31 Plays in 31 Days, #20 - "Bearded"
Aug. 20th, 2024 10:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
breakinglight11It's late in the day, but it's still the 20th, so I'm technically still caught up!
This is another little bit of a Captain America fan fiction scene that I wrote as a drama, but could definitely use as the first draft of a prose fic. That technique often helps me get started. It's just a silly little moment, coming out of my personal preference for clean shaven Cap as opposed to bearded, which influences why I write him that way in my by-now pretty extensive post-Endgame series Forever Captain. I guess it's an attempt to find an in-character justification for it. There isn't a lot to this, but it could make for a cute little one shot that I could stick in the continuity of their early married years.
I guess there's also a tiny nod to that awful look Chris sported when he was performing Lobby Hero too.
Day #20 - “Bearded”
From Forever Captain
By Phoebe Roberts
STEVE ROGERS, formerly Captain America, now retired to the mid-century as Grant Carter
PEGGY CARTER, secret agent for the SSI, his wife
Schenectady, New York, 1949
~~~
(The Carter home. PEGGY comes in with her luggage and gear bag.)
PEGGY: Darling! I’m home.
(She sets down her bags while looking around, waiting for a response.)
PEGGY: Steve? Where are you?
STEVE: (off) Honey? That you?
PEGGY: Of course it’s me. Come see me, it’s been weeks.
STEVE: (off) Just a minute, Peg, I was just going to… guess I lost track of time. Coming!
PEGGY: After I’ve come back from a mission, you’re usually waiting at the door. What’s so absorbed you that…?
(He appears coming down the stairs, with several weeks’ growth of beard.)
PEGGY: Goodness. Look at you.
STEVE: Heh. Guess I let it go while you were away.
PEGGY: Hello there, stranger. What are you doing in my house?
STEVE: Yeah, I was working on a big commission and I didn’t want to take the time. Was planning to shave it before you got back, but…
PEGGY: Not so fast. I must say, it’s a rather intriguing change.
STEVE: You like it?
PEGGY: As a change of pace, I must say I do. It makes you look rather rugged, and… mysterious.
STEVE: Hm.
(She moves in close to put her arms around him.)
PEGGY: Who would have thought my boy scout had it in him? Even on the front, you never let it go.
STEVE: Well. When I was a glorified mascot, there was an image to maintain. And then later, having the routine helped…
PEGGY: Maybe you ought to keep it. Just for a while.
STEVE: Really? Because I was planning on shaving it.
PEGGY: Must you right away? Like I said, it’s fun for a change of pace. When you’ve never had one before.
(He pulls away a little.)
PEGGY: What?
STEVE: Eh. It’s silly.
PEGGY: What is it?
STEVE: You know, it’s funny. I’ve thought about growing it out a few times since I’ve been back. Living under a new identity, it seemed like it might make sense—make it harder for folks to recognize me. But I could never quite bring myself to do it.
PEGGY: Why not?
STEVE: Because I did do it once. At another time when I didn’t want anybody to recognize me.
PEGGY: When you were on the run.
STEVE: When I had to break the law to save Bucky, and became a wanted man. I was on my own, in opposition to so many of my friends… and it was just the beginning of a very rough several years.
PEGGY: I know.
STEVE: Yeah. Well, I remember when I shaved it off again, when I didn’t have to hide anymore, I just felt a little more like myself. Seeing myself like that again… just kind of reminds me of what it felt like back then. The loneliest time in my life. I’d rather not go back.
(Pause.)
STEVE: I’m really sorry, Peg, I know you just said you liked it—
PEGGY: No, no. I like you any way you are.
STEVE: You sure?
PEGGY: Darling. I liked you back when I outweighed you by two stone. And I’ve got the picture to prove it.
STEVE: That's true.
(She pulls him close again.)
PEGGY: You came here for a new start, a different sort of life. I want you to feel like you’re moving forward, not backward.
(She strokes his chin flirtatiously.)
PEGGY: Besides, with a jaw like this… as they say, mustn’t hide one’s light under a bush.
STEVE: (Laughing) Isn’t that “bushel”?
PEGGY: Not in this case.
STEVE: (chuckles) Maybe I should experiment. Put that to the test a little.
PEGGY: Oh, no.
STEVE: Try a handlebar mustache. Or mutton chops.
