Milkshake Hearts

Chapter 145: What Angle?

The four weeks of Smosh between their Thanksgiving and extended Christmas/New Year breaks are always a bit weird. Almost every year they end up hitting a weird place where they have big ideas planned ahead for the following year but almost nothing actually set in stone for those few weeks, and it's when the cast often steps up and gets a little weird with the pitches, although a lot of them seem to be hitting a creative block in their first planning meeting the week after Thanksgiving.

"What about a makeup thing? They usually do good for views, right?" Kimmy suggests, at a lull in the conversation in their meeting.

"I dunno if there's much I can do there that hasn't already been done, it's not like I do interesting things so it might have to be someone else," Courtney replies, not entirely enthused by the idea.

"What if we did it another way? Like, guys do the girls makeup kind of thing? A bit of a whatever happens shoot like your acrylic nails idea back then, Courtney?" Ian builds on Kimmy's idea, Courtney simply shrugging and giving a non-committal hum in response.

"I'd be okay with someone doing mine as long as we had plenty of makeup remover around for after," Kimmy points out, Jackie soon agreeing with her.

"You know, I think Keith would be into trying actually doing the makeup," Courtney points out, after a moment, the others quickly agreeing.

"I could try too, I guess?" Shayne offers.

"I don't like people touching my face but I would join in only if Shayne was doing mine," she adds, after him, her tone a little hesitant when she does.

"Sure, sure, that makes sense," Kiana nods, scribbling the idea down onto the paper in front of her, "we'll have a look into it and finalise casting to shoot it maybe next week?"

They end up settling on six of them in the video: Keith doing Olivia's makeup, Tommy doing Jackie's and Shayne doing Courtney's, although Shayne himself is still a little uncertain about the whole thing the afternoon they are due to shoot it.

"You sure you're okay with this, babe? I know you're fine with me touching your face in theory but like – you don't even like touching your own face, and if you're not comfortable with all of it being a video and whatever it'd work just fine with four people," he reassures her, carefully, as they sit at their desks.

"It's fine, Shayne. You just wash your hands before and I'll wash my face after and it'll be fine, I'm just paranoid about breakouts and whatever, you know that," she answers, certain, "you think you'll be any good at it? Or you going to do badly on purpose for the joke? It's okay if you do."

"I genuinely can't decide which way to go with it, because I mean- I kinda want to actually try for you? But I know Keith will be trying, Tommy might just do something really intense but kinda good, maybe I need to be funny? I don't know," he muses, nervousness and uncertainty running through his tone. It causes her to reach over, hand settling on and gently squeezing his thigh.

"I won't mind either way, do what works," she tells him, and he nods slowly, turning back to his laptop to reluctantly actually answer an email from Garret before they get called to the shoot.

"Hey y'all, today some of us guys are going to be trying our hands at some makeup! Tommy, you got much experience with this stuff? Because as cool as it looks on whoever, I got absolutely none," Keith intros the video when they start the shoot.

"I've done a tiny bit sometimes but I haven't tried to do a whole like, proper look," Tommy enthuses, gesturing at Jackie as he does, "but I did some research, I think I got some good ideas."

"I'm just excited to make art that Olivia gets to wear! You keen, Liv Liv?"

"Can't be worse than what I did when I was younger and Keith is actually really good at art so yeah let's go," Olivia agrees, nonchalant, before she twists her body to look straight at the third pair on set, "hey, and we got a husband does my makeup challenge inside this video too, I guess."