The near-total silence (jeez, horrible typo in that last part) in the hotel ballroom continued as Loki turned his attention back to the crowd at large. "You girls probably spent a lot of money and time getting your hair, makeup, and nails done, right?" There was a bit of a murmur of agreement -- most of the girls didn't know what to think at this point and were keeping silent, but Loki plowed ahead. "I can make it so you'll never have to do that again. Imagine -- nails that are always beautifully manicured and won't break; hair that's always in place that you won't have to brush, comb, or even dry; makeup that always looks perfect."
The murmuring increased noticeably. The promise did sound good to most of the girls.
"Okay, let's start with the nails!" Loki said, making a gesture as if he were using his left hand to pull out the fingernails on his right. With that, girls with short nails got to see them grow before their eyes; acrylic nails and other nail extensions changed from artifice to reality. Every girl in the ballroom now had fingernails at least three-quarters of an inch long. Thanks to Loki's magic, they wouldn't grow, but also, if cut, they would grow back to their current length within seconds."
"And let's go with the makeup!" said Loki, waving a hand over his face. With that, it was as if invisible hands were applying more makeup to each girl -- not to mention the Goth boys. Elegant looks gave way to a different image as cheeks darkened with more rouge, lip colors became brighter and glossier, eye shadow expanded its reach and lightened its palette. "Don't worry, I'm throwing in the permanent eyelash lengthening, lip plumping, and eyebrow waxing at no extra charge!" Loki exclaimed, watching the girls as they looked at each other, somewhat frightened of what they were seeing.
"And now the hair," Loki continued. "I'm not a fan of those up-dos a lot of you have. I like the hair on women's heads to be nice and long. Fortunately, I can do something about that."
Loki dramatically ran his right hand through his hair, and the hair of all the girls in the room began to grow longer, elaborate prom styles melting into a simpler look, albeit appearing to be straight out of a shampoo commercial, with split ends and sun damage a thing of the past, and any artificial colors becoming natural. Once the growth had stopped, every girl in the room had hair that reached at least to her waist.
"You can't do this to us!" squealed a brunette from somewhere in the middle of the crowd near the stage, her brown hair down to her ankles, although since she was holding an open compact, she may have been more concerned about her makeup. Her classmates took a step back from her, almost in unison, worried about what Loki might do.
Loki calmly said, "Well, I can. Obviously -- I just did. Do you mean that I shouldn't do this to you?"
"You said this was going to be permanent?!" yelled the brunette.
Loki pretended to be taken aback. "Yes, of course. Are you saying you don't want this? To never have to worry about your makeup or hair again -- that's something that most women would --"
The girl interrupted, "But not like this!"
"I don't understand," Loki claimed. "You'll be extremely popular for the rest of high school, at college -- really, for the rest of your lives, you're going to be the most attention-getting women --"
"But we want to get attention on our own terms. For the things we do or say, not because of how we look. What we look like is total sluts! You've gone too far!"
Loki let that last statement hang in the air for a moment. Finally, he asked rhetorically, "Is there an echo in here?" Well, as your friend Colleen may tell you, I can go even farther."