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WHO: Peggy Carter
WHERE: Outside the Inn
WHEN: Late October 11th
OPEN TO: OTA
WARNINGS: Mature clothing
STATUS: Closed

Naughty Surprises

When the box arrives on her doorstep, at first Peggy thinks that perhaps it's simply James' turn for a gift. The package is a small one, the likes of which she'd found her hair items in earlier, and though she still doesn't understand the ability of a prison like this to deliver them such luxuries, she's also not about to turn them away. She's even turned over her shoulder to summon Barnes when she gets a better look at the name on it.

It's her name. Odd, though. After the last few, Peggy can't imagine what more she might require. Certainly, the seeds and the pigeons have been somewhat useful and the hair frivolities are a lovely little treat, but what more could she need? Settling on the front steps in order to open it and find out, she discovers that apparently, there is a cruel streak of humour in whomever is sending her such gifts.

The top two items are practical. They appear to be quite skimpy, but look like they will support her quite well if she decides she wishes to exercise. The shorts and brassiere are not what she's used to, but the concept is quite practical. It's when she goes further to the next layer that has her eyes wide and a look of shock on her face.

"Good God!" she reacts, slamming the box shut instantly. Opening it a moment later, the set is still there, as lurid and red and lacy as before. Fishing the top out, Peggy dangles the strap of an indecent set of bra and panties from her fingertips, which wouldn't cover much on any woman, let alone her. Turning skywards, she regards her strange benefactors with a disbelieving look, as if this is suddenly some awful movie production Howard is manning and he expects her to put on a show.

"If you think I'm putting these on where anyone can see, you've another thing coming," she warns the strange gods above, staring through the holes of the panties and going approximately the same colour red when she sees someone else through them. "Well," she says, as calmly as she can muster, "this is embarrassing."

One Hundred and One...

When Kate and Margaery are found and brought back to safety (albeit somewhat scraped), Peggy finds herself quick to frustration and hating her ineptitude in helping to find them. That, combined with how easily her body slides to weariness is a reminder that she needs to keep up with a much more regimented training plan. While she dislikes running for the sake of exercise, she clads herself in her brand new sports brassiere, the tank top, and scrubs trousers before going for a run.

What she would like most of all is something to take out her aggression on. There had been nothing better than the punching bag at Howard's mansion to finish a day with, allowing her fists to take out all the fury she can manage. The best she can do here is a pillow she's absconded with, but the punches feel light and she gives up someway through when it's nowhere near the sort of satisfying she's aiming for.

In her mind, she can hear Howard's voice (a ghost of itself) as it asks Peggy, does Jarvis know that you can do 107 one armed pushups? and it makes her absurdly homesick for a set of people, but also gives her a determined goal to try and best.

It's been some time since she set that record for herself, but there's no time like the present to try and beat it, especially since sparring seems out of the question when the pillow is hardly fighting back. Pinning her hair back to keep it from her face, Peggy settles herself on the ground in order to begin, winding her way through the first four sets of ten with ease, but as she begins to hit seventy, then eighty, she finds herself flagging.

"Bloody Nora, they weren't always this hard," she mutters under her breath, arm trembling as she refuses to give up just yet. This is what she gets for ignoring her regiment as long as she has, and with a loud cry of frustration, her arm gives out and she goes to her stomach on the barely-dried ground, accepting that she'll be doing quite a bit of laundry after this. Staring up, she lets out a long sigh and wishes for Howard's gym facilities, not for the first time.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"It is a rather convenient way to force yourself to socialize, isn't it?" Peggy says, grateful herself for that very same side benefit of staying with Barnes. It also helps that they've a common acquaintance, so are very rarely without a subject to speak of. "Do you find it a welcoming place?" she asks, because she thinks that if anything ever were to happen, she would want to then turn around and find a new place to live. The inn has always been her last resort, a place that she knows was there.

"I don't think that I would want anyone at the inn to see me in such things. Or to converse about them. I do hope that the gossip situation in this place isn't rampant," she says, a frown on her face as she thinks about how chatty the office had been and it had all been men.

