[ boast, boast, boast. peggy might be paying perfect attention to what he's telling her, but she's also rolling her eyes. right up until he finally marches himself 'round to the point of it all. and what a alright point it is.

she's surrounded by capable technological-types. she could go to any of them for help, for a bit of work, for all of it. but what happens when they leave and she's got no one left to trust? she's got a few gadgets, already, from fitz. and that pretty little gun from mister hunter. what if something happens and those items need repairs and all her people are gone?

so she swallows her pride and reaches for the book. beneath it, there's a simpler introductory engineering text. maybe her eyes were a bit too big for her stomach -- or maybe she's been losing sleep over tony's iron legion. ]

Until I read about them in these books, Tony, then there's no 'getting' the circuit boards and the wires. I don't know it well enough to make the closet generate the stuff.

[ she lets the textbook fall open on her lap. his shoes are forgotten. she pages through a section on forward kinematics, waiting for tony to make his offer -- because although peggy didn't ask for a favour, there's certainly the expectation of one hanging in the air between them. ]