Open [Beautyfest] Hair Salon

[Kirsi Winterflame]

Kirsi's smile widened, and a faint blush stained her cheeks as the Akalak offered her a string of vibrantly colored purple beads. Inclining her head towards the large man, she reached for the proffered beads, teasing gently, "Why thank you, kind sir." Harboring no real expectations of winning the day's 'contest', the beads were still a pleasant balm to a feminine side that she'd largely ignored for a very long time. When the hair stylist paused in her ministrations, turning to speak with another stylist briefly, Kirsi used the opportunity to carefully lift the beads up and over the woman's creation. As they settled around her neck, laying delicately just above the neckline of her gown, the Vantha lifted a hand self-consciously, directing a question to Favchean. "Do they suit, then?"

Knowing that the men of the city must hand out beads and being a recipient of said beads were two different things; Kirsi found, to her surprise, that the experience was reminiscent of her youth in Avanthal. Casual flirtation and surface appreciation were things she was well-familiar with, and this new perspective made her enjoyment of the day much less a thing of concentration, turning it instead to one of habit. She graced the Akalak with a dazzling smile before turning to Rinya, and the half-introduction the Kelvic had made.

The return of the hair stylist meant that Kirsi had time enough for a polite nod and a small wave to the blonde woman before facing forward once more. The bulk of her hair was up, restrained by carved wooden hair sticks that she'd made specifically for the festival. Kirsi could feel loose tendrils tickling the back of her neck as the stylist played with them. First one side, then the other; curling and then pulling the strands straight. Amusement outweighed annoyance, however, and so Kirsi said nothing while the woman played with the shimmering green-black locks.

That laughter was evident in her voice as she answered Jorin's question, "Certainly I'm looking forward to it; I haven't really experienced a festival in Riverfall yet. It seems like the whole city has turned out for this one." In truth, the sheer number of women on the streets, the men with beads, the excitement in the air - all were combining to make the day memorable, and with good company, even as a second choice, Kirsi was sure she would enjoy herself immensely.

[Favchean Hronis]

Once the beads were accepted, Favchean straightens, his shoulders standing squared against his hip line in an instinctive pose. His body language might have been read as rigid, his facial features set with a hardness that seems so prevalent in the stoic warriors of his kind. Yet when the Vantha smiled at him, his pale eyes softens and his own lips upturn at the corners. That smile was worth the headache of coming out here and handing out beads, knowing that in most cases he would never inflict his attentions upon the majority of the females here. How could he, knowing the costs? Yet, Favchean's own respect and admiration of womankind enticed enjoyment at seeing the innocent pleasure of also receiving said beads. "It is I who should thank you and beg your pardon." He grumbles in his gruff voice, before giving a gentle half nod of his head. "I was ..incorrect. The beads pale in comparison to your eyes, I am afraid that the jewels do not do you even half the justice that you deserve." Now his lips curve more fully, amused at his own antics. Only after he had addressed the amethyst eyed woman did he turn to the man who spoke to him about a sparring partner. One brow quirks when the man mentioned needing a partner that wasn't out to kill him, and perhaps it was the levity of the day that caused the Akalak to comment in a very serious tone, "What makes you think that I wouldn't be out to kill?" For just a second or two Favchean waits before he continues with another faint hint of a smile, "If you would wish to test your mettle against me I look forward to it. Favchean Hronis, send me a message and I will ensure I am there." Turning he begins to move toward the exit before he turns back again, touches his fingertips to his brow as if he wore a hat, "Ladies, sir. If you will excuse me, but the day is filled with enjoyment and I would not miss any one festivity." With that said he turns back around and moves out, his walk might have been called a saunter if there was any sort of rhythm to his step. Instead it is more like a stalking motion, out the tent and into the day.

