The play's the thing

[plaguedrat]

"In brief, to set the needless process by, how I persuaded, how I pray'd, and kneel'd. How he refell'd me, and how I replied...Damn...that's..."

Rat sighs and adjusts his posture in the mirror, trying to capture Isabella's conflict, her desperation, her guilt. He hates admitting it, the idea that after only two months he might be settling by looking for work. But a proud soul often means an empty stomach and he's nothing if not practical. There are few jobs that he's suited to perform and equally few he's willing to submit to without being desperate.

So he stands in front of a mirror, wearing a thrifted dress that he's pinned to flatter and diguise his figure. A little makeup, expertly applied, and he's transformed into Eve again.

Comments

[plaguedrat]

Rat strokes Grey's face, soothing at him a little. "It's one of his less famous plays, Measure for Measure."

[silenttrainbaby]

Leaning into the touch, Grey nods. Not that that means anything to him. He touches Rat's mouth again. He likes to hear him talk; it doesn't matter what, really. He just likes to hear him talk.

[plaguedrat]

He understands that, he thinks. The sound and companionship. It helps him too, though he doesn't think to say it.

"Measure for Measure? Or do you want to read something else?"

[silenttrainbaby]

It could be the dwarves and Hobbits again, or this. They have three different stories going, it seems.

Grey shrugs, letting Rat choose.

[plaguedrat]

"Nope," he teases, smiling. "You have to pick. Your favorite. I'm going to wash my face while you do."

[silenttrainbaby]

Wait! Before he goes, Grey hinges forward, pressing his mouth to Rat's smeared, painted mouth. To taste it, to see if it's that much different.

[plaguedrat]

Rat forgets himself and returns the kiss, deep and hungry, not caring a whit about the way it smears.

[silenttrainbaby]

Oh. Grey slides a hand into Rat's hair, scooting closer. He doesn't much like the taste of the lip color, but the taste of Rat's mouth lures him closer, sending heat down his spine.

[plaguedrat]

He laughs again, know that they're far too close to red-smeared sex at this rate. He softens the kiss a moment, butting his forehead gently against Grey's. "Let me go clean up."

[silenttrainbaby]

But why? There's a breathed-out whimper as Grey feels him pull away. He catches his own lower lip between his teeth, watching, unaware that his own mouth is stained.

[plaguedrat]

"Because we're both covered in lipstick now," Rat says, smearing it along Grey's mouth with his thumb.

[silenttrainbaby]

Chasing that thumb, Grey catches it between his teeth with warm eyes. Is Rat still leaving?

[plaguedrat]

Just to clean up. He extracts himself from the couch and pulls Grey along to show him his own reflection. The two of them look a sight.

[silenttrainbaby]

Surprise paints itself with the red on Grey's face as he looks at himself. He catches himself reaching for the reflection rather than his own face, then he looks at Rat in the mirror.

Can Rat make him look like he does? Grey arches a brow. Can he?

[plaguedrat]

Rat raises his eyebrows, trying to analyze the questions that Grey is transmitting. "What do you want?"

[silenttrainbaby]

A touch to Rat's cheek, then Grey's - color like Rat has. Why not?

[plaguedrat]

"My face...your face..." Rat tilts his head. "Makeup?"

[silenttrainbaby]

If that's what it's called - yes. Grey nods. Make up. For him. To see what he looks like.

[plaguedrat]

Rat nods and takes him to the bathroom so that he can clean off both their faces first.

"It's usually for women," he admits. "But I wear it when I act."

[silenttrainbaby]

Make up was, for the most part, extinct on the train, at least in the back. Further up, Grey had seem all sorts of strange colors on faces.

He leans his hip against the sink and lets Rat do as he pleases.

[plaguedrat]

Rat nods. Years of practice tell him that the colors he has will have to be used carefully on Grey and his darker skin. Carefully, he marks up Grey's eyes and mouth, softening the shape of his jaw and brow.

[silenttrainbaby]

It tickles, the strange touch, the feel of something sticky on his eyes. But Grey has spent his life learning to do as he's told and he stays still even if the sensations are entirely new.

[plaguedrat]

"Okay, done," Rat says, putting the brushes down. "Go look in the mirror."

[silenttrainbaby]

Turning, Grey opens his eyes and stares. He looks strange. More exotic perhaps, his angles shadowed. He blinks and looks at Rat. Do they look alike?

[plaguedrat]

Not very much, Rat thinks. He'd taken care to use the colors to Grey's best advantage not too garish nor too subtle. "Never thought I'd do this for someone else," he admits, turning on the water to wash his face again.