Astra

"You were so brave, Astra."

"Astra! I was so terrified!"

"Isn't it just so awful?"

"That blood on your dress?! What is wrong with this world?!"

"Such a beautiful dress, too!"

"Did you hear the crowd? They were so happy to see you safe!"

"I think they were glad those men were dead!"

"That's so morbid! I don't think so!"

"Well- I am! The way Lady Hoshimi sliced them up!? Rabid beasts are best put down! No different than ethereals!"

Astra Yao, eyes closed as her beauty team worked their magic upon her, could only murmur back polite affirmations to the chorus of comments and rhetorical questions- partly because she needed to keep the muscles of her face relatively still to avoid foiling the application of her cosmetics, but mainly because… she didn't know what to say.

Some… insane people had hijacked her concert to publicly execute her in front of her fans and the world. Astra could still feel the hard surface of the stage under her hands and knees, could still hear the thunder of her own pulse in her ears, the gasping of her own fearful breath. And then: the gale wind of her salvation, the intense smell of fresh blood, the bloodthirsty howl of fifty thousand people.

Perhaps Astra's makeup artist had the right of it: the ever hollow-threatened citizenship were perhaps gleeful at seeing a real, tangible, understandable enemy slain before their very eyes. The boogeymen of society, the ethereals, were only seen by people who went into hollows. For most, they were the spooks in the closet, the monsters under the bed, the destroyers that arrived on a whim in a hollowfall event. They were powerless against those fears, and rarely saw tangible evidence of the monsters being defeated. So.. maybe... three obviously hostile men being cut down was a cathartic moment. Astra didn't really know, but she'd never forget that sound.

What was one even supposed to feel? After such an experience? What did she even feel, right now? Astra didn't know. Didn't know how to describe it: a sort of… malodorous stickiness, right in her heart, weighing it down and making each palpitation more laborious. Another layer of grime on top of the words and antics of haters, on top of the callous exploitation of her handling company, on top of more lives lost on her behalf.

Well, she didn't have time for that sticky stuff! Whatever it was! Astra needed her make-up; she needed to see the stage that Evelyn was somehow, in her miraculous ways, getting ready for her; and Astra needed to stand on the dark stage and look out to see her fans waiting in anticipation, to savor those precious seconds before the lights came up- and when they finally did: Astra was blind to all the world, bathing in beams of searing white. Each spotlight like a great eye of the world itself, focused on her, studying her every movement, fixated by her every breath, judging her every facial expression- all searching hungrily for the satisfaction of their fetish or the flaw in her crystal that they could then deride.

A poisoned chalice? Astra didn't think so. Most days, she thought it was filled with fine wine- but too much wine was poison in itself...

The brushes lifted. The comb stopped moving. A makeup case snapped shut with that satisfied click. Six beauticians sighed in satisfaction simultaneously; the touch up was done.

"That's it! Gorgeous once again!"

"Go get 'em, Astra!"

Astra reopened her eyes and smiled with genuine affection at her six priestesses. "Thank you, ladies."

As the beauty crew gathered up their gear to leave, Astra admired their work in the mirror, or at least the parts of the mirror that were cleaned of all the lipstick-drawn lyrics. Superstar Astra Yao looked back from out the glass, turning her face back and forth experimentally, wearing a mask of confidence, bravery, and good cheer. it looked good. One couldn't even see the seam...

Well, it was true. Astra Yao was gorgeous again. On the outside.

"Girl…," said the hairdresser with a raised eyebrow, a lanky rabbit thiren. "You sure you okay?"

"I'm fine, Velveteen. Thank you." Astra blasted out her best smile into the mirror.

"All right..." Their voice sounded suspicious. "Iffin' you say so.."

Evelyn's sharp, no-nonsense command voice barked out from the doorway: "If you all are done, move out. I need the room."

Astra smiled genuinely into the mirror, now. Evelyn in high-gear was a different animal. But Astra also know that Eve was almost certainly torturing herself over the hostage situation on stage, punishing herself for not being there for the rescue. It was a silly belief, in Astra's view. Until today, the stage was one of the safest places for Astra Yao to be: a security-filtered crowd, a small army of ushers and security people- the stage was practically a pedestal with a moat!

But today had been an odd, odd mix of flukes. Who could have foreseen this attack? No one. Not even the devoted Evelyn Chevalier. And to everyone else, that would speak to the unprecedented audacity of the attackers; but to Evelyn herself, it was likely an unforgivable professional oversight that made her feel unworthy of her current responsibilities. Astra had pulled Evelyn back up that spiral more than once.

