Closed [BDC] Playing Dress Up and Makeovers

Katherine finds a new play doll in Shayna, much to the consternation of the latter.

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This lazy agricultural settlement rests on the swampy shores of the Middle Suvan at the delta of The Kenash River. The River's slow moving bayou waters have bred a different sort of people - rugged, cultured, and somewhat violent. Sprawling plantations of tobacco and cotton grow on the outskirts of the swamp in the rich Cyphrus soils, while the city itself curls around the bayou and spawns decadence and sins of all sorts. Life is slower in Kenash, but the lack of pace is made up for in the excesses of food and flesh in a city where drinking, debauchery, gambling, slavery, and overbearing plantation families dominate the landscape.

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[BDC] Playing Dress Up and Makeovers

Postby Katherine Morealis on November 1st, 2013, 8:45 pm

22nd Day of Fall, 513 AV
Black Diamond Cosmetics

A sigh, followed by another.

Yes, it was not a common sight within the cosmetics shop, but it was indeed a sigh that escaped proprietor Katherine Morealis' pursed lips. As it happens, it was not a normal day either. Iora had called in sick after her face broke out in rashes with a product test mishap just the day before. At first, it seemed to her mistress that a product contained a tad too much of a certain offending ingredient, but it so turned out that the little servant had been careless enough to touch a bunch or two of poison ivies before she applied the prototype cream on her face. What a total idiot.

There is no further need to explain how horrible this turned out for poor Iora's face, and it would have probably stayed that way if Katherine had delayed in making the girl wash her face with cold water and dabbing it with some alcohol leftover from previous experiments. Just to be sure though, she had sent the Inarta to the city clinic for further examinations. It would be a waste to see that pretty face scarred permanently.

Now, however, Iora's absence proved to be quite a dilemma for Katherine. First of all, there was no one to do the menial tasks inside the shop which Katherine absolutely abhorred doing. One of such was wiping the dust that settled on the shelves and the counter. Of course, she can't be called to do this, and she still didn't want to let Shayna inside the store proper. She also didn't have anyone to test the new batch of products she made early this morning. Perhaps she would see if Shayna would be up to the task later. Right now, she had work to finish.

Katherine was, at that moment, holed up inside the laboratory behind the shop. She had temporarily closed the shop for the day since there was no one to attend to the customers now that Iora was absent.

She was currently working on a new variety of shampoo. The recent bouts of Fall rain had caused a rise in air humidity, and this brought forth more customers, mostly her high born peers, who wanted to tame their frizzy hair. Katherine readily took the challenge as a subconscious ploy to boost her ego if she really managed to find the cure for Kenash's puffy hair problems.

And the recipe? It was already drafted in Katherine's philtering notes, safely tuck inside a leather bound journal. She opened it to the page where she had written her selected ingredients, the ratio of which was calculated to yield about 8 ounce of the final product. She would refrain from creating large amounts of the shampoo until she could be assured that it was good enough to be sold in the shop.

Shampoo for Frizzy or Dry Hair


2 ounce shea butter
0.5 ounce wheat germ oil
0.25 ounce coconut oil
0.25 ounce jojoba oil
0.25 ounce argan oil
0.25 ounce avocado oil
6 ounce liquid, non-fat oil
2 ml bergamot essential oil
3 ml lavender essential oil
2 ml peppermint essential oil
2 ml tea tree oil
2 ml honey
0.25 ounce sage and citrus fragrance oil


Placing the journal on the side of the table where it will be relatively safe from spills, Katherine began her work by weighing out the shea butter, scooped into a large glass beaker, on the weighing scale. After getting the desired amount of the butter, Katherine placed it over the brazier and heated it until it was melted.

While waiting for the shea butter turn into liquid, she went ahead and weighed wheat germ, coconut, jojoba, and argan oils. Removing the shea butter from the fire with the use of crucible tongs, she carefully set it on the table and slowly stirred in the oils she had previously weighed into the melted butter with a thin glass rod.

