Summer Lights and City Nights

-vi. lipgloss

notes: dedicated to weeknder because she made my pretty cover and yeah it's kind of late oops sorry

++++++++++++++++

—vi. lipgloss

Her lips are extra shiny today.

Not that that was the first thing he noticed when he walked into the store. Because who notices something like that? Only a guy who spends too much time looking at a girl’s lips. Which he did not do. Because that would be creepy.

She raises an eyebrow at him, slightly smirking. His eyes widen in horror. Oh God, had he been staring?

“I—um.”

“About done with your internal monologue?” she asks him, checking out a little boy’s pile of comic books.

“Yes—I mean no. Shut up,” he says. His ears turn red. Marceline snickers and hands the little boy his change and bag of books before turning to him.

“What’s with you today?” she asks, “Why are you so flustered?”

He feels defensive. “I am not flustered!” Prez says, “I—your lips are just very distracting today is all!”

She blinks at him. “What?”

His ears turn bright red again. “Can I ask you a question?” he asks quickly and then, “And that didn’t count you smartass.”

Marceline just grins cheekily (secretly she wonders when he began to know her so well). “Go ahead,” she says.

“What’s with girls and putting that goopy stuff all over their lips? The glosslip stuff?”

“Lipgloss,” she corrects.

“Yeah, whatever,” he says, “I don’t really get the point of it. Or why girls obsess over it so much.”

“That’s a pretty good question,” Marceline says and it is. Why do girls wear lipgloss? 

“Well there’s a couple of things I guess. Chapped lips could be one reason—and yeah, there’s chapstick but lipgloss is pretty and shiny and glittery. Girls like pretty, shiny, glittery stuff. And also,” she says, “It brings attention to your lips. Which is useful if you wanna get a guy to notice you. Or kiss you.”

“Oh,” Prez says and then he’s silent for a couple of seconds as this new information settles in. “So then why do you wear it?”

“Because...it’s pretty?” she offers. She doesn’t really know, she kind of just put it on without thinking.

“Oh,” Prez says again although this time it sounds slightly disappointed. He looks away from her and then back again. “Can I ask you another question?”

“Sure?” she says and then, “Why the sudden interest in my lipgloss?”

He coughs into his hand and then smiles innocently. “Um, no reason!” he says, “Anyway. Does it taste good?”

“Huh?”

“The glosslip—”

“Lipgloss.”

“—Yeah whatever,” Prez says, not at all caring about his complete mispronunciation of the word, “Does it taste good?”

Marceline smiles nervously. “Yeah? Well some, like mine, are flavored so I guess so?”

“What flavor is that?” he asks pointing to her lips. He looks innocent, like a curious little kid. Marceline wants to kill him. 

“Watermelon,” she answers.

He grins wide. “I love watermelon!”

Marceline sort of chokes on her spit (wow smooth, right?). “Do you now?” she manages to get out. He nods enthusiastically and then all of a sudden there’s this gleam in his eye and he gives her this look—a total bedroom eyes, come hither so we can have hot passionate sex look and someone as dorky as him should not be able to pull that off so well.

“Can I have a taste?”

Marceline looks about ready to have like five heart attacks. 

And then Prez starts laughing and the mood is totally ruined.

“Kidding!” he says, “I’m kidding!” He continues to laugh at her expense.

Marceline throws a book at him and that shuts him up very quickly.