Completed [Job thread] relaxed, vivacious, attractive, societal women

[Vaerin]

64th Winter, 516AV
9 Bells, 6 chimes

Sabine had long since tired of often directly participating in the sale of her products. She would much rather dedicate her time to mixing and philtering new and old favourite concoctions: both for cosmetic and rejuvenating purposes. As such, she often had in her employment four different clerks on rotation to avoid having to deal with clients - apart from old friends or special cases. Of the three currently under her employment, Vaerin was one. Another was an Eypharian, Linsharla; and Sabine's nephew, Carlyle.

Vaerin found himself receiving many looks in Syliras because of his appearance but even he found himself looking at his Eypharian colleague with the same curiousity he usually was mildly annoyed at. He was most particularly fascinated by the vivid and icy green colour of her eyes. When he looked at them closely he could see the most intricate pattern of yellow and hazel in them. He had never seen such eyes like this before. He could not remember reading of or hearing about this race prior to leaving Kalinor; and he would have definitely remembered a sight like that. As a colleague he found her personality lofty. However, she had a particular finesse when it came to the art of cosmetic application that he understood exactly why Sabine had made her an unofficial second opinion behind the cosmetics she made.

However, it did not change the fact that he still found her lack of regard when it came to keeping a cleanly workplace rather unhelpful. She often left the work to him when they worked together. It wasn't a huge point of contention but it was a gripe nonetheless. She also had a particular way of dominating customer sales, even if he was in the middle of working with a customer. That was something that got under his skin a lot more. Dra-Vaerin told himself that for the sake of the work place sanctity. Realistically though he knew he was just unwilling to create a confrontational situation. Especially when said situation was his means of earning a living. If Carlyle or Sabine had an issue with it, he was sure it would have been addressed.

Today was a day when both Linsharla and himself were to work together. He was mostly happy about this as it meant that it would not just be him that would deal with customers all day. That was still a part of the job, and Syliras he still found very difficult to adjust to. Going from a place where there were roughly nine hundred residents to a location that easily tripled that was a huge period of adjustment. If he were to stay here, maybe with time he would learn to adjust to it.

Two women walked in, staring nonchalantly at both Linsharla and himself. They were adorned in rather unassuming clothing, yet Dra-Vaerin could tell at a glance that the fabric was rather expensive. While he had not been the best weaver to grace his people; he understood it and was able to tell when something had been well crafted. The aura that these two women presented also made him believe that they were fairly affluent either by marriage or by their own hand.

The taller of the two, a human woman with an impressively straight nose and dirty blonde hair that reminded Dra-Vaerin vaguely of dulled copper, cast her brown hued eyes around the interior of the store with all the practiced measure of a matriarchal hunter. Her eyes eventually settled on him; pausing briefly to stare at his tapered black nails.

"I believe we have an appointment with you. Annette, and Ariane. Facial massage and cosmetic application."

Her way of speaking was rather curt, direct. It did not bother him all that much surprisingly. Dra-Vaerin cast his mind back to a ledger filled with appointments that were occasionally made. It was not a service that was commonly used by many of the customers; as the women of wealth that could afford such luxury had their own personal cosmeticians that they sought out. However, his mistress - ever the pragmatic sort - would never turn down a chance to earn an extra miza. In fact, from what Dra-Vaerin had heard, Sabine was from a lineage of rather respected cosmeticians. She however had always found the actual process of applying said items to the faces of others incredibly dull.

He nodded, acknowledging the appointment's existence. Linsharla sauntered, stopping just behind him.

"This way, please." the Eypharian woman said, gesturing at the shorter of the two. Dra-Vaerin noticed instantly that she had very thick and full eyelashes, and an upturned button-like nose. Her hair was cropped just below her shoulders and was a rich chocolate colour. He could see why his associate chose her to work on.

"If you would, please follow me. I'm Dra-Vaerin, and I will assist you today."

As he brought over the taller blonde woman, he felt knots beginning to form in his stomach. Whilst a lack of skill, or talent, at facial massage were more forgivable (Sabine herself was an example of this - his face felt the phantom aches of her borderline slapping him repeatedly with a cold cream): the lack of understanding the art of cosmetic application was a lot harder to conceal. He felt that his best course of action would be to closely follow what Linsharla was doing and imitate that to the best of his ability. Preferably in colours that were not too evident. Hopefully that would mask a lack of skill on his behalf and avoid making this woman look like a tired harlot after the end of a long business day. Something about this woman made Dra-Vaerin feel she would not have appreciated this very much.

