“Have you worn makeup before?” Joe asked. There was no accusation or judgement in his tone. The opposite in fact. Hesounded curious.
“No,” Vic said. Joe had been asking questions over the last couple weeks. His questions weren’t invasive. They were genuine and were only asked to help him better understand Vic. “But I figured this was as good an excuse as any. I don’t really have a big desire to wear it. I lean more toward the clothes and stuff.”
“Yeah, and stuff. You could have warned me about the drawer.”
Vic laughed, glancing over at their best friend. “You really need to stop trying to wear my clothes.”
“You really need to get a better sense of fashion.” Joe’s words were sarcastic and they both laughed loudly. “That style of underwear is not flattering on me.”
Vic focused back on the mirror and grabbed the brush. They’d been lost looking at the different options of makeup in the store at the local mall and went home empty handed. When they told Tawson about it, he offered to go back and grab whatever they needed. Vic thanked him and the next day, took him up on the offer. Tawson dropped it off with the costume, relaying a nice story of a sales lady that helped him pick out the right shades.
Vic hoped it would come off right. The first brush of the blush on their cheek looked too dark. Vic looked from the mirror to the brush, hitting it against the edge of the palette to tap off the extra product.
“I look like one of those creepy dolls,” Vic said. “Or a clown.”
“I think you just have to blend it,” Joe said. Vic looked up, suspicious of how Joe knew the word. “I’ve had girlfriends, Vic. I’ve watched them put makeup on before. Here, hand over the brush.”
Vic didn’t actually know much about makeup at all. So they easily spun in the vanity chair and handed the brush and blush to their best friend. Joe situated himself between Vic’s knees and leaned down slightly. He was surprisingly gentle with the brush against Vic’s cheek. They kept their eyes focused on their best friend’s chest, feeling like looking him in the eye would make it a weird moment.
“I think that works,” Joe said. “I’m just going by memory, but what do you think before I do the other?”
Vic turned to the mirror. The blush was a lot more subtle on their cheek now. They smiled, nodding. “Looks way better than I could do. Can you do the other side?”
Joe took the role seriously. Vic didn’t help by laughing at his focused expression. And the fact he was still wearing the cowboy hat. “You need that little swoop thing in the front of your hair,” Joe said when he stepped back and admired his work. “But other than the eye color, I say you were born to be Woody.”
Vic stood up and moved to the full-length mirror. Joe handed over the hat and Vic situated it on their head. Most of their hair was covered by the hat, but they’d grab some more of the hairspray and try to do the swirl thing in the front. They had about a half hour before needing to be at the table.
“You did good on the blush.” He really had. It was subtle and probably wouldn’t be seen much once the sun set, but it looked good.
“Thank you, thank you. It’s those computer science skills I have. All that typing and having to use my hands.”
Vic rolled their eyes at the exaggeration. “You might have to help me once more getting those boots on. I think I left them in the living room.”
“Let’s do this,” Joe said with a smile. One that was much too excited for a simple Halloween outfit.
“Why are you so excited?” Vic asked as they walked down the hallway. The boots were worn, borrowed from Wright. They were the only ones that wore the same size shoe. Vic was okay with getting a new hat, but they didn’t want to pay the money for a pair of boots they’d wear once, maybe twice. They had their work boots, but the state of them were not Woody-worthy.
“Because I’m allowed to have feelings,” Joe shot back. It was playful and Vic rolled their eyes for the umpteenth time. “And you’ve been talking about this for over a week now. So your excitement is just rubbing off on me.”
Vic went to sit down on the couch but the not-quite-jeans fabric of the pants stretched a little too much for their liking to risk it. “I’m going to kill Tawson for clearly getting a size too small.”
“Does he know what size you wear?” Joe asked. He sat on the coffee table and motioned for Vic to stand in front of him. Vic balanced themselves with a hand on Joe’s shoulder before lifting one foot for him to slide the boot on.
“He does,” Vic said. The boots were made to be smug, which meant Vic pushed down while Joe pulled up. It took a couple of seconds, but eventually their foot went in. “He’s bought me a few things.”
Joe looked up at Vic from his bent-over position. He was adjusting the pant leg so it wasn’t bunched up over the boot. There was a knock on the door before Joe could say anything, though. They’d left the door unlocked because Vic knew Tawson would be stopping by to get his own costume on. It was Thursday, which meant he hadn’t had class so he was drivingfrom the ranch. And for some reason, he didn’t want to drive thirty minutes to the campus dressed as a space ranger.
“It’s open!” Vic called out and then went back to trying to help Joe adjust the fabric. It was still just a bit twisted.
“Woah.” Tawson’s voice had Vic looking over their shoulder. The shocked look was almost comical. Tawson closed the door and took the handful of steps to lay his stuff on the arm rest. “What’s going on here?”
“Someone decided to get their boyfriend a slutty version of Woody the Cowboy and I’m stuck helping them get into it.” Joe sat up and looked between both of them. “Wait, sorry. Is boyfriend the right term?”
“Um?” Vic didn’t know. They never officially said anything like that. Exclusive? Yes. Brief mentions of what they would do five years from now? Sure. But boyfriend? Partner? Neither had actually said it.
“I think partner works just fine, if it does for you?” Tawson leaned over and kissed Vic quickly. It’d taken two meetings before Tawson was comfortable even touching Vic around Joe. Joe, on the other hand, was persuaded by Tawson’s cooking. “You do look amazing.”
“Howdy, partner,” Vic whispered with a laugh. “Did you forget every size I wear when you picked this up?”
