AN: I use the singular "they" as a pronoun for Crona here and in all my fics, since their gender is never specified in the manga.
Enjoy!
"Hey Soul, you do think Crona will be alright, don't you? I worried about sending them off with Liz, all on their own". Maka peered over her book to consult her weapon anxiously.
"Hah. Liz has plenty of experience dealing with weirdos. You forget who her sister and her Meister are." Soul chuckled.
"I guess you're right about that..."
"Crona will be fine".
Crona was not fine.
Liz and Patty had dragged them into the nail salon, determined to get the most of their "Friends' Day Out".
"Crona, stop hesitating. We took a whole day off from being Lord Death's personal assistants to get ready for the party and we've only got," Liz glanced at her cell phone, "four hours before we have to be back at the Gallows to start overseeing the decorators!"
"How is it still a day off if you're making preparations for the party? I don't understand. You keep saying these things and it's confusing me!"
Liz patted Crona on the back with a smile on her face. "Eh, come to think of it, if we are on the clock, we have all the more reason to get going. C'mon, this'll be fun."
Patty and Liz collectively wheeled an unwilling Crona through the doors of the nail salon.
Crona stared. There were a half-dozen nail stations lining the walls, with pedicure chairs farther back. The posters lining the walls displayed terrifyingly confident people with feral grins and horribly outdated hairstyles. Crona looked toward the front counter, where hundreds of nail polish colors were on display. Their face twisted anxiously. They didn't know how they were supposed to deal with choosing a color!
A pale man with elegantly coiffed blonde hair and a sparkling gem dangling from his left ear approached them and welcomed them to the salon. Then he ushered Liz and Patty to their own nail stations and Crona keened mournfully as they were extricated from the sisters and set upon by a plump woman with bright red hair.
She tapped her long, sharp nails thoughtfully on the glass of her workspace, snapping her bubblegum rather audaciously. Crona fought the urge to crawl under the nail station and hide. Maka had told them once that that wasn't the way to deal with things, so Crona had taken those words to heart. Crona never wanted to disappoint Maka.
"Well, let's see whatcha got to work with." The red-haired woman said impatiently.
Crona obediently spread their fingers over the glass.
"You got kinda a goth vibe goin on, I guess you want some black polish, huh?" The nail technician asked.
Crona gulped. Lady Medusa had worn black nail polish.
"N-no. Anything but that. I don't care! Just pick something! If you say it's okay then I'm sure it will be fine."
The nail tech smirked. "If you say so."
Crona waited.
"I'll be right back!" Chirped the red-haired woman, and she pranced away to a back room.
The Demon Swordsman took the opportunity to scan the room with their eyes, willing Patty and Liz to come into view. Ah, there was Patty, picking out a different color for each finger. There was Liz, chatting happily with her technician about cuticle care and the benefits of gel versus acrylic manicures.
Another voice added to the mix. It sounded like the blonde man who had welcomed them to the salon was reprimanding the red-haired tech who had been getting Crona's polish ready.
"Flourescent green will be a disaster with that delicate skin-tone! How could you even think of the tapered tips? And if those are rhinestones in your hand, I can assure you you'll regret even getting close to their hands with those sparkling monstrosities!"
Crona moaned in distress. They knew it would upset Maka, but crawling under the table was looking better and better by the moment.
The voices quieted a bit and the red haired woman emerged from the back room, took a look at Crona, and left out the back door with a "hmph!" noise.
"My apologies for the wait. I'll be doing your manicure today," announced the blonde man smoothly.
Crona offered up a small smile. "Thanks? I'm not sure I know how to deal with green nails."
The blonde man shuddered. He reached for Crona's hands.
"You have such lovely nails! What about a nice lavender, or pink, to match your hair?"
Crona felt their face get a little hot, but they didn't feel uncomfortable. It was just that no one had ever taken the time to compliment any aspect of their appearance before.
"S-sure. That sounds great."
Roughly thirty minutes later, Patty, Liz, and Crona had finished with their respective manicures and were led over to the pedicure chairs.
Crona flinched at the sight of bare feet. Feet always reminded them of Lady Medusa.
They whispered that to Liz when she asked what they'd flinched about.
"Well now you can be reminded of my cute little piggy toes instead!" Patty warbled, splashing her feet in the basin below the pedicure station.
"Oh–okay", Crona said hesitantly, voice barely above a whisper.
After Crona had calmed down a little and the trio had gotten their toenails as thoroughly pampered as their fingernails, Liz went up to pay at the front counter.
The blonde man who had done their manicure was up there, taking Liz' Shibusen company credit card and thanking her for doing business with the salon. When he saw Crona peek out shyly from behind Liz, he broke out into a grin.
"I hope you enjoy your nails! That color definitely suits you." He smiled, in such a warm and open way, that Crona was instantly reminded of Maka.
"Thank you, they're very, um, nice! I like them a lot," was all Crona could stutter under the intense gaze of the three surrounding people.
They were turning to follow the twin pistols out the door of the salon when the blonde man called out for Crona to wait.
Crona jumped and felt sweat beading on their forehead. "Y-yes?"
"Here's my card. I do a lot of styling for local boutiques and we've got some shoots coming up that you'd be perfect for. You've got the frame for it, and the androgynous look is so hot right now! If you'd ever want to model, that is."
Crona stood there, too petrified to move.
"And... my personal phone number is on there, too, if you have any questions about anything!"
His smile faltered a bit as Crona continued to stand frozen on the spot.
Finally, the Swordsman reached out a trembling hand and accepted the business card.
After the whole bewildering incident was behind them, and they were walking back to the Gallows, Liz thumped Crona on the back, crowing with delight.
"You're gonna be a model! Ooooh, I am SO jealous!" She grinned. "And he was pretty cute too," she added thoughtfully.
"Crona's got a date! Crona's got a date!" Patty exclaimed joyously.
Crona stared at the business card in their hand.
Nope, they definitely didn't know how to deal with this.