[Hornet]

It had baffled him in Spring as much as it baffled him now. Why would a city filled with people who looked the same every single day have not just one, but two festivals dedicated to the way they looked? Where the Form and Fitness Festival in Spring was dedicated solely to the physical appearance of the men in the city, Beautifest seemed to be dedicated to the women. There was a buzz of excitement in the air, as women flocked to the various stalls, preparing for the big night. There was jewelry, makeup, fine dresses, and of course, the beads.

The giving of beads to the women one appreciated was an interesting tradition, but one that left Hornet in somewhat of a conundrum. He had several small clay beads to give away, but how should he decide who would receive them? Deciding based on appearance was ridiculous. The various stalls and tents where that appearance could be altered showed that even most members of the big races, who didn't change naturally, did not believe they had not found their true form yet. And if they were not happy with the way they looked, then how could he be? Ideally, he would give his beads to those whose personality he liked best. But there weren't that many females of whom he had actually been able to see a glimpse of their personality.

One bead was easily given. After half a season of working together, Hornet simply couldn't afford to ignore Wind when he was giving out compliments. She was his employer after all, and besides, he enjoyed working with her. Whenever he saw her sculpt her letters with apparent ease, she always took a moment or two to show what exactly she was doing. The advice and critique he received from her made her well worth a token of appreciation.

After his visit to message square and his gift to her, he still had several beads in his bag to give away, and not much of a clue what to do with them. He simply followed the crowds, wandering here and there, looking for familiar faces. Most people simply failed to notice the small clay turtle, and those who did see tended to ignore him, seemingly far more interested in those of their own size. For all the crowds that were milling on the streets, Hornet simply felt alone.

But then he spotted a shimmer of blue and green in the hair of a woman entering a large tent in the distance. It was a sight that was filled with memories of another place where he simply wasn't noticed, until one woman stopped and asked if she could help. Not because she needed anything, but simply because she felt she should. He only saw a glimpse this time, not nearly enough to be sure it was Serenity, but it was enough for him to start heading that way. Because if anyone deserved a token of appreciation, she did.

His four arms simply didn't carry him forward fast, so it took him a while to reach the tent. Several more people had made their way in before he finally reached his destination. The place seemed to be popular. As he peered inside to see why, the first thing he saw was a dark Akalak heading for the exit. Remembering his previous experiences, he allowed the man to pass, making sure to stay well clear of that pair of feet. No matter how cautiously they might appear to be placed, he wouldn't take the risk of assuming that the dark skinned actually looked before placing them.

His second attempt of looking inside fared better, revealing the various chairs and their occupants. Hornet was somewhat surprised to find that he had recognized the hair color correctly. Sitting in one of the chairs with a stylist fussing over her hair, his acquaintance from the bridge seemed to be in conversation with her neighbor and a brown-haired man. Hoping for some company, Hornet made his way over to that corner, weaving his way through the various hairdressers that were darting around, and coming to a halt in the grass in front of the pair of chairs.

"A good morning to you all, and hello Serenity," he greeted jovially, looking up at the small group. "May I join the conversation? The city is bursting with excitement, but you seem to have found a place out of the way of the major traffic."

[Dust]

Dust cast a grin towards Rinya, and then Jorin, as each complimented her dress. The woman fussing with her hair, however, gently but insistently directed her head to face forward each time. "Hello, Kirsi," she added, upon the introduction offered to that worthy. She could just see that woman in the edge of her vision, while her own hair was brushed, parted, and pinned into place. The stylist interrupted Dust's scrutiny with a question, asking what she thought of having her hair cut even shorter. Dust promptly consented -- why not? It was hair, it grew back. Then she countered with a question of her own, whether the stylist could make it look like feathers. The woman mused over that, and promised only to try. Kirsi was talking to an Akalak, who offered her a necklace, agreed to spar with Jorin, and then took his leave; Dust turned to watch him go, or started to, correcting herself just before the stylist did. "Hey, Kirsi, did they make your hair all green?" she asked curiously. "It looks neat! Maybe I should ask for mine in blue." She didn't, though, because at the moment the stylist was applying scissors to her hair, and the Kelvic found their metallic snipping around her head a potent reminder that she needed to stay still and leave the stylist to her work. "I am!" Dust said to Jorin, an enthusiastic response he no doubt could have predicted. "It'll be fun!" Because parties pretty much were fun by definition, in her book. For that matter, most things seemed to be. A new arrival stepped into the tent then, one not immediately seen by the Kelvic but heard once he spoke up -- but even then, she couldn't seem to see the speaker. It was very hard to stay still while she tried to figure out where the voice was coming from... until finally she caught on a hint of motion down near Kirsi's feet. Very short motion, a diminutive creature of brownish-grey color, one which looked almost like it was made of stone. She knew what that meant, now. "Oh! You're a Pycon too, aren't you?" she declared, delighted. Apparently Riverfall was the place for them, this season! ...or something like that.

