What a Drag

“Please say yes” Ranma begged the dazed young man.

“I-I can’t, I’m not that type of a guy” Mousse stammered, he could feel himself blushing at the idea.

“I’m not either, I do it for money and for fun” she pointed out. “With your looks, you’d be a natural” she said.

Mousse blushed at this again; he had the unsettling image of himself dressed up as a girl “there’s no way” he cried, startling the waiter.

“I would split the prize money with you” she said persuasively, and then she told him the sum. He blanched at this, it was more then he made in a year. He considered for a few seconds. “No” he said definitely and went to leave.

“Then there is the basket of comps” she said.

“What are comps?” Mousse asked.

“Complimentary stuff that merchants and resorts donate to the contest intended for the winner” she said. “It usually includes a weekend for two at an expensive resort, dinner at a nice restaurant, make up, watches, jewelry, perfume, cameras, spa dates for mani, pedis and massages etc.” she said.

“I have no interest in most of those things” he said.

“Hum, wonder if there’s anyone you can give those to?” Ranma asked facetiously.

Mousse stopped and started to think about lying on a beach with Shampoo being waited on hand and foot at a resort, then going to their room and.......he quickly quashed that idea for fear of a nosebleed, of going on dates with her to a nice restaurant and finally her reaction to being given presents. Suddenly he saw that this might be the way to her heart.

“I’d give you first pick” she offered, she could see the wheels turning in his head.

“It would just be the once?” Mousse asked hesitantly.

“Yes, we would dress you up to the point that your own mother won’t recognize you” Ranma said, she knew that she had him hooked.

“You wouldn’t tell anyone?” he asked her.

“I promise on my honour as a martial artist” she said solemnly.

“Okay I’m in, what do we do now?” Mousse asked.

“We go see Konatsu to get his opinion, he’s sure to approve of you” Ranma said. “Partners” she said sticking out her hand.

“Partners” Mousse said somewhat reluctantly.

The Next Day

“I don’t know if this is going to work” Konatsu said walking around Mousse, he felt overly exposed because he wore only his pants. Where as Konatsu wore an elaborate, floral kimono and looked to all the world like a beautiful young woman.

“Why not?” asked the now male Ranma. “He’s really pretty and slim like a female model” he pointed out.

Mousse bristled at being called pretty “hey” he protested. Konatsu silence him with a look.

“He’s kind of muscular to pull it off and his shoulders are too wide, not to mention his butt is kind of small” he said giving the offending part of Mousse a pat, this caused his face to turn flame red and him to jump.

“Please don’t touch me” he requested.

“Sorry, used to working with queens, they’re pretty touchy feely” Konatsu explained.

“I’m not one” Mousse declared. “Ranma this in never going to work”

Konatsu raised a hand “I didn’t say that, I’m willing to give it a try but you’re going to have to work at it. You stick a guy in a dress and all you have is a guy in a dress, perfect for Halloween but not for an important contest. It’s all about illusion to be convincing; you want to be a drag queen, not just a drag. Are you willing to give this miracle the same amount of dedication as your martial arts?” he asked him.

Mousse sighed and promised “I’ll do whatever it takes”

“That’s the spirit!” Ranma said.

“You’re going to have to learn to be a girl, to talk like one and to walk like one. Is that understood?” Konatsu said with all the conviction of a drill sergeant. “He’s going to need panties padded at the hips and bum, not to mention breast forms, good sized ones to balance out his pecs and shoulders” he observed to Ranma. “We’ll need to do something about those glasses, they have to go. I think a trip to Mimi Meow’s shop is in order”

“Who’s Mimi Meow?” Mousse asked.

Mimi turned out to be an optometrist.

“Mousse this is Mimi Meow or Stanley Goldberg in real life. She may be a gaijin, but she can light up a stage with the best of them.

Mousse looked at the slim mid-forties man; he was rather plain and had a salt and pepper dark hair. He wore a plain grey button-down shirt and black slacks under his lab coat. Mousse didn’t see how he would make a good drag queen. “Pleased to meet you” he said.

