[ rip wouldn't be wrong. ray palmer has been the very definition of a persistent bastard. but she has a grudging respect for persistent bastards -- the ones who won't stay knocked down. the idealists, the futurists, the ones with the hardest heads. it's an admiration that feels most natural when it's being hidden.

or, at the very least, downplayed. something this event hasn't allowed her to do. not about shield, not about ray, and now not about this either. peggy chews her way through the frangipan and the frosting while she forces herself to meet rip's eyes -- it's only a matter of time before something else comes bubbling up. but when she swallows, she finds she can't swallow the truth alongside. ]

Of course you hadn't. [ realized. ] I've worked hard to make certain you didn't. Wouldn't. It's no big reveal to say we've both been avoiding the topic. Our...little date, as you've put it.

[ peggy peels the slivered almond off the top of her remaining half a tart. ] Equally, Ray hasn't realized for whom I was making those excuses. And with a two parts effort to one part luck, he won't ever have to.