Pretty As A Princess! (Piper)

[Serenity/Charoa Avarie]

"Be our guest, be our guest, be our gueeeeeest!!" Yet again, music rang through the North Wing. Yet again it was some little childrens song. And yet again the boogies did nothing to stop it. Why? They were all holed up in their rooms. When such a thing happened in this part of the castle they knew better than to emerge. Because they all knew who was doing that singing, even though she's only been here about a year she was already infamous amongst the populace of the palace. When she was singing, that meant she was happy. And if she was happy, then odds were that someone was going to end up losing their drawers. Luckily for them, Serenity had already found her playmate, that was why she was so happy. And luckily for Piper, Serenity had other things in mind for her than sex.

Now Serenity was racing around her room, gathering up this and that and dumping it on the floor. She'd run into Piper whilst wandering the halls, and had immediately taken a liking to the girl. Despite the stuffy looking clothes she was wearing, she was quite the cutie! So she'd skipped over to her, and let her talent loose upon the girl. Not too much mind you, despite her lovely looks the girl seemed too fragile for much, but just enough to lure the girl along. Then she'd left her sitting on the end of the bed as she got prepared. She wasn't going to molest her, no she had other plans in mind. She was going to give her a makeover! The girl was cute, but she really did need one. She was far too cute to hide it like that. And it was Serenity's sacred duty to let her cuteness shine forth!

Climbing up into her massive closet, Serenity dug through the dozens of cosplay outfits and lolita dresses. They wouldn't suit this one, she needed something less complicated. Something that would accentuate her cuteness with it's simplicity. Somewhere near the middle she found the rack she was looking for, grinning happily as she took a few of the dresses off. Struggling back out with her armload, she skipped over to the bed and dropped them down on it. "Ok Neesan! Pick one of these!" She smiled cutely at the girl as she awaited her decision. And it was an important one. Because clothes were the first step. They had to decide on them before they could move to hair, make-up, and all the other fun stuff.

Serenity's outfit

[Piper Wren]

Piper wasn't really all that sure what the hell had happened, it had all been so sudden! One minute she was on her way back from the market and then she had run into this bizzare boogie...and had the strange impulse to follow her. She wasn't entirely sure what she was in for as she watched Serenity vanish into a huge closet, Piper sat perched on the edge of the bed, nervously fiddling with her long sleeve and worrying the fabric between her finger and thumb.

The singing was an unusual aspect as well.

'How did I end up here?'

When Serenity came back out of the closet with an armful of dresses...and looking very pleased with herself, Piper was quick to catch on to what was going to happen. It seemed that this seemingly child like boogie was intending to play dress up with her. Piper shuffled slightly further along the bed as if the clothes that Serenity had placed beside her might leap up and bite her at any moment.

"Ok Neesan! Pick one of these!"

The young woman didn't have a clue what Neesan meant but she didn't want to insult the girl, even if she was a Boogie it would make her feel guilty. Piper swallowed and stood up, backing away slightly from Serenity, awkwardly patting the girl on the shoulder.

"I appreciate the thought but I don't need to wear a dress...I mean, erm...sorry I'll just look ridiculous."

[Serenity/Charoa Avarie]

It took a moment for Serenity to realize, but Piper probably didn't have any idea what she'd just said. Unlike most boogies, Serenity was rather deeply ingrained in modern Japanese culture. Most of the boogies she had run across tended to go for the more European style. And in fact, there weren't alot of humans from Japan either, this girl certainly didn't look like she was. So then it made sense that she wouldn't understand what 'Oneesan' meant. Serenity giggled a bit, fully impressed with herself that she'd figured it out all on her own. "It means big sister!" Yes, it seemed that Serenity had adopted the girl. Odd. But then it could have been worse. She could have been stuck with Serenity's other half.

"I appreciate the thought but I don't need to wear a dress...I mean, erm...sorry I'll just look ridiculous."

Serenity frowned at that. Was this girl trying to imply that she had bad fashion sense? That was bull! She had great fashion sense! There were alot of things that Serenity didn't know, but cute was not one of them. If she said something was going to be cute, then it was going to be cute! And she said this girl was going to look cute in one of these dresses, that meant she was going to look cute. She put on her best pouty face, stomping her foot as she did so. "No you won't! Your going to look absolutely adorable! Now hurry up and pick one Neesan! We've got to do your hair next!" It would probably be best to just go along with it. There was no way Serenit would ever hurt her, she could never bring herself to do something like that. But if this girl knew boogies, then she might think otherwise. That's why Serenity was so good at bluffing. Even if she didn't look like she could hurt a fly.

[Piper Wren]

"It means big sister!"

