"Better to get it over with than prolong the torture." Lily pointed out with a smile, tucking a loose tendril of hair behind her ear. "And then you can run right back here. I should probably get going as well, because I'm afraid your sister might try to kill me if I don't show up."
He nodded seriously. "I don't doubt that for a second. I know she'll chew my head off for bailing." He slipped away with a friendly wave, disappearing into the palace.
Cinthia paced her room, muttering to herself in a plethora of different languages, as if that would calm her nerves. I sorta did, but not enough. Just like Rhydar, she hated balls. She hated any party, to be exact. Too many people, too many chances of being touched. And then there was the matter of the missing brother. She'd flay him alive if he abandoned her to skip out on the ball.
Her skirts rustled with each turn she made, her bare feet soundlessly padding over the tiled hall floors. She and her twin had covered their eyes with light gray colored contacts, so they needn't worry about people pointing out their "flaw." She had also managed to coax her hair into letting her style it. The right side of her hair was braided into cornrows, the braids blending into her still tightly curled hair. Silver bands and other jewelry spiced up the hairstyle, having been braided into her hair during the agonizing process of styling her hair. She never let anyone touch her hair, as it was so stubborn and just impossible. Wolf sometimes compared her hair to a toddler throwing a tantrum. The sad part was she couldn't even deny it. The rest of her hair spilled over her shoulders and curled around her upper arms, while some strands fell into her face.
Lily was quick to make her way through the halls, carefully avoiding having to stop and talk to other people. She'd have to build up a bit of resolve if she wanted to make it through the ball. Her knocking on Cinthia's door faltered as a thought hit her. Would she be forced to dance with people? It would be rude to turn anyone down, but she wasn't sure she could handle that much contact, with no chance to break. Gods, this is going to end so badly.
"Come in," Cinthia called, still pacing her room. She didn't know nor did she care who it was at the door. If it was a servant—oh well. If it was her brother—didn't matter. If it was Lily—she didn't give two shits. She was dressed, it's fine. Who cares if a supposedly prim and proper princess is freaking out before a ball dedicated to her big brother?
Lily carefully pushed the door open, frowning at Cinthia's obvious anxiety. "Are-are you alright?" She asked quietly, forcing herself to take another step into the room despite the urge to immediately cower and leave. It would have been so much easier in the long run, but she found herself somewhat worried.
Cinthia stopped and looked up. "Oh, Lily. Hi." she ran her fingers through the part of her hair that wasn't braided. "Yeah, I'm alright. Just don't like parties. Too many people." She gestured to her uncovered arms. "Too much skin. I had to poke my eyeballs an hour ago to change their color. And don't even get me started on my hair." She grumpily blew a few strands out of her face—unsuccessfully.
((hsghjad my little sister's watching Sofie Dossi rn))
"Too many people is right." Lily agreed, shaking her head. "You can always stick with me, I guess, if that helps at all?" She offered, tilting her head as she raised an eyebrow. She had issues with her own hair, but not to that extent. Mostly she just never remembered to pull it back.
((She's a really good dancer and contortionist))
"I'll be glued to the snack bar, but feel free to join me and my sad excuse for a date." She lifted her head to look over Lily. "If he ever decides to show up." She had been asked by the head spy to accompany him to the ball. They were actually childhood friends, so all formality between them was simply for the public eye.
((Her videos are pretty funny too))
"I'll take you up on that." She said, brows drawing together in confusion as Cinthia looked her over. "Your date?" She shoved her hands in her pockets, unaware of the straw bits clinging to her clothing.
"Demitri Maddex, the head spy of the palace." Her eyes dropped to Lily's clothing, and her lips twitched up slightly. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you were hanging at the stables. And how convenient it is that Rhydar happened to go for a ride today. I do hope you two were behaving yourselves."
She blinked in confusion, before her eyes widened. "Gods-we weren't-I ran into him as he got back, but-" She shook her head, tugging a hand through her hair. "I went out there to, admittedly, fawn over the horses."
She broke out in a grin. "You're too fun," she cooed, then clasped her hands together. "Right. Ball. Dress. You need to change." She ushered for Lily to head over to her room to change into the dress they had picked out. "Let's go, let's go, let's go! I need to do your hair and makeup." Nevermind the fact that she had no makeup on herself.
"Makeup? I-do I need to wear makeup?" She asked, frowning as she allowed Cinthia to shoo her back to the other room. The dress was where she'd left it, on the bed. She looked around, obviously unsure how to start.
"No, but at least let me darken your lashes and line your eyes with some kohl. It'll bring them out more." She didn't force Lily to let her do it, as her tone was more pleading than demanding.
