text & video » open

[mucked]

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. ]

Comments

video;

[mucked]

[ it's complications layered on complications. not least of all because there's no polite way to express her concern over how at-odds mister jarvis might feel should he be surrounded by couples, and peggy can't very well order winn not to also invite his partner. nor kara hers. steve, she thinks, would happily stay behind if she asked him to.

but in truth, deep down, it's because she remembers a certain kind of pain while witnessing mister and missus jarvis and their happiness. she's hesitant to inflict the same thing on her friend, although she knows he'd never take it poorly. ]

It would be a change. We tend not to eat together on the Starstruck. Not all of us, and not often.

video;

[winn]

[ mister jarvis is surrounded by couples - winn and kitty, kara and mon-el, fenris and marian who both live on the tourist. they do know how to behave in company, though. mostly. ]

We're super tight on the Tourist, we have movie nights.

video;

[mucked]

Then it's just as well I harbour no intentions of poaching him away from you lot.

[ and yet she suspect she could manage it -- if push came to a rough shove. still, she's a merciful woman. at times. ]

video;

[winn]

[ he's absolutely certain she could, but he'll definitely prefer if she doesn't. the tourist is a tight knit little family, and he loves it to pieces. ]

You'll have to fight Kara for him.

[ okay no of course no one will give him a hard time if he wants to leave, or if he chooses to stop cooking. but he's much more comfortable with making jokes about kara's obsessive relationship with food than he is with trying to figure out whatever subtext he's missing in this conversation. ]

video;

[mucked]

-- A daunting possibility, certainly. But worth it.

video;

[winn]

And you worry about using first names?

[ cuz fighting supergirl for a guy is definitely a bigger deal than calling him by his first name. he teases, but his smile is very fond. it's always nice to see friendships, especially so with peggy who always seems to try her hardest to keep these things subdued. ]

video;

[mucked]

I assure you I don't worry about much of anything -- [ apart from a few very poignant possibilities. ] It's more like a habit than a worry.

video;

[winn]

I'll take that to mean you got your homework done.

[ doubling back to his original topic, now that things feel a little more normal again. ]

video;

[mucked]

I do. Of course -- can't risk your ire. [ a beat. ] Shall I set us up in the kitchen this evening, then? It should be quiet enough once the crew clears out.

video;

[winn]

You wouldn't like me when I'm irked.

[ no, really, he does not do angry with any form of grace. ]

Sounds good.

video;

[mucked]

And if you're very lucky, I'll have some shortbread left to share.

[ the true measure of her friendship: she's willing to share. ]

video;

[winn]

[ he crosses his fingers and holds them up at the camera. ]

I'm due for a lucky break! [ so much progress, maybe in 3 years he'll even get that hug! ]

video;

[mucked]

Until then, Winn.

[ JUST FOR YOU, MISTER SCHOTT. ]

video -> action;

[winn]

[ she gets such a smile for her trouble. ]

Til then, Peggy.

[ he arrives on time; he makes a point of always being as punctual as possible with peggy, and smiles at her as he makes his customary move towards the coffeemaker - he knows, if he wants coffee he has to make it himself. ]

So, how's my luck doing?

[mucked]

[ the kitchen's as cozy as it ever gets: the kettle's on, for her, and although she doesn't deign to make the coffee she did leave the grounds out on the counter for him. a modest gesture. peg has the table cleared off, and her paper-bound exercises sitting in a tidy sheaf by the corner. steve's phone is out, powered up, and waiting.

and on a thin plate she's placed a modest amount of shortbread cookies. ] Stellar. In the meantime, Stefan dropped off a whole new container. Takes the sting out of sharing.

[winn]

Gotta love Stefan.

[ he smiles and makes his coffee. pours her tea, too, and brings both cups with him back to the table. ]

How'd you do with these? [ he taps the paper ] Any issues?

[mucked]

Cheers, [ she says of the tea -- pulling the mug nearer to herself and letting the warmth leech into her palm before ever contemplating a sip. ] I've got some questions. Mostly about nomenclature. Nothing too wild, but...

[ she hesitates. ] I've got another little nut I'd like your help in cracking, first.

[winn]

[ he takes a satisfying sip of coffee and picks up one of the cookies. ]

Shoot -

[mucked]

It's a message on the phone. I need it deleted. [ she picks up the device and keys through the sms function until she comes across a text that had somehow been sent from this number back to the same one. beneath it, there's all manner of leftover conversations from before steve arrived in the fleet -- but the top one seems to have been 'sent' regardless of the restrictions the atroma place on technology. perhaps because it wasn't really an outgoing message, but merely stuck on the same device it was sent from.

it's really quite horrible. but peggy makes no comment on its contents, and her silence as good as dares winn to try and do anything but the same. ]

[winn]

[ what he finds truly fascinating is that with no service - a message has been sent at all. but that content is...its something. he bites his lip to try and keep the instant snort under wraps. ]

Um, does Steve know we're deleting this? [ it's his phone, after all, and whatever the story behind this particular set of emoji ending up on his phone - it might be precious. knowing steve he's pretty sure he'd still tell him to do as peggy says but it just feels wrong not to at least ask. ]

[mucked]

Yes. I've no doubt that Steve's anticipated this outcome.

[ a cagey sort of answer. truth is, peggy knows thatfrom the moment she and steve had their conversation about the stupid little pictures, he must have predicted she would move to obliterate them. as misunderstandings go, this one had been a doozy. she'd rather not be reminded of it every time she powers up the mobile phone for a lesson. ]

[winn]

-- if he punches me I'm blaming you.

[ he touches the message until a menu pops up ]

Hold on the message - delete message. [ he touches the side of the screen to remove the menu. 1. she should learn to do it herself and 2. ain't no way he's clicking delete, he's just the teacher here, he's totally innocent! ]

[mucked]

Don't be so dramatic. [ huff, her favourite go-to deflection. peggy taps her finger against the screen and follows his instructions. ] He won't be punching anyone over this. The message isn't even his! Not truly.

[ peggy watches the phone process the command for a split second before, presto! gone. but she hums a moment and turns to winn with her chin perched on her palm. ] Is it likely something like that could have been 'stored' elsewhere on the phone?

[winn]

Whose is it, then?

[ you can't expect him not to have questions, peggy, that is some message ] Normally I'd say no, but...it shouldn't even have been possible to send it, we have no service here, so clearly the Atroma are messing with it somehow. I can run a search but with them involved I make no promises.

[mucked]

[ it's not the atroma's meddling she's worried about. rather, she doesn't put it past steve to have tried to store the evidence somehow -- despite how innocent the little pictures were, in the end. but peggy sees an opportunity to avoid answering winn's question by dissecting his statement instead. ]

I suppose things were a little too dull for them. [ peggy tries to live a life under the radar. ] They needed to pull a stunt like this to squeeze a bit of blood from this stone.