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Well, I appreciate the offer. Guessing not everyone can say they had the ship's captain making them coffee.

[There's a dryness in Natasha's voice as she says it; one that suggests she can imagine why Peggy might be over making anyone else's coffee.]

[ truly, natasha's support in the matter makes the whole gesture far more palatable. she sets the water to boil, then turns around to lean against the counter. ]

Not many, no. I try to hold out as long as I can -- between you and me. [ comfortably, she folds her arms over her chest. ] Depends on the guest.

[ almost a compliment. but it's easily given, because they've had a fine afternoon of shooting. peggy feels good about the camaraderie. ]

I'll take that as a compliment.

[Her smile almost reaches her eyes when she adds:]

And I hope that means you make Captain America make his own damn coffee.

[ there's a slyness behind her eyes. like she wants to rather earnestly proclaim damn right i do. but peggy take a little more care with her actual conversation. ]

I always offer to pour him some tea, if he wants. [ but (of course) tea is very rarely to his taste, either. if he wants coffee, he needs to make it himself. or wager a pot over a game of cards or pool or paintball. ] It's an offer he rarely accepts.

[Which confirms Natasha's suspicions, both about Peggy and her relationship with Steve.

She approves.]

Somehow, that doesn't surprise me.

He's terribly good to brew a pot, however. [ of tea, that is. for her. and that makes the relationship sound a little asymmetrical. but it never quite feels so in the moment. she has her own concessions she makes, and in other quarters. ones that don't come with the sting of fetching someone's beverages. ] He's getting to be a deft hand -- he hardly ever over-steeps it anymore.

[ the details seem personal -- perhaps even not worth sharing, indeed. but since coming here and losing ana jarvis's company, it's been hard to connect with another woman with whom she can speak without the usual artifices. she's fond of wanda -- immensely fond -- but she understands she must be gentle with her.

with natasha, there remains plenty of artifice but it has nothing to do with playing nice or pretending they aren't professionals at heart. ]

He's become downright domestic. I almost feel guilty.

[Isn't that an image? Steve turning domestic, making a cup of tea for his girl. Natasha hardly knows all of the details to decide what would be balanced, but she trusts Steve not to let himself be taken advantage of.]

Sounds sweet. Domestic is hard to picture, though. For either of you?

[ a pause. peggy simply hasn't discussed with anyone how near she'd come to marriage before entering active service during the war. though it's true enough that it was a life she likely wasn't meant to lead. before the news came of her brother's death, she'd assumed domesticity was exactly what she'd wanted.

then everything changed.

peggy deflects the notion with a lowish chuckle. ] It doesn't come easily, no. Not at all.

[ they'd met during the war and (sometimes) it's hard to shake those old associations, despite the understanding that they are far from those battlefields. back then, they'd barely had time to spend together -- let alone build to anything legitimate and substantial. a kiss and a promise and it was all yanked away. ]

Permanence is challenging enough. I've been in the fleet well over a year, now, and I still expect to wake up back home in the gaudily decorated guest house in Stark's Los Angeles property.

Seems like a reasonable concern. I haven't been here that long, but from what I've seen people come and go all the time. At any time.

[A fact which isn't hard for Natasha to come to terms with, since that has been a constant throughout her life.

Whatever you had, you couldn't count on keeping it. You couldn't count on people who'd been your friends or lovers to still be there for you tomorrow—or even alive.

That was just life.]

But until you wake up back in Los Angeles... this is pretty nice.

Nice? [ peggy's smile is quick -- she doesn't feel much trauma over this next revelation, and so shares it easily: ] It's bloody relieving. The moment I pop back, Mister Jarvis will have be on bed rest again. At least here, I didn't have to sit through the aftermath of having a pointy bit of rebar jammed through my belly.

[ instead, she got to heal up from some broken ribs courtesy of the winter soldier. but that was long after 'living' another year back home.

peggy holds up a hand. ] Before you feel bad for me, [ and she's not certain natasha would. after all, she seems well acquainted with the dangers of the job. ] I can promise you I'm on the mend, back home. Out of the woods.

[Natasha might not feel bad for her exactly, but she is suitably sympathetic. She can understand the frustration of bed rest, at least.

She's not prone to pity, though.]

That is a pretty strong argument for a few days of bed rest, I have to say. At least not a problem here too.

[Optimism?]

Maybe the Atroma will do you the favor of sending you back when you're back up and moving.

