[closed]

[cookshisgoose]

Who: Peggy and Steve
When: 4/9
Where: around the Moira
What: Steve taking Peggy on a birthday date
Warnings: gagworthy fluff?



It felt like Peggy had just had a birthday. Because she had, or close enough, anyway. Three months wasn't long enough to celebrate another year of her life, she felt, but April 9th was her birth date all the same. She hadn't planned to do anything for it, either. It seemed silly, given the fuss and bustle between the Moira and the prison. So she did her job, going about her daily routine as if it was just another day. That is, until she came across a note left on her desk.

She didn't know why she was surprised to see the handwritten note from Steve, but it warmed her heart to know he had remembered after all this time. And not only that, but that he took the time to write such a personal note. Maybe it wouldn't mean much to someone else, but it meant the world to someone forced so suddenly into the impersonal world of technology.

After she was finished with her work, she did as the note requested, with one minor detour. When she arrived at the observation deck to meet Steve, she had changed from her bland uniform and into the red dress she knew he would remember from so many years ago. Even if he didn't say she had to dress up, how could she miss the opportunity to get out of the ridiculous uniforms they were provided?

When she spotted him, her eyes lit up as they always did, the smile on her face more genuine than anyone else on the ship has been lucky enough to see. "Hello, Steve."

Comments

[abide]

He hadn't been sure whether or not the note had been good enough, having considering it countless times before writing it out several more in an effort to make it perfect. Steve knows things have been difficult, stressful and strange, but he's doing his best to accept them as they are. It's like waking in the future all over again—except the past is his future, and he doesn't know how to tackle it this time. Still, he waits on the observation deck dressed in the nicest thing he has here - the Moira's formal uniform works well enough for the occasion - and feeling anxious. Incredibly nervous considering the deck is empty save for himself and the record player he's carried from his room into the open space. For a moment, he's reminded of Wanda's first touch, of the emptiness that had awaited him when he'd finally met her for that dance, and it's harder to shake when she shows up, when Peggy smiles at him and says his name.

But eventually, slowly, he smiles too, and how he remembers the dress isn't exactly how he remembers seeing her wear it for the first time. It looks nice though, looks nice on her, and it's a bittersweet thing to reach out and offer her his hand.

"Thanks for coming." The words are soft, genuine, and he glances down at her fingers, letting his thumb sweep over the knuckles gently before giving them the slightest squeeze. "Happy birthday." Steve isn't sure what it means considering where they are and when she'd last celebrated, but it reminds him of the ones they'd had together before he'd lost everything to the ocean and time, when they'd been with each other through thick and thin and all the moments in-between.

[cookshisgoose]

"As if I would be anywhere else." Given the opportunity to see him, to spend time with him? How could she refuse? Even after a month, she can barely believe it every time she sees him. It's Steve and there's no one in the world she would rather spend the day with.

Her own smile relaxes as she slips her hand into his, returning the gentle squeeze. "Thank you, Steve. Really-- Thank you." Her words mean for more than the gift of his time and attention now. It was for all the help and advice he had given her since her arrival on the Moira, everything he had done to help her feel more comfortable in the last month, and everything she knew he would do. Because he was Steve Rogers, and Steve Rogers went above and beyond for the people he cared about. It was something she loved so dearly about him.