Poem: Faerie Dust

[shiori_makiba]

Poem: Faerie Dust

by shiori_makiba

Words: 610 words in 101 lines

Part of the Berettaflies thread of ysabetwordsmith's Polychrome Heroics universe. Inspired by comments made by siliconshaman and stardreamer. Ashley Maddison is siliconshaman's creation. Haruko McCoy (mentioned only) is from the mind of dialecticdreamer.

Time Frame: Some time after things have calmed back down in Easy City.

Faerie Dust

Tsubasa was nervous.

She was going virtually across town today

using public transport.

And her wings were proving

to be a minor problem.

She wasn't worried about the fact she had wings.

Tsubasa was well used to them by now,

and confident that she'd be fully comfortable with them

one day soon.

Nor was she too worried about their size.

They were big, as proportional to her height

as they were on actual butterflies.

And they only folded together,

not down or flat against her back.

But the wheelchair accessible sections of the bus

should be big enough to accommodate her wings size.

It was their coloration that gave Tsubasa pause.

White and black with red spots.

Just like the bugs that had started

this whole mess weeks ago.

Just like the swarm of Berettaflies

she had accidentally unleashed on the city

not too long.

The mere sight of those wings at normal size

was enough to understandably panic people.

And seeing them scaled up to giant size

did nothing to calm that.

When Tsubasa brought this up with Ashley,

she thought about for a bit before

the proverbial light-bulb lit up over her head.

“I have an idea.”

Looking at the mirror,

Tsubasa studied the results of said idea.

She was wearing an almost backless corset-style top,

gauzy tutu skirt, and striped tights.

All in same black, white, and red as her wings.

Each item as well as herself had been sprayed down

with a fine coating of glitter.

On top of her head was headband with

a pair of smiling butterflies with blinky lights.

On her feet were the ruby slippers.

Tsubasa wondered idly.

if clicking her heels together three times

and saying there was no place like home

was worth a try.

She guessed it depended on whether the universe

wanted to follow the movie or the book canon.

There was a knock of the door.

“Are you ready to come out?”

“Yes,” Tsubasa answered

and opened the door.

“Looking good there,” Ashley said.

“Just needs one more more touch.”

She flourished a toy baton topped with a heart

and studded with more blinky lights.

“What is that?”

“Your princess wand. Can't be a faerie princess without it.”

Tsubasa rolled her eyes

but apparently that was the reaction

Ashley was going for

because she just laughed.

Not for the first time,

Tsubasa had the thought that

Ynez and Ashley would get along

like a house on fire.

“In all seriousness, though, take the wand.

It fits the image and

my minion took precious time out

of his busy day to find you

a princess wand.”

She was right.

It did fit the image.

Tsubasa also made another mental note to

make Haruko a thank you card.

He had earned several.

Besides locating the princess wand,

he had also found some of the clothing

Tsubasa was and had been wearing.

Ashley had offered what could be

safety decontaminated from her closet.

She had used some of it.

But some things simply didn't fit.

Mostly because Tsubasa was

shorter than Ashley.

The clothes and wand were in and among

other little acts of kindness.

All in spite of the fact that

Tsubasa had unintentionally

scared the hell out of him

with the swarm.

Tsubasa took the wand.

She shedded glitter the entire way there

but it was the safe kind that would

dissolve in water.

And while some people stared,

nobody screamed and

some people even smiled.

The kids, especially, seemed delighted

and keep waving and whispering excitedly.

Tsubasa smiled and thought

maybe she'd do things like this more often.

Notes:

The pictures don't match exactly but should give you some idea.

Tsubasa's skirt – very similar but some of the gaze is white instead of black.

Tsubasa's top – the back is lower than the one shown, the main part is black but the under part is red, the lacing and gauzey sleeves are red.

Tsubasa's stripped tights – same except they are red and white.

Tsubasa's shoes – same except for the heel. Hers are flats.

Update!: stardreamer has found something pretty similar to Tsubasa's headband. Hers has blinky lights but otherwise looks pretty much like that.

Now with princess wand! Thanks siliconshaman!

As far as I know L-Earth doesn't have any glitters that dissolve in water but I'm thinking that T-America does have one.

Comments

OH, how much FUN!

[dialecticdreamer]

Yes, Haruko would be delighted to help with this! Not just clothes, but little comfort items, too.

I think this is a wonderful solution in the short term, which will fade as more time passes. In six months, MOST people won't take any more notice of her on the bus than they do "that lady with the sunflower hat."

[siliconshaman]

Giggling here, the mental image is just hilarious, but endearing at the same time. Perfect execution of the ideas in our discussion. Love the Wizard of Oz shoes, nice touch!

Yay!

[ysabetwordsmith]

>>But the wheelchair accessible sections of the bus
should be big enough to accommodate her wings size.<<

:D

>>She was wearing an almost backless corset-style top,
gauzy tutu skirt, and striped tights.
All in same black, white, and red as her wings.<<

That is adorable.

Something that would work well for her: halter tops. Anything that has an open back with a neck loop or tie and another fastener underneath will allow room for her wings.

>>Each item as well as herself had been sprayed down
with a fine coating of glitter.<<

Add some gentle skin-safe sealant to that, and it will not only hold the glitter in place but also minimize shedding of urticating scales from her wings.

>> On top of her head was headband with
a pair of smiling butterflies with blinky lights.
On her feet were the ruby slippers.<<

Eeee! :D

>>“In all seriousness, though, take the wand.
It fits the image and
my minion took precious time out
of his busy day to find you
a princess wand.”<<

Haruko is turning into a totally awesome minion. \o/

>>And while some people stared,
nobody screamed and
some people even smiled.
The kids, especially, seemed delighted
and keep waving and whispering excitedly.<<

Easy City has the advantage of a Weird-Shit-O-Meter that requires a pretty serious kick to budge at all. People there can get used to anything. It's just a little dicey right after the incident. A year or two down the line and people will probably be selling berettafly souvenirs.

>>As far as I know L-Earth doesn't have any glitters that dissolve in water but I'm thinking that T-America does have one.<<

Yes, that's exactly the kind of thing they have. It is probably soluble in soap and water, or some other kind of releaser, to avoid dissolving in sweat. We do have edible glitter, which gets sticky if moist.

[technoshaman]

L-Earth doesn't have any glitters that dissolve in water

There should be! Yeah, the sugar sprinkles do get *sticky*...

Gripping hand, that would be bad for s00j and other faerie performers, who glitter up and then go onstage in summer heat.... two songs in you're dripping glitter all over the stage! deffo need professional glitter and a release agent. Maybe a special soap...

[technoshaman]

Love the "hang a lampshade on it" approach, though!

[technoshaman]

LOL! I KNOW THOSE SOCKS! I can't find a good one of s00j in them *live*, but here's one of my favourite album covers with her in them..

[redsixwing]

Oh that's awesome.

"Butterfly lady on the bus again, must be Tuesday" has cracked me right up. I love the casual acceptance.

[mdlbear]

Brilliant solution!

[stardreamer]

Could not find the combination of butterfly deelyboppers with blinkenlights -- there may be some out there, but it would take a more determined search. I could find a light-up butterfly tiara, and I found these.