Pointe Shoes and Spider Webs

52. Open Back and Up-Do

"I had the strangest dream last night." Daphne drops her tray on the lunch table and sits down next to Peter. Ned and Betty were having a conversation about tonight's party. Apparently, Betty got Ned to help with the sound system and they were discussing what time they'd be there.
"Oh?" Peter turns his head to face her. He rests his elbow on the table and places his hand in his palm; squishing his cheek in the process.

"Yeah, man." She gracefully lifts her legs over the bench and sits next to him with their knees touching. "There was this weird mist everywhere and it was like... Metal? Or something? Like, it wasn't actual mist, but it shone when light hit it." Peter purses his lips and frowns.
"Huh," he replies.
"You know, dreams are your subconscious, telling you things," Betty butts in. She stopped talking to Ned; curious about the dream conversation. "There could be a reason you're seeing mist."
"Who knows," Daphne says with a shrug. "Dreams are fucking weird man."

"Was it just mist?" Peter asks. He somehow has a bad feeling about this. But hey, it's just a dream, it's probably nothing. Right? ... Right?? Why does this make his stomach turn?
"Nah, I was there too."
"Were you walking through the mist?" Betty asks as she's on her phone, trying to find the meaning behind mist in dreams.
"It surrounded me. That's all. It would move with me if I moved, so I just looked at it." Daphne sticks her fork into her food. "The weirdest thing is that I was wearing the Persephone dress." Peter clenches his fork in his hand, accidentally bending it slightly. Something was off, but he doesn't know what. Maybe the lunch food was bad and it was messing with his senses.

"Ah, here; mist!" Betty exclaims. "Or, well, it's described here as fog." Betty readjusts herself in her seat and sits up straight. "Here comes: 'Fog represents a lack of sight-' blah dee blah, not important... 'Seeing fog in your dreams is a sign that you should take a break from any major decisions in your life.'"
"So, what are we cancelling today?" Ned jokes. Betty pokes him in his side with her elbow. Daphne laughs and Peter joins out of courtesy. Maybe he's just nervous for tonight.
"Nothing that I can think of." She scratches the back of her head.

"Let's recap: You were dressed as a Goddess, surrounded by a metal mist?" Betty cocks an eyebrow.
"Silver."
"What?"
"I think it was a silver mist."

...

"So, what are you wearing tonight, kid?" Stark doesn't look up from his work. Neither does Peter. He smiles, though.
"Hades," he says proudly. "We're going as Greek Gods."
"Oh, wow." Peter knows Tony means well, but he can't help but interpret his comment as sarcastic. Peter feels a little embarrassed. He's telling a grown man he's going to be doing dress-up tonight. Not that he doesn't play dress-up pretty much every time he puts his Spider-Man outfit on. But that feels different. He's not dressing up to pretend. He's dressing up for real. He is Spider-Man. "Let me guess, Daphne's going as Persephone?" Peter chuckles.
"She is."
"Cute," is all Stark replies. Peter leans back, tightening some screws in his web shooters with a small screw driver.

"She's got this beautiful dress, Mr. Stark. Kinda surprised she's wearing it, though." Peter puts on the web shooters and readjusts them on his wrists.
"Oh?"
"It's got an open back." Peter thwips at the ceiling and pulls himself up until he's upside down, sticking to it. "Huh, much better..." he mumbles to himself.
"So, her scar's exposed?"
"I think so, yeah." Peter fiddles with his shooters some more as he paces around the ceiling. "Unless she's wearing one of her skin tone leotards under it, but she hasn't mentioned it."
"Huh." Tony looks at Peter and smiles at him.

The kid makes him feel young again, yet at the same time Peter makes him painfully aware of how old he is too. Tony's generation's humor is entirely different, but Peter's been teaching him about memes and Vines and all that stuff. Tony doesn't always get the jokes, but he makes Peter laugh when he uses the references correctly, so he spends more time than he would ever admit on watching compilations.

"Mr. Stark?" Tony didn't realize a bit of time had passed. Peter had come back down from the ceiling.
"What's up, kid?" Peter frowns at his hands and then looks up. His cheeks are flushed. Is he... Embarrassed?
"How... How do I dance with a girl...?"

...

Spider-Man's in a rush to get back home. The party starts in an hour and he still has to get changed. Daphne's probably already waiting for him. Stark had laughed at him when he asked for dancing advice.
"Aren't you the one doing pas de deux classes with her?" He asked. Peter told him school dances aren't exactly the right place to do promenades. Tony didn't really get that comment, but he did put on some music to show Peter some basic moves. Peter was quite surprised to find out Mr. Stark knows how to dance a salsa.

Tony taught Peter a basic side step, though Tony's hips were a lot more involved in his dance moves than Peter's. Peter felt like an awkward stick, shuffling side to side. Tony also explained to him how slowing worked. Her hands should be around his neck and his hands should be on her hips. Easy, right? God, he's nervous.

Peter spots his apartment and swiftly lands in his bedroom. When he makes his way through his room, he spots Daphne and May in the living room through the crack of his door. He quietly tip-toes to the door and looks at the scene in front of him. It makes his heart warm.

May is curling Daphne's hair. He can't see Daphne's face, but her presence is absolutely angelic. She's sitting one of the bar stools, with her back towards Peter. He gasps quietly. She does have her back exposed. But strangely enough, it looks like it's part of the costume. The branches seem to grow out of her dress. He can finally see the dress properly. Under the chiffon, there's a beautiful silk dress and a simple leotard. It gives the costume the exact feel it's supposed to. The chiffon and silk fabrics hang loosely around her body, but the leotard hugs her physique. There are golden flowery details around her shoulders and waist and her chiffon sleeves are shaped like big leaves. She's breath taking.

May's taking her time, gently curling strand after strand and pinning a few of them into a half up-do. She then starts braiding the rest of Daphne's hair and tugs at the strands, loosening it up. She finishes it off by twisting it up onto Daphne's head. Peter lost count of how many pins went into Daphne's hair. She sets everything in place with a strong hairspray. Peter didn't know May could do anything like this. He's never seen her do something this elaborate and detailed with her own hair and Peter doesn't have any other family she could do it for.

"Pete, when are you going to stop staring and get changed?" May chuckles. Peter jolts and opens the door he was peeking through. He stands awkwardly and fiddles with his fingers. May knew he was there the whole time. Daphne turns her head to Peter and smiles. He gasps quietly at the sight. He feels like the luckiest guy on the planet.
"Hey," Daphne says kindly. "How long were you watching?" Peter steps into the living room. Or, well, Spider-Man steps into the living room.
"For a little bit," he says, keeping it vague. His lenses go small. Daphne laughs.
"Go get changed, Spidey, we got a party to go to."