For Daniel

[womanofvalue]

While Peggy knows that she must set an actual date for the wedding, she's never minded doing things out of order. She has her bridesmaid, she's spoken to Tony about the event, and now she wants to get herself a proper dress. Perhaps it's the rationing mindset that's still in her head, but when she takes Daniel out for a shopping trip, she doesn't yank him along to a bridal shop, but instead a department store.

She still remembers the wedding dresses sewn from parachutes and the simplicity of so many quick weddings. With that in mind, it's hard for her to want to see herself in a wedding dress. That, and she still remembers the one she'd tried on, so close to being married in it. For this she's more than happy to put herself in something else.

"We'll find a chair for you to sit in," she promises Daniel as she walks, arm in arm with him. "Seeing as you're the one I want to please, I'd love some opinions."

That said, she's going to ensure there are still some surprises, which is why she's not letting him near the lingerie store with her.

Comments

[womanofvalue]

She does wonder if they have this in perhaps blue or another shade, though at the same time, Peggy likes the way this tricks in the light. Moving slowly with Daniel, she thinks that this will work well and doesn't pinch her. "I think I might have found myself a winner," she admits, even though the idea is so strange.

"I never thought I'd be trying on dresses for a wedding again, though this time is far superior," she guarantees.

[ssrsousa]

"If you like it, I like it," he told her, because honestly, this was her decision. What made her feel good about being willing to do this again, willing to do this with him of all people, willing to do this here, where one or the other of them could disappear at any second -- whatever that was, he was a fan.

"I'm just happy you're crazy enough to marry me."

[womanofvalue]

"How could I ever be crazy to marry you? It's a privilege," she insists, still thinking about how she'd had to talk him into their first date, over a year ago. She steps back, only because now that she's made her decision, she doesn't want to ruin it.

"I should go take this off before I put a tear in it and I have to pay for repairs." She gives him a long, hungry look. "Any opinions about the lingerie underneath? Not that you'll get to see that beforehand."

[ssrsousa]

He would have argued with her about who got the privilege here, but her mentioning lingerie with that look got him right off that topic. He considered what unmentionables she had and which ones he particularly liked.

"It's gonna be pretty cliche, but I like the lacy things you have. So maybe more of those?" he suggested. He liked the way her skin peeked through the lace. "But really, whatever works with that dress is fine with me."

[womanofvalue]

She wonders if 'nothing at all' might be a suitable alternative, but she knows better than to give away all her secrets, especially when she's in public and she doesn't want to simply go forward with making him blush. Well, she does, but she also wants some surprises.

"In that case, let me take this off before I ruin it and you can take me for lunch, seeing as I know I already fit into this," she says, stepping cautiously out of the dress the moment she's behind the door.

[ssrsousa]

"Sure," he agreed, although he did smile at the way she informed him she was taking him to lunch.

There was a blue dress with lots of seams on the rack of possible dresses, and he bet Peggy would look fantastic in it. It had a pretty low neckline and it would show off her figure.

"Am I allowed to buy clothes for you?" he called into the dressing room, because if he was, that was something he was going to keep in mind.

[womanofvalue]

Peggy's in the midst of changing when he asks, and the question is so lovely that she can't help her amused laugh. "Of course you are!" she tells him. "I reserve the right to make potentially teasing comments, but I assure you, I'm sure you have lovely taste."

"Is there something in particular you want to buy me?" she asks, shimmying carefully out of the dress. "Should I be trying it on?"

[ssrsousa]

He was glad that was a happy, amused laugh rather than a "Sousa, are you out of your ever-loving mind?" laugh. He wasn't a big fan of the second kind of laugh, not that Peggy'd ever done that to him. To Thompson, sure, but not to him, and he wanted to keep it that way.

"There's one out here that might be good, but I don't want to make you try too many things on. It's kinda tiring to do that too often," he replied, although he knew it was less tiring for people who didn't have to sit down or work around a prosthetic every time.

[womanofvalue]

"I'm already in my skivvies," Peggy says, reaching a hand in the air above the partition, seeing as this is the best time for it. "Give it here, we might as well try," she adds, as if she isn't already thrilled at the idea of Daniel being emboldened enough to want to buy her clothes.

She'd never say it out loud, unless in a teasing capacity, but she thinks that she does have him trained quite well indeed.

[ssrsousa]

Well, with that kind of offer, he was curious, so he passed the dress on its hanger over the door.

"If you don't like it, don't even worry about coming out here in it," he assured her. "I can't say I'm an expert on fashion or on what actually looks good on people and not just on the hanger."

[womanofvalue]

Peggy takes the dress and inspects the fabric, raising a brow when she sees how tight it's going to be. This certainly isn't for a wedding, but perhaps she can change into it for the party, if they do have one. She shimmies into it and presses her lips together with amusement.

"Are you ready?" she asks, hand on the door. "I don't want to thrill you if you're not, so make sure you're prepared."

[ssrsousa]

"I'm sitting down," Daniel replied, which was probably a more serious statement from a man with two legs. Daniel was sitting down mostly because he needed to. Still, if she looked fantastic in that, and he was hoping she would, it'd maybe be good that he was sitting down.

