A Night Under The Town

"Marley, this is not a good idea..."

"Come on Zia," Marley wheedled as she grabbed my hand and dragged me to my closet. "This is a great idea! You never do anything anymore! Let your hair down every once in a while."

"I let my hair down all the time. Once a century. I've had some great times. Let me be old and tired!" To no avail, I knew. Tossing me a pair of teal suede heels, Marley dove back into my closet and hunted until she was pleased.

"Wear this. Thierry can't stand it when you wear gold. I remember that much," she said, passing me an old dress that definitely wasn't gold before Marley pulled it off of a hanger.

"Witch," I murmured, slipping the fabric over my shoulders.

"Monster," she shot back. "Show your feathers more. I know you can."

I let my illusion slide a little, so the small feathers behind my ears would show. "Happy?" I asked.

"No, I know you have more feathers than that," she said, and stuck her tongue out at me.

"You're such a juvenile," I said, but let the illusion vanish from my head completely, leaving my ornamental head feathers on full display. My eyes grew a bit sharper-looking--the piercing stare of any predator is slightly unsettling. Best to just dull it down, avoid notice. No avoiding notice tonight, I thought.

"We're going to go fool with the daoine sidhe, you could enhance yourself a little more--they go in for that sort of thing."

"Who am I trying to impress? Nope, I'm good," I said, inspecting myself in the mirror. I'd grown tiny azure lash-feathers around my eyes in the last century or so, which negated the need for makeup as far as I was concerned. The color-changing dress looked rather good, and the teal of my shoes very nearly matched my other feathers. Some sidhe princeling might look down his nose, but that wouldn't stop me having a good time.

"Now Marley, you are not getting away with your silly pirate get-up."

"Of course not," she replied lightly. "Watch this." Marley began to pick at her clothes as she'd suddenly realized she was covered in lint or dog hair, and her own more spectacular transformation began. Her dark hair shimmered up into a thick mohawk, freshly shaved, and golden curls adorned her ears and neck. Her armband remained--an old leather strap that would never fall off or wear away, if I rightly remembered my runes. The puffy white tunic of which she was so fond recoiled from the plucking, wrapping itself tightly about her into a short wrap dress. She snapped her fingers and the dress took on an iridescent Arabic calligraphy print that flashed when she moved. I shook my head, upon deciphering a few of the words.

"Advertise what you are, my friend, and I know we are looking for trouble," I said, though the calligraphy was beautiful.

"Just a reminder to those who get smart with me," Marley grinned, and finished her ablutions with a truly excellent pair of strappy gold sandals. "Now we are ready, let's go!"

.....

Several hours later, with an angry hunt on our tails, Marley and I made it safely to an island she'd magicked up. The hunt believed we were across a wide expanse of water and eventually gave up, though I could sense their fury. The daoine sidhe get more credit for illusion than they deserve. Even I can fool their nobles, never mind what Marley could do. Still dressed in our finery, we collapsed in a heap. As we caught our breath, we started to laugh. We set a neighborhood's animals to howling with our noise. A crying bird and the roaring of surf in the middle of town? The thought made me laugh even more. Those fairies can't fool me, but they sure make fine liquors...


"I think you made a few enemies tonight," I wheezed, sitting up. I pried the now ruined heels off of my feet, and dropped the last illusion, stretching my talons and listening to my ankles pop.

"My enemies are like drops in the ocean; I care not," Marley shrugged from the ground.

"There was someone who took inordinate notice of you though, my watery friend. He was quite intent. Or she. You should find him or her again. Looked a bit like a dog," I said, thinking of that person I'd watched observing Marley so intently. He (or she) would find her, I thought.

"Come on, let's get something to eat," Marley said, finally letting go of the island illusion. We were in a dingy little park. There was a used hypodermic needle next to Marley's foot; she flicked it away and stood up. "I know just the place--it's right around the corner. We set off in somewhat different clothing than we started in, but most don't look twice in this town.

"So," I continued conversationally, "did you get whatever it was you went to steal?"


























For the IndieInk Writing Challenge this week, Carrie challenged me with "Girl's Night Out. Go crazy...or tame...whatever " and I challenged Kurt with "He's absolutely barking, I don't what to do about it except let him be. Maybe one day he'll wake up and be the happy boy I once knew."