4812/1950: SHIELD's First Days, or Night.

1950: SHIELD's First Days, or Night.
Date of Scene:	21 January 2021
Location:	1950, Stark Penthouse, NYC
Synopsis:	1950, Daniel Sousa moves back east to help with the founding of SHIELD. Peggy and Daniel have an evening discussing how to handle living in the same city, and what that means for their relationship.
Cast of Characters:	Peggy Carter, Daniel Sousa

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Peggy Carter has posed:
Setting up an international spy agency dedicated to protecting the world from super-human everything wasn't easy. It means that while Peggy was quite excited to see Daniel, she couldn't pick him up at the airport. Even if he did come in a private plane chartered by Howard Stark, and there was a limo to bring him to the place he'd be staying -- the Stark Penthouse, generally occupied by Peggy and her sometimes roommate Angie -- but she promised she'd be home as soon as possible and he should make himself comfortable.

The place is huge, at least 4 bedrooms he's seen so far, lavish furniture, a liquor cabinet or corner bar in every room, excellent views of the city. A dinner has been sent up for him and a bottle of champagne from Howard with a lavish 'Welcome to the Team!' note definitely NOT written in his hand. But some secretary did write it, and Howard probably had the thought.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
A bemused look is pretty much permanently plastered on Daniel's face since he got on that private plane. Then there was the limo and of course Stark's penthouse. He never quite got used to the level of luxury that surrounded the man, but at the moment he didn't care. He was here, finally, his bags are left to one side of the entry way as he takes a moment to look over the dinner laid out for him and pop the bottle of champagne. Not his usual drink of choice but if Peggy did make it home before the jet lag got him he wanted to be in a celebratory mood.

Peggy Carter has posed:
It's a good hour after any sane dinner time, and 30 minutes past when she promised she'd do her very best to be there, that the sound of the key in the front lock can be heard. Peggy Carter is finally home. She's in a suit today -- something custom tailored to her hour glass frame to look severe and proper, almost taming those curves as much as possible. It's double breasted with a straight suit jacket that is a slightly more masculine cut, but her usual style of wide legged slacks and still a pair of T-Strap heels to give her that boost of height.

She looks like a woman who has been in meetings since 8 this morning, which she probably has. Her curls have slightly fallen, her expression is exhausted, and she's already got two layers of apology on her features and spilling out of her lips as she walks in the front hall. "I am so sorry, the General does like to talk and we had the diplomat in from Egypt..."

Daniel Sousa has posed:
Daniel smiles as soon as Peggy walks through the door, he sets down the champagne in his hand and rises from the chair where he'd been reading the Times, "No apology needed, Director," he says with a slight smile on his lips. "My money was on you being at least another hour and it's not like I didn't have all this" he looks around the penthouse that could fit two of house he had in LA in it with room for more. ""To explore." He makes his way to Peggy with the help of his cane. "Glad you got away though," he says more quietly, brushing a kiss against her lips. "We're finally here."

Peggy Carter has posed:
There had been a few 'dates' between them, in the near year since they finally threw caution to the wind. It's been hard, though, living across the country with two incredibly demanding jobs. The prospect that he'd just be living here, with her, able to be seen most any time they please? It's not really set home yet. She smiles a bit wider as she hears his voice, letting her apologies trail off into silence and looking up at him with a moment of pure relief. Almost contentment. He really was here.

She slips her heels off the back of her feet and steps across the marble foyer to meet him half way. The kiss is returned gently, letting him pull back to speak, but then she leans up and in for a far deeper moment. Relief he's here. Excitement to see him. How much she's missed him. It's all behind that kiss. Her arms wrap around his shoulders, a little shorter than him now for standing in just stockinged feet. When their lips finally break, she whispers gently, "Well, yes...you had better enjoy all this. The fact I have a *man* staying over got me no measure of grief and teasing from Howard." She grins a bit more against his lips.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
Living a whole country apart from one another had been murder as much as he enjoyed LA and he'd miss it but he didn't miss the distance from Peggy or the long hours on planes and trains to have what always seemed like too few hours with Peggy. The deeper kiss is returned enthusiastically his own feelings clearly displayed by the gesture. His relief at being here, how much he missed her, it's all there loud and clear.

He smiles about Howard's teasing with a roll of his eyes. "Guess as heck from your landlord for living with a man goes Howard still comes in way short of Mrs Fry," he says with the a wry smile about Peggy's old landlady at the Griffith.

