Chapter Text
Kurt knew he was… slightly in love with Peter ('You can call me Pietro, it actually sounds cool in your accent') Maximoff. It wasn't a problem, really it wasn't. He'd been slightly in love with people before, and it generally went away without them ever noticing. It was a little tougher this time, what with Pietro rapidly becoming his best friend, but he could manage. He could totally manage.
Well. That was true, right up until he decided he wanted to visit his friend and took advantage of Pietro's 'You don't need to knock, just bamf right in!' policy. Which…
The dress was, objectively, quite pretty. A lovely rich red, long and flowy with cap sleeves and a sweetheart neckline. It just wasn't particularly flattering on Pietro's frame and didn't fit quite right. The other man had been twirling, and upon seeing Kurt went… completely still. One didn't realize just how much Pietro moved (constantly) until he stopped. It looked… wrong. The fact that Kurt had been the cause of the wrongness, had stumbled onto something, hurt.
There was a blink, a half-instant and the speedster was in something more usual, a well-worn band t-shirt and leather pants and he was looking…
Kurt recognized that look. He'd just never had it directed at him before. It was Pietro's 'I'm going to tell you a lie and you're going to believe it because it'll be easier for everyone' face. He tended to use it when talking about his dad… And now he was seeing it and he already knew that whatever was about to be said was going to be a lie, and probably not a good one.
"Oh, hey elf! Just getting ready to go out, anything I can help you with?"
And Pietro sounded right. Sort of. But Kurt could see the fear in his eyes, and he didn't need the Professor's telepathy to be able to hear 'Don't ask, please don't ask, I don't want you to think I'm some sort of freak' in those words. And he wants to ask 'You like dresses?' and he wants to say 'you don't have to hide things from me' and he so very much wants to find whoever put that fear in Pietro's eyes and very politely make them regret it. But he doesn't. He just smiles (Because Pietro likes his smiles, and isn't afraid of his teeth and makes Kurt feel so normal in the best of ways) and chirps "I was just going to ask if you wanted to come down and watch a movie!", accent just a bit thicker than normal.
"What, time for another Disney marathon?"
"It is always time for a Disney marathon!"
And normalcy is back, he can see the fear fading but…
He saw Pietro's face. While he was wearing that pretty dress he looked so so happy .
"Race you downstairs then!"
And as he laughs, says "Time for you to lose again!" his mind starts to work.
Kurt learned to sew in the circus. They made their own costumes there, and he'd always liked it. It was something soothing, something fun, and he was good at it. He wasn't much for patterns, but he knew how garments went together, and he liked fashion. He talked with Jubilee sometimes, and helped Jean pick out clothing when he was invited shopping. He knew how to make something pretty and flattering. And...
America made it easy to get things, like all different types of fabric and sewing supplies. He'd have to guess at measurements, but he had a good eye and there were forgiving fabrics he could work with. He picked blue (which Pietro had mentioned was his favorite color) and silver (because Pietro really did look good in it) and set to work.
It took a few different tries. He wanted something that would make Pietro happy, but he couldn't exactly ask 'So, what length do you like? Do you like sleeves?' because they didn't talk about the whole 'You caught me wearing a dress' thing. He went with something above the knee, to show off Pietro's legs (which were very nice, all that zipping around), and a flowy skirt, because the other man had been twirling. He had to adjust the upper half a little, to accommodate for a flat chest, but he picked a neckline which would emphasize Pietro's neck and flatter his broad shoulders. The lovely ladies he'd worked with at the circus would have been proud.
He kept it a secret of course. Which would… probably have been a lot harder if he hadn't been a teleporter. But he didn't want to embarrass Pietro. And he didn't want people asking who he was making the dress for.
