Pointe Shoes and Spider Webs

83. The Sugar Plum Fairy

It's dead quiet as they walk on stage. Peter smiles, but he's painfully aware of how un-genuine it must look. He dreads the moment he has to let go of Daphne to walk to his first position. The only thing that breaks the silence is Daphne's points tapping the floor with every step they take. He brings her to where she has to go and lingers slightly before he lets go of her. She goes against what Madame Touha told her to do by turning her head to look at Peter to give him an encouraging nod and a bright smile. He lets out a breath as he walks to his own position and smiles back at her, trying to focus on just her. The harp starts playing and they initiate the choreography.

The Sugar Plum Fairy is graceful, delicate and frail. Daphne's smooth lines and musicality make her feel like she's an actual fairy in Peter's hands as he guides her through. It takes a few counts, but Peter does seem to forget there are other people in the room with them. The positive energy Daphne radiates and the fact that she is absolutely breath taking, ensure he gets lost in the moment. The stage, the lights, the thrill... Peter almost couldn't believe it. He was enjoying this. More than he ever imagined he would.

It's time for the first lifts, the pas de chats. They both prepare in the back corner and Peter grabs her waist, easily bringing her above his head. When he gently puts her back down again, she moves to prepare for her turns. Three. Peter reminds himself. She's has to turn three times. Peter guides her through her turns and they repeat the step. Pas de chat lift and three turns. Once more... And... Five turns this time. Nailed it.

They're at the shoulder sit. The music climaxes as Daphne elegantly lands on his shoulder. He swiftly brings her down into the fish dive and places her on the ground safely in an arabesque. She hops, switching her legs and turning to Peter again for the second shoulder sit. He catches her again and they repeat the action. As the choreography continues, he can't help but look at her in awe. She's doing all of this without super powers. It's just her, leaping and turning and balancing. Sure, he's there to help, but most of these things she can do without his help, save for the lifts. She's beautiful and mind blowing and... He really wants to tell her he loves her.

When they finally get to the last lift, he can feel her shaking muscles under his touch. She's been giving it her all and her stamina is finally starting to give way. He's amazed at her discipline and her willpower to keep going regardless of the exhaustion. She rolls onto his shoulder and elegantly moves her arms up and down, as if she's flying, all while keeping her legs up as well. Her legs and upper body are completely rigid as he brings her back to the floor, while her arms are still the epitome of grace and her face still carries her genuine smile. She must be so happy to be back on stage again.

She bourrées around him, doing a few more turns before her balance in attitude. The music shifts as she hops to the front of the stage, Peter following right behind her. She gets en relevé, bringing one hand above her head. Peter holds both of her hands as they do a promenade while she quickly moves her foot. After a full rotation, she slowly brings her leg up, stretches it out into an attitude and he guides her to turn, turn, turn, turn, turn, turn, arabesque- right on the perfect moment in the music! She closes her eyes for a second, reveling in the impeccable piece the live orchestra is playing, and the pas de deux, knowing it's nearing its end.

Peter holds her waist as she moves down into a penché, her arms moving in tune with the music. She slowly comes back up, knowing she's going to have to balance by herself soon. Peter feels her tense up even more and smiles. She's got this. He lets go of her to strike his pose and let her balance. He quickly moves to take a step back and gesture at Daphne for the second pause. He takes a step back in and bends down in a plié, stretching his arm out for Daphne to take. She turns into him and brings her leg up in a high arabesque before turning once more and pressing her back against Peter's chest, so he can bend slightly forward and they can strike their final pose as the music ends.

The crowd erupts into applause and cheers and Peter brings Daphne back up, so she can stand on her feet. They're both panting for air, but Peter will never forget the smile she gave him that day. The brightest, widest, love-filled smile he's ever seen. Peter nods at the audience with a cheeky grin, while still looking at her, and Daphne realizes she has to do her bows before she can actually hug her boyfriend. He holds her hand as he guides her to the front of the stage and lets go of her just before she bends down into a deep bow, one hand resting on her chest. When she comes back up, she looks behind her, at Peter. She raises her arm to gesture at him and he raises his eyebrows, nodding awkwardly at the audience. Peter quickly moves to hold Daphne again the way he did when they walked on and he guides her off stage.

