[center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/181208/0a7a232cdd789c18906d3b2002572d0e.png[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/wpHYB4A.png[/img] [i]A collaboration between [@Dirty Pretty Lies] and [@CaptainSully][/i] [img]https://openclipart.org/image/2400px/svg_to_png/226298/up-divider.png[/img][/center] [indent][color=777777]”I swear: when the guys see us, they are going to lose their shit...”[/color] Rob was doing his best to hold back his laughter, instead settling for a grin stretching from ear to ear. In front of him was his long time friend Ara, and she had allowed him to let loose on her face with makeup. That fact alone would be enough to shock their friends. But on top of that, Rob had a rather drafty number on that would likely cause a few people to pass out from fright. [color=777777]“I mean, let's be honest: I am totally rocking this outfit. And by time I get finished with your face… There's no way we can't win Halloween!”[/color] With a few more brush strokes to the girl’s face, Rob was done. He could not longer hold in his laughter and erupted into a rapturous chuckle as he looked over his masterpiece. [color=777777]“You look absolutely fucking amazing.”[/color] He reached past Ara and grabbed hold of a mirror, holding it up for her to see. [color=777777]“So, what do you think?”[/color] The loud, high-pitched sound of a female’s laughter filled up the empty spaces of the Jennings household. It was Halloween night, and Arabella Jennings was currently in the final preparations of her costume. For this year’s friend get-together, Ara had decided to pull out all the stops and do something completely different. It would probably be the last time they would be able to celebrate the holiday together, so she wanted to make sure it would be one for the books. And in order to achieve the feat of impressing her best friends while slaying this yearly holiday, she had enlisted the help of her long-time best friend Robert Cadogan. [color=E053B3]“Oh my God!”[/color] Ara finally cried out once the laughter had died away, green eyes wide as they examined the job Robert had done. [color=E053B3]“This is crazy! I literally can't even tell it's my own face!”[/color] Rob put the mirror back down, being careful not to brush against the freshly painted cheek of Ara. He took another look at her face and the laughter made way for a smile of sheer joy. [color=777777]“Do you know how long I've wanted to get you painted up?”[/color] The rhetorical question didn't need answering but in reality it was always something he wanted to do for the fun of it. [color=E053B3]“Um, let me guess… Since, like, literally forever?”[/color] the girl said with a wink, waltzing across the room to examine her bestie’s handiwork in the floor-length mirror. Ara had gone all out for tonight, sporting a black Slayer T-shirt, a pair of black skinny jeans and a pair of knee-high, black leather combat boots. Her blonde hair was hidden underneath a black wig so long it reached her mid-back; and the petite, gentle-looking face had been painted completely black and white. To top it all off, she’d borrowed one of Caddy’s long, black leather trench coats to finish off #thelook: a metalhead diva straight out of a heavy metal album cover. [color=777777]“You know it… But anyway, I think it's about time you do something to my hair… Ddo your worst!”[/color] Turning around and carefully sitting down in front of Ara, Rob crossed his legs and freed his hair from it's restraints. As he let it loose it fell freely down his back, tickling at the areas of skin his costume exposed. He shuddered briefly at the sensation before stretching taking a deep breath. [color=777777]“I had better look fabulous by time you're done!”[/color] [color=E053B3]“When have I ever let you down?”[/color] she asked him with that soft smile still in place, taking a few strands of Robert’s surprisingly silky hair and starting to gently but firmly braid his hair. [color=E053B3]“You know when I do something, I do it right. And just you wait until I do your [i]makeup[/i]. The sparkly smokey eye will be the cherry on top of your bombshell sundae.”[/color] Ara was right: she had never let him down before. In all their years as friends she had been as good a friend as anyone could ask for: open, honest and there for him when he needed it. Now, she was there for him again; this time making him look like some sort of flamboyant man-unicorn. The thought of what she had planned for him forced a laugh from deep inside him, although it was stemmed out of fear than humor. [color=777777]“The more glitter, the better...”