Starting Life From Zero: Far From Home

Chapter Seventeen

By the next day Puck's release had trickled to almost nothing more than a field of cold in the air right around his form and it was only slightly chilly. Just before dinner time Rem and Ram came round to all of the doors telling everyone to dress their best and come to the up stairs reception room that was attached to the Western balcony that ran along the back of the manor.

There was the one tuxedo that Peter had pilfered from the closet full of clothes that didn't fit him, he would wear that and when he stepped into the hallway Steve just happened to be coming out dressed in a dark blue tuxedo that was much the same as his. He looked the older man over, a man that he had grown up idolizing as the ideal of the perfect hero.

"Any idea what this is all about?" Peter asked.

Steve cracked a wicked smile. "It looks like we're ready to go pick up our dates for the prom," he said.

"You had prom when you were in high school?" Asked Peter.

"Yeah and even if we didn't, I've seen Riverdale," Steve said.

Peter nodded as if that explained it all and as if the CW, as a network could teach someone everything that there was to know about American teenager culture. They made their way to the far end of the West Wing where dinner was being held only to find that Ram was standing outside, not in her maid outfit, but in flatteringly cut red dress with a gold loops dangling down over one hip and a slit cut halfway up the leg.

She turned to look at them as they approached. "Ah you found it," she said. "I was beginning to think that we would have to toss your plates off the balcony."

"If you cooked them, we still might have to," Steve shot back. Ram's face turned to utter shock, her face changing colors to match her hair until Steve cooled her down with what he said next. "You're looked really sharp, Ram."

"I like your dress, Miss Ram," Peter added.

She shooed them through the double doors of the dining room. "Go inside before you food gets cold!"

This was a dinning room that Peter and Steve hadn't seen on their tour or come across in the last several days of living in the Mathers Manor, which was a testament to how large the place truly was. The carpet of this room was a lavish red with an ornate golden design set into a navy blue circle at its center. There was a round table set up almost dead center on that circle with a short buffet to one side of the room for them to serve themselves with various foods and drinks.

Across the room, near the side of the buffet stood Rem in a strapless black dress that had a silver design starting at the center of the bust line and hooking down until it dipped around behind her at the hip. She was drinking something from a long stemmed glass and glancing about the room nervously. Peter had always found Rem to be beautiful. He imagined that most people would, but he had never seen her look like this. All at once she seemed older and more confident.

"Peter! Oh look, Puck, it's Peter!" Emilia shouted as she took some shaky steps toward him. Puck was actually at the table laying down against Beatrice's arm as she talked to him. Why was Emilia commenting something to him when he was that far away.

And all at once, when Peter turned to look at her, he was awestruck. Emilia was dressed in a tight, purple dress with a lace shale that was draped over her bare shoulders. She clutched it in her hand to keep it situated while her other hand was holding the stem of a wineglass filled with dark red liquid.

There was this kind of overwhelming radiance to her, Peter was almost frightened to look directly at her. Then again, looking away would be rude and glancing down too much would put his eyes square on her breasts, which this outfit was doing a lot of favors for.