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“Anything else I can do for you before I go, your highness?” There weren’t any witnesses, but Sollux spoke demurely nonetheless, hands folded neatly in front of her in the spitting image of the perfect maid. The entire royal family was in the palace, along with a visiting delegation from the neighboring kingdom, and as a result, things were busier than usual. In the middle of the day, behind an unlocked door, there was no being too careful under those circumstances.
“Yes, there’s one thing, if you don’t have more pressing duties calling you,” Eridan replied, affection glittering in her eyes. She rose from the upholstered bench in front of her vanity, where Sollux had only just finished removing the curlers from her hair, and made a beeline for the closet. There was no need for her to wait for Sollux to answer. She knew perfectly well that nothing took priority over serving the whims of her princess, who she’d been in love with for most of her time at the palace.
“Of course. What might that be?” Watching Eridan root around in the closet with undivided attention was a temptation Sollux had to fight hard against. She turned away from her girlfriend to lock the door of her private chambers, ensuring that the door was closed firmly against any potential unauthorized entry. They would still need to be quiet, just in case there were people in the hallway outside, but they were well-practiced at that.
“This.” Eridan backed out of the closet again, whirling around to face Sollux more dramatically than necessary. Held in both hands was a padded hanger, and displayed on that hanger was one of Eridan’s own gowns. Violet silk adored with elaborate, swirling golden embroidery and tiny diamonds. Fit for a princess by any measure. But she wasn’t requesting a change in her own wardrobe for the day. “It’s about time I get to see you in one of my dresses. Not that you ain’t cute in your usual garb, but Sol, you’ll be gorgeous in this.”
“It’ll be too short on me,” she mumbled, taking a few hesitant steps closer. “I’ll look ridiculous.”
“Nah. You’ll look adorable even in a too-short dress. And after we get a sense for what kinda styles suit you from trying on a few of mine, I’ll get the royal tailor to make somethin’ just for you. Cut to your own measurements, so you’ve got somethin’ to wear when I want you on my arm at a ball.” Eridan said that so confidently that there was a moment in which Sollux believed her without reservation. Then, predictably, reality started to creep back in and made her shake her head.
“You know you can’t take your lady’s maid to a ball, no matter how much you might want to. It’d be the scandal of a generation if people found out about us. Just because your parents haven’t seriously started looking for an appropriate marriage for you doesn’t mean they aren’t going to.”
“Let me dream, Sol. One thing at a time.” Eridan smiled at her, toothy enough to look a little dangerous, and wiggled the gown in her hands invitingly, so that the silk rustled and the diamonds glittered in the sunlight. “When the time comes, I’ll gladly cause any amount of scandal for you, but today, I’m only askin’ you to put on a dress.”
“Yeah, okay.” Sollux sighed and made a show of relenting, as if it wasn’t a foregone conclusion that she was going to say yes. “Guess I can give you a bit of a show.”
The show started immediately, when she started changing out of her simple shirt and trousers in favor of the gown. Eridan crowded in close, hands on her even when there was absolutely nothing to help with. The tickle of her cold hands against bare skin made Sollux huff out a laugh, wriggling like one of the little snakes Eridan often compared her to. Stepping into the dress was easy enough, but the zipper was impossible on her own. She had to turn and let Eridan do it up for her, the same way she helped her princess dress every morning.
“It ain’t gonna look quite right without petticoats underneath, but I know you know that,” said Eridan’s voice against the back of her neck, smudging the knob of her spine with berry-colored lipstick. “I didn’t figure I’d be able to wrestle you into all those without even more of a fight, and this is just for fun anyhow.”
“You’re right about that much.” Sollux fought to stay still. All her instincts told her to shy away from the cold metal of the zipper, convinced that her skin was going to somehow get caught between the teeth, but of course, no such thing happened. Eridan was always careful with her, no matter what.
The dress didn’t look the way it would have on the princess. It was too short, exposing Sollux’s ankles, gaped at the chest, and hung in a rather deflated manner without petticoats to fluff it up. She found it difficult to look at herself in the mirror, and chose to direct her gaze to the wall just beside it instead, so that maybe Eridan wouldn’t chide her about needing to understand how good she looked. The color was nice, at least. Violet was a royal color, disallowed for most, but she might have liked to add it to her favorite red and blue if she could.
“Oh,” Eridan sighed, verging on obscenity. “Oh, Sol, it’s so lovely even like this, you’re gonna damn near kill me when you’ve got a gown made for you.”
“Then I’d better not get one. I would be executed for endangering the life of the princess.”
“Hush. That’s no argument. Why the hell are you so cute, huh? So fuckin’ adorable? You should’ve been born royal too, but if you were, I suppose I wouldn’t have you in my rooms like I do now.” Eridan’s hands smoothed down her sides in that gown, outlining an hourglass figure that Sollux’s twiggy frame really didn’t fit, and despite herself, she started to relax.
“I’d much rather be here with you. I’d—”
“Hate being a royal, I know. Bein’ my queen consort will be far better than bein’ born into the role is, trust me. Until then, I hope you’d agree that I ain’t one to work my darlin’ too hard.”
“Only hard enough for me to be justified in demanding a reward.” Sollux took that opportunity to turn away from the mirror and all its judgment to face Eridan instead. “I think I deserve one right now, in fact.”
“And I think I know just what it is.”