Five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes

[stayb100ponyboy]

Who: Equius Zahhak and Gamzee Makara
What: their one year anniversary
When: backdated to July 11th
Where: their beach house
Style: hopelessly sappy and romantic
Status: closed

Equius washes his face in the surf, taking care to get every last trace of sweat and dirt off. He's pretty sure he'll just start sweating immediately once Gamzee starts painting him, but he's going to give his matesprit the cleanest work surface he can to start with! His hair is already tied back in a high, tight ponytail, and he's left his glasses on the nightstand. He is ready for this. He will not be blasephemous to Gamzee's religion.

Especially not today.

He pauses for a moment, remembering; it was a human year ago today that Gamzee asked him to meet him at the playground in the park and kissed him back for the first time. They got ice cream afterwards, and Gamzee held his hand. He smiles to himself, shaking his head a little. They've come a long ways since then, and he's still as hopelessly smitten as he was then.

He turns around, looking back at the beach house, the ocean lapping around his calves. "Is that good? Are you ready for me?"

Comments

[420]

While Equius has been cleaning his face, Gamzee has been preparing as well, setting our his collecting of paint and brushes. While he can get pretty rough and clumsy with his normal things, he takes care of his paint almost meticulously, always making sure the little jars and brushes are in perfect working condition.

At Equius' question, he glances up, before giving him a nod. There's excitement shining in his eyes, something already tightening in his chest at the thought of getting to put his paints on Equius. "Yeah. I'm ready."

[stayb100ponyboy]

Equius splashes back to shore, and while it looks like he's just giving Gamzee's brushes a once-over, he's actually trying to memorize exactly what they look like. Getting new brushes for him seems like it would be a good gift at some point, he thinks.

He kneels on the floor, across from the carefully laid out paints and brushes. "I'm ready too."

[420]

"Aight." Gamzee shifts a little, moving into a more comfortable position. His fingers a gentle against Equius' jaw, tipping his head a little so he'll be able to paint it most easily. He picks up the sponge, the one that is best for filling in large areas of skin. "If shit starts aching ya, tell me, aight? I can stop."

[stayb100ponyboy]

"Okay." Even if it does itch, Equius will just deal with it. He moves his head as Gamzee guides him, closing his eyes in anticipation of getting the paint on his skin.

[420]

Gamzee waits until he has his eyes completely closed before he starts to spread the bone-white paint across Equius' face with the sponge. He takes great care to leave certain areas of his face clear for now. He's got plans for those. His fingers continue to linger against Equius' chin, occasionally directing him slightly, his eyes far more narrow and focused than is normal for him. This is a big thing for him, a more important part of the day than getting dressed or eating food. He could walk outside naked and hungry; he can't go out without his paint.

[stayb100ponyboy]

Equius knows how important his paint is to Gamzee, and takes care to be appropriately reverent as Gamzee smears it on his skin. This is like the arrows the Archeradicators exchange, he thinks, and he knows how much he would hate for someone to be disrespectful of that ceremony. He also knows that in all of Vatheon, he could probably count on one hand those who have seen Gamzee without his paint and know about the freckles sprinkled across the bridge of his nose, and he flushes slightly at the thought.

[420]

Gamzee tips his head up higher so he can cover the underside of his chin and jaw, along with the top of his neck, before he sets aside the sponge after washing it out quickly. Most of Equius' face is white now, save for certain areas around his eyes, mouth and cheekbones. Switching to his brushes now, he starts to apply the darker grey around Equius' mouth, filling in mouth with a larger brush before switching to a smaller one for the outlines. It's kind of odd doing it from this perspective; he's so used to only painting his own face, practised in those motions, that occasionally he has to pause and lean back, making sure he is still applying it as he wants.

[stayb100ponyboy]

Equius moves with Gamzee, letting him tilt his head back and forth, and he can feel the paint drying on his skin, turning it white and now gray. He wonders what the design will look like when it's done.

[420]

"Gonna do your eyes next, aight? Keep 'em fuckin' closed." Cause he sure doesn't want to accidentally jab a brush into Equius' eye. Leaning in, he starts to fill in the skin around his eyes, the brush sweeping delicatedly over Equius' eyelids, before moving upward again, drawing out the curves and arches with a steady, slow hand.

[stayb100ponyboy]

This is so intimate; not only is he letting Gamzee touch his face, but he's letting him touch him around the eyes, and he's fully trusting him not to try and gouge an eye out. That's an incredible amount of trust for a troll, even for matesprits, and Equius would be lying if he said it wasn't turning him on a bit.

He bites the inside of his cheek and tries to control himself. No getting an awkward boner and committing blasphemy towards your matesprit's Mirthful Messiahs, Equius.

