//------------------------------// // Chapter 7: I Don't Care Too Much For Money // Story: Here Comes the Sun // by Eyeswirl the Weirded //------------------------------// Aria knew she was beautiful, but some might be surprised to learn it wasn't something she took a lot of pride in. She'd always known she looked good, it was just a fact of life for the sirens, no matter their form, but that her two teammates got just as much or more admiration always left her feeling like it couldn't have mattered all that much. If someone else can do what you can just as easily, you're not special, at least not for that particular thing. That was what Aria had always thought up until-... Damn, what year was it again? Um... Well, the exact date doesn't matter, trust me. Okay. What happened that changed your mind? Well- The sirens were not having an especially great time in their new world. A number of factors had led to a severe decline in their store of negative energy, with very little they could do to reverse it. Day after day, they scrounged what little power they could from every disagreement they could stir up, or even be lucky enough to come across and make marginally worse. With so little magic, they weren't convincing tons of people to donate to their housing/food/bored-out-of-our-skulls fund, either, and they found themselves in dire straights. It was when the trio were on the verge of splitting up to try their luck in different towns, then regrouping weeks or months later that Aria had been made an offer by a talent scout. The important details were that the modeling agency were looking for someone to fit a particular mold, a particular 'look' that they could market to stupid, insecure young women, Aria had it, and Adagio quietly pointed out that if Aria played along, she might find herself on live television at some point. Y-you were going to sing to hundreds, maybe thousands of people at once? And work my magic on every single person tuned in, yea. That was the plan. But, um, I-I thought your voices didn't- Didn't bewitch anyone outside of live performances? Spoiler alert; the plan wasn't going to work. At all. Never even got far enough to find that out. I'm sorry. Meh. ...S-so, what was it like? Oh, right. Lessee... The look Aria fit into was 'Bad Girl,' which usually involved low-cut tops, some flavor of fingerless gloves, boots, and tight pants. At first, Aria believed she had hit the jackpot, not just for getting paid to dress as she felt suited her, but because it was something she could do while the others were rejected! Adagio was refused because her full, hourglass figure made her too bulky in a number of places for that slim, difficult-to-reach body they wanted to market (her hair didn't do her any favors as a 'Bad Girl' either), and while Sonata's body may have been just slightly more in line with the 'unrealistically skinny, yet buxom' look, she struck those in charge as being dumb as a post, the kind of girl they already had fifty of. Aria had enjoyed a good, long, smug laugh at their annoyance. Unfortunately, she soon learned that the joke was on her. Being told to make irritated, disapproving looks for a camera was fun and all, but her stunning, natural good looks won her no friends with the other young models. In hindsight, her periodic remarks about most of them being dumb, useless crybabies that couldn't hold a candle to her even if they were re-purposed as living chandeliers probably didn't help matters. Nor her comments about the rest just being dumb and useless. "Dammit," Aria hissed as her designer pants slid down around her ankles, drawing a little blush as she looked to the director, "do I have to wear these? They're kinda loose!" Accustomed to something a little more close-fitting, the belts Aria normally wore were purely for show. The director, Ugly Combover, smiled at one of the girls' agents. "Did you see that? Those pants were tight on Probably Starves Herself, and she-" he pointed to Aria, "is thin enough that they fall down!" "Oh, yea," agreed Possible Pedo, "I think we've got a keeper..." It was a rare moment in which Aria wasn't pleased to receive a myriad of jealous stares as she pulled her pants back up. --- "Oops," said Fake Eyelashes as she bumped into Aria while she was applying that week's brand of make-up, making her smear eyeliner across her temple for the third time, "sorry about that." Aria, one eye twitching, didn't need to turn her head to know it was said with an unapologetic grin. --- "Aww, what's wrong," asked Veiny Legs in a sweetly faux-sympathetic tone, "can't find your biker-chick short-shorts? No biggie, not like you haven't gotten plenty of camera-time in your underwear before." "It was a swimsuit shoot," Aria grumbled under her breath while searching through the vanity cabinets again, "stupid cow." --- "WOW," came Obvious Boob-Job's shrill, irritating voice in her typical volume, "YOU FELL OVER AGAIN, HUH?! MAYBE YOU'RE JUST TOO CLUMSY TO WALK IN HEELS!" Getting up, Aria contained