Oh fantastic...strange and apparently childlike Boogie had decided that Piper was now her big sister, she wasn't sure if she was meant to be kind of flattered by it or deeply concerned. Piper awkwardly fiddled with her locket, playing dress up really wasn't on her agenda really even though Serenity seemed to be dressed up, Piper knew she would feel utterly ridiculous.
But it seemed her attempted polite statement to get out of this little session of dress up wasn't going to work, the frowning and pouting was a clear indication of that. Piper took another step backwards, oh yeah, she wasn't going to get out of this.

"No you won't! Your going to look absolutely adorable! Now hurry up and pick one Neesan! We've got to do your hair next!"

"But...I..."

Piper sighed, she didn't really equate the word adorable to herself at all...not many people really did. Reluctantly she looked at the dresses Serenity had placed in a pile on the bed and looked through them all, she saw a deep blue dress which didn't look too revealing at least, it had long clinging sleeves and a slight v in the neckline, front and back.

"Erm, maybe this?"

[Serenity/Charoa Avarie]

"But...I..."

It seemed that Piper had finally relented. With a cute little giggle she hopped up on the bed next to the pile of clothes, watching happily as Piper dug through them. TO be honest she didn't really know what was in there, it had been ages since she'd been that far back into her closet. The last time she'd been looking for a pair of shoes, and had gotten lost for a full day before Mr. Fluffykins found her and led her back out. She kept the outfits she wore the most up front, or at least she thought she did. For some reason there were alot of gothic and punk dresses up there. She knew full well that they hadn't been put there by her, the gothic ones were cute but they were much too dark for her liking, though she had no idea who could have put them there. She put a finger to her chin, suddenly enraptured with the thought. Maybe Mr.Fluffykins put them there? Who knew. Certainly not Serenity.

"Erm, maybe this?"

The precocious little boogie girl was suddenly broke from her thoughts, turning to see her new big sister holding up one of the dresses. Getting on her hands and knees she crawled over to it, placing her nose only a few inches away as she examined it intently. To be honest she had no idea where it had came from, she had no recollection of ever having gotten it. Still, it was rather cute, even if it wasn't what she had in mind. But then that didn't matter, Serenity was a fashion genius! A few alterations here and there and it would be perfect!

After a few minutes of careful scrutination she smiled, pulling away and bouncing off the bed. Taking the dress from Piper she laid it on the bed, before rushing across the room and into a door. Moments later and she returned, a fluffy pink bathrobe in her hands. She pushed it into Piper's arms, stepping back and grinning at her adorably. "Ok big sister. Go in there and put that on, that way your clothes won't be all messed up or anything. And don't try to fool me by just putting it on over them!" She huffed the last bit, not looking frightening in the least as sher pointed at the bathroom door she'd just exited.

[Piper Wren]

What had she gotten herself into?

When the dress she had reluctantly chosen had been taken from her arms and placed on the bed...and given a fluffy pink bathrobe, Piper glanced at Serenity with an expression which screamed 'Oh God...she's serious'. The young woman swallowed and wondered if the option of making a run for it was there but after a quick glance at how far away she was from the door it really didn't appear a likely prospect. With a sigh she headed towards the bathroom door before Serenity spoke, she had no intentions of removing her clothes in front of her even if she did only look like a child.

Once inside the bathroom Piper was quick to latch the door and lean against it for a moment, great...with a sigh she put the bathrobe down for the moment and double checked the bolt on the door before her fingers went to her shirt buttons. As she loosened her long sleeved black shirt and folded it, Piper caught sight of herself in the mirror with the grazes still on her pale flesh and the bandages where her bonds in the Widow's trap had broken the skin. Promptly she turned her back on her reflection and removed her jeans, placing them in the folded pile where her shirt was.

'Think of it this way...take it all off when you get back to your room...'

Piper pulled the fluffy bathrobe around herself and belted it tightly around her waist, picking up her clothes which she held protectively to her chest before unbolting the door and walking back into Serenity's room feeling vulnerable beneath the pink fabric.

[Serenity/Charoa Avarie]

Serenity watched Piper carefully all the way from the bed to the bathroom, not looking away until the door was shut. It didn't bother her that Piper had locked the door, in fact the girl needn't have even bothered. Molesting the girl was the farthest thing from Serenity's mind. True she loved sex more than most anything, but she also loved just playing. For some reason there weren't alot of people that wanted to play with her, just her little Zeke and part of the time even he wouldn't. So when she finally found her a playmate, there was no way she was going to do anything that might run them off.

