While Renard and Isaac were spending time out in the garden, Kyrie and Vivian were in the slave's bedroom, with Vivian trying her best to do up Kyrie's hair.
"Ouch, Vivian!"
"Sorry, sorry! It's been so long since I've done this that I'm a little rusty."
Kyrie quieted down as Vivian handled her hair more gently, and soon Vivian was back to softly humming as she brushed out Kyrie's long hair.
"Your hair really is perfect for experimenting though. It's straight and long which means there's a lot to work with and it's also pretty easy to work with."
The only response Vivian got back was a soft hum of acknowledgment, and she looked over her friend's shoulder to get a peek at what she was drawing. Vivian had encouraged Kyrie to pull out her notebook if she was going to experiment with her hair because otherwise Kyrie would just be sitting there doing nothing. So far the suggestion was working out alright: Vivian would need Kyrie to look straight occasionally, but as long as Kyrie just lifted her notebook while she did this then she wouldn't get too interrupted.
For now it looked like Kyrie was drawing a scene from the nursery. It wasn't complete yet, but the fact that there were three small figures being formed in the center of it meant that this was probably going to be Raine, Markus and Breida. Vivian mechanically brushed along Kyrie's hair as she watched the younger girl draw the scene to life. She had to admit that it was so mesmerizing how a bunch of lines quickly came to form such a beautiful picture.
In regards to her own experiments with hobbies, she was so far from being able to be mesmerizing while she did them. Sure, she was good at mending clothes, but sewing her own things was another matter entirely: she was constantly consulting the books and second guessing herself and just kind of messing up. It was almost disheartening, but when she thought about just how long Kyrie had been drawing it helped her feel a little better: Kyrie had spent years drawing before she got good, Vivian just had to have the dedication to stick with it.
Letting out a soft sigh, she couldn't help gushing over Kyrie's art a bit.
"You just make it look so easy, Kyrie! These nondescript lines quickly merge together into something truly stunning. I wish I could do something so beautiful that easily."
This statement caused Kyrie to glance behind her at Vivian with a slightly furrowed brow.
"It may look easy, but it's not. I still find myself dissatisfied at times with what I do: is that really how I want it to look? Was that the right line to use there? Did I mess up the intensity of the picture? It's... it's a constant learning process. Maybe that's the appeal though: it'll never be perfect, but I really enjoy doing it."
Vivian mulled over these words as she finished getting the tangles out of Kyrie's hair, and she found that they actually were making her look at these hobbies she'd been experimenting with a little differently. She'd been so focused on the end product that she'd forgotten to have fun while she was actually working. The pretty end product would come in time, for now it was better to just pay attention to how it felt to do her experimental hobbies. As much as she would love to make jewelry, the little bit of experimenting she'd done into that just hadn't captured her. She wouldn't go so far as to say that she hated every second of it, but she really just didn't like all the fine wirework and trying to get the wire to fit together with the cabochons and low quality gemstones that the lady had provided for her.
She'd have to give the lady back those materials.
She enjoyed this though: working with Kyrie's hair to try and twist it into new and interesting shapes. Sewing was another thing that she found she enjoyed: the actual act of sewing the clothes together and seeing how they come out into a form was both fascinating and interesting to her. She didn't find it to be a chore to do, and the little experimenting she'd done with clothes for some of Raine's dolls had gone pretty well, much to the delight of said child. Sure there weren't a lot of clothes that she'd be able to make for herself, but there was one area in which she could really experiment: nightgowns and underwear. There was no provided uniform for them on these things in Mae's household, and Vivian already had some ideas on what she wanted to make. Mostly they'd be things for herself, but she had also come up with some ideas for things for Kyrie. Maybe if she got really bored she'd even make something for Dessi. Maybe.
Kyrie had gone back to her drawing after hearing no response from Vivian, and Vivian was soon picking up her humming once more as she began braiding some of Kyrie's hair. She wanted to braid along the sides to effectively frame the young artist's face, and once she'd gotten those side braids done, she gathered up the rest of Kyrie's hair and the ends of the braids into a bun at the back of her head. Letting her fingers run over the smooth strands of Kyrie's hair, the style wasn't as well polished as she might've hoped, and it had taken her longer to do than she might've liked, but at least it was all staying together. Satisfied with the tentative success, she promptly bounced around Kyrie to get a look from the front.
"Look up at me, Kyrie."
