Curtis and Pietro, Thursday afternoon
Oct. 3rd, 2013 04:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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om_mainCurtis/Mel and Pietro discuss Halloween plans while taking in some more of Sir Humphrey's wisdom.
Surrounded by bags from having hit a few clothes stores as well as abusing staff discount at the music store again (though in Mel form, the store knew Pietro so well they had let him use Curtis's discount, whilst also introducing Mel as Curtis's cousin. Made life easier.) Melissa and Pietro were now lounging on her bed. Having gotten the American thoroughly addicted, they were watching 'Yes, Minister' again.
She was starting to get a little uncomfortable in her skin though, always did when she'd been in one form for a while and it had been a few days as Original Mel.
"I seriously do not understand what Annie is doing married to Jim Hacker," Pietro said with a snicker. His legs were kicked out in front of him and crossed at the ankle, his hands laced over his belly, back to the wall. He was still reeling a little from Tessa's little reveal, and spending the afternoon with Mel (who had decided not to leave--okay he shouldn't think of it like that, but still...) was good for the soul. "She's smart and hardcore and then there's this useless asshole."
"God yeah," Mel nodded in agreement, running her fingers through her cropped short hair. "In a perfect world she'd be the one with the power and the men would do her bidding. She'd get shit done."
And now all Pietro could see was Tina Fey and Amy Poehler saying "Bitches get stuff done." He chuckled and flexed his stocking feet, stretching his toes upward and out. "I think we've been watching this so much I'm starting to agree with Humphrey on shit. Not so much on the moral vacuum thing, but at least the practical side of things. You sell weapons or you don't--I mean, he has a point."
"Yeah. But Jim does too, I sort of see both of them. So resolve to remain silent like Bernard." She told him with a smile as she pulled herself up. "That's the problem with politics I reckon, too much grey area. Even if you wanna do good, you can't always you know? Damned if you do, damned if you don't."
As she spoke she walked over to her wardrobe, pulling off the girly tee and bra so that she could change to male form. She'd been wearing jeans and underwear that fit her male form anyway to enable easy changing. It still annoyed her that she couldn't do clothes like Eames could.
It was a testament though just how far she'd come that she even felt that she could half strip off with someone else, let alone a male someone else, present was a huge deal. Even if it was Pietro.
And while Pietro was aware of this fact, he merely glanced up briefly and appreciatively at the pretty (not to mention familiar) curve of her back, and then glanced back to the screen without a second thought. "I guess that's everything, in some ways. It's mostly just a question of 'better' or 'worse', and even then only for particular people. Like better for my family. Better for mutants."
"Absolutely. No wonder half of Westminster is smashed most of the time. I'd turn to the drink soon enough too." A male voice agreed, the pretty boy version of Curtis present now. He sauntered back over to locate one of the new shirts he'd bought.
Pietro's gaze flicked up again--mmm, pretty boy Don--again without intent, but appreciative. "They do seem to drink like Shinobi Shaw on a bad day. But yeah. Can't blame 'em.
"What's that shirt?"
"Just looking for that one you found instead actally. Not feeling the blue right now." Curtis told him as he held up the rejected shirt. "Can't find the other one."
"Look at you, fashionista--no matter what the body is." Pietro grinned up and over at him; oh, what a long way Curtis had come.
"Hey, I spend a lot of time perfecting these bodies. No sense finishing up with shitty clothes, right?" And, ok, maybe he was preening a little bit for Pietro's benefit, so what?
"Agreed!" Pietro waggled his eyebrows comically. "Speaking of, you figured anything out for Halloween yet?"
Okay, it was still early, but Pietro had his priorities.
"Actually, yeah." He nodded a little. "Ellie's designing me something for my new girl form. It's pretty cool..." He was terrified of wearing it in public at a party though.
"Nice." Now, his eyebrows went up. The weight of that particular concept was not lost on him at all. "Is it a big surprise, or can you tell me what it is?"
"Oh yeah she gave me her draft for it."A quick trip to one of the desks and he was handing it over. No explain since Pietro would get why the design, while awesome, was also potentially problematic.
Pietro eyed it up in all its strappy--was that black leather?!--glory. Then he lifted his gaze to meet Curtis'. "It's awesome. Like, completely awesome. You are gonna own this party, you know that?"