PEGGY: Darling. Don't push it. My affection is endless. My patience is not.
This is another little bit of a Captain America fan fiction scene that I wrote as a drama, but could definitely use as the first draft of a prose fic. That technique often helps me get started. It's just a silly little moment, coming out of my personal preference for clean shaven Cap as opposed to bearded, which influences why I write him that way in my by-now pretty extensive post-Endgame series Forever Captain. I guess it's an attempt to find an in-character justification for it. There isn't a lot to this, but it could make for a cute little one shot that I could stick in the continuity of their early married years.
I guess there's also a tiny nod to that awful look Chris sported when he was performing Lobby Hero too.
Day #20 - “Bearded”
From Forever Captain
By Phoebe Roberts
STEVE ROGERS, formerly Captain America, now retired to the mid-century as Grant Carter
PEGGY CARTER, secret agent for the SSI, his wife
Schenectady, New York, 1949
~~~
(The Carter home. PEGGY comes in with her luggage and gear bag.)
PEGGY: Darling! I’m home.
(She sets down her bags while looking around, waiting for a response.)
PEGGY: Steve? Where are you?
STEVE: (off) Honey? That you?
PEGGY: Of course it’s me. Come see me, it’s been weeks.
STEVE: (off) Just a minute, Peg, I was just going to… guess I lost track of time. Coming!
PEGGY: After I’ve come back from a mission, you’re usually waiting at the door. What’s so absorbed you that…?
(He appears coming down the stairs, with several weeks’ growth of beard.)
PEGGY: Goodness. Look at you.
STEVE: Heh. Guess I let it go while you were away.
PEGGY: Hello there, stranger. What are you doing in my house?
STEVE: Yeah, I was working on a big commission and I didn’t want to take the time. Was planning to shave it before you got back, but…
PEGGY: Not so fast. I must say, it’s a rather intriguing change.
STEVE: You like it?
PEGGY: As a change of pace, I must say I do. It makes you look rather rugged, and… mysterious.
STEVE: Hm.
(She moves in close to put her arms around him.)
PEGGY: Who would have thought my boy scout had it in him? Even on the front, you never let it go.
STEVE: Well. When I was a glorified mascot, there was an image to maintain. And then later, having the routine helped…
PEGGY: Maybe you ought to keep it. Just for a while.
STEVE: Really? Because I was planning on shaving it.
PEGGY: Must you right away? Like I said, it’s fun for a change of pace. When you’ve never had one before.
(He pulls away a little.)
PEGGY: What?
STEVE: Eh. It’s silly.
PEGGY: What is it?
STEVE: You know, it’s funny. I’ve thought about growing it out a few times since I’ve been back. Living under a new identity, it seemed like it might make sense—make it harder for folks to recognize me. But I could never quite bring myself to do it.
PEGGY: Why not?
STEVE: Because I did do it once. At another time when I didn’t want anybody to recognize me.
PEGGY: When you were on the run.
STEVE: When I had to break the law to save Bucky, and became a wanted man. I was on my own, in opposition to so many of my friends… and it was just the beginning of a very rough several years.
PEGGY: I know.
STEVE: Yeah. Well, I remember when I shaved it off again, when I didn’t have to hide anymore, I just felt a little more like myself. Seeing myself like that again… just kind of reminds me of what it felt like back then. The loneliest time in my life. I’d rather not go back.
(Pause.)
STEVE: I’m really sorry, Peg, I know you just said you liked it—
PEGGY: No, no. I like you any way you are.
STEVE: You sure?
PEGGY: Darling. I liked you back when I outweighed you by two stone. And I’ve got the picture to prove it.
STEVE: That's true.
(She pulls him close again.)
PEGGY: You came here for a new start, a different sort of life. I want you to feel like you’re moving forward, not backward.
(She strokes his chin flirtatiously.)
PEGGY: Besides, with a jaw like this… as they say, mustn’t hide one’s light under a bush.
STEVE: (Laughing) Isn’t that “bushel”?
PEGGY: Not in this case.
STEVE: (chuckles) Maybe I should experiment. Put that to the test a little.
PEGGY: Oh, no.
STEVE: Try a handlebar mustache. Or mutton chops.
PEGGY: Darling. Don't push it. My affection is endless. My patience is not.
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