Sales of the Bees Knees || Chapter 2/3
Previously Fandom: Xmen
Warnings: Character having self esteem issues while the writer works through her thinly veiled ire for the concept of clothes shopping
Wordcount: 2819
Summary: Miranda struggles to find a formal dress to her liking, meanwhile back at the mansion Kurt needs to find something to entertain himself with until she comes back home. ------------------------ Whomever designed changing rooms was a cruel, sadistic person. That’s what Miranda felt anyway as the synthetic light turned her pale skin into straight up sickly looking, while her arms anxiously covered her chest over the strapless dress her friends had picked out for her. Yeah, that was to be expected since she had worn one of them at the masquerade ball, but this dress felt far more ill fitting than the other one she had worn back then. She didn’t want to try and befriend a strapless dress again, anyway.
Peeking through the curtains, she watched with slight envy as Storm showed off an absolute stunning, low cut golden dress with black detailing to the rest of the group. Jean was wearing an off shoulder, sparkly green dress, and Shadow was on the other end of the spectrum in a new tailored black suit with a reddish glow to it. Miranda’s eyes flicked between all of them, watched Jubilee curiously shuffle through some stuff on the racks, and shut the curtain to her changing room with a sigh. Were those really her only options? The low cut stuff she didn’t feel comfortable in, or the complete opposite of a suit that didn’t match her vibe. “Miranda, sugar, you alright in there? You haven’t come out to show something ya like even once.” “Maybe cause I don’t like any of these,” Miranda muttered, deliberately inaudible “What was that?” “Nothing,” with a soft sigh Miranda opened the curtain far enough to peek out at Rogue, only to immediately wanting to retreat back inside, put her regular clothes back on and go directly back to home. Rogue looked absolutely stunning in the yellow dress she had picked between the options the others had given her, the cut out in the bodice suiting her in a way Miranda simply felt instinctively jealous off. When she met Rogue’s eyes again, she knew from the way Rogue’s expression morphed into gentle concern that her own eyes betrayed how she felt. “What’s wrong, sugar? Ain’t feeling any of the options we gave?” Something in Miranda’s green eyes trembled, her hand letting go of the curtain only for her to tightly wrap her arms over her chest in some attempt to hide herself or her discomfort, her invisibility quickly flickering as it picked up on her distress which only made Rogue more concerned. “No,” Miranda said, the word sharp and pained at the same time, “I feel ugly, or exposed, or ugly and exposed, I-“
“Hey, now,” Rogue hushed, using her body to shield the partially open curtain while looking over her shoulder to watch the group and seeing Shadow pay for her ensemble, before turning back to Miranda, “you are not ugly; don’t insult yourself like that. Tell me what’s wrong, so I can help ya fix it to ya liking, alright? Is it the fit?”
“You all look so pretty,” Miranda mumbled, trying to fight off the embarrassed jealousy her heart was offering, “you all can have everything on display and look confident and drop dead gorgeous while doing so, and I don’t understand how any of you have any faith in the fabric staying put and not exposing you to the world, but like, what’s my other option? Do I have to swing all the way to Shadow’s end of the spectrum? She looks absolutely amazing in that suit; I can’t pull that off either, I’d look like I measured a potato sack onto myself and called it a day. I’m just… I’m sorry… I know Jean really tried, you all did, but… I hate this dress. I hate the color, I hate the fabric, and I hate the way it feels like it’s going to drop off me the moment I dare to breathe in.” “Mir,” Rogue kept her voice soft and gentle, wanting to understand, “we just tried to base our picks on what you’ve worn before, but that doesn’t mean you’re obligated to fall in love with the dresses we picked. Strapless is off the table then, for now? And ya don’t like the color?”
“I don’t think I’ll ever have the bravery needed for strapless again. I don’t know how I managed throughout the whole masquerade ball,” Miranda mumbled, her mind softly whispering that she had only managed through the fit of the dress and how tightly Shadow had tied the ribbons to the point that she had needed Gambit to get her back out of the dress. And that level of being unable to undress herself definitely hadn’t helped the situation, in hind sight, “and… I think I want green, or blue..” “Alright, I’ll go back to the drawing board for a bit; stay here, okay?”
“Okay…” Closing the curtain to the room, Rogue turned around and went towards the section of dresses in the color spectrum Miranda had requested, flipping through them and noting Shadow slowly sneaking off out of the building. She thought nothing of it, too busy trying to pick some nice options for a friend in need. Apparently she took long enough for Shadow to come back from wherever she had gotten to, appearing next to Rogue. “Not feeling yellow, after all?” she asked, curiously.
