I was supposed to take a break from writing today. Instead the concept of goth!Akari sank its teeth into me and next thing I knew I was banging out a oneshot.
Takes place in the Rebound AU but is self-contained enough that it can hopefully be read as its own thing.
Makeover
Pairing: Gris/Akari
Rating: T
Words: 1,396
“So, um… how does it look?”
Gris glanced up the second she said it, watching as Akari pulled back the changing room curtain and peered out. She couldn’t help but blush as she felt their eyes on her. The way they looked at her always made her heart skip a beat, always so intense in their attention, but in this instance, feeling their dark gray eyes sweep her up and down in appraisal as they took in the outfit she was wearing…
A smile tugged at the corner of their mouth. “I quite like that on you.”
Her blush deepened. She couldn’t help but duck her head, glancing down at herself. “Really?” she asked. “You sure it’s not too… too…”
She trailed off, glancing back at herself in the changing room mirror. The reflection staring back still jarred her a little, her expected casual clothes swapped out for something she’d never imagined herself wearing. Tight-fitting black jeans with strategic rips along the front, a pair of heavy black boots with red laces, and a sleeveless, dark gray top with black straps along her chest, cropped so that it exposed the entirety of her midriff…
She coughed and plucked at one of the straps along her chest. “...Too revealing?”
Gris let out a rumble of amusement. “You know I’ll never object to seeing your body, love.”
“I know, but…”
She trailed off again. Her gaze was still focused on the mirror behind her, slowly turning to get another look at herself. She almost didn’t notice when Gris stood and came up behind her, carefully resting their hands on her shoulders. When they spoke, their voice was gentle. “Do you not like it?”
“I don’t dislike it,” Akari said quickly. “I mean… I do think it looks good on me. And I guess I don’t mind it being so revealing? It’s just…”
She hesitated, trying to find the words. Her gaze flicked between her own reflection and Gris standing behind her. It had been their suggestion to try expanding her style, after a long conversation they’d had the night before. She’d confided in them how frustrated she felt with her gender sometimes, and how much it irked her that her femininity came wrapped up in an assumed weakness, as if being feminine meant she was not allowed to be strong as well. All the years her mother had spent scolding her for being “unladylike” and the strangers who told her she’d look prettier if she dressed up a little. All her resentment that she could not exist in her default state without people judging her for the boxes she didn’t fit into.
She’d confessed to Gris that she envied them, for how easily they circumvented that. They existed so effortlessly in the space between genders that it was as the concept didn’t even concern them. “I wish I could be like you sometimes,” she’d said, lying half-curled against them and mumbling the words into their chest. “You’re so beautiful, but no one ever gives you shit for it. I bet you’ve never had anyone tell you to be more ladylike.”
“They’ve told me plenty of other things,” Gris had murmured. Their arms wrapped a little tighter around her, one hand combing gently through her hair. “...But I do understand. If the way you’re being perceived is the issue, then may I make a suggestion?”
That was how she found herself tagging along to their favorite clothing store the next morning, a musty hole-in-the-wall place filled floor-to-ceiling with denim and leather and a thousand different shades of black. Gris had given her free rein to look through as many racks as she desired. She’d been excited by it at first, fascinated by all the studded jackets and mesh shirts and shiny platform boots, but now…
She looked herself up and down again. The outfit she’d picked out really did look good on her, she had to admit. Still feminine enough that she felt sexy, but edgy enough to quiet those voices in her head about being ladylike. It wasn’t like the previous times she’d tried to dress up and only felt uncomfortable with her own reflection. She hadn’t realized she could look nice and still feel strong.
And yet.
Her gaze flicked over to Gris again. Handsome, gorgeous, beautiful Gris. Always dressed in that black leather jacket and golden jewelry, so casual and regal all at once, with their piercings and sharp eyeliner and the towering, effortless ease they carried themself with…
She bit her lip. “...I dunno,” she mumbled. “You wear this kind of stuff so much better than I do.”
“Akari, beloved.” Their voice was gentle again, hands moving so they could wrap their arms loosely around her waist. “I have dressed like this for much longer than you have.”
“Yeah, but…”
“It takes time to figure out such things.” They smoothed a hand over her hip, sliding one finger in her belt loop to tug at it. “To add all the little details that you accrue over time. I did not always have my piercings, you know. Nor all the jewelry you see me wearing today.”
She stayed silent at that, watching their reflections. Gris pulled her a little bit closer, pressing their lips to the crown of her head. “I think you already look stunning,” they murmured. “And I am sure that with a little time and experimenting, you will decide how to make this look truly yours. But that is only if you wish to continue with it. If you decide that this is not for you, then I will understand. You may ask to leave whenever you wish.”
Again, she hesitated. Her eyes roamed up and down her reflection again, considering for a long moment. “I… think I do want it?” she said at last. “I just… I dunno. I feel like it’s missing something.”
Gris paused, taking her in thoughtfully. “I think you may be right,” they said. They pulled back, reaching up to adjust something. “Give me a moment…”
She blinked as they shrugged out of their leather jacket, but before she could say anything, they were already draping it over her shoulders. “Here we are,” they murmured, placing their hands on her shoulders again. “How does that look, beloved?”
Akari stared into the mirror, feeling her heart skip a beat. Gris’s jacket was a few sizes too large, but if anything that made it look even better, draping off her just enough to show a glimpse of the outfit she wore beneath. She could still see the way her jeans clung to her hips, and the smooth section of midriff bared by her top. It was still sexy, still feminine, but with Gris’s worn leather jacket on top, adding just that little edge of something masculine…
“Oh,” she breathed. She reached up to touch the edges of Gris’s jacket, eyes shining. “Oh, oh. Yeah, this… this is it.”
Her voice was giddier than she expected, unable to keep the grin off her face as she looked in the mirror. She heard Gris let out a chuckle behind her. “I thought so. You may keep it, then.”
“Wait, are you sure?”
“I have more at home.” Gris rubbed a hand along the sleeve of their jacket, admiring the way it looked on her. “And I think you wear this one better than I do.”
“But–”
“Besides,” they added, leaning in with a teasing glint in their eye, “I’m sure you were bound to wind up with it sooner or later. After all, is it not expected for a girlfriend to steal their partner’s jackets and other such clothes?”
They winked. The tease in their voice made her giggle, drawing their jacket a little tighter around herself. It did feel very comfortable on her, still warm with their body heat and the leather already supple from years of use. And when she looked at herself in the mirror again, taking in the way it looked on her, and how the sight of her own reflection for once filled her with a giddy sense of euphoria…
So she breathed in, inhaling the familiar scent of Gris, and let out another joyful laugh. “Alright,” she said looking up at them with a cheeky smile. “But you’re not getting this back.”
They chuckled again, leaning in to steal a kiss. “I can live with that.”
honestly if you’d have told 13 year old me she’s still horny for Luke Hemmings at 23 years of age she’d have called u a liar….… but nope I’m still on my bullshit reading fanfic and never shutting up.
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