driftfleet | [open] august starstruck mingle

[ 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. ]

[ they. oh, how she's come to resent this concept of a they. whoever they are, whatever their interest in captain america's cult of personality, she can't much abide by 'their' counsel.

but she watches the wince and decides to proceed carefully. ]

There's nothing stealthy about a star emblazoned on your chest.

I guess they needed a symbol, the world needed hope.

[ and captain america was apparently better at installing hope in the hearts of men than iron man or the hulk. he gets up, walks to his closet and brings it out. the star they spoke about is gone, the stripes as well. the colors are all dyed over. it's the same stealth suit, surely. only different, black and lacking the symbols of his legacy. ]

But you're right.

[ nothing too stealthy about it. ]

[ they needed a symbol. but what did steve need? her lips purse, but she keeps her peace as best she could.

instead, peggy invests her attention into the modified uniform. a bit dark, yes, but utterly tactical. there is a kind of warm nostalgia to the stars and the stripes, but that's exactly why she finds it so galling. steve shouldn't have to carry the weight of america's halcyon days on his shoulders. he's a man; he's not a symbol. ]

-- Show me.

[ she nods toward the suit as she makes her demand. she wants to see it on him. ]

[ steve understand one simple truth. whatever he does now, with this suit, would be his own. the days of captain america have finally come to an end. a man and not a symbol, that's one hell of a new way to live.

her words snap him out of it rather quickly. he looks at her, arches an eyebrow. surely, she'd seen it. well not exactly in its current colors but.

but, in the end, it wasn't a request. there's something terribly enticing when she forms her demand, he obliges her before he realizes it. it's a quick process. to many others, the suit is a maze of clasps but steve knows it all to well after so many years. slipping it on is as simple as discarding civilian clothing ( pulling his shirt off by the collar, stepping out of his trousers, attending to all the clasps ). it's a minute or two and the job is done. ]

well?

[ well obviously she must have an opinion. ]

[ for a heartbeat -- just a heartbeat -- she thinks he might refuse her. she think she might have pressed him a foot too far: the beard, the ring, the costume. she's ever and always waiting for that moment where she asks for too much and he refuses. heaven knows, it's overdue. but she keeps pushing boundaries and he keeps obliging her.

so she leans back against the corner of his desk and watches him oblige. it's no rare sight; it isn't as though he doesn't get changed for the day or for the night with some frequency within the confines of their shared room. but this time, it's different. this time, she watches without hesitation.

and she wonders just how tricky those clasps might be in fingers that aren't so accustomed to doing and undoing them. her fingers twitch at the thought. ]

Striking. [ indeed, she admires him unabashedly. ] But now I'm trying to picture how it might have looked had you kept the beard.

[ she can't let him down easy, it seems. at least not if her impish smile is anything to go by. ]

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