modern culture is rubbish (sort of) private

@Katherine Cobwebbe

Gem felt an air of relief when Katherine actually liked his idea. He felt himself grinning, sitting beside her when she did, just so he didn't feel left out. As she rummaged through it, he watched, his eyes widening when she'd implied she was going to try a look on him - well, why not? Leland had taken him to a few drag shows before, they always looked quite fabulous, he couldn't see why.

"Right then, just try not ta poke me eye out," He smiled, leaning his head forwards a bit so she wouldn't have to stretch so much to get to his face. He had never worn makeup before, he'd always been curious about it, but he never dared. Even if his dad wore it on stage, he'd never even though to go through his mother's items, look around, have a try...

"Yeh, Leland. Sometimes, when he'd be over an' allat, he'd have some lipstick and eyeliner on... he looked dazzlin', took me bloody breath away." He wondered what kind look she'd try on him, whether or not he'd look like a little girl. His features were always so boyish, he never really expected... well, he was just about to see how pretty he could get. Maybe Kat would let him do makeup on her-- or maybe that was a terrible idea, which, in some sense, made it better.

Kat had never in her life referred to a boy as dazzling, but she could imagine that dazzling was the sort of person Leland was. From the pictures Gem had showed her, he certainly seemed cool, and she really liked his art. However, Gem seemed to place the guy on a pedestal, treating him with almost reverence. That sort of thing probably wasn't healthy for his self-esteem.

"Took your breath away? Do you like him or something?" Kat had said it in a joking way, but was genuinely curious. Boys didn't usually say stuff like that about other boys - in her experience anyway. She considered it again, trying to picture Gem in some dark red lipstick. She just thought he'd look funny. "Not that I'd blame you. Even I can admit that he's very pretty for a guy. I'd love to ask him a few things."

She finalised the eyeliner with a small cat eye flick, pulling back to admire her handiwork. It wasn't great. She'd outlined both Gem's eyes, and on his slightly gawkish features he looked very much like a panda. She bit her lip to stifle a laugh, routing through the make up bag again to find a mirror.

"Don't worry, you look great," she insited, pulling out a compact mirror and clicking it open so he could have a look. "I didn't say it would be good, to be fair." She watched his reaction with a mischeivous smile before pushing the eyeliner pen into his hand. "Go on, you have to make me look just as sexy."

@Katherine Cobwebbe

Gem's face got red, fighting the instinct to pull himself back in a fit of embarrassment. Instead, he tightened his expression, a pouty frown stretching across his lips.

"No-no. No, absolutely naht- e's like a... he's like a father ta me," he sniffed, blinking back to prevent any tears from dripping down his cheeks - who the hell said beauty knew no pain? Goddamn idiot must've never ever had eyeliner applied to their waterline. "I'll... I'll tell 'im, he thought you were quite cool."

When she finished, he was quite excited to see the results, leaning his head down to look at the mirror. Well, he hadn't quite expected it, but he looked... all right, honestly. Maybe he vaguely resembled a raccoon, but there was some appeal there. Some... somehow. He felt himself grin mischievously when she said it was her turn to become sexy, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively, teeth coming down on his bottom lip.

"How could I possibly make ya more sexy? It's impossible, you've broken e' barriers." He plucked the eyeliner out of Katherine's hands, leaning in real close to her face, using his other hand to keep her head positioned right. He'd seen his mum do this plenty of times, he had to have had it down by now, right? He brought it down to her under eye first, pursing his lips concentratedly. It was bloody hard, but he had a steady hand and found that the line he made was... impressively straight. He moved on to the second eye, attempting to mirror his damn masterpiece from just a second ago.

"How's life?" He found himself asking, pulling his face away from hers so she couldn't smell the smoke on his breath. If there was one thing he was obsessed with, it had to be his oral hygiene - if his breath smelled like anything but mint or, better, nothing, he'd have a conniption. "Anythin' happen lately?"