Page 93 of Pain
Matt stood in the doorway of Faith's room and tried not to laugh at what he was seeing, but it was taking everything he had to hold back and not give himself away.
Xander sat beside Faith at a small card table they'd set up. On the table were a scattered assortment of play make-up and hair accessories, but that wasn't what had his attention. It was the fact that Faith was leaning close, using some kind of brush to put make-up on Xander's eyelids. It looked like a bright purple, but from the distance, he couldn't be sure.
Across his shoulder, Xander had a white bandage, but even it had been colored with markers in zebra stripes that oddly went well with Xander's tattoos. In his hair, Xander had two purple bows somehow clipped at the top of his head.
As he looked closer, he noticed that Xander's fingernails were done in bright red.
Matt bit his lip as he pulled out his phone and quietly hit the video button. He had the urge to do a Facebook live with the video, but decided it would be better to keep private and use for blackmail when he wanted something Xander didn't.
His attention had been so much on Xander, that it took him a minute to realize that Faith had also dressed up, only she wasn't in makeup and bows. Across her arms, down her neck, and if he wasn't mistaken, even on the side of her face, she was covered in tattoos.
He focused the camera on her, watching the screen to get a closer look at what his daughter and boyfriend had done.
Matt's heart burned with love for the two people in front of him. They were everything to him and he couldn't imagine his life without them. It had been a little over a week since Xander had been shot, and he'd struggled not to baby him once he was home. Although, he hadn't really had to. Faith had taken the role of nurse and made sure he had everything he needed. She'd even gone as far as insisting that Beau teach her how to change the bandages and care for the wound, so he wouldn't have to.
Beau welcomed teaching Faith, and even joked that by the time she was graduating medical school, he would be ready to retire, and she could take over being the team's doctor. Matt wasn't sure that he wanted Faith in the middle of what the team did, but if she was, being the doctor was probably the best job for her. No matter how young she was, he let her learn and forced back his fears that it would all be too much for her to handle. She'd proven herself stronger than he ever dreamed.
Keeping the camera on the two of them, Matt walked into the room, finally letting himself laugh. "What do we have here?" He walked around the table, stopping in front of them.
"Doesn't he look pretty?" Faith put the makeup down and gestured to Xander.
"He does look very pretty." Matt stared into Xander's twinkling eyes, seeing no hint of embarrassment from the man he loved.
"And look at Faith. She's got almost as many tattoos as I do." Xander ran a hand over Faith's arm.
"I see that. In fact, I think I like yours more than I do his." He bent down and ran a finger over the one on her cheek. "Except this one. Did you have to put one on your face?"
"Yep, it's a heart." She turned her cheek to him.
Matt laughed. "It is." He pulled her into a hug. "I thought you wanted to be a doctor, now I'm wondering if you will do makeup instead." Matt grinned at Xander over Faith's shoulder.
"I can do both." She pulled back.
Matt's eyes went wider. "Is that glitter in your beard?"
"Yep, he shines now." Faith laughed.
"You don't like it?" Xander put on a huge show of pouting his lips.
"Is that lipstick?" Matt didn't even try not to laugh.
"Yep, give me a kiss." Xander reached out and tried to tug Matt in.
"Nope, not doing it." Matt laughed as he playfully acted like he was resisting.
"Come on, Dad. You used to kiss Mom when she had lipstick on." Faith had her hands on her hips.
How could Matt argue with that? He bent close and gave Xander a lingering kiss. When he pulled back, he wiped his chin, groaning when the back of his hand came back covered in glitter. "You two are going to get glitter all over everything."
"Yep, and it will make everything pretty." Faith smiled.
"Well, I hate to break up this little party, but it is bedtime for someone. You need to run and change clothes and brush your teeth." He tapped his finger on Faith's nose.
"Can't I stay up a little longer? I didn't get to paint his toenails yet."
Matt looked down at Xander's bare feet, almost thankful not to see bright red polish on them. "Maybe tomorrow, but you're done for tonight." He stood up.
"Party-pooper." Xander smirked, but reached out for Faith, hauling her onto his lap. "We will finish my toes tomorrow. You need to get a good night's sleep. You have to change my bandage tomorrow, then I think I remember something about Aunt Trish coming over for dinner."
