womanofvalue

Peggy feels as if she's floating on a cloud and has been since her birthday. She had worried all day, but the date with Daniel had gone better than expected. She still has lingering fears about how they move forward, but she's too pleased to think about them now, tucking them away carefully. Today, she sets out for the day with an addition to her wardrobe in the form of the pin that Daniel had bought her for her birthday, securing it on her blouse before drawing a shawl over her shoulders to head out.

When she sets out, it's with a particular destination in mind, having texted Dutch to meet her at a coffeeshop near to her place, not wanting to make the other woman go out of her way for Peggy. It's silly, but she very much wants to tell someone about her success, but also to ask what happens from here. It may be terrible, but Peggy's engagement hadn't been very modern, so she needs a little modern advice.

Who better to turn to than someone from an even more modern time than this? Ordering her tea, she settles herself at a table near the window to keep an eye out for Dutch.

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"If it were up to me, we would already be there," she admits, feeling like she can be frank with Dutch. It's not that she'd wanted to wait seven years, but after breaking off the engagement with Fred, she hadn't thought it right to move on, then she'd met Steve and he'd held her heart until Daniel had found a path in.

It hadn't left much time for casual dalliances. "There are other issues at play, I fear," she admits. "I think he sees himself as being in the shadow of my last beau, which I've tried to dismiss as untrue. Still, I believe it's something he fears."

"Ah. Well, if it helps, you are doing one better than me in that he knows about your last relationship. The man I'm currently seeing here does...not."

She hadn't told anyone about D'av and how that had gone until today. It's one of the many things she's keeping from him and she realizes how bad that will be when she finally does tell him. She hopes Matthias won't hold it against her too terribly but she knows she deserves it if he does.

"I don't really talk about my past with him," she sighs, shaking his head. "Anyway. I have no good advice on how to convince him that he's not in anyone's shadow either. That's difficult. I can only hope that spending time together will make him realize you're seeing him and only him?"

Peggy raises her brow, sipping at her tea. "Why not?" she asks, mostly because she doesn't really think that she had a choice in telling Daniel about Steve, mainly because so much of it was on SSR record, including her liaison time with him and all the stories that came with it as a result.

"Yes, of course, that's my hope." It's not her place to talk about his leg, but it's in Peggy's mind, unbidden, seeing as it's something that often lingers in her worry that Daniel thinks himself as something less when she doesn't care a whit.

At that question, Dutch has no good answer. She shrugs and says, "I don't know. I guess that I got so used to keeping things to myself for other people's safety that it's second nature now."

Though Matthias is strong and skilled, she knows Khylen, she knows what kind of man he is and though he's not here, she worries. She can't stop worrying that he might show up.

"You could always talk to him about it, just tell him what you want and see what he says in return. I don't know how much you want to have a frank talk about sex but it could work."

"I should make you a deal," Peggy says, with the keen eye of a woman who's ready to negotiate not only to preserve herself for a moment or two, but to hopefully help Dutch along. "I'll talk to Daniel about what I want physically if you talk to your bloke about your past," she says. "If it's important for me to open and honest, I think you ought to have to live by some similar rules."

"Or neither of us can ever say anything, which I could live with, as well," she admits. "Let things happen naturally and such?"

Dutch's eyes widen at that, not having expected Peggy to be as sly and tricky as she's just been. Dutch almost admires it because it's caught her off guard and so few things do that to her these days.

"For some reason, I think your conversation with Daniel will be easier than mine," Dutch says with a dry laugh. "I would like to amend this deal, though, before I accept. I can't tell him everything. There are things that have happened to me that I would rather not share with anyone. But, I will tell him most of it. Still good?"

"I think just a shade, yes," Peggy admits, though she has her suspicions that it won't go as calmly and easily as she'd like to believe. After all, there's the hurdle of his leg to jump over, which is something she's more than willing to vault, but she understands how it can be difficult for him.

She narrows her eyes, as if she needs to debate these new terms. "Yes, fine. Shall we shake on it?"

"Sure," Dutch says, sitting up and offering her hand across the table to Peggy. "Here's to your very honest discussion about a roll in the hay and my..."

She trails off and sighs though it's exaggerated and light. "My past finally coming to light. Next time we meet, hopefully you'll be quite exhausted and I'll be lighter a little less baggage."

Peggy shakes Dutch's hand firmly as she can, thinking that her conversation might be more awkward, but now that she's made the guarantee, she has to go through with it. With luck, it will turn out for the best. "Even if I don't manage to talk him around, I might have to go and take matters into my own hands," is her sharp, wry remark.

"I've avoided such things, but then again, seven years..."

"Well, taking matters into your hand is something I wholeheartedly support," she says with a smirk. "In fact, it's sometimes more fun that way. I do enjoy the look on the face of the person you're with when they don't know what's happening and then, once they do, watching their face change. It's quite the thing."

She's done that to Matthias a time or two and he's always adorably flustered at first and then completely pleased with the world. She loves that look.

"If that's the case, I might need to go shopping," she says evenly, though she knows she's likely going to have to do that regardless. Back home, Peggy had a full drawer of things that a future boyfriend or husband was going to enjoy. Here, she hadn't seen the point, but now that she has Daniel, she might need to make a trip.

"I might require your help in that department. For both scenarios," she clarifies.

"That can be arranged," Dutch promises with a nod. "Whenever you might need a helping hand with shopping or other matters of the heart, I..."

She trails off and snickers, shaking her head. "I might not be an expert but I will most definitely do my best to help you out. After all, no ready and willing woman needs to wait seven years to get laid. We'll make that happen. I promise."

"In that case, perhaps we ought to make an appointment to go shopping," Peggy says, feeling a touch risqué and daring to even say it out loud, but perhaps she can treat herself this once. "It's not a bad idea for a woman to have that sort of thing in her arsenal, is it?"

"I do appreciate it," she adds, more sincerely, "all of it. The advice, the company, and the friendship a great deal."

"Now, that's something I haven't had the chance to do in quite a while," Dutch says, looking interested. "I didn't exactly have the time back home and it's not like Johnny or D'av would have wanted to go with me. They would have bitched the whole time."

She supposes she could have taken Pawter but she still doesn't entirely trust that woman and spending precious leisure time with her hadn't even been on her radar.

"But, you're welcome," she says with a nod. "Whatever I can do to help, I will."

Dutch

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