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“I don’t get it, Reki, why do I have to do this?” Langa asked as Reki dragged her to her room and began rummaging around in her drawers for supplies.
“Come on, Langa, every girl has to know how to do makeup.” Reki insisted.
Langa definitely didn’t agree. It bothered her when people told her to do something “because she’s a girl”. Growing up, if felt like that’s all she ever heard. Don’t be so rowdy with the other girls, don’t be so loud, stop getting so messy. “That’s not how a girl should behave.”
…But Reki seemed intent on getting Langa to try, and Langa liked seeing her like this, laser focused and determined. So, she gave in.
“You can put it on me, but there’s no way I’m going to remember to wear it every day.” She barely remembered to brush her hair most days.
Reki paused. “Put it on you?”
“Well, how else am I going to learn?”
“I’ll show you on my face!” Reki said. “I’m not gonna do it for you, you’ll never learn.”
Reki blushed, and Langa wasn’t sure why, but as far as she could tell, Reki was always blushing. She got flustered a bit too easily in Langa’s opinion, but it was adorable every time, so she wasn’t complaining.
She wasn’t sure if those were normal thoughts to have about your best friend or not, but Langa wasn’t one to worry about what was normal. How she felt about Reki took up a massive space in her chest—it made her heart pound—and she knew since they’d promised infinity to each other that Reki felt the same. If “best friends” were the only words she had, that’s what she’d call them.
“Okay.” Langa accepted and sat on Reki’s bed. After a couple more seconds of rummaging, Reki made a triumphant “Aha!” and walked over to Langa with three cases in hand.
“Since this is new to you, we’ll have to work our way up. Like with skating! We start simple.”
Langa hummed, still not thinking this was necessary. Definitely not comparable to skating, that was for sure.
“This is blush.” Reki said, holding up one of the cases. “We’ll want to use something subtle for you since you’re so pale. And! Make sure to pick a colour that matches your undertone.”
“Undertone…?”
“This is eye shadow.” Reki continued, holding up another case. “I like doing yellow or pink, but blue or something would probably look better on you.”
Langa nodded, already forgetting what the rules for blush were.
“And this is lipstick!” Reki held up the finale case. Didn’t lipstick come in a tube? “Depending on how bold you wanna be, you can use whatever colour you want, but this set only had pinks and reds. Now…” She dropped the cases in Langa’s lap and turned around.
She grabbed a handful of makeup brushes off her desk. “For the blush.” She explained for Langa’s probably blank face.
Reki sat down on the bed next to Langa and opened the first case. There are a variety of segmented pink powders on the bottom and a mirror on the top, which Reki pointed at proudly. “See? Really handy.”
Langa watched closely as Reki took one of the brushes, dabbed it in one of the powders, and brushed it high on her cheeks while looking at her reflection in the small mirror. Once she applied it to both of her cheeks, then looked back at Langa with a grin. “Got it?”
Despite not seeing anything more than Reki poofing powder on her face, Langa nodded slowly. “Now I…?”
“Yup!” Reki handed her a brush and pointed to a different section of the powder. Langa didn’t know what made it different than the one Reki had used, but she dabbed the brush on the makeup. Raising it to her face, she swiped it over her cheeks quickly before Reki stopped her.
“No! You have to… it has to be over a specific part of your face, not all over. Here, let me.”
Langa almost pointed out that not minutes ago, Reki had insisted she couldn’t put the makeup on for her, but then Reki was leaning in close and gently moving the brush against Langa’s cheek and she decided not to say anything that would make her stop.
“There.” Reki said softly once she was done. Her gaze drifted from Langa’s cheek to her eyes, and she blushed again when she saw Langa looking back at her.
“Thanks.” Langa said, and Reki nodded a little stiffly in response.
They looked at each other for a moment longer before Reki pulled away. “Anyway…” She stuttered out, holding up the mirror. “Take a look.”
Langa examined her reflection. “It looks the same.”
Reki blew raspberry. “No! Now you’ve actually got some colour on your face for once. Trust me, it looks totally different.”
Langa decided to take her word for it. “Okay. Do I look good?” That was the point of makeup, wasn’t it?
Reki’s eyes widened briefly before saying, “No fishing for compliments! You know that you… y’know. Look good.” She looked away before seemingly changing her mind and darting her gaze back to Langa.