[womanofvalue]

Peggy adjusts the hips a little to shimmy it down, smoothing her palm over her stomach. She won't be able to wear her lingerie from the 40's in this, the lines too sleek for that. Stepping out, Peggy strikes a pose against the door of the changing room before executing a slow spin.

"Well? Is it everything you hoped for?" she asks, over her shoulder, where she can just barely see Daniel out of the corner of her eye.

[ssrsousa]

It looked good. It looked really good. If she was a little more curvy, she'd never fit into it, not that he was going to imply anything along those lines in case it sounded like he was making a comment on her weight (which he knew damn well not to do).

"I like it," he agreed. "Is it comfortable? I mean, as comfortable as fancy clothes ever are."

[womanofvalue]

Peggy turns a little and runs her fingers up and down the material. "It's not comfortable, but it's not uncomfortable," she admits. It won't pinch in the way some of the elements of her lingerie does, but she certainly prefers a pair of casual trousers to this.

"It might be nice if we were going to do a reception. I think I could move about more freely in this, constricting though it might be," she admits.

[ssrsousa]

"Are we doing a reception?" he asked, because they hadn't really talked about that in specific. They'd set a date, mostly to reserve the church, and they'd started working on their premarital counseling so Father Morgan would actually agree to marry them, but they hadn't really gotten a lot of the little details figured out.

Honestly, he didn't much care about most of the details other than being married in the church, and Peggy had agreed to that. He was marrying Peggy Carter. He'd get married at the top of a Ferris Wheel if that was what she wanted.

[womanofvalue]

"I'd like to have a bit of a dinner, little party," she admits, seeing as that's far more of an event to her than simply standing in front of someone reciting old words and meaningful vows. The latter part, she likes, but the earlier part? Well, it's all a bit stuffy.

"We could just rent out a restaurant for the evening and have dinner," she says. "I don't want anything elaborate or fancy, but it would be good to share some food with our friends."

[ssrsousa]

"Sure, we could do that," he agreed. "I bet it's a lot to rent out the Amber Lily Lounge, but that might be an option too. Get a good band, have some drinks. They don't have much in the way of food, though, so it'd be fiddly little things."

He doubted they could afford the Amber Lily, honestly, but maybe it was worth at least finding out how much they couldn't afford it.

[womanofvalue]

"If we were to move in together, we could be saving on the rent," Peggy points out, even though they were provided housing. They both have their stipend from the city and between the jobs they both pick up, they're certainly not hurting for money. Besides, what else is she going to spend it on?

"We could bring in a caterer," she even offers. "For a day like this, I don't mind spending some money."

[ssrsousa]

"We could be," Daniel agreed. He'd thought about whether it was alright to move in together before they were married and had basically decided that since they were actually going to get married (and they were already sleeping together), it was okay. It wasn't something that would be done in 1946, but they weren't in 1946.

"We should see if there's somewhere in the city that rents out apartments for people who have specific requirements."

Accessible was the word people used here, but he didn't feel like he needed to use that word. Peggy knew what he meant and the saleslady didn't need to, if she happened to be around. He didn't see her, but that didn't mean she wasn't there. Good salesladies were almost invisible sometimes.

[womanofvalue]

"Or we could find a place on the edge of the city. I think a bungalow would suit us better than any place that has stairs or elevators." Because elevators could break, she knew that, and she didn't want Daniel to have to go through the hardship if they didn't have to. "We can still be close enough to be in the thick of it."

And yet, far enough away that they can have some privacy and quiet at the end of a long day. She truly likes that idea, honestly.

[ssrsousa]

He was on the first floor now, so he didn't have to worry about stairs in that respect, but there'd been a few times when he just didn't do the wash because the elevator to the basement was out. Carrying a sack of his skivvies downstairs just wasn't going to happen.

"Yeah, we could think about that. Maybe try to find a house that doesn't remind either of us of any of the places we've lived in, so we can have a fresh start," he suggested. He'd never had the money to live in anything but a cheap apartment, and then he'd lived in a tent, and then he'd been in a hospital and then another cheap apartment. The SSR paid pretty well, but Manhattan wasn't really a low-cost kind of place.

[womanofvalue]

"I actually quite liked your bungalow in Los Angeles," she admits, even though it had been his home with Violet. It had still been lovely and Peggy was woman enough to admit that while admiring the architecture, despite who lived in it.

"Besides, if we really are stuck her, it would be nice to have a place that's ours, no?"

[ssrsousa]

"I don't know how you go about finding a house to rent or buy or whatever around here, but I bet someone can tell us," he agreed. "We can look around at a few places, see what kind of timeline we'd be looking at. With everything coming up, we might not be able to get into a new place before the wedding, but maybe we can."

If Peggy decided they were going to, they were going to. That much he had no doubt of.

[womanofvalue]

"I think we can find a realtor to do some of the work for us," she says, thinking about how she's seen other people go about the same work. It would be nice to explore them, anyhow, because it feels like getting married and finding a place to live are things that go together.

"Let me take off this dress, we'll buy the lot, and then have coffee and see if we can't look up recommendations." He's right, though, in that it's a lot to ask for at once. Perhaps it can go wedding and then home?