Work Text:
"Wait!" Aeris called. "Wait wait wait!"
Cloud stopped and turned with great dignity. ...no, that was a lie. A necessary lie. He stopped and turned wearing a dress and a goddamned wig. He did not know how he was managing to walk in heels better than the ACTUAL GIRL, and he frankly didn't want to discuss it.
She caught up, tugging her own dress straight over her hips and belly. She looked fantastic, which frankly only made it all worse. "Sorry," she said, "you can't breathe in these things."
"Yup," he said grimly.
"It is kind of fun, though." She spun in place; the skirt of her dress twirled around her surprisingly well, considering the dedication with which the upper part clung to her. He hadn't noticed that she had much in way of breasts, what with the jacket she was wearing before, but he sure noticed now. They were small, but her dress held them up for appraisal lovingly. "Useless, but fun."
"Can we please just get this over with," he gritted. "Please."
She suddenly stopped and looked at him very seriously. He was not comfortable with pretty girls in tight dresses looking at him very seriously under the best of circumstances, and he was, in addition, not comfortable with said discomfort, so this just seemed like the most horrible psychologically insightful nightmare possible. "Huh," she said.
"What?" Cloud said. "What now?"
"Something's not right."
"I don't care."
"Of course you care!"
"No, really, Aeris, you're a wonderful girl, but I really want you to stop making me look like a woman now. This is an unhealthy way to get to know someone. I mean, around here, maybe--"
She snapped her fingers abruptly. "I know what it is."
"What? No, you're not listening."
"It's your eyelashes." She opened the little purse that came with the dress. He hadn't even seen her put anything in it.
He stared in sudden horror. "What? No."
"They're blond!" She fished out a tiny bottle and brandished it at him, and he backed away as though it were mace. "I mean, don't get me wrong, they're cute! But a girl would darken them. Especially in that dress."
"My. No. My eyelashes are not cute. What about this dress? What's wrong with it?" She unscrewed the bottle, and the cap came off with some sort of dipstick. "ASIDE FROM THE FACT THAT IT IS A DRESS."
"Come here."
"No. Look, the girls at that... that place put stuff on my face, I don't think I need more."
"The Inn? Oh, no wonder, their eye make-up takes hours." She held up the tiny brush, which looked like it had been dipped in ink. "It was nice of them to do the rest, though. They're a good bunch. Well, most of them. Come here, I can't reach!"
The stand-off lasted about ten seconds; Cloud had to concede that he had been outdrawn.
"Look up," she said, and held his face steady with her free hand.