"From my experience, a situation like this requires all hands on deck. I wouldn't have survived the last time if it hadn't been for the people I grew close to and there was safety to be had in numbers," Riza confessed. She had actually had even more housing options then since they had been dumped in the heart of Manhattan island. Unfortunately, with monsters a constant need for worry you needed to have a group you could rely on. She'd met Harry first and had quickly fallen into his "crew" as it were. The Strand had quickly become her home, possibly more of a fort given the defenses they had set up. She knew she couldn't completely recreate that environment here, but she felt safer in a situation if she had people who could alert her right away if something was happening.

"They've been very welcoming at the inn," she added. "I think it helps that most of the town meetings and the lunches take place there. But the people that stay at the inn aren't too noisy or intrusive, which suits me."

Riza could understand Peggy's concern. She could only imagine what Miss Kate would think of such garments. "As for gossip, I'm not sure that's something that goes away no matter where you are. Even in a dire situation like this...people are going to be prone to talk," she paused and realized what that might sound like, "I promise to not share the details of your box if that's what you're worried about. I've been on the other end of unappreciated gossip." Although, in hindsight, it shouldn't have surprised her that the gossip of her relationship with Harry had spread the way it had. At least here they didn't have those annoying communication devices that enabled such easy ways to spread gossip. Here it would have to be word of mouth or not at all.

Lucky for her, the true gossip that she's worried about will only happen for those who know who she is and the relationships she'd once skirted around. It really means that Barnes and the others from her universe are the ones this must be hidden from, because the implication is unfortunate. She hasn't asked for this and she doesn't necessarily think it's something she needs, but here it is. She imagines it might have been nice on a wedding night in a world that Peggy thinks she's never going to live in.

It's a shame, really, but there's a part of her that can't help but feel more useful and excited in the pursuit of answers. The trouble is that without answers, it's only growing more and more frustrating. "Have you received anything? These boxes are the strangest thing, I honestly don't understand it."

Riza nodded at her question. She'd been nervous about opening the boxes that had arrived for her. Even though no one prior to this had received a bad box, she still couldn't shake the paranoia that there would only need to be one time for it to change everything. Riza knew there were valuable resources found in some of the boxes, but it was hard to bring herself to trust them. Even still, she had opened it at the encouragement of Jess and had even utilized the resources within.

"I got two at once--a big and a small one. The bigger one had two tins of tea and a package of sugar cubes. The smaller one was just a hair clip and some ribbons I could also use to tie my hair back with," she admitted. She figured she'd seen the contents of Peggy's box, might as well share the contents of her own. Even if they were much more tame in comparison.

Peggy thinks that she's just made a new best friend. She doesn't even realize she's made a little sound of yearning until it pops out. "Tea," she says, breathing out a long exhalation. "Oh, you've no idea how much I've missed proper tea. I received the seeds to grow it, but that's still an abysmal long way away," she says, scanning the woman's face.

"What would I have to offer you to get my hands on some of that tea?" she wonders, thinking that she could mine her wares and happily give some of it up in the deal.

It honestly surprised Riza how many people got excited over a little thing like tea. On the other hand, she hadn't been here nearly as long and when she'd discovered the tea she'd been thrilled, so she could only imagine how others must be feeling. It was one reason she'd been fairly open about receiving it. The weather was getting colder as well, which also lent itself to tea being a good product to have. She realized she could do a better job of bartering with it, but she honestly wasn't sure what to get in exchange for it. "I can imagine," Riza said in reply. "At least we have more of a supply on the way, but I would imagine it's going to be awhile before we can actually harvest said leaves."

She considered the suggestion of the offer and then shook her head, "I'm still new and trying to get to know more people. What if the first cup is on me and you join me for a cup and then if you'd like to compensate in the future we can negotiate then. I really don't know if I'd want to take much since I don't even know what you have or what would be considered fair." She felt strange taking payment for a bit of tea. Besides the fact she'd already been fixing others a cup of tea if she was having one herself. She'd been trying not to have it too often, but it honestly did come in handy. Lucky for her there had been two tins and both were of decent size for loose leaf tea. Riza knew something of rationing anyway.

In Peggy's opinion, it's going to feel like eternity before she gets a chance to actually enjoy proper tea again using the seeds she'd been given, so to have this opportunity on hand is one that she refuses to simply let bleed by her.

"I'd absolutely love to join you for a cup," Peggy promises, thinking of what she might be able to offer in turn. "I've received a fair number of boxes myself, but perhaps I can start to reserve certain sections of the seeds I've received just for you. I'm attempting to grow a few in my home," she explains, something she'd started after the rain (and she still has an emergency stash of seeds to use just in case those go awry, too).

