AN: I'd love to write the ball scene related to Day 2, but it'd require more writing time than I have on my hands at the moment (maybe as a bonus chapter). Instead, have one of Midnight's "experiments" on Lucy, even though I'm not very happy with how this turned out. It feels awkward and choppy. Oh well, there's always next time. Once again, I'm a day late, but life is not very forgiving to my muse. Day 3: Pin-Up.
Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima.
Lucy regretted ever making that deal with the demon. He had held up his side of the deal quite well, but what he wanted in return was just too much. Just because she had a Spirit who could cut and grow her hair to any length did not give Midnight free reign to try out every single possibility. She liked the length she kept her hair at. It was not too long, so it was manageable, but it was still long enough to style if she chose to.
"Midnight, are you done yet?" she whined. She had been sitting on a kitchen chair for over two hours as her best friend and Spirit messed with her hair and makeup. Every time they seemed to be done, one of them found something that needed fussing over.
"Just... wait..." The blonde felt something tug lightly on the back of her head, and suddenly she felt a burst of cold air on her neck. Shivering lightly, she realized she could no longer feel her hair on her shoulders. "Done! You can look now."
Lucy rushed from the kitchen to her bedroom and the full mirror attached to her closet door. Before she could reach the mirror though, Virgo popped out of nowhere and held out a tiny red dress and matching heels. "Here, Princess. To complete the look."
"Oh. Thank you, Virgo. You didn't have to do that." She accepted the clothes and, checking that she had not been followed by Midnight or Cancer, she pulled the outfit on. The dress was stretchy, but clung to her every curve, and the shoes were surprisingly comfortable considering how tall the heels were. Once finished to her satisfaction, Lucy completed her journey to the mirror, but once she was in front of it, she lost the ability to string together a coherent thought, let alone speak.
"Punishment, Princess?" Lucy noticed the devious glint in her Spirit's eyes, but even then, the temptation to take the pinkette up on her offer was easily overcome. It was not Virgo's fault that her best friend had lost his mind. Though she had a feeling that somehow Taurus (and maybe Loke) had influenced Cancer into suggesting this particular look, it was still Midnight's fault for agreeing. He should have known better than to dress her up like this.
"So, what do you think? It's pretty authentic, right?" The sound of his voice snapped Lucy from her daze and woke her, admittedly easy to provoke, anger. Her friend must be insane to ever think she would have something nice to say about this.
"What the hell, Midnight?! I know that I agreed to sit through some of your experiments, but this?! I look like a slut from seventy years ago!" Her blonde hair had been cut into a pixie-esque cut and curled while her makeup made her eyelashes seem miles long and her lips cherry-red, matching the dress and heels from Virgo. All in all, it was a look she would never have chosen by herself, and certainly would never have let anyone else seen her in. Well, she could appreciate how the dress complimented her body, showing off plenty of cleavage with its sweetheart neckline, but looking at it in the mirror, it was far too short, barely brushing the tops of her thighs.
"Not a slut. Well, not only sluts dressed like this. If Cancer got the history from Grandpa Crux right, it's called 'pin-up' and it was a popular way of promoting dancers as well as its use in propaganda in the early 700s." Disappointment briefly flashed across his face, before he hid his feelings behind a blank face. "It was just an idea we tried playing around with. If you really hate it so much, we can just move on to the next one."
Guilt welled up in her at the sight of Midnight's face. She had told him early on in their friendship that he did not need to use that blank mask around her, that she respected and valued his feelings. With an internal sigh, knowing that if this got out that her friends would never let her live it down (especially if Cana got her hands on it), she shook her head. "No, Midnight, I'm sorry. That was too harsh. It's out of my comfort zone, but it doesn't look bad. You did an incredible job with the makeup, and you'll have to teach the tricks you used to make my eyelashes this long. Um, and how about you take a photo with my camera for... Well, because why not?"