InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "I so gangster right now."

Beauty (i_tame) wrote in we_coexist,
@ 2012-05-07 15:19:00

Entry tags:

honour bellaforte, megan gwynn

The Pixie School of Fashion (Megan)
Until Thomas, she'd always hoped that she'd be able to find a way back home. She'd been taken away from her family, from her life... and she never had believed or accepted that it was a one-way trip. But Thomas changed things. Beauty hadn't known that she was needed here. She hadn't known that a City could be a friend. And she hadn't known just how hesitant she'd be to leave certain people she'd met since being pulled into this City. For better or worse, Thomas had made Beauty realize that she was home, now.

And a glance into a reflective store window made her realize that she didn't dress quite the same way as everyone else in the City -- even when the City was forcing her to wear certain things at times (and now she wondered if it wasn't simply looking out for her...).

"Hmm," she said, fidgeting with the long ponytail she'd tied up in a ribbon. A second later, she'd pulled the ribbon out and instead tied the ribbon around her throat. Still, no good. Off it came. She tried on her wrist, next. That was... a little better. And then there was her dress. She eyed it critically. White muslin, blue flowers, long sleeves, long skirt, high collar, a touch of lace. It was one of her favorite dresses that the City had brought to her, and she wore it quite a lot. But then a very statuesque woman walked behind her, and the comparison was... painful.

That settled it. Rather than heading toward the fruit stands in the center of town to fill her basket with various delicious treats, she started roaming the shops instead. There were clothes stores; she'd seen them -- she'd just never gone into them before... Ah! There was one, with a very colorful scarf-y looking thing wrapped around a mannequin dressed in a bit of frothy fabric. She squinted at it. It looked like fish net. How... odd... but she was willing to try. Beauty had learned by now to keep a very wide open mind.

In she went.

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i_gotsoul
2012-05-07 08:52 pm UTC (link)

Megan was looking for something new and cute to wear. It may or may not have had to do with Rufio. Also, shopping therapy. She still hadn't found a new job yet. So maybe spending money wasn't the smartest thing to do, but if it was just one or two things, that was all right. And maybe some new earbuds. And more nailpolish. Also, lipgloss.

She browsed through one of her new favorite stores, looking for new arrivals in her tastes. While leafing through a selection of print blouses, a girl caught her eye. She was kind of hard to avoid. Megan wasn't sure if she'd call her outfit weird or classy or a little of both. It made her think of old movies, or movies that tried to be old. She went back to sifting through shirts and trying not to stare, which was kind of funny since people usually stared at her.

Of course then the girl started looking through some freaky eighties-retro pile and part of Megan shrieked in horror. "Oh geez, you do not want those," she said, zooming over. It wasn't interfering if it was a mercy mission, right? "That would look completely awful on you. It doesn't look good on anyone, actually." She paused. "Except maybe Ali, but that's because she's a pop star and she can get away with just about anything. But trust me, unless you're planning to do some serious clubbing or you're doing an ironic eighties night thing with your friends, you don't want that."

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i_tame
2012-05-08 02:14 am UTC (link)

"Eek!" Beauty exclaimed, throwing the fuchsia leg warmers back down on the pile. And then, "Oh!"

To say that the appearance of a black-eyed, pink-haired, fey-eared, winged young lady was uncommon to Beauty's typical day would have been... mild. Beauty had seen surprising things in her time in the City, but never this. "You're a... a very large faerie?" she asked, rather unintentionally rudely, then blushed to her roots when she realized it. "I -- j... I don't mea... ah... Who's Ali?"

That wasn't the question she wanted answered, not by a long shot. But then again, she'd already asked the question, now, hadn't she? Oh, that was so very graceful, Beauty, she chided herself. How kind and thoughtful.

Out loud, she finally said -- with a little more grace -- "I'm so sorry. Let me try that again. Hello!"

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i_gotsoul
2012-05-08 02:50 am UTC (link)

((As amusing as it would be for Errol to know jack squat about women's clothing, posting with the RIGHT character this time.))

"Mutant," Megan said with the long-suffering patience of someone who made the correction all the time. "But that's okay, everyone gets confused. It really doesn't help that my nickname's 'Pixie.' It's fitting, isn't it?"

