Deploy - Lampnold Fanfic

Chapter 6: Something to Make Me Stand Out

Shrignold's perspective: I woke up the next morning, my mind in a blur and my room a state. I rolled out of my bed and onto the floor with a bang. I laid there, defeated. Suddenly, my door opened and Lars came in.

"Shrig? You ok?" He asked, crouching down next to me. I looked up at him.

"Uhuh. I'm just.. tired," I muttered. "I have to clean all this up."

"I could help, y'know," Lars suggested, taking my hand and helping me up to my feet. I blushed at his touch. 

"You really don't have to, Lars," I sighed. "I was the one who made the mess in the first place."

"I don't mind," he said, picking up the ripped pieces of my poster. He put pieces into my trash bin and went to retrieve a broom and pan to clean up the broken glass. I stood there, still half asleep and a little confused. Why was Lars so intent on helping me?

He came back in with the broom and the pan and started sweeping the glass up. I held the pan for him and then tossed it in the trash bin. 

"Can I.. ask what happened last night?" Lars asked. I bit my lip.

"I just had a b-bit of a meltdown. It wasn't too bad. Tony came in and took care of it," I explained. 

"Ok, good. I was worried that you were all alone," he said. I blushed. "Let's go, our show's about to start!" 

We went out to the living room and sat on the couch.

"Where were you two?" Paige asked.

"I was helping Shrig clean up his room," Lars said. Steve smirked at him.

"You? Helping someone?? I call bullshit," he laughed. Lars just gave him a dead stare. As he waited for the show to begin, I studied his face. I noticed his pupils seemed much less dilated than they usually were. I also noticed that his speech hadn't been too sloppy lately. He just.. seemed like a normal guy for once. Well, certainly not normal. He was still the same old kooky Lars, just a little less... drunk. 

Later that day, Tony had ranted to me about Colin. I wondered what it was like for him to just like whoever he wanted to like. No consequences. No one invalidating his feelings. What would that be like? I wished I had the same freedom as everyone else. I wished I could go up to Lars and tell him I loved him that easily. It felt like every time I started to feel happy, Malcolm would come along and rain all over my parade. It just wasn't fair. 

Nothing is fair.

Larry's perspective: The next day, Tony had surprised us with tickets to a party at Blenheim Palace. I was quite excited actually; I'd been to a couple parties in my life but never a fancy one like this. I was in my room picking out an outfit on Friday night. I didn't own any suits since I didn't go to many formal events too often. Tony had given me a few of his suits to try on but none of them looked good on me. Every time I tried another one on, I'd look at my reflection and almost throw up. I looked so... normal. It just wasn't me. What was I going to wear? I left my room to go return the suits back to Tony. As I was walking back down the hall, Paige passed by me. She noticed I looked upset.

"Lars, are you ok?" She asked. I frowned.

"I have no idea what I'm going to wear to the party! I tried on some of Tony's stupid posh suits but they just don't feel right," I sighed. 

"Well, do you have to wear a suit?" She asked. I looked at her in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"You could always try something different. Like... a dress, perhaps?"

My eyes widened. A dress? On one hand, I thought: do you know how many bigoted assholes would be screaming slurs at me all night? But on the other hand, I thought: maybe a dress was just what I needed. Something to make me stand out. I thought a little more before making my final decision.

"Y'know what? Let's do it," I said. Paige and I went into her closet, which looked like a whole ass rainbow; Paige was a very colourful person when it came to fashion. We both searched through the dresses. Suddenly, I spotted a deep purple dress. I pulled it off the rack and sized it up. It was pretty short and it had little lace trimmings. On the back was a big purple bow. I looked at Paige.

"This is the one," I said determinedly.

"Oh, I love that one! Go try it on!" She said cheerfully. I went back to my room and put on the dress. I looked at my reflection in the mirror. Holy shit. It was perfect. The colour, the material, the detail, the way it fit on my body shape. I hadn't even noticed how curvy I was until now! It was all so perfect!! I could just imagine Shrignold seeing me and.. and his face turning red and... his jaw hanging open at the sight of me... 

Wait, wha-

"So, what do you think of it?" Paige asked, standing in my doorway. 

"I- uh- yeah, it looks fantastic!" I grinned. 

"Great! I'm so glad I could help," she said. Once she closed the door, I looked back at my reflection. My stomach was in knots. I wanted to jump around my room and scream. This was the first time I had ever looked at myself and felt like I was looking at the real me. I felt perfect.

This is perfect.