PM to join He's a Glamizon [Alexander]

[Nivel]

37th day of Spring 516 AV
Nivel made it a priority to check up on Alex from time to time to see if he was alright. When the pycon told the squire that she considered him her responsibility, she didn’t mean that lightly. She wanted to ensure that he stayed on the right track and didn’t lose faith in himself. His progress in his magical studies was also of great interest to her. She didn’t want him to rush with it but still wanted to make sure he was practicing. If used responsibly, Autistics could help Alex trust people and understand himself and his surroundings better. These were things that Nivel felt he needed in order to fight his inner monsters.

There was a fun game going around that the squires were doing to make sparing more enjoyable. The loser of the fight would have to do an embarrassing task that the winner of the winners choosing. The pycon had yet to join in on the game but on her way to Alex’s dorm room she tried her best to over hear any talk on the matter. The sound of young chuckles coming from a nearby hallway told her she was on the right track. What she could discern from the jovial conversation was that someone had to make a performance at the rearing stallion in a dress. The pycon didn’t know what was hilarious about it, to her it sounded like a grand old time. It wasn’t any secret among the knighthood that Nivel liked to doll herself up in make up and dance about when she had the chance.

Thinking of her performance with Sayana when they first met and even her time as a flower girl at her wedding made her miss her many armed friends company. Though it wasn’t the only thing she longed for, Nivel wanted to hear the cheers of the crowd and see their gleaming smiles as she spun gracefully around the stage. It seemed unlikely to happen anytime soon with all the training and knightly duties she had to manage but she could dream.

After reaching the the wooden door of Alex’s dorm room, she gave a hard knock to the wooden door.
“It’s Nivel, Is Alex there?” Nivel said softly.
She could have easily just slipped her way under the door but didn’t want to be too intrusive, Tall folk didn’t seem to like that.

Credit for Boxcode goes to Estrellir Konrath

[Alexander Faircroft]

Description "Alex Common" Alex thoughts "Myrian" "Fratava" "Others"

Alex, was a man of his word. Or at least he strove to be to the best of his abilities. So when he’d lose a bet with someone he wasn’t the type to skimp on it. A few coins here or there, but in this instance he’d gambled away his dignity. Drink was a heck of a thing, and Alex’s aim with his daggers had been less than successful. Usually he was a fairly good shot, but having as much drink as he did made his hands sloppy and now he was paying the price. The Levi of the wager was for him to dress as a woman for a day. And play the part.

Alex trundled through the halls of the barracks a look in his eyes of not quite anger and not quite frustration. Sometimes holding himself true to his word was more of a pain than it should have been. Alex stepped into his room a bundle in his hands, something he never thought he’d have to do and something that quite honestly was making him wonder. He’d procured what he’d needed paying for it fairly saying it was for his other half and he was trying to surprise her. What people didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.

Alex sat in the barracks now, in his room staring at the stuff splayed out on the table in front of him.
What in the heck am I supposed to do with all this? I don’t know the first thing about this crap. Aaaaah I could have just asked the merchant what one did with this…But then she’d of gotten suspicious…Damnit. Alex thought to himself as he doffed his armour, the steel plates clattering together with an audible racket that if anyone was paying attention could have found. How did he get himself into this mess? And what exactly could he do to drag himself out of it. Only then there was a small tap at the door, and a very familiar if a little eccentric voice called out asking if he was there. Alex glanced about the room and tossed the bundle atop his bunk before opening it.

“Hey Nivel…Pleasure to see you. Come in.” Alex spoke his usual calm and soft voice there but a little rattled. How in the name of all that was good was he going to explain to her the situation? “Niv…I take it you’ve heard about the bets going around…I kinda lost one and I’m gonna need a hand.” He spoke with a slight waver to his voice clearly of worry but not for his safety or those around him but for his pride. “Just take a look on the bunk and you’ll see what I mean…” Alex shifted his gaze down and sighed. Why, oh why.

[Nivel]

Alex’s voice sounded pleasant enough but she could detect a touch of hidden turmoil that made her worry. She pushed herself through the bottom of the door and was ready to face any problems her friend might have. Before she could even ask he mentioned the bet and the pieces quickly came together. After a gleeful bunny hop, the pycon practically dove towards the squires bunk in excitement. She puled herself up on to the bunk and looked at what the squire had to work with.

