A/N: So another chapter after a week(of no reviews). I hope people are reading on still since ppl are still posting here. I am posting this on AO3 if you're more comfortable reading there! But I will still post this here as well. Happy reading~
The next morning Emil woke up sleepily and sat up. He stretched and rubbed his eyes, looking around his room. "Breakfast." He muttered to himself and climbed out of bed to start his shuffle down the stairs.
He paused and turned back to his bed. "Sheets first." He muttered to himself and pulled off his sheets, folding the comforter up and putting it at the end of the naked bed. He put his sheets in the laundry basket that sat next to the door. There, that took care of that.
Emil opened the door, and at the same time, Lili opened hers. He looked up at her, observing the long t-shirt she had on with a pair of fluffy socks. "Good morning." He said to her quietly.
She gave a warm smile to him. "Good morning, how did you sleep?"
"Better than expected."
"That's good." She said and went over to Sophia's door, knocking a couple of times. "I know my first few nights here I had a hard time sleeping."
Sophia pulled the door open and came out of her room. "Breakfast?"
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Downstairs, people were gathering for breakfast.
"Good morning." Sophia and Lili greeted simultaneously.
"Good morning everyone," Emil said afterward quietly and sat down at the table. He looked over at Feliciano sitting back in his chair with his arms crossed. "Good morning Feliciano." Emil greeted.
Feliciano looked over at him, a look of annoyance on his face. "I am not Feliciano. Since you're new I'll let you slide this time, but just so we're clear, I'm Lovino, Feli's twin brother."
"Oh sorry. I didn't know he had a twin. So we have two sets of twins in the house?"
"Yep, but Lovino is rarely around, he works a lot," Lili explained.
"Where do you work?"
"A restaurant in the city," Lovino replied.
Emil nodded at the answer and saw Elizabeta, Feliciano, and Roderich came out with breakfast. Pancakes, scrambled eggs, and bacon along with coffee and tea. Once again, as soon as they sat down, the exchange began. Emil hadn't done much better from last night, but at least he managed to get a cup of coffee, and a couple of pancakes. Lili passed him the bacon and eggs and Sophia slid him some sugar and creamer for his coffee.
Emil added the sugar and creamer to his coffee. "So do you guys always cook for the house?"
Elizabeta nodded. "Pretty much. Everyone else cleans up afterward, depending on the day. Gil, Nat, and Kiku take care of Tuesday and Wednesday, the twins and Feliks take care of Thursday and Friday, and the Saturday and Sunday were just for Sophia and Lili but now you'll be helping them with the meal cleanup now."
"So who cleans up on Mondays?"
"I usually take care of Monday's. Everyone's busiest day." Feliciano spoke.
It was crazy how everything worked like clockwork in this house. Was anything ever out of place? It was so organized. Scheduled breakfast, dinner, activity time, cleaning time, and even grocery shopping. Honestly, Emil felt like he was in a summer camp with Feliciano, Elizabeta, and Roderich as the camp counselors.
"How did you sleep last night Emil?" Matthew asked.
"I slept well, thank you for asking."
"Good night's sleep, huh? Must have been easy for you to sleep through the things that go bump in the night." Gilbert said with a snicker, only to have Natalya jab him with her fork. "Ow! Take a joke sometimes." He muttered rubbing his leg.
"Not a lot of bumping in the night, I guess. Or at least I didn't hear anything weird. Was I supposed to?"
"No." Everyone said at the same time.
"There's nothing to worry about. Gilbert just likes to try and scare our new tenants with talk of spooky stuff, and late-night activity." Feliciano said.
Emil nodded slowly. He felt like everyone was acting weird, but maybe it's best to brush it off when they act like this. For some reason, he felt like he'd be doing a lot of brushing off with them.
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Lovino walked into the parlor with a clipboard in hand. "Alright everyone shut up, I've got the cleaning lineup. Kiku and Gilbert, mop duty. Alfred and Matthew, dusting duty. Elizabeta and Sophia, bathrooms, Emil and Lili, bed linen, and Natalya and Feliks, clean out the old food in the fridge. Roderich you're helping Feli with the garden today. As usual if you finish up early, find something other people need help on. Cleaning hour begins now." With that Lovino tossed the clipboard behind him, making Feliciano yelp and catch it to keep it from hitting him.