[Vaerin]

The woman had a quick, and purposeful pace to her step as she walked by his side to the counter set up for such an occasion. This was hardly surprising to Dra-Vaerin. Her pace matched the intonation of her voice. He couldn't help but notice that a lot of her body's movement came from the deep shoulder movements she made when walking. It created a very dynamic, dramatic line through her body's core; yet surprisingly did not produce nearly as much movement in her hips as he was expecting. It seemed like such a style of movement put her center of gravity a touch further back than would be ideal. As someone that was particularly focused on his ability to dance, he was acutely aware of how his balance and center of gravity easily influenced and dictated his ability to perform movements successfully. He supposed it matched the type of personality that this woman may very well have had. Or at least it imparted the appearance of the type of personality she desired to present to others.

The counter consisted of three 'stations'. Each station had a hand mirror that the clients used to check the results or to see if they liked what product they were trialing. In conjunction to this there were a few containers holding an assortment of application devices he couldn't make heads or tails of - He was going to be keeping a very close eye on what it was that Linsharla was doing and what she used. They were rather generic in looks, he was not able to as easily guess the quality of them like he was the fabric the woman was wearing. It stood to reason that their quality would have been above average based on his knowledge of Sabine's desire for quality associated with her name. There were also three chairs. The purposes of which were self explanatory. It was not a particularly grand looking set up. The young man supposed it was practical.

The woman quickly sat herself down, her posture rigid and straight. Her head was held up high and her chin tilted subtly upwards, elongating the appearance of her neck as she picked up the mirror to observe her appearance. As she did this Dra-Vaerin collected a number of products that were commonly listed as the store's specialties and an array of cosmetics in a variety of hues - most of which were muted brown with a cooler undertone in shade. He still had no idea what this would involve doing as he had never really witnessed a woman paint her face before. His mother never seemed to bother with it, and the other women in his web kept an icy distance from him.

The woman sitting before him did not really pay him much mind or attempt to make small talk with him while this went on. Which was in stark contrast, her associate was talking rather animatedly to his colleague. The parts of the conversation he listened to seemed to revolve around what Linsharla envisaged for her. It seemed to be much more vibrant in colour scheme than what he was choosing to go with. He began to worry that maybe this was more of what was preferred amongst the women of Syliras and what he was choosing to do was considered a faux pas or dull.

Before he got too worried about this it seemed more prudent to focus on the facial massage element of this. This he was less worried about as like most things that had any form of a regimen attached to it, it was a lot more prescriptive and application methods weren't as vague as cosmetology seemed to be. With this he carried out the skin prep and facial massage, constantly focusing the spread of the various formulas on his palms and arched back fingers so his dark nails did not accidentally touch or cut the client's face. He gingerly rubbed the areas of her face: trying to do the reverse of everything Sabine's hands had subjected his face to in the past.

During this process he attempted to strike up conversation with the woman, Ariane.

"May I inquire as to what the occasion is to be?" He decided to start out with, looking down onto the woman's face, as his elongated fingers wrapped themselves up and around the sides of her cheeks and down behind her jaw and ears.

"My cousin, Annette, has asked me to accompany her to meet with her latest suitor. She tells me he has recently received quite a prestigious position amongst the knights." She reflexively arched a thin brow at this. Dra-Vaerin pondered what such a reaction could entail, as it was evident this facial tic spoke of an underlying story. Though he knew asking about what it meant outright would have been quite the uncouth way about extracting information about the situation. Especially when the woman being discussed was mere steps away from them.

"Ah, well that is quite the cause of celebration is it not? I can see why she would be so happy about this. I gather that the two of you must be very close then?"

"Mm, we are. Her mother fell ill and passed a year or so after her birth. I am the only other woman in our family of a comparable age. She has viewed me very much as her eldest sister for nearly as long as I can remember. I too think of her as my own sister."

It was through this particular conversation that Dra-Vaerin noticed a lightness in both her facial expression and voice that had not been there before. From this he gathered that their relationship was indeed very close. So there must have been a level of discomfort and concern that hung over this woman's mind over the idea of someone so close potentially getting betrothed. It seemed to him a completely rational reason for her earlier reaction. He begun to think that perhaps the aura of sternness and control that Ariane displayed was very much a reflection of how she viewed her station not only in life but in regards to her family. She saw herself as the young matriarch. The joy in her face quickly receded behind the stern expression of earlier. Dra-Vaerin perhaps felt that he understood her now. He felt that perhaps they were quite similar in a few aspects of their life. With this he was now lightly patting a light cream underneath and around her eyes with extreme care. Whilst his nails weren't the longest he had seen amongst Symenestra, they still were very sharp and the eyes were an incredibly delicate area of the face. Sabine had stated this numerous times to him in the past.