She next weighed out the liquid soap. It was a new variety of soap, this one. It didn't contain any lye and was purely made of plant oils. Since it was a new product to her, Katherine wanted to test how well it would mix with other ingredients. If the products turn out well, she would produce her own batch in the shop to keep from being obligated to buy from outside sources.

Katherine gently poured she mixture of melted shea butter and oils into the liquid soap, constantly stirring as she did so. Leaving the blend behind for a moment, she took a couple of graduated glass pipettes from its wooden rack and measured the respective amounts of essential oils, honey, and the tangy combination of sage and citrus fragrance oils as well. This, too, she poured into the blend and painstakingly mixed the liquids. She continued to stir the mixture for at least three chimes, at least until she was sure the ingredients have combined thoroughly.

Finally, she poured the shampoo inside a medium-sized jar, but she left the lid on to let the mixture cool. Katherine noted that it was thinner than the shampoos she usually made. It was to be expected though since there was no animal fat in it at all. No matter, she thought. I will just have to weigh the pros against the cons and see if this would sell as good as the others. And now, to test it out...

"Shayna!" Katherine loudly called out a window as she washed the containers she used. With slender fingers, she rubbed at the oils vigorously with a sponge soaked in soap. It was important to keep the containers spotlessly clean: if she failed to do this, various oils would mix together and might cause some unpleasant, unaccounted after effects in her production.

Recipe used courtesy of Rebecca's Soap Delicatessen
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[BDC] Playing Dress Up and Makeovers

Postby Shayna on November 1st, 2013, 9:52 pm

Image

Shayna moves around the garden in the back easily enough, her small feet stepping lightly around plants and avoiding the many snares that the overgrown garden offers. She was trying to sort through the weeds, because she thinks....yes there they are. Scooping up five mushrooms, she had been looking for these, she deposits them safely into a wide pocket to deliver to Katherine. She has found them yesterday while weeding, but had apparently tossed in the weed pile by accident. She is glad that she remembered because these mushrooms were the tasty kind.

Turning, Shayna starts to take into consideration all the things she still needed to get done today before the end of the day, to stay on track. First there were finishing the last of the weeds in the first acreage of the garden, that shouldn't take too long. Next there would be to break up the dirt, fortunately weed pulling will make that easier. She swipes an errant strand of thick black hair off her face that had escaped her plain hair tie making a little face at the annoyance.

Before she could continue her check list she hears her name being called. Raising her head she looks up at the shop, and sees Mistress Katherine and immediately begins moving toward the philtering laboratory. "Yes Mistress Katherine?" She calls, raising her voice just to be sure she could be heard. She had never been in the laboratory before, having had no need to, but she doesn't hesitate to stomp her feet to try and ensure that she didn't track in any dirt from the gardens before slipping in to find her Mistress.

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[BDC] Playing Dress Up and Makeovers

Postby Katherine Morealis on November 1st, 2013, 11:53 pm

Katherine continued rubbing the glass wares, and she took special care in handling her glass pipettes, which she cleaned with a special brush instead of the sponge. These are the items that needed to be free of residues the most.

Hearing her slave respond to her call, Katherine looked over her shoulder to see Shayna enter the laboratory. "Ah, there you are. I have something for you." She started as she returned her eyes towards the glass wares in the basin. She had already rinsed the measuring devices twice, and there was no need to wipe them dry, not that it was advisable to dry them in such a way in the first place. Wiping them with a cloth, or even blowing into the glass containers, might introduce fibers and other impurities that could contaminate her next batch of philters. Instead, she gingerly carried them back to the wooden rack where they are allowed to stand and be air dried.

"I bought you new pieces of clothing yesterday as well as some gardening tools, though I only remembered to give them to you now." Grabbing a clean piece of towel hanging on a rack on the side of a table, Katherine faced towards Shayna as she wiped her hands dry. "Look at the floor, by the doorway and to the right. I placed your new things there."

A few articles of clean clothes had been neatly folded on top of a medium-sized gardening toolkit: a sturdy looking bag with side pockets which contained basic garden tools like a small rake and spade. Inside it were a few sample of seed of various common plants and herbs. Beside it was sat a pair of plain brown slippers.

