[ it's not strange to think that she brushed shoulders with individuals who went on to change the very shape of the world -- after all, she'd known even before project rebirth that people like stark and erskine were going to shake the very foundations of the earth. never mind steve rogers.
but her quiet reminiscence is interrupted by tony's final suggestion. fifty shades of grey -- sounds like some sort of lofty philosophical treatise. dull, dull, dull -- oh? groundbreaking, he says. and our intrepid agent carter doesn't have her guard up; she trusts his recommendation entirely, even underlining the title twice as a kind of firm reminder. ]
Better, I hope, than dry robotics textbooks. [ she tears the page out of her sudoku book and folds the page and its book list into thirds. ] Cheers, Tony.
[ so judgmental. or, if it isn't judgment, maybe she's catching a peek at tony's impulse to be part of her life -- a source of something, like knowledge, and therefore honour-bound to turn up his nose at the sources she's gathered for himself.
it's enough to lead peggy to watch him while he walks away. enough to bring her to her feet, tailing him to the other side of the room. her folded piece of paper still pinched between her fingers. ]
I'm afraid not. [ the words are apologetic but the tone hardly is. she's still standing mystified, utterly ignorant of any prank played. ] I don't brew coffee. Nor does my kettle.
[ his lips twitch into a smile. tea, then. he almost wants to say, I can't remember the last time I've had tea only that would be a lie. he can pinpoint the time and the location and the company who forced it on him, as always.
some things don't change. tony stark, for all his faults, deems it natural to make two cups of tea without further fuss. he takes his dark and with no sugar. much like his coffee.
[ she shoots back with a mild smile. peggy's hand wraps around the cup, fingers threading through the handle. the sides are hot (almost unbearably so) but she welcomes the sear. it prompts her to breath in and then breath out. it prompts her to pause a moment before she dares to take a sip.
it doesn't go unnoticed, you know. the way he takes his tea. ]
Do share: what's the second sign? So I can be on the lookout for my worsening condition.
[ there are certain things that tony just knows are fact. lattes and cappuccinos are just the young, unwanted siblings of a good double espresso and green, sweetened, honeyed, teas are all a joke.
he takes a practical, ungraceful sip and takes a seat on a chair this time. there are small miracles in the world, as it happens. ]
[ and peggy, for her part, leans a hip against her roll-top desk. one hand holding the mug and the other cradled lightly below it. ]
Fitz put it together for me. [ she explains. only hesitantly -- they both know she doesn't enjoy talking about other people, her connections, a life she's accidentally building for herself. it seems wrong.
it seems selfish. ]
-- He left it outside my door some time ago. Too skittish to knock, I suppose.
[ there's nothing behind his voice but amusement and perhaps a bit of good-will. he knows he had wronged fitz before. he may not remember it but he never doubted his capacity to ruin other people's lives. still, the kid is smart. tony can appreciate smart.
he hopes to win him back over one day. ]
give me a break. he just knew that if you said thank you and smiled, it'll make him cry.
[ she falls easily into her role as the chiding aunt, reminding him when he starts to colour outside the lines. it's a role she'd spent a long time deflecting -- almost resenting -- but in the end it's not so bad. and, as she'd said to jane on the rooftop, it has turned into something comforting. ]
Skittish, yes. [ her own word after all. ] But he's actually a rather solid operative. From what I can tell.
[ praise she won't easily give the fellow himself, but which she now hints at in someone else's company. it's not the sort of thing she ordinarily says. and maybe she does only because she can hear that good will lurking behind tony's words. ]
[ and that's praise that's rare, as well and one that tony has given fitz before. only because it's fact. only because he misses people who can play the guessing and theorizing game with him.
god, he misses banner something fierce. ]
his mirror threatened to kill me, you know. he's not the biggest drama queen I've ever met but he ranks somewhere in the top five.
Oh, you met the mirror too? [ peggy feels that tug of curiosity -- that want to know, to compare notes. like an itch to open up her desk and pull out her notebook so she can jot it all down. but she tucks it away. for now.
that's the tricky thing about finding family. she can't treat every conversation with tony like it's a professional interview. there's his heart to consider. yes, indeed, she's fairly certain he has one. ] Charming bastard, wasn't he.
[ a hum. she drinks again. ]
But now the question has been raised. Who's cinched the top spot?
[ and that's a good thing. honestly speaking, tony wished he hadn't met loki and the sheer destruction be brought to earth as a result of a whim. ]
Picture a demi-god with an army of aliens and a massive inferiority complex who can't wait to get rid of earth because that's his brother's favorite planet.
