|
Post by enchilada on Apr 25, 2019 19:25:20 GMT
He waited for her to do her thing, pushing his hair off his face for a brief moment. If only he lived so simply that he tidied up after only three small items.
Dhaun sat down, smiling. “Hellooo, Kara!” Before Dhaunmyr did anything, there was always a slight glint in his eye. It was definitely present now. He was excited, about what was unclear, but he was excited all the same.
The mattress wasn’t comfortable in the least, but he didn’t mind so terribly much. It wasn’t a consideration, so long as he got to see Kara. Dhaunmyr would do worse to hang out with her. He probably had, too. Like waking up at a normal time.
He pulled his backpack off, placing it in his lap. Hastily, he started to fish through it. “I have a proposition. You can say no, but I think it could be fun.” Dhaunmyr explained, pulling out a secondary, smaller bag. It seemed the only thing he owned for practicality anymore was his backpack. It was the same one he’d always had. Sturdy, but plain. Pretty much his polar opposite, then. Dhaunmyr was a little more jewelled than usual, and was dressed almost exclusively in brighter colours. He usually wore things that reflected his mood, although it was a subconscious choice. Among his rings, notably, was the one he’d thrown at the wall, the one he’d refused to take off... that one.
“I want to do your makeup.”
|
|
|
Post by moralhazard on Apr 25, 2019 19:45:36 GMT
Kara raised an eyebrow at Dhaunmyr, feeling… suspicious. He looked very cheerful. Too cheerful. And his clothing was very bright. Kara’s brow furrowed slightly, and she dropped her gaze to the backpack, watching at Dhaunmyr pulled out the smaller bag from it. She looked back up at him when he made his suggestion, eyes widening slightly.
“… Make up?” Kara asked, hesitant. She made a slight face; not a no, but far from a yes.
Kara had worn make-up exactly once in her life. Her mother hadn’t worn it. It wasn’t that Vanka Bellringer had been against make up, or that she had cautioned Kara against it or told her it was immoral; she just simply wasn’t interested in it. Kara would have bet money, were she remotely interested in betting, that her mother hadn’t even owned any make-up.
Kara didn’t have any sisters, and her brothers and father didn’t wear make-up either. She hadn’t had a lot of female friends as a little girl either, and none of the boys she’d known had worn make-up. By the time Kara ad reached an age to be interested in boys, she had already been trying to become a guard, and that had kept her much too busy to worry about make up. Of course, she’d known other girls in the Stone Shields who had worn make up, some who were very pretty, but Kara had never thought of it as something – for herself.
The only person Kara had ever known to wear make-up was Zora – her brother’s wife. Zora had been a guard herself, and very practical, but very pretty also, with fair, silvery hair and beautiful eyes. For the wedding, she had worn make-up – not very much, but enough that her already pretty face had been even prettier. It seemed to – smooth out her flaws, make her pretty features even prettier. Kara had been thirteen, and Zora had put a little make up on her as well, some color on her lips and something on her eyelids. Zora had told her she had good skin, she didn't need the powdery stuff. Kara remembered – she had forgotten it until now – looking at herself in the mirror and asking her father if she was pretty. He’d laughed and swept her up and told her she was his heart, she was beautiful, and Kara had felt beautiful.
Kara doubted she would ever feel that way again. The emotions had passed over her face as she remembered: reluctance, sadness, and then something different, a faint flicker of happiness; nothing showed in her lips, but something was there in her eyes, and in the smoothness of her brow. It was happy, for all that had come after. She had been happy then, and she owed it to them all to carry that happiness with her.
“All right,” Kara agreed, looking at Dhaunmyr once more.
|
|
|
Post by enchilada on Apr 25, 2019 20:07:23 GMT
Dhaunmyr gasped, and gently, for a moment, placed his hand onto hers. “Brilliant news! Okay — okay. Now ah...” Dhaunmyr opened the small bag, pulling out all kinds of packages and tubes. To call it a small bag alone would be ridiculous, it was pretty hefty on its own, but it was the small bag out of it and the backpack. “To be honest I didn’t think I’d get this far!” He laughed a little to himself, not too over the top, and not coyly. To some people, it may have seemed that there were two ways for Dhaunmyr to feel of a day. Big, loud, and confident, as he did around his friends and in bars, and then a more reserved, carefully planned and cunning mood, for when he was making transactions or worming his way through more dignified social encounters. Firstly, it was far more of a spectrum, and, secondly, it was more of a triangle shaped one. Because, Dhaunmyr was actually different again one on one, or at least around his friends and in a private setting. Since he had approximately three of them, it was hard to exactly tell if the addition of more friends made him any different, again. Then it would be a square.