"It sounds like the two of you are quite lucky to have each other in your lives. I wish both of you success with this meeting."

[Vaerin]

She glanced up over at Dra-Vaerin as much as her current position could allow. A half smile played across her small, rather undefined mouth. He could see partially see the warmth and regard she had for her cousin behind her darkly coloured eyes. Of course just like it had before, this moment of vulnerability only lasted a brief moment before fading back behind the stoic but poised expression that had must have been quite formidable to those who angered her.

"Yes, she's a tenderhearted individual."

Dra-Vaerin nodded, dabbing a light balm over her lips to nourish and moisturise them. Sabine said that this was particularly important step: both for the health of the lips, as well as making the application of colour to the mouth easier. Small snippets of Linsharla and Annette talking permeated their conversation. From what Dra-Vaerin could hear, Annette was quite the animated and bubbly personality. Linsharla seemed to be particularly taken by it. This was going by the unusual frequency of the Eypharian woman laughing and returning words with the young girl without a hint of faint condescension.

At present it sounded as if Annette was regaling her with how her and her soon to be betrothed met. From the small parts of what he had heard, it sounded as if it revolved around the man being particularly entranced by her after a few chance meetings at the great bazaar. He seemed to then go about gaining her attention by asking one of the shop owner's that she frequented to charge her expenses to him in exchange for a chance to properly converse. At some point, Sabine herself had emerged from the backroom to converse with Annette, as well as handle the shop floor while the two of her employees were busy. This of course added extra pressure to the whole idea of applying makeup for a paying client for the first time in his life.

He thought it was a sweet sounding story that she had shared. Perhaps one day that will happen to me. He found that the distraction of work was sufficient enough to keep harsher thoughts that could have sprung from such a thought at bay. He let it slip away as he focused on preparing himself to battle the beast he had been fearing.

"Well, now that we have your skin prepared I think it would be best to let the product sink into your skin while we talk about what we will be doing with your face."

He picked up the mirror, and held it to the woman's face while he used his free hand to gesture and point out what he was going to do. Most of what he proceeded to say was him spitballing key sounding words and colours that he had heard around the work place when customers and clients discussed the cosmetics with either Sabine or Linsharla in a way he hoped sounded like he knew what he was doing.

"I already think that your skin is quite even, so we won't be using too much powder...just enough to even it out around the center plains of your face. I think that the main idea we will focus on is just accentuating your natural features. No need for extra colours apart from maybe some of our darker kohl to accentuate your eyes and lashes. Maybe a bit of subtle shaping around your cheeks to add a flush of colour?"

Ariane's expression was blank as it reflected from the mirror, offering Dra-Vaerin no clear indication of how she felt about this idea. She seemed more pensive about it than anything. It took her a moment to respond. She seemed to be quite focused on getting across exactly her desire for her face.

"It sounds rather...dull. I was hoping for a little hint of something more. Maybe a shade similar to what she is wearing on her lips?"

She gestured to the brick red pigment that adorned Linsharla's mouth. Dra-Vaerin felt the smile that was on his face did not truly mask his terror.

[Vaerin]

He nodded, primarily in defeat. It was not his place to argue what she wanted done. He would just have to do his best to give her what she wanted.

"I will be right back with a few colours for you to select from then, Miss."

He walked over to where he had been before, and rifled through the samples of the various pigment pots that contained the lip colours. He procured four different reds. One was the exact shade Linsharla wore, another was a much deeper red, another was more raspberry in shade, while the final had a decidedly more orange undertone to the red. Although, Dra-Vaerin would not have been able to describe this to Ariane in this much detail. He recognized that they were different shades: but what made them different eluded him. He decided that perhaps it would be easier to let her pick out which one she liked better than try and stumble his way through an explanation of the merits of each tone on her complexion.

He returned, and arranged the four different pots before her - pointing out the specific pot that she had commented on liking.

"This one is the exact shade that Linsharla is wearing, since you enquired about it. I brought over three others just in case you did not particularly care for the way it looked on you."

