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[img]https://i.imgur.com/kxxtOHI.png[/img]

and Nadia.

Level 11 Sectonia (holding 5 level up) - (74/110)
[b]Location:[/b] The Under - Dirtmouth
[b]Word Count:[/b] 2310
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Having had enough of the prison, Sectonia let the others explore it and find what they will, she wasn't keen on getting trapped in another mirror or another weird dream. She waited until she was informed that the group had found the item they were looking for, the Dreamcatcher. Curious, but considering all the stuff that had been going on so far, Sectonia was a bit too tired to deal with any shenanigans that came with it at the moment.

Sectonia was happy to get out of not only the jail, but the underground as a whole as Nadia, having made friends with some strange creature, pointed the group to some sort of strange transit system where they rode large stag beetles. Being the big lady she was, she took most of the seats of her transit, meaning that one of the smaller party members had to ride with her, if they even wanted to. 

Upon reaching the surface and being told the houses were abandoned by the elderbug, Sectonia decided to take one for herself as everyone else debated on who got what, taking the fanciest looking of the group. She wasn't pleased about having to be this 'squatter queen' as it were, and the looks of the abandoned house didn't help matters much. So she summoned some of her antlers and got herself ready to sleep, at least until an ally came looking for help.

Once of the first of Sectonia's teammates to start seeking shelter among the empty ovoid huts of Dirthmouth had been the crew's original cat burglar, Ms Fortune. For a while now she'd been longing for an escape from the inhospitable confines of the underground, but as much as she appreciated the chance to fill her lungs with fresh mountain air, the Charm's surroundings weren't exactly warm or comfortable. Pretty soon she began to poke around the quaint little houses, trying to find somewhere she could tuck in for some much-needed rest. A former alley cat wasn't picky when it came to places to hole up for the night, but she never liked sleeping with one eye open. Plus, her room the Mizzenmast back in Limsa Lominscuttle Town had kind of spoiled her, and Habbo Hotel hadn't been half bad, either. Determined to seize the best lodging she could before anyone else took it, Nadia soon made her choice. One of the huts had once belonged to a weaver, and that artisan had left behind plenty of scrap cloth that could made into blankets. Once Nadia laid down her heavy jacket, belt, and various weapons though, she still had one glaring issue. And as tired as she was, this one couldn't wait until morning.

ust as Sectonia was settling into her own hut (the biggest and fanciest of the bunch, though realistically that wasn't saying much) she received a visitor. Nadia poked her head in, a cheeky grin on her face. "Hiya Toni. You got a minute?" After her guest stepped in, Sectonia could get a good look at her, not to mention an idea of how she'd changed. Down to the bare essentials of jet-black leotard and modified Mantreads, Nadia possessed a silhouette dominated by a huge amount of voluminous snow-white hair, a cape of curls all the way down to the base of her tails. "You might have noticed, but a buncha the spirits I've fused with had something in common." Grinning, Nadia flipped her hair for dramatic emphasis. "I mean, it 'locks' good, right? I knew it'd be handful, but I figured it'd be a small price toupee. After all that fighting in the prison, though..."

Nadia threw her hands up. "It's such a pain in the ass! It's SO heavy, I'm constantly distracted. It's always flying everywhere, getting in the way while I'm doing stuff, and it blocks my equipment. As if covering my left eye all the time wasn't enough. Plus, all kinds of crap gets tangled in it! I mean, look." She ran her fingers through her hair for a moment, and to her own dismay pulled out a root sprig several inches long. "I mean, comb on." After flicking it away, she crossed her arms. "So I figured I better get rid of it. Hair today, gone tomorrow, right? A shoulder-length bob works just fine.  And I figured, well, nobody does style like Sectonia. You're not just any royal after all, you're the 'hair apparent', nyahaha!" She clapped her hands together pleadingly. "So whaddya think, Toni? Hairdo a girl a solid?"

Sectonia, having to make the best of a bad situation, was about ready to get to bed. A few Antlers could be seen cleaning the place as the queen laid on a bit of bedding from her camping set. She wasn't expecting anyone to come to anyone after the day they had all had. But considering the advice that was being asked, it made sense Nadia would come to her, the true eminence of beauty, to maker herself more beautiful. 

Nadia would see a bit of a snicker on Sectonia's face before she got up, saying. [color=92278f]"Well, its good you came to me. Outside of perhaps Primrose, none of the others really understand beauty. "[/color] She then looked at Nadia's hair, and could only shake her head. [color=92278f]"Welll, you are right. There is far too much hair here to do much, and keeping it proper would take quite a bit of effort."[/color] She ran her hand through Nadia's hair and pulled out a few pebbles, shaking her hand clean in disgust. 

Grabbing one of her ice Antler who was cleaning, she said. [color=92278f]"Well, we should get started then. Although I do think I can do better than a simple bob cut."[/color] Sectonia then went to work. Seeing how extremely volumetric Nadia's hair was, she decided the first round of curating this issue would probably require something a bit stronger than scissors. A pair of swords used as a large set of scissors would work though, and Sectonia summoned both of them and got to work. 

First Sectonia used her swords as large makeshift shears, making sure Nadia's tail was out of the way before shearing the back of her hair down quite a bit so that it was more managable. She then picked up her ice antler and used its ice powers on their 'warmest' setting to mist wash Nadia's hair and get rid of the gunk in it, pulling out a brush to comb out all the icky part, knots, and just random junk that this mane of hair had all around it. [color=92278f]"I suppose its a good thing the downsides of your fusions can be handled with a simple haircut. Its a good problem to have."[/color] Sectonia said, as she pulled out what were fairly large scissors by Nadia's standards and started to clean up the relatively neater mess she made.

