No need to thank me. [ she lowers her mug, committing it to the table for a moment. her attention drinks him in -- from his hesitation to the book in his hand. there's a great deal she can guess at when she sees a spine adorned by a title like that, but peggy doesn't go straight for the obvious question.
she pockets her network device. perhaps she'd been perusing it over tea -- nothing dedicated, nothing involved. her smile stays cordial. ] But you're welcome all the same.
[ welcome to sit, too, if he likes. though she only signals so with a small tilt of her head in the direction of an empty chair. ]
[ Peggy Carter is inviting him to sit down for tea. That's intense. That's just about earth-shattering. He nods firmly though, determined to stay cool. And she doesn't seem in much of a rush, so he'll go through the tea-preparing motions at a pace he hopes is normal, eventually sliding down into the seat she indicated for him. He's brought a ton of biscuits along with him, which he'll slide between them in case she'd care for one. ]
Bit cold lately, yeah? I'm always fascinated by the ways season change is simulated here.
[ oh, she is absolutely helping herself to a biscuit or five. she cards her fingers between the stack, selecting some for herself and piling them tidily beside her mug. it's a devastatingly earnest gesture -- and she relishes the way the first one softens after a quick dunk in the tea. ]
This is the first real change of season I've been here to witness -- late spring to early summer being a far gentler one. [ ... ] Not that I doubt the science, but what makes everyone so certain it's simulated?
[ early on, ray had tried to explain it to her -- but she'd been fresh and distracted and angry. and now she wants to know what she should be watching for, if anything. maybe it's not as simple as that. ]
[ He feels a flash of pride as she dunks her first biscuit. Jemma scolds him terribly for his dunking habits. But how can it be wrong if it's the way Peggy Carter chooses to take her tea?]
It's got much to do with the size and shape of this dimension. It's possible to explore it end to end within the span of a day. That's hardly the sort of space necessary to sustain a natural ecosystem.
[ a person should never model their table manners after peggy carter. fact. it's a miracle she doesn't chew with her mouth open. but, thankfully for all of us, there are some lines drawn in the sand.
-- but there's a little more art to her conversation than to her eating. she tosses a question out like a litmus test: ] Mind if I ask another layman's question? How exactly do we know that the dimension ends where we think it does? Could it not be bigger but -- walled in, say?
[ she's less interested in the answer than she is in fitz's patience for the question. ]
[ if there's any reluctance to her question, it's inherent in the
presentation of something that requires lay accessibility. He hates
translating for laypeople. Why can't they all just understand common
language? It shouldn't be as challenging as they all seem to think it is.
Obvious things are obvious. He'll just reply to her the same way he'd reply
to anyone and backpedal if she seems lost. ]
If course it's possible that we're being held prisoner in a much larger
space, but the authorities on magical spaces seem to agree that the
possibility seems less likely than the more commonly accepted one. I'd
recommend meeting with Alphys on the issue if you've got the chance -- hard
to miss her, really. She's reptilian, and quite orange. [ This is a
weird place.
He'll dunk a biscuit of his own before continuing, emboldened by her
ease. ]
[ quite orange, he says. as opposed to what? only a little orange? peggy's cheeks puff out at the detail, but she doesn't comment. but nor does she seem lost -- of course, fitz has said nothing too disorienting just yet. ]
You did. [ she licks a crumb off the edge of her finger -- without grace and without design. honestly, she just wants the crumb. ] Or, rather, you brought up the weather. And you're right. It's getting colder. I had to closet myself a wool coat last week.
[ more validation, then. Jemma would smack his hand away if he'd attempted such a maneuver. And here it is, Peggy Carter approved. He's going to enjoy rubbing this in his girlfriend's face later. ]
It's true that we're at a peculiar advantage against the weather, but the pantomime itself is so unnecessary.
Oh, but I suppose I did bring it up, didn't I? I know it isn't the most creative topic, it's true...
[ it might be a blessing how ignorant she is of his inner workings -- of the very thought that her thoughtless actions, just now, with her tea and biscuits should ever prove itself conversation fodder for fitz and his sweetheart. the very notion might have actually managed to turn her self-conscious. for once. ]
But it'll do to break the ice. [ she indulges a moment. peggy toys with the top biscuit, very near to dunking another. ] So to speak.
