aequo animo

an: another twilight fic bc im twilight trash again

aequo amino: (Latin phrase) with even mind; calmly; patiently

When Esme arrived home, the house was quiet except for the distinct sound of Carlisle working in his office. She could hear his pen moving gracefully along the paper he was signing, the sound of a page turning. She stepped out of her shoes and made her way up the stairs, knocking softly on the doorframe of Carlisle's office before stepping inside.

He looked up from his files, smiling at the sight of her. "Hi, darling. How was shopping?"

"Oh, more than successful." She told him, rattling the bags in her hands. "What are you working on?"

"Some case files. But," He said, signing the bottom of one last page. He closed up the envelope, sliding it aside. "I've just finished."

Esme smiled, sitting her bags on his desk before leaning down to brush a kiss to his cheek. "Did the boys go out?"

Carlisle nodded. "They went hunting up north. Rose and Alice didn't come home with you?"

"No, they went to see a movie." She perched herself on the edge of the desk, watching as he reached for one of her shopping bags.

"What'd you buy?" He asked.

"Makeup. I was out of almost everything I use."

Carlisle looked inside, reaching in to pull a few of the boxes out. "You use all of this stuff?"

She laughed a little. "We've been married for almost eighty years and you don't know what I use on my face every single day?"

"It changes all the time." He said defensively. "And how am I to keep up when you and the girls swap products constantly?"

"I'm only teasing you, honey. But yes, I do use most of these products daily."

He pulled a couple more boxes from the bag, examining the bottles of liquid and small compacts of powder. "I can't imagine what for."

Esme reached out and took the boxes from him, sitting them down on the desk in a line. "Face, cheeks, more cheeks, eyes, eyebrows." She told him, tapping each box as she spoke.

"Your complexion is flawless. Why bother with all of this?"

She shrugged, picking up the bottle of foundation. "I like it. It's fun."

"Fun? Having that many products on your face seems...unpleasant."

Esme looked at the products and then smiled at him. "You would look very dashing with a bit of eyeliner, I'm sure."

"Oh, I doubt that."

"Let's see." She hopped down from his desk, reaching for her eyeliner pencil.

"You want to put that on me?"

She nodded. "Yes, in fact, wait right here."

Before he could respond, she was zooming from the office. He heard her rustling around in their bedroom for just a moment before she was in front of him again with her hands full of products.

"I don't think this is necessary. I may be a lost cause."

"Hush. You're absolutely gorgeous. Makeup will just highlight your features."

"I don't know, love. This might all be done in vain."

"Indulge me." She said, sitting the different bundles of brushes and palettes of eyeshadow down on his desk. She looked them over, contemplating her first move before reaching for the eyeshadow and brushes.

Esme nudged his legs apart and stepped up between them, smiling. She leaned down to kiss him softly. "Close your eyes."

He did as he was told, the corners of his mouth quirking at the eagerness on her face. She was excited to paint his face, looking at him like one of her many different projects.

She dipped her brush into the eyeshadow powder, tapping off the excess that would surely fall to his cheeks if she didn't. "I'm thinking a dark brown color." Esme ran the eyeshadow along the crease of his eyelid.

"Why?"

"It'll bring out the gold in your eyes."

"It will, huh?"

"Yes. Now, stop talking. I can't have your face moving."

Carlisle was quiet, content to let her do what she wanted. She brushed numerous different colors to his eyes, dark browns and glittery shades of gold.

Once she was happy with her work, she closed the eyeshadow and set the products aside.

"Finished?"

"Just with the first part." She told him, stepping back and picking up her eyeliner pencil. "Okay, you have to stay very still for this one."

He nodded and closed his eyes as she stepped back into the space between his legs.

"I need your eyes open for this. Look up."

Carlisle titled his head back, making Esme chuckle.

"No," She gently grabbed his chin, bringing him eye to eye with her. "With your eyes."

He smiled somewhat sheepishly, reaching forward to pull her closer by her thighs. "I think you're going to need a closer look. It's a known fact that one's eyesight deteriorates during the aging process."

"And I've aged so much, haven't I?" Esme climbed up onto the chair with him, her knees on either side of his lap.

"You have. A whole three more years than me."

She growled playfully, nipping at the tip of his nose. "Be quiet and let me finish your makeup."

