driftfleet | April System Mingle

And how, pray tell, would he keep boredom at bay for a whole damn week?

[ she echoes his words with a smile -- temporarily distracted from her mission to see him clothed. ]

[ this would all have been easier yesterday when he could tug her close and kiss her properly. Now he has to plan this entire thing ahead. ]

You know, we could try and find out.

[ the shoe is on the other foot. it's certainly an interesting experience.

still. ]

What, no plan? No strategy? Not even a shade of an idea about how to stay entertained?

Well.

[ he smiles, reaches over to touch her cheek. It's really something else, how different it all is when she runs a little warmer than him. He hums, leans up to kiss her, a little longer, far more indulgent. ]

If I tell you, will it make any difference?

[ goddamnit. he's got her -- dead to bloody rights. peggy drags a knee back onto the mattress and finds herself crawling back into bed despite the brief effort of getting dressed. she meets his kiss, toys a moment with his bottom lip, and lets slip a happy sigh. glitches be damned. ]

It may do.

that's playing it safe.

[ may do. steve understands two things at that instant. one, being like this is going really, awfully awkward with most people around the fleet, those who know him and those who would be introduced to this form only to see him change again. two, this level of difficulty and awkwardness had fled this room the moment peggy scolded him for daring to indulge in self-pity.

it's all so odd but not in any way that's less than exciting. he can feel her weight above him for a change, solid and sure. he moves his fingers from her cheek to her neck, slipping just beneath the necklace.

for a split second he understands that while atroma may think it's funny, they also gave him a chance to know what it would have been like, what they would have been like, if it weren't for the serum. ]

Not at all. It's playing it smart.

[ it doesn't matter what else has changed -- his eyes remain the same. oh, she's positive his sight has regressed but what she sees, what his eyes look like, is comfortingly familiar. in the end, it's all she can see: the ways in which he's the same man he was the day before, just packaged differently. same mind; same heart.

she tilts her head -- letting him toy away beneath the gold chain. ]

One and the same thing, you know.

[ besides, this can count as getting familiarized with his senses all over again. thinner now, the fact that his color is high becomes evident. it's the proximity that does it combined with the very specific context of that necklace. ]

Hm. Maybe. [ she's nearly nose-to-nose with him. designs for later start to formulate in her mind -- a message she'll need to send to barnes, for one. but for the moment she's content to sit here and watch his cheeks turn red. ]

Still. You never answered. What's your plan?

Well, you know, these changes take some time getting used to. I gotten used to enhances sense pretty quickly, I think it might take a little longer the other way around.

[ only sensible, right? ]

I have to learn everything all over again.

[ tragic, really, only he doesn't seem to really mind the entire thing, not when he can lean up and find the spot just beneath her ear. ]

[ goddamnit. serum or none, a featherlight kiss just there still invites a quiver along her spine. a hitch in her breath. peggy compensates by nudging him back onto the bed -- easier done, now, with the heel of her palm. ]

And you're proposing you start relearning with this. Not, say, flying a shuttle or a round of pinball?

Don't really care for the shuttles.

[ not one bit, really. Not when he can get himself reacquainted with, re-familiarized, with these little details, the refined scent of her soap and the way her breath catches. his is knocked out entirely, back hitting the mattress but he laughs, filling his lungs with air. ]

Besides.

[ he shrugs ]

You hate my landings.

[ despite the dark nature of the comment, peggy laughs: low, like thick chimes. she contends with a very real desire to proceed despite his non-answer, but ultimately errs on the side of raising her chin and replacing her vulnerable shiver with a hard look straight into his eyes. ]

Still so evasive. Carry on like this, and you'll make me begin to question whether the serum affected your ability to be forthright and honest too.

[ wry, calculated, and perhaps just to get revenge for his comment about his landings. ]

Really? this, from the woman who blames me for being a sentimental sap?

[ he arches an eyebrow, evidently not buying this whatsoever. ]

Are you sure you want me to be honest? and there won't be any complaints about sentimentality? not a one?

Cross my heart. Just this once.

[ and, sure enough, she drags the tip of a nail across the left portion of her chest. ]

[ now here is what they'd call a golden opportunity. she presents him with a very specific question and a rather thrilling get-out-of-jail-free-card. just this once and no complaints? he knows how to seize a chance when he sees one. ]

Alright.

