Labrinth – Beneath Your Beautiful (feat. Emile Sande)
Taylor glanced up into the mirror as the door opened behind her, watching North enter the room. A small sigh of relief escaped her, but it was short lived after North met her gaze in the mirror a second later, frowning.
"Hey," she said feebly, turning in her chair to greet the android face to face. North was glancing around the room, looking a little uncertain now, though the frown was still in place. "Thanks for coming."
"Oh, was this optional?" She said it with a touch of sarcasm, but Taylor managed not to wince. The redhead finally turned back to face her, eyeing the dress she was already wearing, her frown deepening.
"I had Jen and Anton leave a few for you to choose from. I'll help you get into it. I figured you would prefer it that way." She bit her lip then, realizing the last bit probably didn't need to be said. North didn't react, though. Her eyes had moved to the dresses, lined up on the other side of the room.
Without any further ado, she walked over to them, observing each one, circling. Taylor watched, still apprehensive, chewing on her lip. She had suggested to Markus that she could help North get ready for the party tonight in some vague hope that maybe they would bond. Their somewhat friendly interaction a few days prior had encouraged her into thinking it could be possible. Now, though.
"These are all ridiculous." North finally said, shaking her head.
"I could get them to bring a different one—" Taylor began, but the redhead just made a disgusted noise, sighing.
"Another equally ridiculous one, I'm sure. This one will do." She gestured to the black dress on the end, the one she had been hovering closest to since she started looking. It was the one Taylor would have chosen for her, if she would have been bold enough to impose. A midnight, strapless ballgown with intricate feathered beading along the body that caught the light.
"My stylist, Jen, always says that if people are going to be looking at you, you may as well give them something to look at." A smile came to her face, and to her surprise, North smiled slightly in return. "Come on, half the work is just getting into the dress."
Certainly not a lie. A lot of cursing, tucking, and strapping later, North was finally properly clothed and even less happy about it than before. "Why in the hell would you do this to yourself all the time?"
"There are worse things," Taylor shrugged, still slightly breathless. At the skeptical look that North sent her way, she shrugged, "Probably worse things."
"Are we done now?" She sounded hopeful. Taylor frowned, looking over her slightly frazzled hair. Then she pointed toward the chair she'd been sitting in when North walked in.
"Not quite." North groaned, but she filed over and dropped into the chair as requested. Taylor stepped up behind her, reaching for the hairbrush. They sat in silence while Taylor brushed her hair, then sat to work and putting it up. North watched her hands moving in the mirror, her face now blank.
"Can I ask you a question?" The question came so suddenly that it made Taylor freeze for a second. Then she tried to play off her hesitation, not wanting North to change her mind.
"Sure," she said, attempting to sound casual. North went quiet, considering her again. She watched her for a long time before she spoke.
"Does it ever go away?" Taylor opened her mouth to ask her what she meant, but when she met North's brown eyes in the mirror again, she didn't have to. The haunted look behind them was all too familiar. Instead, she contemplated the question while she pinned the last errant strands into the simple updo she had fashioned.
"It doesn't," she said finally. Her fingers were still sticking pins into North's red hair. "It doesn't go away. You just get distance, and distance makes it easier."
Taylor stepped around and took the seat next to her, reaching for the makeup laying across the vanity. North made an indignant noise. "I don't want any of that."
"I won't use a lot. Just trust me." The redhead frowned again, but she withheld protest when Taylor leaned forward to bring the first brush to her face. The blonde worked in silence, still not quite comfortable enough for casual conversation. There was more she wanted to say, anyway.
"Somedays, it's easy to forget. You feel normal." She bid North to close her eyes, carefully painting color along her lash line as she talked. "Out of nowhere, in the middle of a conversation, walking down the street, it's like a hand reaching from behind you. Wrapping around your throat. Choking you."
North fluttered her eyes as she painted on mascara, trying to watch her and follow her instruction at the same time with little success. Taylor was scarcely aware of it, her mind drifting elsewhere as she spoke.
"Fourteen years and hundreds of miles couldn't make that go away." Taylor paused, meeting North's eyes briefly before she reached for a tube of lipstick. "But it didn't stop me from living. Even when it was hard." North sat very still as she applied the lipstick, and when she finished, Taylor smiled. "It helps if you have someone there who helps you through the bad days."
North averted her gaze then, looking a bit sheepish. Taylor wondered if the idea of romance was so foreign to her that she didn't want to talk about it, or if maybe she was just shy. When she thought of North and Markus, she may not have considered it at first, but it fit in some perfect way. They complemented each other.
They stood, and North took in the full view of herself in the mirror, her brown eyes narrowed. After a moment, she said, without even a hint of sarcasm, "Thank you."
The two words threw Taylor for a loop. She wasn't entirely sure if the thanks were for the makeover, or for the answer to the question, but she didn't care. "You're very welcome. Shall we?"
Connor was idly flipping his coin between his hands, rolling it over his knuckles, waiting, He was getting quite used to this part of the evening, though it was Markus's first time. The other android was watching his coin tricks in mute fascination. Neither of them had bothered to speak in quite a while.
