"No," Umbra repeated.
"Aw, come on!" Bubble whined, wiggling a bit. "You said I could!"
Umbra turned away from Bubble."I remember saying no such thing, therefore my earlier consent is null and void."
Bubble frowned. "Don't talk like an attorney to me. It bothers me when people do that."
Umbra shrugged. "Take it as you will, I am not allowing you to put ribbons in my hair or on any part of my body." She looked at her mirror with a frown as she caught sight of her unsightly mess of hair. "I hate my hair sometimes..."
"Is it because kids in grade school made fun of you for having dark hair?" Bubble asked. "'Cause sometimes my brothers made fun of my pink hair!"
Umbra growled to herself. "Just how much did I tell you last night?"
"Dunno, but it was a lot!" Bubble held up his hand. "How you like to have tea before bed to make you feel better, even though it makes you talk in your sleep." He plucked up a finger. "How you hate your curvy hips, especially because lots of the guards stare." He plucked up another. "How it's really hard to rule the Empire by yourself, even though there's nothing wrong with a Queen ruling by herself." Another finger. "And how mean and snooty Feather Quill can be to you, even though you're his boss." He held up a fourth finger before putting his hand down. "Just little stuff."
Umbra was silent, not sure how to respond. Finally, she asked: "Are you always this... perceptive?"
"Actually, I have what experts call an eidetic memory!" Bubble told her. He put a finger to his chin as he furrowed his brows in thought. "Maybe... I don't know, I wasn't really paying attention." He shrugged. "All I know is that I'm able to remember everything I hear and that when someone says something about themselves--" He tapped his temple with a finger. "--I remember it!"
"Are you able to remember anything in the same manner besides the things you hear?" Umbra asked, somewhat intrigued.
"Sometimes, but maybe not more than normal people can." Bubble covered his eyes with his hands. "Thing is, I don't know what I'll remember when it comes to seeing. I probably won't even remembering covering my eyes in a couple minutes. Or seconds, I don't know which one."
"Fascinating..." Umbra murmured to herself. "I can hardly remember what I had for breakfast yesterday, yet you're able to remember everything you hear?"
"Yep!" Bubble nodded ecstatically as he pulled his hands down from his face. He frowned a bit. "Though, it's kinda hard to deal with sometimes... Because when I mean I remember everything, I literally remember everything."
Umbra didn't know what to make of that. Having the ability to remember all the little things was an affinity to have for sure, but to have to remember everything you've heard?
"I never have a place to settle down at, mainly because the colonies don't really like outsiders."
"It's hard to keep doing what you love when doing what you love makes everyone else upset."
"Not everyone likes parties."
Umbra suddenly felt guilty.
"Hey, you alright?" Bubble asked, his voice breaking through her thoughts for what seemed like the millionth time since their meeting.
Umbra sighed. "You're standing close to me again, aren't you?"
"Yes," Bubble answered, not moving whatsoever.
Umbra put a hand to her face. "What is with you and personal space?"
"Something that should be specified whenever two or more people are associated with one another for an extended period of time and should be acknowledged only when they are set?"
Umbra's eyes popped open as she let her hand fall from her face. "What?"
"Meaning you didn't exactly say why you want personal space and that you didn't exactly specify what exactly is considered invading personal space," Bubble told her. "Care to say?"
Umbra frowned at him as she looked at the lack of space between the two of them as she sat in her vanity chair. "This."
Bubble backed up immediately. "Okie dokie lokie!" He cocked his head to the side as he took in Umbra's appearance. "Is your hair always this messy in the morning?"
"Yes," Umbra replied cuttingly. "Now, if you excuse me, I have to brush my hair."
She sighed as she grabbed hold of her brush and attempted to work through her knots.
"Uh, you're going to rip your hair out if you start from the top," Bubble told her as she tugged through her hair. He cringed as he heard a small rip come from the brush. "Seriously, you're causing horrible damage to your hair. I can already see the split ends developing!" He blinked. "Oh, wait, those are already there."
Umbra paused her futile attempt at brushing her hair. "How do you know so much about hair care?"
"I have a friend who travels around and does professional fashion work," Bubble answered, smiling a bit brighter. "He absolutely hates it when people don't take care of their hair. He nearly bit my head off when he saw mine!"
"And yet you still keep an alligator in it?"
He shrugged. "My hair has a mind of it's own. Elusive gets that, but it still bothers him."
Umbra frowned. "Fine, if you know so much about hair, then how about you fix it for me?" She held up a hand when she saw his face light up. "No ribbons!"
Bubble pouted. "Aw..."
Umbra smirked a bit, but she hid it so that Bubble wouldn't see it. "Don't do anything too extravagant. I don't want Feather to lecture me if I end up messing it all up."
"Why would you?" Bubble questioned, combing through her hair with surprising gentleness.
Umbra felt a small frown come across her face, but, like before, she made it disappear so it wasn't seen. "I've never done well with maintaining a good appearance."
"But, you're so pretty!"
Umbra felt her cheeks heat up. "T-Thanks." She shook her head. "I mean, thank you."
She felt Bubble's hands shift a bit and she imagined him shrugging in that nonchalant way she wished she could do. "Not a big deal. Just saying what I think, is all."
