Chapter 34

She had a bumpy start with Kuon and his parents at first, but now it was a little smoother. At least she wasn't completely stressed out, worrying about coming between him and his family anymore. That was the last thing on Earth she wanted to be responsible for. If she was completely honest with herself, her father had been the same as Juli to an infinitesimal degree. She suspected that if they had met when she was much younger, say maybe when she was six or even when she was twelve, he probably would have been a certifiable nightmare to deal with when it came to men close to her age in her life.

Thankfully they were able to make things a bit more amicable before her father was scheduled to visit. That turned into another sticky situation. Ushio had discovered somehow (Lory) that she was staying in the same house with Kuon, and he decided that he wanted to spend his week there with her, not in a stuffy hotel room. He didn't care if he would be sleeping on their sofa. Not that something like that would be a problem. Kuon had actually offered to give him his bed. Ushio was impressed by the boy's determination to keep his daughter relatively pure before he popped the question, so after three nights of sleeping on the sofa and no sneaking around by said youngsters, he decided he would sleep better at a hotel a few blocks away and give his precious little gem piece of mind regarding his nocturnal health. However, her little guardian that he brought with him would remain behind.

She honestly didn't have a problem taking Zeus with her where she went. It wasn't like it was an uncommon thing in Hollywood or LA, for that matter. She'd done it in Tokyo. The only reason she hadn't brought him with her initially was that she thought she would be staying with Kuu and Juli, and Zeus needed to go through the proper procedures to join her. Ushio had taken care of that shortly after she'd left, knowing that he would be worried about her and Zeus would miss her terribly. So, now his worries were alleviated and Ushio wouldn't have to deal with a sulky, spoiled doberman flopping about the house like an abandoned child. The separation anxiety that the animal exuded was palpable.

Kyoko was relieved when Kuu and Juli seemed to get along with Ushio and vice versa. Lory usually told him everything going on with her and she was worried that he would say something about how Juli was initially. She would need to remember to thank him for that not so small favor when he and Maria visited the next month.

As far as her movie was coming along, they were in the costuming stages. For Kyoko, it was somewhat interesting. She'd always liked the Historical Princess vibe that this particular story had; however, the fashion that was initially thought of just didn't go with the story line. She made such a comment when she went in for another reading and they were tossing around ideas.

She timidly raised her hand in question and was called upon. "Um… Didn't you say that Mary and Martin are supposed to be from early to mid 18th Century Ireland?"

The Director gave her a strange look. "Yes, why?" He asked with furrowed brow. Didn't she do her research before she auditioned?

"Well… What you have for Mary and Martin doesn't fit…" She pulled out her phone and did an internet search. "They're supposed to be an Irish Lord and his Lady, but they're dressed more like the early 19th Century." She pointed out. "Shouldn't he at least be wearing a kilt or shorter pants with stockings and a waistcoat? Didn't they just have their wedding that day? Shouldn't they still be in their wedding clothes? Well, I don't necessarily think that he absolutely has to wear a kilt, but he should at least have something on him that tells that he had been wearing formal clothing at some point… and look here, her dress is all wrong, if it is a wedding dress it wouldn't be like that. It probably wouldn't have even been in white before the 19th Century, most likely it would have been blue because she was a virgin and it was the traditional wedding dress color. The waistline doesn't fit the era, the sleeves are too loose and there should be at least a splash of color to the dress. Not only that, the style would have most likely been more of a Baroque leaning into a Rococo style. To top all of that off, a woman's wedding dress from that time would be the best dress that she owned and wore for other special occasions, it wouldn't do for it to be an all white one she couldn't wear more than once." She stopped and caught her breath after her little fashion lecture, blushing furiously after realizing what she had just done.

He chuckled and glanced over at his costume designer and nodded with a small smile. "Very good eye. I don't know why I didn't think of that Kyouko. Anyone that's ever been to a Renaissance Fair would have caught that this style was from the wrong era. Thank you."

Ahh… Kyoko, she just didn't know what she was getting herself into by doing that. Meters of heavy fabric, uncomfortable shoes, tight corsets, acres of petticoat, bloomers, thick stockings, and hair tightly coiffed in an elaborate fashion. Yes, she and her groom would definitely look authentic. The discomfort that one goes through to make a good movie.

Cedric just sat there staring at the younger female with a furrowed brow. He'd never actually met anyone that put so much effort into acting. With him, he wore the costume, did what the director and the script told him, and said his lines. No extra input from him involved. This woman actually thought about what her character would wear, feel, and say down to the tiniest little detail. He noted to himself that he would make it a point to take a look at some of her other works when he had the time later. The curiosity would gnaw at him until they were dismissed hours later.

He waited and watched as she stayed behind to speak with director regarding how he wanted her character to look. He would find her walking from the studio to meet with a very familiar face. "You don't think that would be too much of a problem, do you?" He heard her ask.

"Of course not! I know exactly who to take you to. Ten taught him everything he knows." The familiar voice answered enthusiastically.

"I really appreciate your hel.." She was interrupted, and found Zeus standing between her and her co-star.

"Aunt Juli? What are you doing here?" Cedric asked, not noticing the posturing guard dog standing very close to Kyoko; however, he was a little shocked at the scowl that briefly crossed his beautiful aunt's face.

Juli hadn't really expected the overwhelming feeling of possessive protectiveness for Kyoko that washed over her when she'd met her nephew, the same nephew she now knew was responsible for contributing to a significant portion of Kuon's miserable childhood. She most certainly had a few things she wanted to say to him, but something held her firmly in place and it felt like a small hand had quickly covered her mouth. It was the strangest, most frightening thing that had ever happened to her.

"I'm sorry Mr. Bennett, Juli and I have an important appointment to make. I hope you'll understand." Kyoko clipped, grabbed Juli's hand and pulled her with her, while Zeus followed the pair dutifully on his lead.

Juli was confused and chose not to ask Kyoko about the strange experience. She didn't want for her to think that she was crazy in addition to being the horrible mother that Juli herself felt she was. She refused to put that into words around this increasingly wonderful young woman that had brought her son back to her. Instead, she decided to take Kyoko to her stylist and the women would enjoy the rest of the day at the spa with a little shopping. Shopping always made things right in the world and Kyoko was getting quite good at it, thanks to Kuon.