Peter had no idea what was going on. First there had been the dream about the little fat man who kept telling him that he needed to settle down, start a family, take over the kingdom, stuff that made no sense to him. Granted he had a freaking weird upbringing and his father was a Celestial Planet that wanted to take over the galaxy.but still. It wasn’t like he’d been telling Peter to find a wife. Marriage wasn’t on his radar, it never had been and probably never would be. He felt something for Gamora that wasn’t like anything else that he’d felt before but he was pretty sure that would never go anywhere. Even if it did, marriage? She’d be about as excited at that idea as he was.
Over the next few days, he began to feel different. He found himself talking in a very strange way. With proper grammar and no curse words. He was polite and kind. He even helped an old lady across the street. Okay so he would have done that anyway, he wasn’t a complete douche after all but still. He also had another dream about the little fat man who was apparently kind of somewhere. Peter didn’t know here and didn’t want to know, but he was started to feel less like himself and more like someone else.
Then there was Taisia. He wasn’t blind. He’d definitely noticed that she was hot, but she was off limits for a lot of reasons, mostly because it would be a disaster to get involved with your team leader and also because he knew that either one of her parents could kick his ass eight ways from Sunday. Peter wasn’t sure when one was scarier, Rose or Dimitri. Since he’d had the dream though, he’d been noticing her more, and they’d been talking and had walked back to the Towers together, and he felt himself drawn to her. She was having a rough time apparently, and he did his best to be there for her which was kind of new for him.
When she’d dropped her shoe at the Mardi Gras party, and he’d found it and returned it to her, he knew that he was a goner. She looked so beautiful, and she was so grateful that he’d brought it back that he had asked her to the Valentine’s Day Ball right then and there. Now here they were, she had on a beautiful ball gown, he was wearing a suit (which had appeared in his closet that morning since he didn’t own one) and they were dancing. It was the perfect night even if he still felt a little weird.
“You look beautiful,” he said to her as they took a break from dancing to get something to drink.
There was something up with her. She felt the need to clean everything, for some reason she kept referring to her actually really nice roommate as her stepsister and kept feeling like she was being used and she had to clean. She was talking to birds and rats and other animals as if they were her closest friends. Everything was just weird.
And then there was Peter, she already knew he was hot, but he was on her team, and that was weird, besides she doubted someone like him would be interested in someone like her, that was probably the only thing that carried over from when she was well her.
At the Valentine’s Day Ball she found herself wearing a dress she never in a MILLION years would normally put on but she didn’t care, she got to dance with her prince.
Blushing she giggled a little bit. “And you look extremely handsome.” She returned the compliment, she glanced up at the clock, it was nearing midnight, and for some reason, she felt like she had to be out of the ball by midnight, she tried to push it away as she looked back at Peter. “Could I trouble you for one more dance before midnight?”
He wondered why she kept looking at the clock, but he was fairly confident it wasn’t because she didn’t enjoy his company. “Of course, I’d be happy to give you another dance.” when he talk like that he wondered for a brief moment before he took Taisia’s hand and led her onto the dance floor.
Smiling she curtsied, which wasn’t something she normally would ever do. Letting him fully take the lead she allowed herself to take a little step closer to him just because she couldn’t help it. “I’m really pleased you showed up in Atlantis.”
“So am I,” he agreed as they started to dance. “I’m especially glad tonight.” Grinning at her he spun her around and pulled her closer. Apparently, he’d gotten some dance lessons in this little whatever it was too, he thought, but then the thought faded as quickly as it had popped into his head.
Taisia got lost in the dance, lost in the feeling of his arms around her, lost looking into his eyes. There was so much there, how had she never taken the time to look into his eyes before? She was about to say something when she glanced back up at the clock. “It’s almost midnight,” she frowned. “I have to go, but, spending time with you, tonight, it’s been a dream come true.” She told him worried he wouldn’t believe her.
He believed her, and he didn’t want to let her go, he wanted her to stay, but he could see she was worried and he looked at her with concern. “Do you have to go? I don’t want you to, and I hope you’ll let me see you again.” Peter wanted nothing more than to see her somewhere other than the middle of a ballroom under the watchful eye of the whole kingdom. Suddenly he got an idea and led her outside into the garden.
It was quiet there although the sounds of the music floated through the windows. “I’m glad you came tonight,” he said to her softly, and before he lost his nerves, he took her face in his hands and kissed her.
