Everything [Day 7, EN, Closed]

[Kuni Koyuki]

Hardy woman she was, Koyuki had her weaknesses. Caught off-guard by the suggestion of being attacked by flower got her chuckling as she carefully got Yakumo back down onto her feet. Soft smile remaining in it's wake she turns around, peering into the mirror over Yakumo's shoulder. Eyes wandering far lower than the suggestion of makeup on her face would have implied but they came back full around. Settling on on the violet one's in the reflection.

"I have heard of these terrible flour monsters. Bags launching themselves from shelves to attack poor defenseless maidens," she teases, the edge of almost-too-serious to her tone. Leaning into her she holds Yakumo from behind as she lingers a moment. "Good that you have secured the services of a Kuni to defend you in these trying times. I will be sure to use all my prowess to hunt it down that you might not face it's like again." It was probably too much, and dumb, but she had her bit of fun with it before turning Yakumo around and kissing her deeply again. Finding herself ever the more emboldened as it was, she was sure to leave just before the wanting of it was expended to leave it sitting there.

"Maybe it was the ghost, you seem to have more."

[Susumu Yakumo]

It was dumb, and too much, but it was funny and Yakumo had a hard time stopping herself from giggling like an idiot over it, which she managed to keep down to low pleasant chuckles as they kissed once more, leaving eachother teased and wanting more.

"Oh, I would be so lost without a brave Kuni to defend such an innocent maiden as myself from these terrible danger---ah!!" turning around once more, Yakumo saw the new spots of white from the most recent kiss. "Oh no, it has attacked me again!" In an overly dramatic fashion, she placed a limp-wristed hand to her forehead as she pretended to swoon... then broke into another round of laughter. "Alright alright, let's get this makeup off before the sun decides to come up. I feel like we could goof around like this for hours."

[Kuni Koyuki]

Playing her own part behind her, laying her hand on Yakumo's back to assist that faux swoon with the most astonished look to her played for the mirror. She'd forgotten to laugh following the swoon, because her eyes were just set on Yakumo with such a fondness that only the absolutely dumb looking smile she wore could convey. Soaking in the sight of Yakumo's laughing instead. Though the smile didn't last long the feeling of it's presence lingered. Nodding along, "Yes, yes. Makeup off." A light residual chuckle bubbling up when the seal of vocalizations was broken.

One last affectionate rub of Yakumo's shoulders, and she relents. Giving Yakumo time to start picking at things enough that she'd learn what was where just by association of seeing Yakumo do it. In the meantime Koyuki works methodically at the braid in her hair, carefully and with a great deal of care.

"Speaking of the sun rising to disturb our fun my princess. When did we order that pizza?"

[Susumu Yakumo]

Yakumo kept her hair up still for now, knowing it would get in the way of washing her face. So she slipped a soft plushy bandana over instead as a headband to keep any stray hairs back, and also protect her hair from getting any product in it.

It was easy to tell she had her routine outlined on the counter, as she started with micellar water on cotton pads, which were gently applied to one eye at a time to work on the eye-makeup. "Mmm... it should be here in about... ten, fifteen minutes, I think. I usually order things to be delivered at a specific time, so I know when to be ready to open up to get something."

With a cotton pad over one eye, she looked at Koyuki with her still open eye. "I usually just start with removing the eyemakeup and lip makeup first like this, then wash my face to get rid of foundation and powder. Then another cleanse just to really get everything out and get my skin clean. I find that if I do a thorough routine in the evening, the morning routine is much faster - and you have to cleanse away much more after a day than you do after just sleeping."

[Kuni Koyuki]

"Good timing," she notes, halfway through the braids of her own hair. Turning herself more so she can get a clear view of Yakumo and the mirror while she works. Listening along as each braid comes undone, there weren't terribly many but when they finally were her hair fell down loosely over her shoulders with a clear missing patch by her fade. Hands pushing up into her hair at either side she shakes it out and lets the hair settle, covering up that patch way better than someone unused to fades like her cut might have expected. That deception didn't last long however, as Koyuki quickly locates herself a hairband to tie her hair back.

