Toph and Lydia, Toph's birthday
Jan. 20th, 2014 10:49 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
om_panax posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
om_mainToph allows Lydia to have her plucked, powdered, and pampered to perfection. (But not hairsprayed--and not just because it'd screw up the alliteration.) Yes, this is supposed to be a birthday present.
It had not been easy to convince Toph to come to the spa, but Lydia had triumphed at last. There were plenty of pouty-faces (though Toph would surely be annoyed by Lydia thinking of them as such), but she had come along to the city--for the first time without wanting dropped off to fight someone-or-other for the whole black belt thing.
The first stop on the way was the eyebrow shaping. Lydia was well used to this, settling back on the little cot with her eyes closed, bright light shining down on her face, strange woman hovering over her with soft, hot wax--and then a pair of tweezers. She didn't even wince as the first rip happened, just asked, "See, Toph? Not too bad, is it?"
"It's...ow," Toph said at the first tug. People did this? For fun? "I still don't get the point," she said once the lady or whoever had stopped touching her for the moment, leaving Toph scowling at nothing in particular.
"It's a question of confidence. Looking good and feeling good. Not that you're lacking in confidence, of course, but you know how I always try to—ow"—Lydia interrupted herself as another strip of wax got ripped off her face—"show you new experiences."
"I guess," Toph said a little dubiously, but subsided as more wax got smudged onto her face. It didn't hurt that badly, to be honest -- she'd sure as hell caught worse sparring when she wasn't paying enough attention -- but it was still one of those thing she probably wasn't ever going to completely understand.
"I only have your word on the fact that I don't look dumb, though."
"Ask around; I am the expert on looking good," Lydia assured her. Then a small, wicked smile that came through in her voice: "We'll show you off around the school, too, so you can get other opinions. Anyone in particular we should stop by?"
"No?" Toph just sounded kind of baffled by the idea. "Who'd care?"
Lydia would've shrugged, if she could. Instead it sort of existed in her voice, like the smirk. Which was also still there. "You'd know better than me—ow. That one hurt."
"Sorry," said the lady, and she actually sounded like she meant it.
Toph smirked a little in turn -- not because Lydia was hurt, but because Toph wasn't the only one feeling it. "Make you a deal. If someone comments, we can do this again."
"You're on." Lydia smirked even harder. Then, "Ow," again.
***
At least they'd stopped pulling her hairs out one by one, but having her face slathered with...something wasn't any less weird to Toph. And her nose itched. "What'd they say this stuff was again?"
"Some kind of botanical something-or-other. Does it matter, so long as it feels nice and clears the skin?" And mmm it did feel nice. It sort of played against Lydia's nerves--welcome after the final plucking exercise.
Of course, that might change once the blackhead plucking part came, but she wasn't going to frighten Toph for now.
"It'll open up your pores. You'll glow."
"...why do I wanna glow?"
"Not literally," Lydia assured her. "Glow with confidence. Though, well, your skin will sort of glow--and feel... Mmm brighter?"
The man waiting to wipe off Lydia's botanical mask hummed in approval.
"It feels nice," Lydia finished.
"It feels itchy," Toph countered, but resisted the urge to mess with the stuff. Glowing or not, she at least recognized that there was a point to be made here, and itching wasn't as bad as hair-plucking.
"It feels itchy because it's drying, right now," Lydia said with a little chuckle. "It'll feel great when it's off. Vibrant. Alive. Honest. All that energy inside you--it'll help people see it." And maybe, just maybe, that was Lydia trying to wind Toph up a little. Juuuust a little.
"Okay, okay," she grumbled, just barely resisting the urge to stick her tongue out at Lydia. Especially since she wasn't sure the other girl would be able to see it. "I get it."
Lydia stifled a snort of a laugh, but just barely. The skincare specialists went to work soon after, taking off the botanical mask, then doing a face massage, mister, toner. When it came to time to pluck out the blackheads, Lydia said, "Maybe skip this part, for her?"
"Skip what?" Toph said instantly, all suspicion, but the fact that they were cleaning off all the stuff on her face made her slightly mollified. "Whatever. I can handle it."