She sighed, fiddling with her sleeves as she nodded. "Alright, alright. I'm not sure why they need to be 'brought out' any more, but if you say so."
"To make Rhydar unable to stop looking into them," she said simply, flitting around her room to grab her makeup. She found some lace gloves that were pattered and pulled them on, then came over to Lily and gently pushed her into the seat sitting in front of the vanity.
"Oh." She seemed unaware of how to respond to that, fiddling with her sleeves as she avoided looking at the mirror. Her feelings involving makeup were mostly negative, due to the reasons she'd had to wear it in the past, but now was as good a time as any to get over that. Right?
((I don't do makeup, so I'm gonna be vague with this))
"I'm not going to put a lot," Cinthia said as she turned Lily around so she could work on her eyes. "You won't even feel it, I promise." She lightly touched Lily's chin to tilt her head back, telling her to close her eyes in a slight murmur. She had to get a little close in order to see what she was doing.
Lily obediently closed her eyes, hands clenched into fists in her lap to keep from flinching away. It's just Cinthia. Nobody gets to do anything without your permission. She repeated the thoughts like a mantra as Cinthia lined her lids with the kohl, trying to keep the contents of her stomach settled.
She made quick work of lining her lids with kohl, adding a slight wing to spice it up. She then grabbed a different brush to line her eyelashes as well, darkening them. She pulled back and put her hands on her hips. "Done." She turned the chair around to let Lily see, then started working on her hair.
She hesitantly opened her eyes, turning them to the mirror, and her eyes widened slightly. Some part of her had expected a completely different look, had even expected to see a past version of her in the mirror. This was new though, and something she actually liked. Different. Like you're making progress. "It looks nice." She said quietly, drawing her eyes from the mirror once more.
((I'm going out on a limb here. Was she, like, used as a prostitute or something? Feel free to shoot me down if I'm horribly wrong))
"You look beautiful on your own, but little touches here and there can spruce things up a bit," Cinthia said, brushing her fingers through Lily's hair to smooth it out while she figured out what kind of style it would look best it. Nothing too fancy, but nothing too plain, either. Hmm…
((Somewhat like that, yeah.))
"You definitely seem to know what you're doing. Your hair looks amazing, by the way." Lily commented, lips quirking into a small smile visible in the mirror. "Though not seeing the usual curls was a bit disorienting."
"I couldn't straighten it all out, so I just braided the one side and left it slightly curly. It's a nightmare to do anything with." An idea popped into her head and she retreated into her bathroom. After some rummaging around, she came back out with a curler. "Let's get some waves into that hair of yours," she said.
She furrowed her brows, reaching up to touch her hair. "Um-alright? Probably nothing more than waves though, I don't think I could pull off curls the way you do." She said, shaking her head.
"Promise, just some waves." She loosely wrapped strands of Lily's hair around the curler, then took it off after a few seconds. It didn't take long to finish that part of her hair, the strands falling down in neat waves. She turned off the curler and grabbed a bit of decoration, then started braiding. After a few quiet moments with Cinthia tilting her head slightly as she concentrated, she was finished. She smiled and placed her hands on the back of the chair. "All done."
Lily had watched what she could carefully, hoping to pick a few things up herself for future use. "It looks…elegant." She said softly, turning her head to get a view of the back. "Any chance I could convince you to teach me how to do some of this?"
Cinthia chuckled and backed away to give Lily some space. "Depends on how bad of a student you are," she said with a smile and playful wink. She looked up as she heard familiar footsteps, her face brightening with a wide grin as a man curiously came up to the doorway.
He was tall, roughly around 6'4, and dark. His dress clothes were mostly black and dark silver. His hair was black and fluffy, some strands falling into his dark and observant eyes. He was built for stealth, with a lean frame and narrow-ish shoulders. His skin had a slight tan to it but was otherwise somewhat pale. "Am I interrupting something?" he asked, his voice smooth and neither deep nor high-pitched.
Lily turned her gaze from the mirror, her smile dropping back into her normal neutral look as she studied the man in the doorway carefully. That's a man perfect for spying if I've ever seen one. Her eyes flickered to Cinthia, raising an eyebrow in question, even though she already knew the answer.
Her own face dropped into a stern look, hurriedly going over to him and shoving him out of the door. He just looked more amused than anything as he let her push him. "Demitri Titus Maddex, how many times do I have to teach you how to knock on doors before you enter?" she scolded, marching him out of the room and back into the hall. She proceeded to switch to a different language and give him quite the tongue lashing.