Chapter Text
It was a long day of work for Gust. There were plans to draw, blueprints to review, and construction to oversee. He ended up returning home late at night.
Trying to will his eyes to stay open, Gust climbed the stairs towards his sister’s room. It was about time for their nightly walk, something he knew was super important for Ginger. He just hoped she wouldn’t be too upset that he wasn’t quite on time.
“Gust!”
Just before Gust could even motion you knock on her door, his sister swung it open.
“Ginger… I’m sorry, I-“
“It’s fine!” Ginger cut her brother off, knowing all too well that a string of apologies would follow if she hadn’t. “I’d rather go late than not at all!”
“I suppose…” As Gust surveyed his sister, he noted that she seemed rather excited. Giddy, even. Which was uncommon, due to her condition. “What’s happened?”
“Oh! Look, look!” Ginger grabbed her brother’s arm, and pulled him into her room.
“Check this out!” Ginger gestured to a dress lying over her bed, then picked it up.
The dress was one of her old ones. It was pale blue with green designs that swirled around it, and the bottoms of the shoulder straps were adorned with small bows.
“One of your old dresses?” Gust tilted his head.
“Not just one of my old dresses!” Ginger giggled, then pushed the clothing against her brother’s chest.
Upon closer inspection, the dress no longer seemed to be fitted to Ginger’s small, once healthier frame, but rather to Gust’s…
“Surprise!!” Ginger beamed, then shoved the dress into Gust’s now shaking hands.
Many emotions were swirling through Gust’s head. Gratefulness, confusion, maybe a bit of embarrassment. Mostly, though, he was shocked that Ginger had remembered he wanted this dress.
It had been a few years since Gust last tried wearing a dress. On one of his walks with Ginger, he watched as her dress flowed in the wind. How it gently spilled to the ground when she kneeled to look at fish in the stream. He felt something akin to jealousy.
When his family all settled into bed, Gust had snuck into Ginger’s closet. He grabbed the biggest dress she owned, and tried it on in his own room. It was far too small for him, however, and eventually ripped in several places. Gust was mortified, not only for ripping the dress, but for trying it on at all. He cursed whatever “silly urge” led him to this point, and went to sneak the dress back into Ginger’s closet. Afterwards, he could pretend none of that ever happened.
As fate would have it, though, Ginger was awake.
Try as he might, Gust wasn’t able to dissuade his stubborn sister from finding the dress he had hidden behind his back.
Gust had explained everything to his sister, beginning to sob as he did. Though, Ginger didn’t put down her brother, nor did she think any less of him.
Despite his sister being extremely supportive, Gust hadn’t tried a dress on since. He’d almost forgotten about wanting one, until today.
“What do you think? Carol’s been teaching me how to sew and alter clothes, so I changed this one so it fits you now!”
“I…” Gust felt like he couldn’t speak, it was a sensation he couldn’t explain. It was like this was the best moment of his life, and the worst, all at the same time.
“Try it on!” Ginger finally spoke. She didn’t quite understand why her brother would get silent like that, but knew not to take offence to it. “I wanna see if I got your size right!”
Smiling to his sister, Gust rushed to his room.
The dress fit like a dream. Gust grabbed a piece of the skirt between two fingers, and waved it around. The ripples in the fabric were quite mesmerizing to him.
“I guess it fits, then!”
With a quick spin, Gust turned to face his sister, who leaned on his room’s doorway. He watched as the skirt twisted, then flowed back into place.
“It-it’s perfect.” Gust beamed, running his fingers over the smooth bows.
“Hey! You should wear it on our walk!”
With Ginger’s suggestion, the euphoria of the moment suddenly halted.
“No…no, I couldn’t.” Gust nervously grabbed at the shoulder straps of the dress.
“What?” Ginger exclaimed in disbelief. “But it makes you so happy!”
“It’s just… that’s public…” Gust’s cheeks began to turn red.
“Come oooon! It’s only for a little bit!” Ginger then crossed her arms in playful offence. “And I fixed that for you. Are you telling me you’re not even going to wear it?”
“I don’t…” Gust sighed, he knew very well by now that he couldn’t win an argument with his sister. Plus, it was getting late. No one would be out around this hour anyways. “All right, but we have to be quick.”
“Yay!” Ginger lifted her arms, and celebrated her victory as enthusiastically as her condition would allow. “Onwards!!”
———
The night had a pleasant cool breeze. Gust watched his dress as the wind picked up, infatuated with the fabric as it danced around his waist.
“Watch this!” Ginger spun around, faster and faster until her dress danced in the air. Though, that soon became a mistake as her head started to swim.
“GINGER!” Gust ran to his sister’s side, catching her before she could fall. “How could you do that? You know you’re too sick to move that much! Please-“
Gust’s fussing was cut off by a fit of giggles from Ginger. “You worry too much!”
“You’re not careful enough!”
With another chuckle, Ginger steadied herself, then pushed her brother away.
“Now! Dance for me!” Ginger commanded, in the snootiest voice she could manage.
“What?” Gust was taken aback by the sudden request.
“What do you mean what? Do a little twirl in the dress!” Ginger grinned. “Show me what you got!”
“Alright, alright.” Gust began to smile himself. He took a step back, then spun around once. The dress flew just as Ginger’s had. Then he spun again, and again, watching the skirt flow and dance with the motion.
“Wait, Gust- GUST!!” Gust processed his sister’s voice far too late. Before he could react, he found himself twirling into the river. Much to Ginger’s enjoyment, if her howling laughter was any indication.
“Ha! Okay…” Gust stood and began to wring out his clothing. “Perhaps I’ll keep the twirling to a minimum.”
———
It was a long day of work for Albert. He had blueprints to review, construction to oversee, and all of that. Work had been running late into the night, so Albert offered to close up shop. He knew Gust would be out walking with Ginger by now, and he cared very much for his friend. Peach knows he also cares a lot about Ginger.
It was around the time Albert was gathering his things for the night that he heard a shrill scream.
“GINGER!”
Dropping what he had, Albert rushed outside, fearing the worst. Though, he stopped in his tracks as he heard the sound of Ginger’s giggling.
With a sigh of relief, Albert turned to leave. Then, a rather interesting sentence hit his ears.
“Dance for me!”
The thought of Gust, the ever stoic and reserved architect, dancing around for his little sister was far too funny to pass up.
Pressing himself up to the town’s wall, he peeked his head around to get a good look at Gust making a fool of himself.
What he saw, though, was… he didn’t know how to feel about it, but he definitely couldn’t find it amusing. Gust was indeed dancing, but… in a dress? Had he lost a bet? Was he…
Even as Gust took a rather comical tumble into the nearby river, Albert didn’t find himself laughing. He felt… betrayed? That wasn’t quite it. Deceived? Maybe.
Before he could process what was happening, Albert had sprinted back to A&G, grabbed his things, and rushed home.