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"Can I look at myself yet?"
"No! Let me finish this first," Taylor says, staring at his lips with laser focus.
The lipstick feels… fine. It's not terrible, but not great. He could get used to it, he thinks.
His face scrunches up involuntarily from the way the brush tickles his cheek.
"Hold still, I'm making you blush," Taylor says, giggling to himself.
"Okay," Link hums, holding still as possible despite his exceeding ticklishness. "You know, I did play the games, but I've never seen the show."
Taylor gasps and lets out an overly dramatic, disbelieving "no..."
"Um. Yes?"
"Okay. We have to watch Pokémon together. ASAP."
"Like, all of it?"
"Of course! Clear your weekends. And weekdays."
"I'm free weekends, but we both have school—"
"School can wait."
"What about soccer practice?"
" Liiiink…. waaa…." Taylor pouts, and his lipstick shimmers, reflecting the mirror and ceiling lights into a thousand little specks of periwinkle glitter.
Link guides his gaze up from Taylor's lips to his dazzling green eyes. Link's always loved Taylor's pitch black eyes, but these contacts definitely add to the look. He's not wearing the wig yet, but Link's sure it'll tie the look together.
Taylor picked out another set of green contacts for Link—he asked for Link's prescription before even bringing up the Halloween idea—and he wonders how they look on him with the makeup newly added. Taylor said he'd force Link to take them out before bed after hearing about his issues with contacts before.
"I'll watch it with you, I promise. But for now, why don't you just tell me about them?"
Link smiles when Taylor's forced pout breaks into a toothy grin.
"Okay! Well, Jess— Musashi is a total badass," he starts "and she has a tragic backstory," he balls his left hand into a fist near his chest for emphasis, still holding a makeup brush in the other.
He moves onto eyeshadow, diving into an elaborate and animated explanation of Team Rocket's lore, and particularly Jessie's backstory.
"Also, I'm like, totally in love with her," he adds as the final button to his ramble, just as he finishes the makeup.
"A lot to live up to," Link comments with a little smirk, and the slight flush of Taylor's cheeks is the cutest reward.
He huffs and glances away before putting the brushes down. "Let me go get the clothes," he says, before starting down the hall.
"Can I take a look now?"
"Waaaiiit…" he calls back from another room.
He comes back with the clothes: a black sports bra, a white leather crop top, and a white leather miniskirt.
"It's soft on the inside, see?" Taylor says, and he grabs Link's hand—and Link gazes at the magenta nail polish shimmering in the light—and guides it toward the inside of the fabric of the skirt. It is soft. "Do you need help getting dressed?"
"Maybe…" Link says, picking up the sports bra.
"We could also use a tank top, but I thought this would be more comfortable with the layers. And if we cut a tank top, it might be a little uncomfortable, since I'm still kinda shit at sewing, and my machine hates me, but if you want—"
"I can wear it," Link cuts him off softly. "Just… you can help me put it on?"
He isn't sure why he phrased it as a question.
"Yeah, of course," Taylor says, taking the sports bra and shutting the bathroom door with his heel. "Take off your shirt."
Link stands up and does so—it's a plain pyjama tee shirt, stretchy and easy to slide off like everything else he wears—and he places it on the counter.
"Arms up!"
Link raises his arms in the air, and Taylor lifts the sports bra up before the realization paints itself onto his glittering green eyes. He puts a hand on Link's shoulder to push him down, and he obliges, sitting back in the chair, arms still raised.
Taylor slides the bra on without any trouble. It's stretchy, and form-fitting, and not loose at all, but not too tight either. It's fine. It's good.
"Can I look in the mirror? Please?"
"Okay," Taylor says, rather unexpectedly, considering the way he'd emphasized waiting until Link was fully in costume before taking any sort of look.
There's something softer in his eyes too, and Link isn't exactly sure why, but he brushes it off in favour of focusing on his reflection.
Taylor's done makeup on Link before, but it was usually a little bit of eyeliner, maybe some shimmery eyeshadow and nothing more. This is different.
His lips are a deep magenta, just like his nails, and there's glittery deep red blush on his cheekbones. His eyeshadow is white and glittery, presumably to match the clothes, and the black eyeliner on his upper and lower eyelids paired with the dark mascara make his eyes pop even more than before.
