happyhuntressmay

[happyhuntressmay]

There was this conception people had about trans girls, Marigold found - an expectation, really....that making moves toward becoming yourself, really and truly, was the first step on a road toward a life of nothing but pink and frills and cooking and boys.

May had never really embraced that totally. She was a girl, well and truly, but she was still the same person. She liked to fight, she was a little too serious most times....and strong willed might be an understatement. Not at all what people thought of.

But that didn’t mean she didn’t like the stereotypical things. She liked them a lot, and despite apple red cheeks by the time the fitting was done, She thanked the salesgirl profusely, even bowing a few times.....would hugging her be appropriate? She didn’t think so. May handed her the money Fiona had foisted on her, with a grin of satisfaction. Even with the sale price, there wasn’t enough left for a cup of coffee, and she wanted to see Fiona’s face when she found out. She was so pleased and flustered she abruptly came to realise they’d left the shop while she was in a daze. Startling, she stumbled a little, catching onto the Red May to keep herself upright.

“You look lovely as I said. Now, I can make some alterations to that dress for you. Come here.” The shop keeper motioned for Marigold to walk over to her. “Alright, now let’s see what we can do shall we? You already look fabulous but fashion can always be improved.” Doing some measurements and taking out a few things to make minor adjustments, getting the dress to fit May a little better.

“I’m going to give you girls a bit of a discount on the dress and shoes just because I think this outfit is practically made for you.” She pulled out a few business cards, handing one to each of the “Mays”. “Remember, everyone deserves to look good without having to pay a fortune.” Ringing up a total which surprisingly wasn’t that bad. She had cut the price of the items in half.

[happyhuntressmay]

Before the Grimm could slash at May, something blocked it, it was Noir, and she looked furious as her closed up fan-blades had caught the claw, she'd push it back and opening the fan, would cut into the Grimm's neck, causing it to panic. "Leave, my, friends." With a big breath, she'd scream at the injured beast, sending flying back and fizzling into dust as Noir's semblance, sonic screaming, kicked in as she said "ALONE!"

May looked up, shaking sense back into her head - It'd been a lucky shot that had sent her tumbling end over end and laid out flat. These Grimm weren't particularly formidable, thank god, but there were so many of them lately.A solid hit had been bound to slip through, and one did. But before May could activate her semblance to avoid the followup, backup arrived?

Not Robyn or Joanna, who were working in a different area from May and Fiona, but who...? The fuzziness faded from her vision to resolve the new people, and May blinked in recognition. That was Noir, the woman she'd met on the streets! ....And kicking the holy hell out of the mob. Nice.

[happyhuntressmay]

May’s eyes widened in shock, and an almost hungry desperation - She was fortunate in most ways - HRT had kept her from progressing too far into masculine dimensions, but her feet had grown early. They weren’t TOO large - she fit most utilitarian footwear, but the prettier shoes seemed too petite for her.

These, though - She had to stop herself from snatching them out of the salesgirl’s hands, making a beeline to the nearest stool to get them on. “Oh my god....” May breathed as she stood up, looking down. the delicately pointed does of the heels peeking out from under the flare of the skirt of the pink dress. It was NOTHING like the clothes she normally wore, but they were so.....FUCKING PRETTY! She twisted her hips, the skirt flaring out a little. It wasn’t perfect, of course...she kind of wished the chest swelled out a little more, and a little more in the hip area wouldn’t go amiss....but she looked....right.

“Thank you....” She had to fight to keep her eyes from welling up a little, but she was grinning from ear to ear. “I love them....”

May looked through the shelves, not having any luck. After a moment the woman behind the counter walked over and asked what the size was. May whispered it to her. The woman nodded her head and walked into the back. After a few moments she walked out holding a box, handing it to Marigold. “Here you are dear, I believe these will fit just find. Just like the ones your girlfriend is holding.” Smiling and walking back to the counter.