[/color] On the inside, he was praying that the Gods - whichever one was listening - would magically make all her glitter disappear into the abyss. However, he knew that - deep down - he was going to be a glittery princess tonight, and no deity was going to stop Ara having her way. [color=777777]“...I mean, I can’t remember agreeing to make-up. But may as well go overboard.”[/color] The girl merely shook her head. [color=E053B3]“That’s because wasn’t up to a debate, Skullcandy,”[/color] Ara reminded him somewhat bossily, playfully tugging his hair. [color=E053B3]“Makeup was already part of the deal. Just as you never do a gig without corpse paint, I never perform without makeup. Easy peasy.”[/color] With Arabella’s many years of experience as the cheer team’s designated hair stylist, Robbie’s braid was finished in record time. A pink bow finished off the look, tied around the very end of the braid to prevent it from coming loose. The girl stared at her handiwork for a few long seconds, eyes squinted. There was something missing from this, the final touch to glamourize things... Suddenly, it came to her. Letting out an excited shriek, Ara jumped up from her seat on the bed, ran to her dresser, grabbed a spray bottle from the selection of hair care products and rushed back to where Robbie was sitting. She ripped off the container's lid, tossed it somewhere next to her and let out the battle cry [i][color=E053B3]“Mind the eyes!”[/color][/i] before pressing down on the top of the can and spraying the substance all over the man’s hair. A few seconds later, Robert's braid was covered in gold and silver glitter. The small flecks shone and sparkled when caught in the light, bringing attention to the hairstyle on the male's head. Giggling, Ara grabbed the mirror from the dresser and gave it to her best friend. [color=E053B3]“Done with the hair!”[/color] she announced cheerfully, an excited and anticipating expression all over her corpse-painted face. [color=E053B3]“What do you think, Alvin?”[/color] Rob took the mirror and stared at it blankly for a moment before he broke out into laughter. [color=777777]“I must say, it is rather… [i]Unique[/i]...”[/color] He had dreaded the thought of glitter - anything but glitter -but somehow, in some strange way, he managed to pull it off. [color=777777]“... But I love it. Everyone is going to lose their minds when they see it.”[/color] [color=E053B3]“Yay!”[/color] Ara exclaimed cheerfully, wrapping her arms around Robbie to give him a quick, big hug. [color=E053B3]“I’m so happy you like it! I really tried to make you look drop-dead [i]gorgeous[/i].”[/color] The young man rose to his feet and turned to Ara, trying to fight back the laughter. [color=777777]“This is the single greatest idea we've ever come up with. We are absolute geniuses!”[/color] He slightly adjusted the short skirt he was wearing, trying to pull it low enough to avoid showing off his rather tasteful Sponge Bob Square Pants boxer shorts - another brilliant suggestion from Ara. In the corner of his eye Rob spotted the clock and realised that time, as it usually did when they were together, had flown by. [color=777777]“Come on then, Chick. We should probably look at leaving soon. This sexy piece of ass needs a beer.”[/color] Standing there gesturing at himself with his thumbs Rob chuckled as he waited for Ara to finish getting herself ready. This earned him a snort from Arabella. [color=E053B3]“A queen is never late. Everyone else is simply early,”[/color] she said with a sassy shrug, effortlessly quoting Queen Clarisse from The Princess Diaries. [color=E053B3]“And, by the way: just because you're wearing the outfit doesn't mean you get to wear the ego as well,”[/color] she teased, having grabbed the mirror to organize a few strands of her hair before turning back to Robbie. She had indeed been ready to go when her eyes fell on his bare face. [color=E053B3]“Oh no, we can't go yet! I haven't even done your makeup!”[/color] she whined, lips pressed together in a displeased pout. [color=777777]“Are you sure you want me to put makeup on? I mean, seriously. People will not be able to keep their hands off me,”[/color] Rob gestured at his body with his hands before stretching his arms out wide. [color=777777]”I mean: look at me now… I'm gorgeous!”