You wear a dress, baby, I'll wear a tie

[nunaunet.livejournal.com]

Tuesday night, the tavern

I ain't had a night on the town in a long time, ayuh. An' I'm always so careful round townies, but sometimes that jus' grates on me. Still a few days off the full moon, ayuh, so I need to shave if I ain't goin' to cause a scene; I want to wear somethin' pretty, an' people heah may be strangah than in many places but that don't mean their heads are much moah open to ideas about the propah way of things. So I get my face smooth, an' I put on some kohl an' wear a kaftan, and then I put some earrings in an' smile at myself in the mirror. Lookin' like a queen, ayuh.

Put on boots an' a coat when I go out, for it ain't warm yet though the snow's meltin', say thankya. Wave at a few people as I go but don't stop to say nothin'. I had enough of a headache with everyone goin' crazy these past few days. I didn't forget nothin', so far as I know, but then, I've got so much in my head it'd be hard to notice, you ken? Know theah's whole lifetimes I've forgot, ayuh, so if I lost recall of last Monday or forgot the price of steak it wouldn't necessarily strike me, ayuh.

Go on into the tavern. Know that boy Thomas recognises me, an' his eyes go a bit wide but he still smiles. Few people in heah, but none I recognise.

"A beeh, sweet," I say to Thomas, an' I take a seat. Get a ball of yarn an' some needles out of my bag, as well as a half-finished scarf I've been makin'. Good to have somethin' to do with my hands on long dark nights, ayuh.

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Comments

[nunaunet.livejournal.com]

Zann comes over. Sweet girl - flighty, but not about things that mattah, ayuh, least I don't think so.

"How've you been? C'n I join you?"

"Sit yo'self down, sweet," I say. "Me an' Parras was jus' catchin' up aftah this whole memory business. You weah alright though, ayuh? Heah you even picked up a boyfriend for the interim." Wink at her an' pat the seat next to me.

[parras-siren.livejournal.com]

One of the Zann girls comes to join us, and I feel a little awkward, because - well. Two carnival people, and I think I've been in town long enough now that people don't associate me with the Diabolique, but I still don't like to socialise with them too much. I might not have come over to Nu if I'd remembered, and I feel terribly mean-spirited for thinking it, but it's true.

"Me an' Parras was jus' catchin' up aftah this whole memory business. You weah alright though, ayuh? Heah you even picked up a boyfriend for the interim."

I smile at Zann a little stiffly. "It was awfully confusing, wasn't it?" Everyone running around carrying on with the wrong people - I'm glad I didn't get involved with any of that.

[tereixa-zann.livejournal.com]

"Sit yo'self down, sweet," Nu says, and I smile at her, pulling up the chair she indicated. Set the bottle down on the table and smile at them both. "Me an' Parras was jus' catchin' up aftah this whole memory business," and I nod.

"It was something," I say in agreement. "I guess I mostly tried to think of it as coming to a new town, and it kinda helped that a couple of people on the lot didn't get hit by it, but..." Everything turned upside-down and falling into new configurations, pieces dropping out of it all, a new and lacy kaleidoscope, and I shiver a bit.

"You weah alright though, ayuh? Heah you even picked up a boyfriend for the interim," and I grin.

"Poor guy," I say, thinking of him. "He'd... he was lonely, you know?" I gesture with the glass. "And he had a fight with a friend, and his memory was shot, and I think it just all came down on him at once." Take a sip of the drink and it's... almost like cherries and almost like honey and not really either, and I smile. "I think... You know I think Management came out to see him?"

"It was awfully confusing, wasn't it?"

"That it was," I say, ducking my head and smiling at Parras. She looks a bit sad, and I can't tell if it's cause it was a bad time for her or if it's cause I'm bringing down the tone a bit. This about asking were you okay and then decide that with her this way another question might work better. "No-one gave you any trouble, did they?"

[nunaunet.livejournal.com]

Parras gets a bit stiff when Zann comes ovah. Oh, girl, you go on pretendin' you didn't come from the carnival, an' we jus' some riffraff you happen to know - but not well, lord no. Give her a bit of a look. Think it was bettah when she didn't remembah who I was, ayuh.

Zann starts talkin' 'bout what happened, and comes to the mattah of her friend.

"And he had a fight with a friend, and his memory was shot, and I think it just all came down on him at once. I think... You know I think Management came out to see him?"

"That so?" I say, interested, an' I lean forward a bit. "Wondah who that boy was, if Management wanted to see him. You know wheah he went?" Wish I'd seen Zann soon aftah she went with him, cos I can tell a lot from a body aftah sex, ayuh. Been too long now, though. Take a swallow of my beeh as she asks Parras 'bout her week. Management wantin' to see Zann's boy... Interestin' indeed.

[parras-siren.livejournal.com]

I don't miss the look that Nu gives me. Oh, you may glare at me, but I have my livelihood to think of - there are many people in this town who have increasingly strong feelings about the carnival, and some of them are my clients.

"No-one gave you any trouble, did they?"

"Oh, not at all. I was simply...disconcerted." You will understand better, Zann, when you're older and your hands grow stiff, unwilling to manipulate your beloved machines.

Zann talks about some boy she had sex with on the lot, and I would shake my head if I were less polite. "Wonder who that boy was, if Management wanted to see him"

Ugh, Management. I am most glad to be free of them, whatever they are.

[tereixa-zann.livejournal.com]

Catch the look between Nu and Parras, and my mouth drops a bit, 'cause I really don't want any fighting, even if she is getting up on her horse about being a townie now. "What is this, exactly?" I say, pushing the bottle forward. "I mean, I tried it, and it's nice... you guys want some?"

Parras waves off the question of anyone actually upsetting her, and I nod. "It was a bit strange," I agree. "But I'm glad there wasn't really any trouble, you know?"

"Wondah who that boy was, if Management wanted to see him," Nu says. "You know wheah he went?" and I shake my head.

"I hope he got a chance to make up with whoever he had a fight with," I say. "He just stayed for a bit... he was amazing," I say, smiling. "I mean, not that," and I laugh a little, quick and giddy and embarrassed but not in any bad way, "but he saw everything the way I saw machines, you know? And he sang."

[nunaunet.livejournal.com]

"Oh, not at all. I was simply...disconcerted."

Moah than that, ayuh. But now Parras's hoity toity wall has gone up again. Definitely liked heah bettah when she wasn't sure who I am, ayuh.

Zann pushes her drink toward me an' I shake my head.

"None for me, sweet. I like my drinks simple, ayuh."

"He just stayed for a bit... he was amazing. I mean, not thatbut he saw everything the way I saw machines, you know? And he sang."

Can't help smilin' back at how she's grinnin'.

"Singin' an' sex an' a mind for things... Sounds like a good catch, ayuh. You think you'll see him again?" Settle back in my seat. Wondah if Parras is seein' anyone these days. Wondah if she's still sore 'bout Marcilla.