title: no rest for the ninja
fandom: peacemaker kurogane
category: gen
characters: susumu, tetsu
bright cherry red lipstick.
and I don't care if they had tweezers or not.
No Rest For The Ninja
-
A few months later, Tetsunosuke spent another afternoon in Susumu's company. The ninja didn't quite understand why the page had nothing better to do, but he didn't argue, having learned the hard way that it was useless.
"Why do you do that?"
Susumu looked up and stared at Tetsu. "It's… necessary." He turned toward the mirror again and frowned, pulling at his skin with practiced ease.
"But why?"
Susumu put the tweezers down and sighed. "I have to draw the eyebrows because my own don't look feminine enough. That's why my own have to go off."
Tetsu seemed content with that explanation and Susumu went back to plucking. A few, silently spent moments later, Tetsu reached for the make up kit on the floor and pulled it closer to himself. Susumu waited for a question to come up, but when Tetsu kept silent, he looked to his side anyway.
Tetsu, for some reason, seemed oddly happy about that and held up a tin. "Show me."
"I'm not going out today, Tetsu. I-" Susumu was ready to argue. He was still tired from last night's fight, there was no way he was going to indulge Tetsu in this.
"Not on you. Put it on me!"
Tetsu smiled at him like there was a prize at the end. Susumu blinked. "You really want me to dress you up like a woman?"
"You know very well that I can't do it on my own."
Susumu smiled - an expression that came much easier already. "Yeah, I know that." He turned to face his shorter friend and stretched out one leg. "Okay, come here."
Tetsu's eyes seemed to widen almost comically. "You're really going to?"
Susumu nodded and took his hair band off, tying it around Tetsu's head to keep the bangs out of his face. Then he reached for the powder, remembering how Ayume had done that for him once, too.
He worked in silence, hiding his amusement at Tetsu's curiosity. The boy's eyes followed his every movement, and when he wasn't getting anything, the intelligent eyes looked directly into his own. Sometimes, Tetsu would raise questions, and he'd answer them patiently; like Ayume had done when she had shown him how to apply make up.
When they were almost done, Susumu took a brush and put bright, cherry red lip balm on the boy's lips. "No, Tetsu, you have to pout. Like that." The ninja stuck his lips out, like he was preparing to kiss someone, and waited till Tetsu followed his instructions. "Alright. Keep them like that."
The lip balm was applied with a steady hand, then Susumu leaned back. "Now smack them together, then you're done."
Tetsu did as he was told, then bent over the mirror and admired himself. He smiled at himself, before turning to give him a hug. The gesture still came surprising to the ninja, and he stiffened for a moment before relaxing into the embrace. This would get easier with time, too.
"Thank you, Susumu!"
"You're… welcome." He watched with a half smile as Tetsu ran out like a whirlwind; most likely to show his facial paint off to anyone who was willing to spare the time.
Susumu had just finished with his eyebrows and was putting the make up kit away again, when Okita showed up, with Tetsu in tow. Expectantly he moved to get up, but Okita was already dancing closer, dropping down next to him with his usual boundless energy.
"Susumu! Do me too!"