driftfleet | interfaith dinner mingle!!

Entry tags:

interfaith dinner mingle!!

Who: Interfaith Center regulars & the not-so-regulars (party crashers are welcome too!!)
Broadcast: Nope
Action: Interfaith Center on the Iskaulit
When: Forward-dated to November 4th

[The Interfaith Center sounds far more bustling and busy than usual - and anyone peering inside would quickly figure out that a communal dinner is underway! Take off your shoes and walk in: the lounge has extra tablecloths on the floor as well as buffet tables with non-alcoholic beverages and all sorts of food, including Jordanian cuisine (or the outer space equivalent of Jordanian food).

The board games are out of their hiding nooks; the furniture's arranged for the maximum seating possible; and even the teddy bears donated by Kitty & Winn are out for cuddling, should anyone want them.

The kitchen's bustling with helpers - Stefan's running around at vamp-speed to make sure everything's a) done on time and b) cooked to perfection - but he sure wouldn't mind an extra hand. And if you're still not up for some food? Well, the prayer rooms are open as usual. There's always a quiet moment to be found, even if the laughter's louder and the scent of freshly-baked mansaf's wafting through the long corridors.

Anyone and everyone who's ever been inside the Interfaith Center has been invited (via text message - and Stefan even used the fancy emoji). If you're not particularly faithful or devout? Well, drop by anyways. There's more than enough food to spare.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ peggy carter makes an appearance -- although one is often left with the impression that she's bound to leave before long. her visits are like surgical strikes, and today she targets the kitchen.

she strides in and helps herself to a forkful of mansaf, humming her enjoyment as she walks past the table -- the spices are a rare delight in the fleet, and rarer still in her life back home. but she's had the occasion, now and then, to venture beyond western europe and america. these flavours remind her of old jobs, of early days, and of adrenaline.

peggy stops within feet of stefan. ] Well, look at all you've brought together. You must be feeling proud.

I wouldn't say proud, but it's nice to see everyone in one place.

[Including Peggy - it's been a while. Stefan's expression softens as he approaches, though he's long since absorbed the scent of almonds and honey - even his gelled hair smells like it today!]

Thanks for dropping by. I hope everything tastes okay.

[ she sucks the last bit of flavour off her fork -- smiling, if only smallishly. ]

More than okay, in point of fact. It's bloody delicious.

[ peggy can be enthusiastic about food. she tries to exert a little self control instead of reaching for more. ]

[He's practically beaming at the praise, and okay, maybe letting out a sigh of relief too.

Stefan wears his heart on his sleeve: every emotion's been poured into his food, as for just a night, he wants people to taste his home. Caster's helped too, and while a Jordanian-Japanese night isn't what people might've expected? It sure tastes good.]

Ah, thank you. You can take all you want - um, I think there'll probably be leftovers.

Be careful what you offer. [ peggy grabs a plate and nonchalantly begins to add a selection of taster's portions. ] I might take you at your word and feast on leftovers for days.

You should go for it. I know we've got more than enough to spare.

[Sometimes, he forgets that he's supposed to play human. His crew would appreciate the extra food, probably, but he sure doesn't need it for himself.]

I haven't been on the Starstruck in a while, now that I think about it - your food situation okay?

[ she smiles -- perfectly content not to point out the contradictions in the facade he puts forward. instead, she elaborates on her own. ]

I'm the captain of a ship with a food-hoarding survivalist, a security officer with an impossibly high metabolism, a first mate who only eats meat, and a man who can run faster than the eye can see. Among others, I might add. I'm not certain our food situation is ever okay.

[ she's making light, of course. they don't go hungry. but man, do they know how to eat. ]

[Holy... Don't mind him stifling a few laughs,] No, I don't know how you manage it, except with your grace and charm.

Definitely take extra. I'm about the only one with an abnormal metabolism, and uh - honestly? I think Loki lives off a diet of espresso alone.

[ she just about manages to not wrinkle her nose at the mention of loki's name. rather than address it head-on, peggy swallows her first reaction. she moves onward, and fills her mouth with another bite of food.

she chews. swallows. smiles, too. ] You too, hm?

[ he said it. an abnormal metabolism. ]

Right. I don't broadcast it in public, but I haven't been human for a while.

[He doesn't think Sam's hanging around the kitchen. Just in case, he'll glance around to see if anyone's eavesdropping in. Doesn't seem like it.]

"Too", does that mean you as well...? Or just your crew?

Me? Heavens, no. I just meant Steve. [ a puff of her cheeks. she's quick the clarify the misunderstanding, even as she chews over another piece of the stefan puzzle. ] My security officer.

I'm as human as they come, my dear.

Oh. [He rubs the back of his neck nervously.] Sorry, I - I assumed a little too much there.

But yeah, I'm technically immortal. So when I said it was my grandfather who served in World War II, I might've... [his voice grows quiet:] meant myself.

[ she pauses -- mid-chew -- and reconsiders the man standing across from her. he'd hinted (either accidentally or not) before about something more. and here it is. the notion of immortality piques her interest, certainly, but...

but there's a strange comfort in meeting someone else who was there. she touches the edge of her thumb against her mouth, like chasing away an imaginary smudge of rice, and sets her plate aside. ]

Now, that's curious. [ shades of an older discipline sink back into her posture. she is, undeniably, a veteran. something in the way she stands. ] European theatre or Pacific?