The first thing she spotted was a dress laid out on the bunk, and Nivel’s ears dropped at the sight of it. The pycon couldn’t help being a little disappointed at it’s blandness. She was hoping for something more daring, with bright colours, and embellishments. Something more like the flashy outfits Sayana would preform in. The outfits worn by the elegant Eypharian were lined with beading and lace that made it a feast for the eyes, while Alex’s dress was barely a snack.
“Is that your dress?” Nivel’s asked meekly. She would never outright say that she hated his choice in wardrobe but she made it pretty obvious with her posture and tone.

To the side of the dress was a collection of jars, which brought back her excitement. Though she was surprised when she found that the only colour available was green, this would simply not do. The pycon didn’t have any thing wrong with this colour, It was actually her favourite but it didn’t work for Alex. The squire had bright green eyes that needed to be brought out and the green he picked out would only muddle the colour instead of compliment it. What Alex needed was a nice copper or purple to really make those emeralds in his eyes shine.

She was thankful to find that he did get some face powder to cover his stubble and some rouge for his cheeks. The pycon never used them but she had asked the occasional citizen purely out of curiosity. They were kind enough to explain a few things to Nivel even if they were a little annoyed at the time.

“It’s a good thing I came over today” She shook her tiny head in disappointment “Did you get any other colours but green; like a purple, copper or even a pink?” She sounded far more sassy than she intended and quickly recoiled.
“I’m sorry I just want you to look really pretty and I don’t think you can accomplish that with what you have prepared.”
Nivel wondered if Sera Grey could offer one of her masks in the event that Alex didn’t have the right supplies but she quickly dismissed the idea. Sera Grey never really liked to share so she probably wasn’t going to start now.

Credit for Boxcode goes to Estrellir Konrath

[Alexander Faircroft]

Description "Alex Common" Alex thoughts "Myrian" "Fratava" "Others"

Alex expected a lot worse than he got. However it was the sound of disappointment in Nivels voice that irked him. He was having to do this and she was more than willing to do so.
“Sadly, yes.” Though the thought of seeing Nivel perk up again got on his nerves even further but he stomached it. Bit back his words and chose to lock off what he wanted to do, which was scream at the frustration of the situation. Still eh grit his teeth and slumped into the chair. Pressing his spine hard into the upper edge. Almost with the intent to snap it clean through. The brief ask of wether or not he’d acquired any colour other than green. He calmed himself and spoke with an edge of calm to his voice. Almost like he was fighting with himself.
“Yeah there’s a few others couple of dark oranges, and a bottle of red somewhere. I dunno this really isn’t something I do for fun Nivel…” He even caught the sass in her voice and tried to play things off calmly.

However it was the innocent reply that near broke the camel’s back. “I don’t want to do this…I really don’t…But I’m going to keep my word. Also I’m sorry if I seem snippy today but…the thought of having to go “the whole hog” in regards to this…isn’t exactly sitting well with me.” He gave her a hard look one that spoke of irritation, disappointment and resignation. None of which was aimed at Nivel she just happened to be who he was looking at when the thoughts crossed his mind. He’d been dumb enough to get himself in this mess, and now he was going to have to work his way out of it the way he said he would.

He stepped up to the mirror, and lathered up the soap in his hands. The basin of water serving to help him with this. Smearing the foam across his face and all the loose shadow of a beard he had. He picked up the sharpening stone he had with him and his razor. A few streaks back and forth across the stone and he ran his thumb gingerly across the edge. Nice and sharp. Least he knew how to sharpen a blade. And then he started removing the stubble and the foam A few scrapes at a time No real issues but leaving a clean if a little itchy path from the razor as he did so. A few chimes and he was done. Clean shaven. He scooped up two handfuls of water and splashed his face. Before turning to Nivel. “Improvement or detriment?”

[Nivel]

“Dark oranges should work.” Nivel sounded far more hopeful after the information Alex shared. She looked up intently at the Squires face and imagined the colours on his face and how they would look once applied “I feel red would be a little strong” She stopped to ponder for a moment. “Maybe if I mix a few touches in to give it a sunset look…oh yes that would look pretty neat!” Nivel clapped her hands together in gleeful content at her ideal vision.

