driftfleet | April System Mingle

[ a grumble in the back of her throat. he gropes for the silver lining -- and when she squints, certainly, she can see it. one fight in a year. not on disagreement or one flash in the pan or one conflict, 'cause they've had plenty of those. but only one drag-out, teeth bared fight. both of them, spiraling towards their worst. pretty damned decent statistics.

she leans into him -- cheek just above his ear. ] You're lucky I didn't come armed. And no shield on you, this time. Wouldn't that have been bloody tragic.

You like me too much.

[ cheerful and cheeky as you please, he angles his head, kisses her cheek. ]

I am the one who keeps giving you tea.

I'm afraid I have terrible news for you, my darling. [ her torso twists just enough to facilitate her palm dragging gently across his jaw -- finger hooked soft behind his ear. ] You're not the only one who keeps giving me tea.

Better start carrying that shield again.

[ he hums, warm and content and quite happy to accept the risks of her temper and his stubbornness when faced with her love. He likes just about anything on her lips, steve most of the time, Captain when the mood is light and flirty, Rogers every now and again but then there are times like these and she says my darling and steve can melt against her in seconds from how true it rings. It's easily his favorite, inspires him to find her lips, kiss a layer of her lipstick off. ]

Improve my chances.

[ -- so that's what a proper reconciling kiss feels like: a little penitent, a lot grateful. she feels her gratitude match his when she leans in. her hand finds his side (grabs; grips) and she stops herself before she drags him into her lap, although the instinct isn't a subtle one when she pulls and plucks at his waist. greedy, but hesitant.

she tastes red when her lipstick smears. ]

Shut it. [ another kiss. ] It was never about the shield.

Not even a little?

[ there are traces of deep, vibrant red at the corners of his lips but he hardly minds them. He's much happier to concentrate on the insistent tug at his waist. He knows that one, he spends half an hour every morning doing exactly that, trying to tug her back to her place by his side.

A whole other agenda now but he complies rather eagerly, shifting closer, slotting his hips in her lap. All the better to lean in and smudge that lipstick a little more. ]

[ she steadies him in place -- enjoying the novelty of his slighter frame perched above hers. her arms wrap around the small of his back, pinning him where he is. keeping him, although she knows there's little fear of him fleeing. the responsibility is hers, now, to keep her core muscles engaged and to keep them from toppling into a helpless heap. ]

Not one bit.

[ peggy lifts her chin to catch his kiss. ]

You know, it's the one thing I wished they hadn't done when they found me. They cleaned the shield, took down the marks.

[ he made a point to instruct them to leave those three bullet marks on back in the day. ]

I kinda liked having them there.

[ a reminder of a lesson learned, maybe. ]

[ she laughs. why shouldn't she? the concept is laughable. ]

Did you, now? [ truthfully, she can remember those marks most vividly. she can remember the smell of gunsmoke threading through the bunker's stifling below-ground air. ] I'm no psychologist, of course, but I can only imagine that says a great deal about you. And you dare to call me mad.

Only a bit mad.

[ this sort of affectionate proximity always feels necessary but doubly so right now. One fight in nearly a year is not a lot, he had determined, but in the wake of forgiveness and a fear of lost time there is also a need for closeness. Steve presses close, cups her cheeks, thumbs against her cheekbones. ]

In the best possible way.

Well. [ she watches him with eyes that rarely waver. peggy finds her smile pulling at this fingertips -- she kisses the edge of his palm. ] I can do you one better. Quite mad myself, I spent a small fortune on clothing while I was out. You'll have your pick of outfits come the morning.

You went shopping? for me?

[ it would have made more sense if she went shopping for her, small fortune or not at least those would still fit in a week. still, he did spend his entire afternoon trying free sample in a tea shop before spending an insane amount of money on all those tea bags. he's only happy she seems to favor them. ]

--- how did you guess which size to buy?

[ he's actually curious now. ]

I had the help of a rather narrowly-constructed fellow. Another Englishman, actually. He agreed to be something of a clothes horse on your behalf.

Nice of him.

[ he decides not to ask how that conversation went. How does one go about asking another person something like that? Who even knows. ]

And awfully sweet of you.

[ sweet! she grimaces. sweet certainly isn't the sort of rebuke she's been looking for. ]

Don't say so until you've tried them on.

At worst we'll alter them. I'm pretty good at it. A few pins and we'll be good to go.

[ cheerfully ]

That's very sporting of you. [ she braces him in place with a hand on his back -- unwilling to let physics slide him away from her when she reaches for her well-brewed cuppa. peggy drinks deep, grimacing pleasantly through the heat, and then sets the mug on the floor beside her. ]

[ very amused: ]

Are you working around me?

[ he shifts back ]

I can move, you know.

[ her hand tightens against the small of his back -- palm flat, but pressure firm. ]

Don't you dare.

Really?

[ an arched eyebrow. ]

Gotta say it's an interesting reversal of roles.

[ he did make a bit of a career of keeping her within hold. ]

[ role reversal all around, frankly. ]

I think I understand why you do it, now. [ delay her. hamper her. cling on like some over-muscled barnacle. ]

Mmm?

[ he sees an opening and once he does, he hurries to take advantage, pressing a kiss to her jaw and another to her neck. ]

Does that mean I won't have to do it anymore?

[ she turns her head -- opening up the line of her throat to his kisses. the hour's late and the day's been tiring, but peggy finds a burst of happy energy within. ]

I won't make any promises. [ not least of all because she enjoys the challenge he so often presents. ] You'll have to wait and see.

Well, it's still better than you saying no.

[ and isn't that a thought. he rather likes the chase and the struggle but every now and then, a morning with no such objections could be nice. he highly suspects that occurrence would take more than the usual half an hour. a rather appealing notion in itself. ]

Something to consider.

Something to consider.

[ she echoes his words -- thoughtful, then. it might be nice to take a morning and indulge him. peggy thinks about it while working her hands under the shirt he'd altered. her palms were warm against his skin. ]

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