ɪᴄ ᴄᴏɴᴛᴀᴄᴛ

[uprightness]

STEVE ROGERS;

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[uprightness]

I didn't mean to ruin your punching bag but that's not nearly the same as you accidentally botching one of the most important moments of our lives.

[ look at him using her vocabulary. ]

we shouldn't be talking about this anyway.

[ he burrows closer, fully intent on having his cuddles one way or another. ]

[mucked]

Who keeps a ring in a book? It's idiocy. It's -- honestly, I would have thought at least a dash of better discretion would have rubbed off on you by now. You managed to keep your vast array of birthday gifts hidden for weeks; surely, you could have stashed this thing a little more prudently.

[ a rush of words, clearly intended to paint over the way her stomach flip-flops when he calls it one of the most important moments. quite to cross-purposes, she does lead a gentle caress across the line of his jaw and the slope of his neck -- thoughtless affection, almost. ]

[uprightness]

You hate Austen. How was I to know you'd go for that one? Peggy, it's been in there for months and months and you haven't found out.

[ his grumbles turn to a rather content noise at her touch. ]

I thought I was safe.

[mucked]

There's a lesson in that for you. Surely.

[ oh, prim. oh, proper. she chases another happy sound, raking her nails backward into the thick of his hair, cradling his head in her lap. ]

[uprightness]

What lesson is that? I'm rather attached to that ring. I'm not going to get another and hide it in a better spot.

[ ruined wow factor or not, he likes that ring. he hums, arches a bit before settling against her again. ]

[mucked]

I'm not saying you should get another.

[ far from it. ]

But it's a lesson learned in thinking that simply because something has worked for month and months, it'll still work for months more.

[uprightness]

-- if this is you chasing me away from this room, can it wait until morning?

[ dry, dry dry. ]

I'm kinda comfortable where I am.

[mucked]

I invested credits in merging our quarters. You really think I'd just turn around and chase you out of it? [ maybe he shouldn't answer that, though, considering how many people she's chased off in the last month.

she huffs. ] I still maintain that we're not even. Good God, man, this isn't even the first engagement I've ruined. It's not even the second.

[ -- oh, well, crap. ]

[uprightness]

You haven't ruined our engagement.

[ that, at least, is firm and not sleepy at all. he eyes her from where he rests before stretching a bit. ]

but you know, going by your logic - just because we've been unmarried for a year doesn't mean we need to say that way.

[mucked]

-- Our relationship is not a bauble, Steve. [ she snaps back, quite content not to explain anything about the recent engagement she'd wrecked simply by coming to california. ] There's no comparison between the two, nor between the logic governing each.

[ he stretches. she accommodates his movement -- leaning back against the headboard. ]

[uprightness]

you sure about that?

[ he grins a bit, mostly to himself though it's so very present in the lower register of his voice. ]

well in that case you can't compare an accidental torn punching bag to a lost wow factor.

[ just saying. ]

[mucked]

And that's exactly what I woke you up to say: they're not the same. We're not even. Not even close to it.

[ -- but his grin does move her, doesn't it? softens an edge or two. hard not to; she rather likes his smile. ]

[uprightness]

we really aren't.

[ what is this easy agreement? ]

you really owe me, I think.

[mucked]

I think otherwise. [ simple; direct; honest. ] Which leaves the two of us at something of an impasse, darling.

[uprightness]

Seems like.

[ but he nudges her backwards, his head against her middle. ]

we're not really meant to discuss any of this with the glitch going on.

[ he reminds her, again. ]

not a lot of ways out of an impasse, anyway.

[mucked]

I suppose you'd rather I shut it and let you go back to sleep. [ she doesn't sound prepared to -- there's an argument to be picked at, here, and peggy doesn't seem done with it. ]

[uprightness]

I never want you to shut it. I just don't want you to say things you don't want to say either.

[ he pillows his head just above her rib cage, arms wrapped around her again. ]

-- what is it?

[ there's something. he senses it in her tone. ]

[mucked]

[ he asks a question. direct, and unmistakable. something he said he wouldn't do. but maybe a slip can be forgiven. it's late, after all.

and she has been nudging him awake with wild accusations. even so, she frowns. ]

You realize, I hope, that I don't need any 'wow' factor. As you put it. It won't make a difference.

[uprightness]

I know.

[ he smiles and moves to press a kiss just beneath her collarbone. ]

I do. thank you.

[ good lord, he should think of another subject to distract her with but it's late and she's pleasantly warm ]

[mucked]

[ and as he kisses her collarbone, she leans in to kiss the crown of his head. her face stays there, nose nuzzled against his scalp. her arms tighten around him, loose and disengaged until now. it should have been terrifying -- the thought of crossing the boundaries into any important conversation with him while under this influence. but peggy finds him only a constant source of comfort, even when the source of discomfort is also centered on him.

he's a marvel. he's a wonder. and it's an uncharitable thought, but she's left thinking that all other options back home -- although kind and good and capable in their own right -- pale when held against the standard that is him. it's nothing to do with the serum and everything to do with the substance of his character. she pulls him close. ]

For God's sake, don't thank me, that was just another way of saying no.

[ her grip is warm and loving; her words are sharp and argumentative. so it always seems to go. ]

[uprightness]

I realize that, too.

[ but heaven, he's smiling, coaxed by her proximity and her affection and all in all, with this glitch, he's rather glad she said no. he'll get her 'yes' one day and it won't be because of atroma, he's rather stubborn about that. ]

I'll thank you if I want to.

[ stubborn to a fault. ]

[mucked]

Is that so?

[ she prompts -- mildly entertained, and quite awake. she watches his smile from the above-angle. peggy's not certain she's known anyone who could be quite so cheered and endeared by a refusal as him. ]

[uprightness]

That's definitely so.

[ he's an attentive listener to both her words and her heartbeats, tracing shapes above the cotton of her shirt with one thumb. ]

nothing to do about it.

[mucked]

[ a quiet hum, sourced in the back of her throat. thoughtful and biding while she enjoys the weight of him cuddled above her. every touch is a gift. ]

Then I suppose there's nothing left for me to do but say you're welcome. [ ... ] For the time being.

[uprightness]

[ something about her tone makes his smile soften. one day there might yet be a yes and on that day, steve would know his stubbornness regarding the whole thing had paid off. ]

you really need to start waking me up gently, you know. at ninety-nine, elbowing me like this might give me a heart attack.

[ and after a moment - ]

--- better than the gun to my nose, but still.