Despite Reki’s fidgeting, Langa felt warm at her words. “You look good too. All the time.” She said, because she wanted Reki to share in the feeling. Reki blushed, very obviously, despite the makeup already colouring her cheeks.
“Sh-shut up! Don’t make fun of me. C’mon, let’s do eye shadow next.” She barreled on before Langa can insist her words were genuine.
Reki closed the blush, set it aside, and opened up the next case. There was a tiny brush inside, along with a rainbow of colours to choose from. And of course, another mirror. “Watch closely this time, okay?” Reki picked up the brush and coated it in a pale, glittery yellow eye shadow. She held her eyelid down with one finger and slowly painted it on.
“I like more gentle makeup, so the yellow kinda… blends into my skin, and the glitter makes it more showy.” Reki explained as she worked.
Langa hummed in response and watched, not feeling at all confident she could replicate Reki’s actions.
Once she had done both eyes, Reki turned to face Langa and batted her eyes playfully. “Pretty, right?”
“Yes.” Langa said immediately. “You’re beautiful.”
Though she was impressed at Reki’s ability to pull off something that seemed impossible to her (okay, maybe it was like skating in one way), the comment was one she agreed with all the time. When Reki pulled off a new trick, or grinned when they met up in the morning, or talked about her interests with her voice so full of joy and happiness, Langa thought she was beautiful. Maybe that wasn’t normal to think about another girl, but Langa couldn’t care less. Reki deserved to hear it as much as possible.
Reki sputtered. “Don’t say it like that!”
“Like what?”
“Ugh!” Reki tugged her headband down just short of covering her eyes. “All earnest and stuff. You can’t be talking to other girls like that, they’ll… y’know, get the wrong idea.”
Wrong idea?
“Just—here.” Reki handed Langa the eye shadow. “I think the silver would look good on you.”
“Okay…” Langa did her best to imitate what she saw Reki doing, looking in the small mirror. Reki didn’t stop her this time, so she had to be doing something right.
“How did I do?” Langa turned to face Reki, who snorted out a laugh. “What?” Langa asked, slightly embarrassed by Reki’s reaction.
“Sorry! Sorry, it’s just… kinda not just on your eyelids.” She snorted again. “Here, let me clean you up.”
Reki went to her dresser and grabbed a wipe from the pack that was sitting there. “C’mere.” She said, sitting down beside Langa again. Langa turned to fully face her and closed her eyes.
The wipe was cold when it touched just above Langa’s eye, and she involuntarily flinched away.
“Hold still.” Reki tried again with the wipe, but Langa once again flinched.
“Sorry.”
“It’s fine.” Reki said with what sounded like a fond smile. “Here, I’ll just… uh…”
Langa felt a warm hand cupping her cheek.
Oh.
That was nice.
Her eyes flew open and Reki frowned at her, cheeks very red. “Keep your eyes closed!”
Langa did, leaning into Reki’s hand as the cold wipe touched her eyelid. It felt oddly good, the warmth from Reki’s hand seemingly spreading through Langa’s whole body. Maybe she could ask Reki to hold her face again sometime, even without makeup.
“Aaaand, done. Now it actually looks alright.” Reki started moving her hand away, but Langa rushed to hold it in place, cupping Reki’s hand with her own.
“L-Langa?” Reki sounded uncertain, and when Langa blinked her eyes open, her face was, unsurprisingly, still flushed.
“Is this okay?” Langa asked. “It feels nice.”
“Um… yeah! I just… yeah! Take um… all the time you need.” Reki began fidgeting with her shirt with her free hand as she spoke.
Langa took the permission and nuzzled into Reki’s hand. They should definitely do this more often. Maybe they could touch in other ways too…
When Langa’s lips brushed the inside of Reki’s wrist, she jerked her hand away, much to Langa’s disappointment.
“Okay that’s! That’s enough of that!”
“Alright.” Langa frowned, making a mental note to ask Reki about touching more when she didn’t look like she was about to burst into flame. She looked in the mirror and thought her eyes looked the same as they did before Reki fixed them. “Now… the lipstick?”
“Yup!” Reki put the eye shadow aside and picked up the final case. “This should be easy for you. Just colour between the lines!”
