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“Moe, you’ve gotta hold still. I’m gonna mess this up, then we’ll have to do it all over again.”
Ze mumbled with a brush in hand, sticking his tongue out as he tried to focus. Moe wasn’t trying to move, but her eyes fluttered every now and then which made applying the paint to her eyelids a challenge. Especially with the shape she wanted, a green diamond.
Her clown makeup was helpful, it seemed to have a mind of its own. He decided to not question it, he really didn’t want to know. But he was more than willing to help her anyway, even if he was a bit of a perfectionist about it.
He pulled back for a moment, looking over what was his start so far. He’d only managed to do the upper half of the diamond, trying to figure out if he needed to make it bigger. Moe opened her eyes, blue vibrant against the white of her face paint as she reached for the mirror. She practically knocked him over in the process, to which he laughed and handed her the mirror to keep from getting barreled over.
“Okay, okay. Gimme a second. Here!”
She snatched the mirror from him quickly, looking herself over for a few moments before nodding approvingly. Ze let out a sigh of relief, even if he had only just started. At least she was liking it so far. Given she was taller than him, he had to reach up some even while they sat in front of each other.
Moe was cross legged, hands planted firmly on her knees as she leaned forward. The smile on her lips told him that she was definitely enjoying this. It’d become a habit of theirs, little quiet moments where it was just the two of them. Not that he’d admit it, Ze found himself smiling too as Moe closed her eyes.
Ze shifted a little, now resting on his knees and sitting on his heels as he leaned in. Brush in hand, he gently went over the same diamond he’d created. Making it just a little thicker, reaching just under her eyebrow now. He was methodical in his movements, practiced with this sort of thing by now.
“What do you want on the other side?”
Ze asked, absentmindedly as he pulled back for a moment. He hummed a little as he looked at the top half of the diamond he’d painted, not hating the way it looked. Not his best work, but a solid attempt. Moe pursed her lips as she thought, tilting her head to the side for a moment. While she thought, he looked down at the colors of paint they had available.
A sudden honk drew his attention away from the paint and back to Moe, who now had her horn in hand. Her other hand was pointing at the yellow paint. She wanted a star? Really? They hadn’t done that before, but he was willing to try.
“I’ll give it a shot, I’m not the best at doing stars.”
Ze remarked sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck as he looked between Moe’s face and the paint at his side. Moe furrowed her brows and honked at him, the sound sharp and quick. A sound he was rather familiar with, she was annoyed at him. He sighed, raising his hands in surrender and scooted the slightest bit closer.
“Okay, okay. We can do a star.”
He conceded, much to Moe’s satisfaction. With a pointed nod, her face relaxed and she closed her eyes again. Clearly, that answer was better in her opinion. Ze snorted out a laugh, a huff of air leaving him as he shook his head a little. His smile rested easily upon his lips, enjoying the attitude she gave him in her own little way.
Ze cleaned off the brush he’d been using before, making sure he didn’t have any lingering green paint on it. When the brush was clean, he dipped it into the yellow before leaning in close to Moe. His touch was tender, careful to not apply more force than necessary to trace the shape of the star over her eyelid. The other points of the shape were less of a challenge after that, although he was still incredibly gentle.
It wasn’t a side of himself he showed often. This softness was reserved for few. Moe had always been one of them though, one of the carefully curated group he allowed this sort of thing to be shown. He relaxed with her, didn’t have to hold up a facade. It was nice. He enjoyed these moments just as much as she did, if not more.
Maybe that was why Moe was so insistent on a star, so he’d be here longer. So he’d focus on each little brush stroke, every little crease of her eyes. Every little thing that made Moe, well, Moe.
Or maybe she’d just wanted a star. It was Moe, after all.
Ze found himself smiling as he just took a few seconds to soak in the moment. However, he soon realized that he wasn’t the only one enjoying this moment as bright blue eyes gazed back at him.
He spluttered and pulled back quickly, being sure to not drop the brush as he panicked. His reaction drew a warm giggle out of her, a sound that he loved.
Ze would be the butt of any joke, would make a fool of himself in any setting if it meant hearing that giggle.
Truthfully, he’d do just about anything for her. Moe meant more to him than he could put into words. Certainly couldn’t do it any justice if he tried. Ze cleared his throat and averted his gaze, fully able to see how the clown was smiling at him in his peripheral vision. He made sure to put the brush down against the paint palette in the process, so they didn’t lose it.
“Wanna do your hair while we’re at it?”
His voice was lower now, almost shy. Not that he’d ever admit that, of course. Moe didn’t hesitate to nudge him with her elbow though, horn in hand as she nodded eagerly. Before he knew it, she was in the process of turning around and tossing her hair over her shoulders. It gave him little time to question anything. The kind of woman who knew what she wanted and when, that’s who Moe was.
That was something he’d always loved about her. More often than not, he really did envy her confidence. Envy wasn’t the right word. No, he admired it.
It was hard to find something that wasn’t admirable about Moe.
Ze groaned as she relayed what she wanted done with her hair, sounding rather proud as she honked that horn of hers.
“Fishtails again? One of these days we’ve gotta find something else you like.”
He grumbled, to which she gave another short honk of her horn. Ze laughed and rolled his eyes, finding the brush sitting on the ground near them. Picking the brush up, he looked around for the spray bottle they always used when doing her hair.
