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Sousa thinks he might be in love.
It's insane to think about — how within only a few days, Daisy had turned from a stranger to someone he would do anything for. His heart aches with how far and deep he's fallen for this girl. This tremendous, gorgeous, phenomenal superhero.
Thing is, her way of life is just so different from everything he's grown up with. He's not sure how different, but the lack of modesty and restraint that some of the other team members display with their…activities tell him it's enough to worry about.
And Sousa cares for Daisy, a lot. He wants to tell her. He's just not sure how.
He thinks about each of the team members. He wonders if any of them will help him in his endeavour. He crosses the women off the list. He doesn't know how to broach the subject with them. So, he thinks to Coulson. Except, he's a robot. Mack? It's a tempting prospect. He's just not sure. He seems very tall. And like a brother to Daisy. That might be dangerous.
Like the fates awaited it, Deke walks into the room. He grabs a snack to pop into his mouth and greets Sousa with a grin. "Hey, man. What's up?"
It hits Sousa quickly that Deke is the perfect person to ask about these kinds of things. Everything's been a whirlwind, but he's figured out that Deke is also a man out of his time and that he's had to go through all this kind of stuff as well.
"Deke," Sousa starts, "you were also taken out of time, right?"
Deke barks out a laugh. "Best damn thing that's ever happened."
"And things were… different?"
"Oh, of course. 2018 was so much better than where I came from."
"Do you think you can help me figure some things out?" Sousa asks.
Deke grins. He raises his eyebrows. "Of course, man. Resident team member taken out of time, that's what I'm here for. What d'you need to know?"
"I have to say, I'm a bit," Sousa awkwardly clears his throat, "unfamiliar with how to… woo a girl from the future."
"Oh!" Deke exclaims. "I'm sure it's not that different from your time. I mean, I was nervous, too, but then I found out that it was pretty much all the same."
"Well, that's good." Sousa feels extremely relieved.
Deke pats him on the back enthusiastically. "Yeah, just make sure you have the nicest lemons. I'm sure she'll love it."
Sousa's smile falls from his face. "Wait," he starts. "Lemons?"
"Of course, lemons! The girls love them." Deke pauses. "You don't have lemons in your time?"
"No," Sousa responds.
"Huh." Deke takes a second to think about it. "I wonder what happened between the 50s and the present to make lemons such a commodity."
Sousa is just purely confused. "Lemons?"
"I tried to win Daisy over with some lemons. She didn't like me much then, though. Luckily, things changed."
Sousa pales. "Hold on, you and Daisy — "
"She's great," Deke finishes. "Caught me by surprise, how much I liked her."
"Yeah," Sousa says sadly, "it caught me by surprise as well." He coughs. "I didn't realize she was… engaged with someone, already."
Deke gives him a bewildered look. "Oh, no. She rejected me. Many times."
"But you said things changed — "
"We're friends now," Deke replies. Then, he looks at Sousa's hopeful face. "Wait, you like Daisy? You're trying to woo Daisy?"
Sousa hangs his head, a bit sheepish. "Is that bad?"
It takes Deke a moment, but he shakes his head. "I mean, it might be bad for your self-confidence, because she shoots people down hard, but you can give it a shot."
Sousa gives a genuine, awkward smile. "Yeah. Give it a shot. I owe myself that much."
Deke smiles brilliantly. "Let's go, partner. Time to find you the perfect lemon."
-
Daisy's had just about the longest day. Between her mother, her sister — her sister — and that Malick freak, she's ridiculously exhausted. She quietly sneaks off to her bunk. Simmons tried insisting that she stay in the healing pod for another night, but she just wanted a night alone in her own bed.
And it doesn't help that the boys have just been acting weird. Deke's been glancing at her with an odd and curious look, and Sousa can't quite meet her eyes. She's beginning to wonder if it has anything to do with the time loop. He shouldn't remember it, but weirder things have happened.
Maybe he just has some semblance of a feeling. Or maybe she's been the awkward one and he's just respecting her space.
Whatever it is, she can deal with it in the morning. That's what she tells herself.
Daisy finally makes it to her bunk and she's relieved. She lets out a large sigh, ready to collapse into her bed and —
Wait.
Is that…
Yup.
It's the largest stack of lemons she's ever seen. Sitting right there. On her glorious bed.
She seethes. "You have got to be kidding me. DEKE!"
She tries to reign her anger in. She knows it's probably with the best intentions. Deke always has this way of trying to make her feel better, even if he always misses the mark a little bit. From the vague comments, she understands that the lemons are Deke's way of, like, professing his love or something.
"Deke!"
"Yes?" Deke pops up, a bit scared. He looks at her with wide eyes.
Daisy gives the sweetest fake smile she can muster. "Lemons? Again? Probably isn't the best time."
Deke clicks his tongue. "Actually — "
"It was me," Sousa interrupts. Daisy spins around to see him. Her face softens, but it's filled with confusion. "Sorry, I know it wasn't the best timing after all that's happened today, but I put them there this morning and things kind of happened so quickly. I didn't get — "
"Sousa."
Sousa immediately stops talking.
Daisy turns to Deke. "Deke…"
"I'll give you a minute," he finishes. He walks past Daisy and toward Sousa. He gives his shoulder a pat and whispers, "Good luck." And with that, he's off.
Sousa focuses on Daisy now. "You got to your bunk before Deke and I could get the lemons out."
Daisy nods slowly. She's piecing the puzzle together.
"Deke was filling me in on how things work in the future," Sousa continues.
"You asked Deke for romantic advice? Deke?"
Sousa rubs the back of his neck, embarrassed. "Look, Daisy, I really like you — "
"We're past that," Daisy says. Sousa deflates. He hangs his head and Daisy feels a deep pang in her heart. "No, I mean, we discussed this in the time loop. And then we kissed."
"Wait." Sousa freezes. "What?"
Daisy ignores his confusion. "I am just wondering why you thought listening to Deke about lemons was a good idea."
He hesitates. He doesn't know what to say. "I didn't know how the lemon wooing worked?"
She bites her lip. "I'm going to ignore the fact that you said 'lemon wooing' and just skip to the point. Deke is from a post-apocalyptic hellscape. Their version of things is way different."
"Hang on, so lemons are not a thing?"
"No, they most definitely aren't."