old story, in an unused fandom. i live off terri windling. it gets messy.
Only reason I went to B-town was because I couldn't take the smell anymore. The iron, you know. Doesn't burn my skin so bad as it used to, but when the smell gets in my mouth it makes my throat hurt.
Not that it wasn't so different on the border. Still big pig-iron skyscrapers crowding the horizon, at least on the fringes. But once you get inside, the peoples' lights are so bright you forget everything else.
I was so dazzled I could hardly see where I was. The pavement under my feet jumped and danced to a faerie reel played by a street fiddler. My sneakers lost their grip and I started to fall, until someone caught me by the arm and set me straight.
He had eyes like diamonds, they shined so bright. He mumbled his name but I didn't catch it because my ears were only used to heavy iron words, not soft border ones. So he leaned close and said it again and I heard something blue and smoky. It made the hair on my arms stand up.
He smiled quiet and asked my name.
"Sophie…I think, I can't remember-" but he twirled me in a circle and I almost fell over, laughing, and forgot what he had asked.
I drank something at a bar, after that. It went down silky and a girl with a sour face sat down next to me on the bench. She said something to the boy with the diamond eyes and he laughed. It was too fast for me to hear, in the same soft, floating voice from the streets.
The boy grabbed my hand and I dropped my drink. We were back on the street. The fiddle music was tied up in something that sounded like the ocean and fireworks went off behind my eyes til I had to sit down. The boy got closer and I could finally hear his lazy voice.
"My friend, she says I should let you go because you're important. But I say you're nobody. That's your name now. If you're Nobody, we can be friends."
His voice was full of laughter and something that made me tired, but I got back on my feet. In a few quick turns and steps we were at a skinny little house, a few stories tall. It felt like a dance, it was done so gracefully. One two three and we were inside, then I was on something soft and my hair was brushed off my face. Something hit my lips, clumsy-like, but I ignored it. I was already too far under to think. The lights flickered and sleep pushed me down.