The steady stream of cool air made Nadia shiver, causing goosebumps to crop up all across her skin, but after being stuck underground for so long she could take it. That went double if it meant getting clean, or at least, cleaner. Nonstop adventuring -and exercise- in all sorts of bizarre environments tended to leave a mark on someone, be it physical matter or just a good pong. Even if the others were in the same boat and would probably understand, Nadia wanted to be presentable. As Sectonia got busy cutting the feral's hair down to size, she idly wondered if she'd always felt this way. A poor orphan had more vital things to worry about, after all, and someone she fused with could have very well made her more self-conscious. Then again, even if she'd always been the rough-and-tumble, tomboyish type, the Fishbone Gang had always called her a diamond in the rough. Nadia Fortune, thief of hearts and wallets, robbing you blind and looking good while doing it--that would never change.  Providing Sectonia's aesthetic sense wasn't too dissimilar from her own, of course.

"See, I was talking to someone about this, Primrose I think," Nadia mentioned, continuing the thread of conversation that Sectonia began. "The changes from fusion, they're purr-etty serious, right? Say I just stuck to humans, or catgirls for that matter. Even then a teeny-tiny change in my face or voice [i]should[/i] be super noticeable. Uncanny, even. But when I looked at my reflection, it's just...me. My voice doesn't sound weird to me. Nothing seems like a problem, I guess." She paused for a moment. "But that's kinda weird, too. It's like I'm numb to it. I only noticed the hair thing 'cause it got so annoying." Upon reflecting, though, Nadia gave a sheepish laugh. "Sorry, I guess you can't relate, huh? Not a lotta people like you around after all. The pickings must be pretty slim." 

Sectonia paused for a bit upon Nadia self reflection. [color=92278f]"Yes, the lack of beauty is quite noticeable... and yes beautiful insect spirits are quite rare as well. Considering we are in a place full of them. Especially those of any real power."[/color] Sectonia said, before she went back to her work. As she cleaned up Nadia's bangs to get that hair out of her eye, Sectonia continued. [color=92278f]"I suppose when you gain power and it changes your form that can be a concern. but you seem to have realized the key to it, your still you.[/color] Sectonia said, moving to another section before continuing, musing a bit herself. [color=92278f]"Its caught me off guard a bit with some of the strange things I've had to deal with. If you have concerns about your looks because of a fusion, I can make you presentable. And if I can't, Kamek has that item that will make it possible. That and that orb are honestly why I've been looking at other avenues of power. Although so far they seem... lacking."[/color] 

As Nadia heard this, she couldn't help but give a wry smile. She'd used both the items that Sectonia mentioned already, and in fact, she'd been the one who discovered the orb. Did they really have to little to talk about that they both needed to go over stuff they already knew? An extrovert like her ought to be able to do better. They did have one pressing concern at the moment: whenever Sectonia tried to trim back the bangs over Nadia's left eye (bringing her massive scissors rather close to her face in the process) she found that the hair grew back immediately. "Don't worry about that," she advised after a few attempts. "I think it's stuck that way 'cause I fused with that assassin chick. Like it's her curse or somethin'. I woulda gotten rid of it already if I could. It's not that bad though, and it makes me look all mysterious. So 'eye' don't mind."

The feral shifted her posture slightly to get more comfortable, making no sudden movements that might result in an errant clip. "That whole prison was super freaky, huh?" she asked after a moment. "Not just the horrible monsters, either. All those poor people stuck in a trance. Blurring the line between dream in reality..." Though she wasn't about to share it, her unreal encounters with Minette and Black Dahlia weighed on her most heavily of all. Instead, Nadia laughed helplessly.  "After all that, I just wanna black out 'til morning. Gimme some sweet, sweet oblivion." 

[color=92278f]"Very well. I suppose a hair clip will also solve the issue."[/color] Sectonia said, giving up on dealing with the bangs and finishing her work. Sure Nadia wanted a bob, but that was plain... but an egyptian bob... Now that was fancy. Even if it was just a bit of jewelery in the hair that could be easily taken out...

[color=92278f]"Much of this area has been horrid. That prison was weird, agreed. You were fortunate you weren't locked in a magical mirror for an undisclosed amount of time.  And with your doubts earlier, I assume it played with your mind quite a bit. Perhaps thats why I ran into that mirror instead, hm....."[/color] Sectonia said. She ignored the oblivion comment, only partially. [color=92278f]"It'll be easier to sleep without that mane of hair, I'm sure."[/color]

After a few more snips, Sectonia was almost done. All that was needed was the final touches. Summoning one of her fire antlers, which she was about the same size of now, she had it use its heat on its 'coolest' setting like a hair dryer to finish up. [color=92278f]"I will say, after fusing with that last spirit, and that item we found yesterday, its a bit awkward to be smaller than my own summons. So I suppose we have something in common there."[/color]

Even after getting cut short, Nadia's locks remained quite thick and prone to fluffing up. Rather than try and force a certain kind of hair into a shape it wasn't suited for, the expert aesthetician could modify the original vision to make the style suit the hair, rather than the other way around. Once the drying completed, the final results were in: a rather [url=https://i.imgur.com/VBNdHtd.png]short but poofy bob[/url]. After getting a look at her reflection with the flat of a blade, Nadia looked pleased. "Hey, not bad! Cute, yes purractical." She grinned at Sectonia. "You're a real cut above, Toni!" 

[color=92278f]"Yes, well, naturally."[/color] Sectonia said. [color=92278f]"If the bangs get into your eyes remember a few hairclips can help."[/color] Sectonia then let out a silent yawn, her work being done. [color=92278f]"Now if only the others would come to get beutified. Either way, its getting late. Careful with your dreams, mine have been weird as of late."[/color] and with that, Sectonia lazily shooed Nadia off and went to sleep when her antlers had cleaned the place to her liking.