As Vivian said this, she lightly put her hands under Kyrie's chin, pushing just slightly to apply some pressure. Kyrie was a little slow to move away from her own work, but soon she was meeting Vivian's eyes before Vivian's gaze wandered to examine her handiwork. A smile rose to Vivian's features as she took in the result of her labor, and Kyrie knew exactly what her next drawing was going to be. Vivian looked to be a mixture of proud and delighted, and it was a really becoming look for her friend. So much better than the sullen jealousy that was sometimes present there; though, now that she thought about it, Kyrie hadn't seen that expression on Vivian's face for a while now. It was nice to see Vivian progressively getting happier with her life.
"It's done! Here, take a look!"
Pulling Kyrie up and leading her over towards the mirror in the slave's quarters, Kyrie's initial response was sheer surprise. This updo was ultimately relatively simple, but somehow it made her look so fancy! It was a stark contrast to the plain old ponytail that she so often wore.
Reaching up to lightly touch the braids, as if afraid that the slightest touch might dissolve them, Kyrie's voice was full of wonder.
"Is this really my hair? It looks so different from before."
Vivian laughed at that and in her excitement pulled her friend in for a short burst of a hug.
"Of course it's your hair! The whole point of this was to make you look a little different. Do you like it?"
Kyrie blushed a little, both from the hug and the light teasing, but she gave her friend a smile nonetheless.
"I do... It looks really nice. It's almost like I look more... Sophisticated, maybe? I didn't realize changing the style of your hair could have this much of a difference."
"I'm glad you like it! … You know who else would probably love this though?"
The tone of Vivian's voice caused the blush on Kyrie's face to deepen a bit, because she knew exactly where her friend was going. Vivian once again laughed to see the realization dawning on Kyrie's face.
"Oh you already know. Isaac! Come on, let's go show him!"
Grabbing her friend's hand again, this time Kyrie gave a little bit of resistance.
"B-but what if he doesn't like it?"
"Oh please, Kyrie. If it's on you he'll love it. … Speaking of which, I need your measurements one of these days. Just imagine how hard Isaac's jaw will hit the floor if you're wearing something a little more alluring than our usual nightgown sacks."
"W-what?!"
Effectively caught up in the storm that was Vivian, the two of them emerged out into the garden; Kyrie barely had any time to even think about the fact that Vivian evidently wanted to make her a sexy nightgown! The sun was low in the sky as they stepped out, which wasn't too surprising because it was after the slave's dinner but before Kyrie and Vivian usually met up with their men for the evening. Often the two women just went to the guest rooms and waited, but sometimes they'd sit in their own room for a bit to chat with each other like what happened with today.
Kyrie still had her notebook gripped in one of her hands and before she could think to put it back in her dress, Vivian called out Isaac's name and ran in a direction with Kyrie. Presumably she'd caught sight of the man in question, but Kyrie could see nothing of him.
Vivian rounded a corner in front of Kyrie, expecting to round the corner as well thanks to Vivian's pulling, Kyrie was surprised to see that Vivian had let her hand go, thereby stopping her movement. Gesturing briefly towards Kyrie to wait, Vivian then stood straight with her hands clasped behind her back as she cleared her throat in an almost exaggerated manner.
"Good evening, gentlemen. I have done some experimenting today and I'd like to share with you the proud product of this experimentation."
There was a brief silence after this, but before either of the men could say anything in response to Vivian, she was quickly moving on.
"I now present to you: the lovely Kyrie!"
Vivian gestured elaborately towards the still hidden Kyrie, and Kyrie practically froze to be so presented like this. Vivian just let out an exaggerated sigh to see that Kyrie's nervousness was getting the better of her, and promptly reached over to grab her friend.
"Oh Kyrie, don't be so scared! You look amazing!"
With that, Vivian forcibly pulled Kyrie out, and Kyrie stumbled a little as she came into view. Timidly, she looked up from beside Vivian and the first eyes she met were Isaac's. For a heated moment the two of them kept the other's gaze, though as the look got longer Kyrie began to blush. He was looking at her so intently, and she really couldn't tell whether he liked it or whether he absolutely hated it. He just wasn't saying anything! Unable to hold his gaze anymore, her eyes turned downwards towards the ground. It wasn't Isaac that ended up breaking the silence though, it was Renard with an appreciative whistle.