[ and that brother is...thor. yes. she's been learning! it hasn't been the simplest feat, but peggy could at least say that she knows what asgard looks like -- thanks to a rather disorienting event that took place the previous year.
it's all greek to her. except she does understand exactly how 'a massive inferiority complex' and 'an army of aliens' could cause all sorts of trouble.
or she likes to think she understands. ]
Sibling rivalry. [ a beat. ] But ratcheted up to its highest setting.
You saw where it ended. remember the fun video from New York? Loki. Thor took him back to be judged for his crimes back in Asgard. super weird.
[ but still the best solution. tony never wanted loki to stay on earth. ]
so he wears a cape, yeah? and these horns whenever he really feels like he wants to make an entrance and then there's all that medieval talk - thou shalt suffer my wrath and all of that. guy's a piece of work.
I'm familiar with Asgardian fashion. Albeit not the horns, although it sounds as though that might be more of his particular dramatic hang-up rather than a whole civilization's.
[ peggy sets her tea cup aside and, crossing over to her dresser, she rummages around in the bottom drawer until she pulls out a cape. it's red, it's too tall to be hers, and it bears a few asgardian flourishes. ]
I acquired this during an event. [ a pause. ] Before you arrived.
-- The food was excellent. The trolls not so much.
[ she drapes the cloak over the back of a chair. ]
Since the event was from our home universe, I forgot something because of it. I've been trying to pin down the word ever since but...well, that's the trouble with something you've forgotten.
[ it's a reasonable idea and at same time, it's not reasonable at all. tony knows there's absolutely no way to write down all his memories - the terms, the people, the knowledge.
but he tries, still. it's an uphill climb if there ever was one. ]
I mean, they'll probably take away the one thing you forgot to write down but still.
[ the chances of nailing down every word, phrase, concept, person is miniature. he can calculate just how small but there's no point in that. there's no way to protect thoughts save for uploading a certain consciousnesses onto the serves and even tony stark can tell it's not a stellar idea. ]
I don't think even FRIDAY can store that much information.
[ she hikes a thumb at her pile of books, disappointing though he's found them. the gesture is only a demonstration. ]
It's been brought to my attention that the word or concept might equally be something I didn't already know in the first place. [ she waves at his poster, next. ] Take, for instance, Iron Man. Obviously it's not that but -- it was something I only learned about after arriving here.
As much as I'd like to know, [ peggy sighs, ] I'd feel better if no one else had to be dragged in just so I could find that elusive little puzzle piece.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
( action. )
[ he has about hundreds of other recommendations to go with. but tony, being tony, hums and ends up saying - ]
you know Fifty Shades of Grey is very important as well. it was written by a British woman, too. groundbreaking.
( action. )
but her quiet reminiscence is interrupted by tony's final suggestion. fifty shades of grey -- sounds like some sort of lofty philosophical treatise. dull, dull, dull -- oh? groundbreaking, he says. and our intrepid agent carter doesn't have her guard up; she trusts his recommendation entirely, even underlining the title twice as a kind of firm reminder. ]
Better, I hope, than dry robotics textbooks. [ she tears the page out of her sudoku book and folds the page and its book list into thirds. ] Cheers, Tony.
[ oh someday there will be a reckoning. ]
( action. )
[ oh so serious, as one has to be when working on a really good prank. tony looks at her shelf and shakes his head. ]
all of them are better than that book over there. just saying.
[ he pushes himself up, grunting as he goes. ]
you really know how to treat your elders.
[ he reaches for the kettle. he never got his - oh wait. ]
please tell me you have coffee. any kind at all.
( action. )
it's enough to lead peggy to watch him while he walks away. enough to bring her to her feet, tailing him to the other side of the room. her folded piece of paper still pinched between her fingers. ]
I'm afraid not. [ the words are apologetic but the tone hardly is. she's still standing mystified, utterly ignorant of any prank played. ] I don't brew coffee. Nor does my kettle.
( action. )
[ his lips twitch into a smile. tea, then. he almost wants to say, I can't remember the last time I've had tea only that would be a lie. he can pinpoint the time and the location and the company who forced it on him, as always.
some things don't change. tony stark, for all his faults, deems it natural to make two cups of tea without further fuss. he takes his dark and with no sugar. much like his coffee.
old habits, once again.
he nudges a cup in her direction. ]
that's the first sign you're turning into me.
( action. )
[ she shoots back with a mild smile. peggy's hand wraps around the cup, fingers threading through the handle. the sides are hot (almost unbearably so) but she welcomes the sear. it prompts her to breath in and then breath out. it prompts her to pause a moment before she dares to take a sip.
it doesn't go unnoticed, you know. the way he takes his tea. ]
Do share: what's the second sign? So I can be on the lookout for my worsening condition.
( action. )
he takes a practical, ungraceful sip and takes a seat on a chair this time. there are small miracles in the world, as it happens. ]
you start talking to them. that's a thing.
