Kevin ate his lunch quietly in the side room near the bar. It was secluded from the rest of the patrons. A place for the family who ran the inn to eat without looking like they were not working. Kevin absolutely hated working in the inn. He mostly did the dishes while his sister cleaned the rooms. It was supposed to be 'character building'.. though Kevin thought it was because his smaller hands could get into the glass vessels better.
"Hey your hair looks a bit brighter" observed his sister Mary suddenly. "Did you do something to it?"
"Huh- N- No. I um- I got this shampoo. Supposed to be really good That's all." Kevin quickly made up a lie and it seemed convincing enough. He looked down quickly realising it wasn't his imagination; his hair had changed colour becoming slightly lighter. His sister had not caught on that it was the same shade as the hair she had just cleaned up in the bathroom. He quickly ate the soup and meat their father had prepared while he tended to the bar. "Sis.. you know the disease around here.. we can't get it right?" Kevin asked pausing before finishing his soup with a quick slurp of his tongue.
Mary shrugged. "From what I understand, it only affected the descendants of the Original Truman Town. The curse of a witch so they say. Oh, are you worried about Peter?"
"Nu uh!" Kevin quickly protested at that thought. "Just- we can't get it right? Dad said we can't cause we're not from there." He was assured that! He was so worried about them moving here but Dad said it wasn't going to happen. Maybe.. maybe he shouldn't have teased Peter after all. What if that witch was still around? Maybe the witch is still messing with them.
Mary noted how anxious her little brother was. "Poor brother. Are you feeling ill?"
"A- a bit." he flushed. "I got a cold, it makes me sneeze."
"Oh a cold? Well it's probably just a cold." she rubbed her brother's hair. She paused for a moment. "Hm, whatever shampoo you are using can I have some?"
"It was just a free sample." he said. "I don't have any more." Damn it why did she keep on digging for it! He squirmed as his lies were checked. He was a kid, adults always seemed to notice it when he lied and he couldn't work out why.
"Hm " Mary suddenly changed the subject. "Dad said that Miss Brook was here. Do you remember her?"
"No..."
"The spider lady?"
Oh yes. Now Kevin remembered. The spider-woman was creepy. He remembered those weird legs. "I hope she isn't gonna stay too long. She's weird."
Mary rolled her eyes. "Weird but very smart. Maybe she can get you something for your 'cold'?"
"Kevin blinked. That was actually.. not a bad idea.
"Well I'm going to go out. Don't wait for me." Mary winked. "I suddenly feel like.. dancing tonight."
Kevin nodded. "Heh.. yeah.. sure."
Alone now, Kevin thought a bit about the spider girl.. could she maybe help him? He had gotten away without sneezing for a while but.. how long until one just came and messed him up more? She might have a mushroom or herb that stopped you from sneezing if nothing else-
Though sadly just thinking about sneezing he felt an odd.. tingle in his nose. "Oh- Oh no- A-Ch-"
he tried to hold it in, and felt a bit strange as the air pressure inside his nose bounced and went into his ears instead. He sighed in relief, though it was short lived as he saw his blonde hair now cover his eyes again partially. Not only that bit it felt like the hair was being blocked down the side of his head. Feeling there.. he felt his ears.
"H-Huh? My ears!"
he got up quickly rushing to the bathroom again, glancing down the hallway to make sure nobody noticed. He could feel the strange weight down the sides of his head and was really worried by what he might see.
Looking in the mirror his ears were.. bigger. Not only that, but pointed, and stretched outward a few inches from his head, at least three or four inches. There was an odd slenderness to them that he was sure didn't really fit right with the rest of his body but- "Gah!" He stared at them what could he do? His hair was also a big longer though fortunately, not quite as long as when he first sneezed.
Then there was a knock for the bathroom. "Hey, I need to use the bathroom." His sister Mary called out.
"Uh- yeah give me a sec-" No time to cut his hair, and doing it twice would be way too obvious. Kevin quickly washed his hair, pausing for a moment at how.. soft it felt. The edges of his new ears felt oddly sensitive too. He then quickly took a towel and wrapped it around his head roughly- though cringed as this rubbed his newly sensitive ears even more.
"All yours!" Kevin called out as he moved very- very quickly- almost a blur to his own room, making a beeline towards his sanctum. He could probably get a hat there.. or something to hide this.
Mary glanced after her little brother oddly. "Hm, maybe he's trying to wash off that shampoo." she thought.