Now, time to fix the dress. She held it up to her, she was about the same size as Piper so she could easily judge how it would fit the girl. Looking in the mirror she mused, it actually looked rather good. It stopped just above her knees, and the neckline v'd to just above her breasts. All in all it looked rather good. But those sleeves were going to have to go. Laying it down, she pulled out her sewing kit. As skillfully as a tailor she set to work, removing the sleeves and stitching up the ravels. After that she set to work on the neckline. The v was good, but she thought a sweeping neck would look much better. When she was done the front was mostly gone, exposing everything down past her collarbone but not showing a hint of breast. The back was much the same, showing off her shoulder blades. As for her shoulders, they had been cut down to straps about an inch wide. All in all, Serenity thought she did a good job. When Piper emerged she held the dress up, smiling happily. "What do you think big sister?"

[Piper Wren]

When Serenity held the dress up in front of Piper she felt herself get suddenly nervous...ever since her incident before coming to Wonderland she had become accustomed to covering herself up, it felt safer and she felt less conspicious. Piper hadn't worn anything like that for a while now, when people drill into your head that you're a whore, gradually you come to believe it. Although her hands were hidden beneath her folded clothes she grasped one of her wrists where her bandages were still evident.

"Erm, well, it's nice but I...I can't."

Piper glanced off to the side, once she might have worn something like that with confidence but now she wanted to be inconspicious. But neither did she want to go into the reason why, only one person truly knew what had happened and that was Augusta because he had been through it himself. True to form she pulled the fabric of the dressing gown over her hands and shifted her weight awkwardly from one leg to the other.

"I don't want to offend..."

Offending a Boogie was NOT a good plan, after her incidents with Iugo she had learnt that but he and Serenity seemed very different, although as the saying goes, once bitten twice shy.

[Serenity/Charoa Avarie]

Really though, Serenity was proud of her work. She thought she had done an excellent job. And she really thought that Piper would look good in it. Though it couldn't be seen behind the dress, seeing as she was holding it up in front of her face so that Piper could see better, she was grinning like she'd just inherited a candy store. Serenity really did love her work, meaning anything cute of course. It was what she lived for. The girl thrived on anything cute. Perhaps it was merely her way of coping with all she'd been through. Her brother being murdered, the way her parents had treated her, all of it. It was all blocked out. She'd collapse otherwise. Her mind kept up a constant state of happiness, a sort of self protection function. If not for that, she'd go insane.

Unfortunately, that also meant that she was extremely fragile. And when Piper spoke, her joy immediately vanished. She was still holding the dress in place, but one could see where her body had frozen and stiffened up. "Hic" Slowly she lowered it, tears streaming out of her big black eyes. She sniffled for a moment, choking a bit as she stared at the other girl. "Y-you mean you d-don't l-like it? Y-you th-think its u-ugly d-don't you?" She was at a dangerous point. Now that her joyful wall had collapsed, all the things she had repressed for so long were starting to come back. "I'its just l-like momma s-said. I-I c-can't do a-anything right. I'm-I'm a h-horrible daughter. I-I-I sh-should h-have died i-instead of G-Gabriel. E-everyone h-hates me. Even-even Z-Zeke...." She muttered the last bit, barely audible as she said the boys name. She could do nothing else, so she just stood there and cried.

[Piper Wren]

"Y-you mean you d-don't l-like it? Y-you th-think its u-ugly d-don't you? I'its just l-like momma s-said. I-I c-can't do a-anything right. I'm-I'm a h-horrible daughter. I-I-I sh-should h-have died i-instead of G-Gabriel. E-everyone h-hates me. Even-even Z-Zeke...."

Oh Jeez...

Piper bit her bottom lip and awkwardly reached forward as if to hesitantly pat Serenity on the shoulder before pulling away, her little problem about physical contact kicking in once again. She didn't know what she was meant to do to make this better! She didn't know this girl from adam! The now shocked and apparently nervous young woman decided to try and stop Serenity's crying.

"It's not ugly...I've...well...I've just got some injuries I don't want to show off."

Yep, telling the truth in this situation was probably the best thing for Piper to do, it's not like she had to specify where they came from to Serenity how she had been hurt after all. The dress was the kind of thing Piper would have once worn but right now she didn't have the confidence to do.

"And I'm sure that's not true, you're not horrible."

[Serenity/Charoa Avarie]

She wasn't crying anymore, in fact she had gone entirely silent. Her arms were limp at her sides, head hung low as her eyes blankly stared at the floor. Now, while it may seem that she had calmed down, the chances of Piper being in danger were actually growing by the second. When she was bawling and crying like a little child, it was a sure sign that Serenity was still fully in control of her mind. But when she dropped into a silent depression like this, it meant that the two sides were battling for dominance. Piper couldn't see it, but if she could then even she would have realized what was happening. Her pupils were wildly dilating, rapidly growing and shrinking. From sad to cold to empty they swirled. Piper could only hope that the sadness remained. If not, then chances were....she'd die.

