Forced Withdrawals [Nox's Building]

[Sterling]

Sterling was excited to get to play with make up that wasn't just a game witn Rana. But this was different and Elyse could help.

"I don't care. I can do my own." though she wasn't sure what to do. "We should do stuff first that just is subtle, then we can play later if we want."

[Marta]

Marta was feeling kind of excited. She had never worn make up before, so this would all be new. It sounded like Sterling had done it before. That wasn’t surprising because Sterling had a normal childhood. It was something most teen age girls had never done.

They were still “wearing” the dresses. Marta didn’t want to turn off the projection yet. She had told Sterling it was the first time she had thought of herself as pretty, and Marta was realizing that she liked feeling pretty.

”Thats a good idea, Sterling - starting simple - and you can try it on your own. I’ll help you as I need to - walk you through it.” Elyse gave a smile. ”What about you Marta?”

Marta shrugged. ”I’ve never worn any before. You can do mine. I’ll learn how to do it another time.”

Elyse nodded and took a look at both of them before pulling out two different containers. She gave one to Sterling. ”This is your base. These are good colors for you individual skin tones.” Elyse got out some sponges. ”I’ll do Marta’s and walk you through the steps, Sterling. she got out a mirror and set it up so the could look into it.

Marta sat quite still as Elyse put some of the base onto the make up sponge and began to apply it. ”The base will cover the whole face. Make sure to apply it evenly.” Elyse began to do so, instructing Marta to close her eyes to get the eyelids too. ”The thing to keep in mind about make up is that what we wear on stage is different than your everyday job. At Kallisti, make up is used partially to make sure our faces don’t look washed out in the lights. Still - we use it as a form of art too. Usually it’s worn to accentuate features. You’re both pretty girls. You don’t need a lot of make up. The best make up jobs look like you’re not wearing much or any at all.”

As Elyse continued with different steps - adding blush, eye shadow, and eyeliner, Elyse would explain everything and check on Sterling, fixing small mistakes and answering any questions the girls had. The eyeliner was the hardest part, but Elyse told her it’s easier to put on by yourself. Marta got brave enough to try to put the eye liner on her second eye. Elyse was right - it was easier to do the eyeliner yourself. Then Elyse put on some lip gloss (Marta had asked for this instead of lip stick) and some mascara.

Elyse smiled and moved out of the way so Marta could take a look. The difference was amazing. Marta could tell she was wearing it, but it was light. She noticed the way the blush accentuated her cheekbones and the way the eye shadow and eyeliner brought attention to her eyes and made them pop. It was incredible. ”Im so pretty…” Marta said again as she felt Elyse take a seat next to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

”You’re very pretty. Both of you are.”

Marta smiled. It was nice to feel that way and nice to hear it too. Sterling had told her so earlier. Marta’s confidence was rising exponentially. She got close to Sterling and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close before getting her wallet out and aiming for a selfie. ”Selfie time! Don’t worry - I won’t post it to social media so your parents don’t see it. Smile!” Marta took the picture. This was a memory she wanted to keep.