[/color] [color=E053B3]“Oh, shut up, you!”[/color] Ara replied immediately, rolling her eyes but with a grin that indicated she was amused and not annoyed. While she spoke next, she took Robbie's hand and guided him to sit on her vanity chair, where her makeup station was located. [color=E053B3]“Have you seen what [i]I[/i] look like? One glare from me and a few gruffly lines of satanic goat sacrificing for the Devil and they'll be looking away from you in no time,”[/color] she said proudly, grabbing the tub of primer from the vanity and squeezing a pea-sized amount in her finger to smear it over Rob’s face. [color=777777]“Bitch, please… You wish. I'll have everyone's attention. Look at this ass.”[/color] Turning his back to Ara, Rob pushed his butt out towards her before making a ridiculous attempt at twerking. Arabella couldn’t help but collapse into a fit of laughter as she watched the young man doing the saddest excuse of a twerk . At school, most people took one look at Robbie and his social media and immediately deemed him as an abomination to society because of his music tastes. The jewel-eyes girl wondered what they would say if they saw the ‘mean, scary metalhead’ in his tailored cheerleading costume trying to twerk in the middle of her bedroom. [color=E053B3]“I [i]literally[/i] can’t deal with you right now…”[/color] the girl muttered under her breath, chest heaving with the aftermath of her laughing fit. [color=E053B3]“Alright, alright… C'mon, you flat-assed hoe. Get your ass back in this chair. I have a ton of work to do,”[/color] she playfully scolded, smacking his backside with the handheld mirror and pulling him back towards the floor. Rob sat back down in front of his best friend and scoffed. [color=777777]“I could walk into this party and take anyone I want home… I look [i]that[/i] damn good.”[/color] he teased, shutting his eyes and leaning forward, waiting for Ara to finish his transformation into a super mega ultra unicorn cheerleader princess. Frankly, he looked ridiculous, but the kind of ridiculous that you could laugh off if you had the right personality. That was why he was being so overly ridiculous. In reality, he was by no means as self centred or egotistical as he was acting. It was all part of the show, and would ensure that he would ‘[i]win[/i]’ Halloween, as he kept putting it. [color=E053B3]“Really?”[/color] Arabella drawled as she applied eyeshadow to Robbie's face with gentle brush strokes to the eyelids. [color=E053B3]“So who are you thinking? ‘Cause you, like, have a lot of options. You have Issie-bear, DJ, Augie, RoRo, Deusie… Though if it was up to me I'd pick one of the last two. If you'll take someone home might as well take home the [i]big guns[/i], if you know what I mean,”[/color] she teased, letting out an amused bark of laughter at the thought of Robbie trying to seduce one of their friends with his slutty cheerleader outfit. [color=777777]“One million percent Isaac. I mean, the guy carries tampons on him. That's the kind of a guy a girl could really use in their life.”[/color] Rob managed to keep a straight face for all of a second before the two best friends erupted into laughter once more. They took a moment to compose themselves before he continued on. [color=777777]“I have spoken to him quite a lot over the past few months when I've gone hiking, and I have to say he really is a good guy. I know not everyone needs to be in a relationship - I mean, I'm still single - but he’s got a lot of love to give, I think. He just needs to find the one person he's willing to let in.”[/color] Ara quickly nodded in agreement, remembering the most gentle soul out of their friend group. If anybody deserved all the happiness in the world with someone who would love him for exactly who he was, it was Isaac. After a few minutes of bickering over Ara telling Robert to stay still and the latter protesting that he couldn’t and she just needed to finish already, the task at hand was finally finished. [color=E053B3]“Okay, I'm done!”[/color] she announced proudly, smiling at Robbie while waiting expectantly for his reaction. Rob opened his eyes as the makeup application approached it's end, seeing an almost unrecognisable face before him. [color=777777]“Damn! I am [i]hot[/i]!”[/color] He turned his head to get a full view of his almost completed costume and cheekily grinned. [color=777777]“Even one of the girls may get tempted with me looking this damn sexy!”