Completed Milking Flowers and Giving Dye-jobs Pt. I

[Naadiya]

Milking Flowers And Giving Dye-jobs Pt. I 74th of Spring 522 AV Naadiya and Talivindra had walked all the way to Syka’s Treasure Point, going along the Cobbled Pathway and crossing the swinging bridge near Uta’s Place before continuing south until the path veered to the east in a winding descent. Once they had reached the beach, Talivindra turned back towards the foliage by the path and seemed to scan the area looking for something familiar but not saying anything. Naadiya looked around the beach. It was quieter here than the main shores closer to The Commons and the areas where people lived in the bungalows and over-water ranchos. Little hermit crabs crawled about in all sorts of shells and Naadiya crouched down to get a better look at the tiny critters. “Come on,” Talivindra called out when she was already several paces away. In a rush, Naadiya ran after the verusk until she’d caught up. Walking along side Tal, Naadiya tried to trace her line of sight so she could see where the woman was leading her and found red flowers not too far in the distance. As they got closer, she could see that the flowers, if that’s what they were, lacked petals like any she’d ever seen and resembled a large seed more than any bloom could recognize. And, it was wet, covered in some oozing gel like the inside of an aloe vera, but the scent was quite different. Tropical and floral, it it also smelled a bit like ginger root. That’s what it reminds me of, the flowers in the ginger root plants growing in the herb garden by the Community Kitchen, but those actually look like petals, these are like little slubs of plant flesh. Almost the same color though. Tal must have noticed Naadiya taking in the smell because she wafted it dramatically, signaling how safe it was to inhale. Naadiya had told her of her less than ideal experience with Gympie Gympie and how it had almost crippled Cleon and nearly blinded herself as well as Uta. The gods only know what would have happened if any of them had inhaled the stinging needle-like hairs. Given the go-ahead, Naadiya leaned in closer to the flower and breathed in deeply. “Yes, definitely gingery, but softer as well. Very nice, what is it?” “Proof that nature always provides. Bitter ginger, or Pinecone ginger, but mostly commonly known as Shampoo ginger. Very aptly named.” She grasped the gooey flower and squeezed slightly, catching its clear goo in a cupped palm then holding it up to Naadiya. “Use this to clean you hair and body, it’s also a great base to make more specialized hair products too, in case you want to add other oils for moisture or scent or any other ingredient like an exfoliant for the skin or even a non-staining color.” The two had been discussing Naadiya’s plans for the new business and different ideas for treatments and products she could make available. Naadiya had even gotten the verusk interested in coming in to give makeovers for the Tendays. However, Naadiya had not been so successful in dissuading the idea that Talivindra would give whoever came in whatever makeover she decided on, without the customers input. That would need another conversation but thankfully that one could be easily postponed for a while. 551

[Naadiya]

Talivindra and Naadiya had pulled out a couple of jars and filled them with the plant’s goopy juice, noting it almost felt warm. “So… does that feeling make you think of Artik’s or your own?” Tal snickered and they milked the flowers for more gel. “Oh shut it!” Naadiya slung a bit of goop Talivindra’s way and it hit the woman’s pant leg. “Are you telling me you haven’t massaged your Mussurana?!” Naadiya wiped her hands off on the sides of her pants and stood up, putting the jars away. With the bracelet on her right wrist, Naadiya touched each jar with a copper charm and each object vanished into the magical trinket. “Are we done?” “Oh come on, how is that off limits? Do you know how few women get to occasionally have a penis? You’re the only one I’ve ever met!” “Stop talking about this like it's fun! You may have met me during a time where yes I do sometimes have all the male bits and none of the lady bits, but I’ve still not given into this. There will be a day where cool water is not my enemy.” “So is that a 'no' to the member massage?” “No, of course I have!” Naadiya blurted out. Talivindra was all smiles, “And?” Unsure of how she could accurately phrase something she never before thought she’d be able to compare with first hand experience, Naadiya struggled for a few minutes, contemplating with a knitted brow, which she almost immediately unknit thinking of wrinkle prevention. “It's like my whole adult life, I’ve had to work out a knot in a muscle to get my release and never knew that the whole time for men, it was more like scratching an itch. It’s really so much easier and faster, it’s just not fair.” “Speak for yourself!” Talivindra said between laughs, “I have record breaking speed down there. Give me seven chimes with the right kind of oil and I'm golden. I’m pretty sure I will never grow to be incontinent.” They kept laughed as she walked a little further down the beach and turned to into the green. “If I knew we’d actually be going inside the jungle, I would have brought other things, Tal. You said this would be a quick gathering outing.” “And it will be, Uta told me there is a burrow somewhere close by…. There!" She pointed to a mound of soil with several holes poking into it. “Bless that woman,” Tal said, referring to Uta when she had caught sight of blue painted disks in the ground, one solid and the other with a hole in its center. Naadiya followed her, looking at the blue shapes but not knowing what she saw. Tal beckoned for her to come closer and Naadiya went. The verusk had crouched over the blue object that had looked hollow in the middle and was running her fingers in the soil until they found a rope she grabbed and pulled. Talivindra held the rope and pulled, tugging it from left to right until a long clay pot with a narrow neck that bloomed out, was pulled from the ground almost like a carrot. 532