[420]

Luckily, Gamzee is far too focused on covering Equius' face in paint to pay attention to anything else. Once his eyes are done, he moves to fill in the blank parts outlining his cheek bones. And then with a final little swipe of paint against each temple, he leans back to clean off his brushes.

"You can look now."

The design he has been so carefully painting on Equius' face is the exact same as his own, every line on Equius' face mirrored on his own.

[stayb100ponyboy]

Equius opens his eyes, turning his head to look in the little mirror they've set up beside them. A very familiar design stares back at him, and he blinks a few times, his head ringing with cognitive dissonance, before it sinks in.

"You painted me to look like you," he says quietly, reverently.

[420]

Gamzee ducks his head a little, focusing on his hands, making sure that all the traces of paint are washed out of his brushes with his fingers. "Yeah, I was all thinkin' like... Like, I know the motherfuckers done had real special paint what they up and put on their matesprits. You know, fuckin' marked them as being belonging. But I ain't one of 'em. Ain't ever wanna be one. Weren't nothing what was feeling right for this motherfucker to be using subjugglator designs for you."

He glances at him. "This is my paint. I came up with that shit myself. Giving you that felt right."

[stayb100ponyboy]

Equius rises to his feet and closes the distance between the two of them, very carefully looping his arms around Gamzee's waist. He's still not confident enough to openly touch his matesprit, but he's getting closer! His arms are almost touching Gamzee's skin now!

He can, however, drop a kiss on the back of Gamzee's neck, which he does, smiling when he sees the faint paint stain left behind. "I love it. Thank you."

[420]

Gamzee hums softly when Equius brushes his lips over the back of his back, leaning back against his chest. "No biggie." Though it really is one. He knows Equius won't ever be a believer. Even now, covered with the paint, he doesn't really believe. But it is a nice thought, the idea he could share this part of himself with his quadrantmates.

Too bad both his bros as bigger atheists than Troll Richard Dawkins.

[stayb100ponyboy]

It's not so much that Equius is an atheist, but more that he's never found a religion that really speaks to him. He has a silent hope that someday Darkleer will tell him about an ancient, secret order of the Archeradicators, but that is unlikely. He wants to believe... he just can't.

"I have something for you too," he says quietly, his voice a little nervous. He has no idea if Gamzee will like, or even want, what he's made for him.

[420]

Gamzee leans back against him a moment more before he twists around in his arms until he is pressed chest to chest with him. His hands slide over Equius' neck, for once completely bare with his hair still pulled up in its ponytail. "Yeah?" He cocks his head a little, curiously staring at him. Really. Equius has given him enough already just letting him put the paint on him for a night.

[stayb100ponyboy]

"Yes." Equius shivers a little at the feel of Gamzee's hands on his bare neck, then uses one hand to access his sylladex. One complicated engineering question later, and he's holding a small, black velvet box on the palm of his hand. "Here. This is for you."

[420]

"Aww, you got me a fuckin' box." Yes, it is a shitty joke, but that is Gamzee Makara for you. Shitty jokes R us. Always time for a little clowning around. Even so his long skinny fingers curl around the box, scooping it up. "Can I?"

Open it, that is.

[stayb100ponyboy]

"Only the best of boxes for my matesprit." Equius cracks a small, nervous smile before nodding when Gamzee grabs the box. "Of course. Go ahead."

Inside, there's a thin silver band, one that was not made by a professional, but rather beaten into submission and crafted with a rough, worn look. It almost resembles a piece of driftwood, the way it buckles and shifts. On top, the part that's shown to the world, there's a small, glittering blue sapphire, and inside there's an arrow, a tiny twin to the one on Equius' shirt, engraved.

[420]

Gamzee returns his smile before he cracks open the box. His eyes widen a little, before settling a little, leaning in to press his cheek to Equius', paint to paint, as he scoops the ring out of the box. "You made this for me?"

[stayb100ponyboy]

"Yes." Equius carefully leans back, enjoying the feeling of Gamzee's cheek on his, before explaining further. "Do you know what human marriage is?"

[420]

"Yeah." He does remember. Somewhat. He has to scrape his pan for it, digging through perigees worth of memories, but he does recall. Vaguely. It was Lily who had told him. Or Mrs Brisby. Or both. But those are details.

"It's like... throwing a big motherfuckin' bash over telling who your matesprit be."

[stayb100ponyboy]

"Right. And part of that is giving each other rings first. And then there's flowers and cake and things." Or something. That sounds about right.

Equius flushes, looking a little embarrassed, and gestures at the ring. "I thought, you know... not now, but maybe someday... if you wanted to..."

[420]

Whatever, it sounds close enough to Gamzee.

Gamzee turns his head to press a kiss to the corner of Equius' mouth, tasting paint as he does so. "I'd be all sorts of down for getting marriaged to you."