driftfleet | [open] august starstruck mingle

[ he feels the bite of the razor but says nothing. He watches her with close and keen attention. It's been a while since she had discovered the ring. He let her sleep on it and let it go. What a time to bring this back to the table, indeed. ]

Peggy.

[ honestly to talk logistics of all things. ]

[ his rebuke doesn't bother her. she could have anticipated it -- cool and disappointed, but never quite disappointed enough to make a difference. it's a chiding she's grown accustomed to only since they'd settled into each others' company in the fleet.

it'd never existed before. not for her. ]

Although I imagine you'd prefer a Catholic service. Interminable as they are. [ her momentary slip of composure is smoothed over with a perfectly theatrical frown.

she rinses the razor and sits back -- watching him just as closely. it will be no simple feat to drag an honest response out of her. ]

Currently I'd settle for an alien with a legal jurisdiction.

[ oh so dry. She has a reason, she must have. With some hard work and patience he might yet find out what it is. He doesn't dare to guess, he knows better than that. Instead: ]

It won't have to be a public thing. I've picked that ring for a reason, you know.

I suspected you had.

[ picked it for a reason. and that same reason is, perhaps, why she finds herself still a bit drawn to the piece. the way it matches the pendant (she's wearing it today, in fact) and the way it looks nothing like the ring she'd displayed with such girlish pride after fred had asked her.

peggy shakes her head, but offers no immediate follow-up argument. she won't do his legwork for him. ]

Edited 2017-08-09 14:48 (UTC)

[ she doesn't say much, not yet. Steve reaches for her hand and holds it between two of his. He has his suspicions - he thinks he could guess what's bothering her. But picking up her worries and bringing them to light has never been his way. ]

I love you, that's not going to change. Hadn't changed since we've met. You wouldn't put up with me if it wasn't mutual.

[ not with the amount of crap he put her through, surely. ]

It's been a while now, it's been good. More than. So?

[ it's ludicrous, isn't it? having this conversation while he's still got foam on his cheek and the music hits a melancholy chord in the background. peggy wiggles her fingers between his hands, as if she's nearly a little too cognizant of how close their positioning comes to the act of putting a ring on one of them.

but it's also a little bit sad. hadn't changed since we've met, he says, and she knows that means something altogether different for him -- stuck as he is on the far end of the century. and she considers what she'd seen of him walking through st. luke's with one corner of her casket on his shoulder.

bloody hell. rock and a hard place. ]

So -- so you're not wrong. It's all quite mutual. [ so? ] But my answer is still no. Not that you asked.

Would it help if I will? 'Cause in that case, I'll just push this chair back and we'll do the whole ordeal.

[ he doesn't seem to mind her refusal so terribly, judging by the smile. It's the reasoning he's after. ]

And I might need that towel, too.

[ she openly marvels over his persistence. he's damned dauntless -- always was, and remains as such. it might have been the very first point of interest she'd ever learned about steve rogers: take a gander at the 4fs in this fella's file. peggy had read his file before she ever met him. even then, she'd found him noteworthy. ]

Get down on one knee, if you like. [ peggy counters. ] But it won't magically turn a no into a yes.

[ good lord, she loves him. ]

[ he sighs, accepts his fate. It was a brave attempt, surely. He does, however, smile at her challenge and nods. ]

Alright, then. Is it all gone?

[ the beard. ]

Am I just about according to regulations?

[ and, just like that, he keeps on smiling. were it anyone else -- anyone who might have expressed frustration or impatience -- peggy could see herself digging in her heels.

so she doesn't reply straight away. instead, she eyes him still. despite giving him her no, she also gives him a smile. somehow, already, she knows this won't be the end of it. ]

Nearly. [ peggy grabs for the razor once more -- but that does involve extricating her hand from his grip. ] Hold still.

As still as I can be.

[ he promises, easy as that. He's a too aware of the way she watches him, it makes it so very easy to smile. ]

Okay?

[ it's a tricky questions. He's either asking her if he's still enough or if she's okay or both. ]

[ one's much easier to answer than the other. but peggy doesn't mind the more incisive interpretation. not least of all because she's got a vested interest in making him feel certain there's no hard feelings over the attempt. indeed, she's actually more than a little touched by it -- no matter the refusal. ]

More than. [ okay. she gives what's left of his whiskers a few last scrapes before reaching for the towel and scrubbing him clean. ] It is a well-chosen ring, Steve.

[ he deserves something. ]

I know.

[ his answer is muffled, pressed into the towel as it is. When she pulls it back he rubs a hand over a now clean-shaven chin. ]

I'm very fond of it.