Peggy Carter has posed:
A little groan escapes her lips as he mentions Mrs. Fry. "No... she'd have tried to HANG you if you dared set foot on the second floor. Howard just wants to know how many times we use the bedroom so he can keep track over which room is *winning*." Peggy smirks to him, those words quite frank and flat, not joking in the least, it seems. She then gives him one more kiss before pulling back enough to wrap an arm around his waist so they can both walk back into the more comfortable area.

She looks beat. Probably as beat as he feels. "God...I've missed you."

Daniel Sousa has posed:
Sousa coughs, "He wants to know what?" before he shakes his head, he was slowly getting used to Stark, but he didn't think he'd ever fully get there. "Huh," he says finally before he's distracted by another kiss and he goes with Peggy towards more comfortable spaces than the entry hall, cane clacking on the tile with each step. He looks over fondly as he tells her, "Me too." Seeing how tired she looks, Daniel offers, "Well speaking of that bedroom, if we needed to rest?" he suggests which doesn't sound at all like resting.

Peggy Carter has posed:
"Did you actually *eat*? I know I haven't. And just where did they put down your bags... there's two extra rooms, if you want your own...space. But, there's... plenty of room in mine, too..." Peggy offers, a hint shy about it. While they've spent weekends together, that's a bit different than living in the same space -- the same room -- for goodness knows how long. While Peggy is rarely shy, she's a bit shy about this. She studies his face, trying to pick up any other hints or subtext that she might be missing about the whole mess.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
Sousa smiles, "I thought about it," he says about eating as if that counted. "Figured I'd wait for you," he says, leading their course towards the table and the waiting dinner. At the mention of the living arrangements Daniel looks downwards for a second, before glancing over at her trying to get the same read she was trying to get from him. "Whichever room would make you most comfortable for me to take would be fine," he says, deflecting, but there's definitely a preference struggling to get out under that mask of polite deference

Peggy Carter has posed:
"Oh no... You were about to take me to a bedroom. Yes, I would like dinner. But first, I'd like to know which bedroom you were planning on TAKING me too." Peggy stares at him, an amused smirk on her lips, but she's not letting him get out of expression that preference. She has a glimmer in her eyes about her own preference and amusement over this all, but she's not letting it totally betray her yet. "...There's four bedrooms. Even if you take your own, we can pull dinner into a whole OTHER bedroom and make it the eating bed if you want. Would serve Howard right. But...do tell me where you were going to take me, Chief Sousa?"

Daniel Sousa has posed:
"Agent Sousa now," Daniel corrects, "Director," he says his smile slightly smug but the deflection is a brief one. "Yours but I wasn't exactly thinking about moving in at the time," he tells her, as if they both don't know. "But the idea has some potential."

Peggy Carter has posed:
"Mm.. No. Chief Sousa. Well...I suppose..." Peggy mutters as she rolls her eyes to the ceiling, considering something with a mock idleness, "Maybe it should be Field Director. Or... Chief Instructor. Mm. What sort of name would you like, being in the first dozen SHIELD staff in the world? We can make a position for you, you know...I might know someone. I can pull some strings." Peggy's red lipped smile tugs a bit wider, both amused and flirtatious, but there is a serious edge to her eyes. She is actually curious what position he's wanting to take.

She then tugs him back towards the food, but now she's not letting go of him entirely. At least one hand remains in his as she gently tugs him across the far too large apartment, towards the food. "And our bedroom would work... entirely fine. I think I would like to scream if you decided to sleep across the hall from me when I finally have you on this coast, but...You are an independent man who can make his own decisions."

Daniel Sousa has posed:
Sousa slips out of Peggy's arm to lean back against the wall and smile, cane around one wrist. "That so?" he asks her. "Sounds like the kind of favour I'd owe pretty big for," he says playing the game at first before he gets more serious. "Not the teaching sort," he says with a shake of his head. It was too far from the action and his time with Peggy had made him adverse to missing out. "Field Director sounds about right," he says finally. "But what exactly would I be directing?"

Peggy Carter has posed:
"Operations for... well, probably the whole west coast? You still might work out of this office, until we settle in more, but when things pop up in the territory you know... It's yours. We trust you to go out, manage it all, pick your team. You know, the usual. If you're up for it." Peggy gives him a teasing little wink, the sort that says she entirely thinks he's up for it but they're still in the strange, happy liminal space between work colleagues and lovers. It's a place they've learned to straddle pretty well. Then she's making herself a whole plate of food, clearly quietly starving and not embarrassed about it. It's been several long weeks of long days. "...as long as you don't mind that your Director is going to have garlic breath..."

