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Tweak says, "let my people go."

Bryony Capper (goodlight) wrote in finnigans_rpg,
@ 2014-10-15 14:57:00

Entry tags:

character: bryony capper, character: gemma farley

Pretty in... ?
Who: Bryony and Gemma
What: Prettifying
Where: Hard Knutt
When: Wednesday afternoon
Rating: SFW

Bryony approached Hard Knutt with no small amount of trepidation. Her mother had insisted she take all of Wednesday off from work and report to Pineview Hall for an early lunch. Though it was her birthday, there had been no presents or cards, no excitement. Bryony had been too nervous to eat (which was good, as Iris would only have found some detail to rebuke her for) and Iris had been distracted, ordering her house-elves around to prepare for the evening's dance. Eventually, she'd shooed Bryony away as if she'd been overstaying her welcome, instructing her to visit Hard Knutt to 'get ready' for the dance.

Eager to escape her mother's company, Bryony had agreed - thinking she could escape quickly to the studio. Until Iris informed her she'd booked her in for a full afternoon of treatments. So, without really knowing what to expect, all instructions having been owled ahead, Bryony stepped through the doors and looked around for someone who looked as if they worked there.

"Good afternoon," she said politely as she approached a counter. "I have some appointments booked. They'll either be under Bryony or Iris Capper."

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ffionprew
2014-11-01 01:26 am UTC (link)

Gemma nodded. In the end, it didn't matter to her what clients did and didn't do for themselves, she only hoped she did a good enough job that they might come back one day. This one seemed more quiet than most, and there was something about her that seemed insecure. It was a shame, because Gemma thought she was quite lovely and definitely wouldn't have turned her away from her bed.

"Why don't we move on to the mani-pedi," she offered, approaching the table and hazarding a gentle hand on the girl's shoulder. "I'll give you a few minutes to get dressed, then we'll go into the other room. These I do a mix of hands-on and magical, so if you can, please keep your socks off. I'll leave you a pair of open shoes to wear, all right?"

A pat to Bryony's shoulder and she moved away, setting out a pair of shoes as she'd promised and went out the door to wait.

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goodlight
2014-11-05 05:53 pm UTC (link)

Bryony tensed slightly at the touch to her shoulder - but quickly relaxed again when she realised she could put (most of) her clothes back on. She didn't keep Gemma waiting long, hurrying into her robes and the open-toed shoes. This part she was less worried about - she'd got over the habit of biting her nails some time ago, largely because her mother would keep nagging her whenever she caught her.

"Thank you," she said, following as Gemma led the way into the next room where Bryony looked around curiously. She sat down where Gemma indicated, her gaze transferring to her hands. "Did my mother send instructions for what colour nail polish she wants?" she asked, knowing that if the decision were left up to her she'd get it wrong somehow.

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ffionprew
2014-11-08 04:56 am UTC (link)

Gemma shook her head as she sat down and reached for one of Bryony's hands. Much of the work would be done by charm, but she still needed to adjust the girl's hand per her need.

"That's why I asked what colour you were going to wear tonight. Many colours go with dark blue, but with your complexion, maybe something in a pale pink." She also figured, from what she'd gathered of the girl so far, a less extreme colour might be more favourable. "We could do some nail art for anything more extravagant - no extra cost, of course, it's all included in the package your mother bought. Perhaps something that glitters, some flowers, or some marbling?"

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goodlight
2014-11-10 05:38 pm UTC (link)

Presented with her own choice in the matter, Bryony tensed a little. If she picked the wrong option, her mother would certainly upbraid her for something - whether it was being too garish or simply not having decent taste. Still, pale pink seemed to Bryony like it would be hard to get wrong, so she nodded. That, at least, she could say Gemma had recommended and then her mother would magically stop finding fault with it. Bryony knew how these things worked, even if she couldn't entirely rid herself of the guilt when she was blamed. "Maybe something that glitters," she said, with obvious hesitance. At least she would enjoy that, even if her mother didn't.

She looked down at her hands, thinking that this was all a bit of a waste. She'd have to trim her nails again and remove any residual charms or spells before she could work on her paintings. She didn't really understand the point in going to all this effort to be pretty for just one night. Her mother, of course, could keep her nails done for weeks at a time if she chose but that simply wasn't practical. Her gaze moved to Gemma's own hands, curious. "Do you find nails get in the way of your work?" She assumed that they would for hands on massages if nothing else...

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ffionprew
2014-11-12 07:32 pm UTC (link)

Gemma grinned when the girl finally made a decision. She sensed it wasn't something she did often, which was a terrible shame. Gemma was nothing if not emphatic about young women being independent, and she hoped that a nice manicure could help Bryony feel a little better about herself.

She took Bryony's hands with her own manicured hands, done in a black and white harlequin inspired design and took out her wand to start the required charms.