“Nah, it’s for Miranda. She’s having a hard time finding a dress she likes,” Rogue explained, before showing Shadow some of the options she had grabbed, “what do ya think? Ya know her a little better than I do.” It made Shadow immediately lock in; checking the fabrics and rejecting the ones she knew would be too itchy for her friend and also rejecting one that was slightly too short. She even picked a few herself, leaving the two of them with a handful of different options that hopefully had something Miranda would like. Shadow followed Rogue to the changing rooms to help her carry the different dresses. “I got some back up, sugar. We have six options for ya here; there’s still more to go around if these ain’t to ya liking either,” Rogue said while handing over the dresses she had brought in, while Shadow handed over hers. “Thanks,” Miranda muttered. “No problem, we’re here for you,” Shadow reassured just as softly. Miranda went through the different options, putting the first one on with a sigh as she still felt she was being ridiculous. All of this would be so much easier if she wasn’t so hung up about her own feelings, if she could just relax and “be sexy” like everyone else so easily seemed to do in those cut out dresses. Or, failing that, just feel as confident and beautiful in a tailored suit as Shadow did. But no, she just had to be complicatedly feminine about it, it was exhausting to even herself to be the last one out there showing off something she liked. If she could even find something she liked. While sinking away in her own thoughts, she made her way through the current dress options, none of them really cutting it for her either as they simply didn’t give her the spark of finding “the dress” for her. So she thought nothing for a moment when she put on option number four. As the soft, silky fabric gently fell down her form, she turned to the mirror with a sigh- and then just stared for a while. The jewels on the collar that wrapped around her neck to keep the top in place sparkled softly in the light of the dressing room, along with the same jewel detailing wrapping like a belt around the middle. Everything else was a soft silk in a deep, dark color right on the cusp between green and blue, elegantly draping around her and softly swishing along when she moved around a little to observe it from another angle. The halter top covered everything she didn’t want to ‘show off’ like her regular tops did, while the soft fabric felt lovely on her skin. Out of pure curiosity, she switched her invisibility on, and the fabric vanished along with her; only the two sparkly bands still showed themselves softly glittering in the light. As she came back into view, Miranda could feel her brain finally drop the sour mood as this dress sparked exactly the feeling she had so desperately been looking for. This was her dress. She pulled the curtain open fast and wide; eager to show her two patient friends who immediately looked up at the sudden burst of energy. “Oh!” Shadow immediately chimed in, “that’s one of Rogue’s choices! I thought it would be a bit too blue, but it looks more green on you, it’s-“ “Perfect!” Miranda said excitedly, before giving Shadow a sheepish look, “sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt you.”
“No, it’s okay; I’m glad you found something you like!” “Ya wanna go show the others?” Rogue asked. “Yes!” Miranda chirped, clearly needing to stop herself from hugging Rogue right then and there, her brain warningly reminding her of Rogue’s power set and ability, “sorry; thank you so, so much.”
“Any time.” After showing off her choice to the rest of the group and purchasing the dress for herself, the group was finally ready to go back home. Taking the big car Jean had driven the group in to the mall, she diligently brought all of them back home as well. The group was still happily chittering with each other about everything and nothing, when all of them looked up at the sound of two people chasing each other outside of the mansion.
With Miranda gone to go shopping with the ladies for the day, and having danger room training later when she got back, Kurt flopped down on one of the couches in the leisure room with a sigh. He was bored; incredibly bored; he thought his own chores and things to tend to would’ve taken much longer, and even if they hadn’t he wouldn’t have tagged along.
He wanted her to feel like she could just hang out with the ladies without him superglued to her side the whole time. She deserved that space away from him, and he deserved space away from her in the same regard even if he adored being around her. He adored her, but it would be fine; he just needed to find something to do. “- And if I lose this poker match?” “Then ya don’t schedule Gambit for danger room training for two weeks, sound fair?”