May had to stop herself from clapping. “Oh! See they do have your size, come on sit down and try them on! I bet they are going to look amazing with that dress. Probably not the most comfortable things ever but you know how it goes, fashion can be painful. Nothing some inserts can’t fix.” This coming from a woman who barely wore heels at all.

[happyhuntressmay]

Marigold struggled a moment - but she gave in to the encouragement of the sales girl and her gorgeous redheaded date and smiled at them both. “Thank you so much...I love it,” She admitted - it almost felt like a confession, really. The idea of pumps brought her up short, and she bit her lip. “Are you sure? My feet are kind of...” She gestured, but the Red May’s enthusiasm swept them both into the shoe department before she knew it, and it was the moment of truth when the other May asked about her shoe size. Hedging, she moved over to the other woman, and embarrassedly whispered her size into May Zedong’s ear... “Oh god, they ARE cute, but they’ll never fit me...”

“Oh my god you look perfect!” She smiled brightly and clapped her hands. Marigold looked absolutely brilliant in that dress. Sure it could be altered slightly but it didn’t need very much. She giggled as she watched the other May spin around, the skirt flaring out a bit.

The sales person smiled “You know how many people do that? And say that exact same line? It never gets old. You look marvelous sweetheart. Why don’t you try and find some shoes to match. We’ve got a nice selection of pumps. Wide range of sizes as well. You’d be surprised.”

May practically rushed over to where the shoes were to try and find something. “What’s your size?” Looking back and smiling again. “Oh look at these, they would match. Oh I love the little bows on the ankle straps!”

[happyhuntressmay]

May Marigold was well used to holding up her trans status to hide from more standard femininity. Not that she didn’t want it...Honestly, she loved it. Even losing that bet with Harriet and coming to a formal dance in maid’s dress was a thrill - and she thought she was even pretty good at makeup and the like....but she could never quite overcome the hurdle that she wasn’t as pretty as the women who were assigned properly at birth, no matter how she wanted to be. But if you avoided the really pretty things, it was less obvious, right? Sure I’m not cute, I’m dressed in a fighting outfit~

But the other May didn’t even let her explain, and now, here she was, in a dressing room with the most overtly pretty dress she’d even SEEN in a long while. She wanted to put it on but she dreaded seeing it on herself.

Well....If I just don’t look in the mirror, maybe? It’s a REALLY cute dress....No time to waste - the redhead was waiting...

Momentarily, May Marigold emerged from the dressing room, blushing darkly, but at the same time, smiling widely. It felt so good....SHE felt good in it. Sure, she had carefully avoided looking at the mirror so she could feel good, but.... She laughed a little, and lifting one foot, she spun on the ball of the other, the skirt of the dress flaring out around her hips as she twirled.

“Skirt go spinny~”

“Oh it’ll be fine. Trust me.” Practically pushing her over to the dressing rooms and smiling. “The dress is gorgeous, you’re gorgeous, it’s a perfect fit.” The person behind the counter made a casual comment that they could alter nearly everything in the store so if something was an awkward fit it could easily be changed.

“After you try on the dress we’ll see if we can get a pair of pumps for you to try. Might as well go for the whole outfit right. I mean if you’re wearing it out you wanna wear some tights with it but you probably have some at home right?” Not like they couldn’t buy any.

“Ok, enough talk. Let’s go.” Closing the dressing room door and standing outside to wait.

[happyhuntressmay]

Oh this was a NICE little store. How had she never been in here before?

May couldn’t help looking around as the other May - Red May? Ooh, that was good, maybe she’d call her Red so it didn’t get odd - led her around. The clothes were like....the opposite of Atlas’ cutting edge fashion, so Marigold liked them immediately, even if she had rather severe doubts about her ability to carry off these looks very well.

“You think so?” She asked uncertainly, fingering the dress almost longingly. “It’s gorgeous, but I’m not sure I have the figure to do this dress justice...I’ll try it on for you, though - just promise not to laugh.” 

