Survivor - Connor x OC

Beneath Your Beautiful

Labrinth – Beneath Your Beautiful (feat. Emile Sande)

Taylor glanced up into the mirror as the door opened behind her, watching North enter the room. A small sigh of relief escaped her, but it was short lived after North met her gaze in the mirror a second later, frowning.

"Hey," she said feebly, turning in her chair to greet the android face to face. North was glancing around the room, looking a little uncertain now, though the frown was still in place. "Thanks for coming."

"Oh, was this optional?" She said it with a touch of sarcasm, but Taylor managed not to wince. The redhead finally turned back to face her, eyeing the dress she was already wearing, her frown deepening.

"I had Jen and Anton leave a few for you to choose from. I'll help you get into it. I figured you would prefer it that way." She bit her lip then, realizing the last bit probably didn't need to be said. North didn't react, though. Her eyes had moved to the dresses, lined up on the other side of the room.

Without any further ado, she walked over to them, observing each one, circling. Taylor watched, still apprehensive, chewing on her lip. She had suggested to Markus that she could help North get ready for the party tonight in some vague hope that maybe they would bond. Their somewhat friendly interaction a few days prior had encouraged her into thinking it could be possible. Now, though.

"These are all ridiculous." North finally said, shaking her head.

"I could get them to bring a different one—" Taylor began, but the redhead just made a disgusted noise, sighing.

"Another equally ridiculous one, I'm sure. This one will do." She gestured to the black dress on the end, the one she had been hovering closest to since she started looking. It was the one Taylor would have chosen for her, if she would have been bold enough to impose. A midnight, strapless ballgown with intricate feathered beading along the body that caught the light.

"My stylist, Jen, always says that if people are going to be looking at you, you may as well give them something to look at." A smile came to her face, and to her surprise, North smiled slightly in return. "Come on, half the work is just getting into the dress."

Certainly not a lie. A lot of cursing, tucking, and strapping later, North was finally properly clothed and even less happy about it than before. "Why in the hell would you do this to yourself all the time?"

"There are worse things," Taylor shrugged, still slightly breathless. At the skeptical look that North sent her way, she shrugged, "Probably worse things."

"Are we done now?" She sounded hopeful. Taylor frowned, looking over her slightly frazzled hair. Then she pointed toward the chair she'd been sitting in when North walked in.

"Not quite." North groaned, but she filed over and dropped into the chair as requested. Taylor stepped up behind her, reaching for the hairbrush. They sat in silence while Taylor brushed her hair, then sat to work and putting it up. North watched her hands moving in the mirror, her face now blank.

"Can I ask you a question?" The question came so suddenly that it made Taylor freeze for a second. Then she tried to play off her hesitation, not wanting North to change her mind.

"Sure," she said, attempting to sound casual. North went quiet, considering her again. She watched her for a long time before she spoke.

"Does it ever go away?" Taylor opened her mouth to ask her what she meant, but when she met North's brown eyes in the mirror again, she didn't have to. The haunted look behind them was all too familiar. Instead, she contemplated the question while she pinned the last errant strands into the simple updo she had fashioned.