This earned him a bit of a glare from Vivian, at least until he spoke.
"Damn, Vivian. That's some real fine work on your part; I like the shape of it quite a bit."
Vivian practically glowed with pride then.
"Thanks, Renard. I really appreciate that."
She then turned towards Isaac and gave Kyrie a little push towards him.
"Well? What about you? I was expecting you to be the first one to speak up."
Despite Vivian's teasing Isaac didn't seem very plussed, in fact, his silence continued as he stepped closer to Kyrie. Only when he gently cupped her cheek did she finally look up from the ground and both Kyrie and Vivian could see that Isaac had a loving smile on his face.
"I think she looks beautiful. Though, I'm hard pressed to think of a time when she didn't look beautiful."
Isaac chuckled softly at that before leaning in to give Kyrie's cheek a kiss, and Kyrie practically swelled with delight as she wrapped her arms around Isaac.
Satisfied with her effective love matching, Vivian wandered over towards her own lover, but his eyes weren't on her, he had caught sight of what was in Kyrie's hand. It was her notebook, which publicly Renard still didn't know about yet, and an idea quickly began to dawn on him.
This was his chance!
If he wanted to be able to talk to Vivian about Kyrie's drawing he had to be in the know as well, and finally this was a public grouping where he would be able to learn about it without it seeming weird! He had been wondering if maybe Vivian's sudden interest in her own hobbies had something to do with witnessing Kyrie's, but that was neither here nor there for his plans. The only thing that mattered was that Vivian had to like Kyrie's drawings, and it was certainly hard not to like them.
"What is that you've got there, Kyrie? It must be important for you to have kept hold of it through Vivian's dragging."
Vivian gave him a playful shove at the accusation and Renard laughed, but it didn't change the fact that he actually wanted an answer to his question. Kyrie clearly hesitated from the query, and Isaac, feeling this hesitation in the woman in his arms, looked behind himself to see what it was that she had. When he realized that it was Kyrie's art his eyes widened a little, and he turned to her again. As he tried to formulate how he would step in to effectively protect Kyrie, Vivian spoke up.
"It's her own hobby."
"Oh?"
Renard's eyes sparkled with interest, and Vivian, who had been a big advocate of Kyrie sharing her art in the first place, moved forward towards Kyrie. Kyrie shrunk just a little into Isaac, causing her lover to hold onto her a little tighter, but Vivian placed a reassuring hand on Kyrie's shoulder that caused her to relax.
"Come on, Kyrie. It's nice to be able to show people the work you've put into something you find fun, I can attest to that myself."
Once again she puffed up with a little bit of pride as she touched at Kyrie's hair.
"There's really no harm in sharing: even if Renard decides to be a jerk by saying he doesn't like it you know that you have at least two people in your own corner."
"Hey now! I don't appreciate these deprecating words thrown my direction when I don't even know what it is!"
Vivian just gave him an almost smug smirk before turning her attention back to Kyrie. Kyrie's eyes were down as she thought about this, and really, what was the harm in publicly sharing her hobby? Everyone in the house already knew about it, whether secretly or openly, so to have things all done openly would mean that she wouldn't have to worry quite as much about hiding things. Well... She still had her scandalous book, but that one would only ever be shared with Renard.
"D-do I have to share with Dessi too?"
"Well, you don't have to do anything, but I'll completely support you if you do decide to show off your drawings at dinner tomorrow! I can even do the notebook holding if that would make you more comfortable."
Kyrie slowly pulled away from Isaac so that she could hold her notebook in front of herself to stare at the cover. Looking up at Isaac briefly to see what he thought about all this, she saw nothing but support in his eyes. There wasn't any particular jealousy that she was going to be sharing her art beyond just him, the only thing that he felt was a genuine desire for her to be happy. Returning his comforting smile, Kyrie turned towards Vivian then. Vivian's smile brightened to see that Kyrie was relenting to the request, and she moved a bit to the side so that Kyrie was only looking at Renard now.
Taking a deep breath, she flipped through the pages to find one that she wanted to share, and then moved forward towards Renard.
And now Renard had it. He knew exactly what his next step was going to be.
A grin rose to Renard's features as Kyrie approached, and even though a part of her felt good for sharing this more publicly, another part of her was worried about that grin. There was some sort of plan brewing in his mind, and like usual, Kyrie felt rather powerless to stop it, and wasn't even sure that she wanted to.