Taisia nodded sadly as he asked if she really had to go, she was going to tell him of course but he was leading her out of the ballroom and before she knew it her arms were wrapping up around him pulling him closer as she kissed him back, she didn’t know anything could feel like this, she was over the moon and lost in his kiss.
Peter hadn’t expected her to kiss him back so enthusiastically, but he wasn’t complaining, in fact, he was pretty damn happy that she was. He forgot everything but her as they kissed and then suddenly he heard the clock strike twelve and it was as if someone had just dumped a bucket of cold water on his head. “What?” he said, looking at Taisia in surprise. “We just kissed.”
As he pulled away, she blinked confused, she heard his words, but she looked down at what she was wearing and was even more horrified about it. “What the fuck am I wearing?” Taisia poked at the massive skirt to the dress before looking up at Peter. “What?” She nodded. “Yeah. Uh…”
“I think we’re in one of those weird Atlantis things,” he said as he looked down at his own clothing and then it made sense. The shoe, the ball, the dreams. “Um….I think you’re supposed to be Cinderella because that’s a Cinderella dress if I’ve ever seen one. Which makes me…..Prince Charming?”
“Like that Disney movie?” Taisia groaned slightly, of course, of course, she’d end up in some uncomfortable gown just to… she stopped her mind and looked at him. “Well, this is, awkward.”
“Yeah just like it. From what I remember anyway,” Peter wasn’t going to admit that he’d watched it although his mother had watched it an in the year or so before she died, she wanted to watch it a lot. “Awkward? Yeah, you can say that again. The kiss was pretty good though.”
Laughing she nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I’d say it ranks up there.” She wasn’t going to admit that she hadn’t been kissed in a long time. Instead, she shrugged. “Well, I guess I should probably go get out of this thing.” She reached down picking up a little of the dress. “If I fall while trying to get back and you laugh I will beat you up,” Taisia warned with a smile.
He had no doubt that she’d beat him up and he didn’t want that to happen. “I’ll walk you home, that way if you do trip or something I can at least try to catch you before you hit the ground. That’s a hell of a lot of skirt!” Peter had noticed it earlier of course but all he’d been thinking of was how beautiful she looked, he hadn’t realized how hard it must be to move while wearing it.
Taisia was a little surprised by the offer, mostly because she figured he’d want to get as far away from her as possible. “Thanks,” she said almost refusing. “Yeah, I don’t get why anyone in their right minds would want to wear this crap.” As they started to walk, she made sure to take easy steps doing everything in her power to stay upright.
“I don’t know why either,” Peter had already loosened the tie around his neck. “This damn thing feels like a noose. I don’t know why anyone would wear one of these to work every day on purpose.” It was the last thing that he’d ever want, that was for sure. In fact, he was pretty sure he hadn’t worn a tie of any kind since he was a kid and his mother had made him.
“You don’t get to complain until you get stuck in one of these things,” Taisia said lifting up the skirt and nearly losing her balance. “What’d I tell you about laughing?”
He was trying hard to hold it in, and he manage to do so by helping stay upright. “I don’t think Atlantis wants to see me in a dress, but now that you’ve mentioned it, the little trickster people or whoever does the weird stuff is probably going to fix it so that I do.”
“I think Atlantis wants to see you in a dress,” Taisia said as they neared Tower Two. “Well, at least I do.” She said smirking. She couldn’t help herself. “So,” she paused. “To add to the totally awkward night, if my roommate isn’t in, I’m going to need help getting this undone in the back.” Taisia flushed as she said it, but the truth was, was that there was no way she could get out of this thing on her own.
Peter was surprised at her request but he wasn’t about to let her see it. “I can help you do that. You might twist yourself into a pretzel trying to find the zipper. It looks like it’s kind of buried in all that material.”
“If it even is a zipper,” she muttered as they got into the elevator to go from the ground floor to the first floor, which was pathetic. “I don’t want to deal with stairs.” She said trying to justify it. “So, how does this rank on worst unexpected dates for you?”
“Well you haven’t tried to kill me or threatened to eat me so I’d say this is pretty good as far as that goes,” he grinned. “And you’re definitely prettier than some of the women I’ve been out with.” At least he thought they were women, with aliens you could never tell and it was wise not to ask.
“I don’t usually consider eating people,” Taisia answered with a tilt of her head as she got a really disgusting image in her head and had to shake her head, thankfully the elevator door opened and she headed towards her apartment number. “Thanks,” she added a little bit late to the prettier comment. She never was good at handling that kind of thing. “And thanks for not threatening to eat me either.”
