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Ah, Halloween. The best and the scariest night of the year. At least, it usually was scary when Virgil was dressing up however he wanted, but this was a new year and the only way he could convince his boyfriend to dress up with him was by agreeing to dress up as each other.
“But as vampires, right?” he’d asked when they first discussed it, hoping he could convince Logan to go through with at least the most basic special effects make up.
“Virgil, I love you and I highly respect your love and dedication to his holiday, but I refuse to risk getting fake blood on my favorite tie.”
Virgil gave him a hopeful look. “Just the fangs?”
“Well, the fangs would look silly with no other aspect of the costume.”
“Alright, fine, we’ll just wear each other’s clothes.”
And it was times like that that made him wish he knew how to tie a necktie. He worked at a bakery with his social best friend, it wasn’t exactly a necessary skill for him. He tried Youtube tutorials, but he couldn’t get the knot to look quite right.
“Logan, I can’t get this stupid tie! Are you ready?”
“I believe so?” Logan half-asked from the bathroom. “I’m not sure if these pants fit me right. Also, the boots are very heavy and very tall and I feel like I will fall the second I start walking.”
Virgil smiled a bit. Well, at least he wasn’t the only one having issues. “I’m coming in,” he said as he opened the bathroom door, blushing as he saw his boyfriend. He was so used to seeing him in a polo and tie that seeing him in Virgil’s usual patched jacket, skinny jeans, and their friend Janus’s platform boots was making him fall in love with Logan in a new way. “I’m making you your own hoodie.”
Logan shrugged and ran his fingers over the fabric. “It is rather comfortable. But the skinny jeans are not coming back out until at least next Halloween. Are you sure we got the right size?” He shuffled his feet and spun in a circle.
Virgil shrugged, trying not to let his eyes linger for too long. “They look good, Logan. They’re skinny jeans, they’re meant to be kind of snug.”
“What about all of the tears? I look completely undignified in these.”
Virgil shrugged. “They add character. And are the shoes really that bad?”
“I’m not used to them like you or Janus. Besides, I’m already tall, adding height feels.. ‘Extra,’” he said, taking a moment to figure out which word was most appropriate.
“First of all, you’re only an inch taller than me. You’re not a giant.”
“True, but Janus is short and overcompensates with incredibly tall shoes that I’m not used to.” The three inch platforms probably weren’t Janus’s tallest shoes, but they were too tall for Logan. Unfortunately, Virgil’s boots wouldn’t have been the right size, so they didn’t have much of a choice.
Virgil decided not to point out that Logan was the one who’s rejected the sneakers that he’d first offered in favor of something more ‘authentic.’ “Second of all, you look like you’re ready to spit in the face of authority, which makes you hotter than usual, so instead of worrying about ‘how to walk’ or ‘why the jeans are riding up so much’ maybe you can focus on the miracle that is happening here.”
Logan may have rolled his eyes, but he was smiling and that was what was important here. “Alright, fine. Here, let me fix your tie.” He waved Virgil over and had him stand in front of him, facing the mirror as Logan reached over and did the tie.
“Are we sure that we’re getting ready for a Halloween party and not Pride?” Virgil asked as Logan finished up the tie.
“Very sure. Why do you ask?”
“Because this is the gayest moment of my life and I’m very proud of that achievement.”
Logan smiled at that and kissed his cheek. “I’m glad to be a part of this moment.”
Virgil nodded and looked up at him with a smile. “You know what would make this gayer?..”
“I’m not painting my hair purple.” Virgil had been asking for him to agree to it since they started talking about the costumes, but how was anybody supposed to take him seriously with purple hair?
“Oh come on,” Virgil groaned. “Just for tonight? You won’t be a believable me if you don’t have the purple hair. I have hair wax, it washes right out.”
Logan shook his head. “I refuse to go through with any sort of body modification.”
“Okay, ‘body modification’?” Virgil asked, smiling. “That’s being dramatic. I’m not asking you to get my piercings and we don’t have each other’s tattoos. I mean, I got some colored contacts and fake glasses, this is your equivalent.”
“My equivalent is wearing my own contacts so I wouldn’t need my glasses.” He didn't like wearing contacts, so he and Virgil were both struggling to get them in. Virgil's contacts, however, were purely for to make his eyes appear the same blue as Logan's.
