i'll never make it alone (sorry i accidentally posted this to the arena)

[pursuitofcappiness]

WHO | Peggy & Steve
WHAT | He owes her a date!
WHEN | June
WARNINGS | Rots your teeth

There isn't much around here they really like, and Steve hasn't figured his finances out. So he's pulled together some food from his floor, grabbed some pillows to put on the ground of a conference room, and a blanket to drape over the television screen so they don't have to watch anyone die tonight.

It's... simple, but it's a chance to be alone (no one uses these rooms at night.) And that's more than Steve could ask for. He tapes up a paper on the door that says "in use," and then walks out to go find Peggy. It's... okay, it's a late surprise, but he's only ever punctual for the things that don't count, apparently.

Comments

[onthedot]

Peggy is curled on a sofa, nursing a short tumbler of clear water as she watches the city out the window. It was loud. Always loud and busy as if people now didn't need sleep, even if she knew they must. Her silk pajamas cling in a foreign way that she suspects she will never be used to. This type of lifestyle isn't one she is meant for and draining the last bit of water from the glass, she decided enough was enough. She couldn't just sit still and watch every night. It grated along her spine like the worst sort of betrayal.

She was distracted, for certain, but that didn't excuse the startled gasp she gave when the elevator door pinged open and Steve stepped out.

[pursuitofcappiness]

"Hope I wasn't interrupting anything," he says, as he walks out with a flower in his hands (he'd plucked it from outside; thank goodness something's still in full bloom.) She's breathtaking, even in pajamas. He walks up to her anyway, and kisses her temple, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear. He's missed her, though he saw her earlier today.

[onthedot]

He would. Peggy took the flower between her fingers and smiled up at him. Her eyes shut briefly at the kiss and touch, body swaying in toward his.

"Nothing important." She tipped her head to the side, considering him. God only knew what inspired Steve to come find her this late, but she would follow him, for whatever it was. She would always follow him.

"What's this about then?"

[pursuitofcappiness]

"I've got something to show you downstairs," he says nonchalantly. "It's something I think we've been looking for for awhile now, I hope we can really make use of it." He squeezes her hand, leads her towards the elevators. He hasn't changed out of his clothes yet, seems to have been too busy with whatever this was.

[onthedot]

"Something that couldn't wait?" Not that she didn't follow. Peggy stepped in the elevator after Steve and rested her cheek against his arm, hand seeking out his as the doors slid shut.

[pursuitofcappiness]

"Couldn't wait any longer," he replies, as he guides her over to the conference room.

"I know it's not much, but...." he starts, gesturing over towards the small cozy enclave he's built for them. It's sort of like children building a fort out of blankets. He's built a date out of pillows and sheets.

[onthedot]

And it's perfect. Peggy only peers over his shoulder for a moment before coming up behind him and wrapping her arms around his waist, hands sliding up his chest and hugging him close.

"It's wonderful."

[pursuitofcappiness]

"You mean it?" he asks, grinning from ear to ear. He's relieved, really, that she doesn't think it's kind of lame (it's kind of lame) and that she's also just glad to be able to spend time with him. She doesn't know, not really, not yet, what it's like to ache for someone who's there and yet not at the same time. He was robbed of seventy years with her, and that felt more like ice than drowning.

He places his hands on hers, and squeezes, and feels a deep contentment.

[onthedot]

"I do."

She rests her forehead between his shoulder blades and exhales. The sharp upswell of fierce affection no longer surprised her and she never wished it to go away. Content wasn't a word she had thought to use in this place, but this surely came close to it.

[pursuitofcappiness]

He knows he shouldn't in this place, but he can't stop smiling, a soft and almost shy smile, as he turns in her arms and presses a kiss to her brow. He takes her wrists in his hands and then laces their fingers together, leaning in to kiss her like he's been waiting for a long time. In a way, he has, he's waited awhile to kiss her with such fearlessness and lack of worry.

[onthedot]

He's kissing her in a way that make her toes curl. Peggy sways forward, body brushing against his as she tips her head back and meets the kiss with equal fervor. She adored him. It didn't matter who here knew it. If they hadn't already realized it, seen it, then they would know now. They would know exactly the best way to destroy her and she frankly couldn't bring herself to care.

There weren't a million eyes on them watching. There wasn't even a soul in sight. It was just them. Finally. Only them.

[pursuitofcappiness]

He knows it's bad. He knows this is putting them both in danger because they could root for them or they could just as easily want to split them up. And then he just buries his face in her hair and stays there, pecks a kiss to her temple, and stands still.

"We've got a little time," he says, after a pause.

[onthedot]

"Come on then." She squeezes his hands and draws him into the room toward the nest he'd built them. She wanted to see it. He'd done it for them. For her. That was more than enough reason to want to see more.

[pursuitofcappiness]

It's... okay, it's not the most impressive, but he's arranged everything in a way that's just very detailed, carved out a space for them that's airy and intimate at the same time, dimmed the lights just so, stolen away plates not of the sticky sweet things and heavy savory things, but light plates. Fruit, cheeses, nuts, natural things they would've died to have instead of rations. He gestures towards the pillows for her to take a seat.