ysabetwordsmith | Story: "Hairpins" Part 27

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Story: "Hairpins" Part 27

This story belongs to the series Love Is For Children which includes "Love Is for Children," "Eggshells," "Dolls and Guys,""Saudades," "Turnabout Is Fair Play," "Touching Moments," "Splash," "Coming Around," "Birthday Girl," "No Winter Lasts Forever," "Hide and Seek," "Kernel Error," "Happy Hour," and "Green Eggs and Hulk."

Fandom: The Avengers
Characters: Phil Coulson, JARVIS, Clint Barton, Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanova, Bruce Banner.
Medium: Fiction
Warnings: This story is mostly fluff, but it has some intense scenes in the middle. Highlight for details. These include dubious consent as Phil and JARVIS discuss what really happened when Agent Coulson hacked his way into Stark Tower, over which Phil has something between a flashback and a panic attack. They also discuss some of the bad things that have happened to Avengers in the past, including various flavors of abuse. If these are sensitive topics for you, please think carefully before deciding whether to read onward.
Summary: Uncle Phil needs to pick out pajamas for game night. He gets help from an unexpected direction.
Notes: Service. Shopping. Gifts. Artificial intelligence. Computers. Teamwork. Team as family. Friendship. Communication. Hope. Apologies. Forgiveness. Nonsexual ageplay. Nonsexual intimacy. Love. Tony Stark needs a hug. Bruce Banner needs a hug. #coulsonlives.

Begin with Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15, Part 16, Part 17, Part 18, Part 19, Part 20, Part 21, Part 22, Part 23, Part 24, Part 25, Part 26. Skip to Part 28, Part 29, Part 30.

"Hairpins" Part 27

At first Phil had intended to stabilize game night with Clint and Natasha, whom he knew well enough try new things without risking the relationship. Rocky though life had gotten over the last several months, they had a solid foundation of trust on which he could build. With the other Avengers, Phil didn't have that yet, and their various backgrounds made it difficult to create a connection. Their reliance on him, as on each other, was still tentative and fragile.

Tony asking to join, and then bringing Bruce, had complicated matters before Phil quite felt prepared to level up the exercise. It had worked out beautifully so far, though, with only a few minor wobbles. Already they were growing closer. Phil was grateful for that progress.

That left just one more Avenger.

Phil sighed. He felt conflicted about that. He'd grown up admiring Captain America, and learned everything possible about him. Beyond the public image, he later delved into the classified details. Phil knew far less about Steve Rogers as a private individual, though. Not much had been recorded prior to Project Rebirth, just some bare-bones biographical data. Phil yearned to know more. He wanted to reach out and help when Steve was so obviously hurting, flung out of time into an unfamiliar and lonely life. But he wasn't sure what would really help, and what would just make matters worse.

Phil had always hoped that SHIELD and Stark Industries would find Captain America, but never really imagined getting to meet him in person. That had left Phil with all his mental defenses down. As a result, the initial encounter had been painfully awkward for both of them. Now they needed to move past that, somehow, in order to work together as a team.

"Hope," Phil murmured. He opened a fresh page on the Starkpad, tapping the Intelligent Search square. "This time, I don't want to get caught off guard."

"May I be of assistance?" JARVIS offered.

"Yes, please," Phil said, smiling. He had suspected that command would ping JARVIS for attention. The formality of the phrasing reminded Phil how easily JARVIS could hide in plain sight, pretending to be an ordinary program. "I want to find pajamas for Steve, just in case."

The search page scrolled to the side, making space to display Steve's measurements. Phil flicked his fingers across the body map the way he'd seen Tony do. The model spun in place to give him a back view of Steve's impressive shoulders. From the look of things, standard measurements wouldn't account for some of the places where Steve carried his bulk.

"That must make fitting shirts a challenge," Phil said. No wonder Steve wandered around in things that stretched taut over his muscles. It couldn't be very comfortable.