[ he's usually reluctant to accept credit of any kind. The ring is an exception, it would seem. ]

Thank you.

[ she can't help the different quality found in her smile once she sees him shaved once again. familiarity breeds with affection and, in the end, perhaps it's got very little to do with what's regulation and what isn't.

she reaches out to cup his jaw in her palm. ]

Diamonds come off a bit gaudy these days.

[ she might never once have thought so. but two years, in space? between all these metals and radically different aesthetic. a lot of the old ornamentation seems to look overgilded by contrast. that and -- perhaps she's speaking quietly to a more honest reason. why shouldn't we get married, he'd asked.

well -- she'd already nearly gotten married before. it, too, comes off a bit gaudy by contrast. ring and all. ]

[ steve leans into her touch, listens to what she says as well and reads between the lines. He turns his head, he kisses her palm. ]

They have their uses. I suppose if you punch someone, it'd hurt more.

[ it's quiet, it's peaceful. ]

But I wasn't looking for that.

Edited 2017-08-09 17:15 (UTC)

Had you been, [ she counters, ] you might as well have gone down on one knee with brass knuckles instead.

[ who knows. maybe then she might have said yes. ]

Might try that next time.

[ there's an old aura of mischief and stubbornness about him. Of course there will be a next time. Apparently, he's open to suggestions. ]

[ next time. of course -- that confirms exactly the question she's been asking herself ever since their earlier chat on the subject matter. is the subject ever put to bed? evidently not.

she doesn't seem to mind the prospect. ]

Although -- they wouldn't coordinate half so well with my existing collection. [ she thumbs the pendant on her neck. ]

And I'm already too fond of this one to replace it.

[ what an odd conversation to have about an engagement ring with the woman who just said no. still, from his slow smile and the way he watches that pendent glittering, one would he doesn't mind.

he has all but given up on the concept of a complete life, one that includes a personal element and not only duties and roles.

he had waited a long time for things to make sense. now that he has that, he's waiting to wait a little more to officiate it all. ]

[ not so long ago, natasha implied that steve might be wanting to celebrate what he's got. publicly; openly. and peggy can see that urge in him now -- though she thinks there's no harm in denying it a little longer.

they're happy as they are. perhaps if she recognized some dissatisfaction in him she might reconsider her discretion but -- no, for now? they're happy as they are. ]

They look good together. [ she gives him a sliver of something. ] The ring and the necklace.

[ because, yes, she's tried it on. ]

Edited 2017-08-09 19:34 (UTC)

I imagine they must.

[ he can't really know, of course, having never seen them together outside of the box. but she says it with such confidence that it takes another moment for him to put two and two together.

he has an urge to got for a fist pump but he also has a feeling it might not be received favorably. better wait until he's by himself. he smiles and says nothing more than a very meaningful, ]

I'm glad to hear that.

[ she certainly does love watching him piece two scraps of intel together. it takes him a moment -- a little longer than she'd anticipated, frankly, but that might be due to how well she's sold her refusals.

and watching him in the aftermath is something exquisite. ]

I must admit -- your taste is better than I might ever have first anticipated.

[ peggy begins to tidy up. it's a wonderful excuse to avoid looking at his grin before she goes and says anything else. ]

thank you - I think.

[ wait, hold on - ]

How come? My taste has always been just fine.

[ he has, apparently, no idea why anyone would think otherwise. ]

I mean, most people say it's a little old-fashioned, but.

[ he shrugs. can't really blame a fella. ]

I've seen your uniform. The old and the new. [ a smirk, delivered over her shoulder as she shifts the basin and the razor and the used towel to a desk. his desk, yes. ] Someone else might have designed them -- but you're the one who wore them.

[ wore. except! except she's seen him with scissors and fabric and all sorts. so another hook is baited -- and she waits in silence to see if he'll spill beans about what he's been working on locked up by himself. ]

[ steve wince is telling enough. the uso tour uniform was truly hideous. he was simply glad they didn't include that in the exhibit. as for the new one - the new ones - ]

there were others. they kept changing it. it's a good stealth suit.

[ he sighs. well. someone ought to see it. Natasha had only seen a part of her process - it had worried her. he had worried her. he imagined they all thought he'd be back to do it all one day. captain america, the suit and the shield. ]

When I first woke up, they told me they upgraded it. Never thought it might come in handy but - they said the world could use something old fashioned.

[ he says 'they' so he wouldn't have to talk about coulson and his death and his vintage cards. ]

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