“So, I suppose how we do things is up to you. Shall we try natural, or just go straight in for something flashy? Oh! Oh! Both, of course both, and you can choose what you prefer. I don’t have anything really in your colour, for perhaps obvious reasons, but we can work with what we have! Oh, Kara! You should have seen the ridiculous looks that were in Drow fashion. For the sake of everyone involved, I hope they’ve already changed it. It’s nice to be able to breathe. You couldn’t for ruffles on the neck, corset of the waist, or powder of the face, honestly.” Dhaunmyr and his tangents... oh well. He seemed in good spirits about it.
|
|
|
Post by moralhazard on Apr 25, 2019 20:48:59 GMT
Kara watched in surprise as Dhaunmyr took out a large assortment of packages and tubes. She felt a little nervous, suddenly, shifting slightly on the bed. Why did he have… so many? What were they all for? A little panic flashed in her eyes, and Kara swallowed, hard, calming her nerves. It was only her and Dhaunmyr here; no one else need see, if it didn’t go well. And she did trust Dhaunmyr, rightly or wrongly, so that was well enough. Kara exhaled out the tension in her shoulders, finding her calm once more.
Kara blinked at Dhaunmyr when he presented her the option of natural or flashy. Luckily he made up her mind for her, deciding on – both. Well enough. Both. Kara hoped that would be one after the other, and not one side of her face one way and the other the other way. Ruffles, corsets and powder sounded terrible, and Kara made a sympathetic face at Dhaunmyr.
“… Corsets for… men?” Kara asked, tentatively. She didn’t usually ask for clarification because there was so little that Dhaunmyr didn’t elaborate on on his own, but he seemed not to be leaping into the subject as whole-heartedly as usual, and Kara was – curious. She didn’t like to push too hard on his life in the Underdark, firstly because it was hard to tell when it would veer into the upsetting for Dhaunmyr, and secondly because it was hard to tell when it would veer into the upsetting for her. But fashion seemed like a safe subject. Kara hoped. She didn't know much about it but... how bad could it be?
|
|
|
Post by enchilada on Apr 25, 2019 21:39:16 GMT
Dhaunmyr looked up from his rings, which he was twisting and adjusting on his fingers. He squinted at Kara for a second, then nodded slowly, almost unsure of himself. “Why? Don’t people do that up here?” He rubbed the heel of his palm up and down his side, or, rather, what there was of it. There really wasn’t much.
“Every day I was to go out, my sisters would ensure, like any responsible guardians, that the laces were tight and properly tied. Not for any feminine curves, as such, but it smooths the figure nicely. And then you would wear many layers of form-fitting shirts and jackets, and such, most of which showing off the layer underneath in some way. Then, layers of powder to keep the face from being so terribly shiny, and so on. Of course, Drow fashion differed from city to city. I feel that people believe the Underdark is just one sort of... just one place. But it’s not so different from anywhere up the Sword Coast, ah, and there are three layers. Upperdark, Middledark, and the very creatively named Lowerdark. It’s not even a translation issue, it’s literal. Most places worth visiting are in the Middledark. And, for some reason people think it’s only Drow down there, which is very untrue. I had more than one run in with derro, ithilids, deep gnomes... there are even fish people. But, where was I? So, the differences in the caverns were often pretty intense. There are even Drow that don’t care for Lolth. They’re often still pretty evil. But it does feel sort of... unfair... that they live down there. Do you know why the elves were driven below? Well, obviously not all of them, but some of them?”
Dhaunmyr opened little boxes and tubes, picking out colours. Red was fairly timeless. Oh, her eyes weren’t what he’d assumed. Blue. Ish. He could probably bring that out a bit. He’d raided Faerveren’s makeup before he’d come, too, so he had more browns and beiges and tans that just wouldn’t have looked particularly good on his skin.
|
|
|
Post by moralhazard on Apr 25, 2019 21:51:41 GMT
“I don’t know,” Kara admitted. She didn’t know any men who wore corsets, but that didn’t mean there weren’t any, or that there was anything wrong with it, if a man wanted to wear a corset. She certainly didn’t want to wear one.
