Day 49: Pearl's Beauty Salon Hair and Nails [noon]

[not_rly_fai]

[From here]

It wasn't too much further down main street before they reached the salon.  It was about what he expected it to be once they went inside.  While the town might be a bit rougher around the edges since their last visit, the shop was still in fairly good condition.  He gave the woman behind the counter a friendly smile and a wave as he

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[ninelivesonce]

Taura had started the day with a series of laps around town; her clothing was less ill-suited this time. Both staff and dirtsiders gave her some funny looks, but she'd long since learned that going faster meant she didn't need to make eye contact. Just because they thought she was crazy rather than terrifying didn't make the reaction less familiar.

When the rain started to go from bracing to brrr, she jogged over to the place she'd gotten her nails done last time. A couple of fellow patients were already up at the counter, so she took a moment for a leisurely stretch and then folded herself into one of the chairs by the door to wait for a free slot.

[for Scourge, ask if you want to threadcrash]

[haplesstracker]

Having cached up weaponry at the armory (by which one means making a small hidden mess for the hardware store man to clean up) for the inevitable zombie invasion, Scourge nudged his way out into the cold and went over to see Pearl. He'd liked Pearl, she had a decent name for a human and hadn't mocked him about his pink, and getting himself polished was very relaxing. And besides that, he just flat-out needed it

[ninelivesonce]

"There's only a couple of them, and we've got all day," Taura said, her smile just a little bit crooked. Waiting around last night, as ordered, had gotten her an argument and a possible demotion; had she been wrong? Should she have stayed out in the rain, looking for any gap in the meticulous sentry line that only looked like a bunch of Institute medics and personnel haphazardly wandering

[haplesstracker]

Scourge held up his hand in solidarity, happy to have found someone who understood the joys of good nails. "Oh, yeah. Nothing like getting a tune-up." His own nails were broken at nearly every tip and the paint was flaking. He'd been trying to take care of them, between the file and the little bottle of paint, but after Landel's little...session he'd been far too distracted. And blind.

"I don't get why nobody else does it. Last time I was here there was nobody else in the shop, nobody from Landel's, I mean. There were some regular humans." And they'd laughed at him, that was just cruel.

[laguz_decoy]

Ranulf followed Fai to a shop that seemed to be in the center of town, thoroughly curious about what a salon was. He gazed curiously at the ads on the windows and, as he entered, was about to ask Fai what exactly a "Mani & Pedi" were when he discovered a loss for words. The place absolutely reeked of flowers... and another scent he couldn't quite place. It caused a tickle in the back of his throat, and he ended up coughing rather loudly.

From the looks of it, the large human woman behind the counter seemed to be having trouble deciding whether to sneer at his mud-covered boots or scoff at his rude display of hacking from a scent she probably considered pleasurable.

He glanced at Fai nervously. Perhaps this was punishment for being suspicious. Fai wouldn't have purposely brought him here right? The place was so... "cute"... so feminine... so PINK.

"F-Fai, are you sure this is the correct location?" he asked, chuckling nervously and avoiding the woman's gaze entirely. Holding on to Fai's shoulder, he leaned in to whisper. "Th-This

[damned_town]

It had been a quiet morning so far, with the rain keeping away most of the customers who usually would have come to Pearl's shop for their weekly dose of gossip, and the last pair had left some time ago. She glanced up from her magazine as the door opened, her automatic smile of greeting taking on a hint of frost as she recognized them (or rather didn't recognize them, which meant she knew exactly where they were from). How did mental patients manage to come up with such unusual hair colors? They couldn't all have just come from the hair salon.

"Good morning," she said with a nod and somewhat false cheer, as she folded the magazine and set it to one side. "Can I help you gentlemen with something?"

[not_rly_fai]

The woman's greeting might have been enough to send others back toward the door, but Yuuhi's smile remained unchanged. Was the woman normally so cold or was it just due to the current state of the town? Whatever the reason, he had no problem returning vinegar with honey.

"Does it?" he whispered innocently back at Ranulf as he drew the coupon from his pocket for the shop's services.

"As much as we hate to impose, my friend and I were interested in redeeming these coupons," he tried, setting it on her desk along with a sweet smile.

"I'm Robin and this is Alex," he offered, turning to send a wink that he hoped Ranulf would catch.

"He's a little shy. It's his first time," Yuuhi added, "but if you wouldn't mind, we'd truly appreciate it. I told him you were the best."

[laguz_decoy]

The woman's voice was almost as pleasant as her demeanor. Her words were cheerful, but her body language spoke droves. They were obviously not welcome here.

Ranulf's eyes widened at Fai's response and, although his "friend" sent him a wink, his face took on a look of absolute horror in response to the conversation! "Shy"? "First time"? "You were the best"? There was no way... was Fai actually- No. NO! He wouldn't do that, would he?! Perhaps this was a ploy to dispose of him for being suspicious! But- but there was no way this woman could be a concubine... who in their right mind would-

"N-No, it's alright really! I... uhh- LOST MY VOUCHER! Yes, I just had it! What a shame... heh heh..." He laughed nervously, casting a glare at the man standing next to him.