Chapter Text
Taliyah had nothing to do, really. The shelter was closed for the day, and it was sunday. Sunday. No one did nothing on sunday. So she hopped to The Eye Of Twilight Bar in hopes to dance a little, to just do something. Her friends were... Well, not here anymore. They all moved out of city. And she had little to no money to spend on trips like that.
Yi received her with a piece of pie and a xbox controller. They were like that sometimes. And then she came in, the tall girl with black hair that was Ahri's friend. She had a pretty smile, and she was smilling to Taliyah. She smiled back, signing for the girl to join them. Oddly enough, Taliyah was quieter around her, they both liked to meditate in silence.
And Yi let them to it. When gaming became a chore, Kaisa leaned on Taliyah's shoulder.
"Wanna go out?" She whispered to Taliyah.
Yi gave them a knowing smile, and walked away. They had little time to talk, as they usually were surrounded by people and Ahri, so now that they were mostly alone, Taliyah didn't knew what to say. Everytime that happened, they stood quiet, meditative. But now, with Kaisa's hair tickling her neck, she didn't really knew if the silence was that much comfortable. She just nodded to Kaisa's words.
And Taliyah found herself walking down the street, then inside an Uber, inside a shopping mall. Testing clothes way above her payment checks. Kaisa had gentle eyes and a very convincing smile. She couldn't just out right say "no" to any of her words.
"Here, do you think these looks better in black?" Kaisa asked as she got white shorts.
She put them infront of her instead of trying them out.
Taliyah found it funny. "Why don't you dress them?"
Kaisa blinked. She shook her head then, smiling softly at Taliyah. "They don't let two go in, you know."
"Why would-" Taliyah decided to not end her question, as Kaisa simply walked to the dressing rooms.
That was a bit rude, but Taliyah had had worse at school. When Kaisa came back, Taliyah grimaced.
"Bad, right?" Kaisa sighed. "I don't think we'll be able to fit any clothing in the themes Ahri wants, really."
Oh. Taliyah smiled at that. "So you decided? Yaya didn't told me."
Kaisa tilted her head a little, but didn't answer. Instead, she stared deep inside Taliyah's eyes. Taliyah decided to look away first, embarrassment rising in bubbles at her throat.
She heard Kaisa giggle.
"Yeah, she wants something less colorful, but also something that works with all colors, It's what I'm guessing."
"That doesn't sound very white to me," Taliyah said without thinking. Kaisa just stared again. "I, uhm, I mean... That sounds black, not white. You can try to pull a look with bright colors and white, and it's going to look a little off, depending on your complexion and all."
Kaisa kept staring, waiting.
"But if you do it with black, it works wonders. Softer colors as well!" Taliyah continued. "But I think that it should go with the song you made, not the entire brand..."
Kaisa gave her a big, eerie smile.
"What?" Taliyah blinked, confused.
"Yeah, thank you." Kaisa said. "That was the confirmation I needed. Do you think white looks good on you, though?"
Taliyah stared at her own clothes. She wore mostly reds and pinks with jeans and navy blues, all baggy clothes and long skirts. She hadn't tried white since...
Taliyah gave Kaisa a sheepishly smile. "Yeah, I don't know about that."
Kaisa put the shorts on Taliyah's hands. "Go on!"
Taliyah could feel her face warming up. "Ah, no, seriously, I-"
"I'm paying, silly," Kaisa rolled her eyes, hands on Taliyah's shoulders, as she directed Taliyah to one of the dressing rooms.
Taliyah took her skirt off, reluctantly. Stared at herself in the mirror for a few seconds.
You're ugly, with that nose and eyebrows!
Boys don't like masculine girls, who are you trying to impress?
Does your grandma knows you're fat under all these clothes or she thinks you're like these Bollywood actresses?
You're a boy, aren't you? Stop trying to dress up like a girl. It's embarrassing.
Taliyah stared at herself as she took the rest of the clothes off, since they all hid the shorts. Slowly worked her mind to think of the shorts on her hands. Dressed them up. White looked good on her.
A bit too tight.
"Can I see it?" Kaisa asked from the corridor and suddenly Taliyah didn't want to leave the room.
"I, uhm, I'll send you a picture." She said.
She did took a picture, but she edited it so just the shorts would fit into the image. She heard Kaisa huff, outside. There was silence, and then Kaisa simply walked in. No warnings, no nothing. Taliyah was dressing up her shirt again, but she stopped midway through it, from sheer shock. Kaisa blinked, small smile on her lips, confused eyes. Taliyah forgot how to breathe for a second, and then she immediately started to dress up again.
