The big day had arrived, and the theater was bustling with activity as everyone prepared for the opening performance of A Midsummer Nights Dream. Piotr had stopped by for a final meeting with the producers some time around noon, before making his way backstage to pay Anya a quick visit.
He smiled and came to a stop next to Anya as she demurely wiped away a bead of perspiration from her brow with a fluffy white towel.
Her face lit up with a grin as she looked up at him, "You finished?"
"Just in time." He informed her, stuffing his hands into his jean pockets, "The producer has asked me to make up some title cards, but that should not be difficult."
Relief washed over Anya's features, "Thank goodness." She let out a breath and shook her head, gently dabbing the back of her neck with the towel as she spoke, "You would have been able to finish weeks ago, if you did not have your friends distracting you."
Piotr silently watched as she took a long drink from her eco-friendly water bottle. He'd spent the better half of the week at Anya's place, stopping by the apartment briefly a few times, only when Kitty was sure to be out, allowing him to finish his paintings alone at Anya's.
"They did not distract me..." He began, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably as he thought of Johnopolis, which certainly wasn't any help. "I was able to finish in time, and that is all that matters."
"Barely." Anya reminded, "The show opens in six hours."
"Yes, I am aware." He said with a deep breath, "I feel like I am in over my head. I'm not prepared."
"If you cannot cope with the pressure, you should leave the work to someone who can." Anya stated coolly, "I do not mean to sound harsh, but there are many other artists out there who would happily take your place. You cannot be weak, Piotr."
He nodded silently as he processed her advice, watching as she took another drink of water.
"Do not forget to pick up your suit from the dry cleaners." She reminded.
"I am headed there next." Piotr checked his watch, "I have to stop by the apartment to give the guys their tickets."
"The guys." Anya repeated flatly.
"Yes, I invited them weeks ago. The producers promised me some tickets and I thought they would like to see my finished work on display."
Anya looked down and let out a long breath, "Those seats are for the show. Not to view your artwork." She looked back up at him and frowned, "Furthermore, I was under the impression that you were still angry with them. For their behaviour earlier this week."
"I think that I was... maybe too harsh." He admitted, looking away with a frown, "Especially with Kitty. I was so angry-"
"And you had every right to be angry." Anya cut in, her frown deepening, "Do not tell me you still want to live with them."
"Anya, I just don't know yet. It is a big step for us. I need to think about it."
"You have had time."
"I have had a week." Piotr clarified, "And I have been preoccupied with work the entire time."
She silently worked the muscles in her jaw as she looked away from him irritably, "Piotr, you need to decide. I should think it would be an easy decision for you, and I am a little insulted that it is taking you so long."
"Anya," He smiled softly, gently rubbing her arms until she reluctantly turned to look at him, "I care about you. You know that. The time I am taking to decide has nothing to do with how I feel about you. Just give me a few more days to decide."
She lifted her chin and pressed her lips into a thin line before giving him a single nod. "My break is almost over, we are just about to have our final fittings," She informed him, smoothing some fly-aways at her hairline down and standing on her tip toes to place a kiss on his lips, "I will see you tonight."
He gave her forehead a kiss, letting her go back to her warm up stretches with the rest of the dancers before heading off happily to run his errands.
This is when Piotr's day took a turn for the worse.
His morning errands had not gone nearly as smoothly as he'd anticipated, and after two hours he was no further ahead than when he started. He arrived back at the apartment with shot nerves and zero patience, failing to notice Kitty lounging on the faux suede sofa in the living room when he slammed the door shut behind him.
She looked up from her magazine and blinked at him he muttered angrily under his breath until he finally realized she was there.
"What's up, Pete?"
"What's up." He huffed, dropping his garment bag on the kitchen island, "The producers decided last minute that they wanted title cards up, so I had to have the printers do a rush job. Now, everyone will know that they are viewing the works of Piotr Rasputing." He held up the botched title cards to make his point, "I do not have the time or the patience to have them re-done. Then, I went to pick up my suit from the dry cleaners, only to discover that they were a little overly thorough with the iron. My suit is entirely ruined. And then, because my day has not been bad enough, my check engine light came on. That's what's up."