The screen brought up examples of Steve's clothing purchases. "Sir has attempted to direct tower residents toward several reliable tailors," JARVIS said. "Unfortunately Steve seems reluctant to avail himself of such services, or indeed, to make any noncritical purchases at all."

Steve had grown up poor, then joined the army, neither of which gave him much opportunity to learn what fit him or what he liked. SHIELD had provided Steve with living space, but it was a hovel. Phil felt outraged on his behalf. It's lucky that Tony managed to convince Steve to move into the tower, Phil thought. Getting Steve to take advantage of expanded resources ... might take more work.

* * *

Notes:

The nature of trust is that it entails a leap of faith, which enables people to take greater risks with each other. Trusting more leads to higher benefits, particularly in collaborative projects.

Self-awareness includes a distinction between public self and private self. Different parts of the personality are known to self and others. This can affect relationships. It's important to know your true self. While Steve doesn't like to make a spectacle of himself, he is quite consistent between public and private life. But Phil doesn't want to risk stepping on hidden emotional landmines, because he knows that people can be very different in public and in private.

Loneliness is a feeling of dearth when someone wants more companionship and/or intimacy than they have. It can affect heroes and other famous people, because fame has drawbacks. Steve feels lonely because he's lost everyone he knew, which hurts so much that it's taking him for him to heal enough even to try reaching out to new people. Fury really cut his legs out from under him. Loneliness is a widespread problem today. There are ways to overcome it.

Mental defenses can be used in positive or negative ways. This helps people resist persuasion and reframe negative thoughts. In The Avengers we saw Phil, who is normally calm and competent, quietly but thoroughly drop his brain at Steve's feet when they first met. It has taken a while for Phil to get himself back into working order. If he can't say no to Steve, that's not good for either of them -- but there's always going to be a soft spot there, because Phil grew himself around the ideal of Captain America.

Choosing clothes that look good depends on body type. There are guides for such things as t-shirts and suits. This project thoughtfully uses customized t-shirt sizes to accommodate different body shapes. In the movies, Steve often appears in clothes that are too small, because that makes him look bigger. In the context of this series, he does it because he doesn't know any better -- he has body dysphoria, he's not used to having enough money to buy things, and he won't ask for help this early. He's never really learned to pick for fit, fashion, and personal expression because it wasn't an option. That gets better in time.

[To be continued in Part 28 ...]

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Oh, they know how to use one, know how to tailor, even-- look at Fury's coat. Either there were two leather dusters, one with adjustments for hidden weapon holsters and one without, or they simply tailored all of the necessary copies to fit.

Yet Steve and Thor are both stuffed into clothing so tight I could almost guess their religion? It's sexualization, but for male clothing instead of the low-cut stuff for women.

I've wrote about the over-inscribing of masculinity in several of my LEGO posts.

Steve would be a test case of the cuts of teeshirts. The Avengers had a lot of ass-cam work.

>> I've wrote about the over-inscribing of masculinity in several of my LEGO posts. <<

One thing I like about Steve, though, is that he has a nurturing side as well as a fighting side. So does Sam. Bruce-and-Hulk are divided but cover the same ground. And it's the hypermasculinity that gave me the idea of Hulk as animus for "Two Spirits, One Past."

>> Steve would be a test case of the cuts of teeshirts. The Avengers had a lot of ass-cam work. <<

What he really needs is something like this:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1399375262/threadmasontm-the-perfect-fitting-t-shirt

Steve and Sam are secure, so they don't need to over-inscribe. They can grab skills as they see need for them.

And it was WWII that started men's sizing, though it's been expanded. There was a bad period when the low price point no longer ran large enough (Japan didn't think XL should be as much bigger than L as it took to get a long torso covered.)

>> Steve and Sam are secure, so they don't need to over-inscribe. They can grab skills as they see need for them. <<

Yes, exactly. That's one reason why I write Steve occasionally doing girl things and not minding it. So he can cook, sew, clean, etc. It was work that he could do even when he was small and frail. He always felt like a man inside, and that was enough for him, unless somebody was trying to treat him as less. Then he got plucky about it.

