It Takes Two

Glitter and Crimson

Jake was sitting on the floor in Avery's room, hands resting on her little table as she painted his nails.

"What color do you want on this finger, daddy?" Avery asked.

"How about blue." Jake suggested with a smile. Avery nodded happily, grabbing a bottle of blue polish.

He adored moments like this with his daughter. That was one thing he did love about being a single dad now. He got to spend so much time with Avery one on one.

"Do you want glitter?" She asked.

"That sounds great, honey." Jake nodded. It was kids polish so he really didn't care what she put on his nails. He would be happy to show off his little girl's work to anyone and everyone.

Jake never realized how much he would love being a father until he actually became one. It was one of the most fulfilling and rewarding things he's ever gotten to do.

"Hey, what do you guys want for dinner?" Andy asked, walking into the room. He smiled at the sight, and took a picture of them. Crow was curled up on the floor next to them, watching with passive interest. Crow seemed to warm up to them a lot since they first moved in. He still absolutely preferred Andy, but he didn't try to claw their faces off if they stood near him for too long.

"Avery, what do you want?" Jake asked, looking at his daughter. He didn't really have any preferences so he was fine with letting her choose.

"Grilled cheese." She said without hesitation. "Uncle Andy, can I paint your nails?" She asked, looking up at him with big, pleading eyes.

"Now how am I supposed to sat no to that?" Andy melted, walking over to sit down next to Jake.

"Daddy, your nails are still wet, don't touch anything." She told him sternly. "What colors do you want, uncle Andy?"

"Red, please." Andy smiled, holding his hands out for her. Jake started to stand up to start on dinner, but Avery swatted at him. "Daddy! Wet nails!" She huffed in frustration, earning a barely concealed chuckle from Andy.

"Yeah, Jake." Andy mimicked with a teasing smile. The older man rolled his eyes at his roommate, but stayed seated per his daughter's request(well, more of an order than anything). He watched as Avery carefully- or as carefully as a five year old could- painted the polish onto Andy's nails.

"Do you want glitter too?" Avery looked up at Andy. She already had the glitter polish open and poised at the ready so it was very clear what answer she was hoping for.

"Why not." Andy shrugged with a smile. "Did you want soup with your grilled cheese or just the grilled cheese?" He asked.

"Just grilled cheese, please." She said sweetly as she applied the glitter.

"Okay, baby. Once my nails are dry, I'll make them." Jake said. "The glitter is a move." He mumbled so that only Andy heard him.

"Says the one with rainbow nails." Andy countered with a snort. "Incredibly gay... and that's coming from the one who actually dates men." He joked, making Jake smile slightly.

Andy had never 'come out' to Jake so to speak. He just came home with a guy one day when they lived together and looked at Jake like he was daring him to say something.

Jake's only comment was that Andy was out of random hipster guy's league and he could do better. Andy had merely shrugged and said: "Yeah, I know... but he had a dick big and a nice ass. Two birds one stone, you know?"

"Your nails are red because every man you've dated was a red flag." Jake replied with a grin.

"Hey! Not all of them... just most of them." Andy huffed, though wasn't about to argue with the older man. He's dated a couple of decent guys. He's also dated a lot of assholes too so statistically his track record wasn't fantastic.