RYE
BREAD

Discord Schedule:

• The Vagabond gets a Makeover

  In the middle of Centerbrook, there’s a small building with a total of seven floors. Three floors up, there’s an apartment that appears both heavily lived in and completely abandoned. The place was filled with an assortment of miscellaneous items, half of which were housed in various cardboard boxes. Boxes of soda cans lay stacked on top of each other and were spilling from the closet, on the brink of collapsing. 

  The vagabond climbed up on the windowsill and peered in. It had been a little while since she’d been inside, and yet not much had changed about it. On the couch, she saw a woman sprawled out, looking half dead. A spoon rested precariously in her hand; half-eaten ice cream spilled on the floor. She opened the window and crawled inside, unfazed by the smell. 

  “Even a vagabond like myself couldn’t stomach a place like this for very long. Honestly, you truly are inspiring.”
  Jenns let out a gurgled snore, triggering a coughing fit and waking herself up. 

  “Good morning.” 

  Huh? Vagabond? What are you doing here?”
  “Did I say good morning? I meant to say good afternoon. It’s currently 4pm.”
  “Oh shoot, really?” Jenns rolled over and grumbled. “I missed patrol today.”
  Wayfaren smiled, watching her roll over like a very long sloth.

  “Patrolling isn’t very exciting anyway.” She said casually. “I have something I think you’d enjoy much more.”
  Jenns turned over to face her. 

  “Drinking…?”
  “No.”

  “Oh…” Jenns slowly sat upright, unable to think of anything more exciting. “What?”

  “I’m supposed to be attending some fancy dance tonight.  I was told that I need someone to make me look presentable. Naturally, I thought of you.”
  Jenn’s eyes lit up. 

  “Y-you—” she stammered. “I get to do your makeup!?” 

  Truly, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. 

  “Hold on, let me get my stuff!!”

   Jenns shot up from the couch and ran to one of the many boxes that sprawled around the kitchen. 

  Despite never wearing makeup, Jenns sure did have a lot of it. She had bottles upon bottles of various hair products, lotions, brushes, you name it. Even if she wasn’t the most ladylike woman in the world, she still considered herself a girl’s girl at heart, cherishing anything that radiated femininity.

  After clearing some space, she positioned a large chair in the middle of her living room. Wayfaren sat complacently, surrounded by piles of random products. 

  After a few moments, Jenns walked back into the room holding another armful of supplies. She threw them all to the ground before gently picking up the ones she needed.

  “Good thing I have a very heavy-duty brush for this,” Jenns remarked, smiling excitedly at the sporadic mess on top of Wayfaren’s head. “Oh—I’ve always wanted to do your hair!”

  Jenns took out her hair tie, watching silently as the big clump of hair turned into an even bigger clump of hair. This was a bit overwhelming, as she needed a few motivational push-ups before heading in. 

  However, just as she was parting the knots, a little weasel popped its head out like it was hiding in a bush. It was small, white, and quite adorable. Jenns paused in surprise. A moment later, it jumped, running around to sit in Wayfaren’s lap. 

  “Wayfaren, can you please get all the animals out of your hair?” Jenns commented, sounding cross. “What if I accidentally hurt one of them? You do realize the tools I’m using are rather dangerous.”

  “Don’t worry, the rest left when they saw the flamethrower,” Wayfaren assured.
  For some reason, Jenns had brought out a blowtorch and various blades among the pile of supplies. Wayfaren didn’t know why she needed such extreme weapons for doing hair, but she didn’t feel the need to question the artist at work. 

  “So, why are you going to a dance?” Jenns finally questioned. 

  “The kids wanted me to go for one of their clients,” Wayfaren responded. “And I thought it’d be fun.”
  “Oh, you’re going to have so much fun!” Jenns eyes lit up as she worked. “School dances are an important part of the teenage experience. There’s food, drinks, dancing to hip music… and the best part is getting all dressed up!”

  Jenns stopped working and looked up with a smile. 

  “Oh—I wish I could go with you! Dropping you off with a loving tear in my eye, thinking about how grown up you are. Pretend to be strict with your date, but really, I actually find him a good fit for you.”
  Wayfaren’s expression didn’t change as she simply closed her eyes.

  Jenns sighed. “Or at least that’s what I imagine, of course. I’ve never actually been to a school dance.”

  “Neither have I, though the celebrations and parties that I’ve experienced have been truly a treat to behold… I doubt a high school dance would hold up to them.” Wayfaren said flatly. 

  Jenns was awed. 

  “You certainly live such an eventful life!”

  Wayfaren shrugged. “Mm, I suppose. If you want, you can come with me.” 

  Jenns thought deeply for a moment before frowning. “No. It’s ok…”

  After a while, she had managed to get the vagabond’s hair to lie somewhat flat. It was quite the accomplishment, and she rewarded herself with a soda. 

  It was then that Jenns decided to push her hair back with a headband to start with the face. 

  Some time passed before she commented, “You know, you really are quite pretty.”
  Wayfaren didn’t respond.

  ***

  After 2 hours, Jenns had finally finished. Normally, it would have taken much longer for the vagabond look even remotely presentable, but Jenns was a rank 4 official and was exceptionally talented. With hair, makeup, and nails all done, she met Jenn’s gaze as she spun the chair around. The vagabond smiled at her, but Jenns looked like she’d seen a ghost. Her own work completely took her back! 

  “Wow… You look…”
  “Hm? What’s wrong?” Wayfaren asked. 

