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How he looked in a dress was certainly an odd thing to be thinking about right now, Tomas mused distantly. The barrel of his M4 was still drooling bluish smoke and an eerie silence filled everything save for the ringing in his ears from the sound of his weapon. There was a burning on his side and leg, as if a hot poker had been jabbed inside him and left there. The wet stickiness of blood flowed down his leg, soaking his battle dress uniform, making the tan colors turn dark and reddish. He collapsed onto his rear and then to his back, graying out slightly and becoming light headed.

It had been a beautiful dress, made of a bright royal blue satin and had made his nearly white blue eyes pop almost magically. It was a full length gown with a V-neck that hinted at cleavage but showed nothing, simple, elegant, and full of slink. A flash of smooth, muscular leg showed as he walked. When he first put it on it felt like water sliding over his skin. He remembered that he had shivered slightly at the sensation.

There were voices shouting around him, some of them familiar but Tomas found it difficult to concentrate on them, as they seemed slippery, just like that material. They had to mean something but nothing registered. He laid there, in the settling dust, eyes watching the cloudless, washed out blue sky above. It seemed to stretch out into forever.

Eliana had talked him into the outfit, saying that it would look great and that she could make him look good and not like some sort of joke. After a few days of badgering him about the issue, Tomas had agreed, mostly to shut her up. They were going to some sort of Halloween party in town and she wanted to really go all out. It was one of their last hurrahs before his deployment and he was looking forward to it as well. Eliana had wanted it to be a special night for both of them.

A dirt and blood smeared face hovered over him, blocking the endless sky. There were questions asked and his mouth moved in answer but Tomas was at a loss as to what he had actually replied. The world was moving funny with dark shapes and figures dancing across the blue, the blue that drew him towards it.

When he had seen the blue dress, he had been at a loss for what to say as well. He was sure that the whole outfit would look stupid but he followed her orders to the letter like a good soldier. Nair had removed his body hair in a tangled swath of dark and he had shaved extra close, to ensure that his face was smooth enough for her. She had gotten some padding for his chest and hips that would add curves to his lean frame, helping to create the illusion. The blue lingerie felt… different from what he had known yet compelling, holding him in snugly and betraying nothing. He felt the fool wearing them.

A distant thrumming growing closer shook the air but the sky did not waver. Shadows hung over him, attentive to him and he was not sure why this was all happening. There was still a distant burning in his side and leg that kept him from drifting off into the beckoning blue that wavered slightly above him but he had no idea why that burning was there. There were too many questions and no answers save the welcoming sky.

The long black wig had framed his face and changed how he looked dramatically, the long hair actually softening the planes of his face. He looked less like himself with that on and somehow that pleased him, made him feel warm inside. She had turned him away from the mirror and finished him up, finally sliding the blue dress over him like a curtain of dry water against his hairless skin. When he had finally seen himself, he had been stunned by how unlike himself he had looked, as if the dress had magically transformed the infantry grunt into a fairy princess. The tiara had sparkled in his now longer hair, twisted into an elegant updo. The warm feeling inside had consumed him whole.

The sensation of lifting brought him back some to where he was and he was rushed off, things bouncing slightly, the world moving as a series of blurs. The blue sky was lost to the dark color that was all around him and the air shook, tight with power. His head lolled to the side and he could see the tan and blue again, the color broken by moving figures and plumes of oily smoke gyrating to the sky, and then with a stomach dropping lurch, it was just blue.

The Halloween party had been a tremendous success, with his Prom Princess outfit a complete hit with everyone. All through the night he had kept running a hand down his dress, loving the feel of the fabric against his skin. It was electrifying, like a drug. The lipstick had felt strange, as did the various things on his face, but their effect could not be denied. His dark eyelashes made his eyes look alluring and the eye shadow only magnified the end result. There was practically no trace of Tomas left in how he looked, just the girl they had named Estrella, for that was how he felt, like a star. People had treated him different that night, as if he were not just a stupid grunt, as if he were something different, something of value. He drank it in and it warmed his soul.

Eliana had kissed him while they stood on the patio, looking out at the stars. Her lips had been soft and it had felt different, the feel of their lipsticks making the whole sensation brand new, like a new first kiss. It had been a magical night and one he would not easily forget. How could he forget that night, that kiss, that magical dress that haunted his skin?

His thoughts drifted around how he had felt, how he had looked, how he so much wanted to wear that blue dress again and how much he wanted to feel that alive. The loud thrumming shook his body and his eyes fluttered between the dark and the endless blue that stretched before him. He was so very tired and he felt his energy draining from him. With a last look at the blue that called him, he closed his eyes to find a rest.