“Do you even know how to dress formally?”
ETERNAL YOUTH
Cole Stanton & Dia Mantenega & Steven Manning
& Heidi Fischer & Marion Barnes
prompt: “i don’t care what you think, i’m not wearing pink”
“It’s a formal affair, of course.”
Marion Barnes reached forward for another cookie from the plate that Heidi Fischer had put down in the centre of the coffee table. Her steaming mug was in hand, and she looked to one of the sofas after speaking.
Cole Stanton met her gaze, nodding his head. “I think we can manage that.” To his side, Dia Mantenega had curled her feet up under her, leaned against her mate’s side, one of his arms draped around behind her shoulders.
Opposite them sat Heidi, and on the other end of the couch was Steven Manning. He looked less than thrilled to be there, but Heidi had practically thrown one of the cookies at him to keep him compliant and quiet, making the Alpha male smile as they talked. Marion had stopped by to invite them to a… well, Cole supposed the word was party, but he wasn’t sure lawyers threw parties. It was a Christmassy sort of event, but given that the holiday was two weeks away, he supposed that was just an excuse to have some fun.
“I’m not sure how many invitations I can manage to get my hands on, so…”
Cole nodded his head. “I’ll see what I can do. Steven can stay at home and baby-sit.” The Alpha’s eyes danced briefly with mischief, and his second-in-command male looked up.
“Hey! That’s hardly fair.” He almost pouted, prompting something not too unlike a giggle from Dia, and a definite smile from Heidi, who rested her arm on the cushion beside her, her fingers idly toying with the tassels that hung from one end.
“It’s not like you have anything to wear, anyway,” Heidi put in, almost sighing dramatically. “Do you even know how to dress formally, Steven?”
“I’ll have you know I have a vast collection of suitable attire.”
“‘Suitable attire’?” Cole repeated, clearly amused. “Like what?” He couldn’t remember the last time the Beta male had dressed in anything other than casual clothing.
“Lots of stuff,” Steven replied, apparently losing his flair when it came to his vocabulary. But then he smirked. “I even have a shirt you can borrow, Cole.”
The Alpha simply raised a brow, waiting for the inevitable joke.
“It’s just your colour.” The Beta sat forward in his seat, hands gesturing across the table at his friend. “I think it would really bring out your eyes.”
Cole just waited, an unspoken ‘well?’ if ever there was one.
“It’s a lovely shade of pink.”
Marion tried her hardest to stifle her laughter, almost choking on cookie crumbs as she reached for a napkin. Heidi lifted a hand to her mouth to smother her smile, whereas Dia openly laughed.
“Really, I think it would be perfect for you.” Steven looked so proud of himself, as if this was the greatest idea he’d had in months.
Cole sighed. “I don’t care what you think,” he said to his Irish friend, meeting his gaze warningly across the room, “I’m not wearing pink.”
“Oh, but Cole…” Steven frowned. “It’s so beautiful, though!” Heidi laughed, and swung the cushion at him, but he ducked out of the way. “I can even take a picture of you wearing it so you can see for yourself!”
Dia had reached forward to snag a cookie, offering it to Cole… who took it, and just as Steven opened his mouth to continue his tormenting rant, tossed it across the room at him, pegging the Beta male right in the shoulder.
“Hey!”
The women in the room laughed openly, and Cole smirked.
Just because he was Alpha male, that didn’t mean he couldn’t be immature.