Of Earrings
by kesiera
2/9/11
Disclaimer: nope, not mine. I'll even prove it.
x x x
She's twelve when the idea is first put into her head.
"Mirax, you don't look intimidating enough."
She almost drops the glass she's holding, "Intimidating Father?" she asks, leaning against the counter. "I'm a twelve-year-old girl, in case you hadn't noticed." Booster Terrik shakes his head and continues.
"That's just it Mirax, you look like a little girl. You know, long straight hair, pretty dresses… if you keep it up, people are going to keep treating you like a child. You're a woman now, soon you'll be making negotiations by yourself. Just something to think about." And with that, he got up and left the room.
Mirax stared after him, I do not look like a little girl, she thought determinedly.
But that didn't stop her from chopping her hair shorter that night, or donning one of her mother's old leather jackets.
x
When she's thirteen, she learns the meaning of the word "hardcore".
"Who are we dealing with today, daddy?" she asks her father from her seat in the navigator's chair.
"Oh, just your regular run-of-the-mill desperate," Booster replies, "he wants something, we can bring it to him, for a price of course. Don't let him fool you, as much as he'd love to be hardcore as kriff, he's much more afraid of you then you are of him."
"Hardcore, daddy?"
"Oh you know, tattoos, piercings, the works. But I know for a fact that this man is an oversized baby. Remember this: looks are the easiest way to intimidate someone."
Mirax doesn't reply (there often isn't a need to, with Booster), but she sits and ponders her father's words. And then it comes to her: she needs to be more "hardcore". Tattoos she doesn't find appealing, but piercings… piercings are perfect. She could make them subtle enough to be ladylike, yet they could give her exactly the edge she's been searching for.
Within thirty seconds, she's made her decision.
x
When she's thirteen and a half, she finally works up the courage to go through with it.
She's afraid, very afraid. But she has everything she needs: antibacterial fluid, needles, a washrag to bite down on (in case this ends up hurting more then she expects it to), and seven earrings lined up on her counter.
She hesitates as she picks up the first needle, one hundred questions running through her head. Should I have iced it first? I'm not going to pick up diseases from this, am I? She forces the thoughts to the back of her mind and plunges the first needle in.
It hurts less then she thought it would, so much less. There is a small pop, the feeling of liquid running down her hand, and a gasp that she's pretty sure came from her own mouth. Either way, the needle has gone cleanly through, and the breath she didn't realize she was holding has been released.
Mirax works quickly with the remaining six needles, until her ears are pink and swollen, with four and three needles sticking from her right and left lobes. She isn't sure whether they hurt… it feels more like someone has punched the tiny punctured spaces over and over.
After a few minutes, she slowly takes the first needle out, wincing as she replaces it with the tiny silver ball. "Sithspit," she mutters under her breath, each earring she shoves into her ear gets more and more painful. Sometimes she can't find the backside of the hole, and she twists the earring around so much that eventually a new one forms by itself. Finally, she pulls back and stares at her reflection in the mirror; swollen red ears filled with metal. The deed is done, and Mirax tells herself that she likes her appearance.
That night she rolls around in bed, trying to find a comfortable position that doesn't put pressure on her throbbing earlobes.
x
At age fourteen, she decides something's missing from her face.
She finds a needle, slightly thinner then the ones she used on her ears. Without even stopping to think, she thrusts it below and up, through her eyebrow.
This time, she doesn't even notice the pain.
(Her eyebrow stays swollen for a week)
x
She's fifteen years old when Booster is sent to Kessel.
He's given two days to set his affairs in order, Hal Horn is not so cruel that he would take a man away without letting him make arrangements for his young daughter. Mirax is grateful for the time (but vows that if she ever meets a Horn, she will let him know just how capable she is of taking care of herself, thank you very much). But that is irrelevant, and it takes her about an hour to realize what her father can give her to hold on to.
She finds Booster in the cockpit of the Pulsar Skate, saying his goodbyes. Mirax gets chills: tomorrow this ship will be hers. She isn't sure she wants that.
She hands him the needle, and makes her request.
He fingers the top shell of her ear, almost too lightly, and Mirax fears that the way he's touching her will make this hurt even more. But it doesn't, his feather-light touches have distracted her from the fact that he's neatly pushed the needle through the top of her ear.
This time, it doesn't hurt at all.
x
When Mirax is 25, she finds the strength to tell someone about her piercings.
She isn't sure what had stopped her before… she isn't ashamed of them, and she rather likes the way they look. Maybe it's that they were personal, something to keep to herself. Maybe it's that they were meant to intimidate (well, originally they were, she's come to terms with the fact that they had never really served that purpose). Either way, it's out in the open, and she wouldn't have it any other way.
Corran lies next to her, arms wrapped around her waist; tongue sensually tracing over every hole she's put into her body (she almost giggles when he sucks extra hard on the one Booster gave her). Eventually he finishes and kisses her softly on the lips.
He pulls back, " I like your piercings, Mirax."
She smiles, "I do too."
This time she means it.