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]

"Now that," Peter said lightly, "Was never my style at all."

He reached up to cup her cheek. "I'd like us to talk more, if it's all the same. I just didn't know if you were open to that."

And he was decent at playing the mystery-metaphor-mirror game, himself.

[whenshewasnice]

At one point, they'd been goood at a version of it together. Saying one thing and meaning another, except they'd both understood what was being said.

She missed that.

She tilted her face against his hand. "How I miss your ranting, do you miss my all-time lows?" She wasn't above quoting herself. Not when it was significant. Her voice was a soft murmur. "I'd like that."

[lockestheway]

And then she'd started speaking a strange dialect Peter'd known he had no ability to understand.

Now they just needed to relearn each other's dancing steps.

"I miss them," Peter said, just as softly.

And kissed her. Again.

[whenshewasnice]

Something she was eager to reciprocate, even if she kept it soft and slow.

Weird how this had become easier than talking.

[lockestheway]

Peter leaned back, brushing some hair away from her face. "What do you want from this, Envy?"

[whenshewasnice]

"Half a Hegemony, of course," Envy quipped. Clearly she needed a couple of seconds to work up to a serious answer.

She shrugged a shoulder. "I don't know, I haven't thought very far ahead. I know I crave closeness."

[lockestheway]

She looked more like Natalie than she had in a long time, if a different form of her - maybe just an Envy finally willing to let that part of her show again.

So he touched her cheek again, and traced the bone this time until his fingertips brushed against her hair. "I'm not going to pretend I'm good at closeness," he said. "My family would tell you it's my worst quality."

But it was easier to do it with her.

[whenshewasnice]

Envy rolled her eyes. "Your family would say a lot of things about you that aren't strictly speaking accurate." It had always been a given that her view on him would differ from theirs, anyway. "You don't have to be good at it. You just have to be willing to learn."

[lockestheway]

"Am I sensing a kinky teacher-student fantasy?" Peter teased gently.

[whenshewasnice]

Dammit, she'd used that eyeroll just a couple of seconds too early.

Had to settle for a quiet snort instead. "Do not test me, Wiggin. I'll find a school girl uniform that fits you."

[lockestheway]

"I wouldn't expect any less," Peter said. He slid his hands down along her sides. "But okay. Learning is something I can do."

[whenshewasnice]

"And it's not as if you haven't made progress already," Envy noted. The little smirk may have given away that teasing was incoming. "You've figured out this sex thing okay. Considering high school."

[lockestheway]

"Well, what was I supposed to do in the mean time? Obviously you ruined me for all other women," Peter joked.

[whenshewasnice]

Snort. "At least I don't have to train you out of bad habits."

[lockestheway]

"I even remember where the clitoris is," Peter said, "Most of the time."

[whenshewasnice]

Now, here was a rare sight:

Envy laughing. Loud, surprised.

"Oh, please tell me when you forget. I wouldn't want you to get lost down there."

[lockestheway]

"You can give me directions before you chuck me out on my ass," Peter said merrily.

[whenshewasnice]

She snickered. "Good thing being vocal comes naturally to me."

[lockestheway]

"That it does," Peter said.

He was quiet for a moment, then he said,

"What I want is this back," he said, "Our conversations. Feeling like we're not just equals, but in it together."

[whenshewasnice]

"Yeah," Envy replied, smirk tempering itself down to a smile. Faint but not meaningless. She brought her hand up and brushed a few fingers back through his hair.

"I'd like to be in it together," she added. "Of course, we've always done everything backwards, but I'd still like to think we can get our crap together enough to manage being physically intimate and have wall-less conversations."

[lockestheway]

"Though we have large quantities of crap," Peter said, "Our crap-processing apparatus is top-rate."

He dropped his hand to her leg.

[whenshewasnice]

His hand felt warm against her skin. (Well, the shorts weren't very long at all.) It was nice.

She huffed out a kind of a laugh. "Oh, I love it when you talk dirty to me."

[lockestheway]

"I like to appreciate the whole anatomy," Peter said. "Just to be thorough."

[whenshewasnice]

Envy snickered, and leaned forward, until her forehead just about touched his again. Her nose brushed against his.

"You're such a fool, Peter Wiggin."

[lockestheway]

"A fool who conquered the world," Peter said. "As far as epitaphs go, it's not bad."

Both hands now on her knees, he smiled at her. "And I really would like you to be my date."