Langa nodded once as Reki picked up what looked like a small sponge on a stick inside the case. She brushed it on one of the light pink pastes inside a few times before applying it to her lips while looking in the mirror that was—of course—included inside. Once she was done, she smacked her lips twice and turned to grin at Langa.
“All done! Now I look amazing.” She said “amazing” with a mockingly haughty tone and made an exaggerated face.
“Always.” Langa said immediately.
“Langa, what did I just tell you about talking to other girls?” Reki shoved her shoulder lightly with a small frown on her face that Langa thought looked cute.
Langa shrugged, half apologetically, half unapologetically. “Which one do I use?” She looked at the choices of lipstick.
“Hmmm…” Reki considered. “That one.” She pointed at a different shade of pink than the one she had chosen. “It’ll look nice on you, trust me.”
Langa really only cared if Reki thought she looked nice anyway. Even all the makeup she’d put on today looked stupid to anyone else, if Reki thought it looked nice, Langa might even consider wearing it when she remembered once every two weeks.
After Reki cleaned off the sponge with another wipe, Langa repeated Reki’s motions as best she could. Reki had been right, though. It was only a little hard to keep the makeup on her lips, and she managed it without much issue.
“Did I do it?” She asked, turning to Reki once she was done.
“You actually did!” Reki laughed. “Good job, you’ve improved alread—oh wait, there’s actually a bit there.”
Reki reached forward, and then Langa froze as Reki’s thumb was brushing under her lip, just barely touching. It wasn’t even a few seconds, but Langa felt her whole body light up at the contact. She definitely needed to bring up touching Reki more. Or maybe she should just do it? That’s what Reki did, plunging headfirst into all these new touches that made Langa feel weak and getting flustered after it was already done. Which was exactly what she was doing now, looking from Langa’s lips to her eyes, her face once again bursting into colour.
“Um…” Her hand drifted away, but Reki’s gaze remained firmly on Langa. “I uh. Got it.”
“Thank you, Reki.” Langa said. Less for the makeup fix, and more for all these feelings she always had around her.
Reki stood, picking up all three cases from her bed and dumping them on her dresser. She flopped back down onto her bed when she was done.
“Well, you can borrow those, if you want.” Reki pointed with her chin to her dresser. “If you want to practice at home.”
Leaning back on her arms, her and Langa’s knees were touching, Langa wanted more, but didn’t know how to take that leap. How did Reki do it?
“I still don’t really understand why it matters if I wear it or not.” It wasn’t overwhelming, but she could definitely feel it on her face, and it seemed like it could get uncomfortable when she got all sweaty from skating.
“Because!” Reki said. “I mean, what if… what if you go on a date with some boy? You’ll have to look especially pretty for that. It’s good to at least know how.”
Who said anything about dating boys?
“That’s not going to happen. Are you going to go on dates with boys?” Langa asked. She didn’t quite like that idea. If it made Reki happy, she couldn’t be too upset, but it dating would probably cut into skating time. Besides, Langa felt like she and Reki were already a better pair than any potential boy could be.
“Way to rub it in!” Reki huffed. “You could get any guy you wanted, it’s different if you don’t date.”
“Any guy I wanted…?” Langa had no clue what Reki was talking about.
“Yeah, you’re crazy popular with boys at school. And… y’know, other people.”
This was the “princess” talk all over again. She’d never heard anyone call her that!
“I’m not popular.” Langa only spent time with Reki.
Reki sighed. “Just trust me, okay? Everyone wants you.”
Langa grunted noncommittally. Even if Reki was right, Langa only wanted her. Reki was the best person to skate with, to hang around, to grab food with… Reki had showed Langa to joy of skating in a way no one else could, what did it matter if she was popular with people at school?
Langa felt, with a sudden sense of clarity, that she’d always want to be closer to Reki. She was right there, their knees still touching, but Langa still wanted more.
“Reki.” Langa said, shifting so her knees were under her, turning to fully face Reki. At the sound of her name, Reki moved slightly so she could look over at Langa.
“What is it?”
Langa shuffled forward until she was right next to Reki, towering over her slightly, since she was on her knees and Reki was still sitting. She cupped Reki’s face with one hand.
“Langa…?” Reki’s eyes were wide, staring up at Langa with anticipation. Her face was red, and she looked… hopeful? Langa didn’t think about it too hard before she leaned in and pressed a firm kiss to Reki’s cheek. Reki squeaked and Langa thought it was the most adorable sound she’d ever heard.
