driftfleet | April System Mingle

Yeah, yeah I do.

[ tentative, he moves his palm from her side to her back, rubbing circles there as he debates how to explain this. ]

When my mother died, Bucky wanted me to move in with his family, not be on my own. I refused him for days, kept tellin' him I was fine on my own. All them years and it seems I haven't changed that much. Not that good at accepting help.

[ it's easier if it's an OP or a war. Easier as a soldier than it is in his private life. ]

All at once, it felt as though you never had to accept it again.

[ but it's not true. steve had been right, of course -- there had been a time when she'd felt certain that he alone could carry the world on his shoulders. it took jarvis to disabuse her of that notion. ]

I can empathize -- that is, I've never been any sort of super soldier, [ she laughs hollow at the idea. ] But I know what it's like to look a gift horse or two in the mouth.

Edited 2017-04-18 16:08 (UTC)

That was my first mistake.

[ no matter the size, trying to do anything on his own was a mistake. Ending up in another century should have been enough of a lesson. There were people steve needed in his life and they were here now. Learning to accept their help was the best process in the world to go through. ]

Having help to accept, you were right - it's a good thing. About time I learn how to do that.

Quite mature of you, darling -- [ but there is a certain sort of injustice still permeating the conversation. peggy's alluded to her own share of the blame, but she hasn't articulated it quite as humbly as steve has. given the opportunity, she never will. but that doesn't mean she isn't feeling contrite.

she curls her fingers against his nape, dragging her thumb up the back of the neck. ] So perhaps you'll do the proper thing and accept my help in putting those extra blankets to good use.

[ -- blanket fort. she's talking about a blanket fort, so that it can be scratched off the list. though it's entirely possible she's left the interpretation dangerously open. ]

All of 'em? It's not that cold.

[ though it might be, outside. He moves his hands to her arms - no goosebumps. ]

Is it?

Not at all. [ peggy relents, then, and puts enough space between them that they can see one another. plainly. ] I'm not talking about staying warm. The tea'll help with that.

[ you'll be drinking some, won't you? steve? ]

[ it takes another moment before it clicks into place and he smiles. ]

We'll have to move that mattress down. Think they'd mind?

In this instance? [ -- his smile makes her heart flutter. brief, but potent. ] I suspect it will be better to beg forgiveness than ask permission.

Good point. Right. I'll get the right end, you'll get the left.

[ it's said with a bit of a tragic sigh; as embraces go, this one is a really good one. ]

Yessir -- [ a calm, quiet dig. he calls her ma'am often enough. and, on occasion, the reverse is warranted. peggy offers his brow a further kiss before she untangles herself and rolls her sleeves up to the elbows.

she heads to the left and digs her fingers underneath the (thin, really) ranch house mattress. ]

On your count? [ she'll invite him to try a bit of lifting, certainly. but he'll be the one dictating the pace. ]

On three.

[ the real blessing is, steve spent most of his life this way rather than the other, bulkier way. it would be a lie to say he wasn't happy with the change but at lease he remembers functions and limits. there's isn't a count down, only air taken into lungs and - ]

three.

[ thank heavens it's not a thick one. moving it is doable. ]

Have you ever built one of those?

A fort of blankets? Heavens, no. [ said very much in the tone of someone who (under other circumstances) might find the project ridiculous. peggy offers a sharp hup when they lift the mattress, and she takes a step backwards to facilitate their clearing of the bed.

she follows his lead -- anticipating, if she can, where he'd like her to deliver her half. ] Not unless you count constructing a lean-to on the Belgium side of the Ardennes in winter as relevant fort-building experience.

[ oh so slightly sassy. ]

I suppose it has to count, different circumstances and all.

[ he may not have done this in years but it's a rather simple operation, at least. he eyes the space before looking back at the blankets. ]

I think the chairs will have to move and then we can drape those over them at the corners, make it stable.

[ he's rather determined to make her like the blanket fort, thank you very much. ]

[ it underscores the madness of it all: two antiques from the battlefield, now bending their backs to some recreational fort-building. peggy nods her understanding and grabs one of the wing-backed chairs. she hauls it across the wooden floor with a scrape.

a little impish, though, she adds: ] I think I saw a coat rack down the hall. You should go requisition it.

And what will I tell them when they ask why we need it?

[ he unfolds the blankets, tries to think of an excuse. she'd have one, he's pretty sure, a good one, even. ]

-- I've got nothing. Not a damn thing.

[ she'd have a great one. and yet: ] How about you try and take it without being caught, hm?

[ a challenge. she trusts he'll rise to it. ]

You want me to steal their furniture?

[ it's said with nothing short of amusement. in all honesty, it might be useful for the last corner but retrieving things is a job he'd usually give her, seeing he tends to me much more straightforward when he takes jobs like these, a bull in a china shop. ]

If they have me arrested for takin' it, you're the one who'd have to bail me out.

[ he informs her as he heads to the door. ]

Just so long as they don't set your bail too high. I'm not a rich woman, you know -- [ certainly not now that she'd spent much of her account balance on clothes he'll wear for (maybe) a week. ]

I doubt they would. Look at me - I'm harmless.

[ or at least, right now, he looks harmless enough. He'll return with the item in question. ]

Got it.

[ by the time he reenters the room, she's got the second chair in place. more than that, she appears to be lashing one corner of the blanket to its legs while using a pair of stockings from her luggage as rope. ]

Good. [ peggy nods. ] We can put it in the centre, between both chairs, and pitch a blanket over the whole lot. Nudge the mattress towards the left slope. Our own little lean-to.

-- are you using your stockings?

[ he places down the coat hanger before inspecting the knot. ]

Don't you need all of those?

[ but god is he smiling; like it's christmas in july ]

-- If I'm careful enough, they won't ruin.

[ she straightens with a stretch. childish or not, the fort is a project. and she does well with projects, diversions, distractions. peggy swipes a curl off her forehead and steps back to examine the work in progress. ]

Will it do, you think?

I think it'll do just fine. I'll place the hanger and move the mattress. Water should still be hot.

[ for that tea. He hurries to complete the work. After how the day has gone by, he'd take a cup and the chance to hold her for a few good hours. ]

And I'll fasten the other side of our roof, then, shall I?

[ a question, perhaps. but she doesn't wait on any nod or signal to fulfill the suggestion. soon enough, they've erected something that isn't quite unlike a structure fit for a children's snow day. pillows are tossed beneath the draped blankets, one side opens up to the heat of the hearth, and the tea's brewing in the hot water.

it's all very strange and silly. peggy feels (for a moment) like she might be living someone else's life: filled with play and second (third?) chances. rife with forgiveness and love. and when it's done, she lets herself fall back on a pile of cushions. ]

It's a lot of work for something that won't last past morning.

But it is a nice change.

[ comfortable, cozy, a relaxed end to an otherwise hectic, painful day. He passes her a cup, warms his hands around his. ]

You gotta admit, it sure is something.

[ mostly because it's theirs, a result of a painful argument that brought them here - side to side, warm and together. ]

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