Anderperry Oneshots Collection

Glitter Coat

Early winter was a cozy time. It involved a lot of sitting in the dorm, writing poetry, and passing the time in meaningless ways. 

That is, it was cozy, until Charlie practically broke down the door one day, buzzing with excitement.

"Jesus, Charlie, what's got you worked up?" Neil inquired, lowering his copy of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. Todd didn't look up from his notebook, focused intently on the string of words he was assembling.

"The girls are running an underground market at Ridgeway."

"What?"

Charlie emptied his coat pockets onto Neil's bed. Out spilled several coloured vials, clanking together with horrible rattling noises.

"What?" Neil repeated.

"Nail polish, Neilison." Charlie picked up a red jar. "They're selling it. A dollar per bottle."

"They ripped you off, Dalton. And why do you need nail polish anyway?"

Charlie gave him a look like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "To look gorgeous, obviously? Now go ahead and help me."

"Help you?"

"Well I can't paint my nails on my own."

Neil sighed, smiled, and snatched the red bottle from Charlie's hand before shaking it. Charlie laid his hand flat on Neil's desk and gave him an expectant look. 

Todd watched in silence as Neil painted Charlie's fingers red, giggling away.

Whatever limited experience with cosmetics Charlie had, Neil had even less of it. A few times he fumbled the container and drops of watered-down red landed on his desk. But his hands were steady in the actual painting portion, and Neil was able to produce semi-even results.

By the time it was done, Charlie looked glamorous. He posed like a movie star. 

"All right, Marilyn Monroe. Reel it in," Neil chirped.

"Me? Reel it in!?" Charlie proclaimed. "You must be joking."

"My turn. Green and yellow, please," Neil instructed, admiring the look. Charlie obeyed, smearing his still-wet nail polish all over the place in the process.

"And I thought you would be good at this," Neil teased. 

"You're the one who painted red up to my knuckles."

"No way, I did it right. You got it everywhere, that's not my fault."

"Can I try some?" A quiet voice cut through the laughter. 

 Todd was sitting tucked away in the corner of his bed, eyes looking up timidly. As soon as the words left his mouth, he looked like he wanted to crawl into a hole and say there.

He wasn't one to insert himself into other people's fun, and he definitely wasn't someone you'd expect to relish in the bright colors of nail art. 

But this looked fun. He wanted in.

"Of course," Neil was the first to break the silence. "What color do you want?"

Rather than make Todd move, he scooped all the nail polishes and dumped them on Todd's bed in front of him. Todd considered this, then carefully selected a transparent yet glittery purple shade.

"This, please," he mumbled, handing it to Neil. 

Charlie did his very best to blend in with Neil's side of the room. Trying to give Neil and Todd their space, but he wasn't about to leave and miss this.

Todd could recognize what he was doing, but shrugged it off, and presented his nails for painting.

Neil sat across from him on the bed, and took Todd's hand, placing it on his knee. "For stability," he explained, leaning over for a better view.

Todd blushed at the sudden and unexpected contact but took a deep breath and tried to play it cool.

Neil wasn't as playful as he was with Charlie. He took his time with each stroke of the brush, trying to actually make it look good for Todd.

A few minutes and more than a few mistakes later, Neil leaned back triumphantly.

"What do you think?"

Todd held his hand up in front of his face. The color wasn't bright but it was noticeable, and the glitter coat caught the sun in the very best way. "It's sparkly, I look pretty," Todd smiled. 

Neil crossed his dandelion-colored fingers for luck before shooting his shot.

"You always look pretty."