early August (tw: body dysphoria)
Jul. 30th, 2016 08:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
best_thiefLila is already in a sour mood.
This morning she'd woken up wanting to dress like a boy, not for a disguise but just because. It shouldn't be difficult because all of her clothes are either made for men or the kind both genders wear here in Darrow. The problem is the heat. The problem is, the more of her body that shows the less she looks like a man. She isn't as curvy as a lot of women, and thank God her chest is nearly as flat as a man's, but she's still shaped girl-like.
And fuck, it's not like she's never endured summer heat. Maybe it's that back home she had more to worry about, like staying alive and stealing enough money for a room or a meal. Or maybe it's because back home she'd never cut the legs off her pants or the sleeves off her shirts because it just wasn't done. So here it's either suffer the added heat, or look more girl-ish than she'd like.
Lila has been letting her hair get too long. She shears an inch off in frustration and goes for a walk.
There are other things bothering her, too. Crawling under her skin, clouding her thoughts. She tries to keep them away by training her magic and her body, but sometimes she can't outrun them just like she can't run from this place. Which is the very root of all of it.
But she can at least move fast. She's noticed a favored trend among the people of Darrow, they love to ride contraptions called bicycles that are not so much unlike Tauriel and Aramis' motorcycles. And while Lila would much rather have a motorcycle she's discovered that they're far more expensive than she can afford, and beyond that, difficult to steal. (Mostly because she doesn't know how to drive one yet.) But the bicycles are self-propelled and don't need a key. Lila stakes out an area that has a long rack of them to be rented out along the boardwalk. Once she sees how they're locked into their little areas she manipulates the metal, wanders up while the merchant is busy talking to someone else, takes the bicycle by its handles, and walks away. Two important parts to stealing are distraction and confidence. Look like you belong somewhere or that you're doing what you're supposed to be doing and you can get away with a lot.
Lila walks the bicycle a ways from the rental area just to be safe, and then she swings a leg over and attempts to ride it.
It doesn't go well.
She keeps wobbling and tipping to the side and nearly running into things or falling off. She gets so angry in the end that she gets off the bike and kicks it, lighting it on fire in the middle of the sidewalk.
"Useless hunk of metal!"
This morning she'd woken up wanting to dress like a boy, not for a disguise but just because. It shouldn't be difficult because all of her clothes are either made for men or the kind both genders wear here in Darrow. The problem is the heat. The problem is, the more of her body that shows the less she looks like a man. She isn't as curvy as a lot of women, and thank God her chest is nearly as flat as a man's, but she's still shaped girl-like.
And fuck, it's not like she's never endured summer heat. Maybe it's that back home she had more to worry about, like staying alive and stealing enough money for a room or a meal. Or maybe it's because back home she'd never cut the legs off her pants or the sleeves off her shirts because it just wasn't done. So here it's either suffer the added heat, or look more girl-ish than she'd like.
Lila has been letting her hair get too long. She shears an inch off in frustration and goes for a walk.
There are other things bothering her, too. Crawling under her skin, clouding her thoughts. She tries to keep them away by training her magic and her body, but sometimes she can't outrun them just like she can't run from this place. Which is the very root of all of it.
But she can at least move fast. She's noticed a favored trend among the people of Darrow, they love to ride contraptions called bicycles that are not so much unlike Tauriel and Aramis' motorcycles. And while Lila would much rather have a motorcycle she's discovered that they're far more expensive than she can afford, and beyond that, difficult to steal. (Mostly because she doesn't know how to drive one yet.) But the bicycles are self-propelled and don't need a key. Lila stakes out an area that has a long rack of them to be rented out along the boardwalk. Once she sees how they're locked into their little areas she manipulates the metal, wanders up while the merchant is busy talking to someone else, takes the bicycle by its handles, and walks away. Two important parts to stealing are distraction and confidence. Look like you belong somewhere or that you're doing what you're supposed to be doing and you can get away with a lot.
Lila walks the bicycle a ways from the rental area just to be safe, and then she swings a leg over and attempts to ride it.
It doesn't go well.
She keeps wobbling and tipping to the side and nearly running into things or falling off. She gets so angry in the end that she gets off the bike and kicks it, lighting it on fire in the middle of the sidewalk.
"Useless hunk of metal!"
no subject
Date: 2016-08-06 02:42 pm (UTC)He sits up straighter on his bike then, head cocked. "But I was headed to the grocers," he tells her, resting his hands on his thighs. "I've decided Kieren desperately needs to try several different kinds of sugary cereal. If you come, do you promise only to use your magic to torment and annoy our fellow shoppers?"
no subject
Date: 2016-08-06 07:53 pm (UTC)She just rolls her eyes. She can't promise anything, and she won't. "Stop being difficult," she says, climbing onto the bike behind him the way she say on Tauriel's. "I thought your dead boyfriend couldn't eat, anyway."
no subject
Date: 2016-08-07 05:47 am (UTC)"He's not dead anymore," he replies, feeling strangely smug in spreading the news. "Don't ask me how, I don't understand it at all, but something happened with his blood or the chemicals in his brain and he's human again now. He can bleed and breathe and eat now. All of it."
Before Lila can make some sort of jibe, Sirius kicks his bike back into gear, the wonderful machine revving between their legs as he pulls back into traffic, fresh on his way to the shop.
no subject
Date: 2016-08-09 12:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-08-09 03:05 pm (UTC)The shop isn't that far away, however, and they're there in moments, Sirius slowing to a stop in the car park, feet on the ground as he cuts off the engine and waits for Lila to slide off so he can follow. "How many things do you think you can steal while we're in there?" he asks, pocketing his keys with a grin?
no subject
Date: 2016-08-10 06:57 pm (UTC)"Is that a challenge? I'm not in the right clothes," she says, almost distressed at the fact that she won't be able to pass Sirius' impromptu test. Stealing money is one thing, but items need somewhere to go, and without a jacket, or at least more than the pockets of her shorts, there simply aren't any good places to hide them.
no subject
Date: 2016-08-11 04:20 am (UTC)He knows the answer already, of course, having witnessed plenty of what Kell can do. Lila's not quite as powerful as Kell, he's fairly sure, but their magic is the same. And it's nearly nothing like Sirius's. While they can bend and manipulate elements already in existence, Sirius can pull things right out of thin air should he need them.
Well, most things at least.
no subject
Date: 2016-08-12 04:52 pm (UTC)"And if I could magic what I need, then I wouldn't have to steal in the first place, would I? You make it sound like magic exists just so you can be lazy. But how about this, I'll steal you a pack of candy since you're being such a little boy," she says.
no subject
Date: 2016-08-14 11:52 pm (UTC)"Fuck's sake, you are a pill," he replies with a huff. "Only thought it'd be a bit of fun, but I see that's a bit out of reach for you." He turns then, not bothering to see if Lila's decided to follow him in or not, not particularly caring either way.
no subject
Date: 2016-08-15 12:07 am (UTC)