Chapter Text
The door of Drift’s room abruptly opened, making Drift smudge her mascara as she flinched from the unexpected noise disrupting her peace. A familiar voice echoed through the room, AJ could be seen in the reflection of her vanity.
“Heya Open Book, wanna go out tonight? The moon’s all pretty and stuff. We could go out to the pub or somethin’.” AJ offered, walking towards her and leaning over Drift’s shoulder. “What’re you getting all nice and pretty for? You have plans without me already?” AJ asked with that specific teasing tone that Drift couldn't quite place her finger on.
“Pfft- No. I just wanted to do this for fun, I actually care about my looks unlike someone who looks like they always just rolled out of bed.” Drift answered back, screwing the lid back onto the tube. The other playfully rolled her eyes at the insult, letting out an amused pfft.
“You love me for that, don’t ya?” AJ received a simple scoff in return from Open Book while gently knocking their temples together. “What are you doing though? If you’re not going out, then why pretty yourself up?” AJ made eye contact with her in the mirror, Drift only had some mascara on, brown eyeshadow, and a bit of concealer there to cover her freckles. It was still ingrained into her mind that “her freckles looked like a blemish”, as her father said.
“Eh, just for fun I guess.” Drift shrugged. “I got bored and saw that I kept some stuff from my mother.” AJ just listened, which was mildly surprising, the other wouldn’t normally be this… tolerable? Drift couldn’t put her finger on it.
“What’s the point of it? You look practically the same.” The decay mage seemed to genuinely question why people would wear makeup. Drift blinked twice in surprise. ‘AJ doesn’t know why people wear makeup? It makes you feel prettier, for special occasions and whatnot.’
“It’s called fun, AJ.” Drift retorted. “Plus… Me and my mom would do this stuff before… She would always call me “pretty” and “beautiful”. She taught me how to do blush and mascara and concealer-” Drift paused. ‘A baker’s family wouldn’t have this type of money- God! I nearly said that I went to balls and stuff! How do I change the subject?” The royal internally panicked, turning to face AJ on her bed and kept up her smile.
“That’s nice, I never saw the need to do that. I feel like it would feel weird with paint on my face.” AJ responded, her head on her knee which was on Drift’s bed. Her smirk only grew with the steps Drift took to come over.
“Hey! Get your shoe off my bed! God knows where you've been- don't mess up my sheets with your dirt!” The earth mage scolded, pushing off AJ’s foot, making a light thud against the bed frame. AJ shuffled over, letting Drift take a seat beside her.
“It’s just a bed, you can wash it later. Calm down, princess.” The other smirked, knowing the annoyance that Drift had with that specific nickname.
“AJ! I told you not to call me that.” Drift stated firmly, attempting to hide the subtle tone of insecurity in her voice. The decay mage’s smirk just grew, however, she did comply. She took off her boots to go cross legged in the middle of Drift’s bed, the other followed suit, putting her boots together and at the foot of the bed, a vast contrast to AJ’s carelessly thrown shoes.
“Soooo… You never did makeup?” Drift began in an attempt to spark conversation. AJ stared at her eyes with an expression she couldn't read.
“Never saw the need for it. Plus, do I look like the type of person to wear, let alone afford that sorta stuff?” Drift did ponder on the statement. AJ did always look and act disorganised, rebellious and chaotic, perhaps she was always like that. “You do look nicer with that on though.” The tinkerer commended, trailing off at her compliment.
“...Do you want to try?” Drift offered, immediately regretting said offer. The other did seem to think about the offer, accepting it with a “Sure, what could go wrong? Make me look pretty as you would say.” She made a rainbow with her hands at the word “pretty”, setting them back into her lap. Drift blinked once, then twice. Her smile grew at what AJ had accepted to, not out of malice, but genuine excitement.
“Oh! Yes! Wait let me get some stuff to wipe that stupid smirk and dirt off your face first.” Drift spoke, a grin leaking through her words. ‘Her own smile began to grow on her face seeing her partner sift through the vanity drawers, grabbing a black tube and a more pale tube. Drift then went to the kitchen area and grabbed a towel from there, throwing it at AJ’s face. “Go wipe your stupid smirk off your face. God, I hate you.” Drift insulted, ticked off while AJ cackled back at her remark, yet she followed, making sure no dirt from the outside world was going to interrupt whatever Open Book was going to do to her.
The earth mage returned with a tube of mascara, a small sponge and some other items. “Okay, come here.” Drift smiled, sitting on the edge of the bed. AJ shuffled over, her lips upturned seeing Drift’s joy to be contagious. Drift herself didn't know why she was so happy, maybe because make-up was something she associated with good things, and it was done with the people you love or for them. She always wanted to look her best for her mother. Drift leaned over, unscrewing the lid on the pale tube and using the wand to place dots under AJ’s dark circles. “Do you ever sleep? And how is your skin so nice, even with the scars, I can’t see a trace of acne.” Drift dabbed at the product on her face, putting her hand under AJ’s chin and turning the tinkerer’s head to get a better look at what she was doing. “That's surprising for someone like you who grew up who knows where.”
Aj stayed silent, purely admiring the earth mage’s beauty. She didn't want to disrupt whatever she was going as long as she was able to be this close to Drift. “Aww, that’s the nicest thing you’ve said to me in the past, like, two minutes!” AJ commented. The sponge on her face did feel odd, but thankfully the product didn't feel like paint would have on her face, it was more like there was nothing at all, maybe a little stickier, but it would dry. “What are you even doing, Open Book?”
