A/N: Happy Pride to all of you! Queer or not, 'coz in the words of Harry E. Styles, "We're all a little bit gay, aren't we."
When I joined ffn, I couldn't bear to see yaoi fics of Kai, Tala and all. Heteronormativity, what can you say? *eye rolling at myself*
But last year, I joined the One Direction fandom and naturally started reading a lot of 1D fics on ao3. And obviously, if anyone has read or even knows 1D fandom, they know how gay it is.
Later, I also read a bit of Tyka fics here. So as you can see, I'm a changed person. And here I'm with my very first homo fic. A Kai/Tala (what's their ship name?).
Warning: a simping Kai for Tala's beautiful features.
It's Just Some Makeup
(For Pride Month)
It is a silent night. Too silent. He can even clearly hear their neighbour, Natasha, practising her piano.
But anything is better than the commotion ensuing downstairs. His teammates wouldn't know silence even if it hit them on their faces.
"You know you've got a perfect little balcony with chairs and all for yourself in your room, right?" A snarky voice which he knows all too well, speaks out from the shadows. Tala comes forward and sits beside him on the rooftop edge. "I know that you are habituated with sitting on bloody rooftops. But this isn't Japan, and we live in a two-storey house, Kai."
Kai turns to look at Tala. There's something about his face, not that Tala's face was any less beautiful before, but it looks different now, beautiful but also quite different.
"Are you worried I'll fall?" He asks, smirking like the smug bastard he has always been.
Tala huffs and rolls his eyes. Beautiful, crystal blue eyes. "I'm worried that we might get arrested for breaking the bones of a poor soul." His eyes wander off, fixating on something far away. "It's not like the rest of the world doesn't think we're some sociopathic criminals."
Kai sighs. He wants to say something. Something along the lines of "Oh, Tala" and some back rubbing. But he can't. He has never consoled anyone. He doesn't know how to without making everything awkward.
The most he can do is sit beside him quietly, which is what he's doing.
"Oh well," Tala perks up suddenly, all traces of forlorn gone from his face. He is a good actor, Kai thinks. "Actually I came here to show my pretty face in makeup." He's grinning widely. He has a pretty face, Kai agrees that.
Kai furrows his eyebrows and looks at him with amusement, "Your what in what now?" So that's why his face seemed different.
"My makeup," Tala says in a duh tone. "Natasha's friends are not in town, so she dragged me to the spa with her. According to her, the rest of my teammates are too scary and Ian's a shrieking midget." He starts laughing. "Well, long story short, she said my features are too good to be wasted and took me to the mall later and bought me some really expensive and posh cosmetics."
"And you liked it, of course." Kai makes an observation. Tala is a fluid man, in all proper senses of the word. He doesn't shy away from trying new things to his person. Be it his appearance or his beyblading, he's always evolving.
Tala shrugs, "It's not bad. Though I don't know if I'll use it in the future. I could look up some YouTube videos to see what suits me. Because Tasha bought every product that was on display."
Kai wants to see it. The makeup. He wants to drag Tala inside the house and admire his face for hours in the bright light. But, once again, he can't. It's too uncharacteristic of him.
So he does what he can to admire Tala without being awkward, he lays down on the roof, his hands pillowing his head and his legs still dangling dangerously from the edge. Tala follows his suit and they both lay there for hours; sometimes talking, sometimes taking in the massiveness of the starry sky above them.
Tala wakes up the next morning with motivation.
Well, more like a sudden thought.
He's not on the roof, both he and Kai having crept back to their rooms at midnight. Crept because Spencer is a mom and he can definitely ground them. No cap there.
After his normal morning routine (read: showering) he stands in front of the mirror in the bathroom, a toiletries bag placed on the counter.
Tala doesn't need some beauty guru to tell how to use a black pencil on his eyes. He can do it himself.
.
.
.
He can't do it himself. At least not without getting racoon eyes or a super shiny nose. Guess he has to rely on the internet after all.
After 4 videos, 7 tries, and a dustbin filled with makeup wipes, he thinks he looks decent. Thinks being the keyword, because he has absolutely no idea if makeup is supposed to look like that. At least according to Natasha's yesterday' words, his eye colour does pop out, his facial features do look sharper, and his lips do look soft enough.
He doesn't have to go out anywhere today, so might as well walk around, getting the feedbacks of his teammates. No scratch that. He would rather facetime with Hilary or Ming Ming and have them screech and gush his ears off than have the boys passively react. They don't know anything about how to admire some good art.
Tasha, he decides then. She's the best option.
Tala storms downstairs and swiftly makes his way towards the door. He doesn't want to run into anyone in the house currently.
His plan fails terribly. A strong hand grips his upper arm, stopping his gait, and pulls him back to face the person.
"Why are you runni-" Kai stops saying with a hitch in his breath. A gasp, it's called a gasp, you son of Shakespeare, his brain retaliates with him. It's snarkier, his brain. "Are you wearing makeup right now?" Kai's voice is deep, deeper than usual.
"I-yeah…" Tala stammers. Why is he stammering? Heaven knows. What he knows is that Kai is stepping forward, Tala instinctively stepping back. "Just some eyeliner." Another step back. "And highlighter." One more step back. "And lip gloss." He's caged between the wall and Kai.
Kai's hands fell on his waist as a light brush, like he was unsure of his actions. His eyes wandered over his face, taking it all in. "So this is what you look like with makeup…" He muses.
"I guess so…" Tala says softly. It feels like he shouldn't even be saying anything. There is a moment building up, a trance-like state pulling them both in. "You like it?"
Kai's right eyebrow quirks and then he smirks, "Hn," and Tala knows him too well to know it's his soft 'hn'. Kai is, as everyone knows, never vulnerable. Except when he's with Tala. They've soft moments. Soft talks. Things are different with them. So different, yet they both have been afraid to cross the thin line to become something more than whatever they were.
Tala wants to cross the line now.
He slides his hand up Kai's shoulders, entwining his fingers behind his neck. "Should I wear it more often?"
Kai breathes in at the sudden closeness. "You should shut up more often." He surges forward, pressing their lips together. His hands grip Tala's waist tightly, their hips grinding against each other.
This is it. This is what he has wanted for so long.
Tala swipes his tongue against Kai's lower lip, parting his lips open. His slender fingers tug at the roots of Kai's hair, enticing a moan which gets enveloped into the kiss. Tala's knees feel weak, he feels like he will melt into a puddle due to the heat of everything happening.
They can only go so far before the air runs out of their lungs and they start to pant lightly.
"Upstairs?"
Kai doesn't reply but kisses him again, and somehow walking their jointed limbs towards his room. No one mentions if there were bumps on their way, figuratively and literally.
A/N: Yes, I know you all are reading it in July rather than June, the pride month, but hey! There's no specific time to celebrate love and equality, right?
Also, 'coz I'm a senior in high school now, tests are coming, and my school has been relentlessly sending us assignments to complete while doing test preps.
So well! It's me, posting a queer oneshot right after pride month :D
Stay safe and keep loving,
Rome :)