"Come on it's going to be fun." Fay smiled and bumped Ellie with her hip. "And you won't get fired, I'll make sure of that." A big smile on her face, no matter how hard she tried to get rid of it she couldn't. It was just so much fun. "Maybe when we sneak out of the castle again you could come with."
"Fay, I'm supposed to be working! Someone's going to have to clean up the paint, anyway," Ellie argued exasperatedly.
Aurelie woke up the next morning, stretching and sitting up before realizing she wasn’t in her regular sleeping spot. She looked around frantically for a moment before yesterday’s events came rushing back to her. She got out of the bed and went to the bathroom, splashing her face with water. She looked like a mess, and the headache she had didn’t help. She quickly put her long hair into a neat braid.
Emerald shifted on the couch, slowly opening her eyes when she heard Aurelie wake. Her normally soft straight hair was now a tangled mess. Emerald closed her eyes again, not wanting to wake up, before she forced herself to get up and go to stand against the wall next to the wash closet to wait for Aurelie to be done.
Aurelie glanced at Emerald. “Good morning,” she replied, her voice heavy from sleeping. She walked over to the armchair so Emerald could use the bathroom, perching herself on the armchair as if she owned it.
Emerald walked in with a tired frown, which only growled when she saw what a mess her hair was. She tried to comb it with her fingers a bit, but that only produced a few ‘ow’s. She managed to get it a little tamed, but it still looked horrible. She glanced at Aurelie’s braid, biting her lip. Emerald had never learned to braid her hair since she always had the castle servants do it for her… “A-Aurelie?” Emerald asked, slightly shy for her ignorance, “I… Is there a chance you would be willing to, um, help me?”
Aurelie glanced at Emerald, a bit confused at first but understanding quickly dawned. “Oh, sure,” she replied. “I can braid your hair. It’s quite simple once you get used to it.” She walked behind the other girl with a gentle smile. “You just separate the hair into the three sections, like this.” She demonstrated how to braid hair on Emerald. “And then you cross each one over the other until you can’t anymore and secure it, like so.” Her deft fingers quickly finished the braid.
Emerald watched, her mouth part slightly. “You make it look so simple,” She said softly. Normally, she never paid attention to whatever intricate patterns the servants weaved into her hair. “Thank you very much. I never got a chance to learn…”. Emerald trailed off, chewing her lip.
“It’s okay,” Aurelie replied. “Better late than never, right? And it’s easier to try it on someone else first, so if you need to practice it, you can practice on me.” She smiled at Emerald softly. She had a servant to braid her hair once upon a time, but when she’d ran away she had to learn how to everything herself.
“That’s very kind of you,” Emerald gave a small smile, “Though I wouldn’t want to ruin your beautiful hair,” Emerald said earnestly, and she made a mental note to try to practice on a small strip of her own hair at the end of the day so she wouldn’t have to bother Aurelie again.
Aurelie laughed. “I’m glad you think it’s beautiful,” she replied with a bit of a smirk. “But it’s fine, if you mess up too badly I’ll just cut it. I’ve been meaning to anyway.” The truth was that she liked her hair, but she did think it would be easier to manage if it were short.
“You might need to shave your head if I touch it,” Emerald joked softly, and a small smile stayed on her face as she added, “I will wait until tomorrow, after you take your hair out, so I won’t ruin your braid.”
Aurelie shrugged. “Okay,” she agreed with a smile. “Whatever you need. I’m sure you won’t do too badly.”
(Heck sorry I've been gone so long-)
Zero awoke not long after the girls. Though his morning was no where near as difficult. He simply ran his fonts through his hair a few times to get rid of any spikes. He straightened out his shirt, as it had twisted sometime in the night. And just like that he was ready for the day. Half listening to the girls conversation about hair.
Emerald smiled a little, “Thank you, truly, Aurelie. For helping me, in both my quest and my hair.” She let out a soft, genuine laugh, something she hadn’t done in a while. Emerald rubbed her eyes, still a bit tired as she shifted out if the bathroom and glanced at Zero with a acknowledging nod, “Good morning.”
“Morning, Zero,” Aurelie repeated, shooting him a smile. She turned back to Emerald. “Anytime.”
"Morning." Zero said, and forced some kind of smile that ended up looking more like a grimce. He stood and stretched, popping his back in the process. "Shall we go find another knight today?" Zero said almost sarcasticly. He was still shocked that they had even foynd one. Espesilly so easily.
(*Sarcastically *found *especially)
Aurelie raised an eyebrow at his sarcasm. “You found me, so.” She went and got her stuff together, including her sword, and smiled at them. “Let’s go.”
Emerald nodded, putting her hood over her head. At least we found Aurelie, at least there’s still hope, Emerald reminded herself, taking a deep breath. And maybe with her sword, they’d be able to find someone else even sooner.
(Also, if any knights are on right now, do you have a preferred place to be found? Like a tavern, or cave, or palace or something?)
"Fay, I'm supposed to be working! Someone's going to have to clean up the paint, anyway," Ellie argued exasperatedly.
"You need to loosen up my friend." Once in her room she had a box full of clothes, that weren't princess like. Randomly Fay grabbed a shirt and pants and ran to the bathroom to change. "You can pick whatever from the pile. We don't want to keep the boys waiting!" She shouted in a sing song tone. (Sorry, I'm back.)
(All good, friendo!)
Ellie sighed. "Need to loosen up," she muttered. She carefully sorted through the pile and pulled out a button-up shirt and a… hm. She didn't even know cargo skirts existed. "I'm going to look like a jungle explorer," she mumbled to herself.
Fay came out in baggie black pants the tightened around her ankles and a white top with an under shirt. She thought it would be more fun in white to see the art the best. "What do you think? Don't I look adorable?" She spun around and acted like a stuck up princess, thinking she was the best, but it was just all fun and games to her. "Should I sneak the boys some clothes? They probably don't want to get their fancy clothes dirty."
Ellie nodded. "First of all, you always look adorable and you know it. And second of all, you should absolutely lend the princes clothes. Now, let me into the bathroom, would you?"
Opening the door Fay bounced out with a happy hum. This was exciting and she seriously couldn't wait. "Well I'm going to sneak into the clothes room and grabbed some. When your done you head down first and tell them." Fay left in a hurry wanting to get this done quickly.
Ellie changed at lightning speed, folding Fay's dress neatly and placing it on the bed before heading downstairs to find the princes. Her skirt was considerably shorter than her uniform's, and it was very strange. Would the princes still be in the ballroom? She shrugged and headed there anyway, pulling the door open and looking inside.