It's Monday. Daphne scrolls through her phone during lunch break, waiting for Peter. She's sitting by herself at a table, her feet are tapping the ground rhythmically. Bored, she decides to check out the group chat of her old class, which she had muted.
Daphne frowns as the words pass by. Her thumb flicks over the screen at a fast pace, trying to catch up. She purses her lips in anger. Unbelievable. She gets her to her feet and scans the cafeteria for the blonde who's always involved with everything. She must be able to help. Daphne rushes to the other side of the room when she spots her.
"Betty?"
"Oh! Hi, Daphne?" She smiles kindly, turning just her head to Daphne. "What's up?"
"I, uh... Have a bit of a weird request." Daphne's eyebrows curl up into a frown.
"Oh?" Betty turns her way completely now and puts her hands on her hips. "What weird request do you have?"
"So... my old school has a few-ehh... Legal issues." Betty frowns, but leans forward. There's a curious gleam in her eyes. "Money stuff..."
"Go on...?"
"My old class is not allowed to go to the Halloween party."
"Um, yikes, that's kinda mean."
"Yeah, that's what I thought," Daphne says as she glances at her phone.
Daphne takes a breath, gathering courage to ask her question.
"Do you think the Midtown Tech party can handle a couple more guests?" Betty's eyebrows shoot all the way up to her hairline. She starts shaking her head and Daphne takes a step towards her. "It's not fair. The principal is taking out his frustrations on them." Daphne brings her hands together to plead. "Please, please, please, consider!" Betty looks off to the side and bites the inside of her cheek. Her eyes squeeze into tiny slits as she thinks.
"I can't just go up to the board and ask them to invite students from a rivaling school," she starts. Daphne stays quiet, hoping she continues her train of thought. Thankfully, she does. "But if we can get something from the students who are invited..."
"Live music?" Daphne tries. Betty was aiming for Daphne to say that, because a large, knowing grin spreads on her face.
"Do your classmates know how to throw a party?" Betty cocks an eyebrow and now it's Daphne's turn to grin. She remembers all the previous parties the school hosted and all of them were memorable for their own reasons. All thanks to her class.
Daphne nods. One corner of her mouth curls up.
"Definitely."
"Alright, you ask your classmates if they're up for it and then I'll throw in my charm with the board." Daphne shrieks with joy and hugs Betty tightly. She didn't expect the sudden physical attention, but laughs and hugs Daphne back.
"Thank you, thank you, thank youuu!"
...
"Come on, Pete, be quiet!" Daphne whispers loudly as they stand among the boxes of costumes in the dance school's storage. Their hunt for an original Halloween outfit led them here and Peter accidentally bumped into a miscellaneous prop box. It's not really spacious in the storage room. The walking space can't be more than 2,5 feet wide and custom wooden shelving has been built in to accommodate all the boxes. There's a system to the room, but it's difficult to move around in it.
The school sure has a lot of stuff. Peter's not focusing. His attention constantly shifts from one prop to the other. It all looks so cool and Peter's like a puppy, in awe of all the things around him that he's never seen before. It's frustrating to Daphne that Peter's not being more careful. More sneaky. She knows he can be. Being Spider-Man, and all. His endless wonder for all the the items and costumes is kind of endearing, though, so she's not mad.
A muffled piano plays in the room next door and the teacher calls out combinations for the students to dance. Daphne and Peter just finished their own class and the next class that's happening now is still at the barre.
"Daph, why are we whispering?" he whispers back loudly. She browses for the right box, scanning all the labels carefully.
"Madame Touha said no one should know about us borrowing these costumes and these walls are thin as fuck," she replies with raised eyebrows.
Daphne finds what she's looking for and takes the storage box from the shelf. She opens it and starts rummaging through it. It's a deep box, so her entire upper body disappears into it.
"She really likes you, doesn't she?" Peter crosses his arms.
"I've spent so much time at this school since we moved to New York, she's pretty much my mom at this point." Peter holds his breath at her remark. He knows her mom isn't in her life, so saying it so bluntly and easily like that throws him off a little. Then again, his experience with parental figures is different. He remembers his parents; she doesn't remember her mom.
"What are you looking for?" He peeks over her shoulder. "Can I help?" The box is filled with off-white robes.
"Gottem!" She holds up a beautiful, short dress. She shoots a glance at Peter and smiles. "I played Cupid in last year's story performance." She throws the dress over Peter's face and he grabs it with a chuckle. Cupid, huh? Daphne grabs her phone and scrolls through her photo album. She turns the device to him and he can't help but smile at the picture.
