A/N: I didn't give this much thought until I was drawing some Gurren Lagann fanart, and automatically made the boys paler than Yoko. And then I actually looked up some references. How did that work...?
Disclaimer: Disclaimers don't actually do anything, legally speaking. But whatevs, they're fun to write. I own this wig I styled to look like Rossiu's hair. ::puts it on::
It crossed Yoko's mind when she first met him, but she was a little busy falling through the ceiling and shooting at giant Gunmen and wriggling through tunnels, so she didn't bring it up. And over the next few days, she was a little busy getting thrown around and shooting at even more giant Gunmen and veering between horror and delight at how very Kamina Kamina was. And then there were travel preparations, blisters, encouraging Simon, butting heads with Kamina, and more giant Gunmen.
So it's a few weeks before she finally confronts her two new companions about it. She corners Simon as he's helping Ron polish up Lagann.
"So how come you two are tan?"
Simon blinks at her, carefully averting his eyes from her chest, midriff, and hips, and focusing instead on a spot just above her left ear. "...Huh?"
"Well, it's just common sense. You guys hadn't even seen the surface until two weeks ago. But you're both tanner than me."
Simon still looks confused. Yoko finds Kamina and drags him over to help her explain.
He blinks at her, carefully not averting his eyes from her chest, midriff, or hips. "...Huh?"
"This is ridiculous," she says, kneeing him in the gut. "It's just a simple observation. If neither of you've been to the surface, you should be the color of skim milk."
"I have been to the surface," Kamina says between gasps, massaging his stomach. "A couple years ago."
"But that wouldn't -" Yoko breaks off, staring down at her sock. There's a smudge of reddish desert-dirt along the knee. But she washed these just this morning. And -
Yoko advances slowly on Kamina. There is no way. The very thought is too horrible to contemplate. But she licks her thumb, presses it against Kaina's perpetually-bare chest, and drags it down.
Her thumb leaves a streak of white.
. . .
Yoko throws the boys into the first river they come across. She hands them the cloths usually reserved for wiping down greasy Gunmen, turns her back, and orders them to wash. They come out soggy and shivering. And they are both so pale that they practically glow in the dark.
Yoko cannot help but feel somewhat vindicated as she inspects her healthy brown arms.
Yokoooooo. She's got a pretty thorough tan, too, since most of her body is exposed to the sun. :)
R&R?