She seemed to waste no time dragging the other May around the store. Looking at this and that. Holding things up to see what might look good. She was no fashion expert but she could figure it out. Eventually she pulled her over to the dresses, finding that pink one she had mentioned earlier. She held it up. “Look at this, isn’t it adorable.” 

A vintage number to say the least. A light pink “swing” dress with white buttons and a white collar. “It’s cool if it’s not your thing but you could totally rock something like this. And they are priced pretty fairly compared to some high end looks.”

She went back to glancing around. “Oh they’ve got a cute little pair of pumps that would look great with it. Do me a favor and at least try the dress on? I promise I won’t badger you about buying it but I at least want to see how you look.”

[happyhuntressmay]

“That’s by design.”

Marigold had fallen into step beside the redhead, a small, bewildered, but very happy smile on her face. She didn’t really know what to say, but the mood didn’t seem to need her to add to the conversation. It was so unreal. If it wasn’t for Fiona’s desperate love of seeing her panic, she would suspect the Sheep faunus had put the other May up to being so nice...and attractive...and...

She shook her head to clear it just as the other mentioned the weather, which was fortunate timing to save her the embarrassment of actually saying what she was thinking.

“The only thing Atlas really does for us is keep the power grid running so it’s not offensively cold to be outside.” She commented, hoping it was at least cold enough to disguise that her red cheeks were not a product of the weather.

“Oh?” May looked at the store, and to her surprise, she hadn’t been to the store either. Or even seen it, for that matter. She followed the other May in, a little meekly.

“Sorry, guess I was just a bit too quick on the draw. Tell you what, you can pay for the next one if you want.” Truth is, she’d probably offer to pay all the time but she learned that wasn’t exactly the best thing to do. Sometimes she had to let someone else take care of things. “Oh I’m not going to be disappointed, believe me.”

A short walk seemed just what she needed..especially after the food she just inhaled. “Least the weather has been cooperating. I don’t mind it being a little chilly out but it’s not completely freezing. It’s one of two things back home..blistering hot or bone chilling cold.” Ah the fun of living in a desert.

“Anyway this is the place!” It seemed to be…sort of a thrift shop but the items were all new. Just a place that specialized in vintage style..or so they claimed. She smiled as the little bell above the door dinged. “Cool, never actually been in here before.” Various dresses on mannequins, racks of shoes, racks of hats, a section in the back dedicated to lingerie. The store seemed quite clean and well organized.

[happyhuntressmay]

May blushed and shrugged as she hurriedly tried to match the other May’s pace, though the redhaired woman had not been kidding in the slightest when she’d said she was hungry.

She nodded in agreement, swallowing hard to get the food out of her mouth before replying, even though she suspected May wouldn’t have minded - but she would. Even though this was going better than her wildest dreams, she still wanted...needed to make a good impression.

“I know about feeling lonely.” She agreed softly, feeling her heart ache a little at the way May said that. “Well, don’t worry about that on my end, either. Call anytime.” She invited.

Somewhat more slowly, May finished her own food, her eyes widening as May reached into her pockets. “Wait, wait, I can pay this one-” Marigold protested, trailing off as Zedong’s money hit the table before she could get her own. “Orrrr you could beat me to it.” She said lamely, her cheeks reddening as the Red May commented.

“Well....I hope you won’t be disappointed.” She murmured.

“Nothing.” She smirked and went back to her food. By now she’d finished the burger and was about half way done with her salad. Seems she wasn’t kidding about being hungry. “I doubt it, I wouldn’t have given you the info if I thought I was going to regret it. Besides, I don’t really have many people I talk to so even if you think you’re being clingy I’ll appreciate the conversation. Can get slightly lonely when you’re traveling.”