[Yulio Ules]

Today was a really weird day.

Yulio had woken up to find that everyone was dressed up all nice and pretty. She had walked outside with only minimal clothing and asked a passer by what was happening. She knew it was the beauty festival today but had no idea it was such a big thing. So after the passer by explained what the day entailed Yulio went back inside and cleaned her clothes as she only had one pair of stuff then went out into the streets to go adventuring around the beauty stuff of the day.

And so thats how she ended up here. She had been watching the hair tent for quite some time and was intrigued.

The people go into the tent with one thing on their head, then come out with something different altogether! she thought to herself. She patted one of her octopus tentacles a little. She didn't want to replace what she had on her head. But maybe they could do something to make it prettier right? Her head was very different from anyone elses but why would that matter?

So after a little bit of thinking Yulio walked into the tent and looked around, taking in every little detail.

I suppose i should just wait to be served. she thought and watched with fright as she witnessed someones hair being cut. She held her head tentacles close, hoping no one would try to cut them. She liked their length and thought that would be quite painful.

They don't look like they are hurting though. she noticed. This was indeed a strange place. However the great enjoyment she got from seeing new things was easily outweighing her fear and nervousness at the strange things happening within this tent.

(Italics for thoughts)

[Kirsi Winterflame]

Wincing and biting her lip against the unfamiliar pressure of the stylist's hands, Kirsi was only too glad to hear another familiar voice; conversation would take her mind off of what seemed to be very vehement final touches to her hair. Though it took her a moment to locate the speaker, a wide grin split her face when she spotted Art. The Pycon turtle had been kind enough to spend a few bells cluing her into the finer details of clay sculpting. Though she didn't notice much improvement in her skills, the Vantha had to admit that working with the malleable medium was noticeably less frustrating than it had been prior to those lessons.

"Art! How are you?" Gesturing around as best she could without turning her head, Kirsi continued, "This does seem to be a small spot of relative calm. Allow me to introduce Dust, Rinya and Jorin; apparently we're all enjoying the calm together." If the others thought it was odd that she had not introduced Art, it couldn't be helped. Kirsi wasn't sure what the Pycon would prefer to be introduced as; after their discussion on names, Kirsi felt it was best to let him give them whichever name he was most comfortable with.

Another disturbance at the tent flap drew her attention away from the greetings and polite small talk being exchanged. A... Creature? Stood uncertainly in the doorway. At first Kirsi thought it was another Akalak, but the being was decidedly female. Akalak aren't female, she thought to herself in confusion. A moment later, she noticed the tentacles.

Tentacles?

The Vantha studied the unfamiliar 'person' with barely concealed curiosity. Upon closer, admittedly obvious inspection, she could make out fins alongside the tentacles and couldn't help the surprise that blossomed on her face and in her eyes. Not wanting to be caught staring, Kirsi averted her eyes, glancing back down to Art. "So, uh... How are you liking the festival, Art? We were just discussing this evening's party. Should be quite an interesting sight, after all the ladies in town have spent most of the afternoon making themselves lovely."