Following suit, Koyuki quickly catches up with one of the pads for her own lip. Starting first with the bottom she's rather precise about her removal making sure to get ever bit of red off the bottom before moving up to the upper lip. Leaving Koyuki with a interesting appearance for a little bit.

Pausing only to say between swipes, "I never focused much on the cleansing myself. Worried about it all going dry under the paint from when I was younger. Focused so much on that I didn't adopt the rest of a routine. Probably for the best in the end. Not a ton of care to be done when you're on a military ship."

[Susumu Yakumo]

"I can see that," she chuckled, rinsing lightly over her face with the cotton pad before moving to turn on the water. The next bottle seemed to be some sort of oil-based cleanser. "This one's really good at moisturizing the skin and also cleansing away oil and dirt." The oil once pumped into her hands gave them a slick-like appearance as she spread it out evenly before applying it thoroughly to her face.

It was kind of strange seeing her face turn into a mix of colors as the oil picked up the makeup, and her naturally pale skin coming into view, with a few spots of red on her cheeks. It seemed to be less than the other day.

"It's probably no surprise that being in show business puts a lot of pressure on how you look. Most of this I learned on my own though, reading interviews and magazines, to get an idea on how to do what was best for my skin. I didn't really have any friends, or family, or teachers who'd show me this kind of stuff." She paused to look in the mirror, assessing the current condition of her skin as the mask of makeup she used to present herself to the galaxy was being lifted off. "... What was your homeworld like? I've seen Green Carp of the Crab worlds, but I never really get to see all the worlds I travel to."

Giving Koyuki some time to answer, she began rinsing off the cleanser with copious amounts of water.

[Kuni Koyuki]

Finding a spot to comfortably lean her hip against, Koyuki settles in to watch as Yakumo goes through the process of cleansing her face. Taking the opportunity to finish off her upper lip while Yakumo spoke, and finishing a bit before she was done. Merely settling in for the show to wait for the sink to be open for her.

"Not a world," she answers first. That sort of sharp and short answer that was something of a Koyuki staple. "Station," she teases a little with it, as she'd slipped that answer in before. "Other than feeling like I grew up in a giant metal box made up of giant metal boxes it was.. extreme. Giant hunk of metal floating through space standing as a testament to the marvel of Crab engineering. Never felt like anyone had enough room most days, and I grew up in one of the better neighborhoods. Though calling them that does not match exactly how they are. It is good enough. Many establishments to go to, but they all had a feeling of being the same thing repeated after awhile. I remember days going to look out over the gardens. They weren't much to look at but for me they were everything. They were the only real vegetation I ever saw and when I used to picture jungles when I was young I just thought of them like giant farms."

"Didn't set my foot on my first planet until I was seven or eighteen," she says, sorta rounding off the year uncertain. "Growing up there is why I joined the expeditionary forces. Mother wanted me to be a researcher like herself, and I wanted to see the galaxy. Set my feet down on real ground instead of floating through space all my life."

[Susumu Yakumo]

With her face thoroughly rinsed, Yakumo reached for another bottle, this one squirting out pink foam which she applied right away to her face to do her double-cleansing, all the while she listened to Koyuki speak. Sometimes she'd nod, or make small sounds to confirm that she was listening. The foam was then cleansed away too and she reached for a clean towel in the small stack on the counter to pat her face dry.

"I've never spent much time on a space-station... closest would be to being on The Hive. One of the largest space-stations in the Empire, I think, it's been made out of a hollowed-out asteroid. It's more like a continent flying through space, so it doesn't really feel like a station. It's quite an impressive sight, as it often fools you into believing you're planet-side."

While she talked, her hands continued through the very practiced motions of her beauty regime - applying serum and vitamins to her face next. "My homeworld, Shiragiku, is an agriworld. The most bountiful planet the Spider have... the most heavily guarded too, as we'd be lost without it. The Kuchiki have the largest numbers there, with plentiful of temples and shrines. If you don't smell incense burning somewhere, you smell fertilizer instead." But right now, she didn't feel like opening up about the bit that it was also a hot-bed of spiritual activity from gaki, but... almost all Spider-worlds were full of activity from unsavoury spirits.

