Among the Stars

Opening Night

Peter paces around the small studio, waiting. The first time he met his partner was always nerve wracking. But this time he was terrified. He was paired with billionaire playboy Tony Stark, owner of Stark Industries, one of the most successful businesses in the world. There was a sharp knock on the door, pulling Peter from his thoughts.

"Come in!" He calls, gathering his long hair into a ponytail. It sucked being trans but not out. He can't come out, he could lose his job. Thus he is known to the public as Karen Parker, two time Mirror Ball champion.

A dark haired head poked through the door before it opened all the way. The man was a tiny bit taller than Peter.

"Hi, are you Karen?"

Biting back a correction, Peter nods and grins.

"Tony Stark. It's a pleasure to meet you." He says, pushing himself up off the floor and strides across the room. He clasps one of Tony's hands in his own, feeling how rough they are, likely from years of hard work. He turns it so the palm is facing upwards. He runs his fingers gently across the calloused palm.

"I have been told I have nice hands."

Hearing Tony speak made Peter jerk back and blush lightly.

"Sorry. I was just....From my experience, rough hands tell a story. Of hard work and dedication." He forces himself to let of the older man's hand and leads him over to where two chairs were set up.

"So tell me about yourself."

Tony smiles a little and settles on the chair. "My name is Tony Stark and I'm the ripe age of forty eight. I'm from Long Island and I am the sole owner of Stark Industries."

"How'd you feel when you were invited to be on the show?"

Tony's eyes get brighter. "Oh I was ecstatic. See my mom is the one who taught me the little I know about dancing. So I'm doing this for her. I'm going to win for her."

Peter smiles again. "I think that's great."

"And when I heard you were my partner, I was happy. Because it's obvious that this is your passion."

"It is." Peter confirms. "My mother said I was dancing before I could walk."

Tony laughs at this. "Well, sometimes you gotta run before you can walk."

Peter stands and pushes the chair away. Tony follows in suit, looking to him for direction.

"So for your first dance,-"

"Our." Tony interrupts.

"Our?"

"This isn't only me. This is us. We're a team." Tony smiles.

Peter feels his heart melt a little, then inwardly scolds himself. No falling for contestants. That's a no go. It was a personal rule of his, as he didn't want to accidentally ruin the relationship that formed between coach and trainee. Plus come on, this is Tony Stark. He's probably taken. Plus the whole trans business.....

"Karen?" Tony's slightly concerned voice interrupted his self loathing.

"Sorry sorry. I spaced out. As I was saying, for our firsts dance, we want to make a statement, to let the others know that we are here to win and aren't scared to step outside our comfort zone."

"Damn straight."

Karen's laugh was a light musical sound to it. It seemed to match her soft looking light brown hair and bright hazel eyes. She seemed nervous, which Tony found amusing. She has done this for years, shouldn't he be the nervous one?