[Rinya]

Day 68, Season Fall, 513 AV

Rinya did her best to remain still as the girl working on her hair returned with hot curlers. Partly she was afraid of getting burned with them, but the girl moved with a practiced ease, quickly pulling sections of hair from the rest and wrapping them loosely around the curlers. Sighing inwardly, Rinya took a moment to close her eyes. She hated being around this many people—and it was certainly going to get worse tonight. She had to remind herself of why she was even going in the first place, and at the moment it didn’t seem like a good idea.

Jorin had no issues with the people around him as usual. He invited the Akalak to a round of sparring. Of course it didn’t help entirely that Jorin brought up the party later. She shot him a withered look, that would have been more effective if she could actually mean it. Instead she just gripped his hand tighter and tried to force the sounds around her out of her head. But she was still taking in bits and pieces of the words around her. Kirsi receiving beads, the Akalak accepting Jorin’s challenge, and Dust commenting on Kirsi’s beautiful hair and competing in Beautyfest as well.

It was the small voice coming from the ground that caused Rinya to start slightly. Opening her eyes, she looked down at the…Pycon as Dust called it? Kirsi apparently knew the… creature on the ground and Rinya was silent as Kirsi did an introduction of her own to the Pycon. She had truly never seen anything like it before. "Hello… there.” Rinya tilted her head a little, causing the stylist behind her to grumble at her. The girl set about setting Rinya’s head straight and Rinya sighed.

"I don’t know how some women do this all the time. It’s rather time consuming… and I still have to see to another tent.” Courtesy of Rhys of course. He apparently needed her to get entirely dolled up. Though Rinya was leaving this one fact out for Jorin’s sake. He wasn’t happy about the set up as it was.

[Yulio Ules]

Yulio continued to stand there awkwardly, still unsure of how this works

Am i doing it wrong? Maybe i need to ask for service...but...which one do i ask? she questioned herself in her head. But she continued to stand there, frozen in uncertainty. Fortunately one of the hairdressers noticed her and after a moment of shock and staring came over to help. She was a nice human with black hair.

"Umm...can i help you?" she asked nicely. Yulio smiled at her and nodded.

"I would like to have my head changed...but only a little...not cutting." she said. The lady looked her over and shook her head.

"Sorry....the only thing i could probably do with your head is clean it. I have no idea how to handle a Charodas head." she admitted. Yulio shrugged to hide her dissapointment.

"Can you do what you can?" she asked hopefully. The lady nodded and motioned to the chair. Yulio skipped over to it happily and sat down in it. The lady shook her head, having no idea what she was going to do.

Meanwhile Yulio smiled at the lady who had been staring at her then waited excitedly to see what would happen next.

[Hornet]

A small spot of relative calm... Her choice of words brought a smile on his face. It had been almost exactly those same words he had used when he had chosen the name he would give her, a reference that was unlikely to be a coincidence. "I've chosen your name right, then," he beamed at Kirsi, before responding to her introductions. Politeness decreed that he had to give a name here, and all he could do was hope it wouldn't spoil their choice of a name for him. "A pleasure to meet you all," he said to the three of them. "I've chosen the name Hornet, though feel free to call me however you want." He could have added a detailed explanation on the interaction between names and relationships there, but decided not to trouble himself. If he got to know some of them better, the topic would pop up eventually.

The reaction of the blonde caused Hornet to look around in surprise. Had he overlooked a fellow Pycon somewhere? It would be terrible rude to make the mistake usually reserved for the bigger races. If he had, he would have to apologize profusely. But even with a far more thorough examination of his surroundings, the only unusual thing he saw was a big one who had apparently gone a bit further in changing her appearance for the festival, replacing hair with fins and tentacles. He didn't spot another searcher anywhere. So who could this other Pycon be she spoke about?

