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“Mm…and how does this look?”
Glisten stood in front of his vanity mirror, lightly brushing on pink eyeshadow.
Rodger sat next to him on a stool, half of his attention on writing in a notepad and the other half on the flashy toon.
“It looks fine,” Rodger mumbled.
“Just fine? Well that just won't do!”
Glisten took a step back to check the full look at hand.
“I didn’t mean it like that, I meant…it's the same thing you wear every day. It looks fine.”
Glisten nodded in agreement, although he was clearly not paying attention to what Rodger was saying.
“Maybe I could do those stars like Cosmo does,” Glisten noted to himself.
“...Is this what you do every morning?”
“Of course! To look this good requires lots of effort!”
“Mhm.”
Rodger clicked his pen a few times.
“And how do you get the makeup off? Surely it would be difficult to wipe it off glass,” Rodger questioned, sitting up straighter and crossing his legs.
“Special makeup wipes,”
“Any specific brands?”
Glisten chuckled, “I would never tell you that.”
“Woah, how could you?”
“I called you down here for fashion advice, not an interview,” Glisten backed away from the vanity, pausing in thought, “Although I do love interviews,”
“Why me? Why not Teagan?”
“Uh..haha! I just wanted you…to come help is all. You were the only one available.”
Glisten grabbed his ribbon and wrapped it around his waist, holding it in place with one hand. He looked over his appearance closely with a small frown.
“I feel like something is missing from my outfit these days. It's just not extravagant enough.”
Glisten turned to Rodger, putting on an all too rehearsed smile and his free hand on his hip.
“What do you think?”
“I think you’ve just gotten used to it,” Rodger suggested.
Rodger stood up from the stool with a grunt. He walked in a circle around Glisten, assisting in the inspection.
To Rodger, Glisten looked just fine. His ribbon was soft-looking and ironed out, his makeup was done to perfection. Glisten always had this shine to him, glittery and simply dazzling. It would catch anyone's attention…even if that wasn’t helpful during runs.
“Perhaps a necklace,” Rodger pointed out, stopping in front of Glisten, “Or a real smile,”
“What's wrong with the way I smile?”
Glisten reached behind his back, trying to tie it into the bow he loved.
“Nothing in particular, it's just…taught. I rarely see you actually smile,” Rodger explained, “Remember I’ve got a good eye, Glisten.”
He watched Glisten grow more annoyed with the ribbon. He couldn’t get a good grip on what he was doing from behind his back. Rodger’s comment was also a clear annoyance to him.
“Haha-! I have no clue what you’re talking about!” Glisten brushed him off, huffing.
He watched Glisten struggle with the ribbon for a minute longer before speaking, “Would you like me to help you with that?”
“No, no, I’m perfectly capable of tying a bow! It just takes me a minute,”
He grumbled something under his breath as the bow once again unraveled. Rodger didn’t feel like watching Glisten work himself up trying to tie it when Rodger was right there. Glisten was already getting huffy.
“Let me do it,” Rodger said, already moving behind Glisten.
“You know I do it fine by myself any other time!”
“I’m here now so you don’t have to,”
Rodger gently took the ribbon out of Glisten’s hands.
Glisten was just like that sometimes, he had to be persuaded into accepting help. Rodger didn’t mind, and Glisten seemed to accept Rodger’s help more than anyone else's.
That didn’t mean Glisten didn’t have a lot to say when he did accept Rodger’s help.
“You’re taking a god awful long time back there. I could still tie it,” Glisten complained, crossing his arms.
“I’m taking it slow so I can get it the way you prefer it.”
“You really didn-”
Rodger’s hand grazed the back of Glisten’s ribs and he shut up instantly.
Well that's interesting.
“Glisten, is something the matter?”
“Nope!” Glisten answered through gritted teeth.
He had said that quickly, far too quickly.
Rodger hummed in acknowledgement but that just wasn’t enough for him. He was a detective after all! This was a mystery worth solving.
His original mission of finishing tying Glisten’s half-done bow became a side quest. Rodger kept up the “accidental” touches—lightly grazing his back, a not-so-subtle poke to his ribs, tracing down his spine until Glisten couldn’t stop squirming.
Rodger sighed theatrically, “Glisten, if you cannot stay still I’ll never be able to tie your bow,”
“I can’t when you’re doing that!”
“Mm…doing what exactly?”
Rodger looked at Glisten in the vanity mirror in front of them. Glisten looked like he was ready to murder Rodger.
