may-time mingling (starstruck!)

[mucked]

Who: Starstruck crew + visitors
Broadcast: N/A
Action: Aboard the Starstruck!
When: The merry merry month of May

[ there's been a tiny regime change and doubtless some debriefing after that masquerade! have at it, starstruckers. mingle away! ]

Comments

[mucked]

For whatever bad you fear will be uncovered, Winter, I promise you there is good in equal measure. [ peggy can say this much with certainty. ] I read your file. I signed reports for it -- I know the good work you did. It hasn't all been HYDRA.

[ ... ] And it might be that remembering that will be a good thing.

[reconstitution]

I'm not so sure.

[ Seventy years of bullshit seems overwhelming in comparison to the twenty-something before that. That little good can't possibly stand up to all the innocent people he's killed. Not if the nightmares have been anything to go by.

The only way he'll really know is to get the memories back in full- not the random jigsaw pieces he's been getting. ]

[mucked]

Uncertainty is to be expected. I suppose. [ ... ] But that merely means you needn't make your choice in this very breath. You can sleep on it. Or we can talk about it, again. Anytime.

All I ask is that the decision be properly yours.

[reconstitution]

Sleep on it. Sure. [ Because that's something that's going to happen. The dark circles under his eyes are probably sentient, now.

He's not all too keen on talking about it more, either.. Though there's going to have to be some give on the situation if he's to go through with it. ]

[mucked]

[ her mouth twitches. ] I hope that was sarcasm.

[ irony: a vital side-effect of humanity. ]

[reconstitution]

I still know how to use it. I'm not completely hopeless.

[ Pretty hopeless, but not totally. ]

[mucked]

I never thought you were. [ softly, and with a bit of due reverence. ]

[reconstitution]

Wouldn't be the first if you did.

[ He wouldn't judge her for it. Not really. Peggy's also one of those few people he's comfortable enough with to actually attempt joking. As dark or self-depreciating as those jokes were. ]

[mucked]

Yes, well, [ her cheeks puff. she's a little prim. a lot proper. she hides her humour under icy words. ] I never did care to follow the crowd. Let the rest think what they will about you, Winter.

Their opinion doesn't matter.

[reconstitution]

No, you didn't.

[ He huffs, his shoulders dropping. ]

Yes, ma'am.

[mucked]

[ she nearly dismisses him, but... ]

Would you like to stay for lunch?

[reconstitution]

[ He almost immediately says no, but stops himself. Winter hums, almost in indecision, before nodding his head. ]

If you'd like me to stay.

[ If this were months before, he would have turned her down. Hard for him to remember that there are still people here in his corner. ]

[mucked]

I always would like you to stay -- [ and then, looking almost offended by her own effusive sentiment, peggy shakes her head and clarifies: ] That is to say, I quite often like it. Or perhaps that I would rarely begrudge it.

Oh, hell. You know what I mean.

[reconstitution]

I understand.

[ She doesn't mind him being around, is what she's trying to say. Or something in that regard, at least. Peggy is one of the few people here that he doesn't mind spending lengths of time around. She understands now that he may not be as verbose as he should be, but he's trying with her. ]

[mucked]

It's been a bit of a day, [ she offers up only this bare-bones explanation for her clumsy reply. peggy isn't a slouch in conversation, but she certainly has had to conduct a great many of them with the crew today. and all with their own particular minefields.

lunch, in companionable silence, might indeed be welcome. she nudges the door open again. ]

[reconstitution]

[ He pushes himself away from the wall and heads out the door. Winter doesn't move toward the kitchen until Peggy's in the lead and falls to her left and slightly behind. A habit that isn't likely to change anytime soon. Lunch will be nice. At least neither of them will have to chat if they don't feel like it. ]

Congratulations on your promotion.

[ A title not everyone is thrilled to receive. ]

[mucked]

Cheers. [ -- and, indeed, peggy isn't ecstatic to take on the mantle. the previous captain had been young, but heartfelt. and the ship shudders from the loss of him. ] We're peers, now, you and I. In the eyes of the Atroma.

[reconstitution]

[ Something they both have in common. Neither of them wanted the position, it was pushed upon them. Grudging acceptance of power on the backs of others leaving. ]

Unless they have some sort of scale they've neglected to inform us of.

[mucked]

What? [ she smiles -- a thread of mischief dovetailing into place. ] Like who gets top billing on their twisted little program? Here's hoping it's neither of us.