The clothes were very simple in design and were evidently tailored for work rather than for adornment. Both pieces were made from unbleached linen. The blouse easily allows for ease of movement, and the skirt, barely reaching above a young girl's knees, allows a comfortable fit that does not compromise modesty. They were personally fitted by Iora before the unfortunate incident occured so Katherine was unsure if it would fit just as well on Shayna. Considering that the two girls are very close in height and stature, she hoped that this was the case. At least the apron was not as restrictive on measurements, she mused to herself.

"They are yours now, but you can keep them on the bottom layer of the shelves at the other laboratory you just passed by." Katherine replaced the towel on the rack and ambled towards Shayna. "I want you to try and fit the clothes, but before that," She paused, taking her recently finished product from the middle of the table and raised it for the slave to see. "Let me try this on you first. I usually have Iora do this sort of work but, well, she is not here as of the moment so I will have to make do with you instead.

"Come here." She commanded Shayna, with a swift gesture of her hand, to come with her further in the room towards the wash basins. Her shop did not have the comfortable reclinable chairs designed to wash people hairs like a salon would have. However, Iora had endured, for more than a season, having her hair washed haphazardly by her often uncaring mistress, and so Shayna would have to bear the same treatment, if not worse.

Receipt-20 GM for Herbalist/Botanist toolkit
-8 SM for simple blouse
-4 SM for simple skirt
-1 SM for a pair of slippers
-3 SM for apron

All of which will be trusted under the care of Shayna.
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[BDC] Playing Dress Up and Makeovers

Postby Shayna on November 2nd, 2013, 1:51 am

Image

Shayna stands with her hands folded in front of her, using a demure posture though she does not drop her eyes to the ground. She doesn't quite meet Katherine's eyes, neither does she debase and bow. So when the other woman speaks the surprise is evident on her face, green eyes widen for a split second and her lips part before closing again and once more coming under her control. "Thank you Mistress Katherine. I will take good care of them." Hers. Shayna was sure that what Katherine really meant was they were for her to use, like on the farm she was born. When they sent her to the auction they had sent her in what she wore writing that off in the price of her purchas, and all others was taken back washed and redistributed amongst the other slaves. Still, privately in her own thoughts she rolled the thought of something as hers.

She turns and pads over to the clothing on the floor, bending to pick them up. She tried to act as if nothing was different, simply another duty but her fingers moved across the plain sturdy linen that didn't really feel any different then the dress she now wore, but for some reason she seemed to think so. Perhaps because they were hers. She carefully stored them in the shelf indicated and quickly followed Katherine without hesitation though her steps falter just a little when she heard what she was expected to do.

"Before we ..you..um I...do that.." She stumbled a little over how to phrase it because she wasn't sure exactly what she was suppose to do, or if she was just suppose to stand and let Katherine work on her. "Yesterday in the gardens I found these amongst the weeds. I don't know if you intended to grow them, or if just in the...disarray they sprang wild. But they are Cantherelle mushrooms. They are very good to eat I am told." She withdraws the five white-gray mushrooms from her pockets, dirt still clinging to the stems but the caps were full and plump. "They still need washing but.." She held out her hand toward her Mistress, not wanting the mushrooms to be squashed or otherwise damaged in her Mistresses newest duty for her.

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[BDC] Playing Dress Up and Makeovers

Postby Katherine Morealis on November 2nd, 2013, 9:05 pm

Seeing the confusion on the slave's face, Katherine was unsure whether to feel impish delight at her hilarious expression, or irritated for her apparent lack of perceptiveness for her mistress' wishes. It was unfair to Shayna, yes, but she did not care that the girl had just started working for her. She wanted the girl to instinctively know what she wanted done without having to explain every thing,

The conversation was immediately turned by the slave to the topic of Cantharelle mushrooms. She stared at the fungi on Shayna's hands with indifference. "No, I don't grow them." She said tersely. "That type of mushroom do not have much to do for the skin so I can't use them either. You can eat them yourself if you want to." She ordered Shayna to place the mushrooms atop the lid of a barrel for now so they can start without any more delays.

