smokin' | louigan

- extra: two -

oh....hey there.

long time no publish...

sorry about that. my new job has taken over, and i just got back from vacation. i've got a lot of excuses for a mediocre chapter. apologies.

sadly, i think this will be the last extra. i did have one more planned, and it may go up, but i've been losing steam for this book for a while now and with little time to write nowadays, it's taking a toll.

i wanted to at least get this one up, just a lil fluff piece with tina and gene, alluding to how i think they'd end up in this universe. there's no real plot or anything, just some character play and dialogue. hope you still enjoy!

vote, comment, whatever you'd like.

your obedient servant,

sxbjective

####

october 31, one year later

louise grabbed a compact of varying brown eyeshadows, plucking the small, slightly dusty sponge-tip applicator from the bottom. she gazed into the mirror, leaning closer and closing her left eye, beginning to messily smear the darkest brown shade onto her eyelid. she used the other side of the sponge for one of the lighter shades, a slightly shimmery chestnut, and rubbed it along the crease of her eyelid, down around the inner corner of her eye to underneath her lower eyelashes.

she repeated the process on her right eye, then used her fingers to smear all the colors together to make an even larger mess, dragging the color further down onto her cheekbones. she leaned back from the mirror and smirked at her complexion; her eyes almost looked bruised with how the brown swept around them. she looked back at her small desk and plucked the bottle of fake blood from underneath a few brushes.

with the tip of a sponge, she dabbed the blood onto her left cheek, creating an almost real looking cut. she let the extra liquid drip down her skin, feeling it quickly start to dry. she ran a hand through her hair, angrily grunting as her fingers caught on some tangles. anita helped louise place some extensions which made her hair an unusually long length, almost to her hips.

she grabbed her brush and began violently pulling through her hair, or well, the hair considering it wasn't really hers. her face was set in a small scowl from the number of times her brush was getting caught. after, she grappled her hair into a tight ponytail on the crown of her head, securing it with two black elastic hair ties.

as she stared in the mirror, smearing a few loose baby hairs back with some gel, she smirked, but something didn't feel right. something was missing. her eyes widened as she figured it out, grabbing the familiar peach lip gloss and painting a thin layer over her bottom lip. she smoothed the gloss over both lips to dilute the color, wiping the excess on a small rag nearby.

she smiled, it's showtime.

~

logan's mouth was very close to watering. he'd been waiting in the belcher living room for a few minutes in his own costume as louise told him hers was a top-secret surprise not even anita knew. when questioned, anita really didn't know, though she did have some guesses.

but he wasn't expecting louise to walk out like that.

"louise, you look f*cking hot and i'm dressed like this," logan spat, gesturing down to his costume. she was clearly lara croft, a video game character she admired. her hair was incredibly long and tied up, lips painted peach, black tight tank tucked into dark cargo pants. two holsters were strapped to a thick leather utility belt around her waist, combat boots tied neatly. she rolled her eyes,

"not my problem you lost the bet." she smirked as he pulled at the collar of his black turtleneck, a disgruntled grimace on his face. he groaned; in the costume, he couldn't even put his arms by his sides.

"okay, louise, but how was i supposed to know you could eat five burgers in under three minutes? that's not just something a person does naturally, by the way!"

"dude," interjected anita, "she was practically raised downstairs." she had emerged from down the hall in a short black dress with long bell sleeves, fishnet tights leading to dangerously high-heeled black boots. she twiddled with the brim of the pointed black hat on her head, raising her gaze enough for logan to see the black painted tears painted over her cheekbones.

"yeah, bush," louise drawled sarcastically, moving closer, "there was only so much twelve-year-old lousie could do during her forced child labor down in the restaurant." she chuckled as he tried to sit down, inevitably flopping backwards onto the sofa with a large huff. louise grabbed the seat next to him, purposefully squishing into the old hamburger costume around logan's upper body.

"try telling dad that," tina murmured from the armchair, playing with the hem of her green plaid skirt. her costume was a conventional nerd, though she'd argue with her publisher any day about what actually constituted a 'nerd.' for now, it was the easiest thing she could come up with on the train ride from new york.

"yeah, he paid us in love!" gene suddenly yelled from down the hall as he made the last finishing touches on his costume. after the overnight from los angeles, he had rushed in that morning with his suitcase and a bag full of hair-styling cream, silver body glitter, and what looked like rolls of white stretch-polyester.

"i have tried 'teeny-tina dancer'," louise mocked, using their mom's old nickname for her older sister and the classic elton song, "dad always denies it, and then his face gets all red and puffy when he realizes i'm right. not to mention that his parents put him through it too." tina stared blankly at her smirking sister before rolling her eyes.

"shut up, lou-lou-bear, and pass the candy." louise immediately felt her cheeks flush at the old pet name from their mother. logan snickered, snatching the bowl of candies from louise's limp hands. she looked back up at her sister,

"you promised to never even think that name again," louise grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest tightly. tina shrugged, picking out the gold and orange foil chocolate kisses from the large ceramic bowl. she'd quickly collected a small pile on her lap before the bowl was grabbed by anita.

"it's cute, lou," anita sputtered through a mouthful of caramels, her favorite. "just like you!"

"anita, if you weren't one of my best friends i'd seriously harm you."

"love you too, lou-lou."

gene suddenly strutted out from the hall, giving a suave twirl of his costume. louise smiled small as the golden light of the setting sun caught on the silver glitter across his cheekbones. no matter how much she'd begged, he wouldn't tell her what all of that fabric was for, or why he suddenly needed mom's old sewing machine.

"what are you?" anita asked, a confused look twisting her face into a frown. gene looked at her incredulously,

"excuse me? more like who am i, which is one of the most iconic singers of all time." after a moment of tense silence, anita only looking more confused, tina sharing a bored look with louise, and logan almost falling asleep on the sofa, gene huffed loudly. "i'm freddie f*cking mercury!"

"ohhhh!" anita gasped, coming to his side to admire his costume, louise rolling her eyes as her best friend flapped the loose fabric about. the top was the most stunning of the whole outfit; the fabric was large and pleated, billowing around his arms and back whenever he moved. the neckline plunged down to his sternum, but he'd sewn a piece of fabric in to form a crewneck underneath. his white trousers had been ironed neatly and fell to rest over his ridiculously worn white tennis shoes. his hair was tousled roughly, it had grown long since louise had last seen him (almost a year if she remembered right).

"yes, i know, i know, i look better than all of you. i hope i'm not making any of you feel bad." louise immediately tensed, her hand pausing in the candy bowl she and logan had been digging out of. her gaze met anita, then tina, both with their own share of the chocolates. gene shrugged his shoulders with a sly, proud smile, suddenly crying out as several pieces of candy were chucked at him.

"no, not the caramels, that'll stain the satin!"