Lydia scrunched up her own face as the lady came at her with... whatever that horrible metal implement they used to pop the little bastards out was. "If you say so..." She winced and scrunched her eyes shut as the woman pressed on her refreshed skin right in that super sensitive spot on either side of her nostrils... harder... harder... then pinnnnnnnched....
Lydia's toes curled. "Mmmmnnnnn--" she had to bite down on her lip to keep from groaning. Ow, ow, ow.
Okay, anything that had Lydia making that sound was bound to be unpleasant. But she said she'd deal with it, right? And Toph wasn't the type to back down, even if it was just stupid face stuff.
She still ended up making a noise that was somewhere between annoyed and uncomfortable, but she let it happen.
"One down, several more to go," said the lady doing Toph's face, all-too-cheerfully.
"Great," Toph muttered back, and just barely resisted the urge to slink down a little. This was supposed to be a birthday gift?
* * *
They survived the facial, and a seaweed and mud body wrap later, Lydia and Toph were re-dressed and in the chairs out front. "How do you want your hair cut, sweetie?" the lady asked Toph.
Lydia rolled her eyes and said, "Longer in front, get some volume in the back, about to here." She held one hand out and tapped Toph under the chin. "Sound okay, Toph?"
"Uh. Sure?"
It wasn't like it mattered to her one way or another, and Lydia was generally pretty good at judging that kind of thing. "Long as I don't have to do a bunch of stuff with it in the morning."
"If I do what she's asking, you'll have to do almost nothing," the stylist admitted.
Lydia said, "I'm looking very satisfied with myself right now, for the record." And she was.
"Okay then," Toph said with a decisive nod, as if she'd actually had anything to do with the decision. "And no hairspray or anything. That stuff smells horrible."
Toph's stylist looked truly trouble. "I… but…"
"You don't need product to get the kind of volume she needs," Lydia said pertly, shooting the woman a look in the mirror. "If you cut it properly."
Lydia's stylist, a cute guy with bright pink hair, snickered.
Toph grinned a little herself, for all that the majority of the conversation went straight over her head. "It's easier just to agree with her," she said knowingly. "Trust me."
"Sounds like you learned the hard way." Toph's stylist smirked a little in the mirror.
Lydia just pursed her lips at the woman as her own stylist went to work.
"She knows what she's talking about," Toph said with a shrug. "I don't. So she gets her way."
Lydia was pleased to note that was just about when Toph's stylist stopped meeting her gaze in the mirror.
About twenty minutes to a half hour later, their hair was dried and styled, and the makeup stylists came out to play. "Not too much on her," Lydia warned. "Her skin's glowing right now, don't dull it down. Definitely play up her cheekbones.
"Toph, what are we doing for lunch? We have to go out after this. Obviously."
"Burgers," Toph said firmly, happily distracted right up until the brushes started attacking her face. "Wait, makeup?" It was more than a little doubtful. Sure, she trusted Lydia and she'd trusted her so far, but....really?
"Perfect," Lydia declared, then closed her lips so as not to get powder in them.
***
"You're sure I don't look weird?" Toph asked as she trundled along behind Lydia into the diner, resisting the urge to reach up and touch her hair every so often. "I feel weird."
"You look amazing, and everyone here knows it. Own it." Not that Lydia ever thought Toph had problems with confidence, but this... might be something new for her. And interesting. Not that Lydia really suspected there was someone worth impressing, but... Never could tell, right? "Your skin is vibrant--do you feel that? Like it's completely fresh?"
"No?" But she ran a hand along her face anyway. "Mostly I feel like people have been poking at me for a few hours."
"Well in a way they have. Hopefully a relaxing way." Lydia made a face, then to the host, said, "Two. Grab a braille menu, please." She let a hand rest on Toph's shoulder just a little to help with navigation as they followed. "Well, apart from the blackhead part, which is horrible. But it's just nice to treat yourself, sometimes."
"I guess," Toph said, showing her general ease at the moment by not shrugging away from her hand. "It's not bad or anything."
"It's gorgeous," Lydia said.
The host stopped and settled the menus for them, then looked at Toph and smiled. Not in a creepy way, but yes, he obviously saw it.