It would be convenient. [ if a little troublesome, given the problem posed by zero matter. not much wiggle room to be missing days. even now, there's a pedal note of concern for all the things not yet accomplished back home. reclaiming jason wilkes; stopping whitney frost; solving a problem like dottie underwood. ] But I confess I'm not quite ready to go back. Not yet.

[ too many other promises to keep -- and not all of them to steve rogers. ]

Can't blame you for that. You especially—this is an opportunity you're not about to get again.

[Chuckling, she levels Peggy with a considering look.]

Besides, you have a lot going on here.

[ choosing to be a little obtuse, she most affectionately pats the kitchen counter -- implying, perhaps, a fondness for the whole damn ship. ]

I certainly didn't anticipate falling into a Captain's role. But I don't begrudge it, either. [ she gets along well with her crew, for one. and has a marvelous first mate in ahsoka. the only real troublemaker has been max. ] Can't much begrudge all I've learned, either. Science. Society. It'll make leaps and bounds.

[ ... ] Some of these passengers are so clever. Have you met a young man named Cisco Ramon? Utterly too talkative for his own good, and yet remarkable. I had him knock together a version of that drugged lipstick I mentioned before. He made good on the request. And then some.

We've met. He struck me as a helper.

[Natasha's brows go up at that, though, and she leans in. It's intentional, the flagging her willingness to change the subject. Her interest itself isn't feigned, though.]

When you say and then some, you mean...?

Two brands, so to speak. [ peggy raises two fingers. ] One a bit more of a knock-out than the other. Because, as he helpfully reminded me, not everyone we come across in the fleet can be done in by the usual dose.

And he wants to be sure you're prepared either way? [Very much a helper. Though it does raise some more questions and concerns.] And it still doesn't knock you out too wearing it?

Not if you're very careful -- and if you only apply it shortly before intending to use it. It's not really an all-day kind of colour. [ an awkward laugh. ] But I haven't tested the new formula. The opportunity hasn't quite -- presented itself.

Seems like you have a few to choose from, depending on your standards. Though Steve might get jealous if you start kissing random super soldiers.

I'm certain the circumstances can be adequately simulated, [ peggy offered with a terse clearing of her throat. although: ] I'm still trying to decide how to best ask Steve to be a test subject. I might end up plying him with coffee all the same.

[ speaking of! she turns around and distributes the hot water between a single mug and the french press. the mug gets a teabag and the french press has something which roughly resembles coffee. ]

If it works, it'll be something of a boon. Can't say there are many opportunities to square off with powered people back in '47.

No. Not nearly as many of them back then.

[A pause as Natasha accepts her coffee, giving it a cursory look over before apparently deciding it's acceptable and holding it loosely in both hands.

She doesn't even look for cream or sugar.]

Don't suppose that Cisco made you more than one tube. I might be tempted to steal an extra.

Once it's proven effective, I'm certain he wouldn't mind a second order. [ at the very least, the young man seems rather obliging on that front. ] I keep thinking about how I wished I'd had it a few months back -- [ when the winter soldier got atroma-jacked. ] Not that it's at all effective when you don't have the element of surprise on your side.

[Natasha has no problem following the other woman's train of thought. It's easy to look back on old conflicts and think about how you'd have handled them differently now, if you knew more, if you had more resources.

It's not a very productive train of thought, but easy to get drawn into.]

An element of surprise, and someone willing to let you get close. If you have those, then it'd be a useful tool. [And women like them knew how to get both of those things. That was the daily grind as a female spy.]

If you were facing down with the Winter Soldier, I wouldn't count on either.

-- Of course. Stands to reason. And yet I find myself rethinking the barely fifteen minutes more often than is likely healthy.

[ but it's clear that her desire to rebuild her arsenal is tied to a festering concern over how easily she'd been overpowered. overpowered is not a familiar feeling to peggy carter. worse, still, it had happened against a friend -- or a man who should be a friend, and to whom she'd made a promise to do everything in her power to stop.

but in the moment, she'd shot wide. purposefully wide. her bullets would never have stopped him -- she knows it. but now she wishes she would have had the bollocks to try. ]

I know it doesn't do much good to say, but don't. That kind of thinking just slows you down. Makes you second guess.

[Natasha isn't exactly comfortable with comfort. Not comfortable drawing attention to someone else's vulnerability.

But this is something she knows about.]

You did the best you could in the moment. If it happens again, you'll do the best you can again.

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