uprightness | ɪᴄ ᴄᴏɴᴛᴀᴄᴛ

Steve?

[ she dispenses with the whispering. he's awake. surely, he must be awake. peggy decides that he moved too quickly and with too much conviction to be still slumbering. so she sighs and grips his wrist gently with her fingers and considers how to extricate herself from his bullheaded little trap. ]

Steve, we can't be doing this every morning. [ her gaze shifts leftward as if she thought she could catch sight of him in the peripheries of her vision. back at the hotel, it had been endearing. deeply so -- and she'd made the mistake of giving into his bargaining and sweet little requests with too much ease. the man's gone and assumed he can get away with it, now: eating up her morning hours with his face nuzzled against the back of her neck. and if pressed she would admit how she enjoys his warm breath on her skin.

but it doesn't change the fact that it's morning. a sort of restlessness settles into her bones. peggy makes another attempt to pull herself out from under his arm -- holding tight onto his wrist while she tries to wriggle away. ]

Dunno what you mean.

[ it's mumbled rather than said outright, he settles his chin at the crook of her neck and hums, evidently pleased with himself. they're precious moments, the ones he manages to steal away; at the wake of the battle, the days have become busier and this, here, is the most he'll have until night time as far as proximity goes.

he steals them with a quiet sort of determination. he doesn't have to do much, simply remain unyielding for a little while longer. ]

Playing dumb is hardly an attractive trait -- [ she huffs. it can't be helped, however, when his breath on her neck catches her off-guard and she tilts her head back. yielding. objectively, she understands why he does it, why he makes every morning a fresh battle, and there's a part of her that's pleased that he does. it's no crime to want to make the most of what they have. peggy's made her peace with that philosophy.

but she's a busybody. lying in bed doing nothing but snuggling or being snuggled doesn't sit well with her. she squirms again, but this time she turns to face her 'sleeping' obstacle. ] I've got things to do, you know.

[ they're small, short-lived victories. she tilts her head and he nuzzles closer, places a small kiss against her neck. but as soon as he begins settling in she's already moving again and he grunts, adjusts his grasp so she can turn. ]

-- training - repairs - I know.

[ but he opens his eyes, looks at her and smiles, somewhat sleepy and mostly in love and it seems like turning was a bit of a mistake because the next moment he pulls her close, cups her cheek and kisses the corner of her mouth. ]

in a minute.

[ or fifteen. ]

An actual minute? [ she challenges him -- barely an inch away from his face. she can feel the flat of his hand on her back and how snugly he keeps her in a tangle with him. it's a lovely tangle, really, and she'd be a liar if she said it wasn't tempting to stay. ] Or one of those funny little Steve Rogers Minutes that seem to drag on and on until he's kept me here for nearly half an hour?

turning around might have been a mistake, but at least now she gets to stare him down. ]

Half 'n hour sounds good.

[ and he treats it like an offer or otherwise an invitation, settling against her and trying to go back to sleep. his fingers rub circles on her back though he already knows there is little use in trying to coax her to go back to sleep. Peggy's stubborn but it's a good thing, he's just as stubborn otherwise they'd be out of bed by now.

easy as that, he hums and makes himself comfortable. ]

You're impossible -- [ she complains, even as her breathing slows with the soft steady circles traced against her back. damn him, peggy thinks. she can resist a great many things but steve rogers is fast becoming one of the toughest temptations to beat.

she gives ground when she presses a light and indulgent kiss against the bridge of her nose. ] How could I have ever allowed myself to appoint such a lazy First Mate?

You're the one who trained me.

[ he reminds her, a breath away from where she lays. He's looking at her again, a shade more intensely now. He has lost and found and lost and found her again; different timelines and places so having her here now, affectionate and scolding and terribly close, it's unraveling. ]

So you must've known what you were doing.

I was duped. [ she sighs -- drama thick like a good toast spread. peggy cards her fingers through his hair. a gentle touch that likely does too much to prove her chiding has no teeth to it. ] Blinded by a pretty face. Won't be making that mistake again.

Blinded?

[ laughter, low and gruff, soon turns into a deep sigh at her touch. His palm comes to a rest at the small of her back; it's a quiet, intimate little moment and honestly, who can blame for liking those a bit too much? ]

Dunno, I think it might be too late.

It's never too late. [ she sighs. this would be a lot easier if she loved him a little less. ] I'll have you demoted. Insubordination. Obstruction of duty. Peeving off a superior officer.

[ she lists his sins and plants a palm against his chest. her thumb first caresses the line of his solar plexus -- but then she gives him a small nudge. ] You can't keep me here all day.