The young man felt satisfied with that statement. It sounded almost as if he knew what he was talking about. Ariane opened each of them peered into the pots with a rather detached curiousity. Much like the way a feline might inspect its prey before consuming it. He at that point did notice there was not that much tonal difference between Ariane, her cousin, and Linsharla. So he didn't believe that there would be much concern over Ariane disliking the colour on herself.

The chatter from the background reminded him to take a look at what exactly Linsharla was doing. Of course, there she was using two of her arms to do both of the young woman's eyes at the same time: whilst using another hand to keep her steady. That is a ridiculous level of showboating. How does she even manage that? Truthfully it took the Eypharian years of practice to master such a complex technique. And even then she found that after doing such a grand method of application, she needed to go back to make a lot of corrective work to make everything even. Linsharla would have bluntly said that it was worth it for the effect and gleeful gasps her clients would make as they saw what she was doing.

From what Dra-Vaerin could make out from the spectacle, it seemed that when it came to the eye makeup she applied the pigments in an upward motion with one of the flatter looking cosmetic tools and would either use a soft looking brush in very fast circular motions or her fingers to diffuse the colour and make it appear more seamless. It seemed her preferred method was to make things taper into a flicked point on the outer edges of the eyes to give a more lifted look. That seemed simple enough in theory. He supposed that was the best way to go about his application method for everything.

He picked up one of the flatter looking implements which seemed to match the one Linsharla was using. He dipped it into the dark kohl, and very unsteadily drew a line that looked like it resembled the linework his colleague did...if viewed from a cracked mirror. furrowing his brow he took one of the more mid toned cool browns he brought with him and placed it over the top, before attempting to replicate the blending motion he had witnessed.

"The kohl I used comes from burnt almond nuts that are crushed up and mixed in with a few other select minerals to create a very precise and dark pigment that will ward off the sun from the eyes, since it is so bright during the day recently. This eyeshadow is manufactured from similar ingredients, and offers a more natural look when applied by itself."
This was almost right out of the description provided in the almanac of an information guide to the products. So at least he did not have to worry about trying to describe that in his own limited terminology.

"Of course, other formulas of the cosmetic colours offered for the eye can provide a less natural result if that is what is desired." He continued, dipping the rounded brush into a much lighter brown shade, using it to hopefully take some of the darkness out of her eye. As of this time, her beautiful brown eyes looked as though they were sunken in a good three inches because of the amount of black around them. Even Dra-Vaerin would have had a hard time trying to find something to complement about this look.

"I see. Yes, the winter has been very peculiar this season. In no small part because of the treachery of Morwen, naturally. Though what unsettles me more is news of those bizarre children found near pools of blood. Very unsettling times..."

Ariane was indeed a very sober individual. He supposed it was best he was the one that was dealing with her. He could tell hostilities could have easily arisen between her and Linsharla. He was a much more docile influence, and thus seemed to be better suited to her. He nodded in agreement, still attempting to soften the edges of his work. Which seemed to be working a tad. Her eye makeup looked markedly softer, but still very dark for the middle of the day. He decided to give up for the moment and maybe cover it with some of the face powder. Linsharla was nearly done with Annette, and he didn't want to keep her waiting.

"Yes... I think I did hear rumours about that. I have no idea what it could possibly mean however." He responded, measuredly. He had his own opinions about the way this situation with Morwen and her people was being handled. Though, he was now more than painfully aware his distaste for this senseless bloodshedding (which in his opinion was an affront to Viratas), was not shared by many in Syliras or by the other divinities. So better to stay silent on the matter, which he did dutifully.

He nodded as Ariane made an affirmative response, while trying to find a matching shade of the face powder for her. He found one that looked similar in the pan. Dra-Vaerin grabbed it, and noticed a soft, pillowy looking rounded brush. It was quite large so he felt it a good match for use on the face.

"We have three different formulas that are typically produced. This is the powder formulation: which I have chosen because it is the best for keeping the complexion even and not overly oiled or visible during the heat of the day. We do offer a wet formula, and a cake formula that you need to wet. The difference is that the wet formula will need to be set, and as such offers a much more opaque finish on the skin; whereas the cake formula is not as suitable for dry or mature skin due to its settling nature."
Once again he quoted the manual in his description as he whirled the large brush into the powder, before applying it to the centre of the face (and deliberately brushing it over the eyes). This thankfully seemed to diffuse much of the harshness he was noticing from the eyes. However, it did give her a distinctly 'made-up' appearance that he was not sure he liked.