Emil watched as everyone shuffled around to get their cleaning duties started, and Lili stood heading over to him. "Looks like we're making beds today." She said, smiling some at him.
Emil's eyes widened. "Wait, we have to make everyone else's bed?" He asked.
"Well someone else is cleaning your bathroom for you, and moping your hallway, why not put fresh sheets on someone's bed for them?" She explained before standing and turning back to him. "Come on, we have to go get the fresh sheets."
Emil stood and followed her, leading him to a two-door closet. "This is the linen closet. It has fresh sheets for everyone in the house, and this basket is where all the old sheets go for a cleaning."
"Do we have to clean the sheets too?"
"No, Feli just takes them to the laundromat in town while we're shopping and they wash them for us." She pulled down a stack of pastel green fitted sheets, and a stack of pastel yellow top sheets. "You can pick whatever colors you want to go on everyone's bed, I try to pick colors that go well together." Then she grabbed a single fitted and top sheet from the second shelf. "Roderich and Lizzie are the only ones with a double bed, so their sheets are on the second shelf. You can carry the fitted sheets, I'll carry the top sheets, and we can just pull the basket along together."
Emil took the fitted sheets from Lili. "So we just go up to each floor and take their old sheets and make their beds with the new sheets?"
"Bingo." She said smiling at him.
"Alright, sounds easy enough."
Emil tossed Alfred and Matthew's sheets into the basket while Lili was finishing up making the other bed.
Lili smoothed out the sheets and nodded in approval. "We make a pretty good team. Already on the third floor." She said.
Emil nodded as well. "Yeah, didn't think it would be this fast honestly." He said and pulled the basket out of their room.
Lili handed him his now thin stack of fitted sheets and smiled. "Well, to the third floor we go."
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Lili pushed her door open, revealing her room.
Emil looked around her room. She had little plants sitting in the window sill and a stack of books on the desk next to a laptop. String lights ran around the room, and a couple of bean bag chairs sat in the corner. Even her room was cute. Jesus everything about this girl was just so damn cute. "Your room is really nice."
"Thank you, I figured I'd be staying here a while, so I tried to make it as cozy as possible."
"How long have you been here so far?"
Lili grabbed her old sheets, putting them in the basket. "Three months so far. It's probably going to be a few more months before I actually decide to move out."
Emil pulled off a fitted sheet from his stack of sheets and spread it across the bed. "But don't you want to be on your own?"
Lili tucked the ends of the sheet under the mattress. "I am on my own. It's a lot better than the living situation I was in before. Trust me."
Emil tucked his ends as well. "I mean sure you're on your own, but you're not actually on your own. When you're on your own, no one can tell you what to do, you can have breakfast whenever you want, dinner whenever you want, come and go as you please, and no dumb after-dinner activities."
"Well that sounds nice and all, but some people attach to things a lot easier than others. It doesn't mean they don't wish to just set up a map and go to wherever the dart lands, but they just know that it's going to take more than a month to do some figuring out of what happens next in their life. And who knows? Maybe where they are at that moment, can teach them a thing or two along the way." She said and shrugged. "But, what do I know? I just work in a nursing home." She said and started to spread the top sheet.
Emil helped spread out the top sheet tucking in the sheet at the foot of the bed. "No, I hear what you're saying. You're not the only one that thinks it's weird that I'm only staying here a month, but I just don't see myself here. I need to be out taking pictures in the lush countryside of France, not making other people's bed for them on Morningside Drive."
Lili smiled some at him. "Maybe so, but people change people Emil. Always remember that." With that, she grabbed the comforter from her desk chair and spread it across the bed.
Emil pulled at the comforter, spreading it out evenly across the bed. "Looks good."
"Almost." She said as grabbed her pillow and put it back on the bed, along with a pink throw pillow she invested in herself, and a stuffed puffin toy in the middle of her pillows. "Now it's good. Perfect even."
Emil smiled. "You like puffins? My favorite animal."
"Yeah, puffins and penguins are both pretty up there for my favorite animal. I wanted to be a marine biologist when I was younger."
"Really? What happened?"