“Covering your dark circles with concealer, they’re the only ugly thing on your face.” Drift replied, grabbing AJ’s hand and placing the sponge in it. “Hold that, please, I’ll clean it later.”
Drift spoke, her tone soft whilst screwing the lid back onto the concealer tube. She then unscrewed the lid of the mascara tube she had, leaning ever so slightly closer to AJ’s face and attempting to angle it correctly. “My hand is so shaky, I don't wanna get mascara on you, but I feel like it would be fun.” The earth mage expressed, shifting towards AJ so their knees were almost overlapping. AJ backed up for a second, an idea popping into her head.
She stood up from the bed and turned towards Drift from the outside of the bed. “Wait, face me, Open Book.” The earth mage did as she was told, swinging her legs around to hang her feet off the edge of the bed. She wanted to see where AJ was going with this. The tinkerer held her fist tighter around the sponge to check that it wouldn't touch Open Book’s precious sheets, and climbed onto her lap. She swung her arms around Drift, a grin on her face meanwhile the earth mage froze from the forward action. “This close enough for you?” AJ grinned, she was amused at the reaction Drift made from her straddling her. Drift shook her head, coming back down to earth. “C’mon Open Book, don’t act like we haven’t been closer.”
‘This goddamn little-’ Drift purely sighed. She adjusted Aj’s head so she could properly see that the mascara was doing its job and it didn't go on the rest of her face. Drift shifted her focus to the other side, angling the decay mage’s head so she could compare both eyes to each other. She leaned back, grabbing the mascara tube and placing the lid back onto it.
AJ actually looked pretty nice. Was it out of character for someone like her to wear makeup, even if it was the smallest amount? Sure. Her dark circles were at least less noticeable. “You have freckles. I never noticed that.” AJ observed, glancing at the freckles Drift tried to hide with the concealer. It wasn’t the best full coverage concealer as she left home in a rush, but it did enough.
“Your dark circles are less noticeable, isn't that nice?” Drift responded with a similar observation. Drift opened up an eyeshadow palette, giving AJ a more smokey eye seeing as that would fit her more. The earth mage was just enjoying herself and AJ. ‘She honestly must be a little drunk at least. This is the only time I’ll ever be able to do this, might as well enjoy it.’
After one last check that the decay mage’s eyes were similar enough, AJ got up and off her lap, pacing towards the vanity mirror to check her face. Drift let out a breath she didn't know she was holding until AJ got off, then she followed, the bed creaked with the sudden loss of weight between the two people.
“Huh, yeah. Thanks, Open Book. Am I allowed to take this off or..?” Drift’s smile was tainted by that comment. The earth mage knew that AJ might not enjoy it, or it made her feel uncomfortable, yet she couldn't help but feel a little selfish at how she had made AJ look pretty. For someone who preferred to go for a more masculine or androgynous look, Drift thought that seeing AJ in a slightly more feminine light was nice. Not that Drift fawned for AJ, staring at her ceiling sometimes during late nights thinking about AJ’s mannerisms and how hot she was.
“Uh- yeah. Give me the sponge. I'll wash that.” The royal spoke, taking the beauty sponge passed to her and trading it for the cloth she had given AJ previously to wipe the concealer off her face. Drift put away the sponge along with the tube of mascara and concealer all after washing the beauty sponge in the sink. ‘Everything all in place.’ Drift tossed AJ a damp towel from the kitchenette to remove the dry mascara from her eyes, AJ catching it with ease.
“It’s pretty late into the night after whatever you did.” AJ reminded, it was probably past midnight by now. “So… feeling merciful enough that I could stay the night?” The earth mage let out a scoff from the kitchenette, hands in the sink while washing the towels she had used. AJ used the scoff as acceptance, laying down onto Drift’s bed. Soon enough, after Drift had changed in her closet to her sleeping clothes, they laid down together, Drift resting on AJ’s chest. “You always wear such fancy clothes to bed. It’s literally sleeping, no one is gonna see you.” AJ commented on her silk pajamas.
Drift let out a smart retort “At least I change my clothes, you seem to change once a day and even sleep in our outside clothes! Be grateful I even let you sleep here instead of walking outside in the cold to go back to your dorm.”
A few moments of silence passed, Drift’s voice quietened, slowly succumbing to the lull of sleep. “You looked so pretty earlier…”
Pretty. That was the word Drift described AJ as. People called AJ hot, sexy, and all other things, insults or not, but pretty? That was one that was rare, coming from none other than Drift too. “Hm. Maybe I did. You looked like you wanted to kiss me when I was on your lap.”
“If anything, I think that was you. You’re projecting, AJ.” Drift taunted, bringing up the hand that wasn’t around AJ’s waist to rake through her hair, gently detangling it. “Shame, such a missed opportunity. You had such a chance to kiss me, yet you didn’t.” Drift feigned sadness, as if disappointed AJ hadn’t kissed her when on her lap.
“You just want me all the time, don’t you, Open Book?” The decay mage whispered into Drift’s hair, holding her waist. “I mean… If you’re suggesting then I’m happy to comply-”
“AJ, we need to sleep. I think we have stuff to do. Important stuff. We can do this another day. Go to sleep.” Drift scolded, covering AJ’s mouth with her hand to forbid her from speaking.
“Wow, Open Book. Inviting me to stay another night in your dorm? I'm flattered.” The other mumbled through the ex-royal’s palm.
“Sleep, AJ. I'm tired.”
The tinkerer eventually complied, falling asleep after Drift had, with an arm around the earth mage’s waist.
The two slept soundly in each other's embrace , majorly oversleeping the next day.