[fic] Against the Pale
Title: Against the Pale
Fandom: The Avengers, Antarctica AU
Rating: PG
Warnings: None
Pairings: Peggy Carter/Steve Rogers
Characters: Steve Rogers, Peggy Carter, Howling Commandos, Crimson and Clover
Word Count: 829
Summary: Her lipstick seemed really bright against her skin, but Steve liked that. In the constant daylight of the SHIELD base, everything was far too easily washed out, but Peggy’s lipstick remained a slash of color.
Author’s Notes: This was written for the fantastic ShenShen77’s Fandom Stocking! Part of my Antarctica AU, takes place between Sharing is Caring and Frozen Traditions.
Others in my Antarctica AU: Talking Like Peter Lorre, Bacon Bits, Swimming Like Peter Lorre, T he Unexpected Struggles, Lack of Sleep, and Fishy Smell Joys of Parenthood, Proud Parenthood, The Start of Something New, Sharing is Caring, and Frozen Traditions.
Steve heard the telltale crash of boxes being kicked over-which was to be expected, he supposed, as he hadn’t had time to move that pile yet-but he didn’t expect the oath that followed, or the “Oh, sod it all” that followed after that. His head popped up.
“Lieutenant Carter?”
She looked up from the boxes she’d knocked over to give him a somewhat waspish look. “You know it’s just Peggy, Steve. What were these doing in the doorway? Were you trying to barricade yourself in?”
“Not-not exactly.” Hurriedly, he climbed to his feet and began moving the boxes out of the way. He narrowly avoided bumping heads with Peggy when she knelt to sort out the contents of a spilled box. Under his breath, he called himself a doltish oaf. She must think he was an idiot. He’d meant to put everything away, get it all sorted out before she got there, but instead he’d mucked it up again. It just figured. “I just-well, see.”
He pointed, a bit helplessly, at the mess he’d left on the other side of the room. The penguin enclosure had been widened as their birds grew, and it was now large enough to require its own room in what had been a storage facility off of the base. The birds had tubs of water to hop around in and a kiddie pool that had taken some clever engineering for Bruce and Tony to create. But even better than that, the enclosure was big enough for his sled dogs to enter, and they absolutely adored their feathered friends. Even now, Crimson chased Rebel around while Dum Dum sat with his front paws flat against the ground, hindquarters wiggling.
It was the other tableau that sat, half-captured, on his sketchpad, though. Dernier lay on his back, tongue lolling, while Clover carefully groomed him, beak plucking at his belly fur. The dog lay in ultimate bliss.
“Wow,” Peggy said, but she wasn’t looking at the penguins or the dogs. Steve didn’t get a chance to recover his bearings before she stepped around him and picked up the sketch pad. “No wonder you got distracted. This is incredible.”
Steve scratched the back of his neck. “It’s not that much. I took some art classes as an undergrad. GI Bill, you know? Seemed like I should use it. Didn’t want to waste it.”
“Not much? How long have you been here sketching this?”
“Just a minute,” Steve said. “I really was going to move the boxes-maybe five minutes? Two or three, at least.”
“Two or three minutes,” Peggy said, under her breath. Her lipstick seemed really bright against her skin, but Steve liked that. In the constant daylight of the SHIELD base, everything was far too easily washed out, but Peggy’s lipstick remained a slash of color.
He realized belatedly that staring at her lips was probably a bad thing, and jerked his gaze back up to her eyes.
“Two or three minutes,” she said again, “and you create something this lovely.”
“Well, no, it was really all them,” Steve said, pointing at the birds and his dogs.
Peggy smiled tightly. “Don’t sell yourself short. You have a gift. You should celebrate that.”
“It’s just sketchings.”
“It’s a masterpiece.” Before he could think to stop her, she turned the page. He heard her breath catch, and abruptly wanted to sink through the floor. It had to be a drawing of her, he thought. The light had looked soft and inviting at dinner the night before, and he’d seen her sneaking a piece of Bacon to Rebel, just a forbidden little treat. He’d sketched it from memory afterward, just a pencil sketch. He hadn’t meant for anybody to see.
He probably should have burned the notebook already.
“Well,” she said, and when she looked up at him, she was actually smiling rather than furious. She closed the notebook and he felt like the ultimate heel, especially when she held it out to him. “That was rude of me to peek, but I’ve been so curious as to what you’ve been drawing this whole time.”
“You h-have?”
“Well, yes. And now I know you got my good side,” and she startled him by leaning forward and giving him a kiss on the cheek. Her lips felt impossibly warm. “So thank you for that.”
And with another smile that had his heart racing, she stepped out of the supply room/penguintorium, this time without tripping over any boxes or cursing. Steve stayed where he was for a whole minute, until Dum Dum’s canine laughter made him look down and realize that the sled dog was actually laughing at him. “Oh, shut up,” he said, grinning at the dog.
Later, when he was washing his hands after taking care of the penguins, he glanced in the mirror and saw the faint imprint of Peggy’s lipstick, just that little trace of color against the pale.