"Life happened." She spoke with a shrug and started her way out the door. "Two rooms left." She said and looked at their stacks of sheets before frowning. "I miscounted, we're short a set."
"No worries, I'll run back downstairs and grab a set." Emil offered and left his stack of sheets with Lili before heading downstairs.
When Emil was gone, Lili gave a coded knock on the attic door, and the lock clicked, and the door squeaked open. "I got some sheets for you, old sheets please."
A hand came out the door, handing Lili their old sheets, she took them and gave them their new sheets. Once they got the new sheets, the door closed and locked again.
Emil came back up a few minutes later, with an extra set of sheets. "Alright, here we are. One top sheet and one fitted sheet."
Lili looked at the sheets and gave a half-smile. "Emil, this is a green top sheet and yellow fitted sheet, it's the other way around."
"Shit, I'll be right back."
Lili giggled as she watched him leave.
"Great cleaning as usual everyone. Who's coming to the grocery store?" Feliciano asked waving around the keys.
"Shotgun!" Feliks asked dashing to the door.
Natalya scoffed. "Does he even need anything from the store anymore?" She asked heading out as well.
Gilbert, Kiku, Alfred, and Matthew followed suit out the door.
"Are you coming, Sophie?"
Sophia shook her head. "Nope, not this week."
"Okay well, I'll tell you how our grocery store soap opera goes." She said with a giggle and looked over at Emil. "Are you coming?"
"Definitely, I'm going to get some stuff to put in my mini-fridge." Emil said following her. They went out to the front where a large van had been parked outside and everyone was climbing in.
"This is the family van, so everyone can go to places together at one time," Lili said climbing in.
Emil climbed in behind her and Kiku after him. Behind them, Matthew was reading a book and Alfred was bobbing his head to whatever his headphones were playing. In front of them, Natalya and Gilbert had been doing some small chatting, though it was mostly Gilbert talking, Feliks was taking selfies, and Kiku was playing with a Nintendo DS. "Do you ever stop playing video games?" He asked him.
Kiku looked up at him. "Not really." He said and his head went back down to his game.
Feliciano climbed into the driver's seat. "Alrighty, laundromat and grocery store." He said turning over the engine and heading into town.
The town, though big, didn't have too much to offer in itself. Movie theater, grocery stores, bookstores, clothing shops, laundromats, cafes, and other miscellaneous shops.
Once Feliciano dropped off the sheets at the laundromat he drove across the street to the grocery store and parked. Everyone hopped out of the van and headed into the store. Feliks had been ahead of everyone and walked into the store first. He looked over at the customer service desk, making a beeline for a man with brown hair. "Hi Toris." He said grinning from ear to ear at the man.
Toris looked up at Feliks, smiling at him. "Hey Feliks. Has it been a week already?"
"Mmhmm," Feliks said nodding. "It's just our usual Saturday grocery shopping trip. How's your shift been so far?"
Emil watched as Feliks and Toris talked. Feliks had a hand under his chin and a small twinkle in his eye when he was listening to Toris. Feliks must have really had the hots for this guy.
"The only reason he ever comes grocery shopping," Lili said pushing a cart next to Emil. "If he doesn't have to shop, he just goes to the counter and talk his ears off. But it's okay, Toris looks like he likes it."
"Are they dating or something?"
Lili scoffed and started her way through the store with Emil next to her. "Of course not. This is why Sophie and I call this our grocery store soap opera. Just when we think it's going to happen and we're at the edge of our seats, it never happens. So we come back next week for another installment."
"Weird, you'd think with him being a hairdresser, makeup artist, and YouTuber he'd be confident enough to ask his crush out."
"We all have our vulnerable moments," Lili spoke grabbing a box of granola bars. "I don't mind sharing my cart with you." She said looking at him.
"What?"
"You didn't grab a cart. Or a basket. Can't do much shopping without either one of those."
"Oh right." He has been caught up talking to Lili he forgot. "Thanks." He said, looking on the aisle they were on. Honestly, he hadn't been grocery shopping in a long time. Mostly because he never cooked anything. Before he moved somewhere he just ate out a lot, but now he had to get food for himself when it wasn't breakfast or dinner.
