A Disguise a Day, Keeps the Doctor Away (Solo)

[Maya Frostfawn]

Timestamp: Summer 1, 523 AV Going out had never been such a hassle. Sure, she needed to dress warmly back when she lived in Avanthal, and putting on some makeup was always smiled upon because it enhanced her natural beauty or whatever, but now, makeup and other tools of the disguise trade, if disguise could be considered a trade, were a necessity if Maya wanted to blend in and hopefully make it through another day. She sat in her run-down Sunberthian flat, in the little chair that leaned a little too far to the left for comfort, at the wooden table chipped and worn with time. Her disguise kit rested on the table, its contents littered across its surface, dully illuminated by the light that slipped in through the largely-boarded up window. Dust motes winked in the light as Maya ran her fingers over everything in the kit--bits of makeup, some fake mustaches and beauty marks. Just who did she want to be today? She supposed someone younger would be easier, and perhaps a little grimy given her surroundings. The "grime" may also make it easier to hide her true nature and cover up any imperfections in her work. Or at least, so she hoped, and thought. Maya picked up a dark brown powdery pile, encased in a little glass circular container. She had never worn much makeup in life and didn't quite know what to call this particular item, but it looked like it could come in handy. And be replaced by some relatively dry dirt when she ran out, assuming it worked the way she assumed it worked. Just to be sure, she opened the container and set it down in front of her. Then, she picked up a small cosmetic brush in her right hand, and raised her left arm, exposing the underside of her wrist. She brushed the brush into the powder, tickling the bristles with it before letting it the powder-stained brush dance over her skin. She ran the brush over the underside of her wrist once, twice, thrice... it left a smudge of brown behind. Her skin looked like its usually sickly shade, marred by a streak of this powder, which reminded her of a child that had just gone out to play in the dust. But a light brown sort of dust, not a muddy, fully earthen sort of dust, if that made any sense, which to her, it did. Maya blinked, tilted her head to the side and studied her work for a moment before setting the makeup brush down. Maybe this could work, she thought before she raised her arm toward her eyes, and took a moment to study it closer. Maybe... Maya pressed a few fingers into her skin. The makeup dug beneath her nails, making it appear as though she had been gardening or something. There was now a thick, brown grime under there. And as she massaged the makeup into her skin, it appeared to lighten. It also created a sort of splotchy pattern against her rotting flesh. Maya paused, surveyed her work. Now it really looked like she had been playing in the dirt, or working hard or something. And the pattern seemed far more natural than the streak she had before, when she first applied the makeup. Yes; this could work. She felt more confident now and began to shuffle through her supplies for a mirror, so it'd be easier to see what she was doing as she applied makeup to her face. Of course, the kit ever so conveniently, didn't have one of those. Perhaps that would have made things too expensive? She was a tad out of touch with average prices these days, having had no true need for cosmetics for quite some time and having been sheltered in Sahova until more recently. Whatever the case, she supposed she should pick one of those up at some point; a mirror would probably come in handy when it came to this sort of thing. Perhaps she could use a bit of the glass from the window as a reflective surface in the meantime? She took a moment to glance toward the window. Boy, that was grimy. Her mother would have been appalled. Let's not even mention her grandmother; she would have had a coronary. Maya turned away from the window and glanced down at her skin again. Perhaps she should compare this sample to the dirt and dust from outside, how that would play against her skin now.

[Maya Frostfawn]

