Strawberries & Cigarettes

As Bad as You

                                                                     Song(s):

                                                    "Let's Dance" - M. Ward

                                                     "Candy" - Paolo Nutini

"Ouch!" Louis complained, squinting his eyes closed.

Eleanor tsss-ed and continued jabbing her pencil dangerously close to Louis' very vulnerable and unprotected eyeball.

"I told you, I don't want any eyeliner, nor do I need any." He flattered his lashes exaggeratingly. "I'm naturally beautiful."

Eleanor loosed a deep sigh and righted Louis' chin in her direction with her long fingers. "Let me do my job and shut up."

"Are you qualified for this?" Louis asked sheepishly, earning him a particularly hard stab near his lacrimal point.

"Are you qualified for writing scripts?" she gave back snippily.

"Touché," Louis sighed.

Around him, he could hear people shuffling, getting dressed and carrying stage equipment, all the while happily catching up with the others on their Christmas and New Year's. It was dress rehearsal today, and Clare had fixed Louis' Peter outfit during the break, so his left nipple stopped slipping out which was very convenient since Louis trusted Eleanor to insist on piercing his nipples with a handmade device if she was in direct line of sight with them.

"Looks great, Louis," a voice beside them joined in, making Louis, still temporarily blind, flinch.

"Hey, Greg," Eleanor greeted, her voice again high-pitched and happy. Her hands finally let go of Louis' chin and instead ran through his hair, disheveling it as if it wasn't already disheveled enough.

"Can I safely open my eyes again?" Louis asked cautiously. He opened them just in time to see Eleanor rolling her eyes, but she was smiling when she saw her work with opened eyes. She clapped her hands ecstatically. "I did great!"

Greg leaned over his shoulder to look at his face, eyes widening in surprise. "Wow."

Reluctantly, Louis turned his head to look past Greg into the mirror beside him, framed with lightbulbs, most of them broken and casting a weak light over Louis' face. He had expected to look completely ridiculous when Eleanor had told him her plans for his stage make-up and had fought with teeth and claws against it, but now he had to admit that maybe she was qualified after all.

"Sooo?" Eleanor fluted, her eyebrows melting into her hairline. "What do you think?"

Louis blinked at himself, one time, two times, lips parting slightly. The eyeliner was only very subtly done, not even noticeable on the first look and his skin seemed more golden than Louis remembered it, though that could also come from the flickering lightbulbs framing his reflection. His hair was fashionably disheveled, slicked back slightly at the sides with gel, making him look way younger than he was. His eyes were blue and sparkling, bluer than Louis could remember ever seeing them.

Staring in the mirror, Louis saw himself from three years ago in it. It was almost uncanny, the resemblance to the Louis he had been once upon a time. The one with the flying career and glitter-themed Halloween parties and the boys wrapped around his finger by the dozens. The one that didn't know yet the turn his life would make, taking a sharp linkage on the roller coaster that was life, throwing him out of the seat and into the dirt.