A/N: Banter heals all wounds.
It was horribly surreal, going back to princess charm school life after a night like that. She sat there in the brightly lit classroom, stubbornly ignoring all the stares she was receiving for the state of her face, which she had tried to patch with makeup but she could only do so much. She'd only just managed to slip back into school in time, but hadn't had time to wash off the scent of dirt, sweat and alcohol that still clung to her, a constant reminder of how she'd been forced to earn the money she'd needed.
It had one plus side, in that now people were quiet around her, not asking questions when she was clearly in such a state, either keeping away because of the smell or because of the mess her face was in. Naturally Marian, whose pride had been hurt from yesterday –that fight seemed so far away and meaningless now- still scorned her relentlessly, but it no longer had any effect. What were a few cruel words and threats compared to having your body and soul broken?
During study period, when everyone was gathered in the library, Christie was surprised to find Isabelle coming over and sitting next to her, a large history book detailing human sacrifice through the ages dumped down before her. "Marian can be a real bitch, can't she?" Isabelle commented wryly, not looked over at Christie for a moment, raising her eyebrows when she did.
Not having the energy to say anything particularly interesting back, Christie, -who had her arms folded on the table and her head rested in them, trying to sleep to make up for the lack of it last night- just shrugged. "Yep."
"You're kind of a bitch too," Isabelle continued to observe, sounding perfectly calm and non-offensive as she insulted her.
Twisting her head sideways to now look at her unexpected companion, Christie frowned. "I find it difficult to respond to that," She confessed dully, realising she wasn't being insulted when a playful smirk broke out over Isabelle's face.
"Want to be twisted, cruel beings together?" She proposed. She was offering Christie a chance to vent, not asking her how she'd gotten her war wounds, but giving her a chance to heal them in a way that her body could not.
Smiling slowly, gratefulness managing to worm its way through the black, hollow sensation inside her chest, she sat up. "I find you're making me an offer I can't refuse," she replied with a sardonic smirk, looking Isabelle over and deciding that whilst it was great that everyone else had a curiosity for her because they all thought she was some lost princess, this was the kind of person she wanted, and now needed, to be her friend.
"Excellent, because Abigail has been getting on my last damn nerve recently." And just like that, they were friends, calmly quipping insults about other people and the disaster of a world around them as though they were old hands at it.
Alex had completely stopped sitting on chairs when it came down to Christian's room, for he had discovered crashing on the bed gave him the advantage of a safe distance from the irritable cross-dresser, as well as the ability to study him carefully. For today, that was particularly important, for the transvestite's appearance was unusually alarming.
Decorating his skin were bruises and cuts, going up his exposed forearms and disappearing under the rolled up shirt sleeves, patterning his neck and colouring his face, which in the garish light of the desk lampshade he'd turned on to work with, looked like the sorts of wounds you'd see in a gore-filled horror film.
When Alex had asked about them, he'd simply been told to fuck off and mind his own business, and he could tell from the harsh, icy tone that Christian had used that he was not to press the matter further. Never before had he heard him be quite so cold or so furious, and yet there'd been an unnerving shake in his voice that meant Alex almost felt guilty for bringing it up.
To try and cover up his mishap of asking something that was not meant to be asked, he tried to fill the tense silence with some meaningless, pointless light-hearted conversation instead. "Can you sing?" He asked randomly, because a question like that couldn't offend anyone.
"What?" Christian sighed after a moment, not his usual snappy or aggressively cheerful self today. He had dark, stormy bags under his eyes and he moved and spoke lethargically, yet Alex had a feeling it went beyond tiredness, hence the reason he was trying to cheer him up by distracting him.
"Can you sing?" He repeated, grinning as he did so in an attempt to heal Christian with the sheer willpower of unrelenting cheeriness.
"What, no, why?" Christian practically stuttered, and Alex just smiled smugly since it seemed he'd successfully distracted hm.
"Just curious," He mused gleefully, giving Christian his best happy face.
It seemed things started going wrong when Christian narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "You're doing that stereotyping thing again aren't you?" He accused him slowly, although Alex tried to stay positive by the fact that he sounded a little less tired before, and a little more angry. He'd learnt by now that Christie seemed to enjoy getting angry.
"No, I just wondered," He assured him, trying to breeze over it with another innocent smile, but Christian's expression darkened, and this time it wasn't his usual hot, determined anger, it was something unnervingly deeper than that and his expression held no humour or passion whatsoever.
"Can you stop fucking assuming all this shit about me just because I cross-dress?" Christian demanded tightly, his words bitten and trembling with an anger that Alex had a feeling involved more than just him now.
Backing off, uncomfortable with how this had gone rapidly downhill, Alex tried to apologise with his expression. "Jesus, I wasn't."
"Yes, you were."
