Ken Age-11, Gwen Age- 7

Ken stared down at his little sister in apprehension.

"You want me to do what?" he asked, in case he had misheard.

"I need to practice doing nails," Gwen repeated, her arms full of a variety of brightly colored nail polish bottles. "The sleepover's tonight."

"Can't you just practice on yourself?" Ken suggested.

"No, doing it on yourself and doing it on someone else is different." Was it? Ken had no idea.

"Can't you get any of the neighbor girls to help you instead?" Ken tried. Mom wasn't home right now, so she couldn't do it.

"No," Gwen shook her head. "They'll be at the sleepover." Why did that matter? "Please, Ken?"

…Dang it, he couldn't say no. She was looking up at him with big pleading green eyes, her blue sweater was covered with kittens, she was so cute. It would be like kicking a puppy who brings you a ball.

"All right," Ken sighed, his dread softening at her bright smile. They were in the house, he could always wash it off later.

He allowed Gwen to drag him into the family room. While she set up, he went to sit cross-legged on the carpet. He watched her line up all the bottles by color, amused by her seriousness. Gwen was a very serious child. He didn't think she was uptight or anything, but it did cause her to clash with Ben a lot. It was a problem Ken had yet to solve. The two of them would get along eventually. They were family. Hopefully it would happen sooner rather than later.

"Okay, give me your hand," Gwen instructed.

Ken splayed out his hand on the newspaper she'd put down and he began her work. He inwardly winced when the first of the sparkly green paint hit his nail, but this was fine. It was making Gwen happy, no one would see it. Even if someone did see it, it wouldn't be the end of the world. But no one was going to see it.

Gwen had brought a stack of how-to-nail-art books she'd gotten from the library and was referencing them frequently. She'd definitely thoroughly studied the books already, but the pictures still probably helped.

"So, how's the summer reading going?" Ken asked.

They chatted as Gwen worked her way across his fingers. She was doing something different for each finger. Watermelon, strawberry, pineapple, polka dots, stripes, daisy on green, clouds, a penguin… She had to retry a couple of them, but they all looked good to him. He'd been pretty sure Gwen had been worried over nothing and this just proved it. She was probably going to be the best nail painter at that sleepover.

He jumped a little as the doorbell rang. He couldn't answer when he was like this. Thankfully, he heard his dad moving from upstairs towards the door. He'd take care of it.

Ken's focus drifted to Gwen then snapped back towards the hallway as he heard a flurry of approaching footsteps. Oh no, had dad-?!

"Ken," his dad called out, clueless and way too late. What kind of warning was that?! "Your friends are here."

His heartbeat sped up. Could he run? No, he had, like, one second. Ugh, fine, he'd just… deal with it.

Tyler, Cody, and Jenny walked into the room to witness Gwen painting his final pinky. Tyler and Cody broke into startled laughter and even Jenny let out a giggle, but Ken wasn't going to show he was embarrassed even if he was a little embarrassed. They'd just tease him more.

"What are you doing?" Tyler asked, sounding mostly stunned now that the initial amusement had passed.

"Wow, Ken," Cody snickered, "interesting fashion statement. Real cute. Any girl would love to have them."

"I know, Gwen's very talented," Ken bragged, holding up his free hand and doing a good job of looking completely unbothered. "She's got a sleepover tonight and I'm helping her practice. Very professional for a seven-year-old, right?" Gwen blushed, shifting in place anxiously.

There were a few moments of bewildered silence then Tyler asked, "You're not keeping those on when we go out to play, right?"

"Of course not," Ken snorted. "I have the remover stuff for when she's done."

"That's so sweet of you, Ken," Jenny cooed. She crouched down next to them for a closer look. "You did a really good job, Gwen. You're lucky you have such a great big brother." Jenny side-eyed Cody. "Some guys aren't as nice to their sisters."

"What? I do stuff for my sisters," Cody defended. "I'm not judging- much. I too have done- uncomfortable things, for my little sisters. I've been roped into my fair share of tea parties and stuff. But I do have a line." He shuddered. "You're lucky it's just us who saw, anyone else and you'd get bullied for at least a year."

Ken rolled his eyes. "They could try. I haven't done anything. They'd just be embarrassing themselves."

"Whatever," Tyler said, inching towards the door. "We'll just… go wait outside. Until you're done with- this. Bring your bike. And make sure you wash that off really well."

Jenny lingered a little longer, talking to Gwen for a bit about the nails she'd painted at past sleepovers and the designs she'd done. Then she said bye and ducked out as well.

"I'm done, Ken," Gwen announced, screwing the lid back onto the bottle. She was chewing at her bottom lip which meant she was nervous about something. She wasn't meeting his eyes either. "Thanks for helping. I'm sorry for embarrassing you in front of your friends…"

"Pfft…" Ken waved off. "I'm not embarrassed for helping out my little sis." He was a little embarrassed, but it was pretty minor. He'd get some teasing for this, but it wouldn't be the mean kind and his friends wouldn't tell anyone else. "If anything, they were jealous they didn't have such a great nail-" what did you call those people? "stylist."

"You really think they're good?" Gwen asked, gaze raising.

"They look great," Ken promised. He stood up. "Now. I've gotta go clean up and catch up with the others. You can tell me how the sleepover went tomorrow."

"Okay," Gwen chirped, leaping up to hug him from the side. "Thanks, Ken."

Ken smiled. "Anytime."