But Curtis would know him well enough to see in his eyes, hear in his voice that yeah. He totally understood the problems. Because that shit was exposing some parts... honestly, Pietro wasn't sure anyone but him had seen them, since... well, since.
"Well, that's her design. Bride of Death or something. I haven't gotten back to her yet coz I'm not sure. I mean it's quite...and if she goes to all that trouble and I chicken out, I'd feel shitty." He told Pietro, voice soft and low and not quite meeting eyes. "I mean I know I've been making progress and stuff but still, this is different."
"I get it," Pietro said--though he knew it was needless, he still wanted to say it. He put aside the design for the moment to focus on Curtis. "But--you know, way back when, I told you Eames and I would totally throw down for you? You know that's still a thing. Everyone will have your back, if you decide you wanna do it--and it's just us there, this year, none of those stupid townies." Which Curtis had missed the first time, but still.
"I know mate, I know you guys would." Not that Curtis couldn't handle himself. "It's about actually getting the guts to wear it, to go to the party in the first place not just handling myself if something went wrong, you know? You remember what I was like on Valentine's Day..."
"Yeah, but being reassured you're not alone if you manage it is a good step in that direction, I'd think." Pietro cocked his head and examined his friend carefully. "What else do you need? Tell me and you got it."
"S'not like it's a, a step by step. Don't know really, you really helped at my birthday though." He nodded and smiled a little, more of a brave face smile than a real one. "I don't know, what do you think? Honestly?"
"Well, pep talk beforehand, obviously," Pietro said with a wave of his hand. It sounded flippant, but only because he knew Curtis knew he was actually taking this completely seriously. Just, no point being overly dour about it. "And if arriving with Peter Pan would be helpful, I will of course be happy to escort you--though we might have Tinker Bell along for the ride."
"Peter Pan? Huh, ok, and Tinker Bell will be?" He asked as he pulled one of his generic dark, sleeveless t-shirts on. "Pep talk would be appreciated. I dunno, I'm just nervous at the thought of it. Glad I can count on you though, SB...is it still cool to call you SB?"
"I'd be hurt if you didn't." Pietro grinned. "Help me remember my glory days now I'm in semi-retirement.
"Kohaku's my Tink--because she basically is a little fairy. Wanda and Babs are getting in the spirit with Hook and Wendy, too. We can be your personal guard, post pep talk, if you want."
"I appreciate that mate, I do, it's just..." Curtis paused for a second, wrestling with how to word this. "I just don't want to have to need it, you know?" It was stupid for his pride to rise up like that, he knew, but still. It just sounded so weak, needing a personal guard. "And I had meant more would the actual 'B' object of he heard me refering to you as my SB, to be honest." He still hadn't actually properly met Remy, of course he knew exactly who the guy was and had heard plenty from Pietro. He just didn't know the guy first hand.
"This is just your friends rallying around, that's all. Trust me, I am the poster child for codependency, I know the difference." Pietro smiled lopsidedly. "Which is why it takes someone as chill as Remy to put up with my dumb ass, I'm guessing. Don't sweat it, he'll probably think it's hilarious. You'll see."
Whenever Pietro was around enough to do the thing again. Soon. Probably. (But maybe not this weekend. This weekend he kinda wanted Remy to himself. They had some time to make up--a whole week of it.)
"Cool," The English nodded before falling relatively quiet to watch Humphrey and Bernard on screen, only relatively because he was still chucking a little occasionally.
He wasn't wholly distracted though, his brain was still mulling over his situation which was why only a few minutes later he was suggesting. "I think maybe I need more time in girl mode to build the confidence. Maybe some days out and skirts and stuff, to ease me in. Maybe getting used to it will help. If you guys help."
"I like it," Pietro said, still chuckling at Bernard's pedantry. Pietro would probably wanna punch the guy if he knew him in person, but on screen--hilarious! "Okay that's our plan. Confidence-building Melissa-time, pep talk, and then we see what we need at the actual party. Sound good?"
Curtis shifted promptly into the newest female shape. Since Ellie had been keen to design a dress, she'd felt this form would be less difficult than Original Mel.
"Perfect." She nodded with a smile, sliding over closer to him. May as well start as she meant to go on.
Pietro smiled and settled an arm over her shoulders. "No time like the present."