Daphne's old classmates are jumping for joy when the couple walks off stage. The class herds them through the doors so they can cheer without disturbing the audience, who are already watching the next performance.
"Three months!" Sarah yelps. "This guy learned to do a pas de deux in THREE MONTHS!" Blood rushes to Peter's cheeks and Daphne smiles wide at him as she pulls his side against hers. She leans her head on his shoulder and raises her eyebrows.
"This guy is my hero," she says joyfully. Peter's heart skips a beat and he doesn't know what to do with himself. He feels like a puppy. "Wouldn't know what I'd do without him."
"Sappyyy," Tyrone butts in. He pushes through the small crowd of art students and places his hands on his hips. Daphne sticks out her tongue and starts pushing Peter to the dressing room.
"You're sappy too, Ty, don't pretend you're not."
"Well, if you wanna go full sap, why don't you give your hero a kiss?" Malcolm jokes. Peter nearly chokes on thin air at the question, but Daphne simply cocks an eyebrow and turns to face Peter.

She holds his face in her hands and presses her lips against his. She slightly opens her mouth to breathe against him and she flutters her eyes as she pulls back. Peter stares at her, bewildered. Did they really just do this in front of everyone? The class cheers and Daphne smiles triumphantly. Peter can't take his eyes off her. Now he really wants to tell her he loves her. So, so much.

...

Daphne quickly closes the dressing room door behind them and turns back to Peter. She rushes towards him and embraces him tightly. He hugs her back, pressing his cheek on top of her head.
"Thank you so much for this, Peter," she whispers.
"Anything for you, Dove..." One of his hands rests on her lower back. She's drenched in sweat, but he doesn't care. He pushes her away from him so he can look her in the eye. Her mouth is half opened and his gaze flicks between her eyes and her lips. "I..." he starts, not sure how to form a sentence with everything that's going on in his head right now.
"...Yeah?" She whispers, her hand caresses his arm. Peter blinks a few times and recollects himself.
"Do you need a hand getting out of the costume?" Daphne takes a small step back and nods. She expected him to say something else, but she wasn't exactly sure what.

Peter's hands tickle her skin. He's frustratingly gentle with her as he unhooks the bodice. She holds onto it as he unhooks the last bit and it falls open, exposing her bare, scarred back. Daphne watches his every move in the mirror opposite them. Peter's eyes follow the lines that seem like they were drawn on her body and he takes a breath, stepping closer to her to push the tutu down her waist. When it goes past her hips, it gently drops to the floor and Daphne steps out of it. Peter moves to grab her second costume from the clothing rack and he swiftly takes it off the hanger. It's a short-sleeved dress with a corset attached to it. He goes down on his knees so she can step into it and pulls at it as he stands up, to get it over her hips.

Daphne takes a breath and wiggles out of the bodice, completely exposing her upper body to the colder air in the dressing room. Peter looks at his feet, his face flushed. He's never seen her naked before and isn't sure if he wants to see her naked just yet. She'd presented her bare back when she first showed Peter her scar, and when he helped her study, she was wearing a very small towel, which didn't leave much to the imagination. Sure, Peter has his needs, but he wasn't going to force all that onto Daphne. His fear of losing control of his strength was enough to keep him from advancing. Hurting her is the absolute last thing he wants.

Daphne tosses the bodice onto the vanity and puts on the dress Peter's still holding onto, covering herself up. He closes it carefully. Since this costume doesn't have a pancake tutu, he can press himself against her more easily and his hands creep around her waist. Peter still doesn't understand how she has this effect on him. It's like she put a spell on him, like she actually is the Sugar Plum Fairy... He hums softly and she closes her eyes as he breathes in her hair, pressing soft kisses on her neck and behind her ear.
"I love you so much," he whispers, making goose bumps spread over her entire body. She sighs and leans against him.
"I love you too..." They stay there for a minute before Daphne turns around to him and looks up to meet his gaze. "Want me to help you get out of your costume?"