“No worries, I’ve done some strange things but not that,” he hesitated for a moment, not sure what to do now that they were here. “Do you wanna check and see if your roommate’s home before we go in?” Personally, he wouldn’t mind unzipping her dress, but he was trying to be a gentleman so he’d let her make that call.
Taisia couldn’t hear Katima, her hearing was Moroi good, but was good. “I don’t hear her,” she said but opened the door calling out all the same. There wasn’t any sound which really meant her roommate wasn’t there. “Yeah, she’s not home, so, still up for helping?”
“Of course. I promised, and I always keep my promises.” Well, that wasn’t entirely true, but Taisia didn’t know that that so Peter was going to go with it.”Turn around and let me see if I can find a zipper in all this stuff.”
Nodding, Taisia made sure there weren’t any stray hairs falling down that could get in the way, even though she thought her hair was the least of the problem. It was a little awkward standing there as she started to realize she had no idea what she had under the dress. She didn’t show it though. “Any luck?”
Peter was being careful as he sorted through the poofy dress. He didn’t want to tear it although he didn’t imagine Taisia would ever wear it again which would be a shame since she looked really hot in it. “Yes, believe it or not, I found it,” It hit him that she might be naked under the dress and then what would he do but he took a deep breath and pulled the zipper down to her waist where she could reach back and catch it. “You should be able to get it now,” he said. “I’ll turn around in case there’s something under there you don’t want me to see.”
Hell, if the damn thing was destroyed she’d be happy. Taking a deep breath in, it still felt tight but she decided she was insane. “Thank god,” she said holding the dress up. “Uh, I’ll go to my room,” she pointed and started shuffling that directing. “Give me a sec to get out of this thing.” She added nearly tripping but catching herself on the wall. When she got to her room she pushed the door to close but it stayed partly open. Dropping the dress she let it fall to the floor and looked at the tight corset that appeared as the dress came off, one of the real old fashioned ones, with string. “You have to be fucking kidding me.”
He sat down in a chair, watching to make sure she got to her room and then he heard he speak and he couldn’t help it, the door was partly open and she was wearing a corset. Oh sweet lord, he thought. “Um, everything okay in there?” he asked, trying to sound innocent.
“I can’t-” She sighed as she tried to reach behind and get it untied but it was so tight that it was hard to undo. “Shit.” She snapped. “Can you bring the scissors from the kitchen?”
“Yeah, I can do that,” he jumped up and located the scissors quickly enough and took them to her room. “Do you need to cut it? I don’t think you can managed that without stabbing yourself. And also, how the hell did you even breathe all night in that thing?” Corsets might look hot on a woman but he’d never paid attention to how they were made and it looked like torture.
“Breathing is what’s on your mind?” She snapped, not really snapping at him but in general. “I can,” she stopped. “Fine, just cut the top part,” she tried to point behind her back. “And I’ll get it off after that.” No, there were a lot of things that were on his mind besides breathing but he wasn’t about to tell her that because they would earn him a punch in the face for it. “Okay, give me a second,” he said as he cut the strings and the top of the corset. “There. It’s done.”
Taking a deep breath in, it did feel like she could finally breathe again. Sighing out she shut her eyes holding the thing up. “Go, find beer in the fridge, I’m going to put real clothing on,” she said pushing him with one arm. “Thanks, by the way, don’t think I said that.”
“You’re welcome,” he said as he left the room to get the beer. It had certainly been an interesting night, that was for sure. When he’d gotten the beer, he returned to the general area of her door and called out. “I’ve got it. Are you decent?”
Tai took little to no time putting on a pair of sweats and a tank top, her hair and makeup was still stupidly fancy but that could be a problem for later. She came out just as he spoke. “Yeah, finally myself.” She smiled a little awkwardly. “So…”
“Yeah so…” Peter had no idea what to say. He would definitely like to repeat that kiss but he wasn’t stupid enough to try it now hat Tais was back to herself. “That was somethin’ huh?”
Why couldn’t she be better at this shit? Was all she was thinking. Laughing she nodded “It was,” she paused. “Interesting.” She agreed before grabbing herself a beer. Heading back into the living room she flopped onto the couch. “Come on, I’ll kick your ass at a video game.”
This was more like it. He could handle normal. It was much better than trying to figure out the other stuff. “Oh you can try but you won’t succeed,” he laughed and followed her to the couch.