Tea Parties & Dresses

A/N: One-shot request! Enjoy the suffering.

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Dressing up started out as a game at first, back when he was five.

Nagisa chewed on the tail of his favourite stuffed Dolphin while his mom made the food for their tea party.

She smiled down at him when she noticed him. "Do you want cucumber circles or cucumber sticks?"

"Sticks!" he said brightly, smiling when she chuckled and chopped the cucumber up into sticks. "Mama, I want, I want cucumber sticks, please!"

She gently ruffled his mop of hair. "I heard you the first time, Nagisa-chan."

Nagisa grinned and nuzzled his face into her apron, holding onto her leg. "Teddy and baby want circles though!"

His mom nodded. "Yes, I know. Why don't you go make sure they're sat down?"

"Okay!" He quickly dashed off to his room to where his toys, a purple teddy, a pink baby doll, and a yellow T Rex, were sat down on a blanket with two cushions opposite and a blue tea set in the middle.

Nagisa carefully neatened up his toys and then sat down on a cushion with his dolphin on his lap as his mom came in with the plates of snacks.

"I hope Teddy and baby are hungry." Mom smiled and put the plate of circled cucumber in front of the two toys while Nagisa reached for his plate.

"Ah." Mom pulled the plate out of reach. "We can't have a tea party without the Princess."

Nagisa's brow furrowed briefly until he remembered the second part of the game, being the princess while mom was the queen. He looked over at the half slid open wardrobe door where his clothes and the princess dresses were kept.

"...Itchy," he mumbled, starting to frown when he remembered how uncomfortable the last one had been. They had bought it from a fancy dress shop and the netting inside the skirt of the dress that had made his legs itch so much they turned pink in a rash. "They feel itchy, mama—"

"Don't be silly, Nagisa." His mom stood back up and walked over to the closet. "We'll try a different one this time."

She started searching through the coat hangers. The dresses were always nearly hung on the hangers so they wouldn't wrinkle, while the boxes beneath were where his cargo shorts and t-shirts were kept.

Nagisa frowned and hugged his dolphin, chewing the worn fin of the toy while his mom was looking for the right dress.

"Oh, look!" Mom sounded so happy, taking out a pink dress which was so puffy it looked like a pink marshmallow. "Isn't it pretty?!"

He hesitantly walked over, rubbing his eyes when his hair got in his eyes; it was growing past his ears and his fringe nearly covered his eyes but his mom refused to cut it. "Yeah..."

He didn't like how bright the pink was.  He liked the duller colours of the clothes his dad bought him which were dark greens and browns. The dresses his mom bought were always bright yellows and pinks which made his eyes sting sometimes.

"Come on, let's hurry before Teddy gets hungry." His mom rolled up the dress so she could pop it over his head.

Nagisa quickly took off his grey t-shirt so that he was just in his vest and blue cargo shorts. He was buried in a mass of pink material as the dress was put on him as he slipped his hands into the sleeves.

His face scrunched up, rubbing his nose. This dress didn't itch like the other one and was soft, but it pooled at his feet and made it hard to walk like he was wrapped up in a blanket.