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He figured he did a good job, with some help from Lili of course. Emil had enough snacks that'll last him a while, which was good because now he was really dead broke. Which reminded him to email those blogs and call local magazines. Can't make money when the means to make it isn't established.
Toris looked past Feliks. "Looks like your party is about to go soon. I'll see you next week?" He asked.
Feliks grinned. "Totally Toris. Like, when am I not here?" He asked.
"You're right about that. It's always nice seeing you on Saturdays Feliks, makes my day a lot better." Toris said, a small blush starting to form on his face.
"Yeah, it makes my day better too Toris. I can't wait to see you again next Saturday."
"It's a date."
Feliks looked like he was going to scream, but instead, he just nodded and waved goodbye and walked away.
"And it looks like we're getting another installment next week," Lili spoke as she saw Feliks walk back to them, the smile had for Toris gone from his face.
Emil frowned. Poor guy. "So you just do this every week? You just talk to him and go back to being sad until you see him again?" He asked.
"Like, what else am I supposed to do, genius?"
"Um, ask him out on a date?"
Feliks laughed. "Like that'll ever happen. Your imagination is cute Emil."
"Why can't it happen? You like him, he obviously likes you back. Why not make something happen? The worse he can say is no."
"Well he likes me now, and we go on a date, and boom. He starts losing interest in me. Seeing him Saturday's is better than seeing him all the time. He can't get tired of me this way."
"You never know if you don't try."
"Oh I've tried, and the same thing happens every time. People just…get tired of me Emil. That's just the way life goes for me." He spoke quietly.
"Toris could be different. Give yourself a chance Feliks."
"Come on guys we're about to leave." Alfred called to the three of them as he headed out the door.
"Okay look, you ask him on a date right now, and I'll...let you do my makeup. Sounds fair?" Was that really a fair deal?
Feliks gasped. "You're gonna let me do your makeup? Oh my God you would totally slay some highlight with those cheekbones, and your lips look so pouty—"
"Feliks we're running out of time. Deal or not?"
"Oh right, deal. Totally a deal. Ask him out on a date? Sounds easy. For when? Next month?"
"Tonight."
Feliks winced. "Tonight?"
"It's now or never."
Feliks gave an annoyed groan and went back over to Toris. "Hey, back again."
Toris smiled. "I see. What brings you back here?"
"Um actually. I was thinking, like, did you...could we...Do you want to go out tonight?" He suddenly blurted.
Toris blinked. "Out like on a date?"
"Yeah we can go to dinner or see a movie or something."
Toris printed off some blank receipt tape and handed it over to Feliks. "A movie sounds nice. I get off at six, I'll pick you up maybe 7:30 to catch an eight o'clock show?"
Feliks felt like he had died and gone to heaven. "That sounds great, like really great." He grabbed a pen and scribbled down the house's address. "Here's my number and address. I'll like, see you tonight I guess."
"See you tonight Feliks." He said to him and with that Feliks scurried off to the van where everyone was waiting for him.
"How did it go?" Lili asked.
"Guess who's got a date tonight? Not any of you losers! It's me! I'm the one going on a date tonight!" He said as he cheered for himself in the front seat.
Natalya rolled her eyes. "Well, at least it went well."
"And then he told me that he would love to see a movie, told me when he got off work, told me when he'd come to get me, and I gave him my address and number, and told him that I'd see him tonight."
"Ugh, I can't believe I missed that. Of all the weeks to not go grocery shopping." Sophia said picking up her drink.
"It's okay you and Lili can help me pick out my outfit because I totally do not know what I'm wearing."
Elizabeta scoffed. "What about me? Is my fashion sense not good enough for you?"
Feliks winced some. "No it's not that I don't trust your fashion sense. It's just that..well..how do I put this? You're more like…a mom influence to me? I was kinda looking for more of a sister influence to help pick my clothes?"
Elizabeta gasped. "'Mom influence?'" She whispered.
"Yikes." Alfred whispered.
"Uh oh." Gilbert spoke next.
"Here we go." Natalya muttered last.
Elizabeta shook her head laughing some. "Oh sweetheart, no, I think you've got it all wrong. Just because I'm married, and a tiny bit older than you—"
"10 years."