“Wait..you don’t think this is fun?” Nivel was baffled despite how obvious Alex’s body language conveyed his discomfort. “Don’t you want to look beautiful and Graceful?” Gender roles were a foreign concept to Nivel so she just couldn’t understand why a man would be uncomfortable in dresses. It was especially difficult to grasp since Nivel’s father was far more predisposed to make up and dresses than her mother.

“-and you don’t need to dress like a Hog you just need to wear lace, flowing fabric and ..ohh maybe we can put some bells on your dress.” Nivel broke into an odd little jig as she thought of all the various alterations she could attempt on her friends garment. “I’ll teach you how much fun this can be and then you’ll be wearing pretty dresses all the time, Just like my father did.”

“Oh yes much better, A clean face is a happy face” Nivel replied to Alex’s inquiry with a smile. “Although, you might want to use a sponge instead of a dagger if your going to clean your face. I’ve often wondered why you tall folk seem to always have dirt on your face when you don’t even eat clay.” The pycon giggled at her own little joke not realizing what she was really saying.

“Anyway we should really get to the make up” She hesitated for a moment then blurted out “can I apply it!” She practically bounced up and down in unconfined excitement at the prospect. “I promise I’ll do a good job.” She pleaded despite having never put make up on a human. The pycon assumed she would get the hang of it quickly once she started.
“When I’m done I can get my dress and we can dance together, How does that sound?”

Credit for Boxcode goes to Estrellir Konrath

[Alexander Faircroft]

Description "Alex Common" Alex thoughts "Myrian" "Fratava" "Others"

Apparently the concept of “shaving” was something that Nivel possibly hadn’t thought before. Then it dawned on him that it wasn’t something that Pycons had to deal with. Taking a moment to adjust her way of thinking he glanced over to her.
“Well unlike Pycons, humans and other such like males have to shave. It’s because we grow hair out of our faces. Odd I know…” He paused feeling the smoothness of his jawline. Something he hadn’t in nearly a full two seasons. “So the dagger takes off the hair. A sponge would just make my face wet and do nothing elsewise.” He caught himself smirking without actually thinking about it.

Good gods I feel like an idiot here. Still it’s better than dwelling on insanity. Though the words she’s spoken prior suddenly caught up with him.
“I’m not really a graceful person if you haven’t fully noticed. I’m careful and light footed but not graceful by any stretch. And the term “the whole hog” means to do the full thing. Ie all the clothes are feminine…Much to my distaste.” He groaned, wear pretty dresses all the time like her father did…Something about that explained a lot. Not just about Nivel’s attitude but about her upbringing. “I don’t think I’ll be jumping into a dress of my own accord any time soon...But yes you can apply the whatever-the-heck-it-is. But beforehand I’m going to take another look at my Aura. I’ve been keeping tabs on it, and thankfully it’s…held stable.” Alex gave nivel a thankful smile before looking back into the mirror for a brief moment.

His eyes closed as he focused his senses to a point like he had before, the light appearing behind his eye lids as he eased them open slowly. His vision now swirling with colours and other such myriad things but before him in the mirror a wash of bright red coated the panel. Laced with a white outline streaks of white flying to and from the core of his being like forks of lightning and never in the same way twice. He was calmer, he was eased but irritated vastly irritated and embarrassed. He could see them beginning to manifest with a thin streak of blue and yellow snapping through his Aura every so often. He exhaled slowly closing his eyes again and stumbling backwards a little before catching himself on the edge of the chair. At least it's held normal...No major shifts too it.

“I keep forgetting that really takes it outta me…” Alex smirked again in the direction he thought Nivel was, his eyes still closed as he sat down his head throbbing with pain. “And yes, if you want to do some dancing you’re more than welcome too. I’m going to need the help…” He chuckled sitting down and lowering his head to a point where Nivel could get to his face. Half worried about what she’d make him look like, half about getting caught in the middle of this debacle.

[Nivel]

“Oh that’s hair?” Nivel said in surprise as she leaned forward to get a better look. “Of course, a sponge would only make that grow faster.” The Pycon was still under the incorrect assumption that hair was like grass and required the same care. She no longer thought of Tall folk as talking tree’s but some of that mentality persisted even after she was corrected time and time again.