"Reason I grew up there is because that's where my uncle lives and works on his studies. He raised me, since..." Yakumo slowed in her motions, watching Koyuki's reflection in the mirror, "... my mother died when I was born. He was the closest family to raise me, and, well, I was a sickly infant. I don't think he expected me to actually live."

[Kuni Koyuki]

Koyuki's eyes were on her the whole time, and it wasn't a tough shift to meet that gaze before she'd even sought Koyuki out in the mirror. Just the little subtle shift that Yakumo was looking toward her reflection was enough to inspire her to look back meeting eyes through their reflection. Sitting with that little confession of her past while she leans off her little post and moves up properly behind Yakumo. Hands laying down on both of her shoulders gently without very firm holds as to be able to move the moment Yakumo wanted them to without hindrance.

Leaning in over her shoulder she looks to her, and smiles. "Defying expectations from the very start." A statement of fact. Placing a gently kiss just behind her ear. Leaning into Yakumo a little just so she can feel her presence for a few seconds and then letting go. Not speaking the words of comfort, just letting her feel the presence of it. How Koyuki's heart felt for the pain that living had inflicted upon her. Giving her back her space so she could continue without interference.

"Were you fond of one another? You and your uncle," she asks. Crossing her arms over her midsection she leans in back to her original space, taking that little extra comfort she could find. Lingering on that thought, how much lonelier of a life Yakumo had lived by comparison to her. Yet, somehow, she still had thought that her younger years were lonely. Didn't seem a fair thing to say anymore.

[Susumu Yakumo]

"Oh, fuck no," she said with a dry laugh, pausing to hold onto the edges of the counter, head dipping down for a moment to avoid meeting the gaze in the mirror. Her own, or Koyuki's.

"He only looked after me out of a sense of duty. All children are important to the clan, doesn't matter if it's born out of wedlock or not... it would be drawing the ire of Shahai-no-kami for him to not look after me the best he could, but he often made me aware that I was a burden." And more. When she had not been a burden, she had been years of his research. "He had hopes for me at some point though. Or rather, hopes that he would be rewarded for his work. You see, my... father," the word stopped there. She had only told one person, and that had even been a fellow Spider. No, she couldn't say his name.

"My father, he... was a very powerful man, of the Daigotsu. He had many wives, concubines, consorts, and lovers. My mother was one of his lovers. It was probably her hope that he would recognise me as his daughter, but she passed away. So the only one who could push the claim on my behalf was my uncle, but seeing how weak and frail I was, he felt that there was no way I would be acknowledged that way."

Easening her grip on the counter, Yakumo pushed herself upright fully, picking up the pot with moisturizer. "Anyway, he's dead now. My father that is. So it's not like it matters anymore now."

[Kuni Koyuki]

Koyuki's full focus often came with the subtle shifting of her iris as she reads the little details of expression, and Yakumo experiences this more than most. Crossed arms shift slightly as she thinks following the half-revelation, inhaling deeply in that calming way she did. All her life Yakumo had been a piece of a game that someone else was playing. She wasn't the first, surely, the Empire was built off such cases. Yet, there was that extra something about this one that was certainly more impactful when it came to her own heart.

Watching her simply work with the moisturizer for a moment. Half because she just wanted to watch her, and half because at this point the limitations of her expression because she was still wearing her face-paint were chaffing her nerves.

"Would you have wanted that? To be recognized," she clarifies.

[Susumu Yakumo]

The motions of her hands were slow and methodical, though perhaps a tad slower as she was clearly burdened with thoughts. "Maybe? I think so?" she sighed. "Sometimes I wonder if I wanted it because I was told to want it for most of my life. A part of me probably imagined that he would be a better family than my uncle, since he was just so... impressive, whenever I saw him in a broadcast or something."