"Does not make me a mom influence, uncool, or anything of the sort. I am still the coolest girl on the block that everyone wants to be friends with."
"I'm sure you were at some point, but now in this day and age you're just…"
"Old news?" Kiku offered.
"Washed up?" Natalya spoke next.
"In a different era of your life." Feliks managed to get out.
"Oh God." She said cupping her cheeks. "Am I washed up? Am I really old news? Am I just trying to be cool and failing miserably because no one has the gall to tell me that I look like an idiot trying so hard?" Elizabeta asked, letting out a small squeak at the end.
"Oh Eliza," Roderich said putting a hand on top of hers. "You're not washed up, or old news, your life it just different from what it used to be. A new era of your life as Feliks called it. You don't have to be a cool thirty-something to be with the in-crowd, because you'll always be the beautiful twenty-something that I fell in love with."
"Oh Roderich," Elizabeta said smiling sweetly at him. "I don't wanna be your beautiful twenty-something, I wanna be a cool thirty-something."
Feliks rolled his eyes. "Alright, fine whatevs, I'll give you a chance. You can help me find something to wear for my date."
"Really?" Elizabeta asked before squealing excitedly. "Ugh this is going to be great, just us girls. Natalya you should help too."
"Oh, I don't care enough."
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"Alright so date to the movies, what do we have?" Elizabeta asked sitting on Feliks' bed in between Lili and Sophia.
"Give me like, one more sec." Feliks spoke from the other side of his folding screen. He came out from the other side, revealing his maroon cropped sweatshirt and a pair of blue jean shorts, and black canvas shoes. "How about this?" He asked.
Before Lili or Sophia could say anything, Elizabeta spoke, "hmm, it's cute but I don't think it's formal enough. It is a date after all. Can't go on your first date in a sweatshirt."
"Lizzie's right Feliks. Maybe something more formal?" Lili said. Sophia nodded in agreement.
"Alright, totally get what you guys are saying, give me like, another second." With that, he disappeared back behind the screen. When he came back, he was dressed in a light pink mini skirt, with a sleeveless, olive green turtleneck crop top and white canvas shoes. "Cute?" He asked.
"Super cute." Sophia said nodding.
"Toris won't take his eyes off of you." Lili said next.
"Isn't it kind of...short?" Elizabeta asked.
"What is?"
"All of it?"
Feliks rolled his eyes. "That's the point, Lizzie. It's a crop top and miniskirt."
"Okay, that's nice and all, but how about a regular turtleneck to cover your arms, and a regular skirt that goes to your knees? It'll keep you nice and warm, and you'll still be cute."
Feliks rolled his eyes. "Okay. I'll be back I guess." He disappeared behind the folding screen and came out a couple of moments later. Feliks then came back in a burnt orange button-down dress, that was fitted spaghetti straps at the top, with a flared skirt. "I've been dying to wear this dress out somewhere. I bought it for the pockets of course." He said putting his hands in them.
"Oh, that's so cute," Lili said smiling.
"Yes, that would be cute with some sandals maybe?" Sophia offered.
"I think it would be better with a sweater. Since theaters are cold." Elizabeta said next with a nod.
Feliks facepalmed. "I knew it."
Elizabeta smiled. "See? I knew you would agree with me."
"Not the outfit, you."
"Me?"
"Yes, you. You're sounding like a mom again, and I knew it was going to happen but totally sweet Feliks wanted to give Mama Lizzie a chance."
"Wait!" She said standing up. "We can settle for a mid-thigh skirt instead of to your knees."
"Nope, out." He said sweeping her out with his hands.
"But Feliks, I was just trying to help!" She whined.
"You can help when my heart gets broken and I need more advice on boys and life in general. But fashion advice? Totally not." With that he closed the door, leaving her in the hallway.
And a moment later he opened the door again. "No hard feelings, I still love you." And he closed the door again.
Elizabeta sighed. "At least he still loves me." She said before heading to the staircase to go down to her room.
"Pssst."
She turned around, finding Natalya with her head poking out her door. "I heard everything," Natalya told her.
Elizabeta gave a half-smile. "So you know that I really am washed up, huh?"
