Chapter Text
Taylor is rinsing her hair awkwardly in the sink of the public park’s restroom, nose wrinkling at the horrible feel of it in her hands. Maybe hydrogen peroxide isn’t the smart way of doing this? But that nice lady at the dollar store said that if Taylor has to use something, cleaning bleach will just make her hair fall out. She uses one of the disposable cups to pour more water on her head, hoping she’s getting it all out, it’s been on for what she’s pretty sure is half an hour, and her head itches.
She’s pouring a huge handful of the cheap conditioner the lady forced into her basket into her hair when the door opens up. She yells, “Get the fuck out!”
Unfortunately, her eyes are closed right now, and she can’t fumble for the cup to stop the soap from getting in them. She can hear footsteps as a girl’s voice says, “Oh no! You’re bleaching your hair with that? Here! I can help you.” Gentle fingers rub her head, and it’s the first sort of… intimate and nice physical act she’s had in years, so she finds herself just relaxing down against her will. It only feels nicer as the girl works the conditioner in, saying, “Hiding out, right? Probably don’t want anyone to realize you’re bleaching your hair.” The girl’s fingers are kind, “You’re gonna want to get some specialty shampoos and conditioners so your hair will be healthier.”
Feeling a little nervous, Taylor mumbles, “Can’t… can’t really afford that.”
“Then I’ll get it for you, alright? You can come over to my place after, and I’ll help you out.”
A chunk of her wants to refuse, since she can’t really trust anyone after what she's done, but… This girl seems to be doing this without any real motive? And if there is one, it’s likely just… some girl is bleaching her hair wrong, that’s bad!
It feels weird just letting another girl help out, but if anything goes wrong, it’s not like Taylor can’t punish the girl for it. She leans over the sink when bid, and finally says, “‘M Taylor.”
There’s a small laugh, and warm water from a cup is used to carefully rinse the conditioner out, “I’m Lisa. I’m glad to meet you, Taylor.”
She looks through the dripping water and can see a blob of blond hair, and a large smile. She smiles back, likely more nervously than Lisa’s, and says, “Nice to meet you, Lisa.”
The other girl takes paper towels, sopping up the water around them, and trying to get Taylor’s hair dry, “Let’s get your glasses and shirt back on, okay?”
She nods, tugging on her loose t-shirt and hoodie. Her glasses feel awkward on her face, but that’s because Lisa seems a little over zealous, putting them on her with a grin. Adjusting them better, she shuffles her feet a little. “Ah, um… thanks for this.” She reaches over, and puts her leftover shopping supplies in the bag.
Lisa picks the bag up, “No problem. Come on, let’s head out, and tug that out of order sign off, huh?”
She flushes a little, ducking her head, “Ah, yeah. The toilet does work, I just, um….”
“You wanted privacy. It would have worked better if it wasn’t on notebook paper, written in pencil. It made me more curious than deterred.”
“Fuck, right. That’s a good point.” She just has super fucking limited funds, and doesn’t want to waste any on paper when she has some in her stupid backpack.
Lisa takes her hand, grinning when Taylor doesn’t pull away, and leads her along. “How about a little walk to let your hair dry first? I don’t think we want to use a hairdryer, and letting it air dry would be best. You hungry?”
She’s about to answer in the negative, but her stomach rumbles in protest. She probably shouldn’t have skipped breakfast this morning, since she knew she wouldn’t be staying for lunch. “Ah, yeah.” No use lying about it.
Lisa doesn’t seem to mind, “Okay, cool. How about we go to....” The other girl hums thoughtfully, walking them out of the park slowly, “You feel up to pho?”
“Fa?”
“I can hear you misspelling that.” Lisa’s grin belies any insult that could be in the words, and she’s just as cheerful as she spells it out before saying, “It’s just a very good soup. I’ll get you a huge bowl, and you can fill up. If you’re still hungry after, we can get dessert.”
“Soup doesn’t seem very filling? Does it have bread or…?”
“Like I said, still hungry, we get dessert. I know of this nice bakery, and they usually have slices of cake.”
Soup and then cake? It sounds way too good to be true, really. “I can’t pay for-”
“I’m buying!”
Taylor can’t bring herself to stop as she moves closer to the other girl, glad for the comfort of Lisa’s hand in hers. It’s a friendly contact she’s been missing, and Lisa is being nice. It seems a little pushy, but not in a bad way. She smiles at Lisa, letting herself be led with a happier heart.
--
Bringing the bowl to her mouth, Taylor drinks the last of the broth down, and sighs happily. “This, uh, it feels a lot like….”
Lisa smiles at her, wide and bright, “Like family, right?”
Her mind flashes to her mother’s soup, which was a lot like this, but not at all, either. Just like how her dad never cooks since mom died. Still, she can see exactly what Lisa means, “Yeah.”
“When I’m missing my family, I like coming here.” Lisa puts away her credit card, since the check came before Taylor could finish. “So, still hungry?”
“... kinda? May want to walk around a bit to make that call?”
“Sounds good to me.” They get up from the table, calling out a thank you to the friendly owners as they step outside. Lisa snags her hand again, and Taylor adjusts her backpack on her shoulder, “So, how’s the red hair suiting you?”
Taylor freezes, and glances at her reflection in the window. It makes her looks kind of unrecognizable, just how she wants, but… ugh. Red hair. It isn’t the same shade as Emma’s, a little blotchy in some places, but still. Her green eyes, the red hair? “I don’t like it.”
Lisa nods, no judgement in her expression or body language, “Well, once your hair recovers some more, we can get it dyed another color. What would you like?”
“I was thinking it would be blonde. Isn’t that what bleaching is supposed to do?”
