daniel - date night

[womanofvalue]

The Amber Lily Lounge has lived up to all of Peggy's expectations, quite happily. She's not entirely in clothes the time of the period, but she's been able to dress herself in something modern, allowing her hair to still be curled, but looser than usual. What's also more thrilling for her is that she'd gone to the trouble of purchasing a matching set of lingerie for the night, not even sure that Daniel will see it, but there's a thrill to knowing it's there that gives her extra confidence and leads her to feeling rather delighted.

She does wish she had taken more time to break in the heels, but it's not as though they're going dancing. With the last song drawing to a close, Peggy applauds politely as she tugs her dress down to cover her thighs just a little more, sharing a pleased look with Daniel. She has a bit of her drink left, so she's not in a rush to leave, hoping that he's willing to stay a little while, yet.

"This was a lovely idea," she praises, as the band starts to dismantle. "Where did you first hear of it?"

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[ssrsousa]

He'd had a hard time keeping his eyes in his head the whole night. That dress was short and tight and just fantastic, especially when Peggy did things like cross her legs. And the music had been just as good as he'd been hoping, with some standards he recognized and some things he didn't. His good toe had been tapping under the tiny table for most of the night. He felt a little bad that they hadn't been able to be one of the couples dancing energetically, but when he'd tried to apologize for that, Peggy had given him one of her Looks.

"I saw a handbill about it at one of the fancy coffee shops," Daniel replied as he also applauded. "Apparently we're 'vintage music enthusiasts' or something like that."

[womanofvalue]

"Yes, they seem to like that word," Peggy notes, with only mild annoyance. Every dress she wants to wear is a vintage sort, which is why her wardrobe has been ever-so-slowly being replaced by more modern wear, though in a way that she hopes isn't too quick. She still has a preference for the old fashioned styles and lines.

The music is a lovely reminder of the past, even if it will always come with some sadness to think of dancing during the war, but she's doing her best to move on from that. "Do you want to have another drink here?" she asks. "Or," she guides the conversation smoothly, "I bought a lovely bottle of red wine that's at my flat."

[ssrsousa]

"I think I prefer vintage to retro and I definitely prefer both of them to hipster. It doesn't mean what I'm used to it meaning and I'm not sure I like the new meaning," he chuckled.

He and Peggy had been seeing each other for maybe a month and a half now and they hadn't been shy about spending time together alone or necking when they did, but he was still concerned about going back to her apartment. Every time they necked, clothing got shifted a little more. And every time, he wondered if this would be the time he'd have to stop and tell her that their physical relationship was only going to go so far. He'd actually considered suggesting that they not see each other anymore, but he'd never quite been able to do it. He cared about her too much.

"I think they'll kick us out soon anyway, so we might as well save them the trouble."

[womanofvalue]

"My place, it is," Peggy says decisively, trying to ignore the rush of adrenaline and delight that pulses through her when it goes her way. She leans back to fetch the light cardigan sweater she's brought with her to wear atop the dress, holding her bag in her hand as she works her way back into it. "Do I owe you anything for the drinks?" she asks, while she has the wallet handy.

As much as this might have been something he saw, she's quite determined to ensure she pays her fair share. "If we're both vintage, at least it's something we get to share," she says. "Besides, you'd look lovely in all the vintage menswear I've seen around."

[ssrsousa]

He would have helped her into her wrap, but he wasn't honestly sure he'd get there before she'd have done it for herself. Trust Peggy to be practical enough to know that she might need a wrap even while she picked out a dress like that. He felt almost underdressed in his suit, and he thought he'd caught a few puzzled glances thrown their way. He was trying not to be oversensitive, but he had a hard time not thinking they were wondering why someone like Peggy was here with someone like him.

"Nah, I got it," he declined her offer to pay easily. "I'll be sure to wear spats next time, how's that?"

[womanofvalue]

"You might have a deal," she promises, leaning against the table to wait for Daniel at whatever pace he wants to go at. "I'd like to take a cab, if you're okay with that," she admits. "I didn't exactly break in my choice of footwear for this evening, I don't know that I could make the full walk back home." She's not even trying to be considerate to him, given the way her toes are aching.

"It's a lovely night for a walk, but next time, I'll have to wear something more practical," she notes, seeing as it's hardly like anything she's wearing falls into that category.