Before he could ask, though, Kirsi requested his opinion on the festival. Rather then replying to each of them individually and trying to participate in two separate conversations at once, which was a proposition doomed to failure, he tried to respond to both of them simultaneously, trying to draw them into the same conversation. "The festival is enjoyable enough," he answered Kirsi's question, "though it's not easy to find company when you're easily overlooked. There just aren't that many Pycon in the city." Here, he turned towards Dust. "In fact, I'm surprised that you've met some of us before."

"The party should be more then just an interesting sight," he continued, turning back to Kirsi again. "I'm not planning to just be looking around when there's dancing to be done! And of course, there's the crowning of the Queen and King of the Festival. On that note... Just give me a moment please."

The little clay turtle quickly glanced around. Was there a way to make it up to her hands by himself? Asking Serenity for help would ruin the moment a bit, and besides, she had a stylist fussing all over her hair. The legs of the chair didn't really seem to be an option either, as they offered no handholds whatsoever. Luckily, the chairs in the tent came equipped with separate footrests, offering a beautiful ramp to make his way up to the seat. He didn't take long to travel the short distance, to where it would be easy for Kirsi to bring her hands in reach.

"In appreciation of the beauty of not expecting anything when you help." The string of beads he offered her was not designed to be worn as a necklace or even bracelet. Ornaments of that size were simply too unwieldy for him to carry around. Rather, the little clay beads were designed as a charm, with a clasp at the end to attach them to other jewelry.

[Jorin Ertihan]

Season of Fall, Day 68, 513 AV

Even though Jorin was definitely in his element, meeting all sorts of new people, he could feel the tingles of discomfort from his bond with Rinya trickling into him. He wanted to reassure her, but she'd closed her eyes and he decided that she likely just did not enjoy being with so many people. It was part of who she was, and he wouldn't change that even if he could, but still, he tried to send some calming emotions to her, in hopes that it would help somehow.

Her small glare when he mentioned the party did not go unnoticed, and Jorin smiled apologetically in return. He wasn't really looking forward to seeing her with Rhys himself, but he figured that as there wasn't much he could do about it, he might as well resign himself to the idea and try to get as much enjoyment from the event as he could. After all, it was a party!

Jorin grinned and nodded at the large Akalak, glad that he accepted the proposal. It would definitely be better than solo training, and this man looked a lot less... confrontational than the large red Akalak who seemed to have some sort of personal vendetta against him. Then, he heard a small voice and looked down to see... a little clay turtle statue? He'd heard of the Pycons, but rarely got to meet one. It was certainly a rare treat to see a Pycon and his eyes lit up. Kirsi seemed to know this Pycon, which he was not surprised by. The Vantha woman was quite personable.

"Why hello there, good sir," Jorin said to the little clay man. "I'm glad to see you're enjoying the festivities! I am Jorin Ertihan, actor upon the Amphitheater's stage. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance!"

Jorin was using his stage voice, grand and eloquent, but then his act fell slightly and he grinned at the Pycon. "In all seriousness, let me know if you need anything. Otherwise, it's great to meet a Pycon, I don't see very many of your kind around!"

Turning to Rinya, Jorin just put his hand over hers to calm her. "Well, if you need to see another tent, we can go together," he assured her. "You don't have to do this alone."

And then a... Charoda?... walked into the tent. Well, at least Jorin wasn't too badly shocked by that. He'd met at least one Charoda before, but he was surprised to see how different this new Charoda looked compared to Nyael. Well, he supposed just like how certain human sub-groups looked completely different, so did Charoda, although he did wonder what she was doing in here. After all, her "hair" was part of her body... he doubted she'd want it cut. That would hurt!

"Hello, my lady!" he greeted this newcomer, with a cheerful smile. She was seated only a small distance away, and since the hairdressers were already treating her... hair?... as best she could, Jorin simply waved at her from where he was standing. "I admit I've only met one Charoda before, but nonetheless I'm pleased to meet you! I'm Jorin Ertihan, actor of the Amphitheater! Who might you be?"