uprightness | ɪᴄ ᴄᴏɴᴛᴀᴄᴛ

Gotta say you kinda do. The hair and the dress - I mean the colors not the -

[ oh boy. Another clearing of the throat before he goes down the lane of utter awkwardness. ]

So.

[ lightly ]

Do I get to be 'sugar' and 'handsome' after today, too?

[ :) ]

[ hand-in-hand, they duck behind the shuttle. peggy leans back against the dusty metal as comfortably as though it were an olive drab jeep. ]

Why? [ ... ] Do you wanna be? You might have to ask real nice.

[ her grammar breaks down; her words are drawled, and pulled long. all part of the easy care-free accent. ]

[ good lord, he can't seem to remember what made him think he could win this little flirting back and forth with her. a tinge of pink catches his ears at the thought of asking peggy real nice for anything.

he hides the pang of shyness behind a chuckle ]

You sound like a film star.

[ they used to have the same way of speaking and the same sort of dazzling glamour of gold hair. he still prefers peggy's more practical elegance to all of this but then -

she told him plenty of what she does but this is sort of the seeing is believing case. ]

[ -- her eyes stay lit, and perhaps some of her persona's playful nature adheres itself to peggy's own personality. or perhaps that nature had always been there, gathering dust during the war. ]

That's not an answer to my question, Captain.

[ he smiles since, it really isn't but then, hidden behind the shuttle as they are, there's no one there to see a man without a fraction being a bit too affectionate with a woman in Moxie colors and more importantly, he'd have to be a planet-sized idiot to do anything less than answer a rather simple question, especially when it's asked like that.

be bold, captain Rogers - and blonde, black haired or redhead, it's still Peggy and so it's still an easy thing to press close to steal a kiss from her, blonde hair and everything. ]

Ma'am, I like to think that's a fairly obvious yes.

[ it's dangerous, really: how she's come to look forward to these stolen kisses. back on board the starstruck, they're careful not to get lost in each other. but right now? peggy feels the cool metal of the shuttle on the back of her head, and she has to press herself against it in order to resist pressing forward. hidden though they are, it's hard not to think they're still somewhat-public.

her fingers tighten on the sleeve of his jacket. ] Well, sugar, [ the accent slips. she clears her throat. ] All you had to do was ask.

[ it's not the safest path to follow, this chased kiss behind a shuttle. mostly because, they're always short, these moments they have together and there is always the instinct to make them far longer if it weren't for the Atroma or any other matter that might in hand. today it's being outside as well as risking Peggy's cover as a Moxie woman gone down the drain.

she doesn't make it entirely easier, either, proper accent in place and all but he just about manages to stay in her personal space but in an appropriate manner. ]

Should I prepare myself for a familiar black-haired girl in the Savvy part of town?

[ at least then he wouldn't gawk at her ]

[ what mental effort it takes not to tear the pinned wig free and toss it aside -- to be herself, again, if only for the pair of them. heat rises to her cheeks, and peggy pointedly lets loose of his arm. ]

Savvy does feel like the better fit. [ she breathes the words more than she speaks them. a telling vulnerably -- one she's eager to squash. ] Not so much for you, of course. But I see you're trying to fit in with none of them.

Never been really good with color coordinating.

[ said with a bit of a grin. it's an excuse, of course but he suspects she can already tell what drove him to put away all these fractions and their politics ]

Figured I'll use the time to try to get those people to talk to each other.

[ he shrugs a bit ]

Hasn't been going that well.

Not everyone can be saved. [ -- the honey-sweet trappings of her persona fall away. ] Least of all from themselves. These people have lived and breathed conflict for so long.

I guess you're right.

[ it's beginning to be more than a little obvious they're not willing to listen. still, he smiles a bit. ]

However long we have, I guess that's the time I got left to keep trying to convince them.

[ perhaps he's too stubbornly idealistic for his own good. ]

Ever the idealist. [ god, she loved him. idealism tempered with good sense. doesn't mean it made him perfect, but she thought it brought him rather close. ]

I wish I knew what would help.

I guess they never heard the concept of united we stand, divided we fall. I want to believe there should be a way to get through to them without them having to figure it out the hard way.

[ somehow, unison was usually achieved in times of great perils, when differences no longer mattered. ]

The thing is if you ask them, I don't think anyone really remembers why they ended up like this to begin with.

[ peggy isn't keen to admit how much of a challenge it is to keep her cool -- to keep herself collected, rational, and pragmatic -- when they still stood so near to one another. still ebbing in the wake of his stolen kiss.

but sensibility reigns. peggy exhales. ] At times, the hard way is the only way someone will learn. You can't force it, otherwise.

No, I can't.

[ an understanding achieved by force is not really understanding. she's right, sometimes the only way to understand is to learn. he isn't sure he can entirely blame these people. after all the wars the world has seen, men still create new ones, after all. ]

I'd like to think there's hope for them. Maybe if we ever visit here again, they'd have come to their senses about this mess.

[ with a hint of a smile ]

and then maybe you wouldn't need to be all -

[ well. ]

Angie, to be out and about.

Perhaps. And then I could retire the wig, hm?

At least until next time - you know, I barely recognized you.

[ lord help him if he stood there gawking at someone who only looked like her. ]

[ oh bless you steve rogers. peggy purses her lips. ]

That's rather the point of a disguise, isn't it?

I guess it must be. I guess seeing is believing.

[ but then, this is more than just blonde hair. he never quite saw someone change personalities so fast except for Natasha and at least she sounded the same. ]

You know, I wish I could take a leaf out of your book. The most I got for a costume were sunglasses.

You're striking. It would be hard to mistake you -- [ sunglasses or no sunglasses. but peggy raises an arm and makes a point to muss his hair. ] Even so, it could be done. One would only have to take a bit of polish off the star.

[ cue confusion ]

You're striking and still I almost mistook you.

[ still, he smiles and ducks his head as she reaches for his hair, straightening up a moment afterwards. ]

Well? any difference?

Not enough to hide the man beneath. [ her fingers linger for a moment against his scalp before she draws back, denying herself the temptation to brace her thumb and pointer finger against his jaw. ] But if you grew a beard? Maybe that would do it. Hypothetically.

[ she rather likes him clean shaven, however. not that she's about to admit so. ]

ɪᴄ ᴄᴏɴᴛᴀᴄᴛ

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