[ssrsousa]

He left the money for their tab plus a generous tip on the table and then walked with Peggy out of the lounge and over to the elevators, keeping his hand hovering near her lower back as they did. Maybe it was a little possessive, but sometimes a little possessive was alright. This was the kind of place he'd never have been to in New York, but he liked the glamour of it. It might be "vintage" to some, but he didn't think some things ever really went out of style.

"Cab's fine with me," he agreed. He might have thought she was trying to make excuses for him, but her heels really did look a little uncomfortable even if her legs looked fantastic. "I didn't even know they made shoes that high."

[womanofvalue]

"Nor did I, but the view from up here is delightful," she says, with the sort of smugness one can use when she's able to lean over and press a soft kiss to Daniel's lips without needing to lean up very much at all. She's rather pleased with the hand at her back, feeling the warmth of it even from here.

Flagging down a cab, she tries to ignore the pounding of her heart, feeling young for the first time in a long while. "I always loved music from our time. With the war, it felt like we never got much of a chance to appreciate it and after, everyone loved those bloody radio shows, no one ever just played music," she says, annoyed because of how Betty Carver had followed her around, everywhere.

[ssrsousa]

He chuckled when she praised the view and kissed him. He wasn't sure he'd ever really considered how demonstrative Peggy would be, but it turned out she definitely was in the right circumstances.

"It's hard to appreciate Artie Shaw when you're worried about being bombed into oblivion," he agreed. "I did see Glenn Miller once when I went back to the States for OCS. That man knew how to play music."

[womanofvalue]

Peggy's grateful when a cab stops quite readily, taking hold of the handle so that she can lean on it and slide her way in, careful to adjust the hem of her dress with every motion, a deathly glare aimed at the cab driver, lest his gaze slip lower. "I would have given anything to see Glenn Miller live," she says, jealous as she gives Daniel a wistful, far-away look.

"I went to the Stork Club once," she admits, "after the war. I avoided dance clubs and music for a long while, after that. It was difficult to be there."

[ssrsousa]

"It might have been the best part of OCS," he agreed. It hadn't actually been a bad time since it was just more training and drilling, but he'd felt a little guilty that he was back in the States in relative safety. He'd been watching Glenn Miller and cuddling with Georgia Peaches.

His stern glare went with hers and the cabbie got the message to focus on his driving and not his passengers, especially one passenger's terrific legs.

When she mentioned the Stork Club and not wanting to go, though, he put a comforting hand on hers. These seat belt laws meant he couldn't cuddle up to her, but he could at least hold her hand.

"Of course it would be. I hope tonight didn't remind you of any of that."

[womanofvalue]

Peggy reaches for his hand with her other to hold onto him, eager to not let go. "No, it didn't," she promises, not only because it's been over two years since that moment. "I was filled with grief and heartbreak, then, over something I had lost. Tonight was about something I'm gaining," she shares, pleased with how far they've come and the time that they've spent together.

"That was my past," she says knowingly. "I'm happy to be able to make a future."

[ssrsousa]

Daniel nodded once she reassured him that this wasn't bringing back bad memories and lifted her hand to kiss the back of it. Corny, maybe, but he meant the gesture enough that maybe that'd help make it less so.

"I'm glad to hear it," he told her seriously. "If I ever do something that brings up bad memories or something, I wanna know about it. I'm not gonna make you tell me all about it - I'm not your shrink or your Padre - but I'd like to know."

This was an unexpectedly serious conversation to have in the back of a cab, but that was fine too.

[womanofvalue]

He's a romantic in a way that she hadn't entirely expected, but finds herself appreciating it all the same, warmth flushing her cheeks as she lets him hold onto her hand as long as he'd like. "I'm happy to tell you anything you want to know about Steve," she says, because she didn't really speak about him before, "so long as you understand this; even if he turned up tomorrow, I'm still choosing you," Peggy says firmly.

"I made my peace saying goodbye to him and I chose to move on, I chose you."

[ssrsousa]

He didn't want to call Peggy a liar, and he wouldn't, but he did wonder if she would continue to mean it once she knew about some of the more unpleasant details about him and his limitations. If Captain Rogers showed up tomorrow, he'd at least have two legs.

"Yeah, that might be something you oughta talk to your shrink about," he joked self-deprecatingly instead. She was used to his deflecting sense of humor by now. "Not that I'm objecting to it, obviously."