“You’d think so, but dark hair has weird undertones. Most hair does, even mine.” Lisa taps her naturally blonde hair with a grin, “So, you want blonde?”
She looks at Lisa’s hair, and feels a chunk of her long for it, but also doesn’t want Lisa to think she’s trying to copy her new friend. Sure, the sensible part of her knows Lisa would be flattered, but the part of her that’s the bullied girl says she’s in for a vicious mocking for trying. Besides, her powers kind of lend a certain sort of look to be followed. Who’s the most famous Master? Who brings fear to the hearts of all that hear her?
She knows that once what her powers do gets out, and it likely already is due to what she’s done, she’ll be hunted for it. May as well run full tilt, and flip every authority figure the bird.
“White. I want white hair.”
Lisa looks at her, slightly frozen, only to relax instantly. “White, then. We’ll even make it so your eyebrows are, too. Why the hell not, right?”
She beams, “Right!” Something about Lisa is just comforting. Like the girl is going to make sure things are okay.
“Let’s talk shades. I’m thinking we could do a stark white, you know? A grey probably would be easier, but why not go all out.”
It’s like Lisa is reading her mind. “Exactly. I was thinking… maybe straightening my hair, too?”
“Not a good idea, not if you don’t want it to fall out. Maybe if we get tinkertech derived shampoo and conditioner, but that’s not really worth it in the long term.”
She hums thoughtfully, thinking about it as they make their way along the sidewalk. “How expensive is the tinkertech shampoo?”
“More expensive than the derived stuff, since you’d need to track down a tinker that sells it.” Lisa winks at her, “But really, it’s super pricey, since they use some specialized things that are kind of hard to get. If you want to keep using it, you’d need to get a job.” Lisa taps Taylor’s nose, a playful gesture, “I’ll be doing this for the first time, but if we keep doing it, I’ll see about hooking you up with work.”
“You’d get me a job?”
“If you want one, sure. If not, there’s no reason to right now.”
“What kind of job?”
“Something that shouldn’t be discussed on a sidewalk.” Lisa gives her a small smile, “It isn’t prostitution. You think I’d do that? I’m not gonna let any asshole touch me like that. I did tell you I’m ace.”
Taylor nods, “Right.” She looks at Lisa a little closer, frowning, since it feels like she’s going to be tricked. “Lisa-”
The other girl shakes her head, interrupting with, “I’m gonna be honest with what it is, Taylor. We’ll just wanna be in private. You up to cake?”
She’s tempted to use her power on Lisa, just to be sure, but she relaxes a little. Lisa has been nothing but kind, so she won’t push. Besides, cake is good. “Yes, I can eat some cake. You better be truthful, Lisa.”
There’s a half second pause, but Lisa gives her a happy smile, “No lies, Taylor. None. Promise.”
The walk to the bakery is silent, but Taylor isn’t tempted to use her powers, and Lisa seems relaxed, still holding her hand. When they get in, Lisa shoos her to go to a private booth, and goes to order them cake.
Taylor claims the booth in the corner, where conversations will be quiet, and she can watch as others come in. Lisa joins shortly, placing a thick chocolate cake in front of Taylor, with cream cheese frosting and a cherry on top, while her own is a white cake with strawberries and vanilla frosting. Sitting across from her, Lisa glances around, and then says softly, “We both have powers.”
Taylor freezes, then nods slowly, once. She takes a part of her cake, “Go on.” If Lisa is planning on hurting her, there’s been plenty of chances already. She can wait and see what this is about.
“I’m a thinker. It’s like super intuition, so I could see when you were in that bathroom…” Lisa looks sad, “You were hurt. You burned bridges, and grabbed something to change yourself. Want to be anything other than what you were. I know how that feels. I ran away from home, too. Ran away, couldn’t stay there.” She just looks so sad. “I can’t just… I can’t let that happen to another person. I can’t.”
Nibbling on her cake, Taylor nods slowly, “And this… job?”
Lisa laughs, it’s an unhappy sort of broken sound, “I was probably pretty eager, right?” Taylor nods. “I just… I’d like another girl I can talk to. Someone to be friends with, and you seem nice, even if your power is pretty scary. And you haven’t used it on me, so I want you to join. I’m part of the Undersiders.”
“What’s the Undersiders?”
“Real new group. Only been on one mission, and we have a rich backer who has us on a plain monthly salary. It’s not a huge amount just for the month, but he’ll be paying us more on top of that for each mission.”
“What kind of missions?” If this is some hero group, she may as well leave and make it so Lisa can’t reveal who she is.
“Our last one was nabbing from a jewelry store. We cleaned the place out, and he paid us what all it was worth and more when we gave the stuff to him.”
Taylor hums softly, taking two bites of cake as she thinks. “And you want me?”
“I do, yes. I think you’d be a great fit, and I think you’d enjoy it. It’ll give you a roof over your head, and we can do things together.”
“What are the other’s powers?”
“There’s Grue, he produces a darkness that he can fill an area with, and it takes out all sight and sound. Regent, he can make muscles twitch and spasm. Bitch, she can transform dogs and use them to attack or to as transport for us.”
Taylor stares at Lisa, “Bitch?”
“She’s… really dog oriented. Lead girl dog, and so on.”
Seems stupid to her, but whatever the girl wants, she guesses. Not like she’s one to talk about good names. She doesn’t even have a cape name. “Alright.”
“You want to join?”
“I want to see them and talk before I make the call, but… so far? Yeah. Okay.”
Lisa smiles at her, bright and genuine, “Thanks, Taylor.”
Instead of answering, she steals one of Lisa’s strawberries.