The heavy makeup definitely makes the green eyes on their own far less strange, though it's still a little odd. Link's only ever worn clear contacts.
Link's hardly worn makeup before. And this look, well, it's more feminine than anything he's ever done. There's a bit of a flutter in his chest, and while he's not certain why, he suspects it's the novelty of it all. It's new territory, and he actually really, really likes it.
"Does it feel okay?"
"Huh?" Link asks, still gazing at his makeup in the mirror.
"The sports bra."
Right . Link pulls his gaze away from his face down to his torso.
Link has never worn a bra of any kind.
It reaches to about halfway down his torso, almost like a skin-tight crop top. Link has never worn a crop top either.
It's way tighter than what he would usually wear, but not uncomfortably so.
Again, there's that same flutter in his chest. It's the excitement of something new, probably.
"Is it okay?" Taylor asks again.
"Yeah, it's good."
"Okay. You can wear your shorts under the skirt by the way. I usually do that with mine too, but whatever's comfortable."
Link nods, picking up the skirt. There's a zipper in the back, and the waistband is reasonably stretchy.
He slips it on over his shorts and zips it up without any problem, and Taylor hands him the shirt, which takes and pulls over his head. It fits fine.
He looks in the mirror again. The eyeshadow does look good with the shirt and skirt.
Link has never worn a skirt before.
At least he doesn't think he has. Memory is confusing, and nothing is for certain.
Either way, it looks good.
He likes it.
"The gloves and boots are in my room. You can put those on while I get changed in here."
"Okay."
The boots are also easy to slip into, and the gloves are smooth and soft instead of stiff and scratchy like he had expected.
Though, he doesn't know why he expected that. Taylor has sensory issues even worse than Link's, so it makes perfect sense that he'd put so much thought into making the costume comfortable.
Looking in the mirror, Link almost sees an entirely different person staring back.
He looks like a girl.
Well, the character is a girl, so it only makes sense.
And skirts and feminine makeup don't necessarily equate to gender either. Taylor wears them all the time.
Looking at himself like this, there's that feeling again. It's kind of exhilarating.
His black curls look nothing like the character's hair, but Taylor already knew he's not big on wigs.
The miniskirt makes Link wonder what it'd be like to wear different kinds. Taylor's a big fan of the shorter ones because they offer more mobility in the legs, though Link's always admired the way longer ones look.
"Did you bring your Garfield plushie?" Taylor asks. Link didn't even hear him open the door, but he's stepping out of the bathroom fully dressed in a white top and white pants, with his own gloves and boots, all matching Link. And the wig, periwinkle like his lips, does tie the look together.
"Where do you get your skirts from?"
"Oh—uh, mostly online. It's hard to find skirts that don't make me want to shed my skin in stores in person," he answers, "You wanna get some?"
How did you know , are the first words that cross Link's mind, before he remembers that it's the most logical reason for his question.
There's a look in Taylor's eyes too. Link isn't too sure what it means but it's there, and there's something circulating through Taylor's mind much like his own.
"Yeah, I think so."
Taylor's eyes light up. "I am so helping you look. Heh, I've already seen some I think you'd love."
"Really?"
"Yes!" Taylor says, stepping closer and squeezing Link's arms. "Also, you look hot as hell."
"I—really?" Link stutters out, taken aback by the sudden compliment. Again, not too sure why, as this is Taylor's style.
"Yes," Taylor smirks, and Link gazes at his glittery lipstick once more. It's a really pretty colour. "Now, where's your Garf plushie?"
"Right."
Link fetches the plush, smiling to himself at the way Taylor suggested using it as the final member of their trio.
Almost as if on cue, the doorbell rings, and the others are here.
"By the way, I love the makeup. Can you do it again for me sometime? I mean, like, not just on Halloween, like—"
"Yes, oh my god , Link, I would give you a whole fucking transformation makeover at the drop of a hat," Taylor says as they descend down the stairs, clearly vibrating in excitement.
"I would love that."
Taylor links an arm around his, beaming with glee. And Link very much shares the sentiment.
This is going to be a great Halloween.
♡(˃͈ દ ˂͈ ༶ )