“Just for tonight?” He wasn't usually one to bed, but if Logan was looking that good with the clothes, Virgil was sure it would send him to cloud nine to see him complete the look.
Logan thought for a second before shuffling out of the room, coming back with his glasses. “If you can honestly tell me that you can see through these for the entire party, I will wear the purple in my hair.” Was it fair? No. Petty? Yes.
“That’s not fair! You’re legally blind, obviously I’m not going to be able to see with those,” Virgil argued, though he took the glasses. “And I have fake glasses.”
“I’m not legally blind,” Logan corrected. “My eyes aren’t quite that bad. And you’re the one who’s worried about authenticity.”
Again, not true, but starting an argument wasn't going to get them anywhere. Virgil put the glasses on, almost immediately getting a headache as everything in sight became a blur. “Holy shit..”
Logan pulled the glasses off of his face and put them on the counter. “My point exactly.”
Virgil huffed in defeat. “Alright, fine. At least let me just..” he reached up and brushed some of Logan’s hair forward over his eyes.
“Holy shit,” Logan muttered, looking around a little bit. “How can you see like this?”
Virgil shrugged. “I have bangs cut for this reason. Now slick back my hair before I break out the scissors.”
Without hesitation, Logan grabbed the hair gel and slicked back Virgil’s hair into his usual style. It was strange, Virgil didn't like wearing his hair out of his face whenever they were around other people, so this was a rare sight. “I actually really like this look on you. It’ll be nice seeing your eyes for once.”
“Technically, you’re seeing your eyes,” Virgil corrected. “My brown eyes are hidden.”
“Fair..” Logan focused on getting Virgil’s messy hair to stay gelled down, doing his best to make it work without his undercut. “How’s that?” he asked after a few minutes of pushing the hair around.
“Probably neater than anything I could have come up with. I’ll just have to remember not to try and put it back in my face.” Virgil nodded at his reflection in approval. “Now, all that’s left is smudging some black eye shadow under your eyes.”
Logan nodded, thinking a bit. Would the colored hair really be so bad if nobody was saying anything about it? He did want to put in his best effort for Virgil's favorite holiday. “And then I will reconsider the purple hair.”
Virgil looked up at him with wide, hopeful eyes. “Don’t say that unless you mean it, Logan. Don’t toy with my emotions.”
Logan smiled at that. Of course, there was also the added bonus of seeing how much Virgil would like it. “I mean it. I’m not promising that I’ll do it, but if I decide that the final costume will look better with the purple hair, I’ll go through with it.”
“Yes!” Virgil cheered before getting his eye shadow and eyeliner. “It’ll be worth it, I promise. Now, get down to my level.”
Logan leaned down a bit and followed his boyfriend's instruction as he worked on his eye makeup. A thick line of black eye liner and a dark cloud of black beneath the eyes, making it look like he hadn’t slept in days. Virgil said he'd started wearing it to mask the fact that he had, in fact, not slept in days, but even as Logan helped him fix his sleep schedule, the look stayed with him.
“And... Done,” Virgil said after a minute of working. He stepped back and nodded in approval at his masterpiece. “You look ready to fight yourself and then the man.”
Logan opened his eyes and looked at himself in the mirror. Virgil was right, it looked good, but something was missing.
“What, you don’t like it?”
“It’s not that..” He paused for a second before sighing. “Alright, get the hair wax.”
“Yes! I told you it wouldn’t be right without it!” He found the jar and twisted it open, grinning at the purple pigment. “Fair warning, though, once this goes on, your hair is stuck in front of your eyes. This stuff gets pretty stiff.”
Logan shrugged. “Just go for it, I guess.” At least it would keep him from brushing his hair back on instinct.
Virgil nodded and did just that, working the hair wax into Logan’s messy hair and trying to give him as much sight as possible. “You’re the best. I hope you know I’ll love you forever for this.”
“You'd better,” Logan muttered. “If I hear a single word about this from anyone tomorrow-”
“I’ll swear to kick their asses, I know. Or you could get Remus to do it, he’s probably scarier.”
That was very true... “Alright, I’ll ask him.”