"Yes, dear."

Esme leaned closer as he lifted his eyes to the ceiling, cradling his cheek in one of her hands as she lifted the eyeliner pencil to his eye. She carefully moved it along his lash line, her touch soft.

Once she was satisfied with the eyeliner along each of his lash lines, she on moved to the waterline. He jerked his head back slightly as the pencil came in contact with his eye. She slightly brought him back and kept her hand on the back of his head.

"Stop blinking." She muttered, moving onto the next eye.

"I have to, Esme. You're jabbing my eye!"

"May I remind you that your eyes are practically indestructible? A little eyeliner is not going to hurt you."

"That may be so but that doesn't mean I enjoy taking pencils to the eye."

"Oh, hush." She told him. "I'm almost finished with it."

Esme capped the eyeliner and deposited it onto the desk. She grabbed the mascara next.

She shifted closer, resting a hand on his shoulder as she lifted the hand with the mascara wand up to his eye. "Hold still."

He did as he was told, looking up when she instructed. "How do I look?"

"Beautiful." She replied. "As always."

"Are you finished?"

"One more thing." She kept a hand on his shoulder as she leaned over, grabbing a few different tubes of lipstick from where she'd laid the products out on his desk. "Which one?"

Carlisle looked at the different shades before settling on a dark purple color. "You wear this one. I'll do this." He tapped the lid of her favorite cherry shade.

Esme smiled. "This will look great on you." She handed him the purple shade and sat the others aside, pulling the lid off of the tube in her hand. "Okay, open your mouth just a little."

He did, watching her face as she moved the lipstick across his lips. "This-"

"Shh, I'm almost finished." She swiped the lipstick across his bottom lip one more time before setting it aside and lifted her thumb to the corner of his mouth, carefully wiping away that mistake his talking had caused. "There. Perfect."

Esme smiled brightly, her eyes shining as she looked him over.

"Did you enjoy yourself?" He asked, unable to contain the chuckle at the sight of her excitement.

"Oh, yes. More fun than painting. Although, my canvases usually do less talking."

"That sounds painfully boring." He teased, resting his hands on her waist.

She hummed in agreement, shifting to move off of his lap. "Do you want to see?"

"Wait," He replied, pulling her back down onto his lap. "Let me do yours first."

She nodded, settling on his lap and holding still as he lifted the lipstick to her mouth. She watched his face, fighting the urge to smile at his serious expression. The concentration on his face- it was what she could only assume he looked like as he performed surgery. For all his effort, she could feel him moving the product a little too far south, could feel the moment he colored a little far outside the lines.

Carlisle pulled his hand back, studying his work.

"How does it look?" She asked.

"You look immaculate in purple."

"So you've told me." Esme said, lifting her hand to sift it through his hair, brushing back the pieces that were perpetually falling to his forehead. "Are you finished?"

When he nodded, she climbed off of his lap and pulled him to his feet. She tugged on his hand, leading him into their bedroom until their were standing side by side in front of their mirror.

"What do you think?" She asked, watching his face as he leaned in to study his eyes. He lifted a delicate finger to his eyelashes, surprised by their prominence.

"I certainly look different."

"You look incredible." She said, looping her arm through his as they looked in the mirror. "You know, I've heard that it is becoming fashionable for men to wear makeup as well."

"Is that so?"

"Mhm. Alice told me."

"Well, if Alice said so." He teased, nudging her with his arm.

She nudged him back, grinning at him as she reached up to brush a bit of the glitter eyeshadow from his cheek.

Carlisle smiled, tilting her chin up with his fingers before pressing a kiss to her forehead. His lips left a bright cherry kiss mark on her forehead.

She jumped back, looking at herself in the mirror. "Hey!"

Carlisle laughed, pulling her back to him to press another kiss to each of her cheeks.

"You're getting lipstick all over me!"

"Am I?" He teased, pressing another kiss to the tip of her nose.

Esme couldn't help but laugh as she tugged on the ends of his scarf, pulling him down so that she could press a dozen kisses to every inch of his face.

"There." She said. "Now we're both a mess."

"Perfect." Carlisle replied, leaning down to leave a lingering kiss on her lips.

an: who said three years of latin would be a waste of time