[ and maybe she feels a twinge of guilt for letting him think he dictates the discussion's meandering path. it's not that she wants to deceive him, exactly, but rather that she knows they might both of them need a bridge between what happened during the event and what she's keen to ask him. ]
And as for creative topics? Well. The mansion gives us plenty of those. [ ... ] So I won't begrudge you an uncreative one or two.
[At that he smiles, a shade too eagerly. She's staying open to this. She's not closing off. He's managing to do something social outside the usual "beers after work" setting. The chats with Klaus must be paying off.]
That's nice of you. Especially that you'd want to talk to me at all, given... Well.
Rest assured, Fitz, that I don't hold you responsible for what was said when we last spoke.
[ what was done, however. peggy understands that the hug was his choice -- but as uncomfortable as it might have been, she isn't about to crucify the fellow for it. it was (by far and large) one of the event's less painful moments. hell, after her interaction with romanoff she perhaps could have used a second hug. ]
Or, more accurately, what was heard.
[ what she'd divulged, quite unintentionally, about the state of her heart. ]
Although I'll thank you not to talk about it now.
[ she might be here to try to catch more flies with honey, but she can't at least a bit of vinegar in her voice come this last admonishment. ]
It's quite appreciated, Ma'am. And -- of course we don't have to.
[They don't need to weigh themselves down with the sorts of discussions that ultimately lead nowhere. He shouldn't be burdening her with the failures of the future. It's unkind.]
I'm glad you like the biscuits. [He'll try to shift the conversation in a safer direction.] They're my mum's favorite. [Oh wait..] -- Not that that's a way of calling you old -- I just. It's. [He gestures absently, self-conscious about saying something worse.]
Of course not. [ she cuts him loose from that implication. ] I'll cop to likely coming across as rather -- outdated, I imagine. In the eyes of most.
[ she reaches for another biscuit, twirling it idly between her fingertips before it too gets a dunk. just long enough for the water and heat to make the sweet soggy before she (none too gingerly) takes her bite. chews. swallows. ]
And although it stung considerably during my first few weeks in Wonderland, I've tried to make my peace with it.
[ -- she could talk about the howlies. she could talk, too, about what's legitimately helped her adjust to her circumstances. she could gripe about the people who make her feel the most displaced, as though dust still collects on her shoulders and she's only just been brought out of storage.
alternatively, she could offer reserved praise for the rare few who help mitigate it. but unlike last time, peggy isn't penned in to speak too honestly. ]
It's helped to know it doesn't all go to pot. I won't complain about the convenience of an electric kettle. And not every bit of music I've heard from the future has sounded like only noise.
[ it's not a lie, no, but it's nor is it the best answer for his question. fitz asked about what's helped, and she's not certain she can share those details with him. ]
[ it might not be the most complete answer, but it seems to satisfy him. It's the sort of answer his mum would provide, but briskly and while in the middle of shoving him out of the kitchen so she'll have a moment of peace from his incessant questions. ]
When I think about the way I hope the future will be, I always think in terms of automation. I'd like to think that the human condition will have advanced. That we'll have gotten rid of some illnesses without replacing them with new ones. That... Maybe everything we're working for might pay off someday. Seems like your expectations are more realistic.
[ peggy doesn't want to be a cynic. quite the opposite, really. but cynicism has taken root in her all the same. maybe the war had something to do with it -- or maybe it's because of the first time she lost steve and the subsequent avalanche of losses. to climb so high only to be knocked down again. what progress was there in the years following the war, when working women became somehow disposable? the soldiers wanted their jobs back. one step forward, two steps back -- but retreat wasn't easy. not now that so many more of them had a taste.
but fitz is looking bright-eyed and hopefully toward a very different kind of progress, she thinks. peggy allows herself a slight smile. and the next sip of tea she takes has turned sweet from the biscuit crumbs swimming in it. ]
Even the smallest of dreams need a bit of ballast. [ and if it sounds as though she just might maybe be offering to be that ballast for him, then it's because she absolutely is. it's a terribly important step in her larger design for this conversation. ] So it only stands to reason than larger ones would need some too.
