Envy's Duplex, The Hegemony Compound, Ribeirao Preto, Tuesday Evening

[whenshewasnice]

Envy's bedroom looked like her closet had exploded. There were clothes everywhere: draped over anything possible, hanging on hangers, laid out on her bed. The only piece of furniture not currently covered in layers of fabric was her vanity table. And that had a bunch of Polaroids on it. All of Envy in different outfits.

Even right now, she was posing for another one in a sleek black-and-white dress in front of her full-length mirror. She snapped a photo and took it out before setting the camera aside for the time being. As she waited for the photo to develop, she kept looking at herself in the mirror, still judging the outfit. She felt like she was on to something, here. Getting closer, but not quite there yet.

But, she had an idea about what direction to take it.

So, she picked up her phone and texted Peter, the latest Polaroid still in her other hand.

Bring me one of your white button down shirts. I need to try something.

[ooc: NFB but open.]

Comments

[lockestheway]

Peter received the text at home - for once, not working when she called. He huffed a laugh as he got up.

I'm sorry, I didn't realize I was your PA now.

[whenshewasnice]

Well, there's your first mistake.

Ultimately, the whole world was Envy's PA.

[lockestheway]

Peter walked up to his closet, rummaging around.

I shouldn't be enabling this.

[whenshewasnice]

Rather than a text, that was better answered with a selfie. No words could adequately cover 'come on now' the way Envy's face could.

And while even with recent developments she didn't think he was the type to be influenced by bra straps, there was a little of that in the shot, too. She was in the middle of another costume change, while she waited.

[lockestheway]

Interesting tactic, Peter texted back, and briefly considered taking his time, just to be a pest.

But no. A minute or so later, he found himself knocking on Envy's door, holding a shirt and looking faintly amused by it all.

[whenshewasnice]

Envy showed up to the door in a black dress with a white trim. She was working a theme, here.

"Still got you to come over."

[lockestheway]

"Laundry drop-off," Peter intoned, attempting a serious face. It didn't work.

[whenshewasnice]

The look Envy gave him was remarkably similar to the one she'd already sent him via photograph.

She reached for the shirt. "Don't push your luck, Wiggin."

[lockestheway]

"Pushing my luck is how I got here," Peter said, stepping inside.

[whenshewasnice]

"Fair enough," Envy allowed. "I'm still not doing your laundry, though."

She was already heading back into her bedroom.

[lockestheway]

"So why the shirt?" Peter asked, tilting his head - he didn't follow her.

[whenshewasnice]

"Because I need to try a slightly more masculine angle than what's already in my closets." She was already unzipping the back of her current dress, right as she vanished into the bedroom. "And it's too late to go out shopping."

Seeing him was a plus, too. Even if she was currently more focused on this outfit thing.

[lockestheway]

"So you're stealing my shirt," Peter said, raising an eyebrow. "I should send you a bill."

[whenshewasnice]

"You're getting it back," Envy called back to correct him. Shimmying out of her dress. "My stylist will buy me one, if need be. I just need to know how it looks."

Which was why she was now pulling it on and buttoning it up.

[lockestheway]

Peter sighed, leaning against the wall as he waited for her. "Now you're just taking all the romance out of it."

It was Peter. No, he didn't care he was being self-contradictory.

[whenshewasnice]

And Envy knew that, but she was still going to call him out on it.

"You were about to send me a bill for taking it." A beat. "Not that you understand romance to begin with."

[lockestheway]

"Candles, flowers, a good bottle of champagne?" Peter suggested breezily.

[whenshewasnice]

Envy turned towards the clothes strewn on her bed. "Generic isn't romantic."

Hmm. The skirt or the shorts?

[lockestheway]

"Fine, oh learned one," Peter drawled. "What's romance?"

[whenshewasnice]

Envy decided on the shorts.

"Personal." She didn't care that that probably went without saying after her previous rebuke. "Something that couldn't be copy-pasted onto an entirely different person and still be called romantic. Something that's meaningful. Romance isn't Valentine's Day cards, it's thinking about a person and wanting them to feel like they're the center of your world, even if it's only for a moment at a time, here and there."

She looked at the finished outfit in the mirror, and reached once more for the camera.

[lockestheway]

"So you'd either write the longest or the shortest dating manual ever," Peter noted. He turned to look at the room, considering.

It certainly looked more lived-in, these days.

[whenshewasnice]

Yeah, that happened. She'd had a couple of months to actually stay put in the same place. For the most part, anyway - she took frequent enough trips off-universe.

But still. It seemed like she considered this home for now.

"I wouldn't write a dating manual," she said, and tugged the Polaroid out of the camera. "One of my exes punched a hole in the moon and I didn't realize he'd already done it for someone else before. What do I know?"

She came back out of the bedroom. His shirt was now paired with a pair of sleek black shorts, neatly tucked in and all buttoned up. She enjoyed a good contrast. Also, her legs looked great, but then they always did.

[lockestheway]

"Not to fall for empty gestures?" Peter suggested.

He turned to look at her. And... huh.

"You know, never mind. You can keep that."

[whenshewasnice]

Envy smirked at him.

"I'm taking that as a compliment."

There wasn't really any other way to take it. But please, let her gloat.

[lockestheway]

"You should," Peter said. "Though you don't need me to tell you how attractive you look like that."