Her slender fingers worked over her face, and down her neck. "I would've been Daigotsu Yakumo then. I might've had an easier life then, spending less time and effort trying to prove myself at every turn. But I don't know who I would've been then." Yakumo's violet eyes focused on her own face in the mirror, wondering who she was seeing in her own reflection, and if she would've recognised the other Yakumo she could have been.

The daughter of a Champion. The greatest among the Spider.

"What about your father?" she asked after a moment of silence, finishing up the moisturizing treatment as she turned to look at Koyuki rather than look at her in the mirror.

[Kuni Koyuki]

Stepping forward as the question was levied Koyuki places herself before Yakumo. Not answering right away. Instead looking over her face, following with eyes along her jaw and just taking in all those little details. At first it was just that the casual gazing of her eyes over Yakumo's features. However, she joins the little action with another by bringing her hands up and cupping them just under Yakumo's jaw, underneath her ears. It was a confining sort of feeling that took the weight of that heavy noggin she wouldn't have realized was carrying around until the weight was suddenly lifted that little bit.

"My father," she starts, kneading her thumbs into the spot where the back of Yakumo's jaw connects to the skull. "Was a Hida originally. A giant of a man with an attitude that could have filled two taverns with his ego. There was never a dull moment when he was around, boisterous and completely unlike my mother and I. Many wondered how such a man could love such a woman, and yet I may never see a deeper love. My father was a fan of speaking of the strength of Crab blood and," she chuckles, shaking her head. "It is one of the few things I got from him."

Finding she'd massaged enough, Koyuki shifts her hands forward. Letting the tips of her fingers trace delicately along the skin just behind where the treatments would have been put on and shifting through them only to follow the hairline.

"My father died when I was about 10 on an assignment, he was military. Some scuffle turned more violent than it was meant to and he'd wound up with the sharp end of a blade puncturing his heart."

[Susumu Yakumo]

Those violet eyes closed in response to Koyuki's touch, and her breath became slow and relaxed as she softly exhaled. There was just something about the ways Koyuki touched her like this that just relieved tension she didn't know she had.

As she felt the fingers against her hairline, Yakumo reached up to pull back the soft hairband she had there to keep soap and product out of her hair, letting Koyuki have no limits in letting her fingers roam through her hair.

"... I'm sorry for your loss," she offered the words to learning of what became of her father, and while it was a kind of passé phrase to say, it was no less sincere. "You sound like you loved him greatly. Speaking of him with such fondness."

[Kuni Koyuki]

"I'm sorry for yours," she intones. Giving voice to the feeling that she didn't before speak. Only so that Yakumo wasn't alone in the saying of the phrase which certainly felt so passé. With a sort of finality to the gentle caress Koyuki's fingers come back toward Yakumo's ears. Brushing along the hairline, and the back of her ear with that soft tantalizing touch.

"My mother was more heartbroken over it than I was. I knew it would come some day, but I was young and he was a good man. In the end I think it was the way my mother changed after his passing that pained me the most. How much of a different woman she had become when it happened. She was never particularly warm around others, but it was like a light had gone out that she never dared to relight. Few others could see it, but I could always see how she carried so much sadness in her," she says softly.

Lingering on that thought felt weighty, like it might overtake her somehow. That if she let it sit for too long something would change and she would never be able to go back. Koyuki was always naturally curious, and enjoyed the mysteries of such things. Yet when it came up from within it frightened her for a reason that felt just out of reach as she ran from that thinking.

Shifting her attention to the sink and mirror. Offering Yakumo a look, and then shifting their positions so she can claim the sink. Starting the water, she wets her hands and claims up some of the nearby soap. With the light wash in her hand prepared she begins the little arduous process of removing as much of the paint she can in this way first.

[Susumu Yakumo]

While Koyuki began the process of washing her face, Yakumo loosened the chignon her hair had been up in all night and let her own long hair fall down. In some places it was still a little unflattering, from where she had used product to make it smoothed out without any stray hairs.

