[ She laughs a little at that keen sense of self-observation. She's been on the receiving end of his moods on more than one occasion but has never held it against him. She is glad that they came to trust each other the way the did, that admitting to this shared profession has helped rather than hindered. She doesn't know where she'd be now without his partnership as well as friendship.
So now it's a matter of extending that some courtesy to Claire. It's not a chat she's looking forward to but one she feels has been building up and up and up for some time, now. ]
I know. I don't doubt it. I just hope she understands that the secrets we keep are never to save our own skins or because we don't trust our friends. But, [ she sighs, ] I can't predict how she'll react. We'll simply have to hope for the best and keep our heads down in the meantime.
[ He falls back on the bed, laughing in a breathless sort of way. It releases tension. Percy won't mind, if he ever returns — they're changing the sheets, anyway.
As for Claire, he defers to Peggy on that matter. If Peggy isn't sure, then her reaction is truly uncertain. Wait and see, as ever. Even with lower level and higher frequency missions on the ground, spying involves more waiting than any other activity. Waiting and watching, waiting and listening, waiting and hiding. ]
Oi, I said a mustache. Jesus, Peg. A goatee! [ in the tone of why, I'd never. ]
[ He adjusts his gaze, moving from the ceiling and back to Peggy. When he speaks, his voice is even. ]
How did Steve handle the news of your injury?
[ It's too much to hide, even if it has healed... faster than he would have expected. He wouldn't have noticed, if that hadn't been the case after the rescue mission as well. Of course, he doesn't think anything of it yet. ]
[ She breaks into a smile, pleased to have earned such a reaction. It relaxes the tightness in her shoulders and she sits back on the heels of her palms, looking down at him. She had told Mr Jarvis she wasn't one for the cinema and that she didn't much care for life in Hollywood, but that doesn't mean she's never seen a motion picture in her life. But — ]
You've got a jawline like Errol Flynn, [ she teases, ] we have to mask it somehow.
[ And that lingers for a stretch or two before the subject changes and with it, the relative ease in the air. Not his fault. She's mid-breath when he asks and it stops for a moment before being released in a silent exhale; and now Peggy is the one who falls onto her back on the bed next to him. ]
As well as could be expected. [ It hadn't been an entirely pleasant conversation, but like the one she's to have with Claire, it had been building up for some time. ] I've hidden a few things from him, but a limp was by far the trickiest. The rest came spilling out from there.
[ Not his name or his involvement. She'd never. But that's a given. ]
[ The significance of Errol Flynn mostly flies over his head, but Eggsy can assume from the context that he was some vintage celeb. He brushes a hand over his face and pushes back his hair, caught between flattered and flustered.
When she falls back beside him, he tips his head to get a sideways look at her, more out of politeness than any visual cues afforded to him. ]
Fair enough. [ After Steve noticed the injury, more lies would only worsen the situation. ] Let me know if there's anything I can do. [ Besides commiserate, which is a given. ] If it would make him feel better to know who was with you —
[ He trails off. Eggsy doesn't have a relationship with Steve, partly by his own design. Would knowing it was Eggsy with Peggy help? Hard to say, but he puts it out there.
Roxy knows that he runs operations with Peggy, after all. ]
[ Yes, Roxy does know about her. And this offer is the complete opposite of when John had asked to know who her partner was and she hadn't budged on the subject, hadn't even really told Eggsy that was his request. The mess in her life is one thing; no good reason for it to touch Eggsy's, for all that they're partners in the underground.
It's kind of him to offer and he didn't have to. She knows. But she wants to spare him just as much as she wanted to spare Steve, if she can help it. ]
I know how unhappy you are with the position you're in now. [ Half joking that his people would sack him for how he's carried on here. She knows that wasn't all lighthearted. ] This is my mess, not yours.
Still, he would describe his position as fragile, at best. Perhaps the new head of Kingsman would consider his actions on El Nysa as necessary, proof of his adaptability and dedication to service, just like his work against Valentine. ]
I almost didn't get the job. [ Then, simply. ] I failed my final test. [ He pauses, listening for the light steps of JB pottering about the house in search of boy no longer on this planet. He tucks his arms behind his head. ] Didn't follow orders. Stole company property. Came back uninvited. [ His eyes shift, tracing invisible patterns on the ceiling. ] Killed a traitor. Maybe two traitors. [ Could Charlie survive a close-range electrocution? ] Saved the world, I guess. [ The point is: ] Everything's always a mess.