herself to murderous grumbles, knowing that she couldn't get away with much when there were this many snickering witnesses. Strange that that didn't apply to whoever shoved her from behind again. Uhm... w-were those really their names, or- I'unno, I just remembered everyone there by their most outstanding feature. And you didn't pick 'Obnoxious Loud-Mouth' for that last one...? It was a REALLY obvious boob-job. O-okay then. --- Still waiting for her big chance, Aria knew that slugging one of the whiny bitches, or worse yet, using any amount of negative energy to get even, might get her fired and faced with a very displeased Adagio. That was not a fun thing to experience, so all she could do was be grumpy (Bad Girl look and all, only part she was okay with) and bear it. Coming home one day, Aria threw her coat at the coat-rack, annoyed that that never seemed to knock the damn thing over like she wanted it to. She trudged into the living room to flop onto the couch and numb her brain with the Talking Visualizer for a few hours, but lying on it already was Sonata, giggling as she looked at the cover of a magazine she held over her head. Raising an eyebrow, Aria bit the hook. "You getting your jollies out of the crinkly sounds paper makes again?" With an almost ominous little laugh, Sonata sat up, smirking. "No, no, I got bored of that months ago. This is much funnier." Grinning viciously, she turned the magazine around so Aria could see the cover. She recognized it immediately: It was a picture of herself, taken from behind immediately after her pants had fallen down again. Aria's stance, bent slightly forward and arms out in a classic 'oh no, my pants fell down' pose, left her very-form-fitting-underwear-clad rear as the central focus of the picture. They'd even photoshopped it to look like it happened out on a random sidewalk so as to be totally natural. The caption, in big bold letters, read "Be beautiful no matter what happens~!" Knowing that this magazine was probably all over town by now, Aria would have paled if her face weren't so red. Sonata, compassionate soul that she is, began to sing-song. "Aria's britches falling down, on the ground, her butt's round~!" And that was when Aria slapped the magazine to the floor, extended her arms in strangling preparation, and chased after Sonata while swearing incoherently. That went on for a little while before Sonata tripped, fell, was pounced on, and given the noogie of her life. While her prey squirmed and complained about having her fringe messed up, Aria looked up to see Adagio examining the magazine. She froze in horror when their leader's red-violet eyes slooowly met hers. Adagio scowled, turning the front page of magazine so Aria could get another good look at her own exposure. "They let you take your pants off in public?!" She dropped it, crossing her arms and pouting. "Ugh, lucky!" Cherry-red, Aria facepalmed, the motion giving Sonata a chance to slip away. "C-can't we just switch places?! Sing them into making you be the one strutting around with your ass hanging out?!" Ordinarily, Adagio might have had some teasing remark about Aria having gotten her wish of being the center of attention, the one in the spotlight, but even if Sonata still got a kick out of Aria's misfortunes, this situation had long stopped being funny to her. She sighed. "I'd love to, really, but you forget why we're doing this at all." "We're still like, flat-broke on energy," Sonata offered while carefully straightening her hair out as best she could with her fingertips, "so even if we walked up and made 'em put us on TV in a snap, we might not have enough power to really make the most of it." The sight of Adagio's approving nod lit up Sonata's heart like a little fire-cracker. Sure, she'd had the last few weeks to remember the exact reason Aria wasn't around for most of the day, but still! "On that note," Adagio said as she addressed the young model with an almost pleading frown, "since they're putting you on magazine covers now, I don't suppose...?" Every time Aria had to give this answer, it made her feel like a failure. "No," she said through lightly clenched teeth, "the asswipes in charge haven't said anything about any live broadcasts, and I don't think I've even seen the right kind of camera anywhere near where they have us make the stupid poses. They didn't even tell me about the magazine thing, and even if they did set us up with the right equipment, I doubt they'd want me saying a peep, let alone singing anything." Adagio had long stopped being surprised, just tiredly nodding as she replied in quiet, understanding tones. "I see. All we can do for now is hope that your new cover is a good sign, so we'll need you to endure until something more comes along." She snapped her fingers in Sonata's general direction before moving for the door. Aria watched Sonata scamper after her in silence. She knew they wouldn't be coming back with anything substantial, and judging by the way Aria herself didn't have to