Kara’s eyes widened, slowly, as Dhaunmyr explained all the preparation he’d had to do before leaving the house. She tried to imagine making her brothers wear a corset, or many layers of form fitting shirts and jackets, or – her imagination failed entirely. It was as absurd as the thought of either of them trying to force Kara into a dress. If any of them had tried such a thing on the other, they’d have pummeled each other into the ground without so much as a pause for breath. As the youngest, she’d always been at a disadvantage; Kara did remember that one time Kosef had dressed her in a costume. It hadn’t been to be mean; there had been a show at the temple, and their parents had been busy, and he had helped her make a costume for… what had she been? A shepherd, Kara thought. She had been so proud of her costume.
Kara opened her mouth to tell Dhaunmyr some of that, then shut it again as he kept going without even a pause for breath, transitioning into an explanation of the Underdark and its many parts.
Kara listened attentively. She shook her head at the question; she didn’t know why the elves were driven below, whether all or some. Dhaunmyr still seemed to be opening things and bringing them out. Kara really didn’t know what any of them were for. She thought she recognized something used for lip color, but it could just as easily have been for any other part of the face. Or both; Kara couldn’t think of any reason why the same thing couldn’t be used on both parts.
Somewhat curiously, Kara held her arm out against a few of the browner colors. She was browned from the sun; Kara didn’t really know, but she assumed her face was much the same shade as her arms. She certainly never tried to keep the sun from it; she usually had other things to worry about. Carefully, Kara picked up a few of the brown things that were further away from Dhaunmyr, and held them against her skin, squinting. She couldn’t really tell which were closest, or even if they were meant to be the same. After a moment, she set the last of them back down, and brought her hands back to her lap, still listening attentively.
|
|
|
Post by enchilada on Apr 25, 2019 22:41:25 GMT
“I’m wearing mine now. Is it weird to show you?” Dhaunmyr asked. It would be rude to simply remove his shirt in front of her. And weird. “I think it could be sort of weird. Unless you’re okay with it? It’s nowhere near as tight as it would have been, but it really is very comfortable. Of course, I don’t wear one when I’m training with you, that would probably be bad for my health.” He didn’t actually know, but he knew it wasn’t the most logical thing to have something tight and constricting on when you were working hard at something physically taxing.
“So— so the elves. Araushnee was the wife of Corellon, who was the creator of elves. She wasn’t happy with her position, only really having sway as patron of dark elves, where Corellon was patron of all elves. So she tried to take him over, and wanted to blame it on her daughter, Eilistraee. And, then, Corellon won the war for control, and Araushnee was banished. Eilistraee chose to be banished as well, she just wanted to... help, I suppose. And that really was all it took. There are different versions. It was a very long time ago. I like that one. I don’t like to think that anyone chose anything other than Araushnee and her son. If you couldn’t tell, Araushnee is... you know, the big one.” He still couldn’t say her name, it felt too cursed and too dangerous. He didn’t want to tempt fate. “I don’t want to blame anyone down there. They don’t know any different. And Eilistraee can’t help everyone.”
“Huh. Maybe there will be something close.” He looked again at the makeup he knew wasn’t his. “Faerveren has a few shades. She says she gets a bit more tanned in the... summer? I didn’t want to look like an idiot so I just nodded, but I really don’t know what that means.”
|
|
|
Post by moralhazard on Apr 25, 2019 22:58:12 GMT
Kara’s eyes widened more at the news that Dhaunmyr was currently wearing a corset. She hesitated. She had walked around him in a breast band and leggings, how was it any weirder if he… was this a drow thing?
“I – I’d like to see,” Kara said. She was curious, more than a little, and she didn’t think it was weird to see someone – a colleague, a friend – less than fully clothed. Even if this time wasn’t strictly necessitated by circumstance. Unless a corset was very different than she imagined, Kara didn’t expect to see anything remotely scandalous. Many men at the guard station trained shirtless; men walked shirtless around Waterdeep too.
Araushnee and Corellon. Kara listened, attentively, feeling sorry for Eilistraee. That was the goddess Dhaunmyr had painted, the one who took up so much space in his room – his goddess, clearly. She nodded slightly when he explained that Araushnee had another name now; Kara knew, and she knew that – she – had been involved in the War of the Silver Marches. Personally, if some of the rumors were true.