No, you won't.

[ there is a noise of complaint and the moves, not off her but rather over, trapping her beneath him. He has that smile again, the boyish kind she so very often coaxes from him without even intending to. ]

Not all day.

[ the change in position forces her to look up at him. there's something primal and compelling in this new vantage point -- and in the way she understands he's only a small exertion of gravity away from pinning her on place. their sparring match in the cargo bay springs to mind. peggy suppresses a smile. ]

Just most of it. [ she grumbles. ] And that's not an invitation, either.

It isn't?

[ ah, caught.. well, the same thing can't work twice in one morning. still, it's a nice thought to entertain, staying here like this for the most of any day. ]

Well, I did get that half an hour. It hasn't even been ten minutes.

[ he has a whole twenty left, that's plenty. he's getting better at this. ]

Alright. [ she relents -- much to her paired delight and dismay. ] Twenty minutes. That's all you've got.

[ peggy waves her white flag with conditions. she'll stay a little longer, but under the hopeful notion that he won't pitch another negotiation in twenty minutes' time. (or perhaps she hopes he does -- there's something compelling in this silly bargaining, though she's not keen to admit so.)

she settles her hands against his waist and, still beneath him, watches his eyes with rapt attention. ]

Don't squander it.

No, ma'am.

[ it'll all start over again once those twenty minutes come to an end. it's a never-ending cycle - at the end of any portion of time she'd give him, be it minutes or hours, he would always try and steal a few more. it'll never really be enough. it's funny, during the war they spent most of their time as captain america and agent carter; here, she is a captain and he is her first mate but the time spent here belongs to steve and peggy, devoid of titles and roles.

he makes good on her order, pressing their foreheads together before he steals a kiss from her, sweet and lingering. ]

good morning.

[ it is, indeed, a lazy greeting if there ever was one. ]

[ she wants to warn him that the morning's goodness is drastically reduced by the drop in productivity -- but she'd gifted him this 'half hour' and if she starts to quibble, he'll only find ground from which to bargain for more time. so, instead, she indulges him his kiss -- chin lifting so she can adequately capture his lips with hers. if she can't be productive outside her quarters, then she'll at least do a damn fine job of this. ]

-- Sleep well?

[ whispered in the space also reserved for catching her breath between kisses. ]

Yeah, you know it's weird.

[ and he sounds so serious about this, as if he's going to tell her the oddest of things that just dawned on him. ]

I sleep a lot better these last couple of weeks. Can't imagine why.

[ why, indeed. ]

Weird -- [ she echoes. although there's the natural inclination to make light of this fresh development, peggy has to admit there's something charming in how he finds a measure of peace in her company. it's a fresh feeling. and she's quite certain no one else before him has ever considered her a relaxing force. for so much of her career, she's been quite the opposite: the thorn in someone's side; the inconvenience thrust upon a department; the voice that won't shut up in every argument worth having.

but steve's been all those things to other people, she realizes. he's just as inconvenient as she can be. maybe that's why this works.

peggy pats his side the way one might appreciately pat the flank of a horse. ] It must be on account of your advanced years. I hear the elderly like to sleep an awful lot.

Have I told you lately you're hilarious?

[ dryly muttered against her t-shirt. elderly, honestly. he arches both eyebrows at her, settled above her as he is. ]

You know, they also have an issue with moving and getting outta bed.

[ hinting that perhaps he won't be so obliged to move away when his time is up.

due to old age, of course. ]

All the more reason for me to quit the bed, I think. [ she stretches -- comfortable, perhaps, with their bodies press. ] I'd hate to stay and tax your system. Deprive you of your beauty sleep.

It'll be a disservice to this entire crew - placing their first mate under duress.

[ he moves up until he's stretched above her, foreheads touching. He kisses her cheek, nose bumping against hers. ]

My beauty sleep?

Yes. Your beauty sleep. [ but then his face is tantalizingly near hers, and she turns her head away. ] -- Ah, no, at least let me go clean my teeth.

[ he makes a sound that's remarkably close to a grunt. ]

'm not falling for that again.

[ instead, his lips find a spot just beneath her ear and another at the back of her neck. ]

Tried that last week - you never came back.

[ worth a try! peggy bites down on a happy sigh -- but there's not much she can do about the way she shivers under his kisses. and maybe, just maybe, she stops thinking about the clock so much. ]

Then maybe you ought to go clean yours. Gargle a bit of mouthwash.

ɪᴄ ᴄᴏɴᴛᴀᴄᴛ

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