join the nightly harvests so long as she kept this stupid, stupid job, Adagio probably knew that too. Not like it mattered, whatever it was that had the locals so damn mellow these days meant that one of them singing alone pulled in about as much power as the three of them singing together. Why Sonata kept volunteering to join Adagio every time anyway, Aria could barely guess. --- The week following the debut of Aria's cover page was the most grueling yet, even if she did collect her first paycheck. That was never what she'd been after, but it was something. Not quite something worth putting up with the extra abuse she'd been getting from the usual suspects, however, which she suspected stemmed from further jealousy of 'the new girl getting on a cover so soon.' She couldn't decide if it was better or worse that they didn't laugh at her humiliating butt-shot, instead bitterly sniping about careers and publicity or some garbage that didn't matter to her. Complaining to Ugly Combover hadn't helped her either, as he refused to even entertain the idea that the agency 'Bad Girl' was getting picked on by those 'sweet, cheerful girls.' Aria wondered if he was close pals with Possible Pedo. Sitting backstage for another stupid, pointless thing, Aria sat by herself as the other models meticulously checked themselves over and over again, occasionally making unkind remarks about negligible details of the others' appearances and getting something snippy right back. Aria had never been their sole target, just the big one. And that's when it hit her. Adagio and Sonata went out every single day this last month or so in the often-vain hope of pulling in a modicum more than what it took to draw the amount of energy they spent to stir it up, but here was a festering cesspit of negative energy right in front of her! These models, these smarmy bitches that had been making her life Hell since she arrived (did it really matter who said what first?!) were brimming with pettiness and frustration, with envy and rage, they just needed it brought to the surface! Scanning the area, Aria found that until that idiot director got back, she was alone with the models in a room with a sound system, a platform, and... oh yes, a mic. Cracking her knuckles, she stood up and got to work, quickly plugging things in where necessary, switching some music on, taking the mic, and jogging to the platform. Looking at the models as they gawked back at her, she grinned maliciously. "Listen up, bitches!!" I don't even care what it is, I'll sing to the first damn thing I hear! Just a second later, the sound system crackled to life. Aria didn't even use her gem. You can't dance, You can't sing, You're useless at everything! Listen, girls, here's the scene, you all are useless teens! I can do whatever I please. With all my talent, it's a breeze. More than skilled, I'm beautiful, hottest of the lot, you girls don't compare for squat! Anybody can be like you, doing nothing like you girls do. Sit around looking 'pretty,' think that all is fine, you're living on borrowed time. And when you hit the line, You are a useless teen! Primped and preened! Worthless next to me! Useless teens! Feel the heat of reality! Oh, yea~! You can't dance! You can't sing! You're useless at everything! Hear me, girls? That's the scene, you all are useless teens! They looked angry at her in the first stanza, but by now Aria was pretty sure she could see some veins standing up. Well, y'know, more-so than usual. A few others, however, looked more hurt than enraged by this little revelation, getting close to tears. And that gave her an idea! Think your looks will always be there? You start to age, then no-one cares. Better go look for a real job, anything will do, whoever'll hire you. You'd better take that chance! You all are useless teens! Primped and preened! Worthless next to me! Useless teens! Feel the heat of reality! Oh, yea~! You can't dance! You can't sing! You're useless at everything! Face it, girls, that's the scene, you all are useless teens! You all are useless teens! By the end of it, Aria could practically feel their blend of rage, frustration, and despair, the girls that hadn't broken down in tears at the prospect of their little future fuming where they stood. The angry ones looked like they desperately wanted to say something, but couldn't think (surprise, surprise) of anything to refute what they'd just been musically assaulted with, instead spitting and sputtering until the director came in. "Sorry I'm late, my cab should'a gotten there like ten minutes ago, but-" One of the crying models shrieked at him through make-up-ruining tears. "We should have been ready for like, life! Years ago!" And another snapped at her. "Oh, like you're 'not ready,' Miss Daddy Moneybags? You're only here because your mom wanted to feel like she was doing something by pushing you into this!" The reply was a screechy expletive before Ugly Combover tried, and failed, to calm everyone down, got a few pointy shoes