"That might be a good exchange. I had a plant at home, but I've never really tried to actively grow things before. I think I'm better at taking care of animals than plants," Riza said. It might have sounded silly. After all, how would taking care of a pet be easier than a plant. But, in Riza's defense, you could understand and "read" a pet, learn it's behavior, and teach it. You couldn't do it with a plant and you certainly couldn't tell what a plant wanted or needed. Animals could at least convey that much, even if it wasn't in words.

"It was probably a smart move to start trying to grow them inside though, I can't imagine what all this rain has done to the crops."

"It's rather daunting from the seeds," Peggy admits, since it's very hard to get any indication of how your progress is going, but she has Mark to turn to if things get truly dicey. Besides, it's a lesson in learning, she thinks. "Did you have them at home? Animals, that is, not unfortunately tended to plants," she clarifies.

The idea of pets is foreign to her, more something of Howard's hobbies than something she could ever see herself doing, but she supposes other people might find it rewarding.

"One of my colonel's subordinates found a puppy a few years back, but the military dorms he was staying in didn't allow pets. There was some discussion as to who would take care of it and I was deemed the most capable," which was the short version of the story of how she'd wound up with Black Hayate. She had never really seen herself as an animal person prior to that either, though apparently she'd had a knack.

"I named him Black Hayate and trained him after that. He actually proved to be not only loyal but useful as well," she continued, smiling a little fondly. "I suppose should you ever find one of those boxes with a dog inside addressed to you, you could let me know and I could help with that as well."

"I might just give the dog to you," Peggy confesses. "I'm not exactly the world's warmest caregiver," she says, and it's not that she's not responsible, but she thinks that other things might inevitably suck up her time and prioritization, if she's honest. "You must miss having the companionship, though."

"You can't train something wild? Domesticate it?"

Riza shrugged. She didn't exactly want to commit to taking care of an animal here. Taking care of one here was vastly different from taking care of one back home. The food shortage was a constant fear and honestly she still couldn't predict this environment enough to feel capable of training an animal. Still, if Peggy didn't think she was capable of handling it, perhaps it would be for the best.

"I do miss him, but I try not to think about it most days. I've had to be separated from him before and I can handle it again," at least that was what she told herself. As for Peggy's other question, Riza wasn't so sure. "I never really tried to train a wild animal. Black Hayate at least had the demeanor for it. Wild animals would be something completely different." She quirked an eyebrow at her, "Why? Do you have one you're thinking of domesticating?"

"Only the goat we've already taken in," she jokes, seeing as the goat doesn't require much tending to, but she'd rather make sure that it doesn't try and run wild on her the next time she has to help Sam in doing something for it, especially something so simple as moving it. "I do also have the pigeons," she admits, "but that's less of a worry about domestication and more a worry about training."

"A goat?" she blinked in surprise. That wasn't what she'd been thinking at all. What would her colleagues back home think about the idea of the hawk's eye training a goat? She laughed as the thought sunk in and shook her head. "Sorry. I'm afraid I have no idea how to domesticate a goat." She looked back up at Peggy, "I'm afraid you'll be on your own there."

"You're training pigeons as well? Why would we need trained pigeons?"

"We've no idea how to domesticate it either, I assure you, which is why I always send Sam in when I'm worried that he's going to kick," Peggy jokes ruefully, seeing as she's still not sure what on earth they were thinking the day that they picked him up. The pigeons, though, is something she'd greatly like to learn how to tame. "The pigeons can fly. More important, they can fly messages and came equipped with the necessary equipment for it. Given how restricted the communications are, it seems like this will be a necessary thing.

If only she could get it working. "I'm struggling to figure out how to train them to find someone, specifically. I don't quite know if they're exactly like dogs, in that training regard."

The thought furthers her amusement, though this time it's only a smirk that graces her lips. She'd heard the police station was turned into a stable and had seen Sam head that way a few times. She could only imagine what went on in there.

"Is this place really big enough for using messenger pigeons?" Her brow furrowed in thought as she further processed what Peggy had just said, "Hold on...why are they giving you supplies to expedite communication like that?" She glances skyward, not sure what to make of the fact that Peggy had been given such a gift. Why would the promote that? Did they think that perhaps she couldn't figure it out ore perhaps they could have a greater control over pigeons.