Sighing heavily in exasperation, Alex's own patience ran dry and he glared stubbornly back at Christian, deciding that for this one time, he was going to stand up for himself, since there was nothing good or positive about the anger he was facing. "Christ, why do you always get so bitchy the second I say something about you that could be seen as the slightest bit stereotypical?" He demanded hotly, his cheeks and ears flaring with flush as he felt his chest clench uncomfortably.
"Because I don't like the idea of you making me some stereotype figurine in your head. It's fucking degrading." Christian snarled back aggressively, the hand he had holding the back of his chair clenched so tightly his knuckles were sheet white and he was visibly shaking.
Drawing back slightly, Alex just stared at him, confused and slightly scared of what was happening. Normally it was just banter, no harm done. Something had happened though -and Alex would be damned if it didn't have something to do with those bruises- that had really gotten to Christian. Nothing ever got to Christian, no matter how many insults were flung at him by the other girls or how rude Alex was to him, he always either laughed or bitched it off. Honestly, the idea of anything breaking him scared Alex.
"I don't," He whispered quietly, dropping his eyes to his lap as he fumbled with his fingers, his body curling in on itself slightly in an attempt to shield itself.
"Yes, you do, you have this little image of-" Christian started to rant as usual, but this time it was Alex who cut him off.
"No, I don't. I mean, I did, but you kind of violently trampled it long ago." Smirking softly, he glanced back up at Christian to see if he was still going to bite his head off. He seemed to have relaxed just a little bit, although he was still scowling.
"Then why did you ask me if I could sing?" He inquired, his voice a little more patronising than before, which in his case was a good sign. It was far better than the raw, cold hurt that had been shaking through his voice before.
Trying to coax him back into being his usual self again, Alex forced himself to grin and roll his eyes. "Because Christian, I was just curious. It was something to ask."
"Right," Christian murmured sarcastically, but Alex didn't know whether he believed him or not since instead of glowering at him, he was now wearing a bemused smirk and had his eyebrows arched as always.
"Sheesh, you're impossible sometimes!" Alex exclaimed to seal the deal of bringing this all back to the safety of being all in good humour, rather than whatever they had managed to slip into. It clearly wasn't something Christian wanted to discuss, so he would keep out of it.
"What can I say? I try my best."
That confirmed they were back in the safety zone, and Alex felt himself relaxing, smiling at the familiarity of the comfort of comedy. Glancing back over at Christian, who'd now turned back to his work, diligently filling out his homework wordlessly, Alex watched him silently. An odd, unwelcome lump started forming in his throat as he was made very aware that the cheerful bitchiness was just a defensive mechanism for Christian for the darker side that he had just witnessed.
Swallowing back the unwanted bout of sympathy, knowing that was the kind of thing that Christian would bluntly reject, he did his best to maintain their safety net. "No fucking kidding," He teased dryly, settling back into a slouch, although he kept his eyes fixed on the back of Christian's head. Gasping with mocking theatricality, Christian twisted round and grinned wickedly at him. It seemed his distracting him had worked rather well.
"Oh my, a swear word! Don't let mummy catch you," He jeered easily, both making Alex laugh and pout at the same time.
"Talk about hypocrisy much?" He muttered under his breath, keeping it quiet in case it ended up triggering another bout of antagonism from Christian, which he wasn't sure he could handle again without crying like a small child.
"What?" Unfortunately, it seemed the cross-dresser's Vulcan-hearing meant he'd picked up on it all the same.
Sighing, knowing he'd never get out of this one alive now, Alex avoided his eyes again, picking at his nails to distract himself. "You do it way more than I do, the little picture in your head of me thing," He pointed out a little meekly, his cheeks flushing scarlet as he did so as he awaited the ranting and raging that was bound to follow.
"I was just teasing you Alex," Christian assured him gently instead, and when Alex looked up he was spinning around in his chair, his legs tucked up onto the seat and he looked perfectly relaxed.
Shocked at how well his cheering-up routine appeared to have worked, Alex supposed that since he already had Christian in the playful joking stage, he may as well continue his point, since it was something that had been bothering him rather a lot recently, not that he normally allowed other people's opinions of him to matter.
"Yeah, because you see me as a little, spoilt, mummy's-boy prince," He replied coolly, relieved when instead of getting defensive like he always did when confronted about anything, Christian just laughed easily.
"No I don't, I was just poking fun at you; mocking the stereotype in fact," He countered airily, waving his hand in the air in a very, very flamboyantly gay fashion -Alex didn't care if that was being stereotypical, it was true-.
"You're so full of shit." He grinned and shook his head, realising he was supposed to be getting on with homework and grabbed his bag from the floor, emptying the contents out onto Christian's bed.
"Wash your mouth out," Christian barked with false strictness, cackling when Alex threw his jotter at him and missed.
"I am going to murder you." He growled in the best pissed-off voice he could do, because otherwise he'd end up cracking up and laughing.
