#experimentalmadness

“I, uh, I found a new brand online?” Juni explains, brushing a messy black stripe over his thumbnail. “It took a bit, and I was worried it wouldn’t hold up, but it’s supposedly non-toxic and vegan? And the reviews were all pretty good. It actually peels off instead of chipping, too, which is gonna take some getting used to, and it’s pricier than I usually go for, so I’m hoping it lasts, but--”

As he’s wont to do when Juni gets to babbling, Mason quiets him with a kiss, and this one is the kind that leaves him feeling like his brain’s turning to soup in his skull. When Mason starts nibbling on his bottom lip, he thinks he feels it leaking from his ears. The one little part of his brain that hasn’t been liquefied by a stupid, sexy vampire regrets telling said stupid, sexy vampire he may have had a very, very, very small thing (some might call it a kink) for biting.

He miraculously hasn’t dropped the wet brush by the time Mason lets him breathe and try and remember how to think again, but the gentle thumb pressing to his wet, red lower lip certainly isn’t help on that front. “I just...” He swallows hard, blinking a bit and straightening his smudged glasses. “I just figured, well, since you’ve stopped smoking to spare my poor, fragile-even-for-a-human lungs, the least I could do is return the favor and not assault your senses because I want to try and fail to look cool, and wind up looking about as tough as a teacup yorkie in a spiked collar.”

Mason cocks an eyebrow at him. “Accurate, I’ll give you that.”

Juni smiles, still red in the face. “You think I’m cute,” he teases. Mason rolls his eyes heartily, crossing his arms while Juni keeps poking at him. “You like me.”

“You’re dripping nail polish on the table,” he says, and watches with more than a little amusement as the human yelps and hurries to clean his mess before it dries.

They settle in again, and this time Mason hooks his chin over the detective’s shoulder to watch him paint his nails. It’s messy, Juni knows he’s not the best at it. He gets almost as much on his skin as his nails themselves, and just hopes hopes it’ll come off on its own. Mason, if he has any, keeps his critique to himself, and though the polish doesn’t smell nearly as bad as the usual brand, it’s still not amazing even to Juni’s mortal senses, so Mason occasionally has to take refuge in the side of his neck again.

He’s pretty sure Mason’s going to tell him to fuck off (or the politest equivalent he’s capable of) and it’s pretty much just a shot in the dark to curb his boredom with holding still for any amount of time, and he almost falls off the sofa when Mason shrugs his shoulders and says, “Sure, why not?”

By the time he manages to finish (somewhat shaky and even messier than usual because Mason’s decided to nibble him again, and he’s distracting enough when he’s not mouthing at Juni’s ear) and deal with the battle of wills that is trying not to touch anything and ruin the polish before it can dry, Mason’s almost dozing against his back. “Can I paint yours too?” Juni asks without thinking. “Just.. waiting for them to dry is the worst part, and if I’m careful I can probably do yours without smudging mine?”

He probably should have seen Mason bracing both hands on his thigh and squeezing with a wolfish smile coming, but he hopes his sharp warning of, “Hold still, I like these jeans,” will deter any... shenanigans. It does, for the moment, and he finds it’s a lot easier to paint someone else’s nails than his own. Mason only has to bury his face in Juni’s dense curls once or twice before he’s done, and Mason’s left admiring his black nails. They’re still messy, but they look really good with the cords around his wrists. Figures he’d look effortlessly good even with Juni’s substandard nail painting skills.

“Not bad,” he hums, but his smirk says what he’s really thinking, which is “You suck at this, but it’s cute that you tried.” Juni definitely calls that a win regardless.

They are then left to kill time while Mason’s nails dry, and since Juni’s reached the safe stage he rewards the vampire for behaving by straddling his lap and holding his wrists down to keep him from forgetting himself and getting handsy while he kisses him. It’s definitely just as much for Juni as Mason, but with his mouth well occupied, Mason can’t say anything snarky on that front.