[womanofvalue]

She gives him a pointed look and shakes her head, still amazed that sometimes, men can be so thick. "You know that Steve Rogers had ailment after ailment when I met him, when I first developed feelings for him," she says, a touch pointed. "This notion that he's somehow better than you, I don't understand it," she says with a mild huff.

"You don't need to worry and you can take my word for it."

[ssrsousa]

"I have received my orders and am happy to follow them," he agreed. Peggy was being pretty pointed right now, and she did actually remind him of something he tended to forget. He always thought of Captain Rogers as he was after the Super-Soldier project, not the scrawny kid who kept getting 4F'ed. Most people probably did. Peggy'd been one of the few people still around who'd known him before and after all that.

It didn't change all of how Daniel felt about the situation, and he still wasn't sure how much that opinion might change when she knew more, but he wasn't going to argue with her now. Not in the back of a cab and not when they'd had such a nice evening.

[womanofvalue]

Peggy's still more than grateful to move on from the topic, reaching out to take Daniel's hand in her own to give it a squeeze, hoping that he'll take it as the reassurance she means it to be. "Good man," she says, leaning forward when they come around the corner towards her set of flats. "Just here is fine," she says, eyeing the apartment building and knowing that she's feeling wonderful about her plans for this evening and this man in particular.

Sitting back, she gives him a bright-eyed, eager look. "Besides, I had to fight for you, as well," she points out.

[ssrsousa]

He held the cab door open so Peggy could get out. He was pretty sure she wasn't even gonna let him try to pay for the cab since he'd paid for drinks at the Amber Lily Lounge, so he'd just hold the door.

"You mean in LA?"

[womanofvalue]

She agrees with a hum and a nod of her head. "I didn't try and mess things up," she clarifies, "but once it became clear that I had a chance, I couldn't let it simply pass me by," she admits. She presses the cash into the cabbie's hand and gives Daniel a grateful smile as she steps out, steadying her feet on the ground as she searches for her keys.

"When I went to Los Angeles, I had hoped that I could invite you out, do the things I should have done in New York, but the timing hadn't worked, did it?"

[ssrsousa]

Once she was on her own feet and the cab was pulling away, he put a hand at her back again as they walked, both because he wanted to and because she seemed a little unsteady on her heels. He could tell her that she didn't need to wear heels like this to impress him, but he also knew she might not have worn them to impress him. He didn't assume Peggy did anything to impress anyone but herself, generally.

"Well, it seems to be working out okay here, so far," he said, although that brought him back to being worried that soon enough, it wasn't going to work out okay.

[womanofvalue]

"Yes, it does," she agrees warmly, taking advantage of the need to find her keys in order for her to press a slow kiss to his lips, drifting in close enough that she presses her body close to his, like she's seeking to steal it from him. Settling back on her heels with a pleased smile on her face, she opens the door and holds out a hand to lead him towards her flat.

She leads him towards the elevator, pressing the button for the 4th Floor as she leans back against the railing. "I find that I have more personal time on my hands than I know what to do with," she says. "Plenty of time to focus on one's personal affairs."

[ssrsousa]

It was convenient that his hand was already on her back when she leaned in to kiss him because it meant he could hold her close without even having to move. Every time he kissed her, he felt it down to his toes. He didn't know if that was going to change someday, but he hoped not. He hoped as long as he was allowed to kiss Peggy Carter, it'd feel this good.

"You could always get hired on at the shop. Colin'd love you, with you both being British," he teased her once they were in the elevator. He'd let go of her hand and leaned against his own wall, which gave him a good position to smirk at her.

[womanofvalue]

"Is that the only reason?" she can't help but tease, because she knows she has plenty of good reasons to be liked. She does like the idea of it, possibly only a shift or two a week, but it would be nice to get her hands on some weapons again. "We'll see, I don't know if you want me around that much, do you? Wouldn't it spoil things?" she asks, hoping that it wouldn't, as they had spent so much time with one another back in Los Angeles that she already knows that they could make it work.

[ssrsousa]

"We saw each other every weekday and some weekends in New York, and it doesn't sound like things changed much in LA," he shrugged. The SSR wasn't a job that could really be a standard weekday job since bad guys and even just misguided guys didn't take weekends off. It'd made it hard to explain to his family, and he was pretty sure they'd figured out he didn't actually work for the telephone company. But they hadn't said anything and he hadn't said anything, so it was fine.

"And you were still willing to get involved with your boss even after all of that, so I don't think you really need to worry about spoiling things by seeing me too much."