"Do you know how to wash your own hair?" Katherine asked as she instructed her slave to stand by the basin. Not waiting for an answer though, she quickly added, "Actually, never mind. I'll wash it instead. I want to make sure the product was applied right anyway.

"Turn around. I will look at your hair." When the girl had turned, Katherine lifted her slave's long, midnight locks closer to her for inspection; Shayna really was too small. Katherine was only about ten years old when she was Shayna's height. "How old are you? You can't be much younger than I am, right?"

One glance at Shayna's hair was enough to know that it was dry and damaged. There were sections where a few clumps of hair were tangled and stuck together. Katherine ran her fingers through the dark locks, and when she was near the end, she wrapped a section of hair around one of her digits. There were ends that stuck up from the rest that were curled around her fingers. Split ends, Katherine thought grimly. There was no way to treat split ends but to cut them off, as the strands of hair had already been so damaged that it cannot be fused back together again. She would have to shear it off then, those offending split ends.

Grabbing Iora's comb from one of the shelves, and as well as a pair of shears, she set about combing out the tangles from Shayna's hair. She started at the bottom of the hair, sifting through the tangles and knots in quick, up and down motions, tugging carefully at the messier clumps. She then repeated this, slowly going upwards as she cleared one section of the hair of tangles.

When she was finally able to move the wooden comb down her hair with relative ease, Katherine set it down and took the shears. It wasn't like she did not know how to do it, considering she had seen how her hair was trimmed on many occasions, but Katherine had never cut someone's hair before. Her slave did not know that though, and she didn't feel the need to let the girl know. She was her slave after all. What did she care what her owner did with her hair?

Carefully, she held a section of Shayna's dark hair upside down so that the ends were pointing upward. She would cut about two centimeters above where the split started, so Shayna would only really lose a couple of inches at most. Hand shaking ever so slightly, she held the shears perpendicular to the hair strands. Katherine remembered her stylist mention that a proper cut will keep the ends stronger than a slanted cut would.

SNIP

Several short strands of dark hair fell to the floor. Another snip, followed by another, and another. More than a few chimes later, Katherine was finished. "There, all done." It was no professional's work, but Katherine thought it looked just fine. Just a bit lopsided to the right, but it was still good. It could have gone worse, after all.

Katherine set the shears down on the table and combed Shayna's hair a few more times before she was satisfied. "Bend over and put all of your hair in the basin," She tapped the ceramic rim impatiently. "Because I'm going to wash your hair now."
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[BDC] Playing Dress Up and Makeovers

Postby Shayna on November 2nd, 2013, 9:40 pm

Image

Shayna once more was surprised by her Mistress, perhaps she had chosen correctly to make her presence better known when Katherine had entered. Already she had gotten a new set of clothing that was hers, and was able to keep a particularly nice treat that she had found in Katherine's gardens. After depositing her mushrooms on the lid. Shayna moved in front of the other woman, turning her back without apparent hesitation, though she cringed. She did not like having freeborn behind her, didn't trust them when she couldn't see them. Not that she could have prevented whatever Katherine wished to do, but she could have prepared herself if it was unpleasant.

She started to answer her question that of course she knew how to wash her hair, if she didn't then good gods only knew what would be trapped in the tangles and wild curls that made up her frizzy head. Of course she never used product like the ones Mistress sold, but allotted a small amount of personal soap only helped the freeborn not be offended by any untidy smells. However the other woman went on without waiting for an answer, only to ask another question.

This time Shayna did pause before answering, only to be sure that Katherine wasn't going to interject and change the question again. "I am seventeen Mistress Katherine, in the spring I will turn eighteen. Why do you ask?" The last is asked without thought, which was unusual for Shayna who was very deliberate in anything that left her lips when talking to freeborn. However the anxiety of the situation had loosened her tongue a little, as she stands perfectly still only her eyes cutting to the right and left trying to get a glimpse at what her mistress was doing behind her.