Daniel Sousa has posed:
There's a moment of concern when the West Coast is brought up but it quickly vanishes as Peggy lays out the details. "So, running the West Coast but doing it from here?" he asks her a grin crossing his lips. "How could I say no?" he says, it really was the best of both worlds.

He follows her to the table mind already going over the details of the position, even as he leans in to kiss Peggy, saying, "Not if I get to kiss her first." He lets this one linger before breaking away to feed himself, the food was smelling too damn good and he hadn't eaten before getting on the plane. As he piles food on his plate he smiles. "You know, were right back in the desert, eventually," he adds that last bit with a smile. "We were idiots," he says fondly. "We actually made this work."

Peggy Carter has posed:
The kiss is happily returned. They aren't in the office. They genuinely decided to do this. There is no reason for Peggy to be on edge any longer, but she still is. Maybe she'll always be just a little paranoid. But the kiss is savored, eyes shutting for a handful of heartbeats, before she pulls back just enough to take a breath and look into his eyes. "I suppose acommodations can be made." She teases back, to his question of kissing first.

Then they are back to work. Sometimes that work involves remembering to put food in their bodies which will help fuel them for the future. Sometimes it involves talking about work. Tonight? It involves both. She finishes filling her plate and scoops up a glass of champagne, heading over to the too-plush couch and settling down there. She waits for him to sit before kicking her legs up, draping them across his thighs as they settle in to eat. "We are...making this work. We've never lived in the same place while... being together, before. Maybe we'll get sick of each other in two weeks. You don't know. Maybe you will hate my being in charge, hmm?"

Daniel Sousa has posed:
Sousa happily takes his food out to the couch sinking down and letting Peggy put her legs over his thighs and smiles as she does so. He takes a bite of food while she talks and then shakes his head as he swallows it down. "Not a chance," he says of getting sick of her. "Remember the cabin at Christmas?" he says. "Snowed in for four days, no heat, bad food, not a drop of tea or coffee. If we didn't murder each other then, something tells me we can manage living together in, this," he gestures at the grand penthouse. "As for you being in charge, you really don't remember our old cases that well," he teases. "One way or another I always end up following your lead," a beat. "Most of the time."

Peggy Carter has posed:
"Mm... yes. I mean, expect for those times you were trying to arrest me or charge me with treason. I suppose you had the upper hand for a little bit, in those moments." Peggy mutters to him, settling in just a bit deeper as she allows her slacks to ride up, exposing ankles and the bottom of her calves. She reaches her free hand down to unbutton the few stays of her suit so she can simply let go. Fully relax. It's not something she does around anyone else, really.

"And... willingly living and working together is different than being snowed in at a cabin. Though now..." A tired laugh escapes her throat, "That almost sounds like a lovely vacation. No meetings, obligations... no diplomats asses to kiss. Nothing but you and every excuse to keep each other warm."

Daniel Sousa has posed:
"Yep, those and when I had to point out a certain agent from New York was breaking her own rules when it came to risking, well, pretty much everything to save the life of one agent," he says with a smile recalling that argument at the end of the Isodyne case and what it led to. "Not that I wasn't grateful for the save." He chuckles putting down his fork and gently rubs his thumb across that bit of exposed leg. The chuckle becomes a laugh at the mention of the cabin sounding good right now. "Guess we had that going for us back then," he says of the quiet and having nothing else to do.

"And you're right about it not being the same thing, but we've figured things out this far, we'll figure out the rest. "After all we've got plenty of room to spread out if we get tired of seeing each other all the time."

Peggy Carter has posed:
A deeper smirk crosses her lips as he mentions her breaking her own rules. Peggy looks away, towards the window and the ceiling for a moment, as she spears and munches on a few pieces of food. "I will not aknowledge that ever happened. I made the best decisions with the information I had at the time." She insists teasingly.

Then she's gazing back to him, expression softening a bit more. Peggy's trying to keep stiff and proper, but it's hard with her legs across his lap. She's comfortable now. Relaxing and, for the moment, at home. "Mmm, yes, this place is ridiculously big enough if we need a break from each other. For now, I'm...simply happy you are here." She leans over, pressing a kiss to the corner of his lips, before she settles back into her meal. It's not the most exciting night they've ever had, but it's comfortable. Relaxing. Supportive. Probably a night she desperately needed.