He embroidered on silver sequins, added little details, the sorts of things he saw in fashion magazines. And he kept putting off the 'No, I did see you in a dress but it wasn't flattering so I made you a pretty one, sorry I had to guess at sizes but I didn't want to ask for measurements, I can adjust it if you need, also I am totally not completely in love with you that would be awkward!' talk. Until…
Well, God worked in mysterious ways, right? In this case, God led him to stumble on Pietro looking at himself in a mirror and muttering about being a loser and getting a life and…
Kurt hated it when Pietro talked badly about himself. Absolutely loathed it. It didn't matter that it was meant to be a joke sometimes. Pietro was friendly and funny and shouldn't be calling himself names. Especially not when he was looking at himself in the mirror and calling himself a freak for putting on his sister's dresses.
"Red isn't your color. Well, you look good in anything, but there are more flattering colors with your hair color and skin tone. The shade of blue I picked will look good though I think." He keeps his tone as calm as possible, tries to make sure Pietro can tell he doesn't think the other man is a freak.
"Oh, I made you a dress. Would you like me to go get it?"
Pietro's staring at him.
"...what?"
"I made you a dress."
"...If this is a joke…"
And Pietro isn't himself, or at least, isn't the 'himself' Kurt is used to, he looks serious and nervous but Mystique (Raven, she goes by Raven) and her training have given Kurt the courage to reply "It's not. I wouldn't make that sort of joke. Wait here, I'll be back."
And perhaps it's a mark of just how strange things have suddenly become, that when Kurt bamfs back, dress on it's hanger in hand, Pietro is just where he left him.
(If that's not proof that Pietro isn't a loser, Kurt doesn't know what is. Because he's not stupid, he can still see the fear and the worry but Pietro trusted him and waited and oh he is so very in love with this man…)
"See?"
Pietro's hand is trembling as he reaches out for the dress, and Kurt's happy to give it to him, happy to see the fear shift further into confusion and wonder.
"I had to guess what size… Try it on, will you? I want to see if I guessed right!"
The laugh he gets is like sunshine and there's a moment of blurriness and then the silver haired man is smoothing his hands down the front of the dress and Kurt did an excellent job guessing, although it helps that the fabric is a bit stretchy. And when Pietro twirls, he's laughing again and it's not something at superspeed, and the way the dress lifts up just a bit does very flattering things to those already lovely legs (And he's sort of thinking Pietro shaved his legs but that would be a very awkward thing to ask about, even more awkward than 'How long do you like your dresses?') and Kurt is feeling very pleased with himself.
"Kurt this is... "
Pietro's crying, just a little bit, but they're so obviously happy tears that the teleporter doesn't worry, he just asks "So, how's the fit? I can take it in a bit if you want it tighter but-"
And then he's being pulled into an extremely tight hug.
"Thank you thank you thank you thank you."
He can barely make out the words, they're being said so fast and he just hugs Pietro back, squeezing just as tight, until they finally release each other and Pietro scrubs away his tears.
"Man elf, I didn't get you anything."
"I don't mind. You can repay me by letting me dance with you."
And he has no idea where those words came from, but they make his cheeks heat, and… And Pietro, he of endless jokes and silver hair is blushing .
"You… want to dance with me?"
"Yes? You don't have to if you don't want to?"
Because he honestly wasn't thinking of any sort of repayment when he made the dress, he just wanted to make something pretty for Pietro to wear. Okay, he had had a few daydreams about twirling Pietro and recreating some of the things he'd seen men and women do during their parties back at the circus, but that had nothing to do with anything. Really.
"I would love to dance with you. But I have no idea of how dance in a dress."
"Do not worry. I'll teach you."
"You're going to teach me to dance?"
"What? I know how to dance."
He's about to say more, when he hears someone coming up the hallway. And in a blink, the dress is back on it's hanger and Pietro is again wearing pants. But…
"Tonight. We can use one of the classrooms, yes?"
"Alright. But if you step on my feet, I'm going to yank your tail."
Pietro winks and zips off, just as one of the other students rounds the corner. And Kurt notices Pietro took the dress with him, and he's quite glad he won't have to explain anything, he can just give a friendly wave and disappear. He manages to go roughly fifteen minutes before he realizes that he is effectively going to be going on a date. His first date. With one of his best friends. Oh dear.