[ he nods, and dunks a biscuit of his own, leaving it in the liquid until it begins to start to dissolve entirely, with just enough time to lift it from the tea and drop it into his mouth. ]
I could build you a more modern tea kettle if you'd like. Customizable temperatures,support for infusion cups and ratios for creams and sugar. The science has been quite extensive in kettle gadgetry.
I fear the bells and whistles would be wasted on me. [ which is near to saying she appreciated the offer, lovely as it is, but it's not as though she takes either cream or sugar in her tea. and she doesn't intend to have enough visitors dropping by to prepare for either eventuality.
she crinkles her nose. ] All I need is water heated quickly. Surely, you must have better projects where your time and cleverness can be spent.
[ a laserpen. oh, but that sounds intriguing! but by the beat of his answer, she suspects her curiosity won't be best placed in that quarter. instead, she's left weighing the advantages and disadvantages of refusing his offer a second time.
good god, though, he seems keen... ]
Nothing too wild. [ sharpish. awkward, as though she's not the best at settling for favours. ] As I said: water heated quickly. And don't you dare make it a priority.
[ they've only been semi-stalking her since her arrival. It was bound to come up eventually. ]
My project load is in a bit of a rut at the moment. As much as I'd like to install some reasonable security measures to tend to our lab's theft problem, I'm told that would infringe on some arbitrary creed about keeping knowledge accessible or some rubbish like that. [ his eyes roll. Civilians. ]
[ she may have procured this conversation with a particular mission in mind -- but peggy's not always intractable. if she sees a path worth following, she will damn well follow it.
she leans forward. ]
Someone's been stealing from your lab? [ it could be harmless, she supposes. or it could be the very opposite thereof. ] What's been taken?
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she pockets her network device. perhaps she'd been perusing it over tea -- nothing dedicated, nothing involved. her smile stays cordial. ] But you're welcome all the same.
[ welcome to sit, too, if he likes. though she only signals so with a small tilt of her head in the direction of an empty chair. ]
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Bit cold lately, yeah? I'm always fascinated by the ways season change is simulated here.
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This is the first real change of season I've been here to witness -- late spring to early summer being a far gentler one. [ ... ] Not that I doubt the science, but what makes everyone so certain it's simulated?
[ early on, ray had tried to explain it to her -- but she'd been fresh and distracted and angry. and now she wants to know what she should be watching for, if anything. maybe it's not as simple as that. ]
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It's got much to do with the size and shape of this dimension. It's possible to explore it end to end within the span of a day. That's hardly the sort of space necessary to sustain a natural ecosystem.
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-- but there's a little more art to her conversation than to her eating. she tosses a question out like a litmus test: ] Mind if I ask another layman's question? How exactly do we know that the dimension ends where we think it does? Could it not be bigger but -- walled in, say?
[ she's less interested in the answer than she is in fitz's patience for the question. ]
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[ if there's any reluctance to her question, it's inherent in the presentation of something that requires lay accessibility. He hates translating for laypeople. Why can't they all just understand common language? It shouldn't be as challenging as they all seem to think it is. Obvious things are obvious. He'll just reply to her the same way he'd reply to anyone and backpedal if she seems lost. ]
If course it's possible that we're being held prisoner in a much larger space, but the authorities on magical spaces seem to agree that the possibility seems less likely than the more commonly accepted one. I'd recommend meeting with Alphys on the issue if you've got the chance -- hard to miss her, really. She's reptilian, and quite orange. [ This is a weird place.
He'll dunk a biscuit of his own before continuing, emboldened by her ease. ]
What brings this up?
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You did. [ she licks a crumb off the edge of her finger -- without grace and without design. honestly, she just wants the crumb. ] Or, rather, you brought up the weather. And you're right. It's getting colder. I had to closet myself a wool coat last week.
[ she eases off. just a touch. ]
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It's true that we're at a peculiar advantage against the weather, but the pantomime itself is so unnecessary.
