Re: The Mirror/The Illusion
Haven shrugged with a loose motion of skewed shoulders. A moment ago, the joints had been stark and angular, but even that had changed - a slight bit of slope, enough softness to be able to pillow a head instead of poke bony at an ear. "Isn't that what everyone is? A little bit of both, all mixed up?" As if they were one to talk about being mixed-up parts.
"Me?" Their question came quick, asking for clarification, but eyes the color of copper's patina traced the movement of gloved hand through the space between them. Their chin was already tipping upward by the time fingers met jaw, leaning into the touch in a way that made it easier for them to be moved and examined. Lashes slipped down over eyes, hooding them partway as they soaked up the touch.
So often, they shifted who they were, making themself into whatever their most recent companion wanted. A little bit nicer, a little bit sexier, a little bit nastier. Taller, shorter, thinner, plumper. A trouble-maker or so well-behaved as to be nearly unnoticeable in the background. The customer is always right, so Haven did their best to serve. But it was strange, so strange, for someone to want to keep their change. To be wanted for who, or what, they were.
"Yes," they murmured, turning into the touch again, pale lips near the satin of the woman's glove. Their heart beat double-time and hard in their ears. "I would stay. If you wanted to keep me." It was a new sort of confession, one recently acknowledged and able to be promised. The laughter from above them coaxed out another smile, curving lips and brightening touch-drunk eyes. So little given, and already they were drawn in. But they gasped when she released them, swaying momentarily as they were unmoored from her anchor. "I'll show you." Eyes going dark, shading to deep-ocean blue, hair lightening to a ruddy sunset. Change - they could do change, if that was what the woman wanted. It was hardly a high price to be asked.