"Emotions are a heavy luggage to get rid of, it kind of stays with you for so long. And... while I don't really like my uncle, I do miss home, to be honest. It's been a long time since I've seen Shiragiku except from in passing during my tour, and just really spent some time back in my clan's holdings. Maybe I'll get to go home for a while after court duties are over here for the season." Her words were soft, and almost a bit longing. And while she spoke, the brush began its work through her black hair to work out any tangles or remaining product.

"Despite all its flaws, it's still home, you know. Same with the people..." she sighed, thinking of how that Lion had likened them to faulty samurai. "... It might be a flawed people there, but they're still my people."

[Kuni Koyuki]

Globs of white paint muddied with the dark lines from the 'crying' design she wore flowed from her face into the sink with each new repetition of soapy wash she massaged in. With each one getting off less and less paint as she goes until she was left with just the few bits that hid around her hairline and other tough to reach crevices of her face, like just around the underside of the curve of her nostril. For these troublesome areas she returned to the very same water treated pads they'd used prior. Hunting every bit of white paint with precision and patience.

While she works at it the white hiding under her nose, "I have never had the same feeling. Not that I recall anyway. Much as I love my mother and my people, or fondly remember my home, I do not feel the longing to go back. Sometimes I have wondered why I feel such a way," she says, stopping to check out and confirm she'd gotten it all. Running some final checks along her face hairline and other corners. "But the best I have ever come up with is that I believe I carry them with me wherever I go. Held tight in my memories, and the woman they made me into," she says. Finishing she looks to Yakumo in the mirror following that thought she'd not ever even thought to share with Moriko in their time.

[Susumu Yakumo]

Their gaze met through the mirror's reflection, acknowledging the other's presence and also appriciating what they both saw. At least Yakumo was still very much seeing Koyuki there, slightly bent over, still wearing that very nice number... her lips, oddly pale now rather than their usual painted soft color, shaped into a smirk for a brief moment as it was clear what she was looking at when she wasn't looking at Koyuki's eyes.

"That is one way to think of it. And it's an admirable one too..." her sigh was more like a soft hum of a few notes, "it is fascinating how our lives shape us. Seeing how different it makes us, and yet, we are drawn across those differences. Not only us, but just... people, in general."

"I don't think I would want to spend my entire life on Shiragiku, or another Spider world, but... I find it hard to consider a possible future where I would never return there." Yakumo's inner conflict was visible on her face for a moment there, as she realised she had brought up the actual thought of the future on her own - something she hated. But perhaps with everything going on, including the dangers on this world, maybe she was seeking some form of escapism from her own mortality by fantasising about the future.

[Kuni Koyuki]

Turning about Koyuki leans herself against the edge of the sink. Reaching out for Yakumo's hands to take, and then pull her close enough that she was standing between Koyuki's own slightly angled legs. Looking her over for a moment in that little reverie she was left in, seeking that escape. How strange it was, considering oneself having a future. Since for as long as Koyuki could stand to remember as whatever version of herself she was now she'd hoped she wouldn't live long enough to care past one last event.

Now?

"We'll go together then. You'll show me everything you love most about Shiragiku, and it will grant me the chance to commit all to memory the little they granted to this mosaic of a woman before me," she said, a touch of a smile on that note. With a little more tease, "See? Coming up with a fancy and poetic name is not the only bit of poetry I can bring out once in a while. Perhaps I have found my gift, and a muse of my own," she says with a very apparent tease as that was soooo not her.

[Susumu Yakumo]

Koyuki taking her hands put an end to the hairbrushing, and she stood there, pulled in close to Koyuki, her hands trapped for now. And then the statement.

"... You want to go see a Spider world?" Yakumo blinked in surprise. She had been surprised when Jissai had expressed wanting to go there, but bless his soul, he was someone motivated by travelling to worlds were people were in need of spiritual guidance, and there was plenty of that in the Spider systems. "As much as I want to agree, dear Koyuki, you do realise how difficult that would be to arrange, yes? Not many outsiders come to our worlds, even more so for those who are currently enemies of our clan."