[/color] [color=E053B3]“How about [i]no[/i]?”[/color] came Ara's response, a little too quickly and a little too seriously. Realizing how she'd sounded, the girl felt herself compelled to change the subject before anything regretful could be said. [color=E053B3]“Honestly, though? That smokey eye looks good on you. Golds and reds are, like, literally your perfect colors.”[/color] [color=777777]“If you're trying to get me to wear makeup regularly, you're totally barking up the wrong tree.”[/color] Rob scratched at his neck as the final touches were about to applied, while Arabella laughed at his comment. [color=777777]“I know I paint myself up for gigs, but that's just because it looks badass. I mean, look at you! Don't you feel badass right now?”[/color] Raising his arms in the air he jokingly flexed. [color=777777]“Like you could just go out there and take on anyone or anything that gets in your way?”[/color] Ara visibly cringed. [color=E053B3]“Um… [i]no[/i],”[/color] she told him, shaking her head vigorously. [color=E053B3]“I'd rather take on the world as a Disney princess like DJ calls me than to go around looking like… [i]this[/i],”[/color] she said, motioning to her get-up. [color=E053B3]“No offense to you, of course.”[/color] Shrugging, the young woman walked back to her bed and grabbed her phone from where it had been charging on the nightstand. A text from her RoRo had been sitting in her inbox for the better part of twenty minutes… Which meant that they were running late for the get-together. [color=E053B3]“Shit!”[/color] she cried out, typing up a quick response to Ronald before pocketing her phone and running towards Robert. [color=E053B3]“It’s twenty past nine, Rob! We have to go [i]now[/i]!”[/color] And without waiting for the man’s response, Ara grabbed his hand and raced down the stairs and out of her home. [hider=Ara’s text back to Ron][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/JP5UxdY.gif[/img][/center][/hider] The pair left the house seemingly on a cloud, they had nailed their costumes. Everything they had visualised beforehand paled in comparison to the true glory of what they were wearing. From Ara's Slayer t-shirt and epic corpse paint, to Rob's short skirt and crop top, they had absolutely pulled it off. The one problem Rob had however was that the temperature had plunged as the fog rolled in. Usually a t-shirt and a pair of jeans would mean he'd be fine but he had more skin on show than clothing covered. [color=777777]“I'm not saying I regret this costume, but damn, it's cold… Gimme your coat, Chick!”[/color] Rob playfully pulled at the sleeve of Ara's coat as they made their way to Ron's house, while she giggled and slapped his hand away. It wasn't a long walk, but Rob had a misplaced concern that he would end up losing some limbs to frostbite. [color=E053B3]“I told you to get one of my coats from the closet! But [i]noooooo[/i], ‘I’m Robert Cadogan: lord of the underworld, who never gets cold because he lives in hell’!”[/color] she teased, using air quotes to emphasize that last sentence. [color=E053B3]“This is what you get for not listening to me.”[/color] [color=777777]”Remember on the group chat I mentioned frolicking with goats?”[/color] Rob asked Ara, choosing to ignore what she’d just said - even if she was right, after all. The girl nodded, eyebrow raised in curiosity as to why he’d brought that message up in the first place. [color=777777]“Well, let's frolic all the way to Ron's so I don't freeze to death!”[/color] Without waiting for his best friends response, he took her hand and began to skip down the road. With every leap, his skirt revealed a bit too much of his Spongebob Squarepants underwear, but he couldn't have cared less. He was starting to feel warmer, and was once again laughing at his own expense. He turned to Ara with a sincere smile, [color=777777]”I bet you didn't see this happening ten minutes ago.”[/color] [color=E053B3]“I never saw this happening [i]period[/i],”[/color] Ara said brightly as she skipped beside him, hands still strongly linked together. [color=E053B3]“But I'm definitely glad it's a thing now. I’m, like, literally having so much fun with you right now.”[/color] Rob poked his tongue out through his lips and let out a surprisingly loud fart noise in response. [color=777777]“There is no way this is becoming a thing!”[/color] he said fighting back the laughter. [color=777777]“I’m just cold. And, quite frankly, feeling fabulous, so this is a total one off!”