To say Astrid was nervous was an understatement. She was fucking terrified. Even with Vanessa and Nero as her confidants there was the underlying fear of the Bulls rejecting her. After all, they had met the ‘male’ version of her, the one that tried so hard to be what everyone wanted.
So as a bit of the spiky hair was trimmed down by Vanessa’s scissors, there was a sense of relief and anxiety alongside it. They didn’t go too far, Astrid still liked the soft tuft of spiky hair that looked like an upside down clover flower. It was something that felt like a part of her, like the headband being gently worked around.
According to both of them, the hair would take a while to grow, she’d need a lot of haircuts to take care of it and let it grow. Vanessa promised to take her shopping for more makeup later, so when Nero held a mirror in front of her, she saw every little change. It was almost like a different person was staring back.
Her hair was now all in front of the headband, styled into a small set of bangs that just floated above her eyes. The spikes of hair on the side of her head were gone, Nero had used some kind of hair product to straighten it out, giving her a shoulder length hair cut. At least until the product gave way to whatever unstoppable determination caused Astrid’s hair to curl a bit.
“Well, it’s still cute,” Vanessa teased. The big sister of the Black Bulls teased, removing the towel they used to keep hair out of Astrid’s new dress. “Look at you, ready for your first day out.”
“How does it feel?” Nero asked, expecting the entire sitting area of the base to be fully decorated by the time they got down to it. Astrid couldn’t do much more than stare at her reflection, jaw slightly open as the reflection stared back.
No more secretly trying on poorly fitting dresses, no more wondering if she’d have to run away. If nothing else, Nero and Vanessa had her back. She swallowed nervously, and stood up.
“I, I’m ready.” she said, the two other girls nodding as Astrid reached for the door. “Do you think the Captain will be alone?”
“He’s in the bathroom right now,” Vanessa said with a worried smile. Yami wasn’t a bad person, but he hated being bothered in the bathroom. “Are you sure you want to talk to him about this when he’s in there?”
“There’s a door between me and him,” Astrid laughed, her voice shaky like she was trying to convince herself it was a good idea. “I-I think so, just to be safe.”
“All right,” Nero said, using her magic to shift back to her bird form and sitting on Astrid’s head. “Let’s go then.” Vanessa nodded and opened the door, checking to make sure no one else was around.
Thankfully, like Nero expected, everyone was in the lobby aside from the captain. So with a little assistance from the third person in the base who knew Astrid’s situation, Henry, they had a straight shot to the bathroom.
The door had been punched down so much, so with all three of them standing in front of it they knew it would splinter under an attack.
“I’m taking a shit, this better be good,” Yami said through the door before Astrid had a chance to knock. She swallowed again, getting a supportive hand grab from Vanessa. “...Oh hell what's wrong if there’s three of you?”
“Right, Ki,” Astrid said, forgetting he had that. “Uhh… Captain I uh… need to t-talk to you!” She sputtered out, her own Ki sensing not feeling any anger despite the no talking on the shitter rule.
“...Shit is someone dead? Kid you sound nervous as hell.” Yami said, grunting as he tried to talk and shit at the same time.
“N-no! Well, uh… kind of, I uh.” Astrid continued, squeezing hard on Vanessa’s hand. There was the sound of something hitting water and the rustling of a belt buckle.
“All right, who do I gotta kill? That scale guy? That crazy lady?” the captain said, a loud flush signifying that he was actually done pooping for now. “..Shit is Finral dead? I need my ride to be an alive one, Kid.”
“No I uh, please don’t come out!” Astrid shouted, things weren’t going to her plan. Her heart was racing and the thoughts weren’t coming to her in the right order. Yami didn’t say anything, instead his shadow poked out from under the door.
“...What’s wrong with the kid Vanessa?” he asked, the thread witch’s shoulders tensed a bit. “Did someone close to him die?”
“N-no…” Vanessa said, her big sister instincts were kicking in and she wanted to say something. But this was Astrid’s big moment, her free hand gently touched the girl on the shoulder.
“Captain I…” she said, the words almost getting stuck in her throat. “I… I’m not a guy. I-I-” She had to say one more thing, and of course that got stuck. Yami was silent, the smell of a cigarette coming through the door. He was waiting for the rest of it, Astrid just had to say it. Nero papped her head with a wing, and she took another breath.
“I-I’m a girl, M-my name is A-A-Astrid.”
“Kid,” He said after another pause, the door clacking as Yami pulled it open. Seeing her in her knee length dress, styled hair and with the other two ladies with her. He took a drag from the cigarette and blew the smoke away from the trio. “I’m not good with this stuff, but we can have Henry move your room to the girls side if it helps,”
“Huh?” Astrid said, looking almost confused at the peaceful response. Yami raises an eyebrow at the trio’s lack of response. “You’re not… mad?”
“Kid, I’ve seen how shit this country can be to people who’re different.” he said, walking past them towards the common area. “Least I can do is not act the same way to people.”
“Thank you captain!” Astrid blurted out, getting him to look back with a grin. Vanessa now let go of her hand as Nero nestled a bit more into her hair.
“No problem Kid, I’ll ask the thorny princess if her girls have any advice next time I see her.” the captain continued, “Just be sure to tell the other idiots in here, no reason you should feel anxious in my base.”
“That’s the plan sir!” Astrid said, smiling and doing the knights salute by reflex. If nothing else, the captain would scare everyone in line. She took a few deep breaths, slapped her face like she was getting psyched up for a workout, and started walking towards the common area.
“Why can I smell cake?” she asked, Vanessa catching Nero’s grin as they walked closer.
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