"Oh most definitely, but we can be washed up together with this stupid bottle of wine I bought at the grocery store today." She said waving it around. "Gilbert claims that I'm a lot nicer when I'm wine drunk, so I'm testing the theory. And you seem in the era of wine mom, meet your new best friend."
She laughed slightly. "A wine mom? I'm not even a mom."
"So? It doesn't mean we can't enjoy a glass of wine and look at crafty ideas on Pinterest."
"...Alright, I'm sold." She said and went into Natalya's room.
Toris climbed up to the stairs of the house and knocked on the door.
A few minutes later, Feliciano answered the door. "Don't you look handsome for your date?" He said and invited him inside. "You can wait in the parlor, Feliks will be down in a minute."
"Thank you." He said with a nod and sat down in the parlor, waiting for his date.
Meanwhile, around the corner from the parlor, Lili and Sophia had been giving him a pep talk.
"You're a great person Feliks, he'd be crazy not to see that," Sophia said.
"Exactly. And plus, it's a movie, it's gonna take up a lot of the awkward silence." Lili added.
"You guys are totally right." He said nodding. "I got this, I like, soooo got this." He said and turned the corner, stopping when he saw him. Of course, he wasn't in his everyday work attire. He had been dressed a lot nicer in a button-up shirt and slacks. He was even wearing a nice jacket. Toris was so cute he thought he was going to faint.
And here he was in a long sleeve baby blue off-the-shoulder shirt, blue jeans, and suede colored booties. He must have looked like an idiot to him.
After realizing that he hadn't said anything to the other in a while, he smiled and walked over to him. "Hi Toris. You look so nice. Kind of weird seeing you in my house actually." He said with a giggle.
Toris blinked looking at him, and a smile came upon his face. "Feliks, I'm so...speechless. You look beautiful."
Feliks felt his heart leap. "Really?"
Toris nodded. "Yes of course. I'm so glad we're finally going out, I could never find the courage to ask you out, but I'm glad you did. I've had a crush on you for ages now." He admitted with a small laugh.
"Well, you can tell me all about how you like me on the way to the movies." He said wrapping his hands around his arm.
"I would love to."
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Feliks and Toris came back at almost midnight. He parked in front of the house and walked him up to the door.
"So like, did you have as much fun as I did tonight?" Feliks asked as he swung their hands together.
"I did, maybe even a little more."
"Pfft, as if."
"Well I don't know, I did have fun holding you the whole time the movie was going on."
"Because you picked a scary movie what did you expect?" He said with a giggle. "But um, thank you for treating me out to a movie and ice cream afterward, totally took me by surprise."
Toris grinned. "I knew you'd like it."
"I loved it...Are we going to do this again?"
"Of course we are, and I can't wait until it happens again."
Feliks smiled looking up at him. "Like, me either."
Toris looked back at him and quickly leaned in to give him a small, but surprisingly long, a peck on the lips. "Wow I've wanted to do that for a long time now, but I should go before I make things more awkward. I'll call you." He said and hurried back to his car.
Feliks stood there with his eyes wide watching as he went back to his car. His hand came up and he slowly waved goodbye to him while his other hand was reaching for the door handle.
Suddenly the door came open and he was pulled into the house.
"Did Toris just kiss you?" Lili asked excitedly.
"Oh my God, we're you guys like spying on us?"
"Duh." Sophia said next.
"Then like, why do you need to ask? He totally kissed me."
With that the three of them cheered and squealed excitedly, jumping up and down together.
"Shut the hell up!" Lovino screamed from the other side of the house.
"You're literally like, the worse client I've ever had to work with. You move so much." Feliks told Emil as he continued to work on his makeup.
"Well sorry that I don't wear makeup. The brushes tickle my face." Emil spoke defensively. Why the hell did he agree to this again?
"And also stop talking, everything moves when you talk. I'm almost done anyways, but I don't know I may have to go back and do your waterline again, you kind of cried it off."
"Oh God please leave my eyes alone."
"It's seriously not that bad."
"I don't know why women find the need to put makeup in their eyes to look pretty. That should be considered a form of torture. And don't get me started on this whole 'baking' idea. What are you? A potato? Why do you need to 'bake'?"