North African, actually.

[He stands up a little straighter, finding a little more of his confidence as he holds onto the counter for support. Now that he can be honest - rather than pretending he was his own grandfather - he feels, well, free.]

I wasn't directly in the field, but I was an ambulance driver down in Egypt for most of the Desert Campaign.

North Africa -- [ she repeats, a little amused with her own neglect of the lesser talked about fronts. a glimmer in her eye stands in for an apology, and she adds: ] What fitting flavours, then.

[ a nod towards the spread.

but peggy knows she can't simply leave it there. she's curious, still, and she doesn't mind if she steps on a few toes when she asks: ] Which side?

[ she isn't interesting in rousing grudges. she's lived here in the fleet too long for that, now. but she wants this answer before she goes sticking her foot in her mouth. after all, she can't easily forget his name. ]

[He's quiet for a couple of seconds, wondering why on Earth she'd have to ask with his accent and his faith and then -

Right. Salvatore was about as Italian as he could get.]

Allies. [His sheepish, apologetic tone probably speaks for itself.] No, uh - I promise, my parents immigrated to the US before I was born.

[ -- although her posture keeps its starch, something else loosens in her harder lines. an easing of her brow, perhaps. a shifting of her jaw. she can't trust piecing together his story about his relative's action onto a facsimile in his own live. after all, lies are never quite so tidy. peggy understands that more than most.

but this? this, she trusts. she nods -- accepting. ]

Maybe we deserve a support group of our own. [ a wry twist in her tone. something suggests she'd name it, but never attend it. ]
Us relics from the war. There are a few of us rattling around, if you know where to look. [ ... ] I was in Europe -- mostly, though I won't tell you I've never set foot in North Africa.

[ a gentle, careful kind of description. even now, she tries not to tread too heavily upon what's still confidential in her file. ]

[Peggy's nothing if not mysterious, and considering how many secrets Stefan has in his hero hair - he can't judge.

He does, however, let out a small laugh at the idea of a support group. He wouldn't dare show up; after all, he relates more to 2016 than 1943. As long as he plays human, he's too young for talk of war and rations and the battlefield.]

I see. I just hope your time there was more peaceful than mine. [IE, that it had been after the war and not during it.]

Peaceful enough. [ she neither confirms nor denies. it's easier, that way, to tread the outskirts of what's true and honest. ] It was after the war. Only a brief visit -- and then I relocated to New York. Haven't really looked back.

[ thoughtful: ] The, ah, security officer I mentioned? He served, as well.

Steve, right? [He remembers a Steve, briefly, and how he had thanked Stefan for thinking to run a place like the Interfaith Center. It's probably not the same man, but if Peggy's offering this information freely...] I'm not exactly broadcasting my immortality to the public, but if you think he wouldn't mind...

[Words, Stefan. Use your words.]

I could... drop him a line? Let him know there's yet another one of us "relics" around.

Edited 2016-11-27 03:47 (UTC)

He's a man of discretion. [ a soft flicker of uncertainty -- rare, on her face -- but she continues: ] And a man of 2015. And I think the pair of you might find some common ground. Maybe.

[ her gaze adjusts. she doesn't much like this -- making matches, and meddling in social lives. meddling professionally is something completely different and she does it without a care. but she's never been good at this side of it all.

but she can't help but be struck by how all these people somehow find their way to the future. and there she is, bringing up the rear. always. ]

'Immortal' doesn't quite cover it, however. More like a...very long nap. [ a scrunch of her nose. it's clumsy wording. ]

A regular Rip van Winkle, then?

[He can't quite imagine sleeping through eighty-something years (if he did his math right). As complicated & chaotic as those decades had been, at least he'd lived through them. He saw them progress from bulky, giant computers to ones in the palms of their hands. He's seen the globe change before his very eyes, and he can't say he regretted a moment of it.

Whatever the explanation is, he's sure he'll hear it when the time comes.]

I'll see what I can do. Thank you, [and he means it, with gratitude on his lips,] Peggy. I'll drop him a line first thing tomorrow.

[ she can't help but think it must be bizarrely lonely at the far side of a timeline. but she keeps that thought to herself -- because neither him nor steve needs her pity. but perhaps they could use a dose of each other. good men, doing good things.

peggy pulls out her comms device and scrolls through a lengthy list. she calls up an entry for ROGERS, STEVE and displays the screen for stefan's sake. ]

His frequency. In case you want to contact him privately, without the rest of the fleet ogling.

[He peers at the screen, memorizing the number and taking note of any patterns that would help him recall it faster.]
Got it. I'll certainly do so.

[Her kindness means a lot. Stefan's expression softens as he looks back at her - while he's no stranger to the Fleet, he also hasn't tried to mingle with the greater community in a while.

This dinner was an attempt: to invite everyone he'd ever met and to express just how much they meant to him. Even the ones he doesn't regularly converse with.]

Next time we have a dinner, God willing? I hope I'll see him here.

I'll ask him to accompany me. Next time. [ said almost shyly.

she isn't one for hesitation, and yet she's never been quite comfortable discussing steve in terms such as these. although they might as well have been 'together' since the moment he arrived in the fleet, progress has been slow. cautious. only lately have they decided to step off the ship as a couple, for example. and peggy still finds herself chafing against that happiness.

qualifying: ] All I need to do is describe the food, I think.

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sorry for the late!

it's all good!

<3

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