She took the girl by the arm gently and, very determinedly, steered her away from the neon and polyester. "Ali's a friend of mine. Teammate. Former boss, really. I used to dance at her concerts. It was awesome. Anyway, I'm Megan, hi, very nice to meet you, please stay away from anything that screams hair metal or Bananarama. You'll thank me later, trust me." She looked around and found a rack full of softer, bohemian clothes. More seventies throwback than eighties. "This might be more you. Kind of more earth mother, right? Where'd you get that number, by the way?" Megan eyed her dress curiously. "I don't think I've seen it in any of the shops."

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i_tame
2012-05-09 12:15 am UTC (link)

Mutant, Beauty repeated in her head. It sounded scientific and negative. The girl... Megan. Megan didn't act like it was negative. Mutant. Beauty would really rather think of her as 'Pixie', which felt... nicer. It felt nicer, even if Megan didn't seem to have a problem calling herself a mutant.

Beauty couldn't help but smile at Megan's overabundance of enthusiasm, but there were a few words she used that she just didn't understand. Hair metal -- was that a reference to a barrette or hair comb? It seemed connected to 'bananarama' -- was that a special fruit? But then Beauty saw the comparison between the pile of clothing she'd been looking at and the rack that Megan brought her to. It was beginning to make sense.

"My nickname is Beauty," she said, "And my actual name is Honour. But no one uses it..." After what Charlie said to her, though, she was beginning to wonder if she should start introducing herself as 'Honour' instead. She was still thinking it over. For now, Beauty. After all, she didn't even respond to the other anymore. Her fingers grazed over a long, crinkly skirt. It was completely different from what she ever had worn. Even the City never dressed her in this sort of clothing.

"Oh, this..." She looked down at herself and found herself remembering how she looked in comparison to the woman in the reflection behind her. Blushing, she plucked at the edge of her left sleeve. "The City usually gives me my wardrobe, honestly. This one was one of my favorites, but..."

She drifted off. How to explain this? "Well... I was 17 when I first arrived, and..." It wasn't her age, though, was it? "I was born in 1745," she finally said, nodding at her statement. That summed it up.

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i_gotsoul
2012-05-09 04:14 am UTC (link)

"Those are both very nice names," Megan said. Also a fitting nickname. The girl was really pretty. "Do you have one you prefer? I can go with either, personally. For you or me, I mean. I'm used to both."

She started grabbing outfits, holding them out at arm's length and just as quickly putting most of them back, though she paused when Beauty/Honour said where she'd got her dress. "Well, at least it's looking out for you," she said. "Even if the City could use a bit of an update to its tastes. Do you like ruffles? I like ruffles. You could probably use some ruffles." She held out a summery dress, sleeveless and sky blue with a ruffly skirt.

Megan paused when Beauty/Honore mentioned her age. "Wow," she said after a moment. "That's like... wow. You don't look it," she said loyally.

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i_tame
2012-05-10 03:56 am UTC (link)

"I don't usually realize people are speaking to me when they call me by anything other than my nickname. I like the idea of starting to use both, though, the way you do." After all, 'Beauty' was a wonderful name for a girl. 'Honour' sounded more dignified, more mature. She bit her lip and looked to the side, willfully pulling her thoughts away from the places where they were wandering. It was fruitless to dwell there.

Watching Megan pull and replace different outfits was a treat in and of itself. The girl looked like she was both adept and thoroughly in love with matching clothes to people. "Ruffles are beautiful," she said honestly, then wondered if they were mature. She eyed her dress uncomfortably again, then wanly smiled at the floor. She had a long way to go, didn't she? "Oh, that's a very pretty color," she remarked, reaching out to touch the fabric of the dress Pixie had pulled.

But the next second, when Megan said what she did, Beauty burst out into laughter. She'd already decided that Megan was a wonderful person for helping out, but now Beauty flat out liked her. "Oh dear goodness!" she exclaimed. "I'm only 20! -- well, 20 in a few days, that is. I'm not... centuries old, I promise!" She laughed again. "Oh dear goodness! I'm so sorry; I should've said that right away! Did you know that there are vampires in The City who really are centuries old? I should have known better than to let you think I might be one of them! Do forgive me. Oh, Megan!"

Yes, Beauty decided. Megan was delightful!

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i_gotsoul
2012-05-10 04:37 am UTC (link)

"Okay," Megan said, still thinking of the girl as both names, complete with a slash in between in her mind. "You get used to it after a while. It took me forever to realize when people were calling me Pixie at first, and I picked it out. You'd think I'd remember something like that."