[ And his foundation with Kingsman is shaky, in some ways. Every other agent followed the same path. Loyal, old family; Oxbridge education; and shooting the fucking dog. Between his rough start and his choices in Olympia, he doesn't think it's likely that any agents who awaken will trust him. Even Roxy has reminded him of certain errors.
Telling Steve would be small, in comparison. That's all. 'Course he won't push it, when she's right about his position. As with Claire, Steve is her call. ]
[ He's never told her any of this and even though he skims over key details, she recognises that his path towards being an agent was unconventional. She was recruited in wartime and the SOE was desperate to take anyone who qualified, however unusual their background. It was different. But she can't help but draw similarities between what he's told her now to her career with the SSR after the war.
Her lips quirk a little at the ceiling at the point he makes. Everything is always a mess. ]
My own agency arrested me on the grounds of treason and espionage because I was trying to prove a man's innocence. I was conducting my own investigation under their noses and they found me out. [ The lengths she'll go for friends as well as doing the right thing. ] It was a fiasco. Stolen technology, Russian spies, assassins. Men were killed. [ Chief Dooley. My fault. ] I was sacked.
[ She turns her head to look at him. ]
Solved the case, caught the bad guy, and was reinstated with my agency. Trust is such a rare and fickle commodity in our line of work. I suppose that's why I'm so careful not to abuse it. [ Yours. Steve's. ] We're partners, Eggsy. It goes both ways. However you want to do it, we do it that way.
Partners. [ he agrees, looking to her in return. Friends, coworkers, teammates, all wrapped up in a neat term for trust and support.
Before now, the details of Peggy's case (getting sacked, discovering the truth) are unknown to him, yes, but each admission tracks with what he knows of her. Doing the right thing and protecting her friends at her own expense. What she says about trust, too, speaks to her experience. By comparison, Eggsy is green. ]
Russian spies, huh? [ A rhetorical remark. He lets out a low whistle, impressed and a little amused at the stereotypical nature of it. Peggy lived before the Cold War and yet he thinks of that first — along with her light accusation that he might be a Russian spy himself, because of his preference for the Kingsman Tokarev.
They're a long way off from that moment. ]
We'll take it one person at a time, [ in a faux Russian accent, ] comrade.
[ First Claire. Eggsy will make an effort with Steve and then — well, they'll wait and see. ]
[ A Russian spy posing as a ballerina. The clichés had to come from somewhere! She doesn't elaborate on the training facility she and the Commandos found out beyond the Iron Curtain, nor does she say the reason the Russians infiltrated the SSR is because they brought them right through their doors. The point is that they were stopped.
His accent makes her laugh out loud, not unkindly. ]
Yes, one person at a — was that meant to be Russian? [ Peggy sits up on her elbows, looking over at him. ] If I thought there was any merit to learning another accent or language in this place, I'd offer to teach you. But as it stands, I think English and American will suit our needs just fine.
[ As if she can read his mind: ]
Maybe you'll pick up on the latter if you come over more, spend some time with Steve.
[ Her laugh makes him laugh. When they're both done, a smile replaces his prior neutrality.
And how does he spend more time with Steve? Can't go golfing or bowling. Not that Eggsy does either, uh, ever. They could get a pint together. Go for a run, maybe. Everything else on the planet is weird shit. Besides, what does Steve like? Great fucking flag on his shield, definitely was in the army, going steady with Peg: That's about the limit of his Steve-related intel. ]
[ arching his brows. ] If you're inviting me to dinner, I'll take it.
Dinner is a start. I should have done it months ago, honestly, but... [ But things were a mess. Still are, and likely always will be. This isn't the quiet life any of them probably thought it was, at first. But Peggy's never known what to do with the quiet life. ] He's set up a training club too. Self-defense classes, that sort of thing, to help people better protect themselves.
[ The kidnapping incident shook a lot of people to their core and Steve, as a victim, was amongst them. And beyond that, with the childhood he'd lived, it makes sense that he'd want to help people stay out of situations like that. Peggy sits up properly now, smoothing a hand over her crushed curls. ]
You strike me as the sort of man who might be interested.
[ JB trots in the door, barking at the two of them. A sign that they ought to get on with this clean-up job, perhaps.
Eggsy sits up, easing to his feet to give JB attention. The fight club interested him when it was first mentioned on the network. People need it to help them sleep at night as much as to defend themselves. If he had known how to protect himself against Dean — ]
I can make a few appearances. [ But he can't become a regular, not without drawing attention to himself, even as an ex-marine and current member of the guard. Someone will notice his high competence or, worse, they'll realise how expertly he can dull his abilities. Now, that's suspicious.