Chewing his pen –the stolen one- Christian swivelled round on the chair and then stuck his legs out, resting his feet on the edge of the bed, his eyebrows shooting up. "Until I'm dead?" He checked, which admittedly managed to break Alex's serious mask. He'd been given a rather embellished tale of Christian's encounter with Marian in the dance hall, although he also got the impression it had been heavily edited for other reasons too, since it didn't exactly make sense. Either way, he couldn't help giggling like a six year-old in response to that.
"Yep, I'm going all the way," He added through his laughter, doubling over and panting slightly as he tried to recover from that rather over the top laughing fit.
"How daring."
"Shut up and do your homework."
"Yes sir."
Being back to easy banter felt rather fantastic, although Alex had the feeling that someday he was going to need to ask Christian if he was alright, giving him time to recover, but he couldn't just leave him when he'd so obviously been damaged. "I made an awkward friend today by the way," Christian informed him conversationally, apparently not done talking and if it helped, Alex was happy to oblige.
"You, a functioning, female, human-being friend?" Alex asked sceptically, aware of the rumour going around about how Christian was the lost princesses –which they had shared several inside jokes about by now- but not aware of any of his classmates actually wanting to be friends.
"Mhmm. It was weird."
"I have no doubt that it was," He drawled back, his gaze becoming slightly unfocused as his mind wandered when his gaze refocused on the black eye Christian was sporting. How on earth did Christian manage to act so perfectly fine and content with so many bruises and bashes on his skin, and that much hatred built up inside of him? Alex didn't know whether to be impressed or pity him.
"We were mean about people and bonded over it."
"I thought you hated the bitchy gay stereotype?" Alex pointed out, which earned him a respectful nod from his companion.
"Nicely done," He congratulated him formally, although it was slightly ruined by a smirk.
"Thank you."
Since they'd come this far, Alex reckoned he could push it further if he tried to be careful and went about it lightly enough. "Although even you have to admit, you fulfil the stereotype rather well at times." Sighing, Christian gave him a rather depreciative look.
"You're not going to drop this, are you?" He guessed dully, sounding bored, but not angry.
"Probably not," Alex admitted shamelessly, earning an eye-roll from Christian.
"Explain your point properly then, so I can crush it into the ground."
"Well, like it or not you can be rather bitchy, you have fancy clothes-" Christian cut him off by snorting at that one, but he pressed on anyway, "and you are very effeminate, even when you're male."
"And you're hygienic, prude-like and you sulk like a bad-tempered teenage girl, that doesn't mean you're automatically gay." Christian countered quickly, back into his usual type of arguing, where Alex felt safe, although he bristled slightly at that comment.
"That's not what I'm saying, I'm just pointing out that you fit the stereotype." He corrected him, scowling when Christian just smirked at him patronisingly.
"I beg to differ."
It seemed they weren't going to get very much work done today, so Alex put his pen back in his pencil case and sighed. "Look, I can prove it. As a guess, you were bullied at school?"
"No more than anyone else in the slums is bullied, no," Christian informed him factually, but that wasn't the only trait of the stereotype that Alex could pick on, although he was rather surprised. Christian was, for a male, fairly short and very feminine in his appearance, he looked the sort that would get automatically targeted.
Still, he pressed on with great determination. "Alright then… all of your friends were girls?" He guessed, wincing when Christian just smirked and shook his head discerningly.
"Haven't you noticed yet that I don't get on very well with girls?" Christian pointed out; giving Alex what must be the most condescending look in the history of all looks.
"Good point… okay then, you have an interest in clothes and fashion?" He presumed, already bracing himself to be shot down once again, although this was the one he was most confident on, considering how Christian had been so dressed up when he'd come to chase him down at school.
"Other than for their practical uses, no."
Rocking back in his chair, Christian put his feet back up on the bed, looking thoroughly unimpressed. "I like dick, which is pretty gay," He supplied, being explicit completely naturally and smirking in bemusement when it made Alex flinch and then blush crimson in embarrassment.
"There's no need to be vulgar. Alright then, what's the most stereotypically gay thing you're good at?" He inquired, hoping to get something good to use against him in his argument.
Pursing his lips as he considered that question, but at least seeming willing to answer it, Christian dropped his feet down and then half turned away from him in the chair. "I can draw, a bit," He added quickly, before hurrying to turn his back on Alex, using his homework as an excuse not to look at him.
Whilst Alex had been getting rather enthusiastically into that argument, he couldn't help what he did next, the opportunity was just too perfect. Quietly setting his books down onto the floor, clearing the bed, he stretched out on his side, resting his head on his hand, his arm bent before him. He thought he'd mimicked the position rather well.
Eventually, once he registered that Alex hadn't replied, Christian glanced back over his shoulder. Then he turned around and full on stared at Alex. "Please tell me you are not doing what I think you're doing," He begged numbly, looking on with a mix of horror and badly hidden laughter. Putting on his best sexy, husky voice, Alex pulled a face and simply answered,
"Paint me like one of your French girls Jack."