, Mr. Rogers?"
He blushed and cleared his throat. "Well, I, you've heard about this right?" He held up a letter, too far away to read, but the Boy Scouts of America logo on top was big enough for her to see. She'd heard about that, alright. They wanted to make him an honorary Eagle Scout, since he'd been to ill to join as a kid.
"I think I opened the envelope." Until the world needed saving again, most of Darcy's job revolved around dealing with the Avengers' fan mail and publicity requests. "What's on your mind?"
He drooped, and eventually sat in the chair she toed over beside her desk. Seeing a Coversation coming, she told her Sims it was bedtime. "Darcy, do you know what they say about people?" he asked without looking up.
"The Boy Scouts? You mean the way they think everyone should be heterosexual Fundamentalist Christians?" She was never going to forgive the local council for backing the scoutmaster over her humiliated thirteen-year-old cousin.
"Yeah. That." Steve looked her in the eye then. "I don't agree with them." He took a deep breath. "I knew a lot of ... gays? In the Army and before, and they were all just as good as the rest of us. Tony's an atheist, and deep down he's one of the most moral people I ever met." He grinned for a second. "Don't tell him I said that." She grinned back encouragingly. "Bruce and Dr. Foster too." He looked back down again, thinking. "I went to war to protect everybody, and everybody's right to be and think whatever they wanted as long as they weren't hurting anybody else. Far as I can tell, no gays or atheists hurt people just by being those things. I mean, some of them hurt people, sure, but they do it in the same ways and for the same reasons as straight believers do. I can't be part of something that's so against what I believe."
Darcy was smiling so hard by that time her face started to hurt. She crooked her index finger under Steve's chin and nudged up until he was looking at her again. "So what's the problem? You'd tell the Klan to fuck off, why agonize over the Boy Scouts?"
His forehead wrinkled. "Because they used to be good? Because parts of them are still good." He pulled a ratty book out of his pocket. It was a 1920 edition of Scouting for Boys. Darcy took it from him very carefully. S. Rogers was inscribed inside the front cover in a child's handwriting beneath a more faded name. "Neighbor of mine gave that to me. I read it until I memorized it, and nowhere anywhere in there does B.P. say anything about gays. There's even an alternate oath for people who don't believe in or can't swear to God. Those are the Boy Scouts I want to join. I can't tell them to fuck right off, because those Boy Scouts are still in today's Boy Scouts somewhere. A little bit. And the boys don't know any better. They just know I'm a hero and refusing to be one of them."
"They publicized the offer, so a public refusal isn't out of line." They'd have to be careful, extra careful, since "boy scout" was already an unofficial part of Captain America's persona. "We can put a statement together, explaining why you're saying no. I think I need to escalate this to tier two support." She picked up her phone and punched Phil's hard line. Shockingly, he wasn't on his cell phone either and actually picked up. "Hey, boss. Cap thinks the Boy Scouts of America have strayed from the path of baseball and apple pie. You think we should do a press conference, or just publicly release his Eagle Scout refusal letter?" Given that Phil had already sent back every badge he'd earned on his way to Eagle, Darcy figured he would know how to make the biggest impact on the organization.
Phil didn't bother answering her, and just came out of his office. "Steve, let's get started on a draft. Darcy, could you please get in touch with the local branches of some of the Traditional Scouting organizations? Or as local as you can find? I think maybe it's time to get around to starting that troop I've been meaning to."
Darcy caught Cap Steve shuffling sideways into her office out of the corner of her eye. He looked ... not abashed, but definitely nervous, shifting from foot to foot and looking around randomly. "What brings you to my neighborhood, Mr. Rogers?"
He blushed and cleared his throat. "Well, I, you've heard about this right?" He held up a letter, too far away to read, but the Boy Scouts of America logo on top was big enough for her to see. She'd heard about that, alright. They wanted to make him an honorary Eagle Scout, since he'd been to ill to join as a kid.
"I think I opened the envelope." Until the world needed saving again, most of Darcy's job revolved around dealing with the Avengers' fan mail and publicity requests. "What's on your mind?"
He drooped, and eventually sat in the chair she toed over beside her desk. Seeing a Coversation coming, she told her Sims it was bedtime. "Darcy, do you know what they say about people?" he asked without looking up.
"The Boy Scouts? You mean the way they think everyone should be heterosexual Fundamentalist Christians?" She was never going to forgive the local council for backing the scoutmaster over her humiliated thirteen-year-old cousin.
"Yeah. That." Steve looked her in the eye then. "I don't agree with them." He took a deep breath. "I knew a lot of ... gays? In the Army and before, and they were all just as good as the rest of us. Tony's an atheist, and deep down he's one of the most moral people I ever met." He grinned for a second. "Don't tell him I said that." She grinned back encouragingly. "Bruce and Dr. Foster too." He looked back down again, thinking. "I went to war to protect everybody, and everybody's right to be and think whatever they wanted as long as they weren't hurting anybody else. Far as I can tell, no gays or atheists hurt people just by being those things. I mean, some of them hurt people, sure, but they do it in the same ways and for the same reasons as straight believers do. I can't be part of something that's so against what I believe."
Darcy was smiling so hard by that time her face started to hurt. She crooked her index finger under Steve's chin and nudged up until he was looking at her again. "So what's the problem? You'd tell the Klan to fuck off, why agonize over the Boy Scouts?"
His forehead wrinkled. "Because they used to be good? Because parts of them are still good." He pulled a ratty book out of his pocket. It was a 1920 edition of Scouting for Boys. Darcy took it from him very carefully. S. Rogers was inscribed inside the front cover in a child's handwriting beneath a more faded name. "Neighbor of mine gave that to me. I read it until I memorized it, and nowhere anywhere in there does B.P. say anything about gays. There's even an alternate oath for people who don't believe in or can't swear to God. Those are the Boy Scouts I want to join. I can't tell them to fuck right off, because those Boy Scouts are still in today's Boy Scouts somewhere. A little bit. And the boys don't know any better. They just know I'm a hero and refusing to be one of them."
"They publicized the offer, so a public refusal isn't out of line." They'd have to be careful, extra careful, since "boy scout" was already an unofficial part of Captain America's persona. "We can put a statement together, explaining why you're saying no. I think I need to escalate this to tier two support." She picked up her phone and punched Phil's hard line. Shockingly, he wasn't on his cell phone either and actually picked up. "Hey, boss. Cap thinks the Boy Scouts of America have strayed from the path of baseball and apple pie. You think we should do a press conference, or just publicly release his Eagle Scout refusal letter?" Given that Phil had already sent back every badge he'd earned on his way to Eagle, Darcy figured he would know how to make the biggest impact on the organization.
Phil didn't bother answering her, and just came out of his office. "Steve, let's get started on a draft. Darcy, could you please get in touch with the local branches of some of the Traditional Scouting organizations? Or as local as you can find? I think maybe it's time to get around to starting that troop I've been meaning to."