Wings

Duodecim || Niceties

With the sounds of a brush against her face, and the sweet scents of products- Cassidy soon fell into a doze. It was minutes after that she opened her eyes and looked into the mirror. Smiling, she touched her face. Nothing had obviously...changed, but her skin was flush with life and her eyes were rimmed with browns and creams. Her face was more angular than before and her lips had been left untouched. 

"I didn't know what colour you'd like and I have a few to choose from." Thrusting the box under her nose, Cassidy let out a girlish giggle before picking out a dark brown colour- soon swiping it onto her lips and feeling more mature than she had in years. A knock came at the door and Demos walked in, brazen and loud but he stopped still when he saw her. She watched as his Adams apple bobbed and felt a victorious smirk tug at her lips before he spoke.

"Are you sure you wanna go? I mean the dress probably won't even look that nice anyway." It was blurted, but she instantly froze- feeling the thick feeling rush back at full force. Lily's expression turned murderous but Cassidy stepped forward, her words cutting through the air like a knife.

"What? Demos, whats wrong with you?"

"I was just saying-" Irregardless, she continued walking closer to the door and into his personal space.

"No! Demos, you don't get to, 'just', fucking, 'say'. I was excited to go and you're being a dick!" As she enunciated her words, she pushed at his shoulder and managed to force him out of the room.

"That's not the fucking problem and you know it, Cassidy." Snarling, she watched the black bleed into his eyes as his fists clenched but she didn't falter. Stepping forward, she felt as her eyes bled gold and her teeth lengthened.

"The problem is your fucking attitude, fix it or I'll do it for you." Eyebrows popping, she noted that they were only a hairs breath from touching but was to filled with fury to even be flustered.

"And what are you going to do," Leaning forward, she watched as the smoke leaked from his pores, listened as he growled; "Angel."

Snarling, she leapt at him- her talons out as she slammed him into the floor and screamed in his face. It was high pitched, and caused the walls in the room to shake- and she cut it off short. A scream was an Angels last chance at defense or a way to signal another, but it still made the Angel who did it tired as hell. Swallowing, she stood and tugged at her throat- noticing how everyone in the room was either sunk to the floor or rubbing their head. Momentarily petrified, he laid flat on the floor as she stood, dusted her clothing and walked with a pointed stride over to Lily.

"I assume you, also, wanted to help me get ready?" Cackling, the taller girl wove her arm round Cassidy's- pulling her into one of the nearby bedrooms as she rubbed at her eyes.

"Bitch, I like you. Come on, get those glad rags off and lets glam you up!" She squealed, already tugging at Cassidy's shirt. Seconds later, she was naked barring her underwear but was so drained she couldn't find it in herself to be self-conscious. The hand that pressed against her back was unwelcome, not to mention she wasn't expecting it and as such yelped and jumped away from Lily.

"They really fucked your back up." Tonally, it wasn't sympathetic or a question, it was a statement. Chuckling slightly, Cassidy walked over to her dress and pulled it over her head before answering.

"I was in there for seven years, they manged to do a lot." She wanted to clarify that it wasn't her back that it was on, but her wings.

But only knowing the woman for an hour made her trepidatious to share, because- after all- not all sharing was caring. Watching the woman out the corner of her eye, she stared as Lily put some curing irons on. There was something about her, something that made her want to tell her everything.

Swallowing, she walked over to the large mirror and sat on the chair placed in front of it. She wanted to just sit in silence, allow the overwhelming mortification to wash over her but it seemed that no matter what Lily did, she had to hum. As Cassidy sat in the plush leather chair and watched the other woman plod about in the room, she listened. It was haunting, with high lilts and deep bass-y notes. Instantly, she wanted to ask what song it was but held herself back- she'd have time later. Slowly, Cassidy closed her eyes and just...thought. Everything was so scary and overwhelming, the fact that she was being hunted, these feelings that she had for Demos and the gut-wrenching fear that she was going to fuck up.

Soon, Lily stood behind her and ran her fingers through her short hair soothingly. The curling iron, hot and strong curled her hair and they stood (and sat) in silence for the better half of half an hour before one of them thought to speak. It was strangely comfortable, like there was no pressure to do anything.

"What they do to you?" It was Lily, and her boisterous voice was calm and subdued. Instantly, Cassidy's eyes flashed up to hers and god, she wanted to cry again.

"They-," She let out a breath, trying to hold her tears back as she looked at the ceiling. "They did a lot." Nodding, she moved onto another piece of hair before lapsing into silence. But Cassidy was confused, and hurt goddammit- she was allowed to. Five years had not dulled the ache, had only healed the wound.

"Why-" Voice breaking, she blinked her eyes rapidly to dispel the feeling of heat in her eyes. Licking her lips, she tried again to sound strong. "Why did you ask me that?"

Copper eyes met hers in the mirror, and she moved onto another piece of hair as she talked.

"I-" Pausing, she inhaled deeply before placing the curling iron down, grabbing the hairspray and dousing her head with it. "I needed to know."

Swallowing, she nodded as the other girl dug soft fingers into her hair. Only the need to share, to open up and to move on allowed her to not break down into tears. After all, Angels were at heart benevolent. But- she thought with a grim expression, standing tall and running her hands down her dress; eyes catching the silvery scars on her arms- they held grudges for very, very long times.

"Anyway," She began- combing her fingers through Cassidy's hair again. "How do you feel about Demos? I saw the way you were looking at him." She said through a mischievous smile. Instantly, all thoughts of the topic prior were forgotten as she flushed a bright red.

"Ooh, really?" Teasingly, she rested her hands on Cassidy's shoulders as her eyes flashed.

"Shut up." Murmured Cassidy, resting her face in her hands as her ears glowed. It was silent for a few moments, and Lily ran her hands through Cassidy's hair again.

"You like him." Sighing, Cassidy nodded into the mirror- finally admitting it.

"Do you love him?" Shocked, Cassidy's eyes flashed up to Lily's. "Too soon?"

Lily laughed, clapping Cassidy on the shoulders before walking over to the other side of the room. Spinning around in her chair, Cassidy faced Lily- frowning as she gestured with her hands.

"I thought that you-" Bluntly, Lily smiled at Cassidy as she leaned against the wall as she spoke.

"That I love Demos? I do." Frozen, Cassidy's hands fell into her lap as jealousy sparked in her chest and made her ugly. Frowning at herself, she berated herself as she thought horrible thoughts. Lily rolled her eyes and stepped forward, kneeling down to face Lily.

"You don't need to worry, we're as close as brother and sister- there's no way on this Earth that he could see me like that." She gave a weak smile, and Cassidy felt for her.

"I'm sorry..."

"There's no need to feel sorry, silly." Again, she rolled her eyes. "You like who you like, you can't help it. And if they don't like you back it sucks a whole lotta fuck, but you've just got to move on. You can't force someone to like you." Eyes softening, she placed her hand on Cassidy's arm. "And I think that you two like each other, so I'm rooting for you- okay?"

"Thank you." Choking it out, she wiped at her eyes before standing. "I need... I just- bathroom." And ducked into the bathroom.

Lily smiled shakily, sitting on the floor. She hadn't wanted to give up on her feelings and, truly, she loved Demos. Wiping at her face, she saw her hand was wet and let out a shuddering sigh. It wouldn't be that bad if he was with her, she thought, at least she was nice. And so, gracefully- she accepted defeat and bowed out of the running for Demos' heart because...truly?

Cassidy had already won it even if she didn't know it.