everybody's starstruck in june.

[mucked]

Who: starstruck crew & visitors
Broadcast: n/a
Action: aboard the ship
When: june

[ another month; another mingle. but there are changes in the air! the starstruck has some fresh crew to boast of, as well as a spiffing new lounge. things have been difficult, lately -- the common area might make for a great place to decompress and socialize with your fellow starstruckers.

after all, it seems the captain's gone and requisitioned max's record player. for the first week in june, it'll be returned again and again to the new lounge. good luck hiding it from her, rockatanksy.

ready steady go! ]

Comments

[uprightness]

You know, that doesn't even make any sense. A person can't distract themselves, Peggy -

[ it's outraged and enamored. she takes his accusation and raises the stakes and he chuckles. yes, alright, point made and he's rather content with her where she is. ]

Is this how I'm gonna learn?

[ because if it is, he could grow used to it. ]

[mucked]

Not at all; this is terrible dancing.

[ but it's lovely for a brace of other reasons -- ones she makes quite clear when she nestles near and grips his hand in hers. they turn, lazy and beatless, and they don't need the music to make the rules for them. ]

Don't learn anything from this.

[uprightness]

Really? I was kinda hoping this might be what it's all about.

[ and maybe in another way, it is. his fingers spread at the small of her back, his thumb draws shapes across her knuckles. surely there's nothing else to dancing or else, surely dancing can't be better than this. ]

You sure?

[mucked]

Positive as pie.

[ she's danced. danced aplenty, and more than just here in the fleet. such skills come easily to her; steve isn't the only one who picks up lessons quickly. then again, peggy doesn't much mind this. ]

You'd best learn the proper steps. You can't go dancing like this with anyone.

[ because dances like this are hers, now. ]

[uprightness]

I'm not so sure that I want to dance with just anyone.

[ he had avoided it so far. Dancing is something that was very rarely done with anyone else. It's so closely connected to her. ]

[mucked]

You dance. [ she huffs, quietly indignant against his shoulder. ] Don't pretend you didn't take Natasha for a turn 'round the floor at the party. Or, if not that time, then certainly at Halloween.

[ she notices these things. how could she not? point is, she's not shooting at him for it. ]

[uprightness]

Two times. One and a half, really.

[ it wasn't around the floor, good lord. ]

That's hardly a habit.

[mucked]

-- I think in dancing, you round up. [ so two times, you weirdo trying to suggest that a half-dance is a thing. it's not a thing. ]

And what do you do when you dance with her? Screw your eyes shut and pray you don't step on her toes?

[ oh this sort of teasing ends well for no one. ]

[uprightness]

Usually I try not to while she pokes fun of me. It seems to work.

[ he hadn't stepped on her toes but at same time, Nat had deemed him in need of her lessons. ]

[mucked]

I suspect you needn't have to try. Her toes are probably capable of avoiding your steps altogether; she's a rather adept dancer.

[ -- peggy's turned the floor a few times with her, herself, after all. ]

[uprightness]

So are you.

[ but she's right. It's a whole other kind of dancing between the two of them. He bends down, gently knocking his nose against her in lieu of a kiss. ]

I'm much more nervous around you, though.

[mucked]

-- I hope you don't mean that as a compliment

[ shite compliment, in the end. but she's smiling; she must not mean anything too critical by saying so. ]

[uprightness]

I kinda do.

[ but if she's going to judge him for it, well then! ]

I can give you a few, better ones, if you want.

[ a few, he says ]

[mucked]

[ -- she laughs. it shouldn't be a day for laughter. shouldn't even be the bloody month for it. but she does, and she cradles herself nearer to him as the first side of the record comes to and end and the needle skips over nothing but silence.

she could break their dance and flip the record, but she doesn't dare let him go. ]

What sort of person would I be if I asked for praise? [ peggy shakes her head. ] I'll make do.

[uprightness]

[ it takes him a moment to notice the music had stopped. Their embrace stays as it is, steve moves a hand up her back and over her shoulder, tugging on a curl and settling behind her neck, caressing the soft skin there. ]

What if I simply give it?

[ there is no music but he moves anyway. One arm behind her neck, the other moving to her back as he dips her backwards. It is a dance, after all. He could give her countless of compliments; tell her she's beautiful and fierce and endlessly good to him. Instead, he kisses her cheek, soft and sweet. my best girl is whispered against her skin, all the other words are contained between these three. ]

[mucked]

[ a dip. he catches her wonderfully off-guard, and it shows in the slight widening of her pupils. peggy is stiff at first; after a beat, she relaxes into his grip. his arms are easy things to trust. there's not a smudge of doubt in her bones as to whether he can support her -- effortlessly -- as she leans backward.

he whispers what she'd half-expected him to whisper. and from anyone else, those words would earn her ire. steve gets away with it. scott-bloody-free. except, perhaps, for the way she eyes him when they're upright once more.

her breath catches. ]

-- I'm sorry, what was that about you being nervous? [ crikey. in moments like these, he felt anything but. ] That's not the 'move' of a nervous man.

[uprightness]

Well, you know what they say.

[ maybe it's the breathless quality to her voice or the way she looks at him but he's looking pretty happy with himself. one might say he's even boarding on smug. he doesn't get these things right nearly as often. his shrug is both dismissive and pleased. ]

You gotta face the music.