~ Sarah finished painting over his spider bites and "bringing out his cheekbones" ("He looks positively ethnic!" gushed Joel) and Kevin managed to add a surprising amount of gel to his hair before Jaden escaped from the chair. Joel stood back and surveyed the trio.
"Oh that is just loads better. You almost look human!" he laughed aloud, as if his joke were actually funny, and turned to Kevin and Sarah. "Clear this up then. Hurry along now. We've got to make room for the wardrobe carts." Andrew cleared his throat.
"Hey, about that, Joel, ol' buddy. I think we'd probably all be more comfortable if we just stayed in our race uniforms. That alright with you?" For a moment Jaden thought that Joel wasn't going to go for it, but he finally nodded his head in begrudging consent.
"Ok, if that's what you want. I won't force anything on you." The expression on his face said that he thought that the world would be a better, prettier place if he could force his style upon it, but he didn't press the issue with Team 6.
"So what about this show?" asked Takyle. "Can you tell us when exactly we're going on, and if you don't know what we're going to be doing, is it possible for you to send somebody to us who does?"
"You go on whenever they're ready for you, and yes, I can try to find someone for you to talk to. But no promises!" Joel warned in a sing song. Jaden felt his skin crawl a little, then he thought that maybe there was just something wrong with him. So far the only person that he had liked in this race was a wizard that had had it in for them. That couldn't be healthy.
Joel waved the make-up team out of the room with little flipping motions of his hands.
"Alright darlings, I'll be back!" he sang over his shoulder and shut the door with a slam. And just like that the room was left blessedly silent. Jaden looked from Andrew to Takyle and back again. Andrew opened his jaw, moving his lips.
"My face feels stiff," he finally said.
"Haven't you ever worn make-up before?" Takyle asked him.
"Uh, no, as a matter of fact I have not ever worn make-up before. And if I have my way, I will not ever wear it again after today."
"Killjoy," said Takyle, sitting back down on the couch.
"I'd eat another apple," Andrew said to Jaden. "But I'm scared of messing up my lipstick."
"You're not wearing lipstick, Andrew," said Takyle.
"Well maybe that's not what you call it, but they did put something on my lips," Andrew assured her. "And it was of a stick-type form, so, by definition..." He tapered off, leaving that thought to rest. After a few moments he spoke up again.
"Our friend Joel is taking his time isn't he?" Takyle nodded.
"Yeah, I wonder which show we're gonna get. Remember last time there were like five shows that all filmed special race episodes."
"You mean EPICsodes," corrected Andrew with a pained smile. Takyle groaned.
"Oh my gosh, they did call them that, didn't they? That's awful. And they're probably doing the same thing this year," she said. Jaden stifled a big yawn behind his hand, slumping back down into the chair at the dressing table.
"Mmh, sorry. I guess the adrenalin and caffeine are wearing off. "
"Yeah, and we didn't exactly get a full eight hours last night," agreed Andrew. Jaden thought back to the wizard telling them to sleep while they could in the white box house with the fireplace and short door. That had only been a little more than 18 hours ago, but it seemed like weeks. Jaden's thought processes wandered from there and ended up at the usual place. Always returning to: "I wonder how the other teams are doing..."
"Like a loyal dog. Always coming back. Predictable. That's what my thoughts are," Jaden mused drowsily to himself, laying his head down on his folded arms, and closing his eyes. "I'll just rest for a minute. Just for a minute..." ~
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