Taylor had informed him of her plan to try and establish some type of relationship with North by helping her get ready for the party tonight. He figured he was probably both the wrong person to understand the mechanics and logic of such a maneuver, but they had all gone along with it.
Frankly, Connor didn't see the point. As far as he had seen, North didn't like anyone aside from Markus. Everyone else fell into categories of loathe or tolerate. Taylor had been on the fence between those two zones, but she was not content with that. She wanted to be friends.
Which left him here, with Markus, waiting. If he considered whether Markus had different zones for people, the deviant leader probably placed almost everyone into the friend category. He probably considered Connor a friend.
Connor wasn't sure he felt the same. They were allies, perhaps. Close acquaintances. Yet when you added the dynamic of Taylor to the equation, his feelings got too messy. He felt what he thought might be resentment whenever he thought of Markus asking Taylor to be their ambassador. The damage it had caused.
Taylor had not so subtly reminded him that he had helped convince her to accept the job. If he was being honest with himself, though, how much of that had he agreed to do simply because he wanted Taylor to stay close to him? He had been selfish.
Humans were selfish. Humans made mistakes. The machine version of himself would have done better, would have sent Taylor home. To safety. But even knowing that now, he was still trying to find every excuse for her to stay.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Connor didn't stop rolling the coin over his knuckles when Markus's voice finally cut through the hush around them, just flicked his eyes up. He elaborated, "You look like you're thinking on something pretty hard. You've got this look on your face."
"What look?" Connor kept his voice neutral. Apparently in his deviancy he couldn't even control his facial expressions anymore.
"I don't know how to describe it. Humans sometimes say, 'like your dog just died.'"
"I don't like that saying." Connor frowned, and Markus laughed quietly in return.
"It's just a phrase. Humans have a lot of strange idioms." Markus shrugged. "That one does seem especially fitting to the look you're making, though. Does it have to do with Taylor?"
"It's none of your concern," Connor bit off, trying to keep his annoyance in check. If Markus could sense it, he didn't comment this time.
"Fair enough." Markus crossed his arms, leaning back against the pillar beside him as they continued to wait, but his two-toned eyes still didn't move away. After another beat of quiet, he said, "You know, I just hope that you realize that I never meant for any of this to happen this way."
Connor caught his coin between his two fingers, tucking it away. He looked up at Markus, still frowning. The other android had finally looked away, though, his own expression morphing into a thoughtful frown.
"I'm sure that sounds like empty sentiment to you." Markus raised his eyes, made eye contact with him again. "But I didn't think it would be anything like this went I sent Taylor here. I didn't know there would be hearings, a huge spectacle, any of this. Even if I had, Taylor still would have handled it better than I ever could have."
"That doesn't make it any better," Connor said through gritted teeth. He couldn't help it that time.
"No, I know that." Markus conceded the point immediately, inclining his head. "But I also didn't understand, in the beginning, what Taylor was going through. I didn't know anything about Anthony Jacobsen. Because she only shows you as much as she wants you to see."
The expression on his face relaxed, just a bit, because he knew how true those words were. Markus must have thought he was making headway, because he kept going.
"If I'm being honest, Connor, I don't even know how I got into this position. Leader of an android revolution." He grimaced, looking away. "When Taylor told me about California, and Raj, to me it seemed like she knew exactly what she was doing, and I had no idea. Just know that I don't always tell her how amazing I think she is to flatter her. I believe it."
Connor paused, trying to imagine the whole thing from Markus's point of view. With everything that he knew about Taylor, he believed that what Markus said was entirely possible. Taylor would never have brought up her personal issues or expressed any doubt about the things Markus asked her to do.
She had somehow continued the investigation for CyberLife, continued helping Raj, and helped Markus infiltrate Stratford Tower at the same time. If he added in what she had told him just a few nights ago, she had also been also dealing with her overwhelming anxiety at just being back in Detroit, in the vicinity of her stepfather.
"Taylor is leaving." He heard himself say. Markus raised his eyebrows in surprise at the sudden outburst. "When this is over, she plans on going back to Los Angeles."
"I see." Markus said gently, his expression smoothing over once more. He was quiet, considering the idea, before he said, "And what is that you want, Connor?"
"I want..." Connor stopped, hesitating. Did he want Taylor to stay? To go home to L.A., to Alex? To be happy? Did he just want to be a machine again, with a mission, where things were simple, black and white? "I want her to be safe."
"Is she really safer in Los Angeles?" Markus asked next, arching his eyebrows. "Who is going to protect her there? What does she need to be protected from?"
Silence, again. Connor considered the questions and Markus left him to his thoughts. Until Taylor texted him to let him know that her and North were on the way down. He didn't stand until he heard the distant sound of the elevator pinging, the echo of heels on marble.
North was in the lead, so it was a moment before he caught full view of Taylor. She was watching the interaction between Markus and North with what he felt was an unreadable smile on her face, looking quite satisfied. Tonight, she had worn a deep turquoise dress with glittering scales covering most of it, a slit from her left leg almost all the way to her hip.