>> And it was WWII that started men's sizing, though it's been expanded. There was a bad period when the low price point no longer ran large enough (Japan didn't think XL should be as much bigger than L as it took to get a long torso covered.) <<

It's good that sizing is better now. If you look hard enough, you can find places that are very precise. I'm sure the Avengers will get Steve there eventually.

Do not anger the bantam, he has spurs and is light enough to get some hang time.

Part of the reason knitwear is so prevalent is because once you've got knitting machines of the right type, you can fudge in a way woven goods will not take.

>> Do not anger the bantam, he has spurs and is light enough to get some hang time. <<

*laugh* So very true. Steve is a cool-headed and oddly gentle fighter, as long as you're only attacking him. But hit the person next to him and you get a shield right in the teeth.

>> Part of the reason knitwear is so prevalent is because once you've got knitting machines of the right type, you can fudge in a way woven goods will not take. <<

I think that's why Bruce likes knitwear too.

>> Oh, they know how to use one, know how to tailor, even-- look at Fury's coat. Either there were two leather dusters, one with adjustments for hidden weapon holsters and one without, or they simply tailored all of the necessary copies to fit. <<

Natasha would also need customized clothing, and hers fits like a glove, weapons and all.

>> Yet Steve and Thor are both stuffed into clothing so tight I could almost guess their religion? It's sexualization, but for male clothing instead of the low-cut stuff for women. <<

That's one aspect, for the movie. Another is that, as fitting charts warn, wearing clothes that are too small will make you look bigger; Steve and Thor were meant to look huge.

Within the story context, it's not easy to get stuff for big-and-tall men. It's plausible that they simply put Steve in the biggest clothes they had in stock at SHIELD, and he wouldn't have asked for special treatment or gone shopping for clothes when what he had was marginally adequate.

"These measurements, they are not possible."

Well, when you get past a certain point the extra larging is assuming that there is gut involved in the equation. Steve's tshirts would look like the largest 'babydoll' to skim his washboard and not cause a riot in frozen foods.

(There is a fic with a funny scene, when Tony realizes that the Avengers are supposed to meet and greet and of course none of the men have tuxedos. He doesn't have Thor with him. The tailor nearly faints seeing Steve given the turn around time. Tries to believe there is an error about Thor's measurement. Is shown a picture using Steve as scale.)

>> "These measurements, they are not possible." <<

Yeah, I have that problem trying to fit my tits into petite tops. It's like they think short women have no curves. By the time I can button the front, the sleeves are usually hanging off my hands. It's maddening. This is why most of my clothes are knit fabrics.

>> Well, when you get past a certain point the extra larging is assuming that there is gut involved in the equation. <<

One problem is that simple sizes tend to scale straight up. But people's bodies don't do that, even before accounting for different proportions within a certain area of the garment.

>> Steve's tshirts would look like the largest 'babydoll' to skim his washboard and not cause a riot in frozen foods. <<

I think he does like a closer fit, compared with Bruce who prefers clothing baggy enough to hide in. Steve would be so much happier if he'd let Tony take him to a tailor, because Tony likes fitted clothes too. But Steve is just now starting to get the hang of shopping as a community service. It's still going to take a little while for him to warm up to the idea of buying nice things, not just because he can afford them, but to help out the creative folks who make a living that way. He's done it with birthday cards, but clothing is a much bigger purchase.

>> (There is a fic with a funny scene, when Tony realizes that the Avengers are supposed to meet and greet and of course none of the men have tuxedos. He doesn't have Thor with him. The tailor nearly faints seeing Steve given the turn around time. Tries to believe there is an error about Thor's measurement. Is shown a picture using Steve as scale.) <<

*laugh* I would love to see that. I want to get Hulk to Tony's tailor eventually, because that will be a lot easier than dragging Bruce there.