"This nice boy agrees," Lydia reported.
The boy, who was probably all of sixteen, blushed. "Have a nice lunch, ladies."
It had not been easy to convince Toph to come to the spa, but Lydia had triumphed at last. There were plenty of pouty-faces (though Toph would surely be annoyed by Lydia thinking of them as such), but she had come along to the city--for the first time without wanting dropped off to fight someone-or-other for the whole black belt thing.
The first stop on the way was the eyebrow shaping. Lydia was well used to this, settling back on the little cot with her eyes closed, bright light shining down on her face, strange woman hovering over her with soft, hot wax--and then a pair of tweezers. She didn't even wince as the first rip happened, just asked, "See, Toph? Not too bad, is it?"
"It's...ow," Toph said at the first tug. People did this? For fun? "I still don't get the point," she said once the lady or whoever had stopped touching her for the moment, leaving Toph scowling at nothing in particular.
"It's a question of confidence. Looking good and feeling good. Not that you're lacking in confidence, of course, but you know how I always try to—ow"—Lydia interrupted herself as another strip of wax got ripped off her face—"show you new experiences."
"I guess," Toph said a little dubiously, but subsided as more wax got smudged onto her face. It didn't hurt that badly, to be honest -- she'd sure as hell caught worse sparring when she wasn't paying enough attention -- but it was still one of those thing she probably wasn't ever going to completely understand.
"I only have your word on the fact that I don't look dumb, though."
"Ask around; I am the expert on looking good," Lydia assured her. Then a small, wicked smile that came through in her voice: "We'll show you off around the school, too, so you can get other opinions. Anyone in particular we should stop by?"
"No?" Toph just sounded kind of baffled by the idea. "Who'd care?"
Lydia would've shrugged, if she could. Instead it sort of existed in her voice, like the smirk. Which was also still there. "You'd know better than me—ow. That one hurt."
"Sorry," said the lady, and she actually sounded like she meant it.
Toph smirked a little in turn -- not because Lydia was hurt, but because Toph wasn't the only one feeling it. "Make you a deal. If someone comments, we can do this again."
"You're on." Lydia smirked even harder. Then, "Ow," again.
At least they'd stopped pulling her hairs out one by one, but having her face slathered with...something wasn't any less weird to Toph. And her nose itched. "What'd they say this stuff was again?"
"Some kind of botanical something-or-other. Does it matter, so long as it feels nice and clears the skin?" And mmm it did feel nice. It sort of played against Lydia's nerves--welcome after the final plucking exercise.
Of course, that might change once the blackhead plucking part came, but she wasn't going to frighten Toph for now.
"It'll open up your pores. You'll glow."
"...why do I wanna glow?"
"Not literally," Lydia assured her. "Glow with confidence. Though, well, your skin will sort of glow--and feel... Mmm brighter?"
The man waiting to wipe off Lydia's botanical mask hummed in approval.
"It feels nice," Lydia finished.
"It feels itchy," Toph countered, but resisted the urge to mess with the stuff. Glowing or not, she at least recognized that there was a point to be made here, and itching wasn't as bad as hair-plucking.
"It feels itchy because it's drying, right now," Lydia said with a little chuckle. "It'll feel great when it's off. Vibrant. Alive. Honest. All that energy inside you--it'll help people see it." And maybe, just maybe, that was Lydia trying to wind Toph up a little. Juuuust a little.
"Okay, okay," she grumbled, just barely resisting the urge to stick her tongue out at Lydia. Especially since she wasn't sure the other girl would be able to see it. "I get it."
Lydia stifled a snort of a laugh, but just barely. The skincare specialists went to work soon after, taking off the botanical mask, then doing a face massage, mister, toner. When it came to time to pluck out the blackheads, Lydia said, "Maybe skip this part, for her?"
"Skip what?" Toph said instantly, all suspicion, but the fact that they were cleaning off all the stuff on her face made her slightly mollified. "Whatever. I can handle it."
Lydia scrunched up her own face as the lady came at her with... whatever that horrible metal implement they used to pop the little bastards out was. "If you say so..." She winced and scrunched her eyes shut as the woman pressed on her refreshed skin right in that super sensitive spot on either side of her nostrils... harder... harder... then pinnnnnnnched....