“Well that makes two of us, I mean I haven’t had a date in a while but my last one wasn’t as good as this one. Admittedly, I’m trying my best not to make an idiot of myself. You ever get in a fight with your own brain over what to say? All the flirting and jokes have to go through a “don’t say that, she’ll think it’s dumb” mental check before I say anything.” Laughing and shaking her head.

“Anyway we both seem to be about done. I’m itching to see you try on a few things.” Finishing her salad and fishing some lien out of her pocket to pay the bill.

[happyhuntressmay]

Marigold relaxed a little - oh good, the comment hadn’t been taken wrong. She managed a proper smile now, picking at her food with a little more energy. Oof, that tasted way too good. How hungry was she?

She paused mid forkful, giving the other May a wide-eyed look. “Wait...less fun? What were you imagining?” She wondered, then shook her head, blinking in surprise as her scroll buzzed, and she opened it to see the contact information for a May Zedong added to her scroll.

She gave her date another smile, though shy again. “You might end up regretting that soon -” May replied. “I never was very good at knowing where the line between friendly and clingy is. But thank you!”

She grinned a little and looked up at the other woman. “Although you might be a bit modest using the word ‘if’. This is already going great for me.”

“Interesting story, less fun than what I pictured in my head but still interesting. Not that I don’t appreciate a good military rivalry story though.” Stopping to eat more of her burger, and salad. Seemed despite eating all of those pastries earlier she was still hungry.

She had to smile when May made that comment. She liked this girl and was glad to see her trying to flirt back..at least a little bit. “Oh, well I’m sure I could send you home with a few more things. Would be rude of me not to..” She smirked and brought up her contact info on her scroll, using the transfer function to send it to her date’s scroll.

“There, now you know how to get ahold of me. In case this ends up going extremely well and you end up wanting a second date. Or you just want someone to talk to, I’m always good for that.”

[happyhuntressmay]

May wondered vaguely if the blush was going to be permanently stuck on her face. It seemed that way. “Um....yeah. I mean no! I like pink, I really do. It just wasn’t modelling.”

She flushed. “I used to be an Atlas Military specialist,” She began cautiously, “I didn’t get along with a....let’s call her an ‘aggressively tomboyish’ girl in my class. Our fighting culiminated in a lot of posturing and betting. One let me shave her head, and the other let her pick my outfit for a formal occaision. Sky high heels were part of it. I think she was mad my balance was good enough I didn’t have a huge problem with them.”

May picked at her salad, glancing up through her bangs at the other May’s comment at the end. “Oh! I like that one.” She commented impulsively, then half smiled. “After all this, I’ll be pretty disappointed if that’s all you send me home with...”

How does flirt work? She thought frantically. Was that too much? Should I clarify I don’t need sex I’ll be happy with her phone number? Aggh Maybe Fi was right I need more socialization...

She didn’t even seem all that bothered by May’s response. “Oh, “fuck me” pumps?” Taking a bite of her salad “You know, wear em for looks and nothing else? Usually you’re not standing.” Wasn’t anything she hadn’t heard of before. “It’s either that or someone wanted you to model some clothes..which I couldn’t blame them because look at you..”

“That seems like a boring answer though, the first one is more fun. What is this dress..really garlicy..” Switching subjects as she went back to the salad. “Not bad but wow. OH right anyway, if pink isn’t good we can try something else. I am going to send you home with a cute dress, and shoes though.”

[happyhuntressmay]

Why isn’t tickling an option here?

Fiona has appeared

What to do?

Scare

Ravish

Kick

Kiss on the cheek

[happyhuntressmay]

May and Winter childhood friends-to-lovers-to-enemies narrative really needs more appreciation

Once upon a time they were basically the Prince and Princess of Atlas and were very much encouraged to spend time together by their respective asshole families and were only just short of literally betrothed from birth and then May said “actually you know what fuck all of this I’m going to Mantle to help the oppressed who this lifestyle was stolen from Winter will you come with me” and Winter was like “sorry General Ironwood’s wanted me to be the Winter Maiden since he found out what my name was and I’ve decided to become a fascist to cope” and May said “cool go to hell then” and backflipped off the side of Atlas.