Women's clothing never has been effectively standardized--at first because it was assumed that women that wanted a good fit weren't buying off the rack, then because women that cared would re-tailor/have things retailored or would move up the price point.

I have short arms and small hands. There are women's jeans I can just fit my hands in. That's too small. I sometimes have problems with sleeves being too short (which might be 3/4 sleeves that are 'almost' full length on me)

Steve lived years condemned to swimming in his clothes, because he was wearing things meant for larger men. He got used to moving about in his uniform (and someone was sewing and not just because of armor.)

Bruce probably was held responsible for keeping his bruises hidden. If your fingers are the only thing poking out of the sleeves...

>> Women's clothing never has been effectively standardized--at first because it was assumed that women that wanted a good fit weren't buying off the rack, then because women that cared would re-tailor/have things retailored or would move up the price point. <<

Yeah, that's a problem. Garments should all just come with their linear measurements on the tags, the way men's pants do.

>> I have short arms and small hands. There are women's jeans I can just fit my hands in. That's too small. I sometimes have problems with sleeves being too short (which might be 3/4 sleeves that are 'almost' full length on me) <<

That sucks.

>> Steve lived years condemned to swimming in his clothes, because he was wearing things meant for larger men. He got used to moving about in his uniform (and someone was sewing and not just because of armor.) <<

Maybe he likes things snug because he can get them that way now, and he likes the difference.

>> Bruce probably was held responsible for keeping his bruises hidden. If your fingers are the only thing poking out of the sleeves... <<

Agreed. Also he feels like the clothing is armor. Post-accident it has a better chance of surviving an incident if it's big on Bruce, then stretches so it might not all rip off of Hulk.

But that would let the air out of the Procrustean bed of women's clothing and destabilize the entire industry telling women they need to buy *this* to feel good.

I'm waiting for that plaid shirt to split some day. Though I suppose it's not as tight as the tees, because wardrobe wouldn't want it to split on set.

Or be a handy fig leaf.

>> But that would let the air out of the Procrustean bed of women's clothing and destabilize the entire industry telling women they need to buy *this* to feel good. <<

That's the idea, yes. Kill it with icepicks.

>> I'm waiting for that plaid shirt to split some day. Though I suppose it's not as tight as the tees, because wardrobe wouldn't want it to split on set. <<

*laugh* But it would be so awesome to see somebody other than Bruce split his clothes. I think they both look good in plaid.

>> Or be a handy fig leaf. <<

If nothing else, yes.

With a net increase in height of about Steve, no shirt is still going to be a shirt.

Steve ripping out a shirt might make Johnny ignite in mirth.

*laugh* Now that would be fun to see.

Susan would find it hilarious.

I've been in big-and-tall men's stores, and I don't think that it's a writing issue so much as that Steve is, as the internet has noted, a Dorito--his shoulders are HUGE compared to the rest of him. Most men are very rectangular, so most men's clothes are rectangular. Having disproportionate shoulders means he just won't fit in most things, even at bigger sizes. They may have played it up for effect, but that's not a body shape that CAN be accommodated without tailoring.

It depends on the clothing line. Some have a lot of options where there are different features to suit different body shapes. Others are all the same.

So to solve the problem, first you have to care about it (which Steve probably does not) and then you have to know various ways to solve it (which Steve probably doesn't either) such as shopping different lines or hiring a tailor.

Now if Tony wants to take Steve to a posh event and have him look good it'll be, "Here's your ticket for the tailor; you take his word on fit and he will take your word on colors, that's the deal. Just go down to the garage and Happy will take you there and back again."

I wonder if it might help if Phil said 'you know, you'll get less wear and tear on a shirt that fits--you're less likely to rip it'. That would appeal to him.

I agree, that would probably work. And I bet Steve ripped more than one tight shirt.

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Story: "Hairpins" Part 27

Size chart, LOL!

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Re: Size chart, LOL!