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Jace has always loved feeling soft. For every leather jacket or rough denim thing he owns, he also has a fuzzy sweater or a soft pair of lounge pants. He loves the way silk looks and feels. He wears nothing more than a robe around his and Simon's (and Maia and Maureen's) apartment all the time. He's no stranger to soft things, so why is he here, frozen in front of the prettiest shirt he's ever seen? Maia sees him pause and walks over.
"Jace? You okay?" She notices what he's looking at. "That's a really cool shirt. What size do you think you would be?"
She rummages through the rack looking for one that will fit, and Jace is so thankful. His hands are shaky when he reaches out to take the one she holds up, and if Maia notices, she doesn't say.
He's bought shirts similar to this before. It's all silk and lace, and it flows beautifully. Jace sees himself wearing it, as clear as day. He's never bought anything out of the women's section before.
Maia doesn't start a speech like he expects her too. She has one, all about how clothes shouldn't be divided by gender.
Jace is a little thankful that she lets him have the ride back to think in silence. A day after his boyfriend sees him trying it on, Simon goes out and buys him a beautiful necklace that goes perfectly with the neckline of the shirt. He kisses the back of Jace's neck after he clasps it, and Jace thinks, "Okay, I can deal with my parents disapproving looks and I can deal with this stupid dinner if I have this boy by my side."
Clary starts dyeing her hair pink at the ends. She convinces Izzy to do her's purple, and then Maureen does red. Jace thinks about it for weeks. He imagines himself with every color of pastel hair he can think of. Magnus and his blue, Maureen and her red, Izzy and her purple. Clary and her pink. It's a soft, beautiful shade of pink, and he thinks it would look a lot lighter in his hair than it does on Clary's. He makes sure to be hanging around her when she plans to dye hers. He's thankful for his weirdly telepathic friends who stop and notice how he's feeling without him having to communicate. Clary offers to dye his hair, even guessed that he wants it pink.
It turns out amazing. His hair is almost rose gold. He thinks it catches the light nicely, and so does Clary. Simon agrees later, when they're tangled up in bed and he's running a hand through Jace's hair.
Jace doesn't venture into makeup for a long time. It's almost weird, because Magnus wears makeup and so does Meliorn and occasionally Simon when he wants to look rock-star-like. Izzy has offered a million times, and even though he used to let her when they were younger, he thinks it means something different now. Now, when he decided to wear makeup, it's a bigger step than the color in his hair or the polish on his nails or the clothes in his closet. It's him saying something to the world that he's been too scared to say for a long time.
Simon buys him an eyeshadow palette for his birthday. "You don't have to wear it." He whispers, and it's like he knows, even though Jace hasn't said it yet. He figures it's time.
The sparkly eyeshadow doesn't change anything, but Jace's words do.
Simon buys them an expensive lipstick to celebrate.