'Lucky you,' she thought, feeling a bit bitter.
"There you go!" Bubble proclaimed. "Let's get you downstairs!"
Umbra rose from her seat and brushed off her midnight blue gown to get rid of any wrinkles. "Thank you. Now, we must hurry if we're eat on time and get started on planning."
Bubble clapped his hands excitedly. "Yay! We got a lot of the boring stuff out yesterday! Now we can have fun!"
Umbra arched a brow as they made their way down the hall together. "I fail to see the fun in planning a ball."
Bubble gasped as if she had insulted his entire heritage. "How?! Parties are always fun! You get to eat a bunch of sweets--"
"Those will be limited, due to expenses being put forth in the direction of the war," Umbra interrupted.
Bubble frowned. "OK..." He gasped excitedly. "You also get to dress up in pretty clothes! I bet you have something super pretty to wear!"
Umbra shifted awkwardly. "I'm... afraid I haven't picked out a dress to wear to the ball as of yet." She held up a hand in preparation of the earful Bubble was no doubt going to give her. "Listen, I know it's rather impractical, but I have a country to run. Dresses come later."
"Your Majesty!" a harsh, familiar voice said crisply, his tone edgy and annoyed. "Just what are you thinking?"
Umbra tried not to physically jump and she did well to quickly shove Bubble around and behind a corner, silently thanking her lucky stars that she had been next to it. She quickly prepped herself for the snapping that Feather would no doubt give and she took in a quiet, but deep breath.
"I suppose you wouldn't mind telling me, then?" Umbra replied, careful to keep her voice light and not annoyed.
Feather huffed irritably. "Your Majesty, you're late for breakfast!" His eyes widened. "And just what have you done to your hair?!"
Umbra immediately grabbed at her hair in defense. "What are you--"
She froze upon feeling her woven strands, then slowly began tracing her hand down the length of what she realized to be a braid. She bit her tongue to keep from snapping at Bubble for doing so to her hair, then clenched her arms to keep from striking out randomly.
'Well, at least the ribbon isn't in the braid...' Umbra conceded, looking at the small, red thread tying off her hair.
Feather Quill snorted angrily, then snatched the red ribbon from her hair. "Your Majesty, you are a Queen, not a peasant girl!" He held the ribbon up to her face. "You should know better than to wear your hair in the way of a simpleton!"
Umbra heard a tiny gasp come from where Bubble was hiding, though she was sure she was the only one to hear it. It was only after that realization she made that she made the realization that Feather Quill was taking out her braid.
He grunted in annoyance. "Honestly, how would the crowd react if they saw you dressed so childishly?" He rolled his eyes. "Look at you, wasting your mornings on such petty things..."
Umbra resisted the urge to roll her eyes at him, knowing it would be unladylike to do so.
After Feather took his hands out of her hair, he gave her a quick once over before nodding in affirmation. "Yes, yes, much better. I'll be seeing you in the dining room, Ma'am."
Umbra frowned as he began walking away, unappreciative of his attitude and tone. "Feather?"
He stopped, then turned. "Yes, Ma'am?"
She held up a hand. "The ribbon, if you will?"
Feather blinked, then looked at the red ribbon in his hand, then back at her. "Why, if I may ask, Ma'am?"
Umbra narrowed her eyes. "Must there be a reason?"
Feather blinked at her. "...I suppose not, Ma'am."
He walked back over and handed the ribbon to her. But, as she began to take it, he gripped it in his hand to prevent her from taking yet.
"Ma'am, you're going to have to be more serious about how you look," He told her. "You already have enough worries without everyone gossiping about your hair."
Umbra clenched her jaw, but she nodded. "I'll be sure to keep that in mind."
Feather, satisfied with her response, released the ribbon and walked away without another word. As he left the hall and got out of earshot, Umbra sighed to herself. "Bubble, you can come out now."
Bubble leaned from behind the corner, a frown on his face. "What's wrong with how your hair looked? I thought it looked nice..."
Umbra sighed. "It did, Bubble. Feather's just a bit... obsessive about how people think of me, is all."
Bubble looked down at the ribbon in her hand. "Guess you were right about the ribbons, huh?"
Umbra gave him a small smile of reassurance. "Don't worry about Feather, Bubble. He's always like that, regardless of what I do." She frowned. "Or anyone, now that I think about it."
Bubble giggled at her last comment. "I guess so." He gasped. "I got it!" He took the ribbon from Umbra and wrapped it around her wrist, then tied it into a small, candid bow. "Ta-da! Now you can still wear it and Feather won't be mean about it!"
Umbra gingerly touched the ribbon, a genuine smile coming onto her face upon doing so. "Thank you, Bubble. That's really kind of you."
Bubble shrugged. "Not really. I got a gazillion other ribbons like it, but it'd take forever trying to show them all to you." He pulled a random ribbon from his sleeve as an example. "See?"
Umbra chuckled lightly. "I suppose so..." She glanced down at the ribbon thoughtfully. "Bubble, would you like to join me for breakfast?"
Bubble clapped his hands. "Uh-huh! That sounds great!"
Umbra smiled at him. "Then let's head down, shall we?"