Lydia's toes curled. "Mmmmnnnnn--" she had to bite down on her lip to keep from groaning. Ow, ow, ow.
Okay, anything that had Lydia making that sound was bound to be unpleasant. But she said she'd deal with it, right? And Toph wasn't the type to back down, even if it was just stupid face stuff.
She still ended up making a noise that was somewhere between annoyed and uncomfortable, but she let it happen.
"One down, several more to go," said the lady doing Toph's face, all-too-cheerfully.
"Great," Toph muttered back, and just barely resisted the urge to slink down a little. This was supposed to be a birthday gift?
They survived the facial, and a seaweed and mud body wrap later, Lydia and Toph were re-dressed and in the chairs out front. "How do you want your hair cut, sweetie?" the lady asked Toph.
Lydia rolled her eyes and said, "Longer in front, get some volume in the back, about to here." She held one hand out and tapped Toph under the chin. "Sound okay, Toph?"
"Uh. Sure?"
It wasn't like it mattered to her one way or another, and Lydia was generally pretty good at judging that kind of thing. "Long as I don't have to do a bunch of stuff with it in the morning."
"If I do what she's asking, you'll have to do almost nothing," the stylist admitted.
Lydia said, "I'm looking very satisfied with myself right now, for the record." And she was.
"Okay then," Toph said with a decisive nod, as if she'd actually had anything to do with the decision. "And no hairspray or anything. That stuff smells horrible."
Toph's stylist looked truly trouble. "I… but…"
"You don't need product to get the kind of volume she needs," Lydia said pertly, shooting the woman a look in the mirror. "If you cut it properly."
Lydia's stylist, a cute guy with bright pink hair, snickered.
Toph grinned a little herself, for all that the majority of the conversation went straight over her head. "It's easier just to agree with her," she said knowingly. "Trust me."
"Sounds like you learned the hard way." Toph's stylist smirked a little in the mirror.
Lydia just pursed her lips at the woman as her own stylist went to work.
"She knows what she's talking about," Toph said with a shrug. "I don't. So she gets her way."
Lydia was pleased to note that was just about when Toph's stylist stopped meeting her gaze in the mirror.
About twenty minutes to a half hour later, their hair was dried and styled, and the makeup stylists came out to play. "Not too much on her," Lydia warned. "Her skin's glowing right now, don't dull it down. Definitely play up her cheekbones.
"Toph, what are we doing for lunch? We have to go out after this. Obviously."
"Burgers," Toph said firmly, happily distracted right up until the brushes started attacking her face. "Wait, makeup?" It was more than a little doubtful. Sure, she trusted Lydia and she'd trusted her so far, but....really?
"Perfect," Lydia declared, then closed her lips so as not to get powder in them.
"You're sure I don't look weird?" Toph asked as she trundled along behind Lydia into the diner, resisting the urge to reach up and touch her hair every so often. "I feel weird."
"You look amazing, and everyone here knows it. Own it." Not that Lydia ever thought Toph had problems with confidence, but this... might be something new for her. And interesting. Not that Lydia really suspected there was someone worth impressing, but... Never could tell, right? "Your skin is vibrant--do you feel that? Like it's completely fresh?"
"No?" But she ran a hand along her face anyway. "Mostly I feel like people have been poking at me for a few hours."
"Well in a way they have. Hopefully a relaxing way." Lydia made a face, then to the host, said, "Two. Grab a braille menu, please." She let a hand rest on Toph's shoulder just a little to help with navigation as they followed. "Well, apart from the blackhead part, which is horrible. But it's just nice to treat yourself, sometimes."
"I guess," Toph said, showing her general ease at the moment by not shrugging away from her hand. "It's not bad or anything."
"It's gorgeous," Lydia said.
The host stopped and settled the menus for them, then looked at Toph and smiled. Not in a creepy way, but yes, he obviously saw it.
"This nice boy agrees," Lydia reported.
The boy, who was probably all of sixteen, blushed. "Have a nice lunch, ladies."