"Oh god," Kaisa said under her breath.
Taliyah wanted to dig a hole and never come out.
"Taliyah," Kaisa called, but Taliyah just ignored her.
She took off the shorts, staying only with her shirt, took the hoodie, and was ready to put it in, but Kaisa took it away from her hands just before she could. Taliyah stared at Kaisa for just a few seconds.
She looked away again, feeling stupid.
"They're too tight." She mumbled.
Kaisa inhaled "Hey," She said.
Taliyah ignored, dressing up completely. Kaisa turned her around, didn't wait for a response. She just hugged her. Kaisa hid her face on Taliyah's neck, breathed in, deep breath. Then out. Her hands gently held Taliyah's sides. She wanted to cry. Kaisa shouldn't have seen that. She would tell Ahri, and Ahri would tell Yasuo, and they would end up having another fight over what he called her own safety.
"Does anyone in the Bar knows?" Kaisa asked.
Taliyah shook her head no, even though Yasuo knew the scars. Kaisa took Taliyah's arms to hers, moved the sleeves away, looked at the scars there. Took Taliyah's hands and kissed them, gently.
"You hide them because you don't like them?"
"They make me uglier," Taliyah said with a sad smile. "But they're my fault, I guess."
"You're not ugly." Kaisa frowned.
Taliyah snorted. "Right."
"You're not!" Kaisa said, grave. "You're the prettiest girl I've seen, and I've been around a lot."
Taliyah laughed at that, kind of bitter. "Lies are for the djins."
"I'm not lying." Kaisa held Taliyah's face. "You're gorgeous. And I mean it. Pretty girls like us don't lie."
That took Taliyah a bit off guard, and she laughed genuinely, even though it was brief and huffed. Kaisa seemed satisfied with that reaction, but she didn't let go of Taliyah's hands.
"Is it school?" She asked after they came out of the dressing room.
"Yeah, the people in the shelter don't even mind it, they have their own." Taliyah said quietly. "The girls at school are relentless, that's what grandma says."
Kaisa snorted. "Yeah, nothing changed, then. When I was at school, they were bullies too."
"You?" Taliyah said, crossing her arms. "You were bullied?"
Kaisa looked away, weak smile. "Well, I was always the outsider. They took that as a bad thing. Too nerdy, too quiet, too calm. They wanted me to snap."
Taliyah frowned. "Did you?"
Kaisa gave her a look, that eerie smile back on her lips. "Let's say I got myself a reputation after that."
"You-"
"Well, they were kicking me, so at some point I had to kick back. But my bad reputation didn't came from that, really. It was my father that made it terrifying." Kaisa decided to tell. "One of the teachers was a enabler... Well, let's just say daddy wasn't verry happy and he's okay with beating everyone. Everyone."
"A she?!" Taliyah practically screamed.
"Yep," Kaisa laughed. "He bit the shit out of her. Went to prison and all. It was a rough month."
Taliyah exclaimed something in Hindu, and Kaisa giggled softly. "Who took you in?"
"My uncle paid his bills, he got out and decided to be a better person." Kaisa shrugged. "Not that he was a bad person, but he had a temper. And, well, dancing got him to calm down for a while. Now he's out there, undercover."
"Undercover?" Taliyah frowned again and Kaisa lifted a finger to her own lips.
"Can't say anything else!" She smiled brightly. "So, what's your story?"
Taliyah inhaled. "Well, I'm not exactly a model, as you can see. The girls always picked up on that, even back home. When we came to this country, I wasn't expecting that to change, but, well... I was expecting people to mind their business more."
Kaisa hummed.
"I just graduated, so I won't have these problems anymore, I think." Taliyah dismissed.
"Took me years of dancing and therapy to get to where I am now," Kaisa said. "Find something you like, something you really like, and focus on that. And go to therapy too. Eve calls me basic for that, but it's just the truth. You can manage."
Taliyah chuckled softly. "Yeah, my family is not really one hundred percent with the therapy thing. I tried once. They said it wasn't working. So, well. There's that."
Kaisa stopped walking, stared at their reflection in one of the shopping glasses. She bit her inner cheek, looked at Taliyah, then back at herself.
"You work for Shen, right?" Kaisa asked.
"For Yi, actually, but-"
"Well, tell your parents he's paying you a therapist."
Taliyah stared at Kaisa, confused. "But he isn't."
"He will." Kaisa shrugged.
"Why would he?"
"Because I'm saying so," Kaisa stared at Taliyah again, the soul crushing, deep stare. "And because I'll pay it for you."