Kara rubbed the shaved part of her head, trying to think of how to explain tanned. She hesitated, then pulled her shirt up slightly, and put her brown arm against the paler skin beneath. “I’m – tanned,” she explained, looking down at the contrast. “It – when you get… darker, in the sun. Browner.” She shrugged slightly. She didn’t pay much attention to it, really. Her skin was nothing resembling an even tan; her arm was considerably darker than her torso, although that was still not terribly pale. There were paler parts, but Kara did consider that that was a weird thing to show someone.
|
|
|
Post by enchilada on Apr 25, 2019 23:21:53 GMT
Dhaunmyr pulled at the hem of his shirt. It felt weird. Was he really talking it off? He shrugged to himself, and pulled it over his head.
There it was, plain black, pretty normal. As he said, it wasn’t particularly tight, but the structure of it made it incredibly comfortable. He felt like he still wore the corset because without it, he felt a little weird. It was a normal pressure for him, one he’d come to expect. It was also the first time he hadn’t been wearing something to obscure his top half around Kara. She’d felt, but now she could see. It didn’t occur to him until after his shirt was off. Well, that had happened now.
Dhaunmyr had more to say on the subject, but it wasn’t the time, and he wasn’t sure it would ever quite be the right time, unless it actually mattered at any point. If it didn’t, there was no reason to worry anyone with it.
He seemed confused, and then he nodded. “Oh. I understand what tanning is. I don’t know what summer is.” Dhaunmyr smiled weakly. It must have been so incredibly obvious if Kara opted to tell him what tanning was. He felt incredibly stupid. Dhaunmyr just looked expectantly at Kara, hoping she’d explain, and she wouldn’t laugh, and everything would be right.
|
|
|
Post by moralhazard on Apr 26, 2019 0:20:35 GMT
It hadn’t occurred to Kara either. She was quiet, looking at Dhaunmyr, taking in the slimness of his body as much as the corset itself. His arms were strong – she knew that – but they seemed almost disproportionate for his frame. Kara didn’t say anything. It was a sensitive subject for him, it didn’t seem to matter right now, and she didn’t want to make him feel bad or awkward.
“It’s comfortable?” Kara looked up from the corset to Dhaunmyr, gaze neutral. That was what mattered, she supposed. That he was comfortable and – okay.
Kara paused, looking at Dhaunmyr. She remembered, now – that first day they had met, when he and she and Caim had been walking to the inn, Kara healed but still half-dazed from the fever, Dhaunmyr had said something. She didn’t remember – something about seasons.
“It will get hotter,” Kara said, quietly, not laughing, taking his ignorance as seriously and calmly as she did everything else strange about him. “The year has four seasons, winter, spring, summer and fall. In winter there is – snow,” a child of the north, Kara liked snow. “Now it’s spring. In summer it will be even hotter, for a few months, then in fall the trees shed their leaves and it grows cool again.”
|
|
|
Post by enchilada on Apr 26, 2019 1:08:43 GMT
Dhaunmyr nodded, pulling his shirt back on. “It’s comfortable. As long as it actually fits correctly. If it hurts, it’s not tailored right.” He fixed his hair, fishing in his bag for a mirror. At least he actually had one this time.
“Hotter?” He was incredulous.
Hotter? It was already so hot. Dhaunmyr groaned, holding his head in his hands. He had liked it when it was snowing. Was he really going to have to wait that long for the heat to become bearable? “Kara, if it gets hotter I’m going back to the Underdark until it cools down. You have got to be kidding me.” He looked up at her, then shook his head. “At least I know.” Dhaunmyr huffed, then he straightened his back and turned to her more fully.
“Let’s have a look here, then.” Dhaunmyr opened a few things he’d already set aside. He didn’t think any kind of touching up was necessary on her skin, but that came from him, and if he didn’t cover himself in powder, then blend in other shades here and there, he was pretty much reflective, or slightly tinted slate, depending on the stage he was at in getting ready. “Do you want to start with foundation? I wouldn’t know if you would really benefit. Have you ever seen a dark elf or a drow other than me? We all look so oily. We aren’t, we just have this... sheen. Glossy skin, that’s what it’s described as.” Dhaunmyr shook his head. It was bad.
|
|
|
Post by moralhazard on Apr 26, 2019 1:38:30 GMT
Kara shrugged; she couldn’t do anything about the weather, and she wasn’t sure, but she thought that Dhaunmyr was making a joke.
It was time to get started then. Kara looked down at the array of stuff, then back at Dhaunmyr. He asked if she wanted to use foundation, and Kara shrugged, looking slightly helpless. She wasn’t sure what foundation was for, exactly. Was she… glossy? Carefully, she reached up to touch her face with one hand. It felt like her face still; she washed it with soap and water every day, usually twice a day. Her skin wasn’t oily like it had been for a year or so in her teens, although she’d never had too many pimples, nor was it too dry. She didn’t have too many scars on her face, at least not that she knew of. She searched a little, carefully, as if checking. Her scalp had a few; there was one under her hair on the left side of her forehead, but small, close to the hairline. She lowered her hand again.