  “This is crazy! You look like a princess! Have you always looked like this?” 

  “A what? Wait, Jenns, I want to see.” 

  Wayfaren jumped up and walked to the bathroom mirror. It had been a very long time since she’d seen her reflection, so it was hard to say how familiar she’d find it. However, who she saw wasn’t recognizable in the slightest. The girl looked young and pampered, like a doll. A silver headband held her brushed clumps of hair in place.

  Perhaps only her expression remained familiar: a smiling face that held two blue, clouded eyes. 

  “How is it? Do you like it?” Jenns asked, still in the living room.
  Wayfaren didn’t speak. 

  “Wayfaren?”

  “Jenns, it looks…”
  She paused, trying to find the words.

  “Maybe… I won’t go.”
  “Huh!?” Jenns said, sounding panicked. “Wait—why? Do you not like the look? Does it not look good?”
  “No, you did a good job. When I look at myself, I don’t know who I’m looking at.”
  “Oh, well that’s good…” Jenns said with slightly more confidence. 

  “I appreciate all of your hard work—so I, uh… Sorry about this. It was all just a joke, so don’t take it seriously.” Wayfaren said.
  “Really?” Jenns found this hard to believe, but was more so just confused. “Do you want any help?”
  “No, no. I can do it. Just give me a moment.”

  ***

  Jenns heard the sink running through the door as she sat on the couch doing nothing. She had mixed emotions about this turn of events and was ultimately too mentally overwhelmed to know if this was normal. Wayfaren had never reacted with any fear or regret before, so the only explanation was that she herself had done something wrong.

  Still, Jenns didn’t have the mind to think about it further, wondering if it was a good time for a drink. 

  Suddenly, she had an epiphany. Picking up the phone, she scrolled through her contacts, which totaled 2 people, so it wasn’t much of a scroll.

  “Hello?” The voice on the other end said. 

  “Hi… Uhm. Can you come over?”
  “Huh? Why?”

  ***

  Noah opened the bathroom door to see the vagabond scrubbing what looked like nail polish off. Their gaze met as her face instantly took him back. The makeup was exquisite, as somehow this trash-loving vagabond turned into something ethereal. He quickly collected himself in a fraction of a second and focused on the matter at hand. Even though she was smiling and her expression was not unusual, he intuitively felt something was off. 

  “What are you doing here?” she asked.

  He paused, taking a look at her scratched-up fingernails. “If you need to remove it, use nail polish remover. It’ll be easier.”

  Wayfaren blinked, “Oh, is that so? I’ve never used that stuff. I wonder if we have that anywhere.”

  Noah opened the cabinet and then the drawer before finally finding some behind some expired hair products.
  “Here we go.” Wayfaren was about to grab it from him when he pulled away.

  “Here, sit down; I can do it.”

  She paused for a moment before taking a few steps back to sit on the rim of the bathtub. Noah kneeled and poured some of the remover on a white cloth he found.

  “Why did you agree to the date in the first place? Seems wildly out of character for you.”

  Jenns had already filled him in on the situation.
  “You’re right. It is a bit out of character.”

  Noah held her hand gently, carefully wiping away the nail polish. Wayfaren could only see his frowning mouth from under his black hat. She spoke again as she closed her eyes.

  “I wasn’t expecting Jenns to be… well, whatever.”

  Noah could already tell what she was going to say. She wasn’t expecting Jenns to have God-given makeup artistry skills. If anything, the Wayfaren probably thought she’d look worse afterward. With this, even Nisha couldn’t get mad since she was only following her instructions—not to mention she’d end up hurting Jenn’s feelings if she made a big deal about it. 

  After finishing with the first hand, he inspected each nail to make sure there was no trace left before moving on to the next hand. 

  “Do you still want to go?”

  She opened her eyes.

  “Perhaps, though I am happy going anywhere.”

  There was a pause. After a while, Noah spoke. 

  “Then what if you kept the makeup on? Just for tonight.”
  The Wayfaren laughed lightly and tilted her head. 

  “But I’m just a vagabond. Only nature’s canvas, full of mud and fungus.”

  Noah continued her nails with no hesitation.

  “Just think of it as acting. It’s not real. You’re just pretending for this night, and then it’ll be all over,” he said.

  Wayfaren’s eyes widened. He looked up as he spoke earnestly and with conviction. 

  “You’re no different than you’ve always been; it’s just make-believe. You don’t have to be anything more than a vagabond. That will never change…” He paused. “How does that sound?”
  There was a sparkle in her eyes when he said this, as she sat momentarily frozen, her smile was gone. 

  Even if it was only for a moment, seeing her frown was a bit startling. 

  Her smile, however, instantly returned as she quickly grabbed onto Noah’s arms. 

  “That’s it! You’re absolutely right. It’s just pretend. Of course it is. That’s all it is.”
  Noah was taken aback. Wayfaren quickly stood up, bringing Noah up with her by his hands. 

  Holding onto him, she exclaimed, “I’ve forgotten about how simple it is! For just tonight, I am simply acting like I’m a normal school kid!”
  Noah gazed down at her before smiling happily; he held her arms in return.
  “That’s right. And so am I. Just another normal classmate.”

  “That’s right.” She laughed. “Very normal!”

  The vagabond’s eyes lit up in a way that Noah didn’t think was possible anymore. He couldn’t help but smile brightly in response. 

  “Alright then, shall we go then?”