A set of brushes were laid out on a towel, sitting at the base of where the 3Dio stood on the small, black-cloth covered table—all of them in varying shapes and sizes. The lengths of the artificial hairs that made up some of the brushes were long and spread, soft and fluffy to the touch—with others being short and bristly, stiff and rigid. There were wide, rounded brushes and thin, flat brushes. Some were large for makeup, some were small for painting.
From a wide bin down by Serena's knees, Serena reached in for a few more brushes, setting down on the towel a few extra-small brushes for mascara and other makeup details. She had aligned them all neatly, even though they couldn't be seen on camera.
Leaning in towards the left ear, Serena gave a soft glance up to the camera, seeing the shot framed in the digital display just above the camera lens. She lightly blew on the ear, sending the cool gust of air down through the small, cavernous depths of the artificial ear, sounding like a windstorm through a canyon in the earbuds she wore.
"It's time for some… brushing..." Serena whispered quietly, pausing for anticipation and switching ears while she did.
Wielded between nimble fingers, Serena presented the brush to the camera—she had chosen one of the large, short makeup brushes, something used for dusting on foundation or applying blush. She gave a knowing smile, looking up into the camera, the lower brim of her eyes just barely visible in the frame. The short chuckle she gave, normally never heard by anyone, was picked up in the microphone as a small, breathy gasp.
Serena centered herself between the ears of the 3Dio, adjusting where she kneeled on the pillow at the base of the table. The brush in her hand gently glided down towards the left ear again, lingering tantalizingly close as the camera showed. Instead of touching the ear with the brush, she pressed down near the top upper corner, where the upper ridge of the ear bowed out from the smooth silicone flesh. The tiny, light bristles touched around the 'skin', no noise heard yet. Serena gently dragged the brush over and around, making gentle whooshing sounds as the hundreds of bristles swam over the smooth disk. She followed the silvery inlay that circled around the flat outer margins that surrounded the ear, hearing a small tinkling sound as the bristles moved over the small protruding screws, moving down towards the earlobes.
For a moment, Serena had become distracted and entranced by the sounds. She had shut her eyes, taking soft breaths through her nostrils as she practically felt the sensations of the brush on the side of her face. Down at the apex of her skull, where her head met her neck, an eruption of tingles spread out and traveled up and beneath her skin, making her stifle a shiver.
The tingling sensation challenged Serena's breathing, making it stifled and audibly shuddering. As she did, she moved in just beside the ear and brought her lips to it, the breathing becoming more intense in that ear.
"Last time I was in Lumiose City, in Kalos… I visited Professor Sycamore in his lab there in the central part of the city..." Serena whispered softly. She had kept her voice at the edge of the ear and at the edge of being inaudible, speaking as softly as she possibly could. "He was showing me this brush… a lot of these brushes, actually… that are used for Pokemon grooming. He gave me a few to use in my contest… they say they can make the fur on a Pokemon lustrous, and extra voluminous… which is especially helpful for when your Pokemon are tired…"
The brush had moved just behind the ear, the bristles wedging themselves deep in the crevice between the silicone surface and where the ear protruded. The gentle, whooshing sound of the brush was muffled and came through in a warped sound—exactly as though it would come from just behind Serena's own ear. The tingling sensation was buzzing just at the front of Serena's scalp, right where her hairline was, threatening to spread to the rest of her scalp and trickle between every single follicle on her head.
"Unfortunately, it doesn't work so well on human skin…"