thrown at him, and called security on the bickering girls as they screamed, scratched and tore at each other. More and more people showed up and got drawn into the increasingly loud (and violent!) breakdown, Aria just sitting back, drinking it all in, and laughing like Adagio at her Adagiest. --- Aria grinned brightly. "I got fired, natch, but when I got home with all that power, Adagio had never looked more proud of me." She blinked. "Well, I mean, she did that hold-her-chin-and-kinda-look-down-at-me pose, but with the biggest, most mua-ha-ha smile that when she said-" she made the effort to imitate Adagio's voice as best she could, "'excellent work, Aria,' I knew she meant it." That negative energy helped them finally get back on their feet, Adagio having prepared a myriad of plans to enact if they could so much as scrape together a fraction of what Aria brought her. She'd even absorbed a good portion of the energy before Aria could actually offer it, somehow! One more reason she was the leader? She'd always seemed a little more... in-tune with the stuff than Aria or Sonata, and they'd never figured out why. Didn't matter now, but still. Wow, thought Fluttershy, who wasn't sure if she should have been touched by the companionship inspired by an evil deed, she already trusts me enough to share a story like that? Even the embarrassing parts? It wasn't that much of a stretch, she guessed, she'd been the first one Sunset opened up to as well. Did she just look trustworthy? Or, was it that she looked weak enough that it was just kind of understood that she should keep things secret? She was just about to open her mouth to ask if what she'd just been told was in confidence or not when Aria frowned. "You can say it, y'know." "W-what?" "Don't gimme that," she said with a little scowl, "you know what I mean. That I got what I deserved, rubbing in that they were nothing without their looks, then losing my singing voice?" She shrugged, looking at the floor. "Karma, right?" Seeing Aria the way she was now, her shoulders slumped, her eyes empty, Fluttershy thought of Sunset Shimmer right after she'd been hit by Twilight's magic; crying in a crater, hurt and alone. It was while she was desperately trying to think of something that might comfort her even a little that Aria spoke up again. "It was you that wrote it, right? The song you used on us?" Processing the question, she gulped. Her Scary Social Moment senses detected a very dark turn of conversation incoming. "I-I-I, I'm sorry, I never thought it would be used f-for, I didn't mean to-" "It was good." The foreboding feeling popped like a balloon. "...What?" "Your song, 'got the music in our hearts' or something? I can't even remember the lyrics now, but it was stuck-" She suddenly lunged out of her chair to forcefully press both hands against Fluttershy's shoulders, pinning her to the chair as she hissed a slow promise. "Before I go further, you should know: Tell anyone about this and I will hunt you down. Got it?" Confidential after all, got it!! It was all Fluttershy could do to vigorously nod in agreement, though that seemed to be enough to appease Aria as she let go and took a step backward. Contrition colored her expression for just over a second as she scratched her head. "Uhh... S-sorry about that, just, it's kind of a secret and I didn't, I mean, I'm already sorta telling you, so, uh..." Remembering her first bonding experience with Sunset (one which the former threatener in question had since apologized for about six times), Fluttershy smiled warmly. "I understand completely, and I'm honored that you would trust me with this." She felt like she was skipping a step in not making a Pinkie Promise to not share what she was about to hear, but Aria probably didn't know what that meant yet. At least, she hoped it was just 'yet,' because threats aside, Aria was surprisingly pleasant to talk to! Letting out a breath, Aria retook her seat. "So, like I was saying..." She glanced at the door to triple-check that it was shut tight and that it was just her and Fluttershy in the room. "The song you hit us with wasn't bad, and I found out that I wasn't the only one that had it stuck in my head like a month and a half later. I first found Sonata humming it to herself, admitted that I kinda liked it too, then she and I nearly wet our pants when Adagio popped up behind us asking what song we were talking about." The way Aria giggled, not laughed like it was at someone's expense, not fiendishly chuckled, but tittered merrily, warmed Fluttershy's heart a little. "Turned out, she was scared out of her wits that it was just her, and even if we all hated it for the first couple weeks, it was still damn catchy." Looking back on that evening, she smiled. "That night, we sang together for the first time since the Battle. We couldn't really remember your whole song, though, so we took an old record we'd picked up during our first decade here to sing something that gave us the same feeling." Stuff by four hippie