"Thank you...sir. But I am already in possession of a powder I quite like, so I don't really care to hear any more of this if you would mind."

"Ah...ah yes, of course, please forgive me then, Miss Ariane. It was not my intention to offend." He quickly apologized, in the process nearly dropping the rounded brush.

"I am well aware. I thought I would merely save you the sales pitch where it was not needed. I am however quite curious about these lip stains that you have produced. I would not have picked it for myself, but this raspberry shade is quite fetching. I think I like it more than the one I asked for, actually. Please do use it." Ariane requested with all the dignity and pomp of a queen. He had not noticed, but during his fussing about, she had sampled the four colours on the back of her hand.

"As is your wish, then." He said, immediately stopping what he was doing, and cleaned off the applicator he had used for the application of the kohl. He dipped it into the fragrant smelling paste and slowly, and delicately began to outline her lips with the vibrant berry shade. Without asking she pressed her lips together and rubbed them, which transferred it to the areas he had not yet painted. Truly this was a magical artform in of itself. While he thought her not without her charms when she walked in, she had a certain drama and hard to define quality about her with this paint on. Even in spite of his lackluster application, that matriarchal energy he felt from her seemed amplified.

"I...I think we are nearly finished." He stammered, quickly reaching for the larger brush and attempting to sheer out the powder into something less masklike.

"A little tip, between us, a woman might often apply a small amount of her lip colour to her cheeks to add that flush of colour you mentioned whilst still getting it to match her lips." Ariane softly spoke to him. It was nearly an imperceptible whisper. Clearly intended just for his ears.

"Ah, of course, yes. Thank you." He responded, in an equally quiet tone while he followed her instructions. Indeed, it did tie everything together the way she said it would.

He silently passed her the mirror so she could observe what he had done. Once more from the reflection he could not make a clear guess at what she thought of what he had done. Personally he felt he had done the best he could. Yet, even with his limited experience, he knew it did not hold the same level of polish that Linsharla's work did.

"It is a fair job, yes. It's perhaps a bit dramatic for the middle of the day around the eyes...but acceptable nonetheless," she turned in her chair to face him, "thank you for your effort."

He nodded and smiled uneasily. Not that there was any way for him to deny what she was saying because it was an undeniable truth. It did make him feel out of his league within his work environment though. Dra-Vaerin felt his stomach knot, such a performance surely reflected poorly on his blood.

A more rational part of him did comfort him by stating that this too was a talent that was built up over time and not mastered in a day. He knew this very well because of his determination to succeed in his dance training. Yet even then he felt the warm washes of embarrassment flood his stomach, and then lap at the sides of his face as the woman thanked him and joined her cousin as they walked over to Madame Sabine.

[Vaerin]

He began to rearrange and clean his workstation: repotting and storing the samples where necessary. From this he saw out of the corner of his vision that Ariane and Annette were discussing something with Sabine, while exchanging a few golden mizas.

"Vaerin, if you would, please go fetch two of the black kohls, and one of the lip stains in both the raspberry shade you used, and the strawberry shade, it will be located three shades to the right of the raspberry one." Sabine called out to him.

"Yes, at once." He responded, quickly returning the sample products to the relevant places before disappearing into the back room. He rifled through the products that were ready to be sold. The kohls were easily identifiable in their rounded pots. The lip stains however proved to be a more elusive target to track down. However they were eventually found next to the containers filled with the varying shades of cosmetic eye colours.

He returned, and placed them into the hands of the women, whom quickly pocketed their goods into the folds of their skirts. There must have been pockets worked into the pattern of the garments. Convenient, practical and stylish.

The two women thanked them once more, as Dra-Vaerin, Sabine, and even Linsharla offered their most sincere well wishes for their meeting later on in the day.

[Samuel Longwell]

Grading Complete Please edit your grade request thread so that it's obvious that it's been graded. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions/problems with your grade. Name: Character 1 XP Award: Observation 4 Rhetoric 2 Socialisation 3 Cosmetology 4 Acting 2 Lore: Linsharla: Intricate and beautiful eyes Socialisation: Empathy for those you speak with Cosmetology: Take care near the eyes The hope of finding love Eypharians: Extra arms Notes: Good job, Vaerin is a very well-developed character, I can feel his personality in your writing. I hope you enjoy your grades.