Sorry about the roof.
Hanging precariously by one hand from the snapped edge of a suspension bridge wasn't how Axel had envisioned the moments before his death.
It was of no surprise that his ill-thought-out actions --well, causing an explosion on a bridge wasn't exactly a fantastic plan, was it?-- had lead to the present scenario. With a veritable inferno roaring in ( Read more... )
It was of no surprise that his ill-thought-out actions --well, causing an explosion on a bridge wasn't exactly a fantastic plan, was it?-- had lead to the present scenario. With a veritable inferno roaring in ( Read more... )
The ones who'd been sold to Shinra were usually the ones who were broken by their captors long before Shinra got hold of them. They were always the quietest.
She shook her head a little, clearing those memories away before she told Axel, "I don't remember how they got me and my mother. I was only a baby; I could have been born there. It was all I knew for years." Then she smiled a little, perking up, "My mom escaped with me when I was little. She got hurt, and she didn't make it, but she got me to safety. The Turks still come and check up on me, but they don't really worry much about chasing me if I run away. Mostly they leave me alone, now."
She leaned over a little to look at Axel, smiling at him softly. "I'll get you somewhere safe, all right?"
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He knew why they wanted him, and they'd used strange words to explain it and called him a 'Ryoka' which he'd taken to believe meant 'off-worlder' or 'alien' but judging by their cruel, hungry-eyed awe of this fact, he was something of a rare commodity. He supposed that it was this that fuelled their need and desire to trade and sell him like a particularly rare colour-morph of a high-bred cat. He couldn't understand why they wanted Aerith. She seemed normal, for one... and he presumed she was a native, at least.
He didn't ask, though. He figured that it must be something secret and important if she was wanted by them, so he figured that he'd wait until the reason for his own capture came up later.
"You don't... have to. I mean, you don't even know me." The kindness was hard to swallow.
Being disliked within the Organization and later kept out of the way, and then ending up on Spira where he'd experienced so little niceness that he was nearly positive that it was as alien as he was, he was a little stunnedd that she was going out of her way for him.
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When her attempts to tame Axel's hair were obviously failing, she huffed, putting one hand on her hip and swiftly changing the subject; "I'm going to get some water." And she did, disappearing into the back of the shop for a few minutes. When she came back out she was carrying a jug of water, and had a bright smile on her face. "Now it'll behave," she said, confidently.
At least she didn't just pour it over Axel's head. Instead she wet the hairbrush and combed it through Axel's hair that way.
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"Hopefully!" He replied, sitting up straighter. "It's just not used to being flat."
Well, it wasn't, but it would have to learn if he wanted to look girly enough to pass for a lady.
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With the help of the water, it wasn't long before Aerith had Axel's hair held neatly in her hand. At which point she divided it into two sections before she took the first piece of elastic, and then ribbon, tying a sweet and floppy bow around the fastening.
Then she did the same with the other side before walking around to inspect her handiwork. She looked pleased, tilting her head as she commented, "You have a really pretty face. It's harder to tell with your hair in all those spikes."
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He kind of hoped it was a long one, and then slapped himself internally for even thinking it. He shouldn't have dress preferences, but... then again. Leg waxing wasn't something he really wanted to go through and a pretty disguise could easily be ruined by red leg hair.
"So you think I pass?" He asked with a lopsided grin that was all too boyish for his hairstyle.
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At least his eyes were already there.
"But you will when we've finished," she said, smiling brightly.
Not long after, the tailor and his daughter emerged, bearing a dress. As Axel had hoped, it was quite a long one, at least down to his ankles, but it had short sleeves, and came with a short matching jacket. The dress, at least, was black, but it had a white sash around the waist which fastened in a large bow at the back, giving the illusion of a more feminine waist.
The jacket was cut high enough to leave the bow at the back on show, and had a white ribbon flower stitched to the front. It had been made to hide Axel's broad shoulders, and flat chest, because padding would only be able to do so much.
And the dress was, as Aerith had requested, soft to the touch, and it did shimmer in the light.
It was also padded, discreetly, in places where Axel wasn't but a girl should be.
"I hope black's not a problem," the tailor said, "it was the only colour of silk I had enough of on such short notice."
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A bow and a flower. He was never going to live this one down. Or, at least, that's what he would be thinking if he had anybody to be embarrassed about seeing him like that. As it was, he didn't. Except Timcanpy, who he almost wanted to glue pigtails to to make him look as silly.
On the upside, he was used to ankle-length black clothing, but he hadn't envisioned having to get back into it in this way, if at all.
"Black's just fine," he said, looking at the dress, then at himself. "I'm going to look stupid, aren't I?"
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At least Axel wasn't asking in the present tense.
Aerith swept around Axel, taking his arm in hers and all but dragging him out of the chair and pushing him towards the changing room. "Try it on! I want to see!"
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"I can't believe I'm doing this."
And he changed. With some degree of difficulty. Well, he'd never put a dress on before, had he? They seemed like simple, one-piece garments but they weren't that easy, with their hidden zips and silly length. After a few moments he stepped out, looking a lot more girly than he'd like.
"... ta da." He said flatly, spreading his hands with an extremely awkward expression on his face.
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Or he would, once she'd finished.
"Relax," she said, pushing his hands down, "you look like your thong's too tight."
The tailor didn't seem to find it strange that someone who had supposedly wanted to dress like this would be so embarrassed about it. As far as he was concerned, that was Aerith's cover, and he'd stick to it.
"How does he walk?" He asked, looking at Aerith, and knowing that this would be an important thing to get right.
Aerith gave a surprised little, "Oh!" Then she turned to Axel, and said, "Try walking."
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At the mention of a walk, he blinked a little and then gave the small group what can only be described as a Look. He opened his mouth to say something, put his hands on his hips and then shook his head, choosing to let out a sigh instead of any words.
Walk, walk. Uh... well, he didn't know too many girls and had positively sucked at getting them to stick around when he was a kid, so he thought of the only one suitable -- Larxene -- and figured he'd imitate hers.
Naive in the ways of girls he might have been, he still knew that his own walk wasn't going to cut it and he figured that saving himself the embarrassment of being taught how to walk convincingly was probably a good thing.
So, with one foot in front of the other and his hands by his sides (not even he was going to leave his hands on his hips for this one), he crossed the floor. His hips made the movement look perfect.
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The tailor seemed to agree, giving a curt nod and commenting, "That's some of my best work he's wearing."
Aerith turned, and nodded, sounding ever so grateful as she told him, "Thank you so much. This means a lot."
Then she took Axel's arm, smiling brightly again. "Now we just need one more thing to get you finished off."
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"Whoa whoa..." He said, holding up his hands to stop her for a moment. "I have to go out like this?"
He indicated himself from the hips down, his wrists as limp as ever in a display of abject horror. Wearing the dress as a disguise... fine. He could deal with that. Going out into the slums of Midgar in a dress was another thing entirely.
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"We're only going around the corner," she said, although she wasn't going to tell him just where, yet, because she suspected she'd be told 'no'. "Don't be a 'fraidy cat."
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"Yeah, yeah. Lead the way," he said, relenting to her wishes.
Wishes that seemed a little bit closer to 'demands', but put in such a nice way that he didn't see anything malicious in it, not that he expected there to be.
"At least nobody will know me, right?"
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