“You can’t be graceful if you don’t practice silly” Nivel shook her head playfully “I’m sure if would help you on the battlefield if you had more fluid motion like me” The pycon demonstrated by thrusting a leg forward into a sideways spinning kick, then landed with her leg thrust forward to throw a quick jab with the momentum. The way in which she moved seemed more like a performance than a means of attacking. Had her moves connected with more than just air however, it would be clear that there was strength behind them.

“-And we can maybe add some masculine parts to make your look a little bit more to you liking. Maybe some armoured shoulder pads or some leather belts?” Nivel gestured the layout of the garments on Alex with her tiny hands as if she was preforming an incantation. She envisioned what they would look like and liked what she saw. Alex looked like some kind of warrior princess in her mind and the accompanying make up took on a more fiery look rather than a gentle sunset.

The tiny mage waited for Alex to finish looking at his own aura and notice that he was straining quite a bit to do so. When he was done he talked about how hard it was and she immediately knew why.
“You need to be patient with looking at your aura, you can’t force it. As your body becomes used to it it will become easier but for the moment you need to stay relaxed and let it happen at it’s own time. If you don’t you’ll get a really nasty head ache and tire yourself out. It’s why meditation is so important with magic use.” Nivel felt a little bad for relaying this information after the fact but she thought she had already stressed the need for relaxation. Impatience was probably the most needed skill when it came to magic and she probably needed to find a better way to get this point across.

“Yay!” Nivel gleefully cheered as she skipped along his mattress toward the jars of powder “I can’t wait to dance with you!”
Nivel coated her hands in the orange and dipped her braids into the red that alex set out for her and made her way towards her canvas. She began to carefully coat the space between Alex’s eyes and his brows with the orange from her outstretched arms. The application was a bit haphazard but Nivel did her best to be gentle during the process. She covered most of her mistakes with the red, putting a bit into the crease for added definition and decorating the ends with wisp like spiral designs. Nivel wasn’t really a painter but her creative touch made it passible at the very least.

“Okay I’m done with the eyes. Do you have a mirror around?”

Credit for Boxcode goes to Estrellir Konrath

[Alexander Faircroft]

Description "Alex Common" Alex thoughts "Myrian" "Fratava" "Others"

“Now you tell me.” Alex spoke with an air of sarcasm but in a good humoured manner. If nothing else since his overall actions had lightened a good bit since she’d arrive and he’d looked to see his own sensibilities were in order. Somehow he knew this wasn’t going to fully end well but he’d resigned himself to this fate and wouldn’t have much of a choice surrounding it.

“Patience is a virtue. Apparently for Mage squires more than just regular ones.” He paused exhaling slowly. Feeling the ache in his head starting to subside. “However I’m not really one for dresses and no I’m not going out in a partially armoured one. It’s not really my thing.” He spoke with that mild tone of irritation regaining in his voice however it was lighter now not at her just the mental image he’d conjured up of wearing a dress over his armour.

“Being graceful huh? I’ve never been one for grace, but perhaps you’re right learning how to put some fluidity into my fighting might be useful. After all it’s far too easy to read what I’m doing now. I don’t use any of my power from a prior strike to build momentum for the next. I suppose that’s my own fault though, but learning how to fight with that double ended blade feels way too flowery due to how it has to be wielded.” Alex sat somewhat still on the table thinking about what Nivel had said. She was talking about how to help him with the Auristics but he was only half paying attention now that he was fully listening to her words he could see what she meant.

“Alright Nivs I get what you mean. Perhaps after this whole debacle is over and done with you could show me how to practice meditation?” Alex spoke with a calm word trying not to move as he could feel the clay making contact with the skin around his eyes. However it didn’t last too long, and now she wanted a mirror for him to look into… Alex almost didn’t want to open his eyes to see what she’d done. Slowly he stood eyes opened and tentatively lifted the small mirror off of the wall, the one he’d seen his own aura in before glancing at the work she’d done.

He couldn’t quite accept fully her design patterns he felt more like a clown than he possibly should have. “Nivel…Perhaps we could leave out the small swirls? That’s more you’re kinda design, as it fits you much better than it does me.” He spoke trying to sound both polite and friendly but there was a almost unsettled tone to his voice that he felt like a complete idiot and couldn’t quite settle himself into accepting what had happened.