[/color] He winked at Ara before throwing her a wide smile. [color=e053b3]“If you say so…”[/color] the blonde replied in a sing-song tone of voice, sticking her tongue out at her best friend. [color=E053B3]“Who knows? Maybe you end up liking the feeling of wearing a skirt. The Lord works in mysterious ways, after all.”[/color] At that moment, the headlights of a car drew closer to the skipping pair. The roar of its engine quietened as it got closer before eventually coming to a stop. [color=777777]”Oh shit!”[/color] Rob muttered, stopping in his tracks as he recognised the car. No sooner had he said this that the driver’s side window wound down, and from within came a deep voice that caused Rob to wince in embarrassment, lowering his head into his chest. [color=skyblue]“Excuse me, I don’t suppose either of you have seen my son, have you?”[/color] A raucous barrage of giggling and guffawing poured forth from the car. [color=E053B3]“No, sir, I haven't,”[/color] Arabella promptly replied, making her most laughable attempt at a deep, gravely voice. [color=E053B3]“Only one I've seen tonight is this beautiful young lady here,”[/color] she said, wrapping her arm around Robbie's exposed torso. Soon the head of a young boy emerged from the passenger window, his hair long and flowing free. [color=lightgreen]“Looking good, bro! I always knew you were a big [i]girl[/i]!”[/color] The head of the boy soon returned to the car as the driver pulled him back in. Rob raised his head to see his brother protesting with his father against being told to stop the tirade of abuse, while his best friend tried hard to bite back her laughter. Soon enough, his younger brother was sitting cross-armed and sulking as the smile on his father’s face grew. The older man then turned to Ara and tipped the peak of his cap. [color=skyblue]“Good evening, Arabella. Could you please make sure my daughter gets home safe later?”[/color] [color=E053B3]“You got it, Mr. C. Your princess is always safe with me,”[/color] the blonde replied, choosing that moment to plant a big kiss on Robbie's cheek. There was an audible groan of frustration and embarrassment with almost every word from his father. Rob could feel his stomach knotting and twisting but it only got worse as a bright flash illuminated the immediate area. [color=skyblue]“Jesus, Matt, leave your brother alone!”[/color] Karl reached across to the youngest of the Cadogan clan and took his phone from him. He returned his hands to the steering wheel and began to pull away. [color=skyblue]“You two have a good night! And Rob… Don’t worry about that picture.”[/color] Rob mouthed the words [i]thank you[/i] as his father pulled off down the street, leaving the odd pair to carry on to Ron’s. [color=777777]“That was the single worst experience of my life. I mean, it’s one thing being dressed like this around you guys, but my family?! Oh God...”[/color] Rob’s head fell into his free hand, only that moment realising he and Ara were still holding hands. [color=E053B3]“Oh, you'll be okay, Caddy,”[/color] Ara said, squeezing his hand and waving away whatever insecurities he had as they walked up the steps to Ronald's house. [color=E053B3]“It’s just a silly costume! Your dad knows that, and we both know he won't let Mattie do anything crazy.”[/color] Ara's words held some comfort, and ultimately, he knew it would be tomorrow's problem. He paid her back with a smile as they reached Ron's front door. He looked at it for a moment before turning to his new personal makeup stylist. [color=777777]“Still can't believe how much better than you I look tonight.”[/color] With a final poke of the tongue he hit the door with the knuckles of his hand. [color=E053B3]“Keep telling yourself that, sweetie,”[/color] the young woman replied smugly, shooting Robert a playful wink as they waited for any of their friends to open the door. [color=777777]”Yoohoo! RoRo! Oh, Ronald! Be a sweetie and open this door! I'm being held captive by Satan's offspring!”[/color] The voice he chose was most certainly high pitched and quite passable for a woman...a woman who had smoked fifty a day all her life. [color=E053B3]“You asshole!”[/color] Arabella shrieked with laughter, smacking Rob’s shoulder. [color=E053B3]“I literally can’t deal with you right now!”[/color] [hider=Open the door for a surprise! 😉][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/VfbwL5f.png[/img][/center][/hider] [/indent]