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hard launch - non-famous AU - gender and orientation
The minute that Matt stepped into his bedroom, he felt like he was going to pull his fucking hair out.
He could distinctly remember telling his partners, over two hours ago, the soft and hard limit of when he wanted to leave. He had to make sure that he did that, otherwise Alex would panic himself into a frenzy over what Matt had intended to be a soft time that they could leave and get to a reservation or party with time to spare and Ari would get ready about twenty minutes after the hard time that they were meant to be leaving for the venue at.
He had gone about his own business in the master suite to tame his golden curls into something presentable, to cover the hickies they had left just a bit too high on his neck in some decent enough makeup, and to pick the perfect outfit. He had spent way too long trying to pick the perfect shade of navy blue that would go with the shades Alex was partial to and then selecting the fancy golden watch that he knew would go with whatever jewelry suited Ari. He had then come downstairs around the soft time he wanted to be ready at and seen an empty space.
He had told himself that it was fine, that was the entire point of setting a soft time. He had waited by the front door, made sure that Hendrix had gone potty and had his food and water filled. Then the hard time that they had to leave began to approach and he began his venture upstairs, which was where he currently found himself. Alex was flopped out on Ari’s bed wearing something really fucking weird while she took article of clothing after article of clothing out of her closet just to dump it down and then do it again.
“This does not look like being ready,” Matt said once he had managed to calm the stress in his tone down. He knew that they weren’t doing it on purpose, this was the way that they worked and he loved that about them. He wouldn’t ask them to be any different because then they wouldn’t have been the people that he specifically sought out to date.
“Sorry, I just can’t decide on anything. I always have this problem,” Ari pouted cutely at him. She had managed to do her makeup at least, the lip stain still sticking to the corner of her lips.
“Why don’t I help you with that while Alex goes to change into whatever he’s actually wearing tonight?” Matt said pointedly. He removed his suit jacket so that he didn’t wrinkle it and dropped it neatly down into the chair beside the window of Ari’s room. He walked over to the closet while Alex got up from the bed with a scoff.
“What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?” Alex gestured downwards at his outfit. It was another one of those weird suits that he was always picking when going to red carpet events like the one that they were preparing for. This was an obnoxious color of purple with eyes all over it to resemble the Grimace meme from a few years prior.
“I told you that he wouldn’t let you out of the house in that,” Ari teased.
“Yeah and he’s gonna let you out of the house naked,” Alex stuck his tongue out at her like they were siblings fighting over something that a parent had said. If Matt was being honest with himself, that was kind of how he felt in that moment.
Matt scrubbed his hands over his beard as he focused on keeping his breathing and heart rate as normal as it could be. “Nothing is wrong with the suit if that was what you were going to go to a premier in on your own. But you’re going as our date and I want you to match us, which means none of the weird meme shit. Plus the shake bit was fucking old when it was still actively happening,” Matt explained.
“Oh, I didn’t realize that this was that important to you,” Alex whispered. They had come out a while ago on social media and it had good reception thanks to the collection of queers and other alt people that Alex had garnered in his audience over the years. It was going to be different when the traditional media outlets saw that it was real, that it wasn’t just a bit. He was sure that some people would never actually believe that they were truly all three of them involved with each other, but this would make it more real for the people that controlled Matt’s livelihood.
Suddenly, a light bulb went off in Matt’s head. There was no way in any reality that Alex wasn’t aware of what this meant to Matt or would jeopardize this on purpose. He had defaulted to humor as a way to cope with being upset, the way that he always did when something was bothering him. “Yes you do,” Matt argued. “You picked something weird to wear because you’re afraid to wear what you actually want to. Bring me the outfit that you picked out, fashion boy.”
Alex stayed stuck to the spot for a long moment while Matt turned around to help Ari sift through the clothing remaining in her closet for something worth wearing. He watched his partner from the corner of his eye as he focused on Ari, but only spoke when he saw that Alex had actually departed from the room. “Pick out three dresses that match the color of your favorite necklace and then we’ll go from there.”
She paused for a long moment and looked at the gathered items in front of her. “Actually, I think that I want to wear something a little different this time. What do you think of that one 80s look? Like the suit jacket with the no shirt?” she asked. She had her finger resting on her rouged-cheek and looked awfully cute. If they were any further away from being late he might have teased her about it.
“I like it,” Matt grinned at her. “Do you want to use mine?”
She looked at him like he had offered her all the problems to everything in the world of a silver platter instead of just giving her a pretty obvious thing that she had been hinting towards. She launched herself at him so that she could throw her arms around his neck and bring his cheek down to her level. She pressed a long kiss to it, leaving him with what he was sure was a lipstick mark there.
Ari quickly turned on the heel of her shoe and then delved back into the mess of her closet so that she could dig out the skirt and shoes that she had that would go with his suit jacket. Matt loosened his tie a bit and then undid the top button of his shirt. He was undoing the buttons on his sleeves so that he could roll them up just as Alex returned, also in an entirely new outfit.
He was wearing a gray button down shirt with a black pencil skirt, the hem of which was embroidered with pretty gold flowers and leaves in an elegant style. He had done a bit of makeup on his face, dark eyeshadow and mascara making his eyes pop in a way that was sure to get him bullied by women on Instagram. His lips were painted a pretty rosy red, beautiful and stark against the dark facial hair that surrounded his mouth.
“You look really nice,” Matt smiled stupidly at him. He should have said something more supportive of his partner wearing clothes that he didn’t normally indulge in. Alex had been fucking around with his gender presentation more and more often lately and seemed to need support about it. But Matt was nothing if not blond and his brain was empty of anything other than ‘pretty.’
“Thanks,” Alex smiled. He placed his hand on the back of Matt’s neck to drag him down similar to how Ari had done and then pressed a kiss to his other cheek. Matt stared down at him with a wide, stupid smile on his face for a moment longer before Ari burst out of her closet, half dressed and mostly ready to go.
The usual panic that came with nearly being late took over them then. They piled into one of their nicer cars and then rushed off to the red carpet that they had been invited to, compliments of a cameo in a film that Matt and Alex had made. Matt didn’t even realize that he was wearing the kiss marks from both of his partners, who matched him wonderfully, until he got the headline on social media the next day.