Then Katherine's fingers were in her hair, tugging through the knots without seeming to be deliberately hard and cruel but with Shayna always having been tender headed the first few caused her to grimace. However when the comb came out she couldn't help a few light "ouch...ouch..." that left her lips, though she suppressed them. Her shoulders hunched up as she instinctively tried to tighten against the pinpricks that tingled in her scalp that each tug caused.

When Katherine had finished combing her hair out, Shayna's scalp felt a little tender but her hair did feel almost lighter. She always did a cursory comb every morning with the simple bone comb that was again allotted to her but working in the garden does not usually allow her to keep her locks immaculately clean and freshly brushed.

Her hands raise to clench the lid of the basin, hearing the snip of each scissor stroke seeming so loud in her ear. She can't remember ever having her hair cut, her hair might have been longer still if it were not so stubbornly curly and damaged. She couldn't tell exactly what her Mistress had done, but when she was finished combing Shayna looked down and didn't see an overly large amount of her hair there. It was a little strange to think that those little snippets used to be attached to her head, but all in all other then the slight tingling in her scalp it wasn't too bad.

She looked over her shoulder at Katherine just once when she instructed her to bend over the basin. It was not overly tall, but with Shayna's height she had to stand on tip toe and lever herself over the lip, her dark hair spilling around her head, blocking her vision. The lip of the basin dug into her breast bone as she couldn't quite get enough height to fully bend at the stomach, but she squirms so that it was just uncomfortable though breathing was a little more difficult. "Please Mistress, may I get a stool..or chair..." Her voice was muffled though to her it seemed to echo thanks to her head being in a bowlish basin, and a little breathless just because of the constriction of her chest. However she could breath, just not easily.

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[BDC] Playing Dress Up and Makeovers

Postby Katherine Morealis on November 4th, 2013, 11:31 am

"Pfft--" Katherine tried to stifle a giggle at the sight of her slave's discomfort but she ended up laughing outright anyway. On any other day, she might have made her slave suffer more, and she would even delight at seeing the poor girl's humiliated face as she torment her further. But she was feeling uncommonly generous on that day. The recurrent nastiness that often took over her was, oddly enough, not there. In fact, she even dared to think that it made her feel good to be nice to those of the lower classes, every once in a while.

"Fine. Go fetch the stool under that table over there, but be quick about it." Katherine pointed at the large, rectangular wooden table in the middle of the room with the assortment of strange equipment sitting on its surface. "I hate having made to wait," She quickly added as she narrowed her eyes at Shayna. Even though she can be a benevolent mistress, she needed the slave girl to know that she is still the boss here, and she wanted to make that point across.

After Shayna had returned with the short stool and had stooped over the basin once more, Katherine lowered a wooden dipper into a large pot of warm water and scooped it up. She splashed the liquid over Shayna's midnight colored hair. She did again, and again, and again. Katherine repeated this until the small slave's hair was wet through and through. Indeed, her work was very thorough, but she did not put much consideration in keeping Shayna's clothes dry, or at least in keeping the water from going inside both of the girl's ears.

Pulling the jar of the newly made shampoo closer, its contents now completely cooled after sitting for too long, Katherine scooped up an ample amount of it into the palm of her hands. She applied it to Shayna's scalp and started massaging it in, her untrained fingers light and awkward against the smaller girl's head. In circular motions, starting from the top of her head to the sides and then to the bottom, Katherine spread the shampoo all over Shayna's scalp, adding a little water every now and then until she worked it up into a good lather. She took another handful of the shampoo and applied it on the length of Shayna's hair. It was still quite long despite having already been shorn off inches due to its split ends. It was not common for a low priced slave (yes, three hundred and fifty gold mizas was still a very cheap price to pay, considering this was Kenash) to have longer hair, mostly due to its maintenance costs. Not that it was maintained properly by the girl, Katherine mused to herself, but usually the handlers of these slaves would just cut them short when it was time to sell them. Short hair saves a lot on shampoo when they were finally going to clean them up for the customers.