She grinned. "Ruffles, then," she said. "They're fun." She pulled out a few blouses and held them up for Beauty/Honour's approval, still chattering away all the while. "I like a lot of pastels, but I think you're more strong colours, you know? Do you ever wear jeans? If you're from the 1700s I don't think they had jeans back then, but they're really comfortable. Ooh, or you can try leggings if you want. I like leggings, I kind of have to wear them if I wear a skirt or dress, right?" She laughed. "Can't be giving everyone a free show, my gran said after my wings grew in. I still can't believe she said that, she's such a nice little old lady."

She paused for breath, about to add happy early birthday wishes to her stream of talk, but stopped completely. "Vampires," she said, and smacked herself in the forehead. "Yeah, that explains it, doesn't it? I was wondering if he was a mutant with a problem and I was being rude, but he acted like a vampire except for the whole being out in the day thing, but who's to say they can't do that, right? Have you met any of them? Are they big creepy jerks? Because the guy I met was a big creepy jerk." She wrinkled her nose at the memory, more annoyed than fearful now. "And he kind of got me fired, even if it was my own fault for dusting the place and leaving. I thought he was a vampire then, but then I thought, 'Megan, vampires don't exist,' except I know aliens and demons exist so why shouldn't vampires, and--" She stopped to take a deep breath and smiled sheepishly. "By the way, if I start to babble, just tell me to shut up. Everyone does, I don't take it personally."

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i_tame
2012-05-11 03:07 am UTC (link)

"Ohh," Beauty said, pushing her fingertips against her bottom lip. "I'm sorry. If I'd known you hadn't known about vampires in the City, then I would have gone a little easier in telling you for the first time. It sounds like you may have already met Eric. Tall, blonde, frightening, with blue eyes that see right through you? That's Eric. He actually terrified me for a very, very long time. He... He did something to me that I didn't like. Never look him in the eyes, Megan. He... I don't know exactly how, but he can do things to you if you do that. Just be careful. I wouldn't want you to get hurt."

Her serious expression softened just a little, then. "And don't worry about talking too much. I'm so used to my books and my bookstore that I probably don't talk enough! We'll make an excellent pair, you and I, Megan!" And then that smile was back again -- bright and warm and inviting.

"So.... you said you'd not seen my dress in any of the other shops -- does that mean you've seen all the shops? Because if that's so, I was wondering if maybe you'd be free to help me... sort of..." Here, she shook her head. She didn't know the words to say what she was looking for, exactly. "I... just want..."

And she closed her mouth, more than aware of what the next words would have been, and more than aware of how foolish they were. She sighed.

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i_gotsoul
2012-05-11 03:44 am UTC (link)

"Tall, blond, blue eyes, yeah. Try weird, creepy, no sense of personal space, and saying all sorts of weird things about smelling me." She stuck out her tongue in an ew-face. "Also, jerk stole my cardigan. I don't even want to know what he's done with it." Her black eyes widened in alarm and one hand flew to her mouth. "He hurt you? Ohmygod, that ass! Is he your boyfriend? Did he hit you? Did he bite you?" This was so out of her league. She didn't know how to deal with boyfriends who bit people and not in a hickey way. There was never exactly time to take a breather and just worry about normal people problems back home.

Her face split in a big grin, though, with Beauty/Honour's enthusiasm. "That would be awesome," she said fervently.

She shrugged, leafing through the clothes on the rack again. "I haven't seen all of them yet, but I like looking around," she said. "There's some neat stuff in there." Her eyes widened again and she squealed. "Do you want a makeover? I've never given anyone a makeover before! None of my friends back home would let me."

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i_tame
2012-05-15 11:17 pm UTC (link)

((I'm SO sorry for you having to wait so long! It won't happen again!!))

Color ran deeply through her cheeks and down her throat. "No, no," she quickly assured Megan. "No, he's not my.... No, I don't have anyone like that. He didn't bite me, and he didn't... He'd say he didn't hurt me, but what he did do terrified me for weeks. He took my control. He made me say things, things I never would have said if he hadn't forced it out of me. I'm glad all he did was take your sweater, Pixie. I would have to be very angry with him if he'd done the same thing to you that he did to me. But never look into his eyes, promise me. Promise me."

Megan was too kind and too carefree to be weighted by something like what Eric could do. To Beauty, one of the worst things in the world was to be controlled by something or someone other than herself. She obeyed authority -- her father, her country's laws -- but to have her ability to choose for herself removed... She couldn't abide it. It was the chief reason why it'd been so hard for her in the City (until she met Thomas) -- it'd taken her forcibly from her own home. It'd told her how to live, how to eat, how to dress... And when Eric had done what he'd done, he'd turned himself into a monster in her eyes. Only his later promises had redeemed him. Eric, she decided, wasn't allowed to harm her new friend. She'd have words with him later.