Oh, but I suppose I did bring it up, didn't I? I know it isn't the most creative topic, it's true...
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But it'll do to break the ice. [ she indulges a moment. peggy toys with the top biscuit, very near to dunking another. ] So to speak.
[ and maybe she feels a twinge of guilt for letting him think he dictates the discussion's meandering path. it's not that she wants to deceive him, exactly, but rather that she knows they might both of them need a bridge between what happened during the event and what she's keen to ask him. ]
And as for creative topics? Well. The mansion gives us plenty of those. [ ... ] So I won't begrudge you an uncreative one or two.
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That's nice of you. Especially that you'd want to talk to me at all, given... Well.
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[ what was done, however. peggy understands that the hug was his choice -- but as uncomfortable as it might have been, she isn't about to crucify the fellow for it. it was (by far and large) one of the event's less painful moments. hell, after her interaction with romanoff she perhaps could have used a second hug. ]
Or, more accurately, what was heard.
[ what she'd divulged, quite unintentionally, about the state of her heart. ]
Although I'll thank you not to talk about it now.
[ she might be here to try to catch more flies with honey, but she can't at least a bit of vinegar in her voice come this last admonishment. ]
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[They don't need to weigh themselves down with the sorts of discussions that ultimately lead nowhere. He shouldn't be burdening her with the failures of the future. It's unkind.]
I'm glad you like the biscuits. [He'll try to shift the conversation in a safer direction.] They're my mum's favorite. [Oh wait..] -- Not that that's a way of calling you old -- I just. It's. [He gestures absently, self-conscious about saying something worse.]
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[ she reaches for another biscuit, twirling it idly between her fingertips before it too gets a dunk. just long enough for the water and heat to make the sweet soggy before she (none too gingerly) takes her bite. chews. swallows. ]
And although it stung considerably during my first few weeks in Wonderland, I've tried to make my peace with it.
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Is there anything you've seen here that's helped, at least?
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alternatively, she could offer reserved praise for the rare few who help mitigate it. but unlike last time, peggy isn't penned in to speak too honestly. ]
It's helped to know it doesn't all go to pot. I won't complain about the convenience of an electric kettle. And not every bit of music I've heard from the future has sounded like only noise.
[ it's not a lie, no, but it's nor is it the best answer for his question. fitz asked about what's helped, and she's not certain she can share those details with him. ]
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When I think about the way I hope the future will be, I always think in terms of automation. I'd like to think that the human condition will have advanced. That we'll have gotten rid of some illnesses without replacing them with new ones. That... Maybe everything we're working for might pay off someday. Seems like your expectations are more realistic.
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but fitz is looking bright-eyed and hopefully toward a very different kind of progress, she thinks. peggy allows herself a slight smile. and the next sip of tea she takes has turned sweet from the biscuit crumbs swimming in it. ]
Even the smallest of dreams need a bit of ballast. [ and if it sounds as though she just might maybe be offering to be that ballast for him, then it's because she absolutely is. it's a terribly important step in her larger design for this conversation. ] So it only stands to reason than larger ones would need some too.
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I could build you a more modern tea kettle if you'd like. Customizable temperatures,support for infusion cups and ratios for creams and sugar. The science has been quite extensive in kettle gadgetry.
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she crinkles her nose. ] All I need is water heated quickly. Surely, you must have better projects where your time and cleverness can be spent.
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[ someday, someone will make him watch a Bond film. Today is not that day. ]
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good god, though, he seems keen... ]
Nothing too wild. [ sharpish. awkward, as though she's not the best at settling for favours. ] As I said: water heated quickly. And don't you dare make it a priority.
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You must be working on other projects. [ a beat. ] Aren't you?
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My project load is in a bit of a rut at the moment. As much as I'd like to install some reasonable security measures to tend to our lab's theft problem, I'm told that would infringe on some arbitrary creed about keeping knowledge accessible or some rubbish like that. [ his eyes roll. Civilians. ]
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she leans forward. ]
Someone's been stealing from your lab? [ it could be harmless, she supposes. or it could be the very opposite thereof. ] What's been taken?
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