After setting the supplies she had been using down on the table, Maya made her way outside. It was an oddly quiet day, but she didn't mind, she found peace in the world's quiet hours. A moment, and she bent down and scooped a handful of warm dirt between the palms of her hands before making her way back inside and closing the door behind her with her foot. She made her way back over to the table and set the little pile of dark, grainy dirt down beside her disguise kit's belongings. She didn't suppose it mattered that she had just made her home even dirtier--the whole place was dirty enough that it was nearly unnoticeable. Except, of course, she had noticed because she just put it there. But if she hadn't she supposed she wouldn't have... probably. Her eyes darted between the dirt and the makeup she had applied to her skin earlier. The dirt was a few shades darker than the makeup and its grains were far larger than the fine powder she had applied to her skin earlier. She doubt that the dirt would cling to a makeup brush if she tried to apply it with one and realized she'd probably have to use her fingers in their place. Let's see how this goes, she thought to herself as she scooped a little dirt into her curled fingers and rubbed it into her skin just below where she had applied the makeup. Some of the dirt simply rolled off her skin, in fact, most of it seemed to. What was left behind was the essence of the dirt, its shade, its shadow, but not its depth or body. As she rubbed it in more fiercely to try and get it to stick, more simply came off, but left the residue behind. When all of the dirt had trickled from between her fingers, Maya stopped to survey her work and found that the dirt, although darker in shade, seemed to have a fainter quality that the makeup did not possess. For a moment, she wondered if and how she could use that to her advantage when it came to disguising herself. Maybe she could blend it with the makeup to create new shades or simply use it as a blending agent or addition to her disguise when she was otherwise running low on supplies? There was certainly a lot to consider for future use, but for now, she realized she should probably blend what she had applied to her arm together, so it would look more natural and not like something she had applied with purpose and for a purpose to her skin. So, she took the tips of two of her fingers and began to rub the dirt and makeup into her skin, into one another, until her skin began to look even drier than usual and marred by a thick splotch of dirt and grime. This should suffice, she thought, although, she didn't want to apply both to her face and the other portions of her body she intended to disguise, because although she had all of the time in the world, she didn't wish to waste it and it seemed a silly thing to try and do to her face without a proper mirror. She was bound to make herself look funky and give her true nature away. So, she'd settle on one or the other for now, applying it to small portions of her body. The areas she deemed most important; the ones that would stand out and be noticed by prying and unwanted eyes. Things like her face, her hands, wrists, and neck. And any exposed skin by her feet, which wasn't much if anything considering her usual mode of dress--robes and a hooded cloak. Since she doubted people would be looking as fiercely at her feet as at her face, she decided she'd apply the dirt to the area around her ankles, and leave the makeup for the more noticeable areas, especially her face. So, she lifted her robes to expose her slender ankles, took a small clump of dirt in each of her hands, and then pressed it into the area above each of her ankles--her right hand working on her right leg, her left hand working on her left. Dirt tumbled down her dry skin and onto the floor as she worked, rubbing the dirt into her skin until there was nothing left to rub in. When she was finished, she had a streak of dirt running down her flesh, which looked weird and unnatural since it was basically a line of dirt running down her leg. Can't have that, she thought as she began to massage the dirt into her skin, rub it around each ankle before moving her fingers back and forth, up and down to spread it farther along and make it seem like a more natural splotchy pattern. When she was finished, she pulled away, surveyed her skin and the dust on her hands. Satisfied with her work, she put her robe back into place before moving onto the wrist she hadn't applied makeup or dirt to earlier. While it didn't have to look as messy as her other wrist or the same as the other wrist, (and it probably shouldn't because assymetry seemed more natural than symmetry), she did want it to look a little messy too, so it'd go with her disguise too. Since she had applied a combination of dirt and makeup to her other wrist, she supposed she should to the same here so it'd be more natural, and began by applying a thin layer of the brown makeup, before moving onto the dirt.

[Maya Frostfawn]

When she was satisfied with the appearance of her second wrist area, Maya decided to move onto her face, which she supposed would be more difficult considering she didn't have a mirror or proper reflective surface to look into and she couldn't really see any part of her face unless she crossed her eyes and made a super blurry image of her nose. Which, wasn't exactly helpful considering the image was blurry and it was only a small percentage of her face. Maya hoped it didn't matter--she supposed she could apply the same process to her face that she had applied to her wrists and lower legs in order to bring her disguise toward its completion. She began by dabbing her makeup brush in the same brown powder, until a thin, dusty cloud wafted in the air. Satisfied that she now had enough to work with, she began to rub the makeup into her face. She started with her forehead, creating a winding cloud as she moved the brush back and forth, before delicately brushing each of her cheeks--a single streak, and then her chin, another series of streaks, before putting the brush down on the table. A few clumps of powder fell onto the table beside the dirt as Maya raised her hands to her cheeks and began rubbing the makeup in with her fingers, massaging it into her dry skin before doing the same with her chin and forehead, drawing the powder both up and down toward her nose, onto her nose, around it, so most of her face would be covered with grime. Well... what hopefully looked like a combination of dirt and grime. When she was done with that, Maya decided that she would add a small smattering of purple to make herself look more worn. She supposed that for the future, the best thing to do would be to work around her natural features when she wanted to create a dusty and worn down character, considering the dry nature of her skin and the permanent and deep bags under her eyes. But, that just wasn't possible unless she were to wipe off her facial canvas and begin again. And even then, it'd be difficult if not impossible without a mirror to peer into. Dang, she really needed one of those. She'd have to pick one of them up later in whatever passed for a market around these parts. A human might have sighed as she closed the brown makeup container, but Maya did not, as she had not the need to breathe for quite some time. A moment passed before she picked up a container of the same type of makeup, which held a deep purple tone, similar to indigo. She paused, she didn't want to mix the makeup up, making a mess and each future use more difficult on herself, so she glanced around for another makeup brush. She found a tiny one, which she dabbed into the container, before pressing the makeup brush against the area just beneath the hollow of her right eye, lifting the brush, lowering it again, padding the makeup into her skin in a cloud of purple smoke. When she was finished with the area just below her right eye, the nuit moved onto her left, repeating the process for a few moments before delicately setting her makeup and brush down, and needling the makeup into her skin as gingerly as she was able with the tips of her fingers, smudging it into her skin. She really hoped it looked ok as she looked down at her supplies and wondered how best to clean them--drawing the makeup out with her fingers would probably pull a few bristles, but the water she'd seen in this place wasn't the cleanest and she wasn't sure it'd actually have the desired effect on her brushes, but she supposed there wasn't a better option. So, she closed the last makeup container, rose, fetched a little water from her waterskin, (water she had gathered the day prior), and cleaned her makeup brushes to the best of her ability, before leaving them both on the table to dry. Now, she'd just have to add a few finishing touches to her disguise and it would be complete! But what to do? She surveyed her kit's supplies. Maybe a beauty mark or two? That could hide some imperfections by creating another imperfection. Draw attention away from one of her muck ups with its distracting presence. That made sense, right? Human brains worked like that right? Their eyes were always drawn to imperfections, right? Maya couldn't quite remember. It had been long enough since she'd been human where it was hard to recall such trivial matters. No matter, a beauty mark it was, then.