"Well, I don't know about you, but if it starts to get rather freezing, icy, and snowy, I'd rather send out a pigeon to get a message across than haul myself out there, freezing my arse off to do it," is Peggy's opinion, though it will require a great deal of training she doesn't know how to give.

"They were used a great deal for spy messages in the first World War. Perhaps someone knew of my studies of the techniques." Not that they adapted them at Bletchley, though there had been times she'd considered such a thing.

"Point taken," Riza replies. She hadn't considered the possibility of snowfall being that bad here. She was used to the mild climate of Central and in Manhattan they'd been able to prepare for snow and a lot of the natives knew what to expect. Here they had no prior knowledge nor did they know what to expect to happen as it got colder.

One more problem, right?

"I see. That would be helpful if we could figure out how its done then. I'm afraid birds are also out of my experience...though I do know something about codes and passing on messages," she said.

"Yes, the latter is quite familiar to myself," Peggy concurs, but she had always taken for granted that all the codes had been delivered to her by machine or some other component that she never paid much mind to. "The birds are rather tempestuous." Truthfully, if she hadn't figured out a way to train them by the winter, Peggy had half-intended to potentially eat them for the squab they are, but she'd much rather keep them around for their primary use.

"It seems that we're rather short on books," she admits. "They didn't exactly plan a library, did they?"

Riza shrugs, "Well...they are birds. They aren't exactly known for their laser focus and ability to follow orders." She had a feeling there was a "key" to training pigeons -- she'd heard about such tactics before though it hadn't been a common practice in her own world.

She sighs, "It is a shame. Even here, it's my first instinct when we have a problem, but we can't even have that simple of a luxury I suppose." Riza glances over her shoulder at the village spread out behind them. Her expression drops into a light scowl, "Honestly it's a little strange that there aren't any books. But I suppose that's another way they have of truly testing us or perhaps limiting what we can do here."

Riza turns her attention back to Peggy, "But we're two capable women, I'm sure we can figure it out." She offers her a confident smile, "I know one of the keys to training is repetition and consistency. Are your birds tamed at all in terms of not flying off when you let them out of their cage?"

"I've had them since they were quite small, so I've been able to keep them from truly escaping away from me," Peggy says, grateful of that much. Something in what Riza's said makes Peggy realize that perhaps she's been looking at this wrong. "What if I have you at one end with something high value they want and me at the other. We could train them with grains or other foods," she says.

Maybe what she's been doing wrong is trying to do this alone, when it's just not possible to do it that way. It's not the first time that she's gone along with something stubbornly just to prove that she doesn't need any help to do it.

It's a sound plan, as far as Riza can tell from her limited knowledge of birds. "Food and a reward system is a big part of training and conditioning...so I think you might be on to something there. If nothing else, it wouldn't hurt to try that method out," Riza muses.

She taps her chin in thought, "Perhaps we could train them to want to fly to the inn and back to your house as a start. The inn's the village hub and even if we couldn't get them to fly all over like true messengers perhaps we could at least get them used to going back and forth between those two locations." Even if they didn't make it that far, this was still more of a start than it sounded like Peggy had before.

"That would be very helpful," she agrees, thinking of how many times she's needed just a small piece of information from someone at the inn, only to have to make the trek. It would be a miraculous thing if she could avert that. "I suppose we'd have to start from small distances, perhaps in a direct line from my home to the inn..."

She's already picturing the training schedule in her mind, but for the first time, she actually feels like she's approaching this correctly rather than blindly.

Riza nods in agreement with Peggy's assessment. It's their best bet if nothing else. "Although, perhaps first we need to make sure they aren't just going to fly off into the open sky as soon as they are free," Riza says with some dry humor. At the same time, it is a real concern, even if she is playing it off as a joke.

"If they do, it'll only be a shame that I won't have a way of tracking its progress," Peggy admits, seeing as she thinks that if she could let a bird loose and have it escape, she'd just want to follow as quickly as possible. "What I wouldn't give for a little bit of technology," she complains, which also brings with it the fervent desire to see Howard Stark - something she never thought she'd think quite so desperately.

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wrap this up in a few tags?

sounds good to me!