time for some spring-mingling!

[mucked]

Who: Starstruck crew and guests!
Broadcast: N/A
Action: Aboard the Starstruck
When: All of April

[ oi, crew! we've got some upgraded bathrooms this time 'round, so enjoy your extra hot water! and a comfier tub! and some privacy curtains in the changing area, thank goodness. everyone please remind max to actually use the curtains, of course. (right after you remind him to shower!)

mingle away, starstruckers! don't forget you can still toy around with some of the rumours! ]

Comments

[mucked]

[ a look -- as though he should know better than to ask the identity of her favourite. as reticent and guarded as she could be, she knows damn well how obvious she's made it. days previous, she'd as good as told him. you're the one.

peggy rolls the pumpkin towards her stretch of counter and gives it a thorough stab with the chef's knife. her elbow cocks and she works her way through the orange flesh, dividing it into two halves. ]

[uprightness]

You know, I think we'll only need one half. If I knew anything about dough I'd say we could use the other for a pie.

[ he knew he should have listened to his ma all those years. ]

[mucked]

[ she pauses a moment -- grabs her communicator from beside the tea pot -- and scrolls back to a very old message. whoever sent it to her did so over a year ago. peggy offers him a glance at the screen. ]

I've got a recipe.

[ it's for apple pie, mind. and if he thought long and hard about it he might realize the recipe is for sarah rogers's apple pie. ]

[uprightness]

Really?

[ huh. good fortunes, indeed. he examines the inside of his pumpkins and, pleased with the result, starts going around the kitchen in search of things he thinks they might need.

it could all have been easier if one of them were good in the kitchen but this is exactly why he included cooking on the list. this, too, is an adventure. ]

What do we need?

[mucked]

[ dully: ] For pie? Are you hijacking my soup plans for a bit of pie?

[uprightness]

Might as well have everything out. Don't worry, I'm not neglecting your soup.

[ lord, she was right. one of these days he'd probably want to make her something. he should really just ask jarvis for those lessons. ]

[mucked]

[ she begins by listing off the crust's ingredients -- and suggesting appropriate alternatives if there was something key that might be missing. but in the aftermath, and as she went on to read the bit about apples (silently, in her head) she pipes up. ]

Steve? Do you prefer an apple pie? [ bit obvious, really. american as. but it was his mother's recipe, so perhaps it was worth asking. ]

[uprightness]

Do we have apples?

[ he's busy sticking his head in one of the cupboards, searching for sugar. ]

We might wanna save those for snacks.

[ you can't snack on raw pumpkin. he thinks. ]

[mucked]

Not a one. [ well, perhaps there were some canned apples in the back of the cupboard. but they would hardly be worthy. ] Only I wonder whether you had apple pie often -- as a child, maybe.

[ she's really burying the lead on this one. ]

[uprightness]

When we could afford the apples.

[ he nods. ]

And whenever Bucky wouldn't try to snag half of my slice. I'd look away for a minute and most of it would be gone.

[ but the complaint is so very fond. ]

Why d'you ask?

[mucked]

[ she waggles the device, the screen still backlit. ]

An enterprising young lad like you -- I suppose you never hung back to help roll the pastry. Too busy reading. Drawing. Getting into scraps.

[ look, she can't just spell it out for him. ]

[uprightness]

Hey, I would help in-between alla those.

[ but now he's curious, reaching out to touch her wrist long enough to get a good look at the screen. ]

We'd usually make them for Christmas and Thanksgiving. And my birthdays, mine, Bucky's.

[mucked]

[ her smile stays impish. sometimes, peggy carter simply radiates affectionate mischief. and now (wholly unintended and utterly serendipitous) is one of those times. rather than try and wrench herself free, she steps forward -- tilting the screen towards him. ]

Does it look familiar?

[uprightness]

[ for a moment he's still chuckling, holding onto her wrist ( hold on, keep still ) and suddenly something clicks making his voice soften. It's the way the instructions are worded, really, that reminds him of a tiny kitchen in Brooklyn the day before Christmas. ]

Where did you get it?

[mucked]

A friend. [ her head tilts. peggy watches the revelation cascade across his face, and she can't help but match the light in his eyes. she doesn't even realize she's holding her breath until she tries to speak. ] I've had it since long before you turned up.

[uprightness]

You kept it.

[ a quiet observation. It's rather extraordinary, how he can hear his mother's voice through those seemingly simple instructions. ]

[mucked]

Of course I kept it. [ the faff about the pumpkin is (momentarily) forgotten. ] Never know when I might bloody well need an apple pie, do I?

[uprightness]

[ normally, in 99% of the time, steve is quite fine with their comfortable routine of morning and nightly tangles and a mostly professional relationship in-between the two. However, she seemed to have stumbled onto the 1% with this one.

He doesn't even bother looking over her shoulder towards the hall. Gently, he takes the device, places it on the counter before cupping her cheeks with both his palms. It's a tender, grateful press of lips, slow and loving. ]

Thank you.

[mucked]

[ a moment passes before she comes to her senses -- the starchy smell of raw pumpkin with its stringy guts bringing her back to the realization that they're in the kitchen. this isn't the place; this isn't the time. even so, she continues the kiss for a moment longer. gentle gratitude tastes good on him.

afterward, she allows her forehead to stay pressed against his. ]

Hm. Perhaps I should have showed it to you earlier. [ peggy's fingers are gripping his arm. ]

[uprightness]

Happened when it should have.

[ a funny thing to say about a stolen moment. They never really do these things, not here; but at that moment, he's too grateful for her and these little surprises she still keeps up her sleeve.

Just a fraction of a moment longer; he sweeps down, presses just one more kiss ( shorter, stolen ) to her lips. ]

Well, my ma knew what she was doing so we should do fine with replacing the apples with pumpkin.

[mucked]

[ she laughs -- low and sweet. but peggy also shakes her head, betraying disbelief. ]

I don't think it's as simple as a straight swap. The crust'll do, of course. But I think we'll need to try and puree the pumpkin. Maybe roast it first.

[uprightness]

Look at you.

[ getting it all right. he's rather impressed, really. ]

Maybe you should be the one who teaches me.

[ ha, he's going to let his mind wander for a moment, here. ]

[mucked]

I went to a girls' school in a fashionable part of London -- [ peggy huffs, and leaves her device in his care while she returns to carving up the pumpkin flesh. ] And I managed to not cut every class that involved domestic sciences. Squashes and the like are best handled roasted.

[uprightness]

Cutting classes, huh?

[ arching an eyebrow. ]

And then I'm someone with considerable infamy.

[ because evidently, it's exactly the same thing. ]

[mucked]

Hardly comparable. [ she waggles the knife in his direction. ] Although I'll not deny that cutting class wasn't my smallest sin.