Daphne looks adorable. There's a big grin on her face and she's wearing a small, flowy bodysuit type of dress. It's the same dress he's now holding in his hands. His cheeks flush red at the thought of her looking so incredibly stunning in it, and now his fingers are caressing the fabric. There's a laurel crown on her head and she has little wings stuck on her back. She is mid-leap and her confidence radiates off the photo.
Daphne puts her phone away, to Peter's dismay, and dives back into the box with white costumes.
"So, you want to go as, what, Greek Gods?" She turns to him with a few more dresses in her hands.
"You don't?"
"I mean, that'd be cool, but won't you get cold?"
"Ah, I'm not going as Cupid," she says. It's slightly muffled as she's digging her way to the bottom of the box. "Fuck, man! Where's-" She pauses. "Yes, got it!"
Daphne starts pulling another dress out of the box, but it seems to just keep going and going and going. More chiffon gathers in her hands until Peter can't see her face anymore.
"That's a big dress," Peter laughs. He tosses the Cupid dress back into the box and takes the dress Daphne's holding in his hands to relieve her a little bit.
"Persephone!"
"Queen of the Underworld?"
"You better believe it!" She says as she places her chin on top of the bulk of fabric. "This dress is perfect! All I need is the laurel crown and some sandals and I'm good for the party!" She shoves the rest of the chiffon dress into Peter's hands and quickly grabs her tote bag. It's a little too small, but she fits in enough of the dress to carry it around more easily.
"Alright, did you have anything in mind for me?" He asks while placing the tote bag over his shoulder.
"I dunno, what are you thinking? We got Roman soldiers... Some Gods..."
"How about I go as Hades?" He cocks his head at her. "Ya know, to keep it spooky?" Daphne snorts, but nods.
"Hades should beeee..." Her voice trails off as she looks at all the boxes. When she spots the right container, she pouts. Top shelf. High ceiling. "Why do you have to pick the one that's hardest to reach?" She looks around for a ladder.
"I'm sorry, I just want to match your costume," he says and he sticks out his tongue. "Here, hold this." He hands her the tote bag and she puts it over her shoulder. Peter tugs and pulls softly at the shelves to see how sturdy they are. They're bolted into the wall, so he takes his chance.
Daphne barely blinked and Peter's already at the top shelf, sticking to whatever surface is nearest. He easily takes the box from the top shelf and places his feet on the ceiling. He stretches out and hands Daphne the box. She gently places it on the floor and when she stands back up straight, she notices Peter hasn't come down from the ceiling yet. Instead, he's staring at her. She hears the trademarked Spider-Man thwip and he slowly moves down to match her height.
"Pete," she whispers quietly. His pupils are slightly diluted. She catches him looking at her lips and she, in turn, glances at his. The storage space suddenly is a whole lot warmer than she recalls it being before. It feels even tighter as well. The tote bag with the Persephone dress in it falls off her shoulder. It hits the floor with a soft thud. He inches closer to her, until she can feel his hot breath on her face. Goosebumps travel over her body. The muffled piano music from the class next door surrounds them and their hearts beat fast.
"Is this okay?" he mutters. She nods slowly and closes her eyes. They both slightly open their mouths, their lips grazing past each other.
"Yes," she breathes into him. They softly press their lips against each other. The contact sends a shiver down Daphne's spine. Her hands creep up to hold his face and his free hand glides over her hair. He fiddles with the little hair net that keeps her bun in place. He gasps into her mouth when she helps him remove all the pins, dropping them to the floor.
They untangle the simple bun and his hand runs through the ponytail that's left behind, tugging at the tangles. Her hands go back to his face and cup his cheeks. Their breathing quickens and she feels his tongue licking her lips through the kiss. She opens her mouth a little further, granting him access. Their tongues dance to the piano music and Peter melts under her touch. Her taste is overwhelming. So sweet.
"Daph," he whispers into her mouth.
"Mhm...?" She's too occupied with kissing him to give him a proper reply.
Peter slowly turns mid-air, bringing down his legs from his webbing and he turns right side up while they're still kissing. When his feet softly land on the floor, he lets go of the string hanging from the ceiling and embraces Daphne with his now free arm. Their mouths haven't left each other for a second. When he finally breaks their kiss, he presses his forehead against hers and smiles. Their noses touch gently.
"I really like you." There's a slight stutter in his voice. Daphne chuckles and presses a feather kiss on the corner of his mouth.
"I really like you too."
-----------------------------------
Happy New Year, everyone!