"It all plays a part in the expectations society has on women Emil. Wake up and smell the oppression. And what did I tell you about talking?" He said before he started to slide his brush across his cheekbone. "Ugh, I knew it, your highlight, totally poppin'. Feliks you're a damn genius." He said as he did the other cheekbone and grabbed his blending sponge. "Alright, just gonna blend this out, put some lip gloss on, and you will be good to go," Feliks told him, and he did just that. He smiled at his finished work, turned Emil around in his chair, and gave him a mirror. "What do you think?"
Emil took the mirror. "Holy shit." He whispered. He observed his highlighted cheekbones and wingtip eyeliner. His glossy pink lips, and sparkly eyeshadow. Even his eyebrows looked better. "I look like a girl. I really look like a girl. Honestly, I'm like—"
"Shook?"
"Surprised at how hot I look. I'd date myself."
Feliks rolled his eyes. "Come on, let's go show everyone." He said and took his hand to lead him to the parlor until he stopped them right before the entrance.
"Feliks—"
"Before we show everyone, I just wanted to tell you thanks for what you did for me yesterday. You like, gave me a reason to ask him out, and let me do what I did best to you for asking him out. I went on a great date, and I wouldn't have if it wasn't for you."
Emil smiled some. Right, this was why he had this stupid makeup on his face. But in the end, it wasn't that bad. Was it impulsive and skewed more in Feliks' favor? Absolutely. But was it worth it? To see the smile on someone else's face, knowing that you played part in making them happy...maybe it was.
"It was the least I could do."
Feliks smiled softly back at him. "Okay, we're done being sappy, come on." He said and pulled Emil into the parlor where everyone was waiting. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you the totally cute, Emily."
"Holy crap he looks really pretty as a girl," Sophia spoke.
"That's what I said," Emil spoke right after.
"I think I have a crush on you now?" Alfred spoke with uncertainty.
"He's like a pretty princess. Imagine him being in a ball gown with a crown on his head." Elizabeta said next before frowning. "Great now I wish you were a girl so I can dress you up."
"With a face like that and legs like those, I could recommend you to the dance company I work for. You'd fit right in." Natalya spoke with a smirk.
"Thanks but no thanks," Emil replied.
"So what's next Emil? Being a contestant for beauty pageants? Trying to take Vanna White's job on Wheel of Fortune?" Gilbert asked with a snicker.
"Um actually no. I was actually planning on going into the city to sign a contract to partner up with some local nature magazine."
"...Like that?"
Emil scoffed. "God no. I'm going to wipe this off so I can be a boy again."
Feliks frowned. "You're going to wipe your makeup off already? But I worked so hard on your face. You have to keep it on for a little longer."
"Well I have business to attend to Feliks, what do you expect me to do about this?"
.
.
.
"I hate myself," Emil spoke as he looked in the mirror. Instead of letting Emil take his makeup off, Feliks gave him a brunette wig, and a white blouse to go with his outfit, thus completing the illusion of Emil as a girl. He knocked on Lili's door. Literally the only good thing about this outing was Lili agreeing to drive him to the city.
Lili pulled her door open, smiling more when she saw him. "You're so cute Emil. Why don't you dress up like a girl more often?" She asked coming out of her room to lock it.
"Because cross-dressing is more of Feliks's thing, not mine."
"At least he didn't give you heels to wear, you really would have been screwed," Lili spoke with a giggle as she went downstairs to the back door with Emil in tow. She led him out to her car, and Lili unlocked it for both of them. "So to the city to sign some contracts?"
Emil nodded. "Yep exactly that."
With a nod, Lili turned over her engine and started her way into town. "You know even if you're driving around as a girl today, what you did for Feliks was really nice. I don't think he would have ever done it."
"It was nothing, really."
"What made you do it?"
"Huh?"
"You don't seem like the type of person to strike up a deal that would involve you looking like a girl. So, what made you do it?"
Emil shrugged. "I don't know. He just looked like he needed a push, I guess. Some extra help. I didn't think that I'd have makeup on my face for a million years, but I know that Feliks is into that kinda stuff. I thought with the right incentive he'd be able to ask Toris out, and what's a little makeup on my face to make someone happy, you know?"
Lili smiled softly. "Yes, I understand completely. A moment of sacrifice can mean a lifetime of happiness for another. It looks good on you Emil."