He couldn't contain himself from walking to her, sliding his arms around her waist, and pulling her against him. He could hear the small gasp of surprise she gave in response, but she didn't resist. He supposed it was just an after effect of the conversation he'd just had with Markus, but he pressed his face into the crook of her neck, breathing her in.
"I love you," he said against her skin, because he couldn't think of anything else to say to explain his behavior. Slowly, her arms came up to circle him. She held on for a moment, before she gently untangled herself from his hold.
"I love you, too," she said softly, her face lined with concern as she peered up at him. Her hands were resting on his forearms now, but he still had both hands on her waist. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," he said, trying to reassure her. She didn't appear convinced, her brow still creased with worry. "You look amazing."
"Thank you." She smiled then, and he released her, offering her his arm. When she took it, he turned back to find that Markus and North hadn't even noticed their little exchange, caught up in their own hushed conversation. "The car should be waiting outside for us."
They did turn at that. Markus's face still had a light blue tint to it, but he composed himself quickly. He took North's arm and they filed out. As Taylor had said, there was a limousine idling on the curb, waiting for them. Frank was leaned up against it.
"Hi Frank," The blonde gave him a smile as they approached, and the two of them stepped to the side so that Markus and North could get into the car first. "Are you always stuck on chauffeur duty or are you in trouble for something?"
"Just lucky I guess," Frank answered with a shrug. "Speaking of, I hear I'm taking you back to Detroit on Monday."
"Looks that way." The smile didn't fade from her face, though her eyes flickered down uncertainly. Just for a moment. "Why, are you looking for a permanent job? I pay really well."
"Nah, I can't deal with all those Hollywood types," Frank laughed, then gave her a cheeky smile. "No offense."
"None taken," Taylor said, laughing as well. "Though I don't know how these political types are any better."
"Touché. Now get in the car before you freeze to death." It was true, goosebumps had risen along her arms and she had shivered more than once during the brief conversation. Connor handed her into the still open limousine door and climbed in behind her. Frank shut it afterward and headed for the driver's seat.
Inside the car, Taylor scooted against his side as soon as he had settled into the seat. He thought it was because she was cold, but when the car started to roll, she leaned her head closer to him and said, "Are you sure you're alright?"
"Yes," he said, placing his hand over hers and squeezing her fingers. This seemed to satisfy her, for she settled back into the seat and dug her phone out of her clutch with her free hand, opening it to text.
The rest of the ride was spent in relative silence. Taylor only spent a few minutes on her phone before she tucked it away again, turning her attention to the passing scenery instead. As they pulled into the line of cars waiting to let people off, however, Markus broke the tranquility.
"Anything we should know for our first party?" He was addressing Taylor, and she blinked back at him, startled. Then she pursed her lips, looking thoughtful.
"There's no telling what anyone might say to you. I'm sure someone is going to be rude before the night is over. Probably Speaker Berkley. Just try to ignore them." She smiled slightly. "Try to have fun. It is a party, after all."
"Do we have to stay for the whole thing?" North asked petulantly. The expression on her face suggested that ignoring someone's rude comments was shaping up to be the bane of her existence.
"No," Taylor conceded, shaking her head. "At least an hour. Two would be better. People will notice if we leave too early." She sighed. "People are going to notice everything we do, honestly."
"No pressure. Got it." Markus smiled at her, and she returned it.
"It won't be that bad. Probably." The car rolled to a stop on the curb and everyone piled out of the limousine. As they made their way toward the entrance, Taylor slid her arm through his again. "Hey, so, you know Kent is probably going to be here. It's his mom's party, after all."
"Okay." Connor said, unsure of what response she was looking for. She gave him a sideways glance as they walked.
"I know he can be an asshole. If he says anything that makes you want to punch him in the face, just remember we're in the White House and the Secret Service is present." Her lips were curled into the slightest of smiles, but he could detect that she was serious.
"Got it," he smirked at her, and her smile widened. He felt his expression shifting to apprehension as they approached the doors up ahead. He glanced down at their entwined arms and back up to her face. "Am I permitted to touch you this evening?"
"What?" Her tone came out sharp, and she turned her head to look at him fully. Her eyebrows were drawn together. Then it seemed to come to her, and her face smoothed over. "You remember the hearing, when you held my hand?"
"Yes."
"It turns out, the internet went crazy for it. There were enough photographs of us together, even from back in Detroit, but now everyone is convinced we're secretly together." She was grinning as she reached her other hand over, tucking it into his elbow. "So yes, you may touch me as much as you please. Though you know I wouldn't have cared, even if that wasn't the case."
"I don't want to make things more difficult for you," Connor said softly as they finally stepped across the threshold. Markus and North were still just ahead of them, and he could hear the dull hum of conversation ahead. People were already turning to look at them. Curious.
"I'm not sure that's possible," Taylor said in response, still grinning. "It's all downhill from here. Now let's show Markus and North how to pretend to have a good time at a party."