It made him smile.
Fandom: The Avengers, Antarctica AU
Rating: PG
Warnings: None
Pairings: Peggy Carter/Steve Rogers
Characters: Steve Rogers, Peggy Carter, Howling Commandos, Crimson and Clover
Word Count: 829
Summary: Her lipstick seemed really bright against her skin, but Steve liked that. In the constant daylight of the SHIELD base, everything was far too easily washed out, but Peggy’s lipstick remained a slash of color.
Author’s Notes: This was written for the fantastic ShenShen77’s Fandom Stocking! Part of my Antarctica AU, takes place between Sharing is Caring and Frozen Traditions.
Others in my Antarctica AU: Talking Like Peter Lorre, Bacon Bits, Swimming Like Peter Lorre, T he Unexpected Struggles, Lack of Sleep, and Fishy Smell Joys of Parenthood, Proud Parenthood, The Start of Something New, Sharing is Caring, and Frozen Traditions.
Steve heard the telltale crash of boxes being kicked over-which was to be expected, he supposed, as he hadn’t had time to move that pile yet-but he didn’t expect the oath that followed, or the “Oh, sod it all” that followed after that. His head popped up.
“Lieutenant Carter?”
She looked up from the boxes she’d knocked over to give him a somewhat waspish look. “You know it’s just Peggy, Steve. What were these doing in the doorway? Were you trying to barricade yourself in?”
“Not-not exactly.” Hurriedly, he climbed to his feet and began moving the boxes out of the way. He narrowly avoided bumping heads with Peggy when she knelt to sort out the contents of a spilled box. Under his breath, he called himself a doltish oaf. She must think he was an idiot. He’d meant to put everything away, get it all sorted out before she got there, but instead he’d mucked it up again. It just figured. “I just-well, see.”
He pointed, a bit helplessly, at the mess he’d left on the other side of the room. The penguin enclosure had been widened as their birds grew, and it was now large enough to require its own room in what had been a storage facility off of the base. The birds had tubs of water to hop around in and a kiddie pool that had taken some clever engineering for Bruce and Tony to create. But even better than that, the enclosure was big enough for his sled dogs to enter, and they absolutely adored their feathered friends. Even now, Crimson chased Rebel around while Dum Dum sat with his front paws flat against the ground, hindquarters wiggling.
It was the other tableau that sat, half-captured, on his sketchpad, though. Dernier lay on his back, tongue lolling, while Clover carefully groomed him, beak plucking at his belly fur. The dog lay in ultimate bliss.
“Wow,” Peggy said, but she wasn’t looking at the penguins or the dogs. Steve didn’t get a chance to recover his bearings before she stepped around him and picked up the sketch pad. “No wonder you got distracted. This is incredible.”
Steve scratched the back of his neck. “It’s not that much. I took some art classes as an undergrad. GI Bill, you know? Seemed like I should use it. Didn’t want to waste it.”
“Not much? How long have you been here sketching this?”
“Just a minute,” Steve said. “I really was going to move the boxes-maybe five minutes? Two or three, at least.”
“Two or three minutes,” Peggy said, under her breath. Her lipstick seemed really bright against her skin, but Steve liked that. In the constant daylight of the SHIELD base, everything was far too easily washed out, but Peggy’s lipstick remained a slash of color.
He realized belatedly that staring at her lips was probably a bad thing, and jerked his gaze back up to her eyes.
“Two or three minutes,” she said again, “and you create something this lovely.”
“Well, no, it was really all them,” Steve said, pointing at the birds and his dogs.
Peggy smiled tightly. “Don’t sell yourself short. You have a gift. You should celebrate that.”
“It’s just sketchings.”
“It’s a masterpiece.” Before he could think to stop her, she turned the page. He heard her breath catch, and abruptly wanted to sink through the floor. It had to be a drawing of her, he thought. The light had looked soft and inviting at dinner the night before, and he’d seen her sneaking a piece of Bacon to Rebel, just a forbidden little treat. He’d sketched it from memory afterward, just a pencil sketch. He hadn’t meant for anybody to see.
He probably should have burned the notebook already.
“Well,” she said, and when she looked up at him, she was actually smiling rather than furious. She closed the notebook and he felt like the ultimate heel, especially when she held it out to him. “That was rude of me to peek, but I’ve been so curious as to what you’ve been drawing this whole time.”
“You h-have?”
“Well, yes. And now I know you got my good side,” and she startled him by leaning forward and giving him a kiss on the cheek. Her lips felt impossibly warm. “So thank you for that.”
And with another smile that had his heart racing, she stepped out of the supply room/penguintorium, this time without tripping over any boxes or cursing. Steve stayed where he was for a whole minute, until Dum Dum’s canine laughter made him look down and realize that the sled dog was actually laughing at him. “Oh, shut up,” he said, grinning at the dog.
Later, when he was washing his hands after taking care of the penguins, he glanced in the mirror and saw the faint imprint of Peggy’s lipstick, just that little trace of color against the pale.
It made him smile.