Work Text:
Booster knocked on Ted's door at a steady pace. His knuckles were beginning to hurt, but he could keep it up until Ted answered.
"Go away, Booster!"
"You act like I haven't seen you with a black eye," Booster spoke to the door.
Ted opened the door just a crack, allowing half his face to show. There was a tinge of purple just to the corner of his eye and over the ridge of his nose.
Booster smiled. "See? It's not so-" But Ted opened the door further to reveal the swollen mess that was his other eye. "Wowzer! He got you good!"
Ted slammed the door in his face. "I'm not talking to you anymore!" he shouted from the other side.
"Aww, Ted!" Booster leaned against the door, pressing his face to where the door met the frame. "It's not that bad! Guy said it was so much worse. Let me fix you up this time. It's only fair!" When there was no answer, Booster huffed. "Come on, Ted! At least let me figure out what color concealer you need-"
The door unlatched and Booster practically fell into Ted's disaster of an Embassy-issued room. He caught himself mid-stumble to see Ted, wearing just the bottom half of his costume, retreating into the adjoined bathroom. Booster approached the second door with caution, listening to rustling and the faint mumble of Ted. Just as Booster passed the threshold, Ted turned from the medicine cabinet holding out a small jar.
"I never thought I'd never have to..." Ted started. He shrugged. "Well, there's this press conference. Something about the stocks for the company, I don't know. I was told I needed to make an appearance, to dress nice..." The smile be sported was sheepish. "Help?"
"With just your face, or do you need me to color coordinate your wardrobe for this afternoon, too?" Booster smirked as he leaned against the doorframe.
Ted glared as best he could with a swollen eye. "You're futuristic tastes are interfering with the current styles. There is nothing wrong with my blue suit jacket."
"No, the blue suit jacket is fine," Booster tried to sound appeasing. "It's the pea-greenish yellow shirt and the teal tie you tend wear with it that's the problem. This is a press conference, not a discotheque."
Ted rolled his eyes, or at least attempted to. "Fine. Now about my eye...?"
Booster took a good look at Ted's face and the damage that was done, cringing. "Have you iced it at all?"
"All night," Ted sighed. When Booster hemm'ed, Ted frowned. "That bad, huh?"
"I can..." Booster shook his head. "Actually, I can't do a whole lot. I can use some concealer to tone down the bruising and make it stand out less... But there is no way to hide the swelling. Sorry, pal."
Ted shrugged. "Story of my life."
"Hey, if anyone asks, you can tell them the truth," Booster tried to be helpful.
"Because being punched out by a guy who's girlfriend lied to me, saying she was single, is really something I want to talk to the press about when they ask?"
"It's the truth, right? Or would you rather tell them about spending all your time as a superhero, which is why your company is having financial problem to begin with...?"
"Yeah, I'll go with the truth on this one," Ted frowned. He then pointed to his swollen face. "But you think... Can you clean it up just a little?"
"Sure," Booster smiled. "I'll give it a swirl."
Ted hiked himself up on the sink counter. "I hope you mean whirl. Swirls are what I got in high school bathrooms. Not particularly interested in one of those right now."
"I wasn't intending... on... it..." Booster started, but he trailed off as Ted settled on the sink in front of him, eyes closed and face tilted up towards Booster. Other than the mess that was Ted's eye, he was clean shaven and handsome as always and it made the breath stutter in Booster's chest. He was close, close enough to feel Ted's warm breath as he exhaled through his parted lips before licking them.
"Uh..." Booster started dumbly before fumbling with the jar. He distracted himself by checking out the texture of the concealer and comparing the color of it against the skin of Ted’s hands, which rested casually on Ted’s thighs. Booster couldn't help follow the lines of Ted’s body with his eyes, up Ted’s arms, over his shoulders, and sweeping across his bare chest. There was some bruising along Ted’s side, where he had taken a hard hit just earlier that week. Booster wanted to touch it, to feel the darkened skin warm beneath his hands. Did it still hurt? Did anything break?
"Some time today, buddy?" Ted chuckled, his eyes still closed.
"Yeah," Booster mumbled, moving to Ted's side so he wouldn't have to press up against Ted's knees. Or worse, between them. Very gently, knowing how tender the area felt from his own experiences, Booster began applying the concealer around Ted's eye.
"Tell me if it hurts," Booster said anyway.
Ted snorted a laugh. "It's fine," he smiled. "I've felt worse. I'm loaded on ibuprofen anyway."
Focusing, Booster tried to put all his attention into covering up the bruising, but he still couldn't stop his eyes from drifting down to Ted's lips. He was so close, he just needed to lean in and... And this was dangerous territory.
"Uh, so... Where did you get the makeup? I didn't think you could match colors so well." Booster congratulated himself for forming full sentences, complete with joke.
"Har har," Ted huffed. He would have rolled his eyes if they weren't still closed. "Tora gave it to me, actually. She felt bad for Bea elbowing in the jaw that one time, so she got it for me. I just... never used it."
With a sigh, Booster examined his work. It wasn't nearly as obvious as it had been, but the damage to Ted's face was still there. There wasn't much more he could do about it. "I did the best I could..."
"Hey, mister commercial star, you have more experience with makeup artists than I do. Let's see it," Ted said with a smile, hoping down from the sink. In the small area of the bathroom, the movement had Ted sliding against Booster's side, making the taller man swallow hard and step back. Ted made no show of noticing as he turned to the mirror to give himself a look.
Booster watched Ted frown at his reflection. With wan smirk, Ted met his eyes. "Sometimes, I wonder if it's worth it. If I was that guy, I would have punched me, too. And then dumped her. Either way, I'd still be... wonder if women are worth it."
"As long as you're happy..." Booster started, shrugging.
Ted turned and put his hand on Booster's shoulder. "If it was a matter of being happy, buddy, I'm more than happy being with you." He then pushed past Booster into his bedroom to get out of the rest of his costume. "But I'd like to get laid sometime, ya know?"
Booster sighed and leaned against the doorframe of the bathroom, trying not to watch his best friend stand around in his underwear as he dug through his closet of civvies. "So would I..."