Page 37 of Epidermis

When he got out of the shower, Konrad had made some adjustments to his own outfit, and was leaning over the bathroom counter to get close to the mirror. Jasper wrapped a towel around his waist and almost choked with the effort of trying not to laugh. “Konrad, are you using my eyeliner?”

“I am certainly making an attempt.”

Jasper gave in to the laughter at seeing Konrad, who was good at everything, struggle to put on makeup. “Turn around and face me.” Hair still dripping onto his shoulders, Jasper took the pencil from him. “Close your eyes.” It was harder to put eyeliner on someone else than it was himself, but Konrad was still as a statue, his hands clasped very politely behind his back. Jasper finished with relative ease.

Jasper capped the pencil and looked at Konrad’s outfit. He was wearing the same black slacks he’d had on when he came to walk Jasper back from the convention, but he’d sacrificed his button-down and vest for a black shirt with laces halfway down the front, the sleeves loose and ruffled like something forgotten in the Victorian era. Even his hair was down, one eye nearly covered by locks of ash blond and silver. He looked stunning.

Which Jasper perhaps should have mentioned, but what came out was, “So why are you dressed like this?”

“I thought I would get ‘dolled up’ for you.”

Konrad sounded immeasurably pleased with himself.

Jasper stepped back and Konrad opened his eyes, now ringed with a thin halo of black. The fact Konrad had gotten dressed up for him made him feel like he’d swallowed an entire colony of butterflies. He’d clearly tried to mimic Jasper to please him, going by the all-black clothes and eyeliner, and Jasper was reminded of birds that would fan their feathers out and dance for a mate. Jasper blushed, feeling extremely unworthy of such effort. “You look really nice.”

Konrad kissed him and Jasper expected it to escalate, especially since he was only wearing a towel, but it was a gentle, undemanding kiss. He left Jasper to get dressed in peace, and Jasper wondered if he’d ever be able to predict Konrad Iversen.

He’d chosen his outfit on impulse, another of the ones he’d gotten because he liked it and then never worn, but now that he was actually looking in the mirror he felt ridiculous.

What if Konrad balked at going out in public with him like this? Konrad had put on a little makeup but Jasper was wearing a blouse from the women’s section. Which Jasper personally liked, and he thought gendered clothing was stupid anyway—it was just fabric, for fuck’s sake—but he might draw attention. Perhaps less so than if Jasper was back home and so close to the South where he’d grown up, but attention nonetheless.

It was a long-sleeved, off-the-shoulder silk blouse, showing the top of his raven tattoo. Jasper didn’t have a remotely effeminate build. He was muscular, not as broad in the shoulders as Konrad, but broad enough that he didn’t look particularly elegant, as the shirt was intended to look. He wore it with black pants that flowed so loosely from waist to ankle that, at first glance, someone might think he was wearing a skirt.

Jasper had been standing there long enough for Konrad to rap his knuckles against the door. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah. I’m… just dandy.”

He wrapped the scarf Konrad had given him around his neck and ran some product through his hair and then opened the bathroom door. He chose to stare at the laces of Konrad’s shirt rather than his face, not really wanting to see his reaction. “I can change,” he said, sparing Konrad the awkward prospect of having to ask.

“Mine stgerner, elskede.”

“That…wasn’t English.”

“No, it was not. I fear I forgot three of the four languages I speak for a moment.” Konrad took his hand and drew him out of the bathroom. “Look at you. Wars have been fought over those who don’t match your beauty by even half.”

Heat rushed to Jasper’s face and he choked out a laugh. “Okay, Oscar Wilde, just tell me I’m pretty and we can go.”

“You are exceptionally pretty.”

twelve

Part of Jasper had expected to be taken somewhere that served frogs’ legs and required him to know which fork to use for his salad and which to use with the main course, but the restaurant they arrived at was vibrant and there were people wearing everything from blue jeans to cocktail dresses. Paper lanterns threw a warm glow over the dark wood tones, and the patio was even more striking, the tables under a pergola woven with string lights and the same lanterns from inside. The small seating area stepped down to a much larger pavilion where a full string ensemble played and a few couples danced. Jasper slipped his glasses on to look at the menu and was delighted to find it full of things he could pronounce.

“When we met, I thought you were kind of stuffy,” Jasper confessed, unwinding his scarf from his neck and folding it on the table.

“I do not have the most informal disposition, so I can hardly blame you.”

Decided on what to order, Jasper put the menu aside and tapped his black nails against the laminated pages. “Why are you so formal? I don’t mind it, I’m just curious.”

“A product of my upbringing, mostly. I was learning etiquette as soon as I was old enough to comprehend the teachings of my governess. Anna’s demeanor relaxed once we were in a more forgiving environment, but I suppose mine is simply a matter of habit.”

That made sense, especially after what he’d told Jasper before, of his mother being a countess. Konrad’s smile as he spoke of his sister was bittersweet, and Jasper reached across the table to take his hand. “Can I ask what happened to your sister? Anna? It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it.”

“Leukemia. This earring was a birthday gift to her, and it was the second of her birthdays since she’d passed when I came to you to be pierced. She's been gone nearly two years now.” Konrad’s eyes grew distant as he said it, his lips pressing together in a pained line.

Jasper’s chest hurt at the sight of that expression. “I’m sorry for your loss. I know everybody says that, but I really am. And I’m sorry I wasn’t the most friendly that day… I can’t imagine how you felt.”

“Never be sorry for the day you came into my life, Jasper.” Konrad looked down at their joined hands, his eyes misting over. “Your fire was the first warmth I’d known since I lost her.”