An: it's not gonna all be days
Jenny woke up and for a moment thought she was back in their flat, sleeping with her younger siblings. But her siblings were dead or disappeared. Maybe she was on the streets, sleeping back to back with Jacob, her partner in crime. Or perhaps it was Lettie, who'd kissed her and they'd been caught or maybe Grace though Grace always slept closer where was Grace anyway…she turned over, sleepy confusion clearing in an instant when she saw the back of a green scaled head.
"What the hell?" she shunted backwards and banged against the wall.
A grunt came from the lizard woman. "Keep it down. The landlady."
The fog of sleep cleared and she remembered the lizard woman rescuing her. Still, it wasn't an expected sight. Jenny had woken up next to friends, family, drunks, horses but in the same bed as a lizard, she thought she could be excused for being surprised.
Now that she'd recovered, her body was complaining of a slightly pressing need to go to the loo. She kicked the cover off, causing clicks and hisses of complaints and went in search of it. There was a small window overlooking a derelict backyard and she spied the small shed she was looking for in the corner. There were sounds of movement downstairs. The landlady. Nothing else for it then. She heaved open the window, shivering in the blast of cold air and clambered out of it. She laughed to herself, it reminded her of her days working as a snake for the gangs when she was a child. Crouching on the very thin ledge, she inched along until she reached the drain pipe and prayed it was sturdy enough to take her weight. Sometimes in the past they'd been rusty and she'd been unceremoniously dumped on the ground. It hurt.
Still, this one was intact and she made it to the outhouse in time.
She came back up to see the lizard woman curled up completely under the covers now, probably driven there by the wind through the open window.
"Oi…get up." She said, rather daringly she thought as she slammed the window closed again.
"No. It's too cold." Came the muffled reply.
Lizard. Right. She set the fire going again to see if that caused movement but it struck her suddenly that the lizard was not a morning person either.
She sighed and put a kettle on to boil, sitting close by the fire. It was cold. And she was only in a borrowed nightie. But she wasn't about to climb back into bed either. She made tea and, after a thought, made a cup for the lizard woman too. She tiptoed over to the bed and blew the steam at the lump and it stirred.
Limpid blue eyes met liquid brown once again and Jenny felt a jolt, somewhat unreasonably she felt. She sipped her tea to dispel the moment. Perhaps she was afraid.
"I like you, little ape. I think I will keep you."
"Whatchoo mean keep me?" Jenny eyed her suspiciously.
"You can stay here and keep my bed warm and bring me tea in the morning."
Jenny's jaw hung open for a little while, whilst she processed precisely what had been said and then dismissed it as a joke. The lizard woman disliked apes and was certainly not about to let her stay.
The lizard had curled up in the covers sipping her tea while Jenny gaped at her.
Jenny sipped her own and laughed. She looked cute, snuggled up like that. Well, in a lizard-y kind of way.
The lizard woman looked at her as if to say "I'll question you later, once I'm warmer and more awake."
They finished their tea in silence and eventually the lizard woman slithered, that was the only way Jenny could think of it, out of bed and walked over to a chest that sat at the end of the bed.
She brought out a rather ragged black dress, held it up and then threw it at Jenny.
"There you go. Clothes for you. For now."
"Fer now? What, shall I be givin' it back then?" Jenny quirked an eyebrow, amused, as she deftly caught a pair of drawers as well.
"Unless you particularly want to keep it afterwards." a battered corset joined it.
Jenny tilted her head to see beyond the pile she'd accumulated. "After what?"
"After you have new clothes. We shall have to take you to get measured of course. We can do that today. I know a place that won't ask impertinent questions." The lizard woman winked (yes acutally winked) at her as she drew her own nightgown over her head.
Jenny was distracted by the sight from what the lizard woman had said. The lizard woman turned, caught her staring, and grinned coldly.
"Yes. They go all the way down." She said as she got dressed.
Jenny looked away hurriedly and recovered herself. "Yor gonna buy me new clothes?" she set down her tea cup with care.
"Well, as you pointed out, I burned your old ones. Although I still think that was the right thing to do. Now come on. Get dressed."
Jenny looked around the room and didn't see anywhere particularly that she could get dressed.
"I've seen it all so you needn't be shy. Really, what is it with apes?" the lizard woman commented offhandedly.
"I'm not an ape!" Jenny had a feeling she could tell the lizard woman that a hundred times and she still would be.
The lizard woman snorted. "Whatever you are, hurry up." she buttoned up her dress.
"I'm human. An' me name's Jenny. Jenny Flint. 'Ard as 'em." Jenny told her as she dragged the nightgown off and the dress on as quickly as possible. She looked up at the sudden silence and grinned at the lizard woman's shocked face. "'Ello. Din't fink I'd see you again."
"Jenny Flint. I remember. The little ape who wasn't dead after all."
"Still ain't dead." Jenny grinned. "Unless…" she let the pause hang and it was the lizard woman now who tilted her head to consider her. Jenny folded her arms. "You gonna eat me now?"
"Hmph. I did say I would eat you next time I saw you."
"Aye an' you never ate me that time neither."
The lizard woman stopped and then carefully examined her. The folded arms, the mole. "You gonna eat me now?" A tongue flicked out. "You! The little ape thief!"
"Not so little anymore. And not an ape!" Jenny retaliated.
