Karolina liked it here, in this town and with these people. It was nice to live in a time where all she had to do was look pretty in a salon and attract customers. Nobody expected much from her, which was good. She didn't want to get close and personal with any of the men here (but she kept that quiet).
She liked to just sit on top of the piano and look around the salon most times, just observing all the different people. Nobody ever really caught her eye though.
That is, until a strange looking fella walked in.
He didn't look comfortable walking around in his clothes at all, and he seemed a little out of place anyways. He was darker than dark, and already that was attracting a few looks. He didn't seem to care. He didn't have any weapons on him either, just his hands. He walked up to the bar and asked something in hushed tones to the bar tender before eyeing everyone.
Including her.
Especially her.
He stared at her, wide eyed, and she was already squirming slightly. She hated it when men ogled at her and her attire. Yes, it was revealing. That was her job. Yes, she was meant to show all this skin.
But he walked up to her, took a hand out, and smiled gently. (There was something so…non-male…about his smile).
"May I ask the lady's name?" he asked.
She smiled back and took his hand gently in her own.
"Karolina."
-0-
He never told her his name. He told her that she probably couldn't pronounce it. He hated the clothes that he wore because they were a bit too small and that's why he walked so oddly. He didn't like to drink, just water, and something from a hip flask he always carried around with him. He had a wonderful white horse that he let her ride around on once (her first time on a horse). She asked him how long he planned on staying in town, and he just shrugged.
He was probably just passing by anyways.
-0-
They became fast friends, and Karolina was glad that there was nothing more he wanted from her. She liked having a male friend who wasn't Chase. He meant well, but sometimes he was a bit of a dunce.
This strange new friend of hers, who finally caved and told her to call him X, was a relief from the men she normally kept company with.
He took her to his apartment once after a long day out on his horse and told her to stay for dinner. She was frightened at first, but he kept his distance and even slept on the floor when it got dark so she could take his bed.
But when she woke up in the morning, he was already gone on his horse somewhere.
-0-
He came back hours later, when it was dark, and she was settled down in his bed. She didn't like to leave his house without seeing him again, and she figured she could just wake up early in the morning and say goodbye before she left. She fell asleep before he came back home, and woke up early the next morning, early enough that there was still a small shape on the floor beside the bed.
A shape a little…too small…
She got up and walked over to the shape, hoping not to disturb whoever it was before she wanted it to be disturbed. She poked it with her toe, and a small grunt came out of its mouth. She unfurled the dark blue blanket over its face and was…
Well.
Shocked.
X had somehow been replaced by a woman who looked exactly like he would. Well, if he was a woman, that is. Karolina stared at her for ages, which was probably what woke up this strange woman.
Who yelped and jumped three feet in the air before scuttling backwards rapidly.
"Karolina you can't just do that!" she chastised.
All Karolina could mutter was "X? Is that you?"
-0-
Karolina learnt more about X – Xavin – than she had garnered she ever would. She was a man because it was safer. But she was really a woman. And she wasn't from around these parts or any parts near, really. She was an alien (what a strange word) from a planet she couldn't remember.
But she was a woman.
And to be honest that was all that mattered to her.