A year later Winter finds out May’s name is May, she’s a girl, Second Puberty™ is hitting her like a truck, she’s in a revolutionary polycule with three of the most beautiful women in Remnant, and Winter’s desperately trying to pretend she isn’t jealous because she can’t understand it, she made all the right choices and May made all the wrong ones so why is May happy when she isn’t?

[happyhuntressmay]

Wait....that’s IT??

May was utterly perplexed. Had she actually slipped on the winter ice and cracked her head or something? Maybe that was it. She was on the sidewalk or in the hospital or something. This was all a fever dream because...well, Fiona was right, she was completely and wildly repressed, and meeting a really hot woman with her own name who didn’t care that she was trans was definitely in the realm of ‘never ever gonna happen’.

Wait, May was saying something. Even if this was a dream, ....Marigold wouldn’t let go of it this easily.

“Oh....um, I’ve....tried heels a few times.” She replied. her cheeks burning. She didn’t want to go into detail about that. “The height didn’t seem to bother me, but I didn’t do a lot of real walking in them.” please don’t ask

She was about to comment on the pink when the food arrived, and thankful to have something else to put in her mouth besides her foot, She immediately tucked in. “Yeah, food in Mantle just hits different than fancy dinners,” May agreed after she swallowed her first bite. “High quality ingredients are nice, but you can tell Atlas chefs don’t really care.”

“Alright cool.” She went back to flipping through dresses on her scroll. Sure she was happy May told her that but it wasn’t something that bothered her, she didn’t see May any different than she did a few seconds ago. “What kind of colors do you like? I really wanna try pink, there’s a super cute dress down at this shop that I think you’d be able to rock. Pair it with some heels…hey do you stick to low heels or can you handle higher ones?”

May smiled when her food was dropped off. Wasting no time and taking a large bite out of the burger. “Think that one is yours.” Pointing as the waitress put ..the other May’s plate in front of her. “Looks pretty good. Tellin ya, this kind of food is way better than all that fancy stuff. Not that I mind that either but jeez, I don’t wanna bankrupt myself over one meal.” 

[happyhuntressmay]

omg robyn can you even remember what you were going to say you’re so gay

[happyhuntressmay]

“Oh?” Marigold perked up at the suggestion. She didn’t consider herself a fashionista of any sort, but she’d always been sort of interested in clothes and outfits - ever since she could remember first realizing there were clothes that were considered ‘off limits’ for the gender her family had assigned....no, enforced.

She was living as herself now, but she’d never really pursued that - For many reasons....practicality and cost, mainly, but she could just HEAR the return of Joanna calling her Princess again if she got too into it.

The Scroll was a revelation. Not precisely the high end fashion she’d seen on girls from Atlas, but it was almost better, somehow, with the fluffy skirts and snatched waists-

“What did you call this? Vintage?” May wondered aloud, scrolling...Shit, these are really CUTE. I -want-. Wait, what did she just....say she’d go home with me?!

May squeaked, nearly dropping the redhead’s Scroll, and she made a frantic move to make sure it didn’t hit the table, juggling it for a moment as her cheeks turned bright pink. Oh my god, did I slip and fall and I’m dreaming of everything I’ve ever wanted or something?

“I...” May bit her lip. “Not to make this overly serious or anything, because n-nothing would make me happier-you’re REALLY hot....but I should warn you, you might not want to come home with me....I...”

Part of her SCREAMED not to bring it up yet - this was going so well....not only was she talking to a really gorgeous redhead and being treated like a girl without having to fight for it, but the other May seemed interested! but the practical part of her knew that if she didn’t get it out now, it would be more heartbreaking later. “I’m trans....transgender.”

