@savanaclawedâ :Â piper's putting on sunscreen before magift practice so she doesn't burn in the sun, and leona doesn't say anything as he walks by, dips a finger into some of the sunscreen in their hand, and then draws a line of white down their nose â all without missing a beat while walking by. cat behavior.
The last time Piper forgot sunscreen was about fours years ago, they think, in the hazy way that nearly their entire life before this school ( and before jean ââ ) is hazy. ( they told pietro once that they couldnât remember a childhood and his expression went sick and empathetic in equal measure. they stopped talking about it after that. ) They were young, and theyâd been out playing with Jean and returned with bright red cheeks â not devoted enough to their appearance to be consistent with a skincare routine, even something as simple as sunscreen. The burns were tender to the touch, ached even when her hair brushed against them.
She was to meet one of her parentâs potential partners for her the very next day. They hadnât quite given up on marrying her off yet, and she was too old for the burns to be charming. Piper cried when Mother forced makeup on her despite the way it made her burned skin ache and, when the tears started messing up her foundation, Mother said that it would be another two weeks in her room if she didnât stop. That she was lucky she wasnât already facing that, burning her skin, all you are is beautiful, you stupid girl, donât ruin that if youâve got to ruin everything else.
She ended up wiping it off at the little meeting anyway. She got three weeks in her room and most of her books confiscated.
Suffice to say, Piper hasnât forgotten sunscreen since. Not enough to matter, at least â a few slips they could hide from their parents, but nothing extreme. No real burns. The stress theyâd felt the first time theyâd caught red shoulders upon coming to NRC had been all - encompassing, at least until they reminded themself that it didnât matter here.
So here they are, dutiful daughter, rubbing sunscreen onto their arms and humming beneath their breath and thinking about Mother and beauty. ( they suppose getting burned on purpose for the sake of rebellion would be stupid, but itâs not as if theyâre ever anything else. ) Ruggie makes some crack about being so pale, to which Piper replies with a sharp smirk, and continues their dutiful work. Itâs when Leona approaches that they â oh!!
Their cheeks go red, like they really are sunburned, and darken when they hear Merry laughing. And yet, a beat later, their eyes round and lips part in a soft O, and itâs surprising because they hadnât ââ
Usually, they think of Mom ( not dad, dad almost never saw them enough to grab them ), when peopleâs hands get close to their face or grab at their arms. Itâs not fear, exactly, itâs not like that â no flinching or panic. Itâs just a memory, or the idea of a memory, moments of â just moments.
But they...didnât. Leonaâs hand on her face, with sunscreen no less / a thing so tied to that fuzzy memory / and she hadnât thought of anything but him, and how annoying he was, and how she is gonna kick his ass for this. They realize suddenly that theyâve never thought of their parents when Leona has touched their face, even in the play - rough way they can be with each other, grabbing chins and cheeks.
Special. The word comes to their mind suddenly. Leona is special.
âââ Sheâs still gonna kick his ass for this. Â
âYou asshole!â she shouts, and he doesnât turn around but he does stop and his tail flicks in that way she KNOWS means heâs smirking and, âThatâs for my body, you bitch! Itâs not supposed to go on your face! This is gonna fuck up my skin!â
He turns over his shoulder and he is smirking, but itâs beat too late â Piperâs already closed the difference and by the time he sees that, their poor Captain has no time to dodge; when they slam into his body and send him tumbling to the ground, he at least takes her with him, and she lands on his chest when he lands on his back. It takes her no time at all to get busy rubbing her face over his, transferring as much of the sunscreen as possible.
âNow ââ !!â She shouts, defiant, pausing to grunt and cling harder as he tries to force her off, deftly dodging a hand aiming at grabbing her jaw and she doesnât think of her mom, she just thinks about how the smile on her face is so wide and delighted it almost hurts, âitâs gonna fuck up BOTH our skin!!â