Finding Out A Little Something New
#9 of Short stories
A young Hyena goes to his friend with a request. He's found a few things online he wants to try but is a little... shy on what it all means.
I wrote this about a year ago and was never really able to get it out of my head. I kept coming back to finish it but never made much progress until later. I finally sat down and got this baby finished because it really got me. I felt really connected to this piece specifically because it's something I had to try and deal with myself. If you like this, please let me know. This is very much different from what I normally do but I just... I had to do this. It felt nice.
"No freaking way!" The white feline cheered as she rushed into the bathroom of the apartment, rummaging through her whole makeup bag as the Hyena in the room immediately regretted his decisions.
"Uh, Mimi? I don't know if-"
"Hush! I've been preparing for this day for a very long time!" She beamed as she rushed to his side, a whole pack full of eyeliner and eyeshadow, eyelashes, Nail paint and polish. She was smiling so big that the Hyena could see sparkles coming off her. He didn't have the heart to turn her down but... was all of this really necessary?
"What do you mean you've been preparing for this?" She instantly ran back into the room with a big bag of all kinds of makeup tools and materials, bringing a chair right behind her friend and skillfully sliding it right under him, forcing him to sit down.
"Hush! Don't move! I gotta really make this look good!" She sat down in front of him and force closed his eyes, making him shake his head.
"Woah! Mimi I-"
"You wanna wear this stuff or not?" She asked him seriously, a raised eyebrow stopping him for a moment. He thought for a bit before sitting back down and she continued, the smile returning. Jack had asked Mimi to do something he had never thought he would ever do. He was looking at a few pictures of some... people. Some very pretty people. It kinda got him in the mood to try out this whole... Whatever it was. He was still a little embarrassed to describe it but luckily his roommate wasn't one to judge. He closed his eyes and let her get to work, slowly applying the starting bits of it all.
She was so dedicated. And so sweet too. She was delicate and smooth, at moments Jack not even knowing what she was doing but the soft touching of her brush or the smooth stroke of her movements lulled him into a silent confidence. He knew she was an expert at this. Another reason why he asked her to do this for him.
"Soooooo," she began to sing. "What made you want to give this a shot? I finally wear you down?" He could practically hear her smirking which made him chuckle a bit.
"I uh... Spent a bit of time online. Got a little bored and made a few clicks and found.... Some stuff." Jack wasn't normally one to beat around the bush but this was so out of his element he was feeling a little vulnerable. More now than ever before.
"What kind of stuff?"
"Ehhh..." he blushed slightly, almost turning away before she brought his face back in her direction. He didn't open his eyes as she was currently applying eyeshadow to his eyes.
"Come onnnnnnn, you can tell meeeeee. I promise not to laugh. Too hard." She teased, and he laughed a bit, lightening up some more.
"I uh... It was a... I mean.... Kinda like a - a gay site." There was a brief pause. For a moment he didn't feel anything touching him or any movement at all. He didn't open his eyes but he could tell she had a look of surprise on her face. She tried to get back to work like nothing happened but he knew regardless.
"Realllllyyy? You? You're like... the straightest guy I know!" Her tail gently rubbed against his leg to try and keep him smiling but he squirmed a bit, making her stop.
"W-well I was just looking around! Nothing too crazy. They had some really cool looking stuff there. Nice art, Clothes... uhm... other things." Jack was a little stiff now, clearly uneasy about talking about this but Mimi wanted to try and usher out any negative notions he had going on. She almost felt like a mother educating her son.
"Liiiiike?" She asked sweetly.
"Some... stuff I ain't really into, ya know? The... stuffed animal things."
"Ahhhh yeah. Not my thing either."
"Not that there's anything wrong with that!" He rushed to cover his tracks, jerking in a way that made Mimi screw up her work. "Ya know I ju - I don't... I mean the people are really - cause sometimes -"
"Jack just-"
"Cause I don't want to be an asshole or anything! Some people like that stuff and can do what they want -"
"Hold still dude!" she said sternly. She took a breath and used a white cloth to clean up her mistake. "I know what you meant. It's alright. No need to be all defensive." She pinched his nose playfully and got a nervous smile in return. "So what else was there then? Stuff you actually liked?" In an instant, with that topic, all of the apprehension he had was tossed aside, practically beaming with joy.
"Oh yeah! Lots of really freaking pretty art! Shit was gorgeous! There was this one piece I saw, I think it was a comic, where this Dingo was at a beach with some friends and..." He ended up talking a lot about that particular comic, gushing about the art and overall quality of the comic, but the entire time he seemed to be dancing around something. Like he was hiding details about it. Mimi could definitely tell but she didn't say anything.
"They really caught your heart, huh? Always were a visual person." She pushed a bit of his hair out of her way.
"Yeah haha! I'll love anything if it's dolled up enough I guess." Mimi chuckled slightly at that.
"So, anything elseeee?"
