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17-04-01: Posture
Allegria sweeps down the stairs, fussing with her hair absently and lecturing the firelizard on her shoulder. "No, dear, I...

Allegria sweeps down the stairs, fussing with her hair absently and lecturing the firelizard on her shoulder. "No, dear, I really do not -care- if you think you're hungry, you just ate, so no scraps for you." [Harper] Allegria: One small problem there, Cash. It's a 'she'.

Hanneke, all things being good and equal, rather does look slightly odd. It's possibly the fact that she's walking with a pile of hides on her head, down the corridor. And they're falling, everywhere.

Allegria spies the pile-o'-hides, and eyes for a moment..."Apprentice, might one ask what in the name of all that is holy you are doing?" It's not precisely the kind of thing you see a whole lot in the hall, after all...

"Posture," answers Hanneke rapidly--evidently a well practiced response. "Mother says that I am learning to slouch, and therefore, need to correct my posture." The hides slip, fall, and land on the floor. She raises her eyes and looks cute. Oops.

Allegria is hard pressed, for a moment, not to collapse on the spot and die laughing. Fortunately for her dignity, she succeeds. Admirably, even. "Have you tried that with a book?" As in, something that won't come to pieces en route?

Hanneke raises her hands to her hair, rather than attack the hides upon the floor, carefully attempting to smooth her coif into perfection--all those curls pinned atop her head don't withstand weight very well. "Books," she notes, very sagely, "Are heavy. They'll crush me." And, more importantly, that hair.

Allegria eyes the curls for a moment. "Nobody said it had to be a -heavy- book...pick a thin one or something. And isn't it hard to balance anything on that hairstyle?"

That's beside the point. Her hairstyle somewhat saved, Hanneke leans down to gather up hides, which aren't entirely too worse for the wearing. "Well, yes. But Mother said--"

Allegria has heard of people wearing hides before, but that's beside the point. "Mother said what?" A little hand gesture accompanies...go on, go on.

Hanneke, always willing to perform for an equally willing audience, states, in all seriousness, "Mother said that I needed to balance things on my head, and she also told me to start pinning my hair up," rather than have ringlets about the shoulders--at almost sixteen, "So that's what I'm doing."

Allegria is, once again, hard pressed to keep from laughing herself senseless. And, once again, she succeeds. "Those are kind of mutually exclusive things, you know," she points out. "If all your hair is up on top of your head, it's hard to balance anything else there."

Hanneke's face is perfectly serious--seriously vacuous, that is. "Oh?" Are they? Slowly, she shifts her head into nod-motion, admitting, "It is slightly hard."

Allegria forbears to mention that she has ringlets around her shoulders, and she's thirty-five and then some. "So. Try practicing your posture...when your hair -isn't- pinned up."

Hanneke won't look at it, won't mention it, if Allegria doesn't. Without a care in the world, the young apprentice nods again. "I can do that. You're *very* smart, aren't you?" Problem solved, hides sorted into something resembling a pile. Progress.

Scinhia ventures down the grand main staircase.

Allegria chuckles, a wave of a hand given. "Just experienced." And possessed of common sense, which accounts for half the illusion of intelligence. Acting is the other half.

Hanneke nods sagely -- at least, it's an attempt at being sage -- eyes partially wide. "Experienced. Yes." What you don't understand, repeat, and look partially intelligent.

Scinhia descends the stairs in her usual manner. In other words, with her mind half on other things. Luckily, the stairs of Harper Hall continue to be unpopulated by errant golf balls, so she makes it down in one piece.

Allegria does her best to look experienced and wise and all that stuff that someone once said they thought Masters were supposed to be. "Right...oh, hello, Scinhia."

Hanneke naturally has the expression of awe and innocence that goes with apprentice terretory--"Hi!" she notes, enthusiastically, to Scinhia, having returned to a properly standing position with her hides held tightly against her chest.

Scinhia is brought swiftly back to the here-and-now by the voice of her liege. "Master Allegria," she greets. "I don't owe you any reports, do I?"

Allegria is someone's liege? Oooooh. "Not that I can think of," she replies to scinhia, before glancing over at Hanneke. Good, no hides on the floor.

"Oh, good," Scinhia says, with just the slightest hint of relief. "I know I've forgotten something, but I can't remember what it is." Such is the nature of forgetting.

Hanneke goes silent, wonder of all wonders. Still bouncing upon the soles of her feet, the apprentice even moreso appears to be attempting to look elegant--her head held high, her posture straight. Watching, perhaps even listening if her face is something to go by. Yes, no hides on the floor--Allegria is rewarded with a beaming smile.

Scinhia glances at Hanneke's, noting the armload.

Allegria spares no thoughts for the miracle of the silent Hanneke. "Well, if you remember, do please tell me," she notes to Scinhia.

Scinhia nods. "Sure, no problem. Oh, hey. I wanted to ask you-- the latest rumor among the apprentices is that you're going to make them all shave their heads, so that even if they're out of uniform or misplaced their knots, they'll still be easy to spot in a crowd. Any truth to it?"

Alas, miracles never last--Hanneke bounces up and down, noting, "I'm going to put these away. Before I get in trouble." Uh-oh? "'scuse me!" Pause. Hang on a moment. "Shave our heads?"

Allegria makes a show of frowning, and tapping her lips with her fingers. "Byre -did- mention something of the sort not all that long ago..."

Scinhia nods to Hanneke. "'Bald as a cucumber' is the phrase I heard."

Watch Hanneke's eyes go larger and larger still, her hands moving unconsciously to her head. "No!"

"Well," Scinhia says firmly, "I think it's an excellent idea. I heard that there've been a lot of problems lately with not being able to tell which hall is responsible for apprentice shenanigans. Shaving their heads'll make it easy to tell us from the healers."

Allegria is still making a show of being thoughtful. "Or we could just dye their hair Harper blue..."

"Easier to paint their heads blue, once they've been shaved, I'd think." Scinhia suggests.

Hanneke, should she cling any harder to her hair, may take it out by the roots. "Don't do it, oh please, don't do it!" Hair would be the one thing that really upsets this particular apprentice.

Allegria waggles a fingertip at Hanneke. "Don't pull so on your hair, you'll rip it out and that hurts."

Hanneke, unceremoniously, drops her hands from her hair.

Scinhia says helpfully to the poor apprentice, "Of course, if you do that, it'll make it easy for you to be the Hall's test case. Tear it all out, and see if everyone knows which one's the bald apprentice. I bet they will."

Allegria wrinkles her nose. "But still, that would -hurt-. I mean, owie."

Hanneke, she who is on the brink of tears--watch them!--lets out a wail, and goes running for it. Maybe she can take a cue from Jena, and live in a tapestry.