Re: The Thief/The Flibbertigibbet
Lili wore a perfume that had been custom blended. She didn't remember exactly what, just the where. It had been the man who had worn gray silk ties, who had arranged the whole thing with triumphant satisfaction he'd pulled off something big. They had waved tester strips under her nose until she picked out the whole thing note by note but she couldn't remember a thing. It was often like that, with Lili who didn't think all that much about being noticed. She didn't despise it, she wasn't so stupid as all that, notoriety had scraped her up from the sidewalk but she didn't care, there were people who did.
If he was looking for something worth selling, he was going the wrong way about it. Women tossed their underthings in with their petticoats, and stashed their jewels in the toes of their shoes or in the interior of a sleeve or something. He flashed a smile that was more than a dollar's worth and Lili's admiration glowed vaguely like a polished penny. She smiled, thoughtlessly in his direction. It was the dazzling kind, straight off celluloid.
"It's somewhere in here. I pack everything all in one, and I tossed everything out and I can't find it. It goes with my dress," she said, waving the shoe as if the explanation were something he wanted instead of someone else's gaudy bits. She didn't answer his question, but she let the door fall-to behind her, and her lopsided step headed toward a trunk that looked a little like hers. "What brought on your affinity for petticoats? You don't look like the type."