"Oh so much! So freaking much." He was barely able to contain himself now, jittering in his seat so much that Mimi had to calm him down. "I saw a lot of comics mostly, some really cool animations, overall just some really nice art. There was this real good one of some folks in a bar and they looked so... pretty! Just Jesus man! How do you look that good?! Like, the lighting, the freaking... everything! Some real pretty guys, Mi. I just..."
"Ahhhh, there it is."
"There's what?"
"The boys were pretty huh?"
"Yeah they... Oh." He realized what he said. His overexcitement had finally gotten him to say it. The smug smile on her face was so obvious he didn't even need to open his eyes to see it. The little chuckle she gave just added to his fuel of embarrassment.
"Oooh boy, you keep blushing like that and you won't even need my work!" She teased as he felt her lay some extra touches onto his cheeks, humming away innocently like she didn't hear what he said just seconds ago. His mind was racing with what she might think. Hell, he wasn't even sure of his own thoughts on this. He had never really been interested in Men, but the ones on the site just looked so... pretty! Whether it was drawn art or a specific model. The site didn't pick supermodels or anything, just regular people. And that really got his attention. There was a certain allure about them that he couldn't describe, a certain style that he was attracted to. Or maybe it was them. He really couldn't tell.
He had no issues with Gay people. Mimi had been his best friend since elementary school and she introduced him to all kinds of other folks in her LGBT+ crew and they were all lovely people! Very kind and genuinely hilarious, but he was always the straight man. Literally. It had never been a question to him as to what he was into, who he was into. He felt a little like an outlier. Not excluded per se but like... Well, he didn't know how he felt about that either.
He never wanted Mimi to feel like she had to choose between her other friends and him. But he just wasn't into some of the fun they had or the places they went. He wasn't a bar kind of person. Wasn't his vibe. But maybe tonight, just for a little bit, he wanted to join in these rainbow colored festivities. Just for a bit. If guys could put on makeup and look as good as the ones he saw on that site...... Well, what was the harm in trying? But...
"Hey Mimi?"
"Yeeeesss?" She sang.
"I - uh.... I... Am I gay?" She tried not to laugh.
"How would I know that?" She did a little something with his eyelashes, very smoothly that he almost didn't feel it at first.
"Well I just thought... Like... I'm doing this stuff and think some male models are cute."
"You said you thought they were 'pretty'," she corrected and he gave a fake little laugh.
"We both know what I meant." She paused a bit.
"Do we?"
"Well... yeah. Right?" He opened his eyes and she closed them again, placing something on his other eyelash.
"To answer your first question, maybe. It all depends on if YOU think you are. In my professional opinion..." She finished her work and let him open his eyes freely, seeing the serious cat girl right in front of him, packing everything away. "I think you areeeee..." She hummed for a bit, thinking of the right word. "Curious. Not even curious about other Men, just curious about this new thing. You've never been one to care about makeup or lipstick or any of that stuff. You always saw it on a pretty GIRL and just kinda accepted that. Girl's wear makeup. It's a girl thing. All that."
"True," he nodded.
"Which is fine. But I think you saw something that shook your perception a little bit. In a good way. It's fun! A new interest. It goes against everything you're used to so you're kind of fighting it but also too excited to not try it out because you want to look good! And who can fault you for that?" She smiled. He looked like he was still debating some thoughts in his head, not looking her in the eyes and she let him think.
"I don't know how to feel about this just yet." His voice was low. Almost scared. Like he was too afraid to say what he really thought. Mimi tenderly touched his leg, trying to look him in the eyes.
"That's okay. That's why we're doing this. It's just a fun little thing. If you like it, Yay! If you don't, no problem. We'll wipe everything off and continue on. Either way, we learn a little something new." He looked up at her, an uncertain look on his face. She booped his nose, finally getting a smile.
"You promise not to laugh? Or make fun of me? Or tell anybody?" She shook her head instantly.
"Remember when I told you I was gay? You held that secret for 13 years for me. The ONLY one of my friends at the time who knew. I told you before any of my family, my parents, my brothers, everyone. You kept my secret, so what kinda friend would I be if I didn't return the favor?" The two shared a chuckle and she got up, grabbing a mirror, showing him all of her beautiful work.
His natural brown and black fur was now being accented with pink eyeshadow and light sparkles just under his eyes, large eyelashes as well to attract more attention to his face. She had apparently placed a bit of lipstick on him too and he never noticed. He looked so... So beautiful. He was stunned, looking at all of her work in the mirror and just... at a loss for words. He smiled. So big his cheeks hurt. He laughed a little, too breathless to give too much.
And then he cried.
He loved it! He really loved it!
He couldn't stop himself. The tears just kept coming and he tried to stop himself, already ruining the makeup.
"Hey hey! Cool it with the tears!" Mimi laughed, grabbing a napkin and doing her best to clean up his uncontrollable mess.
"I... I'm s-sorry I just... I just..." Mimi stroked his cheek, a sweet mile on her face.
"I know. I know." Briefly pressed her forehead against his, letting him get all the emotions out before she went back to work. "Alright! Lemme work my magic again!" She was about to begin when Jack reached out and touched her hand, holding it softly. She smiled in return.
"Thank you."
*****