“Hey Moe? Did we leave the bottle in the bathroom or,”
Ze didn’t even have the chance to finish his question before she was standing up. Moe snapped her fingers and pointed down the hall, giving him two thumbs up as she looked down at him. Jesus, she was really tall.
“Oh, you’re going to get it? Thanks Moe!”
With a determined nod, she set off down the hallway to the bathroom. Ze didn’t bother staring after her, instead he went about grabbing what he needed for when she returned. More than a few tiny elastics just in case some broke, Moe’s brush, and a pick comb just to separate her hair when he started. More meticulous than necessary, he set the supplies beside his knee and sorted them in the order he’d use them.
He could hear the water running from the faucet and knew Moe would be back soon. As if on cue, he heard the water shut off and the pad of footsteps walking back down the hall.
For once, the sound of footsteps nearing the room he was in didn’t cause anxiety. That familiar tightness in his chest just didn’t begin, not when he knew it was Moe.
Especially not when she entered the room with such a bright smile and gave him the corniest jazz hands imaginable, spray bottle in hand. Radiating pride in the way only she could.
Ze couldn’t help the laughter that spilled from his lips, snorting in the process and laughing harder as he covered his mouth. Moe giggled along with him, feigning innocence and mocking him somewhat by covering her own mouth with a hand.
“Come,” a snicker interrupted him as he tried to stop laughing. “Come sit down already, man.”
Shoulders still laughing with silent laughter, Moe handed the bottle to him before sitting down in front of Ze. Cross legged, of course.
Ze rolled his eyes fondly, grunting as he shifted to his knees. Spray bottle still in hand, he went about spraying her hair. Careful to not get it too wet, he’d been scolded by her about that a couple times when they first started doing this together.
When it was damp, he set the spray bottle aside to reach for the pick next to him instead. Then, he went about carefully sectioning her hair. Moe wasn’t tender-headed, so it made his life a little easier.
Not that he’d ever try to hurt her, but he could stop holding his breath when he did anything with her hair.
Ze went about taking a small piece of her hair from the right outer section, before carefully crossing it over. Taking that piece into his left hand, he joined it with the left section. He then proceeded to do the same thing but from the left section to the right section.
“So, you’ve been hanging out with that Maturin guy, right? How’s that going?”
He asked, still focused on braiding her hair but wanting to break up the silence. Thankfully, she took the invitation and began a rambling tirade of giggles and honking.
Moe even went about gesturing wildly, something he’d come to expect when doing something like this with her. He simply held onto those red curls of hers carefully, skating along a thin line of taut but not too tight.
Ze liked seeing this side of her though, so animated and eager to talk about something like this. Though, he never saw the appeal in Maturin. The guy was loud and downright obnoxious. But if Moe considered him a friend, he’d accept him. She had a pretty damn good sense for these things.
However, he was snapped out of his focus when he heard her say something in particular. He jolted, leaning forward to look at the clown in front of him.
“Hold on, hold on. He said what?”
A string of honks were his answer, Moe giving him a look over her shoulder and meeting his gaze.
“No fucking way. Moe!”
Ze nudged her arm with his elbow, giving her a pointed look to which Moe, acting innocent, shrugged her shoulders. Another set of honks from that horn of hers, sounding incredibly proud of herself.
“It is not out of your hands!”
He argued with a laugh, glaring at her halfheartedly before he moved back to continue braiding her hair.
Moe, on the other hand, hummed a proud little tune. He recognized it as a song she’d made and proudly shown off. Ze found himself humming along with her, not exactly knowing the tune by heart but able to contribute some of the time.
If she minded, Moe didn’t let it show. Nor did she say anything about it. She simply continued to hum as Ze worked on braiding her hair. After all this time, he’d managed to be pretty efficient. But she had a lot of hair. Way more than his sisters did.
A few miscellaneous discussions later, he finally secured the braid with an elastic. Thankfully, he didn’t need the extras but better to be safe than sorry.
“So, how’d I do this time?”
Ze hardly had time to get the question out before Moe was reaching back to pull the braid over her shoulder. He shook his head slowly, sighing a little as she looked his handiwork over.
However, he was given a giddy thumbs up.
“I’m glad you like it.”
His voice was softer now, fond as Moe gushed over her newly braided hair. Ze then went about gathering their supplies, intending to put everything away.
Moe seemed to have other plans though, as she was grabbing at his wrist. Surprised, Ze looked up at her with a puzzled expression. He took a second to wonder how she managed to stand up so quickly, but his thoughts were quickly scattered as she yanked his arm.
He blinked at her, not pulling his arm away but confused as to why she was yanking him around. Moe was quick to answer though, horn in her other hand. Those blue eyes of hers just sparkled with thinly veiled excitement.
“You want to paint my nails? Really?”
Despite the fact that he would’ve been annoyed if anyone else asked that, Ze chose to accept the offer. With a begrudging sigh, that was obviously exaggerated, he nodded.
A wordless answer to her request but more than enough for Moe to beam at him.
He found himself yanked into her room shortly after, a genuine laugh leaving his lips as she showed off what colors of nail polish she had.
Looking through the options, he picked out a dark blue and handed it over to her. Moe didn’t hesitate to accept it eagerly, moving quickly as she setup a foot stool as a makeshift table.
As she gestured for him to come join her, Ze sighed as he obliged without question. Handing himself over as a willing participant to whatever Moe wanted.
But he could put up with nail files and UV lamps, as long as it made her happy.
Whatever Moe wanted, Ze was willing to give.