Daniel Sousa - Date Night

[womanofvalue]

Ever since the party at Magnus' mansion and her conversation with Peggy, she's been singularly focused on one single thing. Her job search has fallen aside, the self-defense classes have only received a paltry amount of attention, and she's been glad that not much has come up to require her with Reese's project. Her birthday is in a matter of days and there's only one thing that she wants. It's time for her to tell Daniel the important truths about the time in between them.

She's sent him a proper postal invitation to dinner, but has followed it up with text and email just to ensure that he doesn't miss it. She's found herself a perfectly suitable blue dress that's equal parts modern and vintage and the heels match her lipstick perfectly. These are the easy parts, of course. Setting up plans is child's play for a spy like Peggy, but what matters is the part where she has to now execute the plans.

That involves her feelings and being honest about them. She'd struggled with that even back home to the point that she'd let her actions speak for her, but if she wants anything to happen, she needs to do something here. Near eight, she sits herself at the table she's reserved in her dress and her loose hair and a mission in mind.

Now comes her challenge in convincing Daniel that in the time between them, things have changed, and for the better when it comes to the two of them.

Comments

[ssrsousa]

"Just coffee, thanks," he told the waiter, since he still preferred good plain coffee to all the fancy drinks they had here. He didn't mind the fancy things, but he liked good coffee more. Bad coffee was a different story.

"What'm I gonna need to do to get the location of this Portuguese bakery out of you?" he asked. He hadn't found it yet, but he hadn't been looking, either. Most of the time when he got a craving for something sweet he went over to the Yeselevskys' store and got something from them.

[womanofvalue]

Peggy gives him an amused look as she dabs at the corner of her lips and gives him a coy look. "If you want to know, you're going to have to give me something very high value," she says, like she's here to negotiate. In fairness, it did take her a very long time to find it, given that the items had been hiding in the back of the shop, but she's also curious what Daniel might do to get the information out of her.

[ssrsousa]

"I'll start thinking about what that might be," he promised, and cautiously took a bite of one of the little tarts. He chewed for a moment, then nodded.

"I wouldn't say it's as good as my mae's, but that's partially because I know better than to say that anything is better than my mae's cooking. Whoever made these knew what they were doing, though."

[womanofvalue]

Peggy can't help her small smile of victory when it comes to that promise. She watches Daniel, popping some of the dessert in his mouth and chewing thoughtfully, not sure she really has anything that she can compare it to. "They're delicious," she says, reaching for her fork in order to take a slice and press to her inner cheek, reveling in the richness of it.

"Did you ever learn the recipes?" she wonders.

[ssrsousa]

He shook his head. He had realized that the way he'd been raised had involved men and women having very different roles and very different lives. The war had changed that, in a lot of ways, but not in others. Now, here, even in 2017, there was still a little bit of that, but not nearly as much.

"Not a chance. Making these things was something mothers and grandmothers and aunties did. Men didn't touch them. I probably would have been kicked out of the kitchen if I'd even tried to learn," he chuckled. "And my avó had a way with a dishcloth, too."

[womanofvalue]

"Well, it's a shame," she says, leaning over the table for another piece to pop past her lips, licking some of her lipstick off just to get at another one of the crumbs. "I suppose you could always learn here. It seems there's no shortage of things like cooking classes," Peggy feels compelled to offer. "If you'd like, it might even be something we do together. I'm a terrible cook, I can only imagine it will go well if I take a lesson or two."

[ssrsousa]

"I can cook," he replied. "I don't know that I'd call it gourmet, but I can cook.. Someone I met here thinks my reliance on canned beans is a little overdone, but you can't really mess them up and you can make them whenever you have a chance to eat. Which, you know very well, wasn't really at traditional mealtimes in the SSR."

They'd had some days where they could get three squares at normal times, but they were just as likely to have lunch at seventeen hundred hours and dinner at oh dark thirty.

[womanofvalue]

Peggy wants to ask if he would cook a meal for her, but they've only just come out for dinner, so she tells herself to take this in smaller steps, slowly, slowly. "Yes, when the sandwich order girl goes to Los Angeles, I'm not sure how they managed to eat," she notes, her tone dripping with the appropriate disdain, still grateful for Daniel's leeway in allowing her to work the zero matter case.

"What's your favourite thing to cook?" she asks, instead of lingering on that note.

[ssrsousa]

No one could do disdain like the English. He'd noticed it at the convalescent hospital, but Peggy took it to a new level. More than one big burly guy at the SSR had been reduced to feeling like he was about five years old when Peggy got started. Daniel had fortunately not had too many of those experiences, but he'd had a few. He'd earned a few.

"Anything I wouldn't find in a ration kit," he joked. "I don't think I really have anything I'd call a favorite. Hot and filling is pretty much my criteria."

[womanofvalue]

"Maybe you'll find some new recipes here," she suggests, rather keen to try something new herself, if she's honest, and it seems that this is a good way to ensure that she eventually gets an honest meal and not just restaurants and diners, as has become a terrible habit. "If you do end up trying new recipes, I could always bring a salad or dessert that I bought, complement the meal."

[ssrsousa]

Even though she'd said she wanted this to be a first date rather than an only date, it was still strange to hear Peggy suggest future dates, especially future dates at his apartment. He hadn't had a woman in his apartment for romantic reasons at any point ever. It wouldn't have been done to have a woman visit an unmarried man's apartment, but things were different now. Hadn't he just been talking to Julie about moving in with her fella?

"Will you bring those tarts?" he asked slyly.

[womanofvalue]

"Well, that is a rather striking deal," she agrees, thinking about it for a moment. "You can cook dinner, I'll bring desserts," she says thoughtfully, smiling with a private and thoroughly pleased smile as she thinks about a much more relaxed environment. "Will you wear a lovely little apron?" she asks, as innocently as she can muster.

