Take Me to the Sky | BTS+

Spandex and Fishnets

The women's changing room inside of Lilith's armory-spaceship was a mess of straps, leather, and ribbon strewn about the black velvet upholstery and metallic flooring.

"Here, try this one." Lilith offered a lump of black mesh to Ava.

Ava picked it up and let it unravel from her hands. Fishnets?! Hell to the nah. Ava was already wearing more space age spandex than she'd ever imagined herself capable of. Wasn't that enough torture for one day?

Lilith said reassuringly, "It's not as weird as it seems. Besides, today's all about trying different styles to find what works best for both of you. And what looks the most you. Can't find that if we don't," she winked, "experiment."

Ava pursed her lips down at Lilith in disapproval. "Alright then. Here goes my last shred of dignity." Ava took the fishnets and extra leg padding, then disappeared behind a curtain to change.

Lilith called into the curtained stall next to it, "How's that bodysuit coming along?"

Shae's muffled voice answered, "I think it's trying to shrink wrap me.... I feel like I'm suffocating."

"Oh, if it were suffocating you, you would know."

A small band on Lilith's left wrist flashed pink and made a sound like chimes being struck.

The armorer muttered to herself, "It looks like they're here." Then she said loud enough for Shae and Ava to hear, "You ladies keep changing into that gear. I've got to check something in the shop, but I'll be back in a jiffy."

Once Lilith was gone from the changing room, Shae poked her head out from behind her curtain.

"Pssst! How's it going over there?"

"It's going about as well as my last relationship," Ava answered sourly.

"Need any help?"

"No, I've got it. At least, I think I've got it. This net business is...interesting." Ava strolled out of her changing room, her lips tight in mild disapproval. "Honestly, who decided thick-ass butt guards were a good idea?" She walked over to a full-length mirror and began to look at herself, front to back.

The top was normal looking enough: maroon leather laced up the sides with a baggy high collar under which her black necklace-cloaking device was tucked and hidden away. The matching maroon leather shorts were longer than she expected, and the black fishnets she noticed had tiny bits of silver scattered along the mesh. The short boots and arm bracers weren't so bad, she thought.

Shae gasped at the sight of her friend. "You look so cool."

Ava frowned, not as convinced. "Okay, now you."

Shae walked out in what appeared to be a combination of two different suits. The bodice and knee length boots were a soft mint, while the arm and leg guards, and the underlying body suit, were a kind of pastel banana cream that made Shae look like she'd fully transitioned into a badass space cadet princess: which was far from how she felt, to be sure.

Ava rolled her eyes in mild annoyance. "Of course like none of your skin is showing. It's hiding under all that spandex. Meanwhile, here I am: just a ho, ready to go."

Shae shrugged her shoulders uncertainly. "Maybe it has something to do with fighting styles?"

"Maybe."

Shae gave herself a good, long look in one of the standing mirrors. The sight of herself in a space age combat suit made her feel...strange. "I feel like this wedgie I have right now will haunt me for the rest of my life."