[Naadiya]

Tal gestured to the other blue plate and Naadiya grabbed it and handed it to the woman, realizing it even as she held it out that it must be a lid. Talivindra sealed the container and gave it a light shake. A scattering sound rang from the inside like dried beans in bowl and the verusk smiled. “I think we’ve got quite a few!” “Quite a few what?” “Beetles of course!” Came the reply, as if it had all been quite clear from the get-go. “Probably a few other critters too, but mostly beetles. Come on, I told Uta we’d come up to her place, she set out the beetle catcher for me and I promised I’d come by and fix her hair as payment.” Naadiya remembered the last time she had seen the botanist and how her normally pristine 'do, was anything but. “But Uta can’t be near metal! I would’ve given her a cut otherwise.” “Uta can’t be near magnetic metals.” Talivindra corrected, “She said she’s tested out a few things and I’ve bought copper tools especially for her. Do you know how hard it is to find a copper pair of scissors? Very.” On their way back to find the cobbled path that would lead them back north and to Uta’s, Naadiya caught sight of the little hermit crabs again. She noticed a line of four or five, all with different shells, walking single-file. The one that was first in line had a pale purple shell with white dots, she noted. The pattern was pretty and Naadiya thought she could probably recreate it on a fabric or on a finger nail if she had the right type of shellac and a small enough brush. The little crab walked over something shiny, and the others followed suit, none of them bothering to veer around the partially buried hurdle. Naadiya let the crabs keep walking and fished the bit of silver out of the sand. It looked like a cross with its arms dropped to the sides as if the trinket had been pulled through a small opening and its metal proved softer than that of the hole it was pulled through. She was holding the charm up to the sunlight when the silvery metal began to tremble and then flew to her bracelet on the opposite wrist. Without her having to do a thing, the bent-arm cross had latched itself onto a link in the charm bracelet, of its own accord. The tiny metal ring that hung from the cross had opened and re-closed itself around one of the golden links of chain around her wrist, though the movement was almost too fast for Naadiya’s eyes to catch. “Tal!” She gasped, running to Verusk who had walked on ahead and still held the clay vase by the rope that was wrapped and knotted around its neck and body. Hearing her name, the woman turned to see Naadiya shaking her wrist in the air. Noticing the copper charm she had given Naadiya, Talivindra smiled. “I know, it’s great isn’t it? I have something similar being made for myself even as we speak. It cost me an arm and a leg, good thing they were someone else’s.” Laughing at her own joke, she adjusted her grip on the rope, momentarily regretting having given the storage charm to Naadiya before her big-and-better upgrade had arrived. “No, but seriously, it took more than a few favors.” 580

[Naadiya]

