Welcome to Gaia! ::

Two Faced had just come out with the new collab between Manny Mua and Jefree Starr and Mahogany was going to be the first one to get his hands on those pallets. It was going to be like Christmas time one million, easily. There had been whispers about a potential collab between the two artists, but Mahogany dared not to dream. So when that first picture of a very small color swatch tagged with both names was released on Instagram, Mahogany nearly lost his ever-loving s**t. His sister was sure that he was hurt, so imagine her surprise when she threw open his door and he was jumping for joy in nothing but his boxers. That feeling of overwhelming joy was the only reading that he stood, shivering in the early autumn chill of morning, Starbucks in hand, and waited for the makeup store to open. They were supposed to open at 7… it was now 7:02. His expression pinched in irritation and he began to tap his toe. 7:02 turned into 7:03 and just as he was taking the most aggravated sip of coffee in this history of the world, a young woman finally unlocked the doors with a smile.

“Welcome to -- ”

Mahogany pushed past her, not bothering to hear her greeting. All he cared about was that beautiful matte hot pink highlighter that Jefree had teased on his Instagram earlier that week. And there it was -- nestled in with the rest of the collection was that beautiful highlighter, branded with the twin seals of approval from his youtube idols. Mahogany raced to the display littered with promotional fare and row after row of perfectly packaged pink products. They were more beautiful than the teasers on insta had seemed. Gold edging, typical of Jefree and Manny, with the perfect marriage of the JJ star and Manny’s crescent moon adorning the center. Mahogany marveled for just a moment before he dove in.

Soon his arms were decorated with smears of all hues of color and products. Into his basket by his feet went three boxes of that beautiful matte hot pink highlighter, but along with those went several tubes of gold eyeliner, endless eyeshadow pallets, and all manner of contour, blush, and lip products. Mahogany was like a kid in a candy store, tossing things indiscriminately into his basket for his father to pay for later. Perks of being a trust fund baby.

At first Mahogany didn't hear anything at all. It was only once his mind finally pulled himself away from what he was doing that he registered any sound at all. And when he finally did, he was more than irritated, though he tried not to show it on his face. Honestly, people should get here on time if they wanted in on this, and it wasn't like they couldn't order more. Nothing here was limited time, at least nothing was listed as limited time on any of the beauty blogs he subscribed to.

But Mahogany did slow down out of courtesy and because he still had to uphold his father's reputation in business and his own on youtube. How good would it seem if he was rude or came off as greedy to someone who could very well ruin him with one blog post?

And turning to see who was talking to him, Mahogany suddenly realized that she very well could do just that.

Mahogany's jaw nearly hit the floor as he realized exactly who was standing in front of him at that moment. God, she looked so different without makeup, but then again so did he. He was suddenly very thankful that he had decided to do a casual face today, because meeting Lavender Birmingham with less than his best would simply not do at all.

"Oh. My god. DillyDilly? Girl, I've seen all of your videos! You might have also seen mine -- Persian Prince MUA?" Mahogany framed his face with his hands and smiled as bright as he could. She'd better heard of his, at least. The blow to his ego might have been too strong if she didn't. Not that it would injure him for long -- just more reason to work hard and slay even harder. If she didn't already know his name then she would.

"Anyway, this isn't all just for me," he admitted, even if it was a bit of a fib. "I'm arranging a follower giveaway here in a few weeks. One of everything from this collab to one lucky subscriber!" Actually not a terrible idea... now just to figure out how thy would all enter. Recreating a Jefree Starr or Manny MUA look?
That might be best -- he'd want these precious jewels to go to someone who knew how to use them. "Though I will admit to a few pans of that amazing highlighter for myself. Did you see it on insta? Christ slay me now."

God... damn she was good.

Mahogany's smile faltered just a little as Lavender spoke -- he knew about her hiatus, though wasn't sure of the reason. Real life problems, of course, but anything beyond that was lost to him. Not that he really cared... not there was a nosey streak in him that begged to know. Especially now that she was manipulating him. Like he didn't know what she was doing... but she also had to know that because of his pride, he wouldn't call her out on it. Well, his pride and his understanding of what she could do to him. She was a bigger youtuber than he was. Been around longer. Had a larger base. Her work could make or break him, and part of networking was understanding that. She'd backed him into a corner without even trying.

Clever.

But Mahogany's smile was back and he nodded to her, blushing over his wounded pride.

"Oh... well I hadn't thought of that. I suppose that makes sense though, huh? Hell, I could even order online, give people a chance to enter and have the stock ready to go when the deadline comes." Mahogany tapped his temple lightly with his free hand and said, "I guess that's why you're the savvy business lady, right?" And so Mahogany put his precious pallets back, saving back only one pan of that marvelous high lighter for himself, a single tube of gold eyeliner, and the moonlight pallet. And the shimmering opalescent high lighter because yolo, right?

"But I guess I am a bit new. I started my channel when I was 15, and that was about a year ago. But, I got my gold play button four months back, so I've already hit good ole 5k." It had honestly been the proudest moment of Mag's life, passing that milestone. Next stop was that gold playbutton, and then after that... who knew.

"But I mean if you would want to give me a shout out... I mean if it's not too much trouble. For whatever it would be worth, I'd be glad to plug you back. Maybe do a recreation of one of you iconic looks? Or we could do a collab? Recreate looks on each other or something?"

God... damn she was good.

Had Mahogany not been so affronted that he'd been tricked, he might have laughed. As it stood, all he could do was stand, facing the display, but head crooked around to watch Lavender leave the store, wondering how he had been so easily manipulated. Well, he knew how, actually. He needed to further his channel, and Lavender happened to be a key to that end that suddenly fell into his lap. Well fine, if she wanted to play that game, then he'd play it.

As Lavender walked out of the store, Mags turned back to the display and tossed one last pan of high lighter into his basket with a triumphant hum. One extra wouldn't hurt anyone, people bought doubles all the time. There would be no way, even if some of these things were limited, for Lavender to know that he had taken a second pan. And even if she did find out some how, he'd lie. He went to another store for his second pan.

At the check out line, he shot Lavender a text, just letting her know what his number was and his schedule for the next week. Best put the ball in her court, make her feel as in control as possible. The less she assumed of him, the better. That only meant that she wouldn't be keeping as close a watch on him as she other wise would. He'd have a little more freedom. A little more room to wiggle.

He passed his father's card to the cashier who didn't even bother to ask about the fact that a it clearly wasn't his unlimited line of credit. He smiled his thank you and left, heading for the store on the other side of town for the second half of his haul.