[ it's not pleasant -- bearing the brunt of his disapproval all in one sigh. she could have side-stepped it entirely, and has done on more than one occasion, just by keeping secrets from him. but today it's a decent price to pay. she can stomach the knock-down if it means swerving out of the path of something altogether less palatable.

yes, she wants his help. just as she apparently wants to keep things professional tonight -- although it's rather easy to keep the space beside him on the sofa. she edges a little closer if only so she can grab at the book's spine and flutter its first few pages open. ]

Just under half. [ and then. ] It's second to last on a reading list I've been working on. The material in this one is actually a lot less opaque than the others, only...

[ it's always telling when she can't look him in the eye. just now, she's staring at something else, a scale that isn't really there -- balancing her choices for her. she doesn't like volunteering information, even when it's the sort of thing he already knows about her. ]

I'm quite familiar with Turing's work. [ which is the point of this particular text: where others took turing's ideas. for peggy, it's like having half an equation. this book's starting point is current affairs, for her, back home. ] But less familiar with what came of it.

[ now she looks askance at him -- unusually unnerved, for peggy carter. she takes another swallow of whiskey, better-judged this time. she wished all her stolen things weren't sitting out in plain view like so many elephants. ]

You know, when I knew him he used to chain his mug to the radiator. Beside his desk. Frightened of thieves.