Ava flung open the curtain with reckless abandon to the great displeasure of one half naked, pious nun.
“Ava!” Beatrice screeched as she whirled to face the shorter woman whilst covering her bare stomach. “I’m not decent!”
Ava’s grin turned devious as she blatantly checked Beatrice out. “While I strongly disagree with that statement, I’m not here for that.” She suddenly thrust a shirt into the scandalized nun’s arms with a wide, honest smile. “I think you should wear this as your outlaw attire!”
The incident at the Vatican had left the group more than just dusty and bloody: The entire country was on the lookout for the violent terrorist nuns that tried to blow up the pope. They fled with an unconscious Mary and stolen van, traveling up the coast as fast as they could. Their first stop was a thrift shop where they found themselves now, attempting to change into more civilian-esque clothing choices.
Beatrice hesitantly accepted the shirt, a frown stretched across dusty features as she studied Ava’s request.
The shirt was long sleeved and atrociously bright, the rainbow stripes already giving her a headache. The center of the shirt was graced with a smiley face, not dissimilar to the one stretched across Ava’s face.
“It’s not really my--” Beatrice stopped short as she saw Ava’s grin fall. God almighty, she was a sap.
“--size, but it will do.” She finished with a sigh. Caving to Ava’s will was worth it as the other woman’s face lit up with glee.
Beatrice let a small smile grace her features as she gently pushed Ava out of the changing room. “Now leave me alone so I can change in peace.”
“Aye aye captain!” Ava departed with a salute, leaving Beatrice to goofily grin at the empty space left behind. Shaking her head, she began to change.
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“You guys better be ready or I’m leaving without you!” Mary called, still grumpy from her impromptu nap. Getting clocked in the face by a hoard of the possessed would do that to you, Ava guessed.
“Calm your tits Mary, they’ll be out in a second!” Ava regretted her words the moment Mary’s sunglass clad face turned to the young halo bearer.
“Excuse me?” Ava could feel Mary’s eyes burning through her like a hot poker and quickly turned around to study her nails.
Mary let out an unamused huff and dropped next to Ava on the thrift store couch to grumble in a more comfortable position.
Camila was the first to emerge, sporting a cute yellow sundress over a long sleeved black shirt (to remain relatively modest, of course). She spun around in her dusty combat boots with an adorable smile and giggle. “So what do you think?”
Even Mary let a soft smile spread across her battered face as Ava clapped enthusiastically. Camila could always make the best out of any situation and was always able to make everyone smile. She truly was an angel in the body of a cute, petite member of the clergy.
Next on “say yes to the fugitive disguises” was Lilith, who did not want to be doing this, but couldn’t fight the collective efforts of a pleading Camila and annoying Ava. She had spent most of her time in the store staring at an unfamiliar reflection. She could barely recognize the beaten, bruised and bloody face that glared back, all grey hair and angry eyes. Once upon a time, she would smile and grin as if there wasn’t the weight of her entire bloodline on her shoulders. But unfortunately for her, she was no longer 11 years old, ignorant of the suffocating pressure that would twist her smile into a gloat, her grin into a sneer. Funnily enough, it was her impromptu trip to hell that taught her to try to be more kind, more Christ-like. Being soft didn’t come easily to her, unfortunately, and she found herself lashing out just as much as she used to. But, she was alive, so she would try to be better. If not for her then for the sisters that nursed her sorry ass back to health. That meant going along with both Ava and Camila’s fashion choices, both which were, uh. Clashing, to say the least. Ava thought that Lilith should look like a leather clad biker, whilst Camila wanted Lilith to look like a mousy bookworm. She decided on a mix of both styles to please the people she loved. Yuck. affection was making her weak.
She exited the dressing room to face a spinning Camila (God, she is going to get sick), a loud Ava (nothing new there) and an obviously pissed Mary (again, nothing new there). They all stopped to gape as Lilith self consciously scowled at the bothersome group. Mary’s eyebrows were raised as she grinned at the half-demon, Ava’s jaw was on the floor and Camila was smiling like God himself had descended into the trashy thrift shop to anoint her outfit.
“Damn Lilith, you really know how to clean up.” Ava whistled appreciatively as she gave the taller woman a once over. Lilith was clad in her same dark combat boots, this time paired with maroon corduroy pants and a black belt. Her T-shirt was black with a skull graphic and the name of some punk rock band gracing the front while the tour stops lined the back. A studded leather jacket was slung about her hips and her newly grayed hair was up in a messy bun. Overall, she looked super hot, in Ava’s humble opinion.
“You can stop gawking.” Lilith growled in embarrassment, deciding to flop down onto the couch next to Ava instead of clawing her face off. A sound choice.
“Come on Beatrice!” Camila called sweetly, much kinder than Lilith and Mary’s taunts, as Bea peaked her head out of the room.
“I’m not nearly as stylish as the rest of you.” Beatrice sheepishly stated, finding herself self conscious of her bright attire.
“Bea, Ava literally looks like she bought an entire giftshop to wear.” Mary laughed as she heard Ava’s scandalized gasp.
“I do not!” she said as she sat there in a bright button down and matching fanny pack with “Roma!” covering every available space on the cheap fabrics.
Lilith gave the shorter woman a once over. “The khaki shorts make you look like a 40 year-old, fat, American man.” She simply stated before turning away from the speechless idiot to see Beatrice enter the viewing space.
The grin that enveloped everyone’s faces made Beatrice want to melt to the floor. Why did she have to be sisters with truly evil individuals? She remembered why after meeting Ava’s eyes from across the room. She had the biggest smile on her face as she looked at Bea like she was the sun, not like she was a dubiously dressed nun. Despite the ridiculousness of the situation, and the burning of her face, she laughed when Camila happily clapped her hands.
“You look so… modern!”
Beatrice felt more glaringly obvious of her sexuality than anything else as she spun around to face the mirror on the adjacent wall. The rainbow shirt truly was a tad small, so unfortunately the smiley face was doomed to be hidden under a shirt, though the rainbow sleeves remained visible. The t-shirt was one she grabbed out of pure impulse. Usually she avoided bright colors and glaringly obvious signs towards who she really was, but Ava’s comments on her beauty changed something within her. So she grabbed the shirt, not knowing what she was proving. The center was adorned with a happy little rainbow with the words “love is love” lining the curve of colors. The shirt paired well and fit like a glove. And it was one of the most painful, scary things she’s ever done. How could one, cute little rainbow create such apprehension? So much hate and oppression and pain? For the longest time she avoided rainbows like her eyes were uncomprehending of color. But as she felt a hand on her shoulder and saw the shining face of Ava through the mirror, she only felt pride. As if pulled by a magnet, her sisters swarmed Beatrice and let out happy cries of joy as they hugged her tight. She couldn’t stop laughing and smiling, even as tears streamed down her face. Even the pitter patter of rain and tears couldn’t dim the happy little rainbow. She looked in the mirror yet again, and found herself unable to hate what she saw. What she saw was a happy family. And that was all she’s ever wanted.