"Yikes." Kitty closed her magazine and tossed it onto the coffee table.
"Yes. Yikes." Piotr repeated with a sigh.
"Okay, when you say your suit is ruined..."
Piotr pulled his suit out of the bag and held up the melted pant leg with a frown, and Kitty jumped to her feet with a gasp. "Holy crap!" She exclaimed, crossing the living room to closer inspect the fabric, "Did they have the iron set to pits of hell or something?!"
He sighed again and dropped the two sheets of card stock with the botched titles down onto the counter, "I don't know what to do. I have no time for this right now. I have to find a new suit and find a way to fix these title cards all without a vehicle, in three hours."
"Okay, this is okay... we can do this." Kitty nodded, wringing her hands together as she pulled together a plan. "It's just the pants, so you have a jacket-"
"I kind of need pants."
"We're gunna go find you some pants, and then when we get back I'll print you new title cards."
"My check engine light-"
"I can fix that." Kitty assured him, going to the junk drawer in the kitchen and retrieving the roll of duct tape, "Out of sight out of mind."
"Katya, that is not going to fix anything. Until I have time to take a look under the hood-"
"It's not like the thing is going to explode on the way to the theater, Pete." She said with an eye roll, "It's a suggestion. Like, Hey! Something is wrong! Check this crap out when you get a chance, okay? But that's way too long to put on the console." She grabbed his hand before he could protest anymore and dragged him out through the front door with her.
They rushed to the nearest formal wear store, where Kitty fervently plead with the store manager to rent them a pair of slacks which they would need immediately. To Piotr's surprise, she succeeded in talking the manager into fitting him with a pair of pants that would match his undamaged suit jacket, and she even got a discounted rate. The entire ordeal ate up nearly two hours.
When they arrived back at the apartment, Kitty instructed Piotr to go get dressed while she set up her laptop and printer. By the time he'd finished showering, shaving and getting dressed, the printer was whirring away as it finished printing out his amended title cards.
He set his tie down on the counter and picked up the sheet of card stock to inspect her work before looking back up at her with his brow knit, "How did you finish these so quickly?"
"You've been in there for like twenty minutes." She commented.
"I... couldn't do up my tie." He grumbled.
Kitty smiled, lifting the second sheet out from the printer tray the second it finished, "I just printed them on the backs, see? We just cut them out when the ink dries and nobody will ever know."
He shook his head at the sheet of card in his hand and let out a dry laugh, "You are... amazing."
She gave him a modest shrug, "It was nothing. A general knowledge of MS Word, no big deal."
"You took control and helped me out. I could not have gotten this done without you. That is a big deal."
"I guess I learned a thing or two with the X-men. Just... don't tell Scott that, okay?"
Piotr set the paper back down on the counter to properly dry before heaving a deep sigh, "Katya, I am sorry for-"
Kitty held up her hand and shook her head quickly, "Don't. It's- I understand, Pete." She gave him a half smile, "It's not like you could have taken your anger out on Pyro, your girlfriend knocked him out."
He cracked a grin, "That is true."
"Besides, I owe you an apology too..." She began with a sheepish frown, "I shouldn't have said those things about Anya. I just want you to be happy Pete, that's all. And if she makes you happy, then that is good enough for me."
"Perhaps we should just pretend it did not happen." He suggested.
"That sounds like a very good idea." Kitty said with a firm nod, glancing at the clock in the kitchen before looking back up at him with a grin, "You should get going. You're gunna want these titles up before all the art hot shots arrive."
"Hot shots?" He chuckled as she picked his tie up and looped it around his neck.
"I don't know what they're called. Connoisseurs? Art folk?" She snorted with broad smile.
"The people who will be there tonight are Art Consultants." He informed her as she began adjusting the length of the tie on either side of his neck carefully.
"Art Consultants. Okay, that's pretty self explanatory." She nodded with a furrowed brow, concentrating on making a loop, "Alright, honestly? I have no idea what I'm doing here."
Piotr frowned and pressed his lips together, "I don't either."
"It's not a big deal, I'll just Google it." She pulled her phone out and started a search.
