"I like bows," Gela says, already tying the ribbon into one just to see — it is floppy in her hands. She turns her shoulder automatically to grant him privacy while he changes, and then draws closer to his things, naturally curious.
Beginning to slip it on, Benedict pauses-- it's a brief hitch of self-consciousness, but he shoulders past it as he pulls the sleeves over his arms.
"A party," he says evasively, testing how the words feel: it's not like his mother is here to scold him for doing something ridiculous, but her voice lives in his head nonetheless. "For... dressing up."
Gela instantly turns back to him to say, "Oh, fun!" and realises he's still dressing, which makes her immediately turns back around again on her heel, averting her gaze with a breathless apology. Then, "Which party?"
He smiles back at her, mirroring the sincerity, though in the instant he turns back around Gela's next question freezes him in place.
He weathers the anxiety of it, takes a deep breath, sighs it out. She already knows he's wearing a dress, it's not like this can get more incriminating. "It's called, um," he says delicately, "a drag ball." How tantalizingly scummy. "It's at [idk man] in Lowtown, in a few weeks."
"Ooh," Gela says, her expression barely changing from a wide, interested smile (lest he be afraid of catching any stray judgement). "And are you performing there...? I didn't know you did that."
It's a sort of art, isn't it, dressing yourself up in a way you don't usually and then selling other people on it. Gela actually knows all about that but she's never gone so far as to attempt drag before.
“I— don’t,” he admits with an awkward laugh, but warms to Gela with the openness of her reaction. “I did it once for a mission, and just sort of. …liked it.” Tucking a strand of hair behind one ear, he offers her a fleeting, shy glance. This isn’t something he’d talk about with many, still sorting it out on a personal level.
“I think there will be people performing, though.”
Yes she can tell, and it's really nice. He looks very pleased with himself about it and tentatively happy, a far better look on him than what he wore when they were in the cells together.
"And you're going to watch. And think about joining in?" Who knows what will happen when you're a few drinks into a night, yes? "It sounds so fun, Benedict.
"We'd better make sure you look really good, then."
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2025-05-01 03:23 am (UTC)"Is the dress for an occasion?"
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Date: 2025-05-01 07:21 pm (UTC)"A party," he says evasively, testing how the words feel: it's not like his mother is here to scold him for doing something ridiculous, but her voice lives in his head nonetheless.
"For... dressing up."
no subject
Date: 2025-05-01 10:17 pm (UTC)And can she snag a +1 to it... perhaps...
no subject
Date: 2025-05-02 08:25 pm (UTC)He weathers the anxiety of it, takes a deep breath, sighs it out. She already knows he's wearing a dress, it's not like this can get more incriminating.
"It's called, um," he says delicately, "a drag ball." How tantalizingly scummy. "It's at [idk man] in Lowtown, in a few weeks."
no subject
Date: 2025-05-14 01:22 am (UTC)It's a sort of art, isn't it, dressing yourself up in a way you don't usually and then selling other people on it. Gela actually knows all about that but she's never gone so far as to attempt drag before.
no subject
Date: 2025-05-15 02:55 am (UTC)“I did it once for a mission, and just sort of. …liked it.” Tucking a strand of hair behind one ear, he offers her a fleeting, shy glance. This isn’t something he’d talk about with many, still sorting it out on a personal level.
“I think there will be people performing, though.”
no subject
Date: 2025-05-26 07:02 am (UTC)"And you're going to watch. And think about joining in?" Who knows what will happen when you're a few drinks into a night, yes? "It sounds so fun, Benedict.
"We'd better make sure you look really good, then."