driftfleet | closed » you're the horizon line -- i'm the last sunset

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closed » you're the horizon line -- i'm the last sunset

Who: Peggy Carter & Steve Rogers
Broadcast: Definitely not.
Action: Closed, aboard one of the occasional waypoint stations as the fleet drifts.
When: Mid-afternoon

[ today, peggy decides she's done with nudges and hypotheticals. done with veiled suggestions and unfulfilled promises. she and steve had danced around the concept of going steady; of being official; of committing. they danced around it without ever really dancing at all. he'd made overtures enough, even if his follow-through was rubbish. and she feels a concrete certainty about him, even though her overtures are shite. so, today, it changes. ]

...Steve? [ peggy rapsher knuckles loose against his bunk's doorway. she looks casual (by her standards) with her hair plaited and her sleeves rolled up. she watches him from the threshold, tilting her head with a flicker of affectionate admiration. ] Let's get out of here for the rest of the day. Just us.

[ although she doesn't use the word 'date', she decides it's been suggested often enough that she needn't so crassly underline her intentions in this very moment. to do so would surely insult his intelligence.

...right? ]

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Yeah, but not in a bad way.

[ he remembers very clearly what he first thought of her when they met. It hasn't changed, only deepened but one thing is certain today as it was then, ]

I've never really met anybody like you.

Clearly, you haven't met enough people. [ or maybe simply not enough brits. she pats his elbow. but when the joke settles, she confesses: ] To be truthful, I often think much the same about you.

Clearly you haven't lived in Brooklyn.

[ he counters just as he squeezes her hand for a fraction of a moment in silent gratitude. ]

It got the best people.

It's true. My apartment was in Manhattan. [ not brooklyn. but: ] But I'd be lying if I told you I hadn't been back to visit a few of those alleys you'd pointed out to me.

[ and if any young woman first arrives in nyc, she points them to brooklyn first. the spirit of lady liberty can be found in her people. ]

Manhattan, huh?

[ he liked it well enough, as any New Yorker is bound to. He can just about remember what it used to look like, it's all even grander now. ]

You did?

[ curious now, he asks ]

What did you think?

About New York? [ about brooklyn. she smiles. ] It smells -- like old pennies, and garbage. Car exhaust. And when it's hot, it's too hot indeed. Not as hot as California, mind you...

[ new york is loud and rude and smoggy. like london, but less well-articulated. all the same: ] I think I love it.

It grows on you, doesn't it.

[ all fast-paced and crowded and everyone is always in a rush to be somewhere. it may not be the one city connected with captain america's clean and golden image but steve will never feel quite at home anywhere else. ]

been to the Thanksgiving Parade yet?

Once. I can't say I'm all that fond of parades -- VE Day is just as bad, frankly. [ too many people. too much noise. she doesn't swallow celebration as well as she used to -- these days, it might be different. but back home? every fresh show of patriotism made her miss him all the more. ]

I am a fan of Broadway. At least, I think I would be -- most of what I know was filtered through a woman who lived next door. [ ... ] Aspiring actress.

[ it was always a little weird thinking he missed VE Day. It would have been a bittersweet experience, he imagines it might have been like that for her. He would have thought of little else but Bucky. ]

Broadway?

[ he smiles and nods ]

Angie.

[ the very inspiration for the flirty American blonde he met that day on the previous planet. ]

Yes. Angie. [ == there's a sweet (if quiet) happiness at hearing him remember the name. for so long, her time after the war had felt like a separate life. it's hard, still, to let the two mingle even in spirit. ] She once tried to talk me into attending an audition.

[ a snort of laughter. peggy doesn't think much of that prospect. ]

She's not wrong. You had me fooled for a second back.

[ though he has grown a tad fond of Angie. Just another talent he has never witnessed before. ]

The only time I tried to pretend I was anyone else was with Natasha and she did most of the talking.

I imagine that was for the best. You're a soldier, Steve. Not a spy. [ she tucks hair back from her brow. ] And I imagine that Ms. Romanoff gives very good deception. You were in good hands.

Or a broadway actress.

[ said with more than just a hint of amusement. Steve will be the first to admit his friends are anything but ordinary but an actress for a neighbor, well. ]

What's she like? the real Angie?

[ in his head, she's blonde and flirty with a flair for drama. ]

[ her smile is affectionate. there are some avenues that are walled off -- avoided, at most costs, in peggy's heart. but she never minds discussing angie. ]

A petite dynamo. Relentless -- she practically dragged me by the arm down to her lodging house to have me interview for an apartment. Then saved my bacon when I was still being pursued on treason suspicions of my own. God, the woman can act. [ ... ] She auditioned for the Captain America Adventure Program. And she once said some very flattering things about you.

[ she can at least use this as a good opportunity to get a few teases in. ]

--- they hold interview for those? it must be one hell of a lodging house.

[ he smiles a bit. if only because of the irony of that girl trying out for a role ( very loosely ) based on her next door neighbor. ]

about me?

[ it takes a second before he cringes ]

She wasn't one of those USO girls, was she?

[ not his proudest days, those were. ]

No, not one of the girls. [ -- peggy clears her throat. ] But she did see one of the shows. Passaic, I think.

I remember that one.

[ he remembers most of them to some extent, they didn't really differ from one another. he's not entirely sure he wants to ask and yet: ]

What did she say?

[ she mentioned flattering, after all. ]

Her exact words were you could eat him with a spoon -- [ peggy's smile is ghostish. barely there, although she certainly watches him closely.

at the time, any talk of steve rogers had made her heart heavy. back then, she'd half-agreed in a non-committed fashion. but that was before reuniting with him, and taking a certain pleasure in tripping him up. ]

[ a few things happen at once, the most evident one would be steve rogers ducking his head, as if to hide the faint blush that creeps about, the other is a cough and the third is - ]

You're pulling my leg again, aren't you?

Not an inch. Not at all. [ she laughs, only lightly -- and tilts her head as if she might catch an glance of his down-turned eyes. ] She was most adamant in her admiration.

Well.

[ there is a small smile there, albeit an embarrassed one. As it turns out, 'flattering' can at times be somewhat terrifying. ]

It's very -

[ what's the word? ]

nice of her.

[ but the words quickly become a deep, genuine laughter. honestly, if only that girl knew how awkward captain america really is. ]

[ peggy's laughter quickly mingles with his. how utterly innocent a response -- embarrassment, mixed with gentle gratitude. god, but they truly did break the mold with steve rogers. ]

I never did take the opportunity to inform her I'd known you -- [ she can't help the past tense. it's purely accurate. ] I don't think I could have survived her inevitable interrogation.

You know, if she ever comes here, I have a feeling you might be in a spot of trouble.

[ he gestures towards their entwined fingers. it's one thing not to tell you've known Captain American but dating, well. ]

I'll throw a good word for you.

I'm fortunate in that she's a terribly forgiving friend. [ gently, she pats the back of his hand. ] For the majority of our association, she thought I worked at the phone company. Although now she swears up and down that she knew better than to believe me.

Hey, I think we should believe her.

[ easily, as if is some expert in the manners of Angie. ]

She probably thought it was too boring.

[ and one thing is sure, there is nothing boring about Peggy Carter, regardless of her workplace. ]

I wouldn't have believed you, either.

[ he tries not to smile because of course he would have. ]

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