"Please tell me you are joking." Peggy exclaims as her eyes met Angie's.
"No," Angie grins, "I know you're not a big fan of dogs, but you won't be able to say no to those faces, I promise ya."
"But Angie, you found them on the street! Who knows where they came from or what kind of diseases they may carry." Peggy says, looking worried.
"Don't worry, Peg. I'm sure they are okay. I mean, they look fine." Angie tries to reassure her.
"They might look fine, but they could still be sick. Please tell me you have at least checked if they have fleas. I rather not have those in our home."
"I did, and none of them have fleas."
"How many are there exactly?" Peggy is almost afraid to ask.
"Five."
"Five? Angie, we don't have room for five dogs!" Peggy tries not to yell, but she fails miserably.
"Calm down, they're puppies. And besides, we have a huge house now, I'm sure we can fit them in here somewhere."
"Puppies will grow up and in a few months they will be dogs. Five big dogs." Peggy puts the emphasis on the word 'big', hoping it would bring her point across.
Angie seems to ponder about that for a moment, bringing her finger to her jaw. "I s'pose you're right about that one." She says in a soft voice. "Hadn't really thought about that yet..." she mumbles even softer, sounding defeated.
She suddenly looks beaten down, the surge of enthusiasm has died and Peggy can almost see the light in the woman's eyes disappear. She feels guilty for practically yelling at her friend like that, and she immediately wants to bring back the smile on Angie's face.
"I mean, until we have found a new home for them, we can keep them here for a while." She tries.
It works, Angie's whole face lights up in one split second. "You serious, English?"
"Yeah, I suppose a few days won't hurt."
Angie jumps and lets out a high pitched squeal. She takes a few steps towards Peggy and wraps her arms around her. "Thanks Peg!"
"It's alright. Promise me you will try to find them a better home."
"Promise." Angie smiles widely.
"Come on! You need to see them. I'm sure you'll love them."
"I'm not much of a dog person." Peggy says, hesitating.
"Nonsense. Even the stoic Peggy Carter won't be able to resist a bunch of orphaned puppies, I just know it."
"If you're sure." Peggy can't stop a smile from appearing on her lips, feeling slightly less apprehensive about the unknown dogs.
Seeing Angie so happy gives her a warm feeling in her belly. The woman has always been a weak spot for her. She used to dislike that fact, but after weeks of trying to keep her distance, she gave up. She was still scared that something bad might happen to her friend, but spending time with her like this almost made it worth it.
"Follow me." Angie says and takes hold of Peggy's hand.
The younger woman pulls her through the house. They come to a halt in front of the door to one of the six bedrooms.
"I put them in here for the time being." Angie offers an explanation as she opens the door.
Angie steps in the room, pulling Peggy along with her. Peggy anxiously looks around, but she can't locate any of the supposedly five dogs. That is, until she hears a soft bark coming from the bed. Only then she notices the cardboard box placed in the middle of the bed.
"That's how I found them, the poor fellows."
Angie lets go of her hand, and Peggy tries to ignore how empty her hand suddenly feels. The woman walks over to the bed, straining her neck so she can look inside the box.
"They're all fast asleep." Angie says.
Peggy also takes a few steps forwards. She never really liked dogs. Ever since she was attacked by one when she was seven, she was quite afraid of the large animals. But as soon as she lays eyes on the content of the box, she lets out a sigh.
Angie was right, they were just puppies. Five very adorable puppies at that. Peggy wasn't quite sure about the breed, but judging by their appearance, she guesses they were pure-bred.
Three of them are a light brown with white ears. One was pitch black, and the last one was white with big black spots all over its body. They all had their eyes closed and were breathing softly.
"I told you they were cute." Angie whispers, careful not to wake them up.
"Yes. I must agree with you on that." Peggy smiles down at them. "They are rather endearing."
As if on queue, the black one lifts its head and looks up at Peggy, sleep still visible in its eyes. Because of the movement it causes, the other four dogs start to wake up from their slumber, yawning and stretching.
The black one stand up against the side of the box, tail wagging excitedly. Peggy slowly reaches forwards, but pulls back inches before the box.
"You can touch them, they won't bite, I assure you." Angie tells her.