Snapping her fingers in the air to draw the Verusk’s attention, Naadiya shook her wrist in the air. “I just found this one in the sand, it attached itself!” “Very pretty,” Tal, replied not slowing her pace and barely glancing over, “must be a nice little clasp.” “No clasp,” Naadiya sighed, not wanting to make an awkward scandal but studying the new addition to her bracelet. “It just flew…” Talivindra hardly heard Naadiya, her voice having shrunk to almost a whisper. They were nearing Uta’s Place and Naadiya, for the first time, worried about her bracelet potentially coming into effect with the woman’s curse. The last time she had stood outside this door, she had very nearly stabbed the botanist with an eating knife gone rogue. Would the collection of charms pull Naadiya’s fist to the woman’s face in a magnetically charged but unintentional punch? She held her arms behind her back when Tal lowered the vase she carried to knock on the door. When it was opened, Naadiya felt no tugging of her arm, not even the slightest pull and she remembered how quickly that knife had cut a hole through her pocket. Relaxing her arm a little, eventually Naadiya let it drop and still no pull. Tal and Uta had talked a bit, and when the attention turned to Naadiya she greeted Uta with a smile and then the three went inside. “I can’t thank you enough for the beetles! I’m running low on so many pigments and these will go a long way.” Uta smiled and nodded but seemed a little impatient to get on with what she really needed. “Did you bring the stuff?” Naadiya raised comical eyebrows at the woman who sounded like a drug addict, even though she was referring to hair products. “Yes, yes. Go get a chair ready and a basin of water. Naadiya could you help—?“ Talivindra was cut short when Uta gestured towards the area she had already prepared for the hair treatment she had so long been in need of. “Okay then, let’s get started.” Uta had made sure to wear something she cared little for in case the dye were to stain any part of her, opting for a full black ensemble that was less likely to catch a spot. Talivindra had done the same, but Naadiya who had been left in the dark about what they would be doing at Uta’s, had come dressed in white. A little voice in her head asked if Tal had done this on purpose, or out of carelessness, but she quieted the voice and chose to be the bigger person and ignore the pesky fact, for now at least. “Naadiya, could you get started on Uta’s hair? Just give it a wash, you can use some of the stuff we gathered earlier but not too much, a little goes a long way. But really give her scalp a good soak before you scrub.” Doing as she was told, Naadiya helped Uta sit down and lower her head back into a water filled basin the herbalist had already prepared for herself. The water was not steaming hot but warm enough that it was comfortable on the scalp and not shocking. As she made sure Uta’s locks were saturated in water, Naadiya noticed how much brighter they looked since the last time she’d seen the woman, even in passing. It was as bright as it had been before any of these curses had affected anyone. 582

[Naadiya]

“Uta, what did you do to your hair?” Naadiya asked. For a second, the blonde woman panicked, “did I do it wrong? Talivindra I did what you said!” The verusk rushed over to where the other two stood, and poked a finger in the water, sifting through blonde tresses before slapping Naadiya’s arm lightly with a disapproving look. “Never say alarming things while holding someone’s hair, wrists, penis or nipples! That’s just a life lesson for you! You’re always going to trigger a panic by doing that.” With a hand on Uta’s shoulder, she said, “you’re fine. You did right.” Then for Naadiya’s benefit, “it’s lye soap. You can use it to lighten hair or strip it of color in the sun. You can also use lemon juice, but Uta likes a very uniform and sharp color contrast, so we’re using lye soap instead. I combed some into her hair yesterday and then told her to lay by the sun and the light bleached the hair. But it can also be irritating on the skin so we want to make sure we get it all out.” “I’ve already washed my hair since then!” Uta protested in defense of her own hygiene but Tal quieted her down. “I’m sure you did, but we’re still going to give you another rinse and a scrub.” She patted Naadiya’s elbow and the benshira resumed what she was doing, quietly whispering an apology to Uta for startling her. “I only meant to say that whatever you had done, it was looking much better than that day with the gympie…” Tension was already washing off the botanist as Naadiya used the tips of her nails to gently massage Uta's scalp and the herbalist only gave a pleasant hum in response with closed eyes and a smile on her lips. When Uta seemed to be well relaxed, Naadiya held out her hand and wished for one of the jars of plant-based shampoo and by the magic imbued in one of the charmed on her bracelet, the jar appeared in her palm. Removing the tin lid, she noticed that it too did not react to Uta’s magnetic pull. I must ask her later, what her experience found. Which metals are magnetic, which aren't and why. Naadiya poured some of the plant goo in her palm and scrubbed the contents into Uta’s hair while Tal rummaged through her own bag, pulling out an assortment of copper toned tools and glass phials. When she was finished, Naadiya rinsed and squeezed out the remaining suds and went to discard the used water, tossing it into the stream that ran below Uta’s house. Returning with the bowl, Naadiya could see everything Tal had pulled out. The Verusk had already started and was standing by the sitting Uta, using a paintbrush to color the botanist’s locks with a dark and almost thick paste. On the counter, by the copper scissors and combs, were a few glass containers that had clearly been mixed into the bowl Tal now held, applying its contents to Uta’s hair. She saw cracked nut shells, some of which had been ground, a dark brown/black paste, and an already re-corked jar that still held two oblong objects floating in a greenish liquid. 545