[Maya Frostfawn]

Maya surveyed her options before settling on a small beauty mark, which resembled a large, dark freckle, a hairless mole. She picked it up by pressing her finger into it and for a moment, wondered both how and where to apply it to her face. Perhaps she could simply get it to stick by pressing it in firmly enough? And it's location didn't really matter, it was just a tiny detail. She adjusted the little beauty mark between her fingers so that the part she was supposed to apply to her skin was face up and took a moment before raising it and pressing it into her cheek, perhaps an inch to the right of her lips. She held it firmly there for a few seconds before moving her finger away and smiled; it seemed as though it had worked. On second thought... the beauty mark fell onto the table. Maybe she needed to hold it in place a little longer for it to work or it'd just fall off again? She tried again, held it in place for twice as long and a little more firmly as before before releasing her grip on it. This time, the mark stayed on her face a little longer before falling off. Before making its way back onto the table. Maya frowned. Perhaps there was an adhesive she needed to apply to get it to stick to her face. She surveyed her kit, but didn't see anything like that. Maya frowned even more deeply before picking the little beauty mark up and trying to stick it to her face again in the same fashion she had before. This time, the nuit counted to thirty seconds, and pressed even more firmly than before in order to get it to stick. But once again, it was to no avail, because the beauty mark fell off eventually. Maya picked it up again and studied it. She realized there was a sort of film on the back of the beauty mark. She picked at it with her grimy nails for a moment, releasing the edge from the back of the beauty mark. I wonder... Maya finished peeling the film away between her fingers before delicately brushing her nail over the newly exposed surface. She quickly realized that it was sticky. Well, I feel a bit slow today, she thought to herself before adjusting her grip on the beauty mark to make it easier to apply before raising it to her face and pressing it into the desired area beside her lips. She held it firmly in place for a few moments, the same as she had before, before removing her fingers. This time, when she pulled away, the beauty mark remained in place. Now I know for next time, she thought, before surveying what was left for her to work with. She decided she just needed a few more finishing touches and then she'd be finished with her disguise and could go out into the mean streets of Sunberth. But what to do? What was she going for? What was she trying to accomplish? She supposed she should have thought about that a little harder before simply heading in a "grubby" direction. Now it would be a tad harder to correct... although most people she'd seen in Sunberth were grubby and she thought she heard mention of there being mines and minors were notoriously grubby as far as she was concerned. She would work with that. Create a miner just come off their shift. Someone grubby and perhaps a tad casual in their dress, to give off the air of wanting to relax after a rough day of hard work? That would work, she imagined. Although she had few clothes to work with, she could adjust how they fell to make her seem more casual and to work better with her disguise. Right? Right; she was convinced and ready to set to work on the finishing touches.