“No not…well I guess sometimes but not exactly.” She didn’t fault the girl for not knowing, it wasn’t really something a lot of people found interesting to say the least. She pulled out her scroll and brought up a few pictures as an example, handing the scroll over. “Here, check these out. This is what I mean. You’d look great!”

“I know how that goes, not a lot of disposable income either but I think we deserve to buy ourselves something nice every now and again right? Otherwise what’s the point? We earn the lien, we need to be happy about how we spend it at times, otherwise it’s just bills, weapons, ammo, you know..boring stuff.”

“We’ll eat and then go see what we can find, I’m sure I can send you home with something nice. If you’re lucky I might send you home with me too.” Winking at the poor girl who she knew was already flustered.

[happyhuntressmay]

May’s...that is, May Marigold’s eyes widened at the red headed May’s suggestion of sharing a mint, and, and...

Wait, how would that even work you can’t bite those in half - Wait.

Her mind abruptly conjured a vivid image of the redhead, fingers in May’s hair, kissing her to pass the mint....and May’s cheeks abruptly went scarlet, and the wink just....Just made it so much worse.

“I-I don’t really know,” May admitted, focusing on the non flirtatious comment, trying to organize her thoughts. “I mean, There are lots of clothes that are cute but I don’t have a lot of disposable income for that sort of thing, so I haven’t given it much thought until Fi....forced the issue,” She murmured, glancing at her purse. “What do you mean by vintage, exactly? From the thrift shops?”

I feel like a fraud not being more fluent in fashion....but that doesn’t make me any less of a girl! God, I hope she thinks so too - holy shit I’m thinking of telling her on the first date? OMG I’M ON A DATE

“No, not particularly hiding it well. It was fairly easy to tell about three seconds after I met you, if that.” Putting the menu down and smiling. “But like I said, if I didn’t think you were cute or I didn’t like your personality I wouldn’t be here right now so I think you’re doing a pretty good job so far.”

“Oh the garlic isn’t too bad. I always make sure to have some mints on me for such an occasion.” Pulling a small tin out of her pocket and opening it. “Problem is, I’ve only got one left so I think we’d have to share.” Closing the tin and winking at May.

“Oh, right.” Putting her order in when the waitress showed up and handing over the menu. “So you said you have to do some clothes shopping. What kind of things are you thinking about.” Taking a long look at May and tilting her head. “How do you feel about vintage..I know a style I think that would look absolutely gorgeous on you..”

[happyhuntressmay]

May’s distressed expression at blurting out her thoughts morphed into a startled expression as the redheaded girl didn’t criinge at her accidental thought - her eyes went wide and her mouth froze in a startled ‘o’.

Holy Shi-

She didn’t even let herself finish the thought, lest she completely freeze up. Was this even real? Wait, had she frozen up already?

Marigold coughed, her semblance making her flicker from view momentarily before she solidified back into view. “I....I guess I’m not hiding the fact I think you’re cute very well, huh.” She murmured sheepishly.

Flirting lines, flirting lines....Marigold thought frantically before the ‘other’ May moved back to the topic of food, and she seized on that instead. “Salads are pretty great though. I love a good caesar, and -”

May bit her lip in thought - actually saying what she was thinking had worked out decently so far, so maybe....? “On second thought, you might never want to catch me if I h-have all that garlic?” She offered to the other woman, ducking her chin and watching for a reaction through the hair that fell into her eyes.

She smirked and looked across the table as the woman said her comment. She knew it wasn’t something that May planned to say out loud but these types of things always amused her. “I wouldn’t have asked you out if I didn’t think you were cute. Just don’t make it too easy to find you, sometimes the chase is the best part of the game..”

Going back to the menu as if nothing had happened. “Yeah I think I’ll get a burger..maybe skip the fries and order a salad. I swear they try to trick you with that though. You order a salad and they ask if you want all this stuff on it. If it’s not a meal version of a salad..I don’t want a thousand things on it..at that point my side salad stops being a side and a salad..”