With a playful smile she curled into him and kissed his cheek softly. "What would I do without my SB, eh?"
Surrounded by bags from having hit a few clothes stores as well as abusing staff discount at the music store again (though in Mel form, the store knew Pietro so well they had let him use Curtis's discount, whilst also introducing Mel as Curtis's cousin. Made life easier.) Melissa and Pietro were now lounging on her bed. Having gotten the American thoroughly addicted, they were watching 'Yes, Minister' again.
She was starting to get a little uncomfortable in her skin though, always did when she'd been in one form for a while and it had been a few days as Original Mel.
"I seriously do not understand what Annie is doing married to Jim Hacker," Pietro said with a snicker. His legs were kicked out in front of him and crossed at the ankle, his hands laced over his belly, back to the wall. He was still reeling a little from Tessa's little reveal, and spending the afternoon with Mel (who had decided not to leave--okay he shouldn't think of it like that, but still...) was good for the soul. "She's smart and hardcore and then there's this useless asshole."
"God yeah," Mel nodded in agreement, running her fingers through her cropped short hair. "In a perfect world she'd be the one with the power and the men would do her bidding. She'd get shit done."
And now all Pietro could see was Tina Fey and Amy Poehler saying "Bitches get stuff done." He chuckled and flexed his stocking feet, stretching his toes upward and out. "I think we've been watching this so much I'm starting to agree with Humphrey on shit. Not so much on the moral vacuum thing, but at least the practical side of things. You sell weapons or you don't--I mean, he has a point."
"Yeah. But Jim does too, I sort of see both of them. So resolve to remain silent like Bernard." She told him with a smile as she pulled herself up. "That's the problem with politics I reckon, too much grey area. Even if you wanna do good, you can't always you know? Damned if you do, damned if you don't."
As she spoke she walked over to her wardrobe, pulling off the girly tee and bra so that she could change to male form. She'd been wearing jeans and underwear that fit her male form anyway to enable easy changing. It still annoyed her that she couldn't do clothes like Eames could.
It was a testament though just how far she'd come that she even felt that she could half strip off with someone else, let alone a male someone else, present was a huge deal. Even if it was Pietro.
And while Pietro was aware of this fact, he merely glanced up briefly and appreciatively at the pretty (not to mention familiar) curve of her back, and then glanced back to the screen without a second thought. "I guess that's everything, in some ways. It's mostly just a question of 'better' or 'worse', and even then only for particular people. Like better for my family. Better for mutants."
"Absolutely. No wonder half of Westminster is smashed most of the time. I'd turn to the drink soon enough too." A male voice agreed, the pretty boy version of Curtis present now. He sauntered back over to locate one of the new shirts he'd bought.
Pietro's gaze flicked up again--mmm, pretty boy Don--again without intent, but appreciative. "They do seem to drink like Shinobi Shaw on a bad day. But yeah. Can't blame 'em.
"What's that shirt?"
"Just looking for that one you found instead actally. Not feeling the blue right now." Curtis told him as he held up the rejected shirt. "Can't find the other one."
"Look at you, fashionista--no matter what the body is." Pietro grinned up and over at him; oh, what a long way Curtis had come.
"Hey, I spend a lot of time perfecting these bodies. No sense finishing up with shitty clothes, right?" And, ok, maybe he was preening a little bit for Pietro's benefit, so what?
"Agreed!" Pietro waggled his eyebrows comically. "Speaking of, you figured anything out for Halloween yet?"
Okay, it was still early, but Pietro had his priorities.
"Actually, yeah." He nodded a little. "Ellie's designing me something for my new girl form. It's pretty cool..." He was terrified of wearing it in public at a party though.
"Nice." Now, his eyebrows went up. The weight of that particular concept was not lost on him at all. "Is it a big surprise, or can you tell me what it is?"
"Oh yeah she gave me her draft for it."A quick trip to one of the desks and he was handing it over. No explain since Pietro would get why the design, while awesome, was also potentially problematic.
Pietro eyed it up in all its strappy--was that black leather?!--glory. Then he lifted his gaze to meet Curtis'. "It's awesome. Like, completely awesome. You are gonna own this party, you know that?"
