Author's note: Thanks to Keysburg/katiekeysburg for the beta!
"Oh, there you are," Zari said, stepping into the medbay. "I was looking for you. The others..."
She halted as Charlie turned around, her face in full view. It held a wide, triumphant smile, and also, a beard.
It wasn't some fuzz, or a false beard, or anything like that. A full but definitely natural beard, curling in a well-trimmed curve across the cheeks into the moustache, and then cut off in a square shape by the chin, giving her jaw a more masculine look.
"What... is that?"
"It's a beard, what does it look like?" Charlie stroked it slowly and held up her phone so she could admire herself in the camera.
"Why?"
"I figured it was time for a change. I've been in this body for ages, and there's not much progress on the shapeshifting front. So I thought, if Gideon could stimulate Ray's hair follicles and give him that awful moustache, she could do the same to me." Catching Zari's expression, Charlie rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. Haven't you ever wanted to change up your style a little?"
"Yeah, but not with a beard."
"Well, you should try it some time. I'm sure Gideon could stimulate your hair follicles too."
"Of course," Gideon chimed in. "Although an adjustment of the hormone levels could be required, since Miss Tomaz is in possession of ovaries."
"I'm good, thanks," Zari said. "Wait. You don't have ovaries?"
Charlie scoffed. "Why would I? I never bother with that stuff if I can help it."
Zari had never contemplated Charlie's reproductive organs before. Now it raised all kinds of questions. What else didn't she have? Since Constantine had stuck her with mortality, she had to have all the parts necessary to sustain life, but that didn't cover sex organs, did it? Did she even have genitals, or was she all smooth like a store mannequin? But that would be ridiculous.
Apparently, Zari's thoughts were evident in her expression, because Charlie smirked.
"Oh, don't worry, I did add the vagina."
"I didn't... that's not..." How would Charlie even know what Amaya's vagina looked like? It would have to be a more general version, Charlie's own idea of the perfect vagina... and she did say 'add'. As in, it wasn't usually there. That was an even more unsettling thought. "What... are you? When you're... you?"
"I'm a shapeshifter," Charlie said, eyebrows rising. "Thought we were caught up on that part."
"Yeah, but..."
"Oh, I see what this is!" Charlie was laughing now, and Zari's cheeks were burning in response. "Man – or woman? It doesn't work like that, you wanker. That's like asking if your real shirt is red or green. I mimic things. It's what I do. Doesn't even have to be humans."
"What about reproduction?" Zari asked, which was really too nosy, but all this was too fascinating to leave alone.
"Why, you want to reproduce?"
Standing so close now, with those glittering dark eyes and the wicked smile, face changed and widened by the beard so it wasn't quite Amaya anymore. Still beautiful. Unsettling.
"How would that even work?"
"It wouldn't," Charlie admitted. "I'd have to make the physical adjustments, and I'm not at that level of control yet. Anyway, even at the best of times, it's tricky with non-shapeshifters. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't." She reached out her hand to stroke a lock of hair away from Zari's face. "We'd make a beautiful baby, though."
"As long as you carry it," Zari bit back, eyes fixed on those soft fingers. "You ever had a baby?"
"Not that I carried." Charlie's eyes were far away, though her hand was still in Zari's hair. "With another shapeshifter, a long time ago. We talked it out and decided Elian would carry. That was the mother's name, Elian."
"What happened to her?" Funny, that she'd never thought of Charlie as having any sort of previous attachments. People she had loved, and lost, just like the rest of them.
"Nothing. I'm the one who was stuck in a hell dimension." Charlie shrugged, as if to shake off the memories, and let her hand drop. Zari kind of missed its touch. "And a couple of times before that, I've cloned myself. Which is less work, really."
"You can do that?"
"Sure. But I'm not the easiest to get along with, even for me. Don't know if you've noticed."
"Believe me, I have." Framed by the beard and still with dark red lipstick, her mouth was more pronounced. Like a target, directing the gaze.
Charlie cocked her head and fired off a smile that made Zari wonder if the whole fallen angel concept wasn't such a load of bullshit after all. "I've never asked what gender you're into. Humans are very particular about that, aren't they?"
"Not all humans." Zari tried to shrug off the effect of that smile. "Anyway, it's been a long while since I was with anyone at all."
"Care to change that?"
That was the question, wasn't it? They were past the point of cutting remarks and veiled flirtations. Either she had to acknowledge what was going on, and let it happen, or cut it off entirely.
"Maybe."
Weak, Tomaz. Really weak.
Charlie cupped a hand around Zari's chin, and Zari just let her.
"Hmm... You don't strike me as someone who doesn't know what they want. Is it 'cause of the Amaya thing? Do I need a longer beard? Or is it religious? I suppose it wouldn't be allowed."
"What?" Zari asked, her arms still hanging by her sides like a pair of drooping stockings on a clothesline, while Charlie's caress got more enticing by the second. "Hooking up with women, with djinns, or outside of marriage? Because no, pretty much all of that is frowned upon."
"I'm not a djinn."
"Theologically speaking, you are."
"Well, that's racist," said Charlie dispassionately. "Is that what this is, then? Religious qualms?"
"I'm not a fundamentalist," Zari protested. "I make my own choices."
"So..."
A flash of impatience rose up within Zari. What on earth was she waiting for? She'd pretty much already stated her choice, hadn't she?
She grabbed hold of Charlie's shoulders and pulled her the last few inches closer, catching that smirking mouth in her own.
The beard scratched at her face, and there was a faint taste of something strong that she suspected was alcoholic. Another mark on the list of haram things about all this, then, but Zari was beyond caring. Because despite that taste, and the scratching, and the slight discomfort that Charlie still looked so much like Amaya... this was a great kiss. Just the right amount of pressure from that soft mouth, with little teasing licks that got Zari's nerves buzzing with pleasure all the way down to her toes. She kissed back with all she could and let her hands slide down to hold on to those glorious hips – which she would not be thinking of as Amaya's hips, thank you very much. Charlie's one hand was in Zari's hair, and the other around her ass, both adding even more to the sensation.
Eventually, they broke off the kiss, without letting go of each other's bodies.
"Yeah," Zari said, licking her lips. "That beard's going to take some getting used to."
Charlie's smile was a lot gentler now. "I may not keep it forever. Just trying it on for a spin."
"Good."
"Was there anything you wanted, anyway? When you came to see me?"
"Oh. That. The others are playing beer pong in the library. Want to join in?"
"I take it you're not joining?"
"It's beer pong. So no."
"Well then," Charlie said, pinching Zari's ass slightly. "Then I say we go on with our other forbidden pleasures, right here. What do you say?"
"Sounds like a plan," Zari said, and leaned in for another kiss.