When she released Reki’s face and leaned back, there was an imprint of lipstick left behind. She smiled with satisfaction.
“It’s called a lipstick kiss.” Langa explained. “It leaves the lipstick mark behind. It’s a thing girls do in Canada.” Langa knew it wasn’t exactly regular behaviour here, and conveniently left out the fact that it was really a thing people did drunk at parties, but it felt good, to be closer to Reki like that. It felt good to be the one initiating for once.
Reki was sitting with her mouth slightly open. Her lips flapped silently a few times before she finally said, “Cool! Of course, yeah! Just, uh, could’ve warned me, hah.”
The redness had only increased, and Reki’s eyes were darting between her lap and Langa’s face.
“I…” Reki trailed off. Took a breath. “Would it be rude if I didn’t do it too? It would be rude, right? I should—”
“Yes.” Langa cut in, nodding slightly. She hadn’t thought this far ahead, but she wanted it. Her heart sped up at the thought.
“Right.” Reki turned fully and sat kneeling on the bed, mimicking Langa. With both of them kneeling in front of one another, their knees once again touching, Langa still wanted to be closer.
Reki repeated the motions Langa had, cupping her face, and leaning in, leaving a firm kiss on her cheek. Langa savoured the feeling, realizing as Reki leaned away that she wanted her to do it again. Immediately, if possible.
“Kiss me again.” Langa said, without much inflection in her voice.
It felt like the simplest thing in the world to her. She wanted Reki to kiss her again, and Reki looked at her with the biggest, most hopeful eyes at the request. Of course this was something they should do. She didn’t know why she hadn’t thought of it already.
“Langa…” Reki said, squeezing her eyes shut and ducking her head. “I don’t think… I mean… I don’t know if I’ll be able to stop. If you tell me to do that again. Don’t go asking for stuff when you don’t mean it.”
“I do mean it.” Langa was confused. “That’s why I asked. If you want to, then please do it. Kiss me again, as much as you want.”
Reki immediately covered her face. She muttered something into her hands that Langa didn’t catch.
“Reki…?”
She uncovered her face and looked Langa in the eye. “Stop me.” She said, an edge of begging in her voice. “Stop me if you don’t want me to.”
Leaning in slowly, leaving Langa plenty of time to move, Reki put both of her hands on Langa’s shoulders, leaned in closer, and kissed her gently on the mouth.
Oh.
This is nice.
Langa reached up and held Reki’s face in her hands. Kissing her back, she fell backwards onto the bed, dragging Reki down with her. They both made an oomph sound when they landed, the impact detaching their lips. Reki had landed with her knees slotted between Langa’s, their torsos pressed together, and Langa wanted to stay like that and hold her forever.
Unfortunately for that plan, Reki’s flushed face was looking very kissable, and Langa decided they could do it later.
“Again.” She said, her voice sounding breathy, even in her own ears. When had breathing gotten so hard?
“Oh, Langa…” Reki said before kissing her again. She pressed a caste kiss once, twice, and on the third time, she slotted their lips together, tilting their heads and taking Langa’s bottom lip between her own.
Langa made a noise at that. She wasn’t sure what to call it, but all the feelings in her chest bubbled up into a sound in her throat that Reki must have liked because she immediately held Langa’s shoulders tighter and sucked lightly on her bottom lip. Langa made the noise again.
The lipstick… Langa thought absently before realizing she couldn’t care less about if there was makeup smearing if Reki kept kissing her like that.
“Reki—” She said, pulling away for a second. “Reki, we need to do this all the time. I want to touch you in so many different ways, and I love being around you and—”
Reki covered Langa’s mouth with her hands. “Too much!” She said.
Langa tried to speak under Reki’s hands, but the words were completely muffled.
“What is it?” Reki asked, removing her hands after a few seconds of Langa’s valiant efforts.
“I was just saying I wanted to kiss you again. And maybe after that, we can just hold each other? I like touching you, no matter what.” Langa smiled. She wanted to tell Reki how amazing she was every day.
Reki pressed their foreheads together, eyes closed. “You’re gonna kill me if you keep talking like that. Just kiss me.” She muttered before diving in again.