Chapter Text
“Who are you and what have you done with my little brother?”
Perry glanced up from the mess of a tie around his neck. His eyes met Lawrence’s in the mirror. He snorted and very maturely stuck out his tongue.
Lawrence grinned. “Allow me,” he walked to Perry, slipped the necktie down and proceeded to untangle it. “Aiming for a good first impression?” he commented on Perry’s attire.
Perry bent his left hand in front of his torso, palm down and tapped it with his right middle finger. Then he frowned, turned the left palm vertically, palm towards himself and thumb hidden in it, and swiftly trailed the right middle finger alongside the line of the left index finger.
Switching from British Sign Language to ASL proved to be a bit more of a challenge than he initially expected.
“Professional indeed,” agreed his brother. “But it doesn’t explain the contact lenses.”
Perry touched the empty air normally occupied by the rim of his glasses and hesitated. O.W.C.A.’s cover story was that he’s going to be a safety inspector, which might explain the irregular hours and prolonged absences. But he’d rather not admit that he switched to contact lenses because he expected an unhealthy amount of physical confrontations. He made a show of rubbing his chin as in deep rumination and then he just shrugged his shoulders in his particular way to express whyever not.
“If you say so. Like this.” Lawrence slowly tied the Windsor knot around his own neck. “Use a finger to hold it in place and you should have no problem.” He unwound the tie and handed it back to Perry.
His brother hummed and mirrored the motions. A little crooked knot rewarded his effort. Perry smacked his lips, untied the knot and carefully re-tied it again. Satisfied with this outcome, he spread his hands and spun around to show off.
“I like the colour scheme,” agreed Lawrence. "The combination of teal and chocolate brown is very pleasing to the eye." He managed to maintain a straight face when he added: "And the bright orange detail really brings out the worst in people."
Perry huffed in amusement. He bounced on the balls of his feet, rolling up his trousers a bit to draw attention to sneakers of almost the same shade as his necktie.
Lawrence whistled, merriment sparkling in his eyes. "Must have been quite a feat to find those in the same colour as a safety vest. You're going to be unmissable."
Perry nodded solemnly, satisfied with himself. With his complexion, teal-haired and tanned, he simply could not pass inconspicuously. So he dressed to kill - and perhaps to annoy some sartorially sensitive individuals.