Peggy still isn't sure, but when she sees Angie reach inside the box and pulling one of the brown ones out with one hand, she sees that they really are quite harmless.
The black dog seems to have caught her attention, because it keeps looking at her and letting out soft barks, as if it's asking for attention. She looks to the side at Angie, who is cradling the dog in her arms, scratching it behind its ear and softly speaking to it.
Still, Peggy can't quite shake away the nervousness she feels, but she picks the black dog up anyway, taking it in her arms the same way Angie did. She quickly checks, and sees that this dog is a boy.
"You are happy to get some attention, aren't you little guy." She cooed at him, softly patting his head. He lets out another bark, wiggling in her arms. She bends down and puts him on the ground. He slowly trots away from her feet. She turned and watched Angie put the dog she was holding on the ground too.
While Angie moves the other dogs from the box to the floor, Peggy makes sure the door is closed and there aren't any sharp or dangerous objects within puppy reach. When she is certain the room is as puppy save as it can get, she joins Angie on the floor.
Sitting next to each other, she watches the other woman playfully jostle the dogs around, taking them in her lap and letting them climb around in her arms, making excited noises and laughing loudly. All this time Peggy is quiet, contently listening to the happy sounds Angie emits and the sounds of dog paws padding on the floor.
Even though Peggy hasn't got a puppy in her arms, she is happily watching Angie interact and play with them. Yes, the puppies are cute, but she is pretty sure the woman holding them is cuter. Much cuter. She studies Angie's features, smiling when the woman's face lights up in delight, or when she scrunches up her nose a little to widen her smile.
Angie is definitely the cuter one here, though the puppies come as a close second.
After a while, the puppies grow tired, and one of them has already fallen asleep on Angie's lap. While two of them are still running around and one is chewing at the carpet, the black one Peggy had held in her arms earlier comes toward her. He puts his front paws on her knee and looks up at her.
"I think he wants you to pick 'm up." Angie says.
"You sure? How can you tell?" Peggy asks.
"The way he is looking at ya, he wants to cuddle up, it's obvious." Angie says matter of factly.
Knowing that this dog isn't going to bite her, she picks him up again. This time more sure of herself, she places him against her chest and carefully hugs him. He yawns, and she has to admit, all of them are rather cute. She can see why Angie had taken them with her when she found them in a dark alleyway.
She isn't aware of her facial expression until Angie points it out.
"I told you you would love them. It's all over your face English, you can't deny it. You have a soft spot for them"
"I wasn't planning to." Peggy smiles.
"Maybe we should put them back in the box. To give them some time to sleep." Angie suggests.
"Yeah." Peggy replies absentmindedly. "Just one more minute."
She watches as the dog stretches in her arms, trying to find a comfortable position. She looks up at Angie, who has a soft smile on her face. How badly she wants to kiss those pink lips, to let her hand caress her soft cheek. Her face grows hot, and Angie is also blushing slightly.
Angie seems to feel the tension too, because her eyes flicker down to Peggy's lips and then back up to meet her eyes.
"Kiss me." Peggy whispers almost too soft, but Angie heard her.
The woman moves forward, stopping only inches away from Peggy's face.
"You sure?" She asks hesitating.
"Yes." Peggy manages to get out.
That is all the encouragement Angie needs, and the next second Peggy feels soft lips on her own, the dog in her lap long forgotten. The kiss is soft and slow, but Peggy wants more. She tangles one hand in Angie's curls and pulls her closer. The kiss grows more passionate, and she feels one of Angie's hands coming to rest on her hip.
They kiss soundly for a few more seconds, until she gets a rather warm feeling in her stomach. It feels oddly out of place, and it takes her a while to realise what is causing the sensation. She pulls away from Angie's intoxicating lips and looks down to her lap.
There is a large wet spot visible on her skirt, and she doesn't have to guess where it came from. Angie has noticed it too and she lets out a loud laugh.
"We better get this little man back into his box." Angie giggles.
"That sounds like a good plan. He and his bladder interrupted something rather important that I would like to continue."
Both smile at each other happily.
"I would rather like to continue that too." Angie says, cheeks flushing.
"Better hurry up then." Peggy laughs knowingly. "Let's give them some sleepy time, and some more kissing time for us."
"Sounds like a plan." Angie agrees. "A very good plan."