[ssrsousa]

"If I can find one that matches my eyes," he replied seriously. He'd had some work to do in his own head to adjust to not having a leg anymore and not being the masculine man he'd always been and always wanted to be. Eventually, though, he'd pretty much come to accept what and who he was now. Part of that had meant that he was a little more casual and willing to make jokes about things he wouldn't have even considered joking about before. Wearing aprons was just one of them.

Sometimes it still bothered him, especially when he thought about Peggy and apartments and things that could be done in apartments. That was borrowing trouble and assuming an interest that might not be there, though. He'd worry about that another time.

[womanofvalue]

Peggy can't help her amused smile, finishing off the last piece of cheesecake and letting her lips close around the fork to truly savour that last bite, eyes falling shut as she just lets herself revel in this moment and how lovely it all is. "I think that sounds like another date," she says, quite seriously.

"I'll bring the pastries and wine, you can provide the dinner," she says, reaching over to squeeze his hand before settling her napkin on the table.

[ssrsousa]

That was a very distracting look, but he was good at keeping his face under control. Basic had taught him, OCS had taught him more, and the SSR was practically a master class in not letting on what he was actually thinking.

"Sounds good. Maybe I really should take a cooking class to go with my computer class," he joked. He couldn't remember whether he'd told Peggy about that, but if not, he thought she'd be interested.

[womanofvalue]

"How is that going?" Peggy asks, grateful to have a conversation topic as she waits for the waiter to return with her receipt. "I haven't thought to enroll just yet, but perhaps you can tell me whether it's useful." She still can't imagine seeing herself typing away at a computer, but it's the way that modernity has come and she has to adapt. "Perhaps I can use them to work, whatever that work ends up being."

Certainly, she could advertise her self-defense classes a touch more. "Maybe you can help me post to communities about my classes," she says. "Eventually, I can learn for myself."

[ssrsousa]

"It went well, I think," he replied easily. "I finished a little while ago, and I'm hoping that having those skills will help me get a job doing something other than tossing boxes in a warehouse. I had a couple interviews on Friday, but I haven't heard anything back yet."

Of course he'd help her post about her classes. That wasn't even a question.

[womanofvalue]

"Friday is still very recent," Peggy says, aiming to be overly positive, seeing as she doesn't think that he should rule anything out. "I can help you to look for jobs. Now that you've taken the class, what do you think about working in an office, like the SSR? I've seen posts for people taking on office assistants, people to keep things running efficiently. It would be a waste of your skills," she says bluntly, "but perhaps it could be a stopgap until you found something else?"

When her card comes back, she thanks the waiter and tucks it back into her purse.

[ssrsousa]

"Yeah, I'm not too worried. They'll need to interview other people, decide what suits them best. Just like the SSR. I didn't hear about that immediately either," he shrugged.

"I'll probably end up in an office, like I did before the war. There's lots of different things you can do in an office now, though, so hopefully it'll be something pretty interesting. I'd rather not sit and type numbers all day like some office jobs."

[womanofvalue]

"Even if you end up in an office job, we'll make sure it's only temporary," Peggy says, with all the stubborn conviction of a woman who's determined to make that so. "There is something else, that will occupy a touch of your time," she warns. "I had a conversation with Tony, about you," she says.

Settling her purse at her side, she returns back to drinking her coffee, hoping that Daniel will let her make her case.

[ssrsousa]

He didn't think any of his skepticism about knowing that Peggy had discussed something related to Daniel with Tony was unfounded. He hadn't disliked the younger Stark, but he hadn't really liked the man either. He was sure Tony was a genius and probably capable of fantastic things like his father, but none of that made Daniel any more likely to trust him.

"About me," he repeated, and waited for Peggy to explain that a little further.

[womanofvalue]

"Specifically, your prosthetic," she continues without blinking, because while this might be a sensitive topic, she also doesn't want to lose Tony's willingness to help, especially not after trading in a favour to be used down the line. "He thinks that he can help to make something for you, something modern, like Howard might have but with the most recent technology."

"He needs to see you, in order to do it," she admits. "I insisted that I will be there for it."

[ssrsousa]

His expression shifted from skepticism to wariness, but this was getting into lots of things he didn't like talking about or having anyone do anything about. He didn't particularly trust Stark and he definitely didn't want Peggy to see his leg without the prosthetic. He'd barely been comfortable showing her a couple of inches of the prosthetic itself. Sitting in his skivvies while he was judged by Stark and maybe pitied by Peggy wasn't on his list of things to do.

A more modern prosthetic would be good, and he knew that, but he was also working on that already.

"I'm working with one of the docs here on that already, like we agreed," he pointed out.

[womanofvalue]

"I know, but Tony can help with a far more adaptive and comfortable item," she says, already aiming to be as persuasive as she can. "Meet with him first and see it, maybe he can convince you. As much as I hate to feed into the Stark ego, Tony is brilliant," she admits, glancing over her shoulder to ensure he's also not sitting right there.

"Who knows what it will feel like," she says, "there's nothing risked by trying, is there?"

[ssrsousa]

There were plenty of things that were risked by trying, namely having a prosthetic that was so fancy it didn't actually do what he needed it to do, which was holding him up and helping him walk somewhat normally. He tried not to be stuck in the past, especially when he was living in the future, but he thought a healthy skepticism about something he was going to be wearing on his body at least twelve hours a day was fair.

"I'll talk to him. And then, if he's got something he can do about it, I'll consider my options," he replied. It wasn't the most resounding agreement, but it was all he could offer.