"A makeover?" she asked hesitantly. It'd not been the first time she'd heard the word (or rather, encountered it -- there'd been a very strange and modern book she'd read that mentioned a 'makeover' -- but she wasn't wholly certain what it was, precisely. "I think that'd be all right," she said carefully. "I... I'd really like to look... ah... less... 18th century. Do you think you could help with that?"

Something told Beauty that Pixie knew all about how to achieve this particular goal. She smiled, despite her nervousness.

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i_gotsoul
2012-05-16 04:19 am UTC (link)

((No worries at all!))

"That's just as bad," she said, her eyes narrowing. "I've been mind-controlled before, and had some friends get mind-controlled, and I know what kind of sick weirdos are into that sort of thing." Having her own dust fed back to her until she hallucinated a completely different reality was pretty much mind control, she figured. And it was nothing at all like her dust normally was. Her dust made people see happy cute things that made them not want to fight her. Usually. What those demons had done... and what others had done to her friends... it made her angry.

"I promise," she said, still too angry to be unnerved, "but I don't think that's much of a problem. I think I've got a way to keep him under control, at least around me. At least, I did last time. And I'm good at making quick getaways." She smiled, something sharper than her usual bubbly grin. "I'm not going to be surprised by him again."

Of course, then Beauty/Honour mentioned makeovers and that glimpse of something darker underneath Megan's usual exuberant exterior vanished and she clapped her hands. "I can do that!" she squealed. "You're gonna love it, I promise. First we get you a couple of outfits that you like, okay? And stuff you'll actually wear, it's not going to do any good if you chicken out and it stays in the back of your closet. And then we move on to shoes and accessories and makeup and..." She gasped happily. "Hair chalking! Ohmygod, I've wanted to try hair chalking for a while. We've got to try hair chalking. Please please please say you'll try hair chalking?" She looked at Beauty/Honour with pleading black eyes.

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i_tame
2012-05-17 01:39 am UTC (link)

She'd be lying to herself if she said she wasn't pleased to hear that Pixie had a way to keep herself protected -- even if that dark look was a little unnerving. Beauty had seen her share of darkness in the City. She didn't like thinking that some of it lived in Megan. But as quickly as she could identify it in her new friend's expression, it was gone again. Beauty relaxed, then smiled at the squeal.

"Of course I'll try hair chalking!" she said. Really, when faced with such unabashed pleading and rampant hope, she couldn't have turned Megan down! But it was a leap of faith to agree without knowing... "What is it?"

She flipped through the dresses on the rack in front of her, found a dark purple one, and held it to her forearm to see what it would look like against her skin. The dress itself didn't look like much, but perhaps the simplicity of it would end up being more elegant instead of plain.

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i_gotsoul
2012-05-17 10:04 pm UTC (link)

"It's this thing I read about in some blog before I came here, but we didn't have a lot of down time back at Utopia and I just kind of forgot. You get some coloured chalk or chalk pastels, right, and you rub it in your hair." She twisted a strand of hers up, about a finger's width, to show what she meant. "And it's completely temporary and makes it all sorts of pretty colours. You can even get it to look like a rainbow. I wanted to try purple or yellow or blue. Or maybe all of them."

Megan gave Beauty/Honour a thumbs-up. "Oh, that one's nice. So you're looking for more like that, then? It's not what I would go with, personally, but I guess it's more than a bit of culture shock to go from olden days to now. And you can always accessorize up!"

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i_tame
2012-05-18 01:44 am UTC (link)

"Oh! We'll have to try them all, then -- neither of us will know what looks the best unless we try, right?"

When her first dress choice met with Pixie approval, she tucked it over her arm and grinned back. "Well, I'm not opposed to trying other styles. Maybe you can pick out a few for me and I can pick out a few, and together we can figure out what works best? Oh, and I know I have to have pulled you away from your own shopping. I'd feel terrible if you didn't get what you wanted, too."

Beauty didn't tell her that she expected to pay for absolutely everything that Megan picked. The truth was that she had more money than she knew what to do with, owning to the fact that the City had provided pretty much everything she'd ever needed, before. Her salary had just built up and built up over the years.

It was good to have something to spend it on -- and someone to spend it with.

The afternoon was going to be wonderful. She could just feel it.

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