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“Do they look even?”
“Sweet Magick, Trixie, I can't look,” Keris exclaims, shielding her face from the sight of her girlfriend.
“It's just the marker I haven't pierced them yet, silly.”
Keris peaks behind her fingers. She stares at Trixie’s blue, velvet peasant skirt, then moves up to her cropped green tank top, and then finally braves looking at Trixie’s ears, finding them untouched. Keris lets out a sigh of relief.
She examines the pen markings Trixie put at the tips of her pointy ears.
“They’re not even close to being in the same spot, honey,” Keris says honestly.
“Damn, I tried so hard,” Trixie pouts so cutely. (Everything she does is cute, in Keris’ unbiased opinion.)
“Let me try, maybe the mirror is messing you up,” she offers.
Keris stands from Trixie’s plush bed and walks to the ensuite where her girlfriend stands.
Trixie magicks off the markings and hands Keris a sharpie.
“And you’re sure this is sanitary?”
“I read the wikihow!” Trixie assures.
This doesn't do much to settle Keris’ worries. Nonetheless, she pushes Trixie’s short, blonde hair out of the way and gets to work.
She stares at Trixie's ears for a while, admittedly getting distracted by how Trixie stands when she's trying to be still. She’s balled her hands into fists and keeps tensing and relaxing her brow.
Keris spends a few minutes marking and re-marking Trixie’s ears, trying to line them up perfectly.
When she thinks she's got them in the same exact spot she lets Trixie turn to look in the mirror.
Trixie tilts her head to the side. “This one's higher, " she says, pointing to her left ear.
“Love-” Keris tilts the pixie’s head back to center.
“Oh,” Trixie giggles, “okay yeah, it looks good-” she turns to smile at Keris.
“Okay, good luck!!” Keris says, quickly stepping out of the bathroom and closing the door.
She tries to sit on Trixie's bed again, but ends up pacing the room. She distracts herself by straightening the hundreds of stuffed animals living on Trixie's bed. When that’s done she tries to put away a basket of Trixie's clean clothes, but she does not understand her girlfriend's method of organization. She finds unmated socks, 3 skirts of all different lengths, tank tops, and a button-up shirt all in the top drawer of her dresser.
So Keris goes back to pacing, and chewing on her hair.
“Keris!” Trixie yells from the ensuite.
Keris rushes in, her mind flashing with images of blood everywhere and a chopped off ear. But she must be brave if her girlfriend needs her!
It’s nothing though. Trixie's fine–ears thankfully still attached.
Trixie untangles herself from her perch on the bathroom counter.
“Can you do it?” she asks so sweetly, holding a sewing needle out towards Keris.
“Trixie, I might actually die.” Keris responds, terrified at the thought of messing up something so permanent. Not to mention the risk of infection.
“Please? I’m worried it'll hurt and then I’ll fuck it up.”
Keris considers her options. If anyone were to pierce Trixie's ears Keris might be the safest bet–besides of course a professional–but neither of them have the money for that. And Trixie's mom would freak out if she knew what they were doing. (Her dad might be chill about it; once Keris saw a uni photo of him with earrings from lobe all the way to the tip of his pointy ears.) (But Trixie stays with her mom for summer holiday.) So it's down to Keris or Trixie to get the job done. There's no convincing Trixie to give up on the idea of course, she's had her mind set on this long enough to actually get all the supplies together and buy new earrings for it.
Over the course of this summer holiday alone (which is only halfway through) Trixie has started and stopped at least ten new sewing projects and diy crafts. So Keris knows she must really want these new piercings.
Keris takes a deep breath.
“You don’t have to do it, baby, I know needles make you squeamish,” Trixie says, taking Keris’ hand.
“No, no it’s okay. Walk me through the steps.” She says carefully pinching the sewing needle between her fingers.
“You’re sure?” Trixie asks.
“Of course, you’ve been so excited for this!” Keris says, plastering on what she hopes is a convincing smile.
Trixie smiles and pulls Keris into a tight hug. Keris can’t help but smile too. She plants a small kiss on Trixie’s cheek, and Trixie kisses her nose.
“Okay, tell me what to do,” Keris says, determined to help Trixie.
“Right, so you-” Trixie starts, rocking back and forth on her feet, “you like mark the ears, then put the needle in, oh! And you need the ice, for like numbing, yeah?” Keris nods hesitantly. “Then the needle, then pull it out, but not all the way, not until you have the earring like on the other side, to go in as the needle goes out. It’s easy!” Trixie exclaims.
“Shouldn’t you sanitize the needle first?” Keris asks, feeling a bit un easy.
“Oh yeah, and the earrings,” Trixie adds, pointing to the bottle of isopropyl alcohol on the counter. “And make sure you keep the needle straight all the way through the cartilage, don’t go up or down.”
“Can I watch a video first?” Keris asks, she’d hate to go into this without being fully prepared.
“Yeah, here’s the one I watched,” Trixie says, pulling out her phone.
-
After a thorough (and admittedly drawn out) exploration of piercing tutorials, Keris feels 37% more confident, and all they need now is the ice cubes.
-
“Slicks! We’re out of ice.” Trixie slumps, standing in her small kitchen, holding the freezer door open, empty ice tray in her hand. “We were so close!!” she whines.
The pair walks back to Trixie’s room. The pixie collapses on her bed, using a fuzzy stuffed cat to hide her face.
Keris hears muffled sniffles from below the soft body of Trixie’s stuffed cat. She moves closer to her girlfriend, petting her hair to comfort her.
It seems all hope is lost. And Trixie had come so far! It didn’t seem right…
“Couldn’t we use a numbing spell instead of ice?”
Trixie shoots up, flinging the small cat to the foot of her bed.
“You know one?” she asks, enthusiasm coming back to her.
“Yeah! My dad taught me,” Keris beams, happy to be the source of that radiant smile on Trixie’s face.
“Yay!!” Trixie cheered. “I knew you were the best girlfriend a pixie could have!”
The girls laugh.
They return to the bathroom.
Keris is careful with all her preparations. She makes both of them wash their hands. And after she’s disinfected the needle, bell earrings, and Trixie’s ears, they’re ready to go. Trixie sits on the counter, Keris stands between her legs.
“You won’t feel a thing!” Keris casts. Then asks Trixie if she can feel the needle against her skin.
The spell was effective so now there’s nothing left to do, but stick a needle through her girlfriend’s skin. Twice. So easyyyyy!!
Keris does her very best not to shake too much.
The first ear goes well, Trixie doesn't feel a thing, and there’s barely any blood. Thank Magick. The second ear goes smoothly as well.
“Take a look,” Keris smiles at her work, holding a hand mirror, shaped like a flower, up to Trixie.
“Keris!! They’re perfect!” Trixie grins from ear to ear. She moves her head side to side, making the little bells jingle, and some glittery pixie dust to fall from her head.
It makes Keris giggle. She’d do anything to make Trixie this happy.
Trixie sets down the mirror and pulls Keris closer, to plant kisses all over her face. Keris can only giggle more, each kiss setting off butterflies within her.
“I love you so much!” Trixie says, continuing with her myriad of kisses, and Keris’ heart leaps.
It’s not the first time they’ve said I love you but it’s still so exciting each time Trixie says it.