“… What does it do?” Kara asked, finally. If Dhaunmyr could ask about summer, she could ask about make-up.
|
|
|
Post by enchilada on Apr 26, 2019 2:13:48 GMT
Dhaunmyr smiled. He was happy to explain. “It sort of unifies your skin tone, makes it all one similar shade. It also reduces shine but you don’t have that issue. It’s usually when you have oily skin, on humans... I think.” He wasn’t one hundred percent sure, but he could try his best.
In the Underdark, if there was to be no light at all, not even dim light, people’s expressions were hard to read, despite the darkvision, so it was generally accepted that you kept your face bare, or bareish, if you weren’t going to cast dancing lights. It was just... fair. Not many things were down there, but that, as am unspoken social rule, was fair and understandable. The world above felt pretty much opposite, that if his natural skin texture showed, it was far too much to look at.
He didn’t mind. Dhaunmyr enjoyed makeup, it made him feel more pristine, more perfectly groomed, as he was in every other possible factor.
“So, yay or nay? I just don’t want to attack your face with things you don’t even want.” He wasn’t impatient, but he was eager. He didn’t care how long they spent chatting, or, how long he spent chatting and Kara spent listening, so long as they were conversing somehow.
|
|
|
Post by moralhazard on Apr 26, 2019 2:33:10 GMT
Kara nodded a little. Skin tone all one similar shade. Dhaunmyr would notice that while she was listening attentively, as always, she didn’t have the same laser-like focus she did for anything combat-related, or that she’d had while learning about drawing. She was listening, but more out of politeness than true focus; Kara didn’t really think she’d want to start wearing make-up herself. Keeping the side of her head shaved was all the daily (or almost daily) grooming she cared to manage; her weapons and gear took up too much of her time to fuss with more.
“No,” Kara shook her head a little. If Dhaunmyr didn’t think she needed it… Kara didn’t want to wear more make-up than she needed to. She imagined a little of the stuff went a long way, and she wasn’t sure how it would feel to have it all over her face. It had been – a long time. She didn’t remember how it had felt.
|
|
|
Post by enchilada on Apr 26, 2019 11:43:27 GMT
Dhaunmyr nodded. “That’s fine. Close your eyes for me? I’ll start off with something a little more... ah... simple?” He found some warmer colours that were still on the spectrum of natural tones, or, rather, natural for some people. A little on the brush, tap tap. One two. He hadn’t actually done breathing or counting in a long time, now he thought about it. Not that he’d needed to... Well, that day in his room, he probably should have calmed himself down before he started spouting all kinds of unfortunate nonsense to Kara.
He hoped it had seemed like nonsense. Dhaunmyr wasn’t terribly keen on telling her every inch and detail of his life, but, thinking on it, really what was there that he’d said that she couldn’t have guessed? No names, not that he could remember how it went, nothing in any detail about the twins, who he sort of missed. They were misguided, not inherently evil sisters, but his matron was beyond fixing. It was sad that some people just managed to be so terrible, but there was nothing to be done. They could not be saved, as much as he’d like to. Dhaunmyr wanted a real family, he was sort of pulling it together, but it wasn’t quite the same. Maybe that was a bit of an ungrateful thought, but it wasn’t... it wasn’t his sisters and it wasn’t his parents.
“You know what’s kind of scary? Not knowing what to do. I take every day as it comes, but... it almost feels pointless, sometimes. I don’t know how you feel about that, but I really don’t like this purposeless, vague existence. At least before I was doing things for a reason. I guess there still is a reason, Eilistraee’s salvation of my people, but it’s not like I’m forming any kind of society with people like me. And if I did, what if I didn’t like them? Should we force bonds because of circumstance? And I don’t think I want to be part of an ‘other’ anymore. But that makes me just... a guy.” Dhaunmyr sighed. Perhaps that was his life from then on. All he could hope was that he wouldn’t end up exactly as he’d started, he definitely wanted to... to change. Somehow. He wasn’t sure what was missing yet. “Are you finding any difficulty in that regard? Or are you holding back a secret mission from me? I won’t tell.” He winked, again filled with a sort of joyous radiance.
|
|