As he crouches to scratch JB, he spies Peggy over his shoulder. ]
[ She understands what he doesn't say, only because she'd felt similarly. She offered her help in terms of coaching the women who may be interested in a class or two, specifically a sparring partner who might be closer to their height and weight — and who would understand going up against someone who was twice of both. But too much, and it's suspicious. It's a fine line they tread. ]
He hasn't always been the way he is now. [ Broad shoulders and muscles, she means. It's not her story to tell, but that much is all right. ] If he can help people feel a little less small, then all the better. He remembers what it's like.
[ Peggy slides off the bed and goes to straighten it out. If he doesn't tuck it all in with sharp hospital corners, then she will. She rolls up her sleeves to get to work, since break time is over as decreed by JB. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
So now it's a matter of extending that some courtesy to Claire. It's not a chat she's looking forward to but one she feels has been building up and up and up for some time, now. ]
I know. I don't doubt it. I just hope she understands that the secrets we keep are never to save our own skins or because we don't trust our friends. But, [ she sighs, ] I can't predict how she'll react. We'll simply have to hope for the best and keep our heads down in the meantime.
Even it means you have to sport a hideous goatee.
no subject
As for Claire, he defers to Peggy on that matter. If Peggy isn't sure, then her reaction is truly uncertain. Wait and see, as ever. Even with lower level and higher frequency missions on the ground, spying involves more waiting than any other activity. Waiting and watching, waiting and listening, waiting and hiding. ]
Oi, I said a mustache. Jesus, Peg. A goatee! [ in the tone of why, I'd never. ]
[ He adjusts his gaze, moving from the ceiling and back to Peggy. When he speaks, his voice is even. ]
How did Steve handle the news of your injury?
[ It's too much to hide, even if it has healed... faster than he would have expected. He wouldn't have noticed, if that hadn't been the case after the rescue mission as well. Of course, he doesn't think anything of it yet. ]
no subject
You've got a jawline like Errol Flynn, [ she teases, ] we have to mask it somehow.
[ And that lingers for a stretch or two before the subject changes and with it, the relative ease in the air. Not his fault. She's mid-breath when he asks and it stops for a moment before being released in a silent exhale; and now Peggy is the one who falls onto her back on the bed next to him. ]
As well as could be expected. [ It hadn't been an entirely pleasant conversation, but like the one she's to have with Claire, it had been building up for some time. ] I've hidden a few things from him, but a limp was by far the trickiest. The rest came spilling out from there.
[ Not his name or his involvement. She'd never. But that's a given. ]
no subject
When she falls back beside him, he tips his head to get a sideways look at her, more out of politeness than any visual cues afforded to him. ]
Fair enough. [ After Steve noticed the injury, more lies would only worsen the situation. ] Let me know if there's anything I can do. [ Besides commiserate, which is a given. ] If it would make him feel better to know who was with you —
[ He trails off. Eggsy doesn't have a relationship with Steve, partly by his own design. Would knowing it was Eggsy with Peggy help? Hard to say, but he puts it out there.
Roxy knows that he runs operations with Peggy, after all. ]
no subject
[ Yes, Roxy does know about her. And this offer is the complete opposite of when John had asked to know who her partner was and she hadn't budged on the subject, hadn't even really told Eggsy that was his request. The mess in her life is one thing; no good reason for it to touch Eggsy's, for all that they're partners in the underground.
It's kind of him to offer and he didn't have to. She knows. But she wants to spare him just as much as she wanted to spare Steve, if she can help it. ]
I know how unhappy you are with the position you're in now. [ Half joking that his people would sack him for how he's carried on here. She knows that wasn't all lighthearted. ] This is my mess, not yours.
no subject
[ It was offered freely.
Still, he would describe his position as fragile, at best. Perhaps the new head of Kingsman would consider his actions on El Nysa as necessary, proof of his adaptability and dedication to service, just like his work against Valentine. ]
I almost didn't get the job. [ Then, simply. ] I failed my final test. [ He pauses, listening for the light steps of JB pottering about the house in search of boy no longer on this planet. He tucks his arms behind his head. ] Didn't follow orders. Stole company property. Came back uninvited. [ His eyes shift, tracing invisible patterns on the ceiling. ] Killed a traitor. Maybe two traitors. [ Could Charlie survive a close-range electrocution? ] Saved the world, I guess. [ The point is: ] Everything's always a mess.