dudes, she was pretty sure. Times had changed, but the sirens' banishment was made just a little easier with a whole different kind of magic. Clasping her hands together, Fluttershy's eyes sparkled. "The three of you can sing again?!" The only response was a long, silent stare, which slowly deflated her hope that all was well on that front. "Oh... I-I'm sorry." Aria just shrugged. "Eh, I think we're pretty much over it." This drew a look of shock, but unlike with Sonata, she wasn't ticked off to have to explain the obvious. "I mean, we've gone without our voices and any magic at all since the last time you saw us and we're all still kickin'. We lost our home world, our real bodies, and most of our power when we got here. What's one more thing, right? Gotta keep movin' on." Relieved though she was that the sirens weren't utterly heartbroken over their loss, Fluttershy couldn't be happy about it. Maybe there wasn't any other way the conflict could have been ended, but, well... Most stories she knew about magical creatures from enchanted worlds ended happily, and part of her felt like any tale of fantasy (whatever that word means now) that ended with three beautiful, singing maidens permanently silenced and left to dwell on their loss forever probably shouldn't be over yet. She didn't know how the sirens' story would end, but she wanted it to be brighter than this. "W-well, uhm, m-maybe that's true, but... great singing voice or not, you're still good at a lot of other things, right?" Aria gave her a confused look, but her resolve didn't waver! "Because, it was in your song, th-that you could do anything you wanted, so, uh..." Oh, I know! "And, I think you're still really pretty!" There was a silence as Fluttershy realized what she'd just said, growing redder and redder as she babbled a flustered stream of rewordings while Aria stared back with a single raised eyebrow. Before the embarrassed stammering could reach completely incomprehensible levels, Aria snorted and cracked a little smile. "Heh, yea. I guess so. Thanks." Thinking about it a little, she snickered, this time in a at-someone's-expense kind of way. "Bet those models are all old and ugly now anyway, and even if I get that old, I'll still pull it off better than they ever could!" Tearing someone else down, even if they weren't around to hear it, wasn't exactly her favorite method of cheering someone up, but Fluttershy would take it in this case. And not just because those young models sounded like some very mean people. Oh, I hope Rarity never hears that story, it might upset her to hear about people in the fashion industry behaving that way. Speaking of, I wonder what she's up to? --- While the light, loose shirt that might as well have been nothing but a long, thin cloth draped over her shoulders felt complimentary, the tight, shiny, black pants had ridden a little low on Adagio. She'd kind of thought was the point, but Rarity looked a little uncomfortable, so she acquiesced when asked to try on something else. The next choice was a conservative, bookish look comprised of a thin, purple, button-up sweater over a white blouse, a long, pink skirt that mostly covered the white, knee-length socks beneath, and simple shoes Rarity referred to as 'Mary Janes.' Whether or not they had to be made from people with those names, she didn't bother asking. It wasn't the most flattering thing she'd ever worn (indeed, that would have to be nothing but her smile), and the searching look on Rarity's face said she agreed. "It's... It's just not quite right, I'm afraid, like something vital is absent." She looked good, sure, but Rarity wanted to do better than that! It could be such a frustrating thing; that drive to get a look just right before proceeding, and Rarity wasn't sure she'd have time to get to the other two at all at this rate. "I think I have another idea, if you'd indulge me." This time, Adagio actually smiled. She might not have been learning much from Rarity here, but it had been too long since her last good dress-up. Next was a shiny, red dress that tightly hugged her curves all the way down to her ankles, the slits on both sides showing plenty of the black, heeled, thigh-high boots covering her legs. This was the first time Rarity had actually touched Adagio's hair, and only to remove the spiked band and let her long, orange curls cascade down her back. Adagio felt... almost like she had on stage that night, before the spell hit, though the sensation was distorted by a weird kind of nostalgia. Also in her awareness was the fact that Rarity still didn't quite look pleased. She had to ask anyway. "So, how do I-" "Stunning, of course," Rarity said without breaking her analytical gaze, "but I'm afraid now I've gone too far in the other direction!" She sighed with audible exasperation. "Please forgive me for this, it's just, I'm trying to find a look that feels right for something as casual as a New Year party, but still works for a New Year party, if you catch my meaning, while