"Why was your hair kept long?" Katherine asked. It's not that she was interested to know, well maybe just a little bit, but it was more that she wanted Shayna to talk that she asked. She had already gotten used to having Iora's lilting voice chattering on and on while Katherine worked on her that she found Shayna's silence a tad disconcerting. "Those other slaves in the room with you the other day, I am quite certain they had short hair, so why was yours kept like that? Perhaps..." She added a dramatic pause, her voice teasing and hinting that Shayna must have incurred some kind of favor from her handlers. Katherine thought it was unlikely though; to her, the only possible feature that made Shayna different from her peers was her queer eyes. Still, she brought the topic up. She wanted to see how the reticent slave would react from her goading.
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[BDC] Playing Dress Up and Makeovers

Postby Shayna on November 4th, 2013, 4:36 pm

Image

Leveraging herself back off the basin lip, absently rubbing the area that had gouged into her skin as she scurries over to the table in question. She stepped up and bent over again, this time having an easier time, though she still gripped the outside of the basin with her hands to keep her balance.

As the water splashed over her head, Shayna jerks the first time but she makes no sound. Even as the water ran down her cheeks and into her ears, dampening the collar of her simple dress, she patiently bore it all. Though if Katherine was observant she might notice that Shayna was tense, holding herself stiffly as if she was waiting for the next shoe to drop.

The coolness of the shampoo against her scalp felt very different then using hte plain bar soap that was allotted to her by her former owners. For one it felt more silky rather then sticky that the other soap had done until she got it rinsed well enough, for another it seemed to spread easier. She supposed it was just another thing allotted for the freeborn. She dug a finger into one ear to try and relieve the pressure within from pooled water, and even though she had a stool already her back and legs were growing weary of holding herself in such an awkward fashion.

"Do you not reward your slaves for dutiful service Mistress Katherine?" Shayna questioned, in response to Katherine's question. She didn't quite grasp exactly what Katherine was hinting at, being of a quite literal mindset. "I pleased my Master, by learning my lessons and learning them well. He never had to tell me twice, and I always took care of myself unlike some who felt it didn't matter how untidy their personal appearance was." Her voice was matter of fact, though a hint of pride colored the words. It was a point of pride that her back was completely unblemished and unmarred. What strapping that she had earned, few that they were, were mild and not severe enough to break skin so there were no scarring marks. Of course she knew that some plantations frowned upon extreme punishments but that was not how it was on the farm she was bred on.

"Tidiness is necessary. If one took care of ones things, and obeyed then one was allowed to keep certain things." Her eyes cut to the side, though she couldn't see the clippings on the floor, but still her Mistress had left her most of her hair.

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[BDC] Playing Dress Up and Makeovers

Postby Katherine Morealis on November 4th, 2013, 5:52 pm

"My, that's such a boring answer." Katherine remarked, more to herself than for her slave's ears. Still, she made no effort to hide the disappointment in her voice from the other girl. She expected the slave to catch on to what she was hinting, but no, she did not. Or perhaps, it could be that she did not let on that she did get her meaning. Katherine did not know the slave quite well yet, and so she could not be certain as to which actually was the case.

"I do reward slaves for doing very well in their duties and for exceeding my expectations," She answered thoughfully as her hands worked on Shayna's hair. Her fingers combed through the length of the other girl's hair and spread the shampoo all over it. Shayna's locks were in serious need of some care and nourishment, so it was imperative that she make sure that the shampoo reaches every strand of hair on the girl's head. "However, if I were a slave handler, I wouldn't care even if the slave took good care of her hygiene. I would still cut it all off. I imagine head lice is a common problem among unsanitary hacks, and mingling them with a person who had long hair would be asking for trouble.

"In a breeding farm with cramped quarters and careless handlers, that is often unavoidable. And as a customer, I would definitely never buy a slave who have head lice. What if those wretched, bloodsucking parasites fly over to my head? That's just so disgusting." She said matter of factly, emphasizing on her last word. Even though she intended to provoke Shayna with those words, she did mean it; Katherine would never buy a slave who repeatedly scratches her hair to rid the itch of a lice infested scalp.

