Dressing Up

Arnacia knew where to find magic, but magic was like unfeelable air. She looked around the room for any object exclusive to this world. A brown antique mirror stood beside the wardrobe, two paintings above the twin bed and a bedside table.

On the first look, the bedside table didn't have anything special on it. Just a green photo frame with a glass that reflected the candlelight. But Arnacia looked at it for the second time.

There was no glass, no reflection! The paper frame's inside corners shined dimly on the photograph. No, it was a painting of a brown-haired woman that looked like an innocent Naomi and a green-haired man. Arnacia was about to pick up the picture when Naomi returned.

"I am back! Don't tell me you missed me." Naomi said. But then noticed that Arnacia was about to pick up the photo frame. Naomi held a bag in her hands. But lowered eyes stared at the floor instead. "And that's my mom." Her mood shattered in just a matter of seconds. "Do you remember?" She gathered all her strength to look up.

"Yes," Arnacia nodded. "I will take you there someday."

Even after all these years, Naomi wanted to find the legendary herb that could've cured her mother's illness. Arnacia made a promise to her childhood friend, and she wanted to keep it since she couldn't keep her promise in her previous life.

Naomi dropped the bag on the bed and held the photo frame. "That's my dad," in a lower voice she said. "He said he was going to become a Knight before he left. I heard it from Abby. My dad was very weak, but Abby said he did not give up on his dreams and found the strength to clear the exams. We might meet him when we go to Lanceworth Castle."

"And that is one more thing to look forward to." Arnacia tried to console.

"Let's dress you up." Naomi's voice wasn't as cheerful as before, but it sounded better than sad.

Arnacia willingly removed the white shirt. She was fine while being in her underclothes since Naomi was her childhood girl friend. Also, it was pretty clear that Naomi's perversion mode was off.

"Remove it too," Naomi said, pointing at the white linen. Her finger almost touched it, but couldn't take the final step. She looked up and saw Arancia's mean eyes and put down her hand to take out a rectangular beige cloth from the bag. "See, we will wrap this around you for a flatter chest."

"Is this necessary? Can't we just buy a sports b-"

"This is really expensive." Naomi pulled the wide beige strap from both ends to show its elasticity. "This material is called elastic, if you don't remember. It won't hurt if you don't wear it for long."

"I trust you won't do anything inappropriate." Arnacia seriously said and turned her back towards Naomi.

Somehow she felt safe, but didn't forget her childhood friend was very unpredictable sometimes. With both hands, she unhooked the clip on her back. And smoothly lowered the straps down her shoulder. It was actually quite tense, as she was prepared to defend herself at all times. She waited for a while before she pulled her hair over her shoulder.

Naomi secretly gulped on seeing Arnacia's smooth skin under the candlelight. For a second, she imagined herself removing her own shirt. But her hands still gripped the beige strap. She carefully raised it over Arnacia's shoulder.

Arnacia was surprised at the softness of the material. The strap almost touched her collarbone and reached up to her belly. She held it with one hand and adjusted with the other.

"Adjust yourself and I will tightly…" Naomi said in a low voice. "I will.." The opportunity was right in front of her. Everything was within an arm's reach. She suddenly pulled the wide strap and hooked it.

"Perfect timing?" Arnacia was surprised that Naomi pulled it just in time. "Are we done now?" She already held the shirt with one hand.

"Can I check?" Naomi asked.

Arnacia turned around. By no means her bust was gone. It was only evenly spread out a little more. Naomi immediately looked away. She tried to fiddle with the bag on the bed.

"It will be fine. You can wear the shirt." Naomi said, without looking up.

Arnacia noticed Naomi acting weird but didn't mind. She put on the white shirt. Its wide sleeves, combined with shoulders longer than Arnacia's, further minimized her girlish shape.

Next was the turn to change the hairstyle. Naomi asked Arnacia to sit on the floor. She began by brushing the black and orange hair. Her actions were very smooth, as if she had been doing it for a long time (which she had).

She combed Arnacia's bangs. Then lifted two strands of hair and began wrapping them on top of each other to make braids. She worked mechanically from one end and went around the head too. It was very messy, but all the hair was fitted tightly around the head with the help of several clips.

The hairstyle looked like a crown that went around the head rather than sitting on top. All this so that a cap or hood could easily hide Arnacia's long hair.

"You look like a goddess." Naomi complimented at Arnacia's reflection in the mirror in front of the bed.

"I am supposed to look like Archie." Arnacia sighed. Her faith was dwindling.

Naomi got up from the bed and sat in front of Arnacia. She took out a makeup brush from the bag and a few small rectangular boxes. Without delay, she dipped her finger in one of the boxes and rubbed the liquid on different spots of Arnacia's face.

The foundation stunk, but Arnacia didn't voice any complaints. Next, she smelled the awful highlighter. To make things worse, Naomi even brushed her pink lips.

Cough! Cough!

"Hang in there. It takes time to get used to it." Naomi said and put a wide beanie over Arnaica's head. "I didn't need to fix your eyes. Do you know why? It's because they already look mean." Naomi pouted and stood up. She took out a wide, dark blue overcoat and put it around Arnacia's shoulder.

Arnacia stood up and Naomi stepped away from the mirror. In the mirror reflected a handsome man with wide shoulders. There was a certain feminine charm on his face that couldn't be described in words.

Luckily, Arnacia couldn't see her wide legged trousers that secretly highlighted her womanly curves. Naomi noticed them and immediately took out a black pant from the wardrobe.

And finally, Arnacia was ready as Archie! Truthfully speaking, Naomi could tell that it was Arnacia, even with one eye closed. Forget about it, she could tell without her both eyes closed. So they decided to test it and went to see Shilo, who was surprised and happy that Arnacia's brother came to his house.

"This won't work." Arnacia said. "I should go home now, mom will be late to prepare for dinner."

"I already sent Elda. She will probably be back any time now." Naomi pouted again.

"Naomi," Arnacia sighed. "Thank you for taking the time to do all this."

"If you want my hard work to shine, then visit Lylia's house right now!"