day 19 - formal wear

Seto tugged at the front of his vest, frowning down at the stiff material. He hadn't really ever worn something like this before; his regular clothes were built for durability, not for looks, and even if he'd been choosing for fashion this wouldn't have been his first choice. But Momo's 'people' had contacted them and handed over outfits they had to wear if they were going to attend her party.

And Momo had wanted them to come so badly.

Seto shrugged his shoulders, trying to get the sleeves to lay comfortably on his arms. They'd known their sizes somehow (he was sure Kido would have confronted them on this if she hadn't been vibrating with rage over the fluffy dress handed to her) but still it felt strange.

There was a knock on the door, and Seto called, "Come in!"

It was strange that someone would knock. Mary would know whether or not she could come in, Kano woudn't bother, and Kido had always just thrown the door open, sometimes with a dry statement such as 'cover yourselves'. But Mary's voice answered him from the other side.

"Is Kano in there…?" she sounded worried, and any second thoughts Seto was having about his shirt disappeared as he turned his attention to her, going to open the door.

"He's not," he replied as he did, opening his mouth to explain more, but Mary was staring up at him with worried eyes, and he was fairly sure she was holding up her dress with both hands in the front.

Kido must have done her hair, or her makeup, or something, because he couldn't put his finger on it but she was sparkling, her curls no longer quite the mess they usually were. Her bare shoulders shifted and hunched together, and she looked away, uncomfortable, and he realized he was staring.

Seto's cheeks burned and he found an interesting spot on the wall above her head to stare at. "What do you need?" he asked, his voice a little rough with embarrassment. Momo's PR people knew she was a child, right? From what he could see, Mary's dress was cut for grownups, and he wanted to shake them for making such a decision. He knew it wasn't up to him, of course, but he still felt protective over her, especially with the thought that they were venturing into public, where she often felt nervous.

"I can't get it closed," she replied, a little whine in her voice. She was still that childish,then.

He felt himself relax, as the easy and familiar dynamic of her asking for help and him watching over presented itself. Maybe that balance wouldn't be upset today after all.

"Turn around," he suggested, and she did so, careful not to trip on the hem. He had to take his eyes off the wall at some point, and he found the zipper easily, a long jagged metal line that seemed almost dark against her back and shoulder blades. He swallowed.

"Do you see it?" she asked, helpless, and he nodded.

"Yeah, I've got it," he replied, bending down and finding the zipper pull. There was no earthy reason for any zipper to be this far down on the dress. No wonder she hadn't been able to reach it easily.

He zipped it up carefully, not wanting to catch her hair, though most of it was up and out of the way anyway. "Done," he said, with a sigh of relief, and she spun before he could straighten back up and seized the front of his collar, refolding it down, and then straightened his tie.

"Kido will get it," he said with a laugh, and she pouted, tugging again on his tie.

"I don't want her to get it." Tug, tug. He was beginning to think there was nothing wrong with his tie at all, a suspicion that was confirmed when she bit her lip and looked down.

It had been long enough that he knew how to read her, knew what she was looking for. He took her face gently in his hands and kissed her slowly, conscious of the fact that he may be messing up hours of hard work on her makeup. She didn't seem to mind.

After a few minutes, he straightened up, stretching out the crick in his back. "We should get going," he said, suddenly more confident in the strange clothes that had been provided for them. She nodded, breathless, and they made their way downstairs.