“I suppose so..” Kurt’s ears perked up at the sound of his teammates talking, curiously rolling over on the couch as he watched Scott pass by the door with Gambit closely in tow. For whatever reason, Scott agreed to Gambit’s offer, and that was enough to make Kurt confused. Gambit rarely took any bets with Scott; something about knowing who to bet against in order to win the match always making the Cajun very hesitant to take Scott up on anything in that regard. So with them actually going off to the recreation room down in the basement and with Kurt’s curiosity thoroughly piqued, he followed them to see what this was all about. If anything, it would be a solution to his boredom one way or another. When down there and after turning down the offer to join the match, it became quickly clear to Kurt that Gambit wasn’t playing fair. He wasn’t entirely sure how Gambit was pulling it off, but he seemed to have way too much luck with his card pulls being too good of an answer to any of Scott’s plays. He stretched in his seat, calmly getting up in fake pretend himself that he needed to stretch his legs and very deliberately circling around Scott first. In the dim light of the recreation room, he all but vanished in the shadows, making his way to the door and deliberately closing it loud enough for his friends to hear. Silently as a cat he went back over to stand right behind Gambit, tossing quick peeks over his shoulder at the cards while Gambit was distracted so the soft yellow glow of his eyes didn’t give him away. With a very deliberate and silent swish of his tail, he caught Scott’s attention and quickly started tossing up charades esque gestures to sign out the card combinations Remy was holding. Even behind the red glasses of his friend that only gave away the slightest hint of the eyes behind it, Kurt could see the cogs in Scott’s mind turning to come to the conclusion that the cards Gambit had didn’t hold up comparatively to his own; with the slightest hint of a smirk Scott very slightly adjusted his gaze back down to Remy. “I hope you’re ready to have two weeks of early morning patrols while I get some much needed sleeping in besides my wife, Gambit.”
“Hm?” Gambit hummed, feigning innocence. “Mind telling me how you’re holding three nines if I have two from the actual deck in my hand?” Yeah, there was no explanation for that. While Gambit’s face didn’t move a muscle, the look in his eyes was one of pure confusion. How the hell had Scott figured out about the added card he intended to keep around until he was fully sure what hand the team leader was dealt? And then, his eyes noticed the soft, dispersed yellow glow coming from over his head that didn’t belong to any of the lights in the room; none of them stood that directly behind him. He turned around immediately, only to see Kurt grinning at him. “Guten Tag.” “Bleu,” Gambit said with the lightest hint of a grow to his voice, “ya ruined Gambit’s plan.” “Shouldn’t have made a bet you can’t win fair and square, now should you?” the look of innocence his friend gave him would’ve worked if the yellow glowing eyes didn’t sparkle with mischief, the fanged grin only adding to the whole deviousness of Nightcrawler.
“I gotta make you pay for this,” Gambit answered, amusement lacing his voice while he still tried to come across as somewhat intimidating as his red eyes stared at his friend. “You’d have to catch me first,” Kurt responded, clearly wanting the chase; and as soon as Gambit actually got up from his chair Kurt vanished in a huff of smoke. Scott couldn’t help but laugh as Gambit all but flung himself out of the room, immediately following Kurt up into the rafters as the other deliberately stayed just out of his reach.
“Get back here, blueberry!” The group of ladies looked up at the call Gambit made when he somersaulted his way from the ceiling out of the front door, looking around to try and figure out where the hell Kurt had gone when Miranda heard the softest little ‘poof’ behind her. Shaking her head while an amused and affectionate huff left her, she kept her eyes on Gambit knowing fully who was behind her. “What did you do?” she asked, the tone of her voice even more affectionate than her laugh. “He started it by cheating at poker to get out of danger room training, I just leveled the playing field,” Kurt responded, tone as innocent as he could keep it with his mischief lacing itself in between the words. Miranda didn’t answer verbally; with a flick of her wrist she made her hand connect with the tail that instinctively went towards her and made Nightcrawler vanish from sight just before Gambit looked up to the group and made his way over. “Have any of you lovely ladies seen Nightcrawler?” Miranda just as smoothly pushed Shadow in front of herself, immediately drawing Gambit attention far away from the chase.
“No.”
“Hi, chére~” Oh, Gambit was so incredibly easy to distract. Shadow tossed a very knowing glance at Miranda before she got whisked away by her lover; and right as they went indoors the timer she had set on her shared invisibility ran out. Kurt was curled up around her as much as he could, tail around her waist and chin settled on her shoulder, much to the amusement of the rest of the group; especially Jubilee. “Thank you, Süße,” Kurt purred, going a little cross eyed when Miranda booped him on the nose “I can’t save you from the Cajun’s wrath every time, angel. I don’t think Shadow even can.”
“I was bored,” Kurt fake whined, before pressing a soft kiss to her cheek as the rest of the ladies scattered to tend to their other appointments of the afternoon, “do you have to go to the afternoon training?”
“Yes, I do,” Miranda laughed, taking a moment to just linger in his embrace, “I feel bad enough disappointing Scott if I don’t show up, but disappointing Ebak? That’s even worse. We’ve got an hour or two until then, though. You up for some cuddling by the roses?” “Always.”