remaining faithful to your natural strong points. It's proving to be quite a difficult balancing act, what do you think?" Slowly turning back and forth to examine (examine, for once, not just admire) herself in the nearest full-length mirror, Adagio hummed thoughtfully. "I'd gladly go like this, but..." She stopped to look at the clothes she'd been wearing just before, folded nearby. "'Feels right for a party,' hmm...?" --- Her hair still down, Adagio was wearing the white blouse and purple sweater again, but this time with the top two buttons of each undone. Her skirt was a slightly shinier variant of the soft-pink one from before, but with one slit running almost up to her knee, her usual purple, spiked heels on her feet in place of any of the shoes she'd tried on thusfar. She grinned a little. "How's this?" Looking over Adagio's changes, Rarity paused. Then she lit up. "How do you feel about wearing glasses?" A moment later, Adagio had a thin pair of purely-stylistic, rectangular spectacles balanced on her nose, with Rarity looking quite pleased as she picked up a brush. "Now, I think I offered to style your hair?" Chuckling, Adagio nodded and took a seat, trying to remember the last time she even cared enough to let someone groom her like this. A few quiet, pleasant moments passed as Rarity took to her task, but just as Adagio's mind started to wander, there was a question. "So, have you ever made any connection to someone from this world?" "What?" Rarity giggled. "You know, romantically! Thirty years is a long time to be single, so I'm thinking at least one of you must have a story to tell." Truth be told, she wasn't expecting much in the way of intimate bonds, but the premise of such a dalliance alone made it worth asking. She nearly squeed at Adagio's answer. "Well..." The pace of her brushing picked up just a little as she grinned. "Don't keep me in suspense, Darling, what happened?" Adagio chuckled. "I wouldn't get too excited, none of us ever got very far into a courtship. Still, I had at least one interesting experience, myself..." --- The sirens had mastered walking within their first few days in the new world, but they still weren't fully used to their new bodies even a few months after their arrival. The hands certainly had their merits, feet were strangely sensitive to touch for something that needed to be in near-constant contact with things for motion, and none of them could hazard a guess what the regulation cover-up areas on their upper-bodies could be for, but most vexing by far was the hair. So. Much. Hair. It was soft and smooth, certainly, but the sheer abundance grew irritating even at the best of times. As luck would have it, a random bystander provided useful insight yet again when they'd heard Aria complaining aloud that she was tired of dealing with her silky burden, telling the trio of a place called a barber shop. When they arrived, those holding trimming equipment, one a black-haired man with a long moustache and the other a blonde young woman that resembled the hotel clerk and that lifeguard from their first few weeks here, were all but elated! This mirth, however, was soon cut short, unlike the sirens' hair for the first hour, which was about the time it took for the barbers to break out the big guns, so to speak. Wait, what?! I know some hair is thicker than others, but hair is hair and blades are blades, surely yours cuts like any other? We had hoped, but no. For the last fifteen years or so, I've been operating under the assumption that for these bodies, our hair is the translation of our gleaming, plate-like scales. Anatomically, I know it makes no sense, but it's the only explanation I could think of for why we'd have so much of it when another part of us was missing altogether. I, I-I see... So, trimming it down proved difficult? Exceedingly so. That is, until He arrived... Faced with what might have been steel wool growing out of peoples' heads, the black-haired barber and his young assistant were apparently at their wit's end judging by the way they curled up and cried in the corner and stood very still while taking many deep, slow breaths, respectively. Aria, only one half of a single pigtail trimmed to hang just below her neck, tapped a foot impatiently. "Well? We aren't paying you guys to not finish the job!" They weren't going to pay them anyway, of course, because singing people they'd employed services from into forgetting they'd ever seen the trio was still standard practice for the first year or so, but damned if she didn't enjoy pushing people. "I-I'm s-sorry, ma'am," stuttered Arbie Atta, hair-stylist in training, as she spared a nervous glance for her weeping employer and the orange horror that had driven him to that, "but I don't think we have the t-tools to properly s-see to you three right now..." She glanced over the pairs of dulled scissors her boss had thrown over his shoulder while trying to reduce the yellow girl's hair to manageable levels, possibly losing a few more in