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perfectworrytitle: Showdown at the Cactus Flower Saloon (5/?)
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writerverse
prompt: Phase #4: Challenge #11: Quick Fic #4
word count: 434
characters: Mariel, Nikos, Aya
rating: PG13
summary: In which Mariel receives an unexpected package, but Aya and Nikos have the bigger surprise.
notes: There is not Part 5. (yet.)
"Something here for you, Mariel," said Nikos. He tossed the brown papered package to Mariel.
"From whom?" Mariel asked, as she caught it one-handed from her stool at the bar; her other arm still bound up in a sling from being shot by Elias Farrel weeks before.
"Doesn't say," said Nikos, and Mariel could see he was right; there was nothing written on the outside but M. Delacroix, Cactus Flower Saloon, in handwriting she didn't recognize.
"Well go on, sailor," said Aya Scarlett, leaning forward to see. "Open it!"
The revelation that the object of her affection was not a man, but in fact another woman, had done little to deter Aya. She had been taken aback at first to see Mr. Delacroix, her sailor, with her chest bound, but had recovered from the shock quickly enough and returned to her infatuation with renewed romanticism; she had never loved another woman before. It was all very exciting to Aya, and mildly disconcerting for Mariel.
Mariel pulled the knife from her boot and cut open the twine holding the package together. Grey silk flowed into her hands; it was the dress they had stuffed Koji into the morning of the day she had been shot, when they dressed him as a woman to smuggle him right out from under the nose of the man who wanted the bounty on his head.
"Kotobuki's dress!" exclaimed Aya. "Ain't that a surprise?"
"Not really," said Mariel. "Seeing as it was mine."
"There's a note here," said Nikos, bending to pick it up.
He handed it over to Mariel, who read aloud, "Mrs. Delacroix, thought you would want this back for the memories. Silas Licht."
"Missus?" laughed Aya. "He knew you were a lady, sure, but he missed the mark on that one."
"No, he's quite right. It was my wedding dress," said Mariel.
"You're married?" asked Nikos, incredulous. Unlike Aya, he had always known that Mariel was a woman; still, he had not been expecting this.
"Widowed," she corrected him, shifting uncomfortably on the barstool. "If it's all the same, I would rather not," she added, cutting off Aya's sympathetic cooing.
Aya recovered quickly. "Well then, sailor, aren't you just full of surprises?"
"You have no idea," agreed Mariel, awkwardly attempting to fold the dress with her good hand. Aya swooped in to her rescue, folding it deftly before handing it back with a wink.
"I like a man - woman - who's full of surprises," laughed Aya, "Maybe you can be the mister this time."
Mariel sighed and rolled her eyes, but she couldn't help but smiling.
verse:
community:
writerverse prompt: Phase #4: Challenge #11: Quick Fic #4
word count: 434
characters: Mariel, Nikos, Aya
rating: PG13
summary: In which Mariel receives an unexpected package, but Aya and Nikos have the bigger surprise.
notes: There is not Part 5. (yet.)
"Something here for you, Mariel," said Nikos. He tossed the brown papered package to Mariel.
"From whom?" Mariel asked, as she caught it one-handed from her stool at the bar; her other arm still bound up in a sling from being shot by Elias Farrel weeks before.
"Doesn't say," said Nikos, and Mariel could see he was right; there was nothing written on the outside but M. Delacroix, Cactus Flower Saloon, in handwriting she didn't recognize.
"Well go on, sailor," said Aya Scarlett, leaning forward to see. "Open it!"
The revelation that the object of her affection was not a man, but in fact another woman, had done little to deter Aya. She had been taken aback at first to see Mr. Delacroix, her sailor, with her chest bound, but had recovered from the shock quickly enough and returned to her infatuation with renewed romanticism; she had never loved another woman before. It was all very exciting to Aya, and mildly disconcerting for Mariel.
Mariel pulled the knife from her boot and cut open the twine holding the package together. Grey silk flowed into her hands; it was the dress they had stuffed Koji into the morning of the day she had been shot, when they dressed him as a woman to smuggle him right out from under the nose of the man who wanted the bounty on his head.
"Kotobuki's dress!" exclaimed Aya. "Ain't that a surprise?"
"Not really," said Mariel. "Seeing as it was mine."
"There's a note here," said Nikos, bending to pick it up.
He handed it over to Mariel, who read aloud, "Mrs. Delacroix, thought you would want this back for the memories. Silas Licht."
"Missus?" laughed Aya. "He knew you were a lady, sure, but he missed the mark on that one."
"No, he's quite right. It was my wedding dress," said Mariel.
"You're married?" asked Nikos, incredulous. Unlike Aya, he had always known that Mariel was a woman; still, he had not been expecting this.
"Widowed," she corrected him, shifting uncomfortably on the barstool. "If it's all the same, I would rather not," she added, cutting off Aya's sympathetic cooing.
Aya recovered quickly. "Well then, sailor, aren't you just full of surprises?"
"You have no idea," agreed Mariel, awkwardly attempting to fold the dress with her good hand. Aya swooped in to her rescue, folding it deftly before handing it back with a wink.
"I like a man - woman - who's full of surprises," laughed Aya, "Maybe you can be the mister this time."
Mariel sighed and rolled her eyes, but she couldn't help but smiling.
