Work Text:
Astolfo buttoned up his shirt and adjusted his collar. He looked up at himself in the mirror, smirking. “Looking good!” he said, giving himself finger guns.
A knock on the door drew his attention away from the mirror. “Coming!”
He rushed over and opened the door. On the other side stood Sieg, holding a basket of laundry.
“Hey there!” Astolfo beamed, giving him a big smile. “What’s up?”
Sieg wasn’t looking at him, staring down at the basket instead. “I got my laundry today, but it seems like there’s been a mix-up, and I got your clothes instead of mine.” He held it out for Astolfo to see. Everything inside was all bright pink, not the kind of thing Sieg would ever wear. “I was wondering if you had…”
He looked up, and realized that Astolfo was wearing his normal outfit. White undershirt, black vest, black slacks – it was all his clothing, there was no doubt about it.
“Oh! That explains it!” Astolfo laughed. “I was wondering why all my stuff was black and white now! I thought maybe someone washed them wrong.”
Sieg couldn’t tell if Astolfo was being serious or not. With him, it was a coin flip if he genuinely believed it or not. “I don’t think laundry works like that, Astolfo.” he said, laughing back.
“Well, I haven’t put any of it away yet, so it’s still in the basket on my bed. You can take that stuff back if you want… But I’m keeping this one~”
“Really? I didn’t think you’d like clothes like mine.” Sieg said, setting the basket down on the bed. “I mean, you’re welcome to have it if you’d like, I have a bunch just like it. I’m just… surprised, is all.”
Astolfo looked down at the outfit he was wearing. “Hm… Maybe I could get some small changes from Miss Crane. What do you think about adding ruffles along the cuff, like what Helena has?”
Sieg shrugged. “I don’t know,” he said. “Why are you so interested in it, though?”
"Because it's yours!"
"Huh?"
"You know, how partners will wear each others' clothes sometimes?"
Sieg tilted his head. "No?"
"Huh..." Astolfo was a bit surprised. It was so easy to forget that even now, Sieg didn't know much about how relationships worked. "Well, it's a thing! Couples do it all the time."
"But why?"
"Because it's cute!" Astolfo wrapped his arms around himself, as if giving himself a hug. "It almost makes me feel like I'm in your arms, even when I'm not."
Sieg nodded slowly. "I... I think I understand?"
Suddenly, Astolfo got an idea. He walked over to the basket on the bed and started rooting around through it. After a bit of searching, he grabbed an outfit. "Here! Why don't you try on something of mine so you can see for yourself?"
Before Sieg could react, Astolfo threw the bundle of clothing at him, hitting him directly in the face.
“Oops! Sorry!”
The clothes fell off Sieg’s face and into his arms. “It’s fine.” he said, then looked down to examine what he’d just been given.
In his hands were a big, fluffy, bright-pink sweater, a black skirt, and a pair of black thigh-high stockings. “Oh, it looks cute.”
“Try it on!” Astolfo beamed. “Come on, I wanna see you wear it!”
“O-Okay…” Sieg mumbled. He still wasn’t sure why Astolfo was so excited to see him wear a simple set of clothes. He’d said this was something couples “do all the time”, but was it just common, or expected? Had he been a bad boyfriend all this time because he’d never worn any of Astolfo’s clothing? The thought sent a knot into his stomach…
He started walking towards the bathroom door.
“Huh? Where are you going?”
“To change?”
Astolfo tilted his head in confusion. “Why do you have to go to another room for that?”
Sieg opened his mouth to respond, but stopped. Was this part of the gesture? Did Astolfo want him to change in front of him? He’d seen Astolfo change clothes in public a few times… Was he being rude by not doing the same in front of Astolfo?
He nodded. “You’re right, I’ll do it here.” Sieg said.
“Yay!” Astolfo gave him a huge smile, which put Sieg’s mind at ease that this was the right choice.
He started unbuttoning his clothes, slowly pulling off his waistcoat and shirt, setting them neatly on the messy covers of Astolfo’s bed.
Suddenly, a pair of hands grabbed him from behind, one on his chest, one on his stomach. “Oh! You look different!” Astolfo beamed. “So cute! Have you been working out? You feel a bit bigger than before!”
Sieg blushed. He had grown slightly over the past few weeks – Achilles had convinced him to come spend some time at the gym with him. It wasn’t much, just some light squats and weightlifting, but even that little was enough to always leave him worn out and exhausted, so he was glad that his efforts had paid off.
After a moment of squeezing, Astolfo let go of Sieg. “Hehe, I guess we’re not the same size after all~” he teased.
“I, um… I suppose not…” He knew that he was only very slightly bigger than Astolfo, but something about his words struck a chord with him. He was so flustered that when he started trying to put on the sweater, he almost shoved his head into the sleeve…
Once he got it on, Sieg looked down at the sleeve, noticing a few odd bits of stitching near the left cuff. “Is this handmade?” he asked, looking up at Astolfo.
