I'll be your Fairy Godmother (Arkady)

[Tristian]

“Well think about, think about it a lot,” said Tristian reaching forwards towards the tie, “After all that is what you will be doing in the foreseeable future, pretending to be something that you’re not.”
 
He began to tie the tie, smiling a little at Arkady. The intimacy of such a thing usually put most people on edge, but he was happy in the knowledge that this must be excruciatingly uncomfortable for the boy in front of him. That thought made him happy. Although he did have to try and not think about the lovely image that had graced his presence earlier and how even though that chest was now covered he could still imagine it, and he was standing so close…
 
Stepping back after finishing the tying he looked over the handiwork and said, “Not bad. Not bad at all, not my first choice of coat but otherwise not bad. Next one.”
 
He crossed over to the clothes to select the next outfit and said over his shoulder, “Although remind me to give you a lesson on tying a tie.”

[Deleted]

It wasn’t just what he would be doing, but what he already was doing. This whole... ‘thing’ with Dusty was a complete farce. With her he played the gentleman, someone kind and caring, a bit shy and reserved yet bold enough to make all the moves, not to mention fun and likable. He was so good at playing this part that sometimes he even fooled himself, or was it that he wanted to be fooled?

In the beginning it had been about revenge, wanting to get back at her for pulling a gun on him and for making him guilty for terrorizing her. Making him feel human. Now? Now he wasn’t sure what it was about anymore, only where it would eventually end.

“Maybe I should pick that as my major, huh? Would be a shame to let this looks go to waste taking something like accounting,” Arkady joked with a roguish grin, but how much of it was a joke? He was only here because his parents had forced him to come, so thoughts of the future hadn’t really been high on his list of things to worry about. Would it be such a bad profession to get into, though? It would certainly fit the high society life he dreamed of.

His body going a bit rigid when Tristian got up all close and personal, Arkady dropped his eyes to the other boy’s hands and unconsciously shifted his weight from one foot to the other. It wasn’t that he thought Tristian would pull anything funny, but he had quite a personal space bubble that few people were permitted into. Besides, there always was that chance that he hadn’t been absolutely clear that he was not interested. At all.

Clearing his throat slightly when Tristian stepped away, Arkady turned to the mirror to get a look at the outfit himself. Not bad was a bit of an understatement, he thought, but he’d take it. Of course not without a bit of critique. No time to dwell on it, though, as already he was being told to change again.

“I don’t know, I think my attempt made a bit of a statement,” he said, removing the jacket and hanging it up again before retreating once more behind the screen. He figured Tristian could just hand him the clothes over top of it to speed things up. The quicker this was done the better.

[Tristian]

Tristian rolled his eyes.

He did that a lot when he was talking to people, more often when it was people who didn’t know any better, and even more so when it was his sister Meredith or his father. “Ah yes, a statement,” he said the sarcasm dripping of every word, “and would that statement be that the dark grey of the coat reflects the dark grey of your moral character?”

Crossing over to the rail where all the other clothes were he quickly selected a pair of chinos and a white shirt, continuing, “please, leave the fashion statements to me. You just stand there a look pretty, ok?”

Picking up a belt, watch and sunglasses he threw them over the screen for Arkady to catch, deciding that the other boy had been subjected to enough objectification already. “And you should definitely think about what you want to study,” said Tristian turning serious again, “after all, that defines you just as much as your clothes do. Only those people who have status and money can afford to do something as ridiculous and pointless as drama.”

[Deleted]

Arkady chuckled at the sarcastic reply. “I was thinking more along the lines of ‘I look stylish and put together without putting in any effort, I’m just that good’ but I like your statement too, I may adopt that.”

Loosening the tie, he pulled it off over his head and hung it on the corner of the screen. “That I can do, but you never said part of the deal involved me keeping my mouth shut.” Because where was the fun in that? Besides, he had to pipe up and defend himself every so often less this prince forget that he was not just some ignorant gutter trash.

Discarding the shirt next, Arkady gave a small yelp of surprise when a stack of clothing and accessories came raining down on him. Managing to catch the majority of them (the sunglasses may have taken a bit of a tumble), he glared at the screen a moment before continuing to undress.

Pausing a moment when the subject turned a bit serious again, he furrowed his brow. He didn’t like being defined by anything, not his clothes nor his studies. “Alright, since you know so much, then what would you suggest?” He also didn’t like drama being called ‘ridiculous’ nor ‘pointless’. Who didn’t want the charmed life of a famous actor?

[Tristian]

“I thought I was suggesting something,” said Tristian turning to also glare at the screen, “Really Arkady, stop getting distracted by your reflection and do try to keep up.”
 
Crossing over to the window and opening it he took out his pack of cigarettes. “I said, since you weren’t paying attention that Acting is the kind of study that only the rich can waste time and money on,” he continued, “The rich know that they’re going to follow in the footsteps of their parents, they’re entire destiny is set out before them. And so they use this time of study to do what  they want to do, normally something their parents would never approve of.”
 
There was a little bit of personal truth in that statement. Tristian knew where his life was going, the same way his father’s went, destined to become king, marry a woman he didn’t love and live a double life. He didn’t find that thought as comfortable as his father appeared too, he loathed the idea. Oh he liked the idea of one day being King, who wouldn’t, it was all the rest, that he didn’t like. So rather than get his own back through his studies, although he had firmly put his foot down on doing Enlgish or politics the subjects his father had chosen, he was doing it through his lifestyle, through his extra curricular studies.
 
“Speaking of parents,” he said after a pause which allowed him to take a drag, “we need to come up with a story about your parents, a little back history. The vaguer the better, don’t get bogged down in too much detail, keep an air of mystery about you.”