“You know what you’re doing.”
“I don’t think I do,” Rodger pretended to think, sliding his hands to hover over Glisten’s ribs, “Ohh…you wouldn’t happen-”
“Rodger shut up.”
“Glisten are you-”
“Don’t you dare-”
“Ticklish?”
Rodger skittered his hands across Glisten’s ribs, watching him instantly tense up and duck his head down.
“How come you’ve never bothered to tell me this?”
“Ne- Never cahame uP,” Glisten bit back giggles.
Rodger laughed with him, skimming his hands up and down Glisten’s ribs. The feather-light touches felt horribly tickly to Glisten.
Glisten’s hands shot up to cover an ever-growing smile.
The previous conversation popped back into Rodger’s mind, “That's what I’m talking about. You never actually smile,”
“I dO!”
“Glisten you’re lying and we both know it,” Rodger slipped his hands down, clawing into Glisten’s sides.
Glisten shook his head, stomping his feet to relieve the fizzly feeling.
Rodger pinched and squished randomly at Glisten’s sides, taking the lack of a “stop” as a sign Glisten didn't mind this all too much. Glisten was squeaky, high pitched, and screeching loud enough to break the sound barrier.
Just how sweet Glisten’s real laugh was remained Rodger’s only thought.
Rodger pinched back down his sides, mimicking a nibbling feeling that left Glisten in shambles. Glisten squealed and twisted when the squishes got a little too close to his hips.
Of course that got Rodger’s attention.
Experimentally, he moved his attention to Glisten’s hip.
Glisten screeched, his arms shooting down to grab at Rodger’s wrist, “RoHodgEr! EhAha- wahait!”
Rodger paused, looking back into the vanity mirror on the dresser as Glisten calmed down from his giggle fit.
“I never noticed you had a tooth gap.”
Glisten glanced up at the mirror. He tried to move his hands to cover it back up, but when Rodger’s fingers curled back into his hips Glisten’s hands came right back down.
“No, no, no. Let me see your smile!” Rodger kept squeezing at Glisten’s hip.
“RODGEHER!!”
“I think it looks perfect on you, don’t you think so too?”
Glisten was dying in Rodger’s arms. His face was about as pink as the eyeshadow he put on that morning. He’d start cackling and curl in on himself every time Rodger dug into his hips.
“I believe you've said everything about you was perfect! I think your smile is adorable, it gives you a certain charm,
“And your laugh is addicting, I bet people would have watched your episodes just to hear it.” Rodger kept complimenting Glisten, moving his hands up to where Glisten’s hips and sides connected.
“OKAY- OKAYOKAY! QUIHIT IT,” Glisten squealed.
Rodger paused, resting his hands on Glisten’s hips. Glisten was still quietly giggling, covering up his flustered face.
Rodger picked up the ends of the ribbon, once again taking his time to tie it back up again as Glisten pulled himself together. Once it was done, Rodger gently patted on Glisten’s shoulder.
“There you are,”
“...Thank you,” Glisten mumbled, smoothing out little details.
Rodger’s eyes drifted over to the clock, “It's still quite early. It appears we have a moment of downtime,”
Glisten wandered back over to the vanity, haphazardly tossing all the makeup back into the drawer. Rodger returned to his place on Glisten's stool and pulled back out his pen and paper.
Every now and then, Glisten would look at Rodger before looking back at the mirror. He’d open his mouth as if to say something before stopping. He’d return to picking and wiping at non-existent issues.
Around the 5th time, Rodger started the conversation first.
“Glisten?”
“You didn’t mean all of that… seriously, did you? You were just teasing,” Glisten rambled out, hyper-focused on picking at little imperfections on his face.
“Mean what?”
“You know…all the compliments?”
Rodger thought for a moment, “Oh! I would not lie about that Glisten. I am a man of my word, I do think your smile is nice. Why wouldn't you think so?”
“Uh…It just…haha! It never really felt stage-worthy. I could do better,”
“Glisten,” Rodger paused, waiting for Glisten to look at him, “You are stage-worthy. You are one of the most lovable toon, you’re perfect,”
“I know I’m supposed to be.”
“And you are.”
Glisten smiled softly, “Aren't you sweet,”
There was a softer silence that drifted between the two.
“We should hang out like this…more often. It's been nice. Plus my morning routine took far less time.”
Rodger chuckled, “Of course Glisten,”