But Curtis would know him well enough to see in his eyes, hear in his voice that yeah. He totally understood the problems. Because that shit was exposing some parts... honestly, Pietro wasn't sure anyone but him had seen them, since... well, since.
"Well, that's her design. Bride of Death or something. I haven't gotten back to her yet coz I'm not sure. I mean it's quite...and if she goes to all that trouble and I chicken out, I'd feel shitty." He told Pietro, voice soft and low and not quite meeting eyes. "I mean I know I've been making progress and stuff but still, this is different."
"I get it," Pietro said--though he knew it was needless, he still wanted to say it. He put aside the design for the moment to focus on Curtis. "But--you know, way back when, I told you Eames and I would totally throw down for you? You know that's still a thing. Everyone will have your back, if you decide you wanna do it--and it's just us there, this year, none of those stupid townies." Which Curtis had missed the first time, but still.
"I know mate, I know you guys would." Not that Curtis couldn't handle himself. "It's about actually getting the guts to wear it, to go to the party in the first place not just handling myself if something went wrong, you know? You remember what I was like on Valentine's Day..."
"Yeah, but being reassured you're not alone if you manage it is a good step in that direction, I'd think." Pietro cocked his head and examined his friend carefully. "What else do you need? Tell me and you got it."
"S'not like it's a, a step by step. Don't know really, you really helped at my birthday though." He nodded and smiled a little, more of a brave face smile than a real one. "I don't know, what do you think? Honestly?"
"Well, pep talk beforehand, obviously," Pietro said with a wave of his hand. It sounded flippant, but only because he knew Curtis knew he was actually taking this completely seriously. Just, no point being overly dour about it. "And if arriving with Peter Pan would be helpful, I will of course be happy to escort you--though we might have Tinker Bell along for the ride."
"Peter Pan? Huh, ok, and Tinker Bell will be?" He asked as he pulled one of his generic dark, sleeveless t-shirts on. "Pep talk would be appreciated. I dunno, I'm just nervous at the thought of it. Glad I can count on you though, SB...is it still cool to call you SB?"
"I'd be hurt if you didn't." Pietro grinned. "Help me remember my glory days now I'm in semi-retirement.
"Kohaku's my Tink--because she basically is a little fairy. Wanda and Babs are getting in the spirit with Hook and Wendy, too. We can be your personal guard, post pep talk, if you want."
"I appreciate that mate, I do, it's just..." Curtis paused for a second, wrestling with how to word this. "I just don't want to have to need it, you know?" It was stupid for his pride to rise up like that, he knew, but still. It just sounded so weak, needing a personal guard. "And I had meant more would the actual 'B' object of he heard me refering to you as my SB, to be honest." He still hadn't actually properly met Remy, of course he knew exactly who the guy was and had heard plenty from Pietro. He just didn't know the guy first hand.
"This is just your friends rallying around, that's all. Trust me, I am the poster child for codependency, I know the difference." Pietro smiled lopsidedly. "Which is why it takes someone as chill as Remy to put up with my dumb ass, I'm guessing. Don't sweat it, he'll probably think it's hilarious. You'll see."
Whenever Pietro was around enough to do the thing again. Soon. Probably. (But maybe not this weekend. This weekend he kinda wanted Remy to himself. They had some time to make up--a whole week of it.)
"Cool," The English nodded before falling relatively quiet to watch Humphrey and Bernard on screen, only relatively because he was still chucking a little occasionally.
He wasn't wholly distracted though, his brain was still mulling over his situation which was why only a few minutes later he was suggesting. "I think maybe I need more time in girl mode to build the confidence. Maybe some days out and skirts and stuff, to ease me in. Maybe getting used to it will help. If you guys help."
"I like it," Pietro said, still chuckling at Bernard's pedantry. Pietro would probably wanna punch the guy if he knew him in person, but on screen--hilarious! "Okay that's our plan. Confidence-building Melissa-time, pep talk, and then we see what we need at the actual party. Sound good?"
Curtis shifted promptly into the newest female shape. Since Ellie had been keen to design a dress, she'd felt this form would be less difficult than Original Mel.
"Perfect." She nodded with a smile, sliding over closer to him. May as well start as she meant to go on.
Pietro smiled and settled an arm over her shoulders. "No time like the present."
With a playful smile she curled into him and kissed his cheek softly. "What would I do without my SB, eh?"