The lizard woman stalked right up to her, staring down at her but Jenny stuck her chin up and stared back.
"Well…that explains a great deal." She snorted and turned to go. "Come on then, not so little ape."
"What?"
"Clothes! You look like a guttersnipe."
"Well thas cos I am."
"That explains why you were being attacked down an alley at least. Did you try and steal from them too?"
Jenny fell silent. "No." she froze, suddenly remembering why all this was happening.
The lizard woman paused in pulling up her hood to look at her, the stillness drawing her attention.
"I'm sorry. I can't go out there. They'll get me. An' you! They'll be comin' after you now too!" Jenny's face twisted in consternation.
But the lizard woman merely laughed. "I doubt that. Don't worry. I don't think they'll be bothering you or me anymore. Nor any other poor women."
"Whatchoo mean?"
"I've dealt with them."
Jenny didn't really want to ask but she had to. "'ow?"
"I ate them."
Jenny was stupefied. It'd always been a bit of a joke. She thought it was a threat, nothing more.
"Well, some of them. The rest I just killed. Don't worry. I'm not planning on eating you." The lizard woman snorted at her expression. "Are you coming or not?"
So Jenny tripped out after her. They got more than a few stares, walking through the streets. A hooded figure and a loose-haired girl in a ragged black dress dancing behind her in order so that her bare feet didn't freeze to the pavements.
A man stopped them. "This urchin causin' you trouble ma'am?"
"No. She's with me." The lizard woman brushed him off superiorly; rather irritated it seemed to Jenny. "She's a…" the lizard woman looked at her and grinned. "She's a charity case."
Jenny scowled alternately between the man and the lizard woman as both moved off. The lizard woman was asking for a swift kicking if she tried saying that again.
They arrived outside a back alley tailors shop, dingy and drab. When Jenny saw the owner, she suddenly realised why the lizard woman was coming here.
"Ahhh hello. The Amazing Lizard Lady! I was expecting you soon! New dresses and costumes for the show ey? They will soon all come by no doubt." the very small man that came out the back was extremely well dressed, although the clothes were all old.
"I have quit the circus George." the "Amazing Lizard Lady" sighed.
He eyed her cautiously. "What will you do for money now then? Not much work for us. I had other talents ey?"
"I will think of something. For now, I require clothes fitted. For her. Mine are obviously too large. And yes, I have money. Savings."
"Ah well, in that case."
Jenny took a step back as George came towards her.
"A new recruit is she?" he circled her. "And what're your talents ey?"
Jenny shrugged. "I c'n pick a lock."
"Ah! An escapologist in training are you? Do you have any specific requirements for your clothing? Concealed pouches for wires and...whatever it is you people use?"
Jenny glanced at what she wasn't entirely sure she would call the amazing lizard lady but then again Jenny was feeling slight amazed at all this. Her lizard woman went round eating people, not buying them clothes.
"Just some basic black dresses for now, thank you George." the lizard woman intervened.
Jenny felt like a dress-up doll as she was measured. New! She hadn't had new clothes in forever. Not that the black cloth that George held against her was particularly fancy, but it was new. The lizard woman even bought her a pair of second hand boots, all worn in and clumpy. They'd belonged to an acrobat. "Not for performances!" George assured her. "She was wonderful in performances."
"...was?" Jenny asked. The second question that day that she didn't quite want to know the answer to.
"Fell. Broke her back. They bring the day wear to me to sell on. I do a good business on it too. The costumes would never sell so they are given on, so to speak, to the next performer."
A grubby shift swam to the front of Jenny's mind. She wondered briefly who wore it now that The Amazing Lizard lady had quit.
George insisted on entertaining them to tea in his little shop, pressing the lizard woman for news on the circus. Jenny thought gossip from a circus might be interesting but it was more intrigues and awfulness and she crept back out into the shop, fingering the rolls of fabric, the old dresses.
"I hope you haven't stolen anything." came a call from the doorway to the backroom. Jenny jumped and then scowled.
"Ain't nuffin' worth takin'."
"George is a friend. An old friend." the lizard woman stared at her.
"I didn't take nuffin'!"
"Hm. Come on then." she swept out and Jenny followed, without precisely knowing why she was obeying.
She staggered a little on the way back; it'd been a long time now without proper food.
"What's wrong now?" the lizard woman turned as the clumping footsteps behind her faltered and stopped.
"'m 'ungry." Jenny gave a wry grin at the phrase.
"Why does that not surprise me in the slightest?" the lizard woman snorted. She fished in a skirt pocket for her purse. "Seeing as you had the grace to ask first this time." she held out a few coins. "Go. Buy whatever you apes happen to eat."
Jenny took them warily. There was that niceness again. The lizard woman was giving her a meal, rather than using her for one. Still. She skipped off and found a place selling stew and bought a bowl and some bread.
"Fanks." Jenny said through a mouthful as the lizard waited impatiently for her to finish.
When they arrived back at the flat it was already dark. Jenny put her boots very carefully by the chest and folded up her dress and corset, getting changed back into what was now her night gown she presumed. The lizard woman was dressing in some weird get up and left before Jenny could question her on anything that had occurred that day.
She curled up in the bed, her mind buzzing with wonder and suspicion, her head aching slightly. With a groan, she rolled over and fell asleep.
An: but there will be quite a few for now?