“This boy is pretty much blind, we want to see if it’s possible to get him contacts” Konatsu explained. “These are what normally correct his vision” he said handing over the round coke bottle glasses distastefully.

Mimi blinked in surprise at them “are these a joke?” he asked Konatsu.

“I wish they were. Can anything be done?” he asked.

“I can issue him a white cane if he’s really depends on these to see” Mimi joked, Mousse flinched at this. Mimi turned to Mousse, “step into my clinic and we’ll see what we can do” Mousse let him run his tests and waited for the results with bated breath. He was excited about the idea of life without glasses; he’d longed to see a real optometrist but lacked the money in the past. “Well Mousse, I can honestly say that you have the worst eyesight that I’ve ever come across” Mimi declared.

“So I’m stuck with glasses forever?” he said with a sinking heart.

“No you can get contacts, but they would have to be hard gas permeable ones that you will have to clean every night. Disposable ones are out of the question.

“Really?” he said, his heart leapt with joy.

“That’s wonderful!” Ranma declared.

“So when could I get them?” Mousse asked.

“They will be ready by next Tuesday, I’ll ask the lab to put a rush on them” he said sensing the boy’s excitement.

Then Mousse thought about the cost and his excitement died “how much for the visit here today and for them?” he asked hesitantly.

“The visit is free as us girls have to help each other out and the contacts are two thousand yen, you can pay for those in installments with a minimum down payment when you pick them up” he said sensing that Mousse was broke. He wanted to help him out.

“Thanks so much!” he cried and his new friends congratulated him.

“No problem, I just have to ask you to leave your contact information” Mimi said and led him inside his office. While Mousse was filling out the card he asked him “so you seemed dubious about my being a convincing drag queen?”

Mousse blushed at how obvious he was “sorry, I just can’t picture you in drag” he apologized.

“It’s okay; I can’t be a lifestyle with my job. Not that I can’t pull a little something off every day. If you ever saw me in full makeup, wig and a dress it would change your mind” he said.

“Pull a little something off?” Mousse questioned.

Mimi leaned closed and whispered into his ear “I’m wearing lavender lingerie under my clothes, I’ve been wearing women’s underwear for years”

Mousse blushed at this confession “your wife doesn’t mind?” he asked noticing his wedding ring.

Mimi looked amused “she picks out what I wear every day, she’s likes it. Our children don’t know” he explained.

“So you’re not gay?” Mousse asked.

“Lot’s of us aren’t. Gender preference is optional when it comes to queening, some people make it their whole life and get the sex change operation and others are content doing subtle things when we’re not performing” he explained. “I’ll call you the second you’re contacts are ready so that you can impress your girlfriend”

Mousse blushed “how did you know there was someone I like?” he asked.

Mimi laughed in amusement “I remember being your age, there were several people that I liked” he replied.

When he rejoined the others, Konatsu gave him a nod of approval. “Getting rid of the coke bottles was the first step in your becoming a queen, next are cosmetic changes. We’ll make a queen of you yet” he declared.

A Week Later

“Mousse it time to open café” Shampoo called. She was surprise when he didn’t run out his room and crash into the wall at her voice. Instead he walked sedately down the stairs and looked directly at her.

“Sure I’m ready” he said. This was his first full day wearing his contacts and he couldn’t help admiring how beautiful she was.

She tried to put her finger what was different about him when he didn’t mix up the orders once or spill them on people in his usual befubbled way. He wasn’t wearing his glasses, but seemed to be able to see his costumers and was smiling at them more than usual. She didn’t know that the compliments he was receiving on his improved appearance were flattering him and putting him in a good mood.

“Okay how Mousse see without glasses?” she demanded when she cornered him in the kitchen.

“I got contacts, I’ll be wearing these from now on” he explained.

“Oh, that good idea. You always look better without glasses” she said, noticing as if for the first time what beautiful eyes he had. She had to admit that without his glasses on he was really handsome.

Mousse beamed at the first real compliment that she’d ever given him and felt warm inside. “Thanks Shampoo” he said and returned to work with a spring in his step.

Shampoo stared after him and wondered why he was trying to improve his appearance. ‘Does he have a girlfriend?” she wondered, somehow that idea disturbed her.