Fortunately for the girl, the boogie's mind landed somewhere in the middle. Her body stayed the same, but her eyes had stopped on empty and her voice was sorrowful and hollow. "Your wrong. I am horrible, it's just like they always said. No matter what I do, it always turns out wrong. I should have been the one to die instead of Gabriel. He was the perfect one, they actually loved him. The only person that ever cared whether i was alive or dead wash him. But he'd gone. And...its all my fault..." Briefly she raised her head to look at the girl, the only sign that she was the same girl as before being her appearance.

[Piper Wren]

Piper, who was unaware of issue with Serenity's two sides and believed for a minute that perhaps the Boogie was calming down? But from the hollow and mournful tone to her voice...seemingly not, Piper felt a stir of sympathy within her, it seemed even some Boogies had their own share of internal conflict despite their high status in Wonderland. Tensely she rested a hand on Serenity's shoulder while she listened to the other girl speak.

"Your wrong. I am horrible, it's just like they always said. No matter what I do, it always turns out wrong. I should have been the one to die instead of Gabriel. He was the perfect one, they actually loved him. The only person that ever cared whether i was alive or dead was him. But he'd gone. And...its all my fault..."

So that's what it was...Piper gently squeezed Serenity's shoulder and sighed, trying to explain this as best she could. Even though Serenity was far older than Piper it was almost truly like an older sister explaining something to her younger sibling.

"Nobody is perfect, we're not made to be perfect...even Boogies. Being loved is a gift that some of us miss out on, believe me I understand...but whatever happened is done. Don't blame yourself for it."

[Serenity/Charoa Avarie]

When Piper placed her hand on the girl's shoulder, however forced it might have been, it was enough to bring Serenity back fully. The girl started crying again, body shaking as it was wracked by huge sobs. For a few more moments she just stood there, tears streaming out of her eyes. But soon enough the sorrow became too much for her to handle on her own. she wrapped her arms around the other girl, burying her face in her shoulder as she bawled. For Serenity, it was a rare showing of affection. Very rarely did she hold someone just for the sake of having someone to hold. For the most part her intentions were far from pure. And so this simple gesture showed just how close the girl had gotten to the little boogie.

"Nobody is perfect, we're not made to be perfect...even Boogies. Being loved is a gift that some of us miss out on, believe me I understand...but whatever happened is done. Don't blame yourself for it."

She pulled away at those words, staring at the girl as though she'd gone insane. "Y-you don't understand! I killed him! I didn't want to, i never meant to hurt him. But I did! I killed him and now he's gone and its all my fault! I'm the one that should have died, not him!" Her eyes spoke it all. The sorrow, the anguish, the regret, but most prominently the self loathing. It was plain to see that beyond her happy little facade, she hated herself. She hated herself with a passion. Her brother had been the only person that had ever loved, their parents certainly hadn't. For centuries, he had been the only one that ever cared about her. But now he was dead. And it was all her fault"

[Piper Wren]

When Serenity threw her arms around Piper and sobbed into her shoulder, the dark haired young woman seized up briefly and widened her eyes...but she forced herself to relax and pat Serenity in as much of a comforting manner as she could on the back. The last time she had been held onto in a similar way it had been...horrible. This was more like comforting a child though and she tried to see it as that to calm herself.

"Y-you don't understand! I killed him! I didn't want to, i never meant to hurt him. But I did! I killed him and now he's gone and its all my fault! I'm the one that should have died, not him!"

Piper saw the true sadness in Serenity's eyes and felt true pity for her...even though she was a Boogie it seemed she was just as haunted as some of the humans she had met here. She held Serenity's shoulders and looked her directly in the eyes.

"Shhh...It's alright, calm down."

She didn't know entirely what Serenity had been through Piper realised that the happiness, Serenity had displayed earlier was nothing more than a facade, a mask to protect herself.

[Serenity/Charoa Avarie]

"Shhh...It's alright, calm down."

Serenity was still sobbing and choking as Piper placed the hand on her shoulder, but she looked up as the girl spoke. Through her tear blurred eyes Piper's face vanished, being replaced with that of a boy's. Her eyes widened in shock, unable to believe what she was seeing. "N...Niisan?" For a moment the boy stared at her, love etched into his every feature. The next he smiled at her softly, and then her brother vanished.

As he disappeared Piper returned, and Serenity suddenly remembered all that had happened. Her crying stopped, though she continued to sniffle a bit as she wiped her eyes on her sleeve. When she looked back up at Piper her eyes were red and still sorrowful, but she had finally stopped crying. "I-I'm sorry about that. I know you don't care about any of that. Please forgive me." She knew full well that Piper didn't care about her or her troubles, no one did. The only reason she was here was because she'd been lured into it. All she could do was wonder if the girl would want anything to do with her after this mess. Most likely not. No one ever wanted her.