[Maya Frostfawn]

Maya decided she'd try to make her dress look a little scruffy and roll up her sleeves, just a tad, so it wouldn't expose the skin beyond her makeup, to give her a more casual appearance. She began by pinching her top between her fingers, pulling the fabric away from her, holding for a moment, before releasing several times. She did this all over her shirt to create a few wrinkles in the fabric, to make it look even more worn. Then, she rubbed a little bit of dirt into the ridges to highlight them--a good chunk of the dirt simply tumbled off and onto the floor, but some of it clung to her attire and made her look like she had just gotten off of a hard day at work, in her opinion. She smiled down at her work, she was happy with it so far, but it didn't seem balanced--she needed to do the same with the sides of her clothes, the back, and of course, her pants. So, she went outside to quickly gather some more dirt in her hands before making her way back inside before, hopefully, anyone could notice her. She set the dirt down on the table and began to wrinkle her pants and the rest of her top in the same fashion she had before, before applying the dirt in the same fashion she had before first to her top, and then to her pants. Several grains cascaded onto the floor and she stomped them into the worn floorboards with her foot before moving onto her sleeves. She had to be careful now--she wanted to look casual to add to the effect of her disguise, but she didn't want to roll her sleeves up so high that it exposed her outright, or if she moved too much in any direction, like if she took a large step or had to stretch or something. Maya surveyed her grubby, wrinkled sleeves. She didn't have much fabric to work with before she headed into the danger zone. So, she made one small roll, folding the fabric over itself on her left arm. Adjusting it with her fingers until it kept in place before repeating the process with her right arm, which was much harder for her, since she wasn't quite as strong with the use of her left hand as her right hand. When she was finished with her arms, Maya surveyed her work. It looked ok to her, but she had to test it to see its limits. So, she moved her arms in slow circles, making a sort of tiny windmill as though she were stretching. She watched her wrists the whole time; there was some slight pull, but her skin was never exposed. Maya tried raising her arms over her head, stretching her limbs out. After a second or two, her sleeve began to trickle down the length of her arms. She'd have to avoid that sort of movement then. What about her legs? She got up and walked around. Her shoes didn't seem to jostle the fabric as much as they could; that simple movement seemed ok. Especially when one considered that most people don't look at other's feet either. She tried winding her ankles in slow circles to see what happened--the fabric moved a little, but it was barely movement. To play it safe, Maya unrolled half of the cuff on her right leg and played around with her movements again, comparing it to how her opposite leg looked as she moved. She kinda liked it too--it even added to her casual appearance--to have one side of her more pristine than the other. What a nice and unexpected adjustment. She was going to roll with it and hope for the best. She continued to move around for a little while longer, getting used to her body in this disguise before venturing out into the city streets and locking the door behind her. Although she needn't often go out, she did have to venture out sometimes and get things done. As much as a part of her also liked staying in.

[Maya Frostfawn]

It didn't take too long for Maya to arrive at work, surprisingly safe and sound--the town's ruffians had been going at each other as she moved through the city's streets, and had completely ignored her in their blood lust for one another. When Maya finally arrived a work, the doctor was already working on a patient, and she had helped him wrap that patient up before moving onto another series alongside him--they were surprisingly busy that day. By the time things had finally started to settle down, a few hours had passed and only one patient remained. A male with shifty eyes and pale skin, who coughed into his hand from time to time. His body was clothed in rags, and his skin was streaked with mud and grime. As she hopped up onto the examining table, Maya asked. "What brings you in today?" There was a moment of silence before the man let out an answer, "I've been coughing a lot. My body is aching, especially my head. And I've been nauseous to the point of losing my appetite." When Maya heard these symptoms, she was surprised the patient had come in--they didn't seem serious and could describe quite a number of ailments from the common cold, to the flu, to simply eating something that didn't quite agree with you, to some combination of the above and more. The doctor said he had to do something really quickly as they both eyed their patient. Maya nodded. She was being left in charge while he presumably went to visit his pets, which he would find far more interesting than this. She was surprised he hadn't added this latest patient to his special collection for "wasting his precious time" or something of the like. When the doctor had gone, Maya asked. "Could you be a little more specific? It will help me determine how best to treat you." A pause. "Let's start with how long you've been coughing." "A few weeks." Maya nodded as he coughed again. It sounded like a dry cough. "How about your body? How long has it been aching? And other than your head, where?" The man considered for a moment. "It started around the time I started coughing, and everything hurts. Especially my chest." Maya nodded. "Does it feel tight? Does it sting? Or is it a more generalized ache?" "The sort of ache you get when you've been on your feet too long." Maya frowned. "And how about the nausea? How long has that been going on? And how much less have you been eating than usual?" The man shrugged. "About a week." Shrugged again. "Not sure." Maya nodded. "Ok." A pause. "Would you mind lying back on the table for me? I'd like to perform a basic examination to see if I can rule anything out." The man complied without saying a word. Maya approached the table and extended her hands. "This may be a tad uncomfortable," she said as she pressed the tips of her fingers into the man's neck. First at the top, before sliding them down, slowly, and stopping at small intervals to press inwards again. His neck felt lumpy... and also like the muscles were sort of tight. Maybe he was nervous? Or was that the sensation you were supposed to be checking for? Maya couldn't quite remember. "Would you mind swallowing for me?" The man complied; Maya could feel his skin shift beneath her fingers as his saliva made its way down his throat. She couldn't recall the point of that particular test, but she thought it made her seem more thorough if she made the man do it anyway. After a moment, she pulled her left hand away and moved the fingers of her right hand around the man's neck until she felt his pulse. It thumped rapidly. She took a moment to try and count the beats for minute, but soon lost count. It seemed a lot, like it was going faster than it should. Maybe it was nerves? She checked his forehead. The man didn't appear to be sweaty. Or maybe it was simply strain on the heart... Another moment and she had moved her fingers away and moved them onto the man's shoulders. "Tell me if this hurts," she said as she began pressing into his skin--her left hand on the left side of his body, the right on the right, moving inward and then toward his neck and back down toward his pectorals. The man shook his head. "Good."