"Not at all," she replied as the spells started weaving. "I heard they might with Muggles, but that's because they don't have the magic we have. Strengthening charms can keep the nails from breaking, cushioning charms to keep them from poking and ripping into things... oh, and my favourite." She grinned and pointed her wand at her left hand and cast a spell - the nails started growing shorter until they were even with her fingers. "There are some things I need to keep short nails for, but once I'm done-" She cast finite incantatem. "Voila!"

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goodlight
2014-11-14 01:59 pm UTC (link)

Bryony watched as Gemma's nails simply shortened until they were no longer a hinderance, smiling slightly. Perhaps she wouldn't have to get rid of her manicure quite as quickly as she'd thought. "Oh, I'd never have thought of that," she admitted, feeling a little silly. All these treatments were things she associated with her mother and as such they weren't always problems she was willing to put real thought into working around when she could just abandon them as soon as it was convenient. Unlike her face or her clothes, though, she was able to see that she actually had nice nails now that she'd stopped biting them. She wouldn't mind keeping them pretty for a little while - as long as it didn't get in the way of her work.

Noting the black and white pattern of Gemma's nails, Bryony briefly wondered if she were a Magpies fan - but probably not. Black and white was hardly an uncommon combination. "How often do you change the pattern?" she asked. For the first time she was seeing her nails as miniature canvasses that she could decorate any way she wanted. "You must have access to a lot of paints here - and if you come up with something you particularly like you can offer it to customers."

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ffionprew
2014-11-15 07:14 pm UTC (link)

"It's all right," she said gently. "To be honest, neither had I until I started working for a barber sometime after graduating from Hogwarts. I wasn't the most 'girly' girl in school, played on the quidditch team and everything. But down the road, I learned there were advantages to looking the part - and even came to really enjoy it. Made me feel powerful and beautiful."

Gemma caught the interest and grinned. Finally, something that seemed to inspire the girl. She took out the first container of polish and opened it up. "I change almost every day or two, depending on my mood and what I plan on wearing. Some colour combinations work several days, others for only specific outfits. There's a spell that can remove everything pretty quickly without damaging your nails or skin." She touched her wand to the bottle and then to each of Bryony's nails, watching as the pale pink coated each nail in turn. "It's all rather commitment free, to be honest, and in the end, my fingers end up looking as creative as I feel at a given time."

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goodlight
2014-11-17 05:11 pm UTC (link)

"You played Quidditch?" The question was out before Bryony could think about it. She knew it wasn't really that unusual for a girl to play Quidditch — there was a whole professional team of women, after all — but very few she'd actually met had any interest. That was mostly down to the kinds of people her family associated with and wasn't helped by Slytherin's tendency to overlook the girls as potential players. Realising that her question might seem rude, Bryony blushed. "I always wanted to watch Quidditch in school," she said. It wasn't the kind of thing she'd usually admit, but nor did she want it to seem as if she, personally, disapproved of Gemma having been on the Quidditch team.

She watched with interest as Gemma applied the paint to her nails, the spellwork perfect with no smudges or stray daubs of paint. Not that paint on her fingers was all that uncommon for Bryony, of course. "Do you know a spell to protect the paint itself?" She imagined there must be such a thing, and if she was going to keep her nails for a little longer than anticipated, it would be good to keep the paint she worked with from spoiling them.

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ffionprew
2014-11-25 06:02 pm UTC (link)

"It was fun," she replied with a fond smile. "Not that I lasted too long, a season and a half is all. There was a little incident..." She shrugged and continued her work.

Once the lighter coat was on, Gemma took out the next paints - some dark blues with sparkling spells woven into the ink. She started applying them, taking great care to make certain the ratio between the paler colour and the darker ones was constant across every nail. "Oh yes, otherwise the work would be damaged within minutes. It also saves having to wave one's fingers around trying to dry them because the charm dries at the same time."

With a few more strokes, the last finger was done. Gemma started casting the drying/protection spell, and then the strengthening spell afterward. "So, what do you think?"

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goodlight
2014-11-28 02:22 pm UTC (link)

Though she desperately wanted to ask more, Bryony held her tongue. Her mother was more than likely to contact Gemma at some point in the future, and might even come here for treatments herself if she approved of her work - Bryony wasn't going to risk an idle conversation revealing to Iris just how interested she still was in the sport. Instead of asking more questions, she watched as Gemma worked.

Once it all seemed to be finished, Bryony stretched her fingers out and smiled. "It's very pretty." And now that she knew she could keep it for a while without interfering with her work, it seemed less of a pointless indulgence.

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	(OOC - will be deleted) ffionprew 2014-12-03 08:25 pm UTC (link)
	Hey you, am cool with ending there if you are - I looked at the date and my jaw dropped at us working on this for a month and a half lol (Reply to this) (Parent)

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