florence - enola holmes

and what does a boy like you want with those?

pretty girl- clairo

enola and i are currently looking through a rack of beautiful dresses, in the small shop we found in the city.
the sound of the hangers dragging along the metal rod is the only sound filling the small room, as enola picks up two red dresses.
"and what does a boy like you want with those?"
i spoke too soon.
enola and i jump slightly, as she gave us quite a fright.
an older woman enters the room in a dark red velvet dress, eating some sort of muffin.
she looks at us with a rather intimidating stare.
enola tries to comfortably hold her puffy dresses, as i take two purple ones off the rack, puffy as well.
"we shall both need a whalebone corset." she says to the lady, looking to her right to see one on display.
"you shall need no such thing." the woman begins, "this is a respectable shop."
"then we shall respect it." i tell the lady as i hold the dresses that may as well swallow me whole.
"you don't look like you will. you don't smell like you will." the lady snarls. "and i-"
enola cuts her off by holding the large wad of money in her hands, flipping through each bill.
"do you have anywhere we can dress?" i ask the lady, as she stutters, taking her muffin filled hand and pointing behind her.
"in the back."

enola and i are currently sharing a small room, filled with a floor length mirror.
we unwrap our chests, and put our undergarments on.
i grab my light blue corset, rather confused on how it works.
enola notices my confusion as she finishes putting hers on.
she wraps the stiff thing around my torso and ties it together.
i hit the contraption a couple times with my knuckles feeling how hard it truly is.

*enola*

the corset: a symbol of repression to those who are forced to wear it.

i turn around in circles, like a dog chasing its tail, attempting to see what the back looks like.

but for us, who choose to wear it,
the bust enhancer and the hip regulators,

i shake my behind, wiggling the awfully large contraption currently tied to the back of me.

will hide the fortune our mother has given us.

enola stuffs some of the money in between her chest and the corset, then stuffs some in mine as well.

and as they do so,
they will make us look like that truly unlikely thing;

enola and i look at each other with a smirk.

a lady

we both say, making a ridiculous pose.
we look at the different faux hair pieces hung on a piece of fabric.
i put a long braid on my bun, as enola pats something onto my lips.
she puts one of the twists between her nose and top lip, as if she has a mustache
"you have to go to school, enola and flora!"
"but we don't want to go to a finishing school, mycroft." i say in a high pitched voice.
"well, what else are we going to do with you? you're girls!"

enola and i straighten out our undergarment pants, and make sure our corsets are secure.
we pull the sleeves of our magnificent dresses, and each pick up a matching necklace.
i lace up my boots as i hear enola struggle.
"oh, come on, seriously?"
i laugh to myself. "oh, come here." i tell her.

we walk back into the small room we started in, as the lady folds her money and looks at us with a gasp.
we now have small bags and earrings on as well.
i put the small red book into my beautifully designed purple bag.
"now, where might we find a lodging house? we'll pay handsomely for good value." enola tells the lady, clutching her hands in front of her.
the lady looks at us with a chuckle.