[ he consider, watches her with a little smile. ]

Well, honestly?

[ his lips find the line of her jaw, whatever honest words he's going to give her, they would be muffled against her skin. ]

Honestly, I'm very much in love with you, Peggy Carter, absolutely smitten .

[ he's smiling, shifting beneath her, tugging her closer. He's going to make the most of 'just this once'. ]

[ fear not, darling steve! crossed heart or not, she'll find a way to make her complaint. and well within the confines of their little agreement.

she allows herself to be tugged near (but feels the difference in it, and in his strength) and nuzzles her nose against his neck. ]

-- That's a confession, not an agenda. Still doesn't answer how you intend to spend your week in hiding.

[ here's what he's grateful for: during the last time he spent hours mapping her, touching every bit of skin, learning and committing to memory. The map is still there, serum or not. He knows that there is a spot right between her shoulder blades - ]

I'm making good use of my moment. Don't get a lot of those.

[ -- ah yes, his fingers find it all too easily, just a little pressure, a thumb rubbing circles through fabric and some tension is bound to go away. ]

A whole week? I'd make up for lost time. It's been months, Peg.

[ this can't happen ever again, he presses a kiss to the left corner of her lips. ]

I've missed you.

[ it's been two, she wants to argue -- almost to the day. but then he catches the age-old knot between her shoulders and a half-satisfied stretch rolls through her torso. unfair, peggy thinks, but she doesn't say so in case he stops. she braces herself, briefly, and presses back against his fingers.

honestly, she shouldn't complain. he's taking the morning in stride. and there's nothing (nothing) about his present state that changes how she feels about him. if anything, there's a raw pleasure in the pit of her stomach when she recognizes how undeterred he remains.

it leaves her with no desire to ask whether he's certain, whether he's sure, whether he feels it's prudent. he's different, that's all. he isn't some fragile tea-cup, close to shattering. and she won't complain about proceeding gently. ]

I haven't gone anywhere, [ peggy teases. she knows damn well it's not what he'd meant -- but her clearer reply comes in the form of a firm kiss. more direct than his. her mouth claims his for a heartbeat or two. ]

[ it's all wonderfully leisurely, as if they have the entire day. There's nothing rushed or frantic in the way he touches her nor in the way she kisses him. Steve may have longed for this exact proximity but when faced with it, he's quite giddy by how they don't seem to hurry at all. ]

You're a smart-ass.

[ usually this accusation would fit him better and it does but every now and then he feels the need to send it her way, too. He sighs shifts beneath her until he can slip a hand under her blouse, counting the bumps of her spine before he finds the exact same spot between her shoulders. Better. ]

Watch your tongue. [ but she gives her warning in a warm and pleasant tone -- every syllable relaxing. elongating. ] You might want to speak more kindly if you're trying to convince me to stay all week.

[ she won't, of course. less than a day and she'll be stir-crazy. him, too, peggy suspects. but she at least warming up to the 'game' molded around the rest of the week. she traces the edge of her thumb over the more delicate, narrower structure of his cheekbone. but when she kisses him, his lips feel the same. albeit, perhaps, a little cooler. ]

But I missed you too. [ peggy confesses, dragging her mouth away from his and choosing instead to kiss a line down his throat. ]

Yes ma'am.

[ the words are drawled, lazy and happy. He's both pliant and obedient but he thinks that if this passes before they're out of this planet and he would have enough strength to push back and trap her beneath him -it'll be exactly the sort of battle he would favor. ]

Do I stand a chance at all?

[ if he manages to keep her on one spot today he'd be lucky. He catches her hand in his, brings it to his lips yo press a kiss to the knuckles. ]

[ after his kiss, her fingers uncurl and stretch across his cheek. mouth on his throat, she can feel the rumble of his voice -- it, too, is practically unchanged when listened to at such close proximity. ]

A slim one, perhaps.

[ it's a familiar gesture, almost automatic; she splays her fingers and steve leans into the touch, smiling and pressing a kiss to the center of her palm. ]

that's the best news I've heard all week.

[ making slim chances into successes is sort of his legacy, after all. ]

[ she smiles against his collar bone -- thin and evident in his narrow frame. peggy kisses his skin once more before rolling to the left, still within reach, and propping her head up on her hand. ]

It will require a bit of compromise, however.

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help* not he, sigh.

Happens to me all too often :|

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