the fluffy excess. Well, she thought to herself, I bet running with them is safe now, at least, but why, oh WHY did we promise them money back if we couldn't trim them all?! They hadn't even started on the blue girl's hair yet, and it looked like she was starting to get bored making crinkly noises with the magazines in the waiting area. Starting to. Arbie was falling into despair as her career fell apart in front of her, but before she pondered whether or not it was too late to be a dentist, the back door to the shop flung open. That was when she knew things were going to get worse before they got better. There in the door, there stood a man, his eyes were green, his skin was tan, tall and thin there did he stand, and there his thoughts were... naaaaughty. Sitting in a cushioned chair, waited a girl with fluffy hair, and in her eyes, he spotted there, something... naaaaughty. The look upon her smiling face, said 'take your place, come now, make haste,' and so there was no... time to waste... Oh, my! This was your beloved? A slim, but sensitive barber? Well... The look in his eyes said he wanted me, but as I may have hinted earlier, things didn't exactly work out like I'd hoped when I beckoned him over... --- The thin, tan man shuffled away on his back, green eyes wide with terror as Adagio crawled closer on all fours. Where the shop owner and his assistant had failed, he had proved to be an artist with cutting tools, but the fact that he didn't discard a single shear wasn't the reason Arbie had fainted in shock. The sirens all had their hair cut nice and short now, even Adagio's previously-untamed fluff now falling only to her shoulders, but the wicked smirk she wore said she wanted more, even with most of her clothes cut off. She continued her slow, predatory approach in only her undergarments. "Ohh, don't stop now," she whispered breathily, her voice low and husky, "there's still more to cut off of me..." She continued to close in on the man, his own suit torn and slashed in several places as he continued his frantic, backwards retreat. Adagio giggled at the way he spared a glance for the moustachioed man in the fetal position or the unconscious Atta sister as though hoping they would help. It was just the two of them now! However, before she could take things any further, Aria and Sonata (who had returned from the arcade after Adagio had suggested she would like some time alone) grabbed her by an arm each to pull her away. "C'mon," urged Aria as they dragged her toward the door, "we got our hair cut, now let's go!" "W-wait! I have more hair I'd like him to-" "I already left money on the counter, we're bailing." Rare was the day Aria actually bothered to use any of the inferior human currency, but this time, she actually felt like they owed these people. Adagio managed to brace herself in the doorway just long enough to smirk and make the 'call me' gesture at her new barber, certain she'd be coming back some day. --- Her own hands on Adagio's hair now as she neatly finished tying it into a thinner, but just-as-fluffy, low-hanging ponytail, Rarity noted her possibly perilous position with just a hint of fearful anxiety, but there were no untoward advances so far. "I'm a little surprised you let them carry you out against your will." Relieved, perhaps, but still surprised. "They were within their rights," Adagio answered with a shrug, "I didn't have a concrete reason -that is, one that would benefit all three of us- to stay and they probably didn't want to risk the police showing up again. Suppose I was being a little selfish at the time." A sense of fair play with her subordinates, even back then? Sunset and Twilight may be pleased to hear that. "...So, you visited him often?" The siren sighed. "No, never saw him again. I went back to the same shop within a week, because that was how long it took before our hair had already grown back to irritating proportions, but the people working there would only tell me that he left to visit family and rethink his life." She scowled a little at the memory. "They wouldn't even tell me where he went, you know, just kept insisting that it was a farm in the middle of nowhere." That those were their exact words wasn't encouraging, to be sure. "We learned to live with long hair eventually, but that's my story." The room went very quiet then, making Adagio turn to look over her shoulder to make sure Rarity was still there. She was, but she looked rather confused. "...That's really it? Where was the spark, the romance, the passion?!" Adagio chuckled. "Perhaps you'd have had to be there, but the way he delicately worked those shears through my hair when it was finally my turn," her gaze grew somewhat unfocused as she smiled, "one bracing hand on my shoulder (and I'm pretty sure he didn't do that for the others, by the way!) as he slowly cut closer and closer until he nicked my shirt (though I suppose I really did the rest on my own), I definitely thought we had something special..." Quietly grateful that