“Good. I know it’s not very manly of your boyfriend to make the best friend do all of the threatening, but you know how it is.” Virgil could be threatening, but all of his friends knew he’d never go through with even the smallest threats against them. Remus, however, would do it for free lunch. “And I think we’re both ready to go to a party,” he said as he finished coating Logan’s hair.
Logan looked at his reflection in the mirror and smiled, almost trying not to laugh. He looked like an overgrown teenager, Virgil pulled the look off a lot better than he did. “If everyone else doesn’t laugh at me, I will.”
“What are you talking about?” Virgil asked, feigning defense. “Come on, if you want the look to be convincing, you’ve gotta own it. Try and pretend like you’re ready to kick ass at all times.”
Logan wasn’t sure what good that kind of advice would do, but he tried it. He looked at his reflection and tried to mimic Virgil’s ‘someone just looked at Logan’ glare.
“Ooh, intimidating,” Virgil said with an impressed nod. “Okay, here’s my impression of you.” Virgil looked at his reflection and did his best ‘I honestly do not care about your feelings, now go away’ stare down.
“I do not look that mean.”
“Maybe, but you can and it’s my favorite look on you.” Who could blame him? There was nothing hotter than watching his boyfriend just reach his limit with someone else. Logan was always so stoic, but the way he could glare someone into shutting up was exquisite.
“I’m pretty sure that’s an unhealthy trait to be attracted to.”
Virgil shrugged. “I mean, it doesn’t count when you’re mad at me,” which hadn’t yet happened and he was terrified of the idea of being on the receiving end of that look. “I just mean the way you can get a homophobe to shut up with just your eyes. That’s a superpower and superpowers are hot.”
Logan couldn’t argue with that logic. “I suppose I see where you’re coming from. But don’t worry about getting glared at like that, I save it for people who have nothing better to do than to attempt and make my day worse.” Though, he had to admit that it was really satisfying to watch someone shut up and walk away after he stared them down long enough.
Virgil nodded and checked the time. “We have exactly two minutes before we have to leave in order to get there on time.”
“Really? Two minutes to the second? You calculated that?”
“You know what I mean, nerd. Come on, just walk around a bit and make sure you won’t accidentally face plant later.”
Logan tutted, but it was a fair point. He took a few careful steps towards the door, getting a feel for how he’d have to adjust to the shoes. “I think I’ll be able to make it through just the night as long as you're there for me to hold onto.”
“Good. And you’re sure you don’t want to try the dark red lipstick?”
“Even you don’t wear that when it’s not a special occasion.”
Virgil shrugged. “I mean, this is an occasion and you would look especially good in it. Besides, I have your blue eyeliner on.” He just could not leave the house without someway of obscuring his eyes. It was just a hint of blue, but it was better than nothing and it was how Logan would wear it.
“I already have the purple hair. That’s my limit. I’m not helping you fulfill your vampire couple fantasy any more than I have.”
“If you’re implying that I dress like a vampire, thank you. Otherwise, let’s head out.” He held his hand out for Logan’s and lead him out, letting Logan use him to keep himself from falling a couple of times on their way to the car.
“I’m taking these off before driving.”
“Yeah, that would probably be best.” Virgil would've offered, but he could not be trusted to drive, at least not compared to Logan. Even with his slightly obscured vision.
They got to the car without any major accidents and Logan put the boots in the backseat of the car before getting in the driver’s seat, Virgil sitting in the passenger’s seat.
“Cool, now that you’re trapped, thank you for dressing up with me,” Virgil said as he pulled his seat belt on.
Logan rolled his eyes and did the same. “I’m not trapped, but of course I agreed to dress up. You love this holiday and sacrificed a lot of the costume aspect in order to get me to agree to dress up with you. I appreciate it as much as you do.” He knew his terms of dressing up were much more strict than Virgil would like, but their friend group could be a bit more condescending than Logan appreciated.
“Still.. Thank you.” Virgil smiled and switched between scrolling through his phone and watching Logan as they drove. He may have been sacrificing his chance to scare the pants off of all of their friends by wearing that costume, but he was getting to show everyone how perfect his relationship with Logan was without being absolutely sappy and gross about it. That more than made up for it.