[Maya Frostfawn]

Maya moved onto the man's stomach area next, pushing her fingers more deeply into this skin than before, as though she were a cat making cookies upon its masters leg. The man sucked in a sharp breath. "Where did it hurt?" she asked. The man gestured, and Maya continued to prod in that spot. "Tell me when the pain eases," she said, as she began moving her fingers away from the core, the spot the man had indicated as being rather painful to the touch. After she had traveled about an inch, the man told her the pain had eased. "Ok. Does the skin feel tight when I touch it?" she asked. The man shook his head. "Do you feel bloated or constipated? Have you been going to the bathroom alright?" The man shook his head. "I've gone to the bathroom just fine." Maya nodded. "Has your diet changed since you started feeling ill?" the man shook his head. "You've just had a loss of appetite?" The man nodded, confirming. "Alright," she said as she moved onto his legs, pressing her fingers into his flesh, moving from his thighs down to his feet. The man indicated no irregular pain. When she was done with her examination, Maya stepped away from the patient and examined the patient with her eyes. He hadn't started sweating during the course of her examination, but he looked uncomfortable. "Is your skin normally this pale?" she asked. The man shrugged. "I don't know." Maya nodded. "Do you work outside a lot?" The man shook his head. "And what do you do for work, is your job physically demanding?" The man shook his head. "I work in a tavern. I clean the tables." Maya nodded. "Have you been more stressed at work lately, than usual?" The man shook his head. "How about outside your work hours? Are you more stressed than you are normally?" "I don't think so." "And have you been sleeping well? The same as normal?" The man nodded. "How long do you think you manage to sleep each night?" The man shrugged. "And do you feel well-rested come morning?" The man shrugged. "Sometimes." Maya nodded, considered her examination and everything the patient had said to her during the course of his visit at the Clinic. "I think you're suffering from a few things," she concluded. "First, I believe you may have a common cold. And second, I think you may have eaten something that didn't quite agree with you. Did anything you eat when you first became nauseous taste a little 'off' to you?" The man frowned. "I don't remember." Maya nodded. "That's ok. And do you remember if you ate anything you don't normally eat each day back then? Even if it was something small? A few bites?" The man shook his head, "I don't think so." "Don't worry about it," Maya replied. "Your treatment is quite simple--you should get plenty of rest to allow your body to recover, drink a lot of fluids, which may help with the headache and easing away some of the general aches and pains. I would try tea too--something like a peppermint tea should help with your stomach problems. I've heard ginger works well too, if you don't like the taste of peppermint, although I've never tried it myself. And if your sleep changes or you need to relax, try chamomile. The tea should be hot, not tepid or cold. I'll give you a small vial of peppermint oil to apply to your forehead and the portions of your body that are aching; it should help reduce the pain." She turned to grab a small vial set aside for patients and handed it to him. "And when you eat, try to space out your meals, eating several smaller ones throughout the day. With blander food. Avoid things with lots of spices and heavy seasonings." The man nodded. "Ok." "If that doesn't clear things up, please feel free to come back for another examination and stronger medication." "Alright," the man replied as he got up from the table and Maya saw him out. There were no more patients and she was glad. She wasn't sure her diagnosis was right, and she thought her healing regime was at least half right... she really needed more practice. Perhaps she should see if the doctor had a handy book stashed away somewhere so she could study before the next patient arrived.