AtS FIC: warpaint
Title: warpaint
Author: kangeiko
Disclaimer: I don't own them, but I'd treat them better.
Summary: Lilah despises women like this.
Spoilers/setting: Billy, S3.
A/N: I don't know where this came from. OK, that's a lie. This is the one episode in S3 that I wouldn't trade for anything. I'm not entirely sure about my timings in this, because I don't actually have the season on DVD and so I'm going on memory, but I'm assuming that at least one day passed between Billy engineering the assault on Lilah and her visit by Cordelia.
*
She paints her face with the thickest make-up she can find and spends $200 on a cover-up that doesn't do a damn thing. She used to favour the quick sticks you could buy, where you'd slick them on to your skin and rub the cream in with your fingers. They gave a more even finish, and were quicker to boot. Lilah has never had a particular fondness for wasting time doing her make-up when she could be at the office half an hour earlier.
The sticks, of course, are the first to go, shoved into the depths of her make-up bag. Instead, she takes her valuable lunch-hour and goes to the nearest mall. She wears large Jackie O specs and ties a silk scarf around her neck and wonders if she can get away with a trench coat. It's still too warm, though, and so she suffers the indignity of the stares as she limps into the mall and heads for the nearest make-up counter. She selects six make-up brushes and a thick, gooey foundation. She pays in cash, and makes it almost all the way out to the door before the stupid little salesgirl grabs her by the elbow.
"Miss? Miss, could I have a word?"
"Get your hands off me," Lilah says, quietly. She'd ordinarily pull her arm away, but knows that she currently does not have the strength for it and will not humiliate herself by struggling.
The girl lets go immediately. Her eyes are brown, pretty, and Lilah thinks that she'd have been passable-looking if she didn't have a scar down her neck, disappearing into her uniform. "I'm sorry," she says, and she sounds it. "I just wanted to say," her voice drops, "dump the bastard."
For a moment, Lilah is too surprised to say anything at all. All she can see are the girl's wide, pretty brown eyes, and the pale scar that whispers down her thin neck. Over the girl's shoulder there is a large hat display, and circular mirrors are hung at eye-level. Lilah can see a beautiful, well turned-out businesswoman with long, shapely legs and an abusive bastard of a boyfriend who'd likely kill her one of these days.
She thinks about how much she despises women like this, and cannot look away from her own reflection.
"There's a place nearby that'll help," the girl says, and tucks a small business card in Lilah's limp hand. "That's just - I just wanted you to know."
She hurries away.
Lilah is left staring at herself.
That night, Cordelia Chase comes to her apartment.
*
Author: kangeiko
Disclaimer: I don't own them, but I'd treat them better.
Summary: Lilah despises women like this.
Spoilers/setting: Billy, S3.
A/N: I don't know where this came from. OK, that's a lie. This is the one episode in S3 that I wouldn't trade for anything. I'm not entirely sure about my timings in this, because I don't actually have the season on DVD and so I'm going on memory, but I'm assuming that at least one day passed between Billy engineering the assault on Lilah and her visit by Cordelia.
*
She paints her face with the thickest make-up she can find and spends $200 on a cover-up that doesn't do a damn thing. She used to favour the quick sticks you could buy, where you'd slick them on to your skin and rub the cream in with your fingers. They gave a more even finish, and were quicker to boot. Lilah has never had a particular fondness for wasting time doing her make-up when she could be at the office half an hour earlier.
The sticks, of course, are the first to go, shoved into the depths of her make-up bag. Instead, she takes her valuable lunch-hour and goes to the nearest mall. She wears large Jackie O specs and ties a silk scarf around her neck and wonders if she can get away with a trench coat. It's still too warm, though, and so she suffers the indignity of the stares as she limps into the mall and heads for the nearest make-up counter. She selects six make-up brushes and a thick, gooey foundation. She pays in cash, and makes it almost all the way out to the door before the stupid little salesgirl grabs her by the elbow.
"Miss? Miss, could I have a word?"
"Get your hands off me," Lilah says, quietly. She'd ordinarily pull her arm away, but knows that she currently does not have the strength for it and will not humiliate herself by struggling.
The girl lets go immediately. Her eyes are brown, pretty, and Lilah thinks that she'd have been passable-looking if she didn't have a scar down her neck, disappearing into her uniform. "I'm sorry," she says, and she sounds it. "I just wanted to say," her voice drops, "dump the bastard."
For a moment, Lilah is too surprised to say anything at all. All she can see are the girl's wide, pretty brown eyes, and the pale scar that whispers down her thin neck. Over the girl's shoulder there is a large hat display, and circular mirrors are hung at eye-level. Lilah can see a beautiful, well turned-out businesswoman with long, shapely legs and an abusive bastard of a boyfriend who'd likely kill her one of these days.
She thinks about how much she despises women like this, and cannot look away from her own reflection.
"There's a place nearby that'll help," the girl says, and tucks a small business card in Lilah's limp hand. "That's just - I just wanted you to know."
She hurries away.
Lilah is left staring at herself.
That night, Cordelia Chase comes to her apartment.
*