[Nivel]

“Yah I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news but water makes grass grow faster” Nivel completely missed Alex’s sarcasm and regrettably explained what she felt was the truth. “It’s just the laws of nature.”

“Aww but an armoured dress would suit you so well!” Nivel’s ears flared out and her various appendages wiggled around as she cried in protest. She took a deep breath to calm herself before continuing. “They aren’t your thing but maybe we could find an interesting one that you could enjoy?..maybe” The pycon simply couldn’t accept that someone couldn’t see the fun in playing dress up. She was convinced that Alex just didn’t have enough experience with dresses to know what he really liked.
“My father preferred dresses that were really loose fitting so that all of his snakes could have room to move about but I like dresses with more razzle dazzle. One’s with bells, buttons, sparkles, dragonfly wings and um…other pretty things, that's what I look for.” She tilted her head to the right as she continued to think of a solution to Alex’s dress problem.
“Oh I know! Maybe we could give you a robe with bears on it..bears are masculine right? Not sure I’m good enough at embroidery to make bears on such short notice but maybe we could get some furry things so you would kind of look like one..perhaps.”
Her vision of Alex as a warrior princess evolved into one of a bear skinned barbarian queen. With a crown of bear teeth, shoulder pads made of bear heads and a furry skirt with bear arms hanging from the sides like oversized ribbons.

“Of course I’m right.” She stated without a spec of doubt. “Dancing is simply the best.” She preformed a simple twirl to illustrate her point.

“Excellent we’ll schedule a day of deep thought and relaxation that will strengthen our minds for the journey ahead.” She cast her hand out in a dramatic flourish. “What days are you typically available?”

Nivel could hardly contain her excitement as Alex searched for a mirror to inspect her work. She hoped he would like it, even if it could have used some more detail and variety. To her dismay, Alex did the unthinkable and stated he didn’t like the spirals, which was Nivel's absolute favourite part of the look.
“…you really don’t like the spirals?” Her voice quivered as she fought back the growing upset. “Okay I’ll paint pointy blades on your face instead, you like swords right?” She asked hesitantly, afraid the answer would be something she didn’t like.

Credit for Boxcode goes to Estrellir Konrath

[Alexander Faircroft]

It seemed as if the nuances of Alex’s manner of speech simply whizzed past Nivel’s head. Not too hard all things considered, given her size. With a small sigh he half brushed the words away. And then came the jump back to the dress with armour. Though as she talked he began to see things a little clearer. Perhaps what she meant wasn’t a dress after all but instead “robes” like he’d heard wizards wore. It would make sense considering she’d mentioned in the past her father was a mage of sorts.

Then a curious thing hit him, her father had snakes? What in the… Wait wait…Pycons… Though as things continued he got a very good idea of what Nivel was like. And exactly how eccentric she actually was. Dressed with bells, sparkles, and other odd assortments. Strange and vague. Then another suggestion fell from her, a dress with bears on it. Bears being a “manly concept” was her line of thinking there it seemed, however Alex didn’t want to particularly delve into the thought process she’d currently gone down… It either wasn’t pretty or it wasn’t at all what he’d have in mind.

And then the pride, Of course she was right… Pycons it appeared had little to no sense of tact, it seemed. Well at least outside of Archie, and even then his was somewhat muted. Though her decision to book out a day for them to train on nothing but the magic she’d taught him and meditation. A way for him to begin to understand the depths of the world of oddity he’d found himself in.

Though as he stated something about the Spirals he could hear Nivel’s voice audibly break… Biting his tongue from what he actually wanted to say he parsed through his mind for something else. Something that could be better suited to rectify the situation. And then it dawned on him.
“Nivel it’s not like I don’t like them. It’s just spirals are more your sort of thing. You wouldn’t want me stealing something which makes you look good now would you?” A small smile on his face, odd looking considering the strange assortment of makeup. “And as for the blades… Don’t worry too much. Sometimes a lot of added flourish can make things look a little too bright, if you know what I mean?”

Again though it was him simply doing damage control at the moment. Dealing with pycons and women always seemed to get him into trouble in one fashion or another. With a sour though and a small weight to his step he sat back down taking the mirror with him, and placing it face down on the table so the reflective surface was against the wood grain. Let’s see what else can go wrong today shall we?