[Naadiya]

About to ask of the jar’s contents, Naadiya was prevented from doing so by Talivindra who, as soon as she noticed Naadiya looking over the mix, waved for Naadiya to come over and watch the way she applied the black goo onto Uta’s hair and brushed it in to get as precise of a line as possible to achieve the woman’s signature cut-and-color. “They are leeches.” Tal replied to Naadiya’s wordless question. “I bought those already pickled but you can do it yourself too, if you prefer. You take one that’s done pickling, grind that up to a mush, you bake walnut shells and crush those up too, add it to the mush. For a quantity like this, I would say I used one leech, about four walnut shells, just the shell mind you, not the nut. Hmm, yes, a couple of spoonfuls of ash, I like using oak but most kinds of dark wood ash will do. And the same amount of earthworm.” “You measure earthworms in spoonfuls?” Naadiya asked. “Well I just keep some already ground up in an air-tight container so they don’t dry up, I like to keep them stored in vinegar like the leeches. Then when you have you’re mixture all combined, you can add some of the leech-vinegar to better blend it into a liquid paste consistency that you can spread on the hair.” Naadiya was a little stunned. Not only at the ingredients that went into black hair dye but also that Uta seemed so very willing to have it applied to her hair. Summoning her handy automated quill and her notebook, Naadiya started dictating as much of what Tal had just said, as she could remember. Occasionally, the Verusk would interject where she thought her own words would be clearer or more accurate than Naadiya’s and the quill dutifully took those notes as well. “She is going to leave the black dye in her hair now that we stripped away any color, and then she’ll go lay out in the sun again today to let it all bake in. And tonight I will come by again to wash it all off and then make sure you wash it really well tomorrow again." She said the last part to Uta. "Then you should be good to go. If I missed any spots, which I very much doubt, or if the line where the dye starts is not clean enough, which I VERY much doubt, then you can come let me know and I will fix it for you.” It took Naadiya a few minutes to notice that her quill had also written down Tal’s parting words to Uta as they were packing up, Naadiya put the thing away again, returning it to the hidden storage inside her magical charm along side the notebook and what was left of the shampoo ginger gel. “Tomorrow, after I check on Uta’s hair, I’m going to make use of those beetles, you are welcome to join me if you want, I would appreciate the extra set of hands and it could be good for you to know how to do these things for yourself.” 531

[Gossamer]

The Fates Have Spoken
Here is your thread grade!

Naadiya-

Observation +5, Botany +1, Foraging +3, Rhetoric +2, Planning +2, Cosmetology +2

Bitter Ginger: Appearance & Smell, Bitter Ginger: The Uses Of It’s Oils, Rhetoric: Defending One’s Social Boundaries, Rhetoric: Bantering With A Friend, Human Sexuality: Men Ejaculate Faster & Easier Than Women, Beetle Catcher: Appearance & Use, Planning: Taking Weaving Inspiration From A Hermit Crab Shell, Lye Soap: Used For Lightening Hair, Lemon Juice: Used For Lightening Hair, Cosmetology: Washing Someone’s Hair, Cosmetology: Application Of Hair Color, Cosmetology: How To Mix Hair Dye, Cosmetology: How To Set Hair Coloring


Moderator’s Note:

The Swinging Bridge is nowhere near Uta’s Place. It’s miles apart. Please review the Syka Map to see that it is near the northern Jellyfish Lake not south by Uta’s Place and Treasure Point. Uta’s Place is suspended over a creek. That might be your confusion.

Don’t go into the jungle with an NPC that doesn’t have Expert WS or higher. Talvindra has none. And since you don’t have any either, you girls shouldn’t be out there. This is your first and only warning. All threads after this where you two are alone in the jungle will be voided.

You asked for Philtering, but none was done in thread… so I couldn’t award it.

As always PM me if you have issues.