driftfleet | text & video

Entry tags:

text & video » open

Who: Peggy Carter, some rumours, and you!
Broadcast: text, then video.
Action: y, aboard the starstruck.
When: today!

[ a message materializes on the network around midday: ]

Peggy Carter's got a veritable guy-pile of suitors: Edwin Jarvis, Max Rockatansky, Jason Wilkes, Jack Thompson, Howard Stark, Stefan Salvatore, Steve Rogers, Sam Winchester, James Barnes, Clint Barton, Daniel Sousa, and counting! How many more can you name?

[ and not long after (in a state of utter pique and dismay), that same network registers a rather heartfelt reaction -- but this time with accompanying wide-eyed video. ] Jack -- Jack Thompson? Un-bloody-likely. The only thing he's ever got his eyes on is the next greasy rung on the ladder. [ peggy scoffs, disgusted. ] As pranks go, this one's been truly shambolic. The first of April was days ago.

[ in a few hours, she'll enjoy her meltdown all over again when she finds a box of sponsor gifts in the cargo bay filled with stickers, each with a different so-called suitor's name scribbled into the blank space. all of them are filled in except for an ominous pile with an attached note: in case there's so many you start to forget their names. blanks included for any others that we might have missed. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Apparently I needs must be careful, now, with my informalities. Mister Schott.

[ teasing? probably. ]

It's okay, Steve's a bro, he knows I'm a one woman man.

[ how long can the denial last? A GOOD LONG WHILE. it's hard to keep a straight face at the very insinuation of steve being jealous of him, but he somehow manages it. ]

[ her brow creases. ]

A bro.

[ ahem! the real question is whether she's a one-man woman. ]

You know - we're friends! We trust each other to not be uh, insert undignified term of your choice here.

[ is that a question? he doesn't seem to think it is and even if she wasn't, let's face it - he wouldn't be one of those men. there's a reason he didn't even make the list. many reasons, actually, he suspects. and he's fine with every single one of them because they make him the kind of man his girlfriend loves. ]

And 'bro' would be short for 'brother', one presumes. [ like brothers-in-arms.

so it's not the intent she wonders about, merely the slang itself. ]

One would be right, at least the way I use it. Maybe on some other Earth or planet it means something else like...broadcast, brontosaurs, broke, broad, or like, something completely random like ambulance, languages can be pretty weird, did you know yes in Greek is nai? Or something close to it, I'm probably pronouncing it wrong -

-- You're pronouncing it just fine.

[ she interjects. if only because she knows enough greek to get around. not fluent, but she could at least navigate a train station with what she knows. ]

[ he just knows random facts. though his kryptonian is getting rather good! he smiles at the compliment. ]

Thanks Peggy. Or, am I supposed to call you Ms. Carter now?

Depends on whether you're willing to risk throwing your hat in the ring. So to speak. [ ... ] Although I should warn you Miss Pryde already spoke up on your behalf and I've since reconsidered penciling you in.

[ -- if she jokes about it, then perhaps being reduced to romantic gossip will sting less. ]

[ well, if she insists ]

Hey, I know better than to get in the way of two beautiful badases - I'd be flattered.

[ he shrugs, he's just glad not to be considered laughable! and romantic gossip with a woman feels like a step up for him. ]

Perhaps. Perhaps not. [ a wry look. ] I don't much envy the chances of anyone who gets added to the list, Winn. [ -- there. she said his name. happy, fella? ]

[ yes. if they absolutely have to be formal he prefers agent, at least it sounds cool. mr. just makes him feel like he's in trouble.

he shrugs ]

I'm spoken for. Literally. [ he doesn't want any chances, and even if he did? hopeless unrequited romances make a lot more sense to him that this anomaly of kitty loving him back. ]

So are at least two others on that list. Whoever compiled it clearly didn't care -- [ oh, now here's a nerve. ]

Poor Mister Jarvis is going to fall out of his chair when he sees it.

[ with rumors floating around about him and cisco taking their sweet time getting work done because they're otherwise engaged he's just completely done with these. they want a reaction out of him? well, they can keep on waiting to the end of time. he's had enough drama lately. sticks and stones, and alla that. ]

Remind him they're just words on a screen, they don't influence anything we do and ultimately mean nothing. You get used to this sorta thing when you live on the internet, it's called trolling, and it's done by people who have nothing better to do with their time than try to get a rise out of you. [ pretty sad when you think about it. ]

[ perhaps a touch too frigid in her reply: ] You get used to this sort of thing well before the internet and its trolls, I'm afraid.

[ implying, perhaps, that this isn't the first time a list like this has been made. after all, she's spent a storied career working alongside men. soldiers talk. ]

I'm well-accustomed to this sort of thing. [ stiff upper lip, carter. ] But I can't help but feel a pang for those who mightn't have the armour for it yet.

[ and in jarvis's case, she worries it'll only deepen his anguish over missing his wife. ]

The internet's a tool, it just makes it easier to get away with.

[ he's no stranger to real-life rumors himself, though they weren't so much about his love life, more about his family.

he nods ]

It sucks. [ he agrees ] If I could hack the network and delete it all I would. [ but alas, there's nothing they can for anyone offended by these rumors except try to be good friends and remind them that that's all they are - rumors. ]

A lovely offer, Winn. All the same.

[ but there is a certain kind of resignation in her tone. people talk -- and even in the fleet, where there are an alarming majority of good souls, she suspects people still talk. behind closed doors, or merely with themselves in their own thoughts.

she could have done without certain names being dragged into the muck with her, however. especially the more...accurate selections. thank heavens no one's asked her about wilkes or sousa yet. ]

What matters is that I know the truth of it. Everything else is moot.

[ people talk. no one is completely innocent of that. he knows he isn't, though, when he talks he normally tries to a. know what he's talking about and b. keep it to non-sensitive gossip that isn't even really a secret anyway. unless, of course, it's someone needing help and then it fits to a different category. ]

And as for Jarvis, I bet we can keep him distracted. Like, you and Steve can come over for dinner, that'll keep his mind elsewhere. Plus, it'd be fun.

Fun for who? [ mild (but playful) ire. peggy shakes her head with a ghost of a smile. ] The last thing Steve and I need is for Mister Jarvis to start faffing over us. If we indulge it once, it'll never end.

Hey, you're the one who expressed concern, I'm just brainstorming solutions over here - [ hands up in surrender. if you don't want to help distract your friend... ]

I've got a ridiculous amount of stickers with his name on them -- perhaps that will cheer him up a bit. Doubtless he'll find a project to do or make or decorate.

Projects are for repression, which is fine for the moment but it always blows up in your face in the end. Hanging out with your friends, on the other hand - [ you pulled him into this conversation peggy, and now he's gonna be annoying. ]

"Hanging out" isn't really something that Mister Jarvis and I do.

Which is why I called it dinner. You eat it, don't you? And he makes a good one.

He makes a great one. And often delivers extras to the Starstruck after-hours. Not for the whole ship, of course. Just for yours truly.

[ which is lovely! and she does enjoy a meal with jarvis -- she just doesn't know why steve needs to be involved. perhaps she remains somewhat tender and protective of her relationship. it's hard to put it on display. ]

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;