After she had thoroughly massaged Shayna's scalp and her long, midnight hair, Katherine scooped up cool water from a barrel nearby this time and poured it over the slave's head. It was rainwater collected outside, painstakingly distilled by Katherine herself for use as a valuable ingredient in her cosmetics. "However, I heard from a trusty source that there are certain breeders that allow some slaves to earn favor in exchange of some... special services, if you know what I mean. It happens." Hopefully, she got it all across now. She did not want to say it outright because it felt cheap, but she wagered that she would get a more interesting reaction out of her if she did. If the slave still did not get it, gods and goddesses forbid that she may throw the slave out the window from frustration.

Katherine splashed more water down the slave's head as she rinsed her hair of the suds. After a few more moments, she stepped away from Shayna and grabbed a piece of towel from one of the far end shelves in the room.

Finally, she squeezed Shayna's hair, gently of course, to rid it of excess water. She would not like to have her soaking wet hair dripping on the stone floor of her laboratory, after all. "Stand straight." She ordered, and as the slave did, she lifted all of the girl's hair and wrapped the towel around it, twisting it and securing it over her head.

She stepped away from Shayna and grabbed the towel hanging on the rack to dry her hands. "Throw the water in the basin outside then come back here. I'll have you clean up the place with me while you dry your hair." Katherine instructed as she returned the piece of cloth back in its place. "Ah, and don't remove the towel!" She reminded after the slave before she was out of the room.
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[BDC] Playing Dress Up and Makeovers

Postby Shayna on November 4th, 2013, 6:22 pm

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Listening to Katherine words, Shayna squeezed her green eyes shut, but not daring to block out the woman's words. If she knew for sure that Katherine was just speaking to hurt her she might have done so, but the other woman was her mistress so she needed to be ready at any command. Just the talk of lice caused Shayna's scalp to itch, and she fought the urge to raise her hand to scratch both not wanting Katherine to assume she might have the bugs but also not wanting to touch the mixture the other woman was creaming through her hair.

"You do know that there are ways of taking care of lice. I am not sure of the slaves that your family keeps but the slaves where I come from do not simply lay around in our own filth and bugs. We are groomed and taught that our bodies are our Masters...or Mistresses..we are suppose to take care of them. Lice infested heads are not healthy, nor will anyone likely pay a good price for them." Her words were punctuated by occasional grunts whenever the air was forced out of her lungs by a press on her head, causing her body to dip just enough to cause the gasp. Of course she hadn't meant to imply that Katherine or perhaps her family did not keep healthy, clean slaves, though that might be how it could have sounded.

For once Shayna was glad that her face was buried in the basin, hidden by the went lank locks of black hair. She didn't have to bite her tongue to curtail the pained expression that runs across her freckled features as she had to in other instances when Katherine reminded her of her plainness. She got what the Mistress was alluding too, and a blush raises in her cheeks. She had, of course, been privy to slaves who sought to raise their station by bedding the breeders or handlers. It never ended well for the slave. "Mistress Katherine, you yourself have remarked on how unattractive I am. I doubt that I could have curried any favor ...for that." She had tried to keep her voice stead and cold, but the hurt bled through no matter how hard she tensed to try and control it. Why was it that this woman opened up wounds that Shayna had long thought had healed over.

When she straightens the blush hadn't quite faded from her features, and her eyes for once stayed trained on the floor. The top of her dress was sodden from the rinsing and washing but otherwise she seemed to be intact..though her scalp still itched something fierce. She couldn't help raising one hand to scratch her crown just once beneath the towel before turning to heft the basin up. Her short stature made it bulky, and the water was heavy but she managed to get it to the door without spilling it, though she didn't get it far past the door before she upends it and brings it back in.

Walking back in, Shayna continued to try to ignore the crawling itch across her scalp, though she shifted from foot to foot to do so until finally she had to say something. "Is my head suppose to itch this much Mistress Katherine?"

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Shayna
Even slaves can prosper
 
Posts: 308
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Joined roleplay: September 3rd, 2013, 9:09 pm
Location: Kenash
Blog: View Blog (2)
Race: Human
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