[ it's second nature, for him. ]
( action. )
Fitz put it together for me. [ she explains. only hesitantly -- they both know she doesn't enjoy talking about other people, her connections, a life she's accidentally building for herself. it seems wrong.
it seems selfish. ]
-- He left it outside my door some time ago. Too skittish to knock, I suppose.
( action. )
[ there's nothing behind his voice but amusement and perhaps a bit of good-will. he knows he had wronged fitz before. he may not remember it but he never doubted his capacity to ruin other people's lives. still, the kid is smart. tony can appreciate smart.
he hopes to win him back over one day. ]
give me a break. he just knew that if you said thank you and smiled, it'll make him cry.
[ what. the guy's a fan. all shield agents are. ]
( action. )
[ she falls easily into her role as the chiding aunt, reminding him when he starts to colour outside the lines. it's a role she'd spent a long time deflecting -- almost resenting -- but in the end it's not so bad. and, as she'd said to jane on the rooftop, it has turned into something comforting. ]
Skittish, yes. [ her own word after all. ] But he's actually a rather solid operative. From what I can tell.
[ praise she won't easily give the fellow himself, but which she now hints at in someone else's company. it's not the sort of thing she ordinarily says. and maybe she does only because she can hear that good will lurking behind tony's words. ]
( action. )
[ and that's praise that's rare, as well and one that tony has given fitz before. only because it's fact. only because he misses people who can play the guessing and theorizing game with him.
god, he misses banner something fierce. ]
his mirror threatened to kill me, you know. he's not the biggest drama queen I've ever met but he ranks somewhere in the top five.
( action. )
that's the tricky thing about finding family. she can't treat every conversation with tony like it's a professional interview. there's his heart to consider. yes, indeed, she's fairly certain he has one. ] Charming bastard, wasn't he.
[ a hum. she drinks again. ]
But now the question has been raised. Who's cinched the top spot?
[ oh, she's got guesses. ]
( action. )
[ and that's a good thing. honestly speaking, tony wished he hadn't met loki and the sheer destruction be brought to earth as a result of a whim. ]
Picture a demi-god with an army of aliens and a massive inferiority complex who can't wait to get rid of earth because that's his brother's favorite planet.
( action. )
it's all greek to her. except she does understand exactly how 'a massive inferiority complex' and 'an army of aliens' could cause all sorts of trouble.
or she likes to think she understands. ]
Sibling rivalry. [ a beat. ] But ratcheted up to its highest setting.
( action. )
[ but still the best solution. tony never wanted loki to stay on earth. ]
so he wears a cape, yeah? and these horns whenever he really feels like he wants to make an entrance and then there's all that medieval talk - thou shalt suffer my wrath and all of that. guy's a piece of work.
( action. )
I'm familiar with Asgardian fashion. Albeit not the horns, although it sounds as though that might be more of his particular dramatic hang-up rather than a whole civilization's.
[ peggy sets her tea cup aside and, crossing over to her dresser, she rummages around in the bottom drawer until she pulls out a cape. it's red, it's too tall to be hers, and it bears a few asgardian flourishes. ]
I acquired this during an event. [ a pause. ] Before you arrived.
( action. )
[ that's seriously unfair. ]
and you didn't wear horns.
[ oh, the disappointment. ]
( action. )
[ she drapes the cloak over the back of a chair. ]
Since the event was from our home universe, I forgot something because of it. I've been trying to pin down the word ever since but...well, that's the trouble with something you've forgotten.
[ a little unhappy shrug. ]
( action. )
[ it's a reasonable idea and at same time, it's not reasonable at all. tony knows there's absolutely no way to write down all his memories - the terms, the people, the knowledge.
but he tries, still. it's an uphill climb if there ever was one. ]
I mean, they'll probably take away the one thing you forgot to write down but still.
( action. )
[ but-- ]
They haven't done me much good.
( action. )
[ the chances of nailing down every word, phrase, concept, person is miniature. he can calculate just how small but there's no point in that. there's no way to protect thoughts save for uploading a certain consciousnesses onto the serves and even tony stark can tell it's not a stellar idea. ]
I don't think even FRIDAY can store that much information.
( action. )
It's been brought to my attention that the word or concept might equally be something I didn't already know in the first place. [ she waves at his poster, next. ] Take, for instance, Iron Man. Obviously it's not that but -- it was something I only learned about after arriving here.
( action. )
[ ...he'll just have to start planting Iron Man merchandise around the room. Just in case. ]
They keep bringing in new people so whatever it is, it might turn up again
( action. )
( action. )
[ he says not with an accusation but with a little smile. ]
I mean, it would drive me up the wall together with my other 99 problems.
( action. )
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( action. )
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