"What does?"
"Being selfless to others."
He scoffed. "I can be selfless. It's nothing rare, okay?"
"I believe you, I'd just like to see for myself."
.
.
.
Lili pulled up outside the building Emil had the address for. He took off his seatbelt and looked at the building. "Okay, this shouldn't take long. I already talked to him on the phone, so all I have to do is sign my contract. I'll be right back."
She nodded. "Okay, I'll be here. Good luck."
With that, Emil got out of the car, and headed into the building, to the receptionist's desk. A young lady looked up at him and smiled. "Good afternoon ma'am. What can I assist you with?"
Emil paused for a second, forgetting that he was still dressed as a woman. "Yes, I'm looking for the Naturebound magazine office?" He spoke in his usual, male voice.
This made the woman blink clearly surprised in Emil's look. "Take the elevator up and to the 3rd floor. Suite 330." She spoke, still smiling at him.
He nodded. "Thank you." And made his way over to the elevator, where he climbed on when it opened. Emil took the elevator up to the 3rd floor and walked down to suite 330, Naturebound magazine. He pushed the door open, finding rows of desktop computers, and people working at them. Off to the side was a separate room to develop photos, and a small printing press on the opposite side of the room. The back of the room was an office for Yao Wang, the man he spoke on the phone to yesterday.
He headed to the back of the room and knocked on the door. Soon a voice told him to "Come in."
He pushed the door open and gave a polite wave. "Hello Mr. Wang. I'm Emil Steilsson, we talked on the phone yesterday."
The Chinese man looked at him strangely. "I thought you were a male the phone?"
"Oh, I am." He said quickly. "I just...ended up as a hairdresser's makeup model before leaving home. I-I have photos of myself as a male if you want to see–"
"No it's fine, it's fine. Not judging, i was just was a little confused. But you're the one taking the pictures, of course, you won't be in the pictures themselves."
"Yes exactly," Emil said nodding. "Did you like the photos I emailed to you?"
"Loved them. Your style will fit great with our next issue." He said, pulling out the contract. Yao slid it over to him.
Emil sat down and looked over the contract.
"So you'll only be in town for the month? You put the 'free' in 'freelance.'"
Emil gave a small chuckle. "Yes I do travel often. I don't try to stay in the same place long."
Yao nodded. "No problem with that. Now with your contract, since you'll be here for only one month, your contract is modified."
Emil read over the contract, looking at it strangely. "Am I not being paid for the photos I submit?"
"So typically with other contracts, we don't pay for your photos until about 3 months in. Then all of the images we buy from you will be all on backpay in one check. You're just being paid per circulation."
"And that's, 20 percent per circulation?"
"Correct."
Something wasn't right. This didn't feel right at all honestly. He wouldn't get paid for the pictures, just based on how many copies they sell in the circulation of the issue. And even with that, he was only getting 20 percent of those sales.
There was no way he was signing this contract.
Emil shook his head and slid the contract back to Yao. "I-I'm sorry Mr. Wang, I just don't think this is the contract I'm looking for."
Yao shrugged. "Understandable. Though I don't think you'll find a better deal for someone looking to be contracted for just the month."
Emil stood. "Perhaps not, but I think I'm better than this. Sorry for wasting your time." With that, Emil turned to leave.
"You won't get hired in this town for a month. Not with the pictures you're taking. You'll see the mistake you made a month from now."
Emil looked back at him. "I won't be here a month from now. It's what the "free" in 'freelance' means." With that, he left the office and left the suite.
...
Lili jumped when she heard the car door open, sighing in relief to see it was just Emil. "Hey, how was it?"
"Absolutely terrible, the contract was complete bullshit." He spoke, putting his seatbelt on.
Lili frowned as she started up the car. "Sorry to hear that. What are you going to do now?"
Emil sat back in the seat. "I have no idea Lili."
A/N The end of chapter 2. Sorry if this was such a read. I just wanted to get some more personality in the house. it's a lot of characters so I want to make sure they're all interacting and rotating out situationally. Chapters will be this long/short depending on the situation of the chapter. It's kind of day by day-ish since it'll be a short fic in general. But yah, enough logistics of all of this, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please review, pls? :( Until next chapter.