she had no intentions of cutting Adagio's hair at all anyway, only of styling it, Rarity stared at her in silence. My deepest sympathies to any who should fall for you, Miss Dazzle, but may that love flourish where your first did not. Smiling a little, she opted the change the subject. "So, I've finished with your hair, what do you think?" Using the nearest mirror, Adagio again studied her new look. The style of the ponytail was different from her usual number, but the way it hung down, tied just over the nape of her neck while leaving her fluffy bangs exactly the same as before, bolstered the 'bookish' feel of her current outfit. She chose to redress this by adjusting her glasses to rest slightly further down the bridge of her nose before smirking and striking a flirty pose. "I think it'll do." Still looking into the mirror, she noticed Rarity's reflection looking back at her, which was when a realization clicked. Rarity had just gotten her talking. How? Her memory of the details was already going fuzzy, but... love lives, right? She turned to face her stylist for the evening. "What about you, Miss Rarity? You must have your pick of the fair folk in this town, any outstanding encounters to share?" The young seamstress flushed crimson. "I, wh-what?" With a laugh that bordered on friendly, Adagio dismissively waved a hand. "Oh, no need to be modest, you're more than pretty enough to know you could have anyone you like around here. What's the head-count? Fifteen, twenty?" "N-no!" "Thirty?" Her face grew hotter at the very thought. "No!!" "...Fift-" Formerly pale, porcelain cheeks were now a painful red as Rarity waved her arms in an 'X' pattern. "I! Am! A! Virgin!!" To her surprise, she didn't immediately get one of those doubting stares or prying looks, just a surprised kind of smile. "Oh?" The older woman giggled. "Perhaps we have more than a little in common, then." Her exact words sunk in. "I mean, I'm not- I've had plenty of memorable nights, just-" She opted to clear her throat and start over. "You must have high standards for yourself too, is what I meant, you wouldn't let just anyone touch you. Am I right?" Indeed not being the kind of girl to settle for less than an adequately stunning courtship, Rarity nodded a little, "R-right, but..." but if Adagio meant to say that she utterly refused to... engage with someone on short notice, so to speak, then her story was a little more confusing. "Then, with the barber, why did you...?" She smirked. "He may not have been the most attractive of the, mm, eight or so people that have caught my eye since we got here, but his firm, yet gentle demeanor and that sexy smile of his won me over." Then she frowned. "Maybe I should have asked his name." That was something she'd learned to do after the fourth target that had reacted like the barber did. Honestly, it was like they were afraid of a little affection! Eight, thought Rarity, just eight?! In thirty years?! I would have thought these girls would all have-... Oh, dear. I'm a hypocrite. Rarity herself had had to brush off scandalous rumors more than once, thoughts along the lines that being fair and beautiful meant she must have also been 'adult' at best and 'easy' at worst, that of course having an attractive body just naturally meant she'd all but jump at the chance to use it. These things were not the case, Rarity had grown to despise such assumptions, and here she was casting them on the sirens. That settled it; she'd be giving all three of them the outfits they walked out of here in free of charge... along with those black pants that had fit Adagio surprisingly well. And maybe a tasteful hat or two. Something told her Sonata would look just darling in a bowler ha- "-rity?" "Ah, yes, I, uh... I'm sorry, what was it?" "I said, you've never had a single evening of bliss? With a boy or girl?" Something fell on its side in the wardrobe of Rarity's mind. "G-girl?" There was another smirk. "I may not be willing to settle for just anyone, but I know that Sexy isn't restricted to gender. As far as I'm concerned, anyone that can get my attention is fair game." Rarity turned scarlet again. "Y-you mean you'd, w-with-?" Noting that the girl in front of her was one of the prettiest in Canterlot, Adagio remembered how she'd felt when Rarity first started giving her weird looks, and decided to return the favor. She stood up and leaned in close, her smile nothing short of wolfish as she spoke in a husky whisper. "Anyone..." Eyes shrinking to pinpricks as she broke into a cold sweat, Rarity gracefully excused herself- "Ithinkthat'sallfortodayIshouldreallygetbacktothepartythankyouforcomingkeeptheoutfitverygoodbyenow!!" -like a baboon having a panic attack before bolting across the room, slamming into the locked door, lightly massaging her forehead, unlocking the door, and making a hasty retreat. Quietly cackling to herself, Adagio stepped out into the hallway, ready to rejoin the party as well. Now, let's see if Aria and Sonata have anything to share...