“Yep! Vlad’s been giving me lessons!” he beamed. “Don’t tell anyone, but I’m making an amazing gift for Master! Should hopefully be ready in a month or so!”
He smiled. “Of course. Your secret is safe with me.”
“So, how does it feel? What do you think of my work?”
“It’s…” Sieg ran a hand down one of the sleeves, trying to find the words to describe it. “...warm? And… heavy. In a good way, though!”
Astolfo put a hand on the back of his head and smiled, a little bit bashful. “Thanks, Sieg…” he said.
Next, Sieg grabbed the skirt. He’d never worn anything like that before, and wasn’t entirely certain how he was supposed to put it on. He stepped into it like a pair of pants and pulled it up to just above his hips. “Is… this how I’m supposed to wear it?” he asked.
Astolfo tilted his head a little bit. “Hm, it’s a little low…” He reached down and pulled the waistband up another few centimeters.
“Wouldn’t that make the skirt too short, though?”
“Being short is the point!”
“I don’t understand…”
Astolfo shrugged. “Maybe it’ll make more sense to you with the entire outfit?”
Sieg nodded. “You’re right, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t judge before it’s finished.”
He grabbed the pair of black stockings, holding them by the opening like a pair of socks. He started trying to pull it up.
“Wait!” Astolfo said.
“Hm?”
“It’s easier if you do it like this.”
Astolfo took one of the stockings and bunched it up, then stuck it on Sieg’s foot and pulled it all the way up to his upper thigh.
“Oh, thank you…” Sieg said, blushing. Something about being dressed up like this made his heart rate spike.
After Astolfo put the other stocking on him, Sieg stood up and slipped his loafers back on. He walked over to Astolfo’s mirror and took his first real glance at himself.
He looked… cute. The sweater was just slightly too big for him, the long sleeves covering his hands up to his fingers. With how high Astolfo had put the skirt up, a little bit of his thigh was exposed.
Sieg frowned slightly. There was a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach, a sense of oddness that he wasn’t sure how to put into words.
“Astolfo-” he started.
“Strike a pose!” Astolfo interrupted. He leapt up, putting one arm in the air, the other hand on his hip, and balanced on one foot with the other pulled up as close to his butt as he could. “Like this!”
Sieg tried his best to imitate the same pose, but wobbled a bit before getting his footing.
“So? What do you think?”
He didn’t reply. Seeing himself making cutesy poses like this just made the feeling stronger and stronger, the pit in his stomach feeling deeper and deeper. Eventually, it coalesced into one question that burned through his mind.
“Sieg?” Astolfo asked.
“Is it really okay for me to be wearing this?”
Astolfo tilted his head, confused. “Huh? Of course it is. I gave you the outfit, after all.”
“No, no, I mean…” Sieg shook his head, trying to get his thoughts in order. “These are… girl clothes. Is it really okay for me to wear them? I know you do, but you’re… I don’t know, it seems less strange when you do it.”
“Girl clothes? I just kinda picked what would look cute on you.” Astolfo said. “I dunno, I don’t really see ‘boy clothes’ and ‘girl clothes’. All that matters is if it’s cute!”
“I… I suppose…” Sieg mumbled. “It still seems odd, though…”
Astolfo put a hand on his back affectionately. “People said the same thing when I first realized how cute pink is. But, that sense of weirdness went away after a while, and I feel so much happier looking the way I do!” He looked down, realizing he was still in Sieg’s outfit. “Or, uh… The way I normally do.”
Sieg didn’t respond, still trying to figure out how he felt about it.
“Do you want to change back?” Astolfo asked. “It’s not like we have to wear each others’ clothes if you aren’t comfy with it.”
“...I think I’d like to try it for a little bit longer, and see if I feel the same way you described,” he said. “It does feel weird, but… In some way, it does feel good too.”
Astolfo pulled him into a hug tight enough to knock the wind out of him. “For what it’s worth, I think you look great like this!”
Sieg chuckled. “Thanks, Astolfo.”
He let go of Sieg. “And besides! If anyone tries to give you trouble over it, I’ll put a stop to that!” he said, flexing one of his biceps. To anyone who didn’t know Astolfo, it barely seemed like a threat, but to anyone who did, they knew just how terrifyingly strong he was for such a skinny guy.
“C’mon! Let’s go get lunch and show people your new look!” Astolfo grabbed him by the arm and started pulling on him.
“Y-Yes, I could eat…”
“And we can show Jeanne your new look too!”
Sieg’s stomach dropped, and his eyes went wide. “Wait, wait!” he yelled, face going red.
“Come on, she’ll love it!”
As Astolfo dragged him to the cafeteria, somewhere in the back of Sieg’s mind, the sound of an egg cracking could be faintly heard...