[ And his foundation with Kingsman is shaky, in some ways. Every other agent followed the same path. Loyal, old family; Oxbridge education; and shooting the fucking dog. Between his rough start and his choices in Olympia, he doesn't think it's likely that any agents who awaken will trust him. Even Roxy has reminded him of certain errors.
Telling Steve would be small, in comparison. That's all. 'Course he won't push it, when she's right about his position. As with Claire, Steve is her call. ]
no subject
Her lips quirk a little at the ceiling at the point he makes. Everything is always a mess. ]
My own agency arrested me on the grounds of treason and espionage because I was trying to prove a man's innocence. I was conducting my own investigation under their noses and they found me out. [ The lengths she'll go for friends as well as doing the right thing. ] It was a fiasco. Stolen technology, Russian spies, assassins. Men were killed. [ Chief Dooley. My fault. ] I was sacked.
[ She turns her head to look at him. ]
Solved the case, caught the bad guy, and was reinstated with my agency. Trust is such a rare and fickle commodity in our line of work. I suppose that's why I'm so careful not to abuse it. [ Yours. Steve's. ] We're partners, Eggsy. It goes both ways. However you want to do it, we do it that way.
no subject
Before now, the details of Peggy's case (getting sacked, discovering the truth) are unknown to him, yes, but each admission tracks with what he knows of her. Doing the right thing and protecting her friends at her own expense. What she says about trust, too, speaks to her experience. By comparison, Eggsy is green. ]
Russian spies, huh? [ A rhetorical remark. He lets out a low whistle, impressed and a little amused at the stereotypical nature of it. Peggy lived before the Cold War and yet he thinks of that first — along with her light accusation that he might be a Russian spy himself, because of his preference for the Kingsman Tokarev.
They're a long way off from that moment. ]
We'll take it one person at a time, [ in a faux Russian accent, ] comrade.
[ First Claire. Eggsy will make an effort with Steve and then — well, they'll wait and see. ]
no subject
His accent makes her laugh out loud, not unkindly. ]
Yes, one person at a — was that meant to be Russian? [ Peggy sits up on her elbows, looking over at him. ] If I thought there was any merit to learning another accent or language in this place, I'd offer to teach you. But as it stands, I think English and American will suit our needs just fine.
[ As if she can read his mind: ]
Maybe you'll pick up on the latter if you come over more, spend some time with Steve.
no subject
And how does he spend more time with Steve? Can't go golfing or bowling. Not that Eggsy does either, uh, ever. They could get a pint together. Go for a run, maybe. Everything else on the planet is weird shit. Besides, what does Steve like? Great fucking flag on his shield, definitely was in the army, going steady with Peg: That's about the limit of his Steve-related intel. ]
[ arching his brows. ] If you're inviting me to dinner, I'll take it.
no subject
Dinner is a start. I should have done it months ago, honestly, but... [ But things were a mess. Still are, and likely always will be. This isn't the quiet life any of them probably thought it was, at first. But Peggy's never known what to do with the quiet life. ] He's set up a training club too. Self-defense classes, that sort of thing, to help people better protect themselves.
[ The kidnapping incident shook a lot of people to their core and Steve, as a victim, was amongst them. And beyond that, with the childhood he'd lived, it makes sense that he'd want to help people stay out of situations like that. Peggy sits up properly now, smoothing a hand over her crushed curls. ]
You strike me as the sort of man who might be interested.
no subject
Eggsy sits up, easing to his feet to give JB attention. The fight club interested him when it was first mentioned on the network. People need it to help them sleep at night as much as to defend themselves. If he had known how to protect himself against Dean — ]
I can make a few appearances. [ But he can't become a regular, not without drawing attention to himself, even as an ex-marine and current member of the guard. Someone will notice his high competence or, worse, they'll realise how expertly he can dull his abilities. Now, that's suspicious.
As he crouches to scratch JB, he spies Peggy over his shoulder. ]
It's good work.
[ He wishes he could help more. ]
no subject
He hasn't always been the way he is now. [ Broad shoulders and muscles, she means. It's not her story to tell, but that much is all right. ] If he can help people feel a little less small, then all the better. He remembers what it's like.
[ Peggy slides off the bed and goes to straighten it out. If he doesn't tuck it all in with sharp hospital corners, then she will. She rolls up her sleeves to get to work, since break time is over as decreed by JB. ]
I'd say we all do, in our own ways.