driftfleet | gotta get down for a mingle

[ Winter doesn't think he really has the right to call her Peggy. It feels so informal.. she deserves more respect than that. Of course, in his mind he is very much still at the bottom of the pecking order. There are others who are on his level, but no one below. ]

I don't know.

[ He very honestly does not. Their ship is smaller and colder than he remembers it being, and everywhere else is just too oppressive. ]

It's been like this since we arrived.

And that's why you've been bunking out here? [ her question is incisive, but she poses it mildly -- as though it's a negligible thing. but peggy recognizes a bivouak when she sees one.

she also doubts it's merely the cold that's driven the winter soldier to these lengths -- but she half-hopes he'll tell her himself, instead of a guess being required of her. ]

[ He opens his mouth, ready to reply, before letting it close again. She does make it sound a little silly.. But he doesn't know if she'll truly understand. She hadn't seen.. ]

It feels like the walls are closing in everywhere else.

[ the ship is smaller. physically, perhaps. or emotionally. it doesn't matter which -- whatever's happened, it's enough to drive a man like him to the very outskirts of his habitat.

slowly, she sets herself at ease. peggy leans one shoulder into the cargo hold's wall. ] Do you get claustrophobic, Mister Winter?

[ He considers it for a moment, and shrugs a shoulder. His arms come up to cross over his chest and his attention flicks around the cargo bay rapidly before falling back on Peggy. ]

I guess you could call it that.

Nothing to sniff at. [ she speaks generally -- widely, and with seemingly little gentleness. but beneath that starchy exterior is a depth of feeling. ] Plenty of soldiers are, in the end.

[ after it all. ]

I should be stronger than that, but--

[ But he's not. Something as simple as not enough space or something as stupid as being too cold have a way of sending his mind to placed that are hard to climb out of. Pathetic for someone called the Winter Soldier. ]

We all have our cracks and chips. [ a grimace. there is not a man or woman, no matter how fit he or she may be, who is capable of carrying the entire world on their shoulders. ]

[ You can be damned sure that he's going to try until it kills him. ]

Some more than others.

[ her smile is wicked. she appears amused, because she has to -- anything else would just be too...tragic. ]

Come, now. It's not a competition, is it? [ her expression gleams with some form of camaraderie. ]

Ah-- No, Agent Carter.

[ At the very least, he appears a little cowed by the revelation. He hadn't really meant for it to sound like that, but it had. ]

[ that smile widens. she doesn't mean to scold -- doesn't mean to proselytize, either. ]

I don't suppose I could convince you into calling me Peggy. [ it's not a question and it's not a command. she understands the sorts of protocol jim has left with the winter soldier, and she doesn't care to trip any of it. merely telling him to call her something else would be a hollow victory. ] Almost everyone does, in the end.

[ He certainly does scrutinize the situation at hand, weighing both options. On one hand, Jim had laid down parameters for how to address and act around her. If she wanted to be called something different, did that mean that overrode what Jim told him? Would he be cross for going with her word instead of his?

She is the person in question, so he can't really try to pull rank and go over her head. He nods once and very carefully replies. ]

..Only so long as you drop the 'mister'?

[ It is difficult to really determine if this is something that can even have a conditional clause pasted to it, but he's certainly going to try. Even if she denies him, it's easy enough to brush off. ]

I believe I'm capable of doing so. Winter.

[ her cheer persists. and why not? negotiation is a good sign. she approves of his attempt to tailor the bargain to suit not only her, but also himself. or perhaps she merely feels more benevolent, lately, what with steve's arrival.

although: ] Is that right? 'Winter'? Or should I call you something else?

No, that's okay. Unless you think of something better.

[ Winter has been the solitary thing he's really been able to claim as his since arriving, but maybe it was time for change? His throat tightens at the possibility of what she may suggest, but he would at least hear her out.

Diamond's words back on the Marsiva are still echoing loudly in his head.

Though, I suppose you've never been very good at recognizing when someone is trying to help, hmm? ]

Buchanan has an awfully distinguished ring to it, you know. [ but she's teasing -- and doing so affectionately, because she's certain that much like 'james' or 'barnes' or 'bucky', that staid old name has long been let go by this man before her. ] But that's more Buckingham and less Brooklyn, I suppose.

[ she crosses her arms. rubs warmth into her elbows. ] I always liked the creative license allowed when it came to choosing names undercover. Plain names or pretty names or what-have-you. Are there any to which you feel partial?

[ That's just the thing, he doesn't know what he feels partial to or what suits him. Going so long without and being pressed with his past really does leave very little wiggle room into creating his own identity.

He can't very well say that he wants to be Jim- not the name, exactly, but who he is as a person.

But figuring out who he is?? He doesn't have a goddamned clue. As far as Winter is concerned, he's a slate that has been wiped away so many times, all that's left are stubborn, chalky streaks. ]

I don't have an opinion on it, m-- Peggy.

But I suppose you may, someday. [ she lets her head tilt. ] Until then, I don't mind calling you Winter.

Yeah..maybe someday.

[ He nods. ]

Winter is fine until then.

There are plenty of names that are a damn sight stranger, after all. [ brows up. peggy dispenses with her own unique brand of optimism. ] Hamlet. Othello. And among some very particular English circles, Macbeth is one that's downright bizarre. So Winter will do just fine.

[ it's no coincidence she names these tragic men. ]

Always right, aren't you?

[ He's not annoyed by it- really, he's grateful. Anyone else probably would have just left the conversation as it was. Peggy wants to make it better in her own way, which is very much a tell of her personality. ]

[ at first, her eyes widen ever so slightly. they betray a shock -- but not a bad one. perhaps from another soul, such an invasive comment would only get beneath her armour. but for a brief and beautiful moment he feels like bucky: quick with his returned fire, and always right in his own intimate way. nostalgia tugs at the corner of her lips. ]

Heaven knows I try. [ lives depend on it, some days. ]

[ Bucky is starting to come back one piece at a time, the ice chipping away at the edges. It will be a long time before he resembles anything like the man he used to be. Maybe he'll never be him again, but there are just pieces of himself he'll never be able to completely erase. ]

You don't have to, but you do.

Or maybe I merely have an awful lot to prove.

[ this time, she isn't being smarmy. nor smart. but quiet and confessional. ]

Edited 2015-11-28 04:23 (UTC)

..Do you? It doesn't seem like you would.

[ She's strong and commands attention already. What the hell would she need to prove? Peggy is one of the good ones that he's met so far. Who else could dislodge memories long-forgotten with a few kind words? ]

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