"No." He shook his head and closed his eyes, "This... whole thing. I do not know what I'm doing." Kitty's eyes lifted to his and he sighed, "I am just... I am a farmer. My parents are farmers. It is honest, proper work. And what am I doing now? What kind of career is this? This field is so subjective... and there is so much rejection involved, and I have to try to sell my story to these people who will likely only see me as a misguided farm hand. I am beginning to think that I am just getting in over my head."
"Pete..." Kitty tipped her head to the side, "I'm not the best person to be talking to about... careers. I don't know what I'm doing either. Computer Science degree... X-Men... I actually considered opening up a puppy daycare. Not dogs, just puppies." She shook her head and knit her brow, "It doesn't even make sense."
He cracked a tiny smile and she went back to attempting to tie his tie, "But what I do know, is that you should be passionate about what you do. It's the most important thing, after actually being good at it. And I know you love painting, and that it makes you happy. You shouldn't let the possibility of rejection stop you from doing something you love."
"It is not just the rejection. It is trying to convince these people that my work is worth investing in..."
"This is going to sound pretty cliche, but you just need to be yourself."
Piotr gave her a wry half smile, "You are right, it is cliche."
"It's true Pete, your paintings are good. They'd have to be literally blind to not see that. But as far as charming them goes... I wouldn't worry about that. You're pretty impossible not to like."
He scoffed and Kitty looked up from her work on his tie, "I'm serious. First of all, you're... very easy on the eyes. I mean... Yowzah." Her eyebrows perked up to make her point and he suppressed an embarrassed smile, "But beyond that, you're smart, and funny, and loyal," She looked back down to his tie, "You have the kindest heart. You send the majority of any money you make make home to your family in Russia. You've given me a shoulder to cry on, and cheered me up when I was sad... you pretended to be gay and flirted with my old boss so I could get my paycheck, Pete. You're basically the only person I know who would do something like that for me."
The corner of his mouth tugged up and she adjusted the finished knot in his tie, "You're an amazing person. You just need to start to believe it. Because it's definitely the truth."
He pressed his lips together, "Thank you."
"And, no matter what the hot shots think of you tonight, I want you to know that I'm..." She let out a breath, holding the lapels of his suit jacket as she looked back up at him seriously, "I'm just, so proud of you Piotr."
He gave her a mute nod, watching the corners of her honey brown eyes crinkle with an impish little grin,
"Just don't forget me when you're one of those big hot shots, okay?"
An easy smile spread across his lips, "You'd be pretty hard to forget, Katya."
They smiled at one another silently, enjoying the friendly closeness of the moment, when Piotr slowly became increasingly aware of the way she casually held onto the lapels of his suit, letting her knuckles rest against his chest, and the fact that her happy little smile had melted away as she held his gaze. He felt mesmerized by her stare.
And for some reason, he had the building urge to lean forward and close the space between them. His eyes moved down to her soft lips and he blinked, clearing his throat to break himself out of his inexplicable trance.
"I have to clothes." Kitty said suddenly, "I have to change. My clothes." She fumbled, "For tonight."
He stepped back and gave a slightly dazed nod, "Yeah."
She slipped off the counter and moved towards the hallway as the front door opened,
"Alright, I picked up my suit for tonight." Pyro announced as he simultaneously kicked the door shut and unzipped the garment bag in his hand, "And I know what you're gunna say; "You can't wear that Pyro, it looks stupid Pyro..." But there's this thing called peacocking, and yes, it's a real thing-"
"Whatever it's fine." Kitty clipped quickly as she passed by.
Pyro looked to Piotr and pulled the turquoise suit out with a snort, "That was easy." He held the suit up against his body, "I thought it'd be a harder sell than that."
Piotr furrowed his brow, taking in the sight of Pyro admiring the turquoise suit before giving his head a resigned shake and grabbing the title cards off the counter.
"The lady at the store said it brings out my eyes." Pyro said as Piotr passed him on his way to the front door. "Those little ballerinas don't stand a chance tonight, mate. I'm gunna hypnotize them with my eyes!" Pyro called after him, "And then I'm gunna peacock their brains out."
A/N- I can't believe the number of reviews I've been getting as of late. Your kind words are honestly what keeps me motivated and encouraged when I'm totes not feeling the mojo. I love reading everyones reviews, so PLEASE keep them coming!