Dean and Duke
Duke pressed his lips together as Esme teased him, taking it as an absolute flirtation. He pursed his lips and tilted his head back, before breaking into a wide smile, “Well, we’ll have to see, now won’t we.”, he quipped back at her with a wink, but as she turned her back to him, he quickly turned to Dean and slapped his thigh as Dean was handed a glass of wine, “You have to help me. Please.”
“I have to help you what? Flirt with my girlfriend?” Dean grumbled, taking a drink of the wine. He glanced down at his glass with a frown, snarling his nose just a bit and then turned his eyes back to Duke.
“I need you to help me clean up. You’re all clean cut and…you. I can’t look all messy and thrown together in a tuxedo, man. We’re gonna be there with…all this.” Duke whispered to Dean, waving his arms around to gesture to the dresses and the expensive jewelry all around them. Dean scoffed, shaking his head and Duke slapped his leg again, almost making him spill his wine, “Please?!”
“Alright, alright. I’ll…what do you want me to do?”
“I don’t know. Make my hair look good under my hat, you know…trim up my face. That stuff. Stuff Esme would expect
you to do.” Duke responded frantically, as a woman took his empty glass from his hand and replaced it with a full one.
“Esme doesn’t expect anything from me. She knows me better than that. I put on the tux. I flatten my hair to the best of my abilities and I go with it. With your hat on, no one is going to see your hair anyway. But it wouldn’t kill you not to wear a hat tonight.” Dean shrugged his shoulders as Esme stepped out of the dressing room in the first dress she decided to check out. Dean turned his eyes to look at her, raising both his eyebrows as he sat up a bit straighter. His eyes scanned over the front of the dress, noticing that it was a bit precarious and might…gather some attention. Not that Dean minded.
“She looks uncomfortable.” Duke spoke up, even though he couldn’t deny that she looked gorgeous in the dress. She didn’t seem happy, or like she could really breathe at all. He scrunched his nose and he shook his head, glancing over at Dean who was just staring at her. “She needs to be able to make it through the night, right?”
“Shut up. Just…let her decide.” Dean muttered, taking a drink of his wine as he tore his eyes away from Esme, just as she walked back to the dressing room with the women dressing her. Duke waved as Esme flashed them a smile before heading back in, following the wave with a thumbs up that teetered side to side, as if he was telling her that it was a ‘maybe’, like he had a choice.
After a few more times of Dean and Duke discussing each dress that came out of the dressing room, with Duke giving his very Emperor like opinions, the boys were practically tangled up on the couch, girls on either side and Dean nursing a plate of finger foods. The girl draped over Duke’s lap happened to stand up, just before Esme came out from behind the curtain, and Duke stood up, reaching for her before Dean could rid himself of his plate. As soon as Dean sat the plate down, he came to her other side, grabbing for her hand before Duke could.
Duke huffed, but when Esme commented on his drinking habits, Duke smiled brightly, “I was real good. I only had three glasses. So, I will be plenty ready to drink up at the party.”
“Alright. Let’s get you paid and squared away, so we can get Mr. wine and Hors d’oeuvres cleaned up and dressed. Bobby texted and said he picked up our tuxes from the cleaners.” Dean shot Duke a look and Duke frowned in confusion.
“I don’t have a tux.”
“And we don’t ask questions when Bobby picks things up for us. He said it would fit. So, it will fit.” Dean rolled his eyes and pulled Esme toward the front to pay for her things.
On the way there, Duke lingered back, running his fingers over some of the more expensive jewelry the shop didn’t even bother to put behind glass. Pinching one of the jewels between his fingers, he was a bit surprised that the stones were real. As Dean pulled Bobby’s card from his wallet and paid, Duke brushed his fingers over a few of the necklaces until he found one that he thought would go really well with Esme’s eyes. With a small pop, he removed it from the rack, and slipped it into the sleeve of his jacket, grabbing a matching bracelet that sat underneath it.
“Duke. C’mon…” Dean patted the counter behind him, and Duke tipped his cowboy hat at the lady behind the counter who gave him a polite smile, and he followed Dean and Esme out of the shop.
Back at the house
Duke grumbled through his tightly pressed lips as Dean seemed to be doing surgery on his beard. Dean suddenly pulled back from him, “If you don’t shut up, I’ll shave it off. Do you want me to fix it or not?”
“Don’t shave it. You said you were just gonna shave my neck.” Duke stared up at him with puppy eyes as she sat in a kitchen chair, wearing a blue mechanics tarp over his bare chest, and Dean did his best to trim his beard. Dean had already taken care of his long blonde hair, trimming up to where it feathered out close to the sides of his ears, and cleanly fell against his forehead, as best as could be done. Dean had even taken the time to wet his hair and fold it back from the side of his head.
“Tilt your head back.” Dean ordered placing the scissors between his teeth as he pulled the electric clippers and began trimming Duke’s bears around his neck. Then Dean grumbled, his words muffled by the scissors in his mouth, “You know, if you groomed more, maybe you wouldn’t have to clean up like this for events.”
“And what good would that do me? I live in an RV. I’m covered in blood more than I’m not. I don’t got much of a reason to ‘stay groomed’. Just hurry up so I can get dressed.” Duke groaned, rolling his eyes as Dean placed a palm on the top of his head to hold him still. He tilted Duke’s head back a bit more and sighed, holding him firm, “I just don’t want to potentially end up on that dance floor with Esme and look like some guy that’s kidnappin’ her…”
“I wouldn’t worry about that.” Dean teased him, shaking his head. “No one’s gonna be looking at you. Alright. You’re done. Go get dressed. I’ll help you with your tie.”
“I’ll have Bobby help me with my tie. I’ve had you too close for comfort long enough.” Duke joked, shoving at Dean’s shoulder as he stood from the chair and dropped the tarp from his chest. He flexed his chest muscles a bit and walked into the living room to retrieve his tuxedo bag from the railing of the stairs.
After a bit, Bobby stood in front of Duke, tugging at the sides of his bowtie with a proud look on his face, as if he was sending his little boy off to prom. Once he was satisfied, he clapped both his hands against Duke’s shoulders and turned him to stand in front of the long mirror he had leaned against the stair railing, “I think you look pretty damn good. Look at yourself.”
“I feel naked.” Duke complained, scrunching his nose as he stared at himself in the mirror. Dean stepped around Bobby’s desk, and he stood next to Duke, straightening his own bowtie as Bobby stepped away. Suddenly, a pristine black cowboy hat with a satin ribbon sat atop Duke’s head, and Dean rolled his eyes as Bobby covered all his hard work on Duke’s hair with the hat. Duke glanced up and pressed the hat further onto his head, adjusting the sides to his preferences, “Where did you get this?”
“A friend. Had it nice and pressed, just like you like, oil pressed…not water. It looks just as expensive as that tuxedo you’re in, and suddenly? You’re a rich oil tycoon from Dallas.” Bobby teased Duke, patting his back.
“Would you look at that…” Duke straightened his jacket, and then tipped his hat at himself in the mirror as Dean rolled his eyes, and he walked around to the edge of the bottom step, looking up at the bedroom door at the top.
“You good up there? We’re all dressed down here! If you don’t hurry up, Duke’s gonna start making out with himself in the mirror!”