Title: Wipe Away Your Worries
Word Count: 1,331
Summary: [Her first night on Air Temple Island, Asami receives an unexpected visitor. | Asami. Meelo.]
-.-
be-the-peaf · Prompt 036 – makeup
-.-
There's no wailing, no sniffling or hiccups or cracks in her voice as the hot tears roll down her cheeks. Asami is silent, sitting on the bed in the flickering glow of a lantern. Her hands on her knees. She thought she was done with this the previous night, standing on the airship above the city as the tears came out as they did now, quiet streams down her cheeks as she pressed her face into Mako's chest, his hand on her back. He said"everything is going to be alright", and she wanted to believe him, to wake up the next morning in hopes that this was all some crazy dream. But now she sits on a foreign bed with the city and her home miles from her – the tears keep coming.
This is reality; and she hates it.
"Join me, Asami."
There's a knock at her door.
She stays still; staring at the thin paper-doors with hope that whoever was outside would think she was away and leave. But the knocking continues after a second and she realizes that they must have seen light of the lantern through the door. Asami wipes the tears with her hand and slides the doors back.
A small boy stands in front of her.
"Meelo?" she blinks. "Shouldn't you be in bed?"
The boy fidgets, his hands waving out to his sides as he sways on his heels.
"No…" he lies.
"What are you doing here?" she asks.
"I wanted to see you!" he says, cheer in his voice as he looks at her. Then the cheer fades away as he dips his chin into his chest and asks in a small voice. "Can I come in?"
Asami smiles. "Sure."
She can only describe his face as "beaming with joy."
"You can stay for five minutes," she says, stepping further into the room. "Then it's back to bed, okay?"
Meelo jumps onto a chair by the desk, his hands tight on the wooden back as he grins. "Okay!"
He stops and stares at her.
"What?" Asami asks.
He points a small finger at her. "What's wrong with your face?"
Asami's brow tightens and she walks to the desk and goes for her mirror, pulling it up to see streaks of black and purple rubbed over the skin by her eyes.
"Oh," she says, setting the mirror down. "My makeup must have smudged a bit. I didn't realize."
"Do you want to put it on again?" Meelo asks, leaning in the chair. "You'd look prettier that way!"
"I'll just wipe it off, it's late anyway."
"Oh…" Meelo mutters, looking at the ground. A thought pops into Asami's head.
"Do you want to help me put it on?"
Meelo smiles.
-.-
After wiping the smeared makeup from her face with a cloth, Asami sits in the chair while Meelo sits on top of the desk, his thin legs swinging beneath the alcove. Her makeup, in all its various shapes and forms lays scattered around him.
First is the powder; creamed color, light and soft. Meelo shoves the pad into the small container, dust landing on his red pajamas as he presses it onto her cheeks in a rough, hard touch. Asami almost sneezes as the powder flies into her nose and she holds up a hand to stop him.
"Almost." She says. "Try it like this."
She takes the pad, dabs it into the container and lays the powder onto his small cheek with soft, quick taps. Meelo's face scrunches up and he closes his eyes, keeping one partially open to see what she's doing. Asami pulls the pad away and holds the mirror to him. His cheek is a whole other color than the rest of his face, the powder is smooth on his cheek, blended in by her skill and Meelo touches his face and rubs the excess between his fingers.
Asami hands the pad back to him.
"Your turn."
Meelo taps the pad onto Asami's face and his touch is still rough, but lighter than before. He smiles when he is done and sets the pad into his lap, ignoring the powder than lands on his legs and takes the mirror to show Asami his work. She smiles. He's a fast learner.
She puts the pad back into the powder and twists the lid on, picking up a thin tube between her fingers.
"Let's try this next."
-.-
The lipstick goes easier than the powder. Asami goes first, sliding the red stick along her lips with a kind of ease that comes from hours of practice. She does it slowly, elongating the movements, sticking her lips out so Meelo can see. He stares as she presses her lips together, the red wax and pigments shining on her skin.
She hands the stick to Meelo, who eagerly attempts to mimic her movements. It's easier than the powder, but he still pushes it on a little too hard and suddenly his hand jets to the side and a red line slopes down his cheek. Asami stifles a laugh while reaching for the cloth and rubs the line off, red sticking to the fabric. His lip half-covered with lipstick, Meelo presses his lips together the way Asami showed him and makes a loudsmack as he brings them apart.
"What can we try next?" he asks.
Asami looks at the rest of her makeup and her fingers wrap around her chin.
-.-
"You have to be light with this one," she says, moving the brush over one of Meelo's eyes and he looks at her with the other.
"Like the powder?" he asks.
"Sort of," she says, and he closes his eye so she can put the makeup on. "Putting on eye-shadow is kind of like painting. You want to use soft strokes, along the lid."
She hands him the brush and closes her eyes. It tickles as he sweeps it over the soft skin but his touch is gentle, careful and poised as he tries to get it right. He moves on to the other eye and she cracks hers open to see his tongue sticking out in concentration. He pulls the brush away and she blinks. She knew she must look ridiculous; putting on makeup in the dead of night with a five-year old boy. But it didn't matter; his smile is beaming at her again, full of joy and wonder and she can't help to smile back at him.
Her father, along with all her other worries, are far away from her mind.
"How do I look?" she asks.
"Much better!" Meelo says. Asami puts her hand on his head.
"You don't look half-bad yourself." She replies. "Now let's get this off our faces. It's time for you to go to bed."
:Fin:
(A/N: written on September 28th)
I must have started this fic at least 5 different times this week and I'm still not very happy with it (ah well). This was originally going to end with Meelo leaving and Mako showing up. But it felt better to end it without Mako showing up (maybe I'll try writing Masami some other time).