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All of her life, Rhajat had been a fan of the color black and all things dark. Until she met and got close to Forrest, she rejected all things feminine and pink. This included makeup. And as long as he’d been in her life, Forrest had been trying to broaden her horizons as far as that went. She was adamantly against that at first, but eventually she acquiesced to make him happy. Besides, she was curious how she would look Forrest-ified.
“...So you really want to do this, huh,” Rhajat inquired as she watched Forrest unpacked his makeup considerately, as if they would be ruined if he moved even slightly too quickly. Her voice had a twinge of hesitance, as she wasn’t exactly used to things such as makeup or dresses.
“You’ll be fine, Yaya. I’m not going to go overboard.” Forrest giggled and smiled at her, a reassuring gleam in his eyes as he used his special nickname for her. “You’ll recognize yourself, if that’s what you’re worried about. I’m going to enhance, not mask.”
Rhajat huffed and relaxed her shoulders while Forrest continued to go through his things, comparing palettes and colors and muttering to himself. She hadn’t noticed how tense she was until that moment. She knew he would never lie to her or do anything to purposefully upset her. So why was she so nervous?
Forrest seemed to have made his selections as he gathered them up and laid them on the table next to her. “Alright, I see you washed your face like I asked you to first. Good start, as you always want to be fresh faced when you apply makeup. Otherwise you’ll look cheap.” When Rhajat’s eyebrows perked in offense, he quickly backpedaled with, “Not YOU specifically. The broader, generic version of you.”
He cleared his throat before going back to his explanation. “Once your face is clean, you put on the primer. That keeps everything in place and makes it look smoother. After that, we do eyes. Then your cheeks, then your lips. You’re already gorgeous, but you’ll be absolutely radiant when I’m done with you.”
~~~
When Forrest finished, he passed Rhajat a hand mirror, beaming with pride. “Just as I said, stunning.”
Rhajat hesitantly took the mirror. She wasn’t afraid per se, but she was worried that Forrest went with way too bright colors. She didn’t want to look like a circus clown or worse, though realistically she knew Forrest wouldn’t do that to her. But what if she didn’t like it? She was starting to be aware of how people felt and actually cared about Forrest’s feelings now. What if she didn’t react well and hurt him? She wasn’t sure how she would handle that.
As she slowly looked in the mirror, Rhajat was pleasantly surprised to see she looked mostly the same. Forrest had put a bit of blush on her cheeks and neutral toned eyeshadow with a deep maroon lipstick that she surprisingly really liked. She couldn’t help but crack a slight smile. She really felt pretty, but she also felt like herself.
After staring at her reflection in awe for a moment, she eventually snapped back into reality and looked at Forrest. “I suppose it’s rather nice,” she confided quietly.
“I knew you’d love it,” Forrest beamed. He’d picked up on Rhajat’s way of speaking by this point, and he knew that she wasn’t one for big declarations of joy. “Now, follow me. We’re going to find you an outfit that will put the look together.”
The blond led her to the closet, parked her right outside and took her hands. “I need you to close your eyes, love. I don’t want you getting any ideas but I need to be able to see you to assess the outfit.”
Rhajat sighed and closed her eyes, having to hold her hands together to stop herself from covering her eyes and messing up her makeup. She could hear rustling and muttering again, resisting the urge to peak to the best of her ability. It was excruciating.
“No, that’s too… Mm-mm. Not that. Oh definitely not that, why do I even have that?” Forrest seemed to be having trouble, which concerned and kind of irritated Rhajat, but she said nothing. Eventually she heard an “Aha!” and felt cloth against her skin. “Perfect! Yes, perfect!” He pushed Rhajat out of the closet and handed her the bundle of clothes. “Open your eyes and get dressed. Let me know when.” And before Rhajat had a chance to react, he was gone, in the closet to give her privacy.
She got dressed in a pair of long olive green pants and a loose, billowy black shirt with sleeves that cinched at the elbow. She was surprised how comfortable the outfit was. “Alright, I’m dressed,” she called out.
Forrest opened the door with a smile, admiring his handiwork. “You really have to let me do this more often. You look so beautiful, Rhajat.” He handed her a pair of basic black lace-up boots. “Here. To complete the outfit.”
Rhajat put on the boots and quickly stood up, looking Forrest in the eyes and trying to hide the smile forming. “I hope you know we get to do something I want to do today now. It’s only fair.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way, Yaya.”