Work Text:
When Tami Taylor paints her toenails, no one notices. She does it late at night, just long enough before bed that the polish will dry and not stick to the sheets. Tami sits by an open window, a fan blowing the fumes out into the dark, and paints her toes shell pink. Pure white. The palest of delicate yellows. Soft, barely there lavender. Nude, just a clear gloss.
When Julie Taylor paints her toenails - and her fingernails - everyone notices. She does it in the afternoon, plopped on the couch in front of the TV. Julie sometimes remembers to open a window, but the chemical smell of the polish fills the house as she paints her nails midnight blue. Emerald green. Black as midnight. A rich royal purple that makes her dad ask if she hit every nail with a hammer. Sparkly, gold glitter shimmering out of every nail.
When Tami Taylor and Julie Taylor paint their toenails together, Eric and Gracie notice. They do it on a Saturday afternoon, commandeering the living room for a chick flick and nibbling cookies between coats of polish. The ceiling fan whirs quietly above them, and sometimes the heady smell of flowers drifts in the window as they paint their toes the same color. The one it seems all women can agree on. Fire engine, hot pepper, ruby rich, red.