Eve could be cute when she was like that, all morose and over-dramatic- but Astra could not allow it to linger. She would need to think of some way to cure Eve's self-punishment fixation later tonight.

Meanwhile, the beauty team began moving out and headed for the dressing room door. Distracted again by her own song lyrics, Astra didn't watch them leave, but she did hear a soft chorus of surprised sounds near the doorway. Then there was a murmuring and a mellow sequence of voices:

"Lady Hoshimi. Thank you."

"Thank you, Lady..."

"Thank goodness you were here, Lady Hoshimi."

An unknown but soft voice responded, bored and blunt: "It was nothing."

Astra turned in her chair as her savior entered the green room: Hoshimi Miyabi was a vulpine thiren who nearly matched Evelyn in height, unless you took the ears out of the equation. A luxurious head of black hair flowed behind a sharp and elegant face, and Miyabi's red irises locked immediately upon Astra with an expression too stoic to be called a glare, exactly- but... is there was a neutral version of that word? Astra couldn't think of a neutral glare was exactly what it felt like.

Miyabi wore a simple blouse over an ample bosom and fit frame; her hips were mostly within a slitted long skirt; and her black tights flowed along legs of eye-catching muscular litheness. In odd juxtaposition: a green katana was in Miyabi's left hand, sheathed and ominous- the killing blade of the would-be extremists.

Astra thought a bonafide, work-casual warrior princess had just walked into the greenroom, and she was stunningly beautiful! Both literally and figuratively! Astra's mind filled with a poetic metaphor: Miyabi was her raven-haired slayer with an intimidating red-eyed stare. Then, Astra's imaginative gaze shifted to Evelyn: her golden, shining knight. Stern. Yet, nurturing…

There was a song here somewhere… or maybe a movie… Or maybe a whole rock opera!

Ebony and gold! /

Varied shapes /

Hammered of the same mold! /

Dangerous and bold! /

Something… something… hmmm… too rhyme-y? But it's a rock opera, so…

Astra saw Evelyn's eyebrows rise in obvious exasperation, lilac eyes seeming to be communicating something that Astra wasn't entirely sure of…

Oh! Probably that Astra should get off her butt and thank the nice Void Hunter for saving her life! Obviously!

"Lady Hoshimi!" said Astra brightly.

She sprang out of her chair, and- did Miyabi's eyes just travel over her body? That was interesting. Though, to be fair, nearly everyone's eyes did that when Astra wore this red dress. But- still interesting.

Wait. She needed to thank this woman for saving her life. What to say? For a songwriter, Astra was mildly ashamed to find herself suddenly floundering. 'Thank you,' was so obvious as to be boring, and it sounded like Miyabi was bored of hearing it. But with Astra's heart suppressed with that sticky black, the words for how she really felt just wouldn't bubble to the surface.

It was about five steps to where Miyabi stood, and that time seemed to pass in a split-second as Astra strode forward. Miyabi's eyes rose upwards as Astra approached, their height being notably different. The moment arrived, and Astra realized she still only had those two words- but there were other ways to convey emotions. There were a million different ways to say the same thing.

Astra smiled down at Miyabi and opened her hands slightly in the generally recognized motion of an incoming hug. Miyabi's expression remained emotionless, staring. One of her ears twitched slightly. But there seemed no obvious negative or declination, so Astra went for it. She leaned forward and wrapped her arms about Miyabi's upper body, pulling the thiren woman into her chest.

Miyabi's body stiffened slightly in surprise, both ears seemed to go even more stiff and erect, and Astra felt a surprised gasp of hot breath on the top her breasts. She squeezed Miyabi warmly to herself, trying to issue forth with her aura all the gratitude and admiration that she could not currently find adequate words to express.

"Thank you," said Astra softy, her breath inadvertently going right into the upper portions of Miyabi's ears. "For saving me. Hoshimi Miyabi."

Both of Miyabi's ears twitched as Astra spoke. And in issuing forth that aura of positive emotion, some of the slime on Astra's heart dissolved, and the world seemed a slightly brighter place than it had a moment before. Astra breathed deeply again, Miyabi still in her arms, still pressed to her chest. Something felt right to Astra, and Miyabi made no objection in the lingering embrace.

The hug ended and Astra pulled back. Miyabi was staring up at her with a slightly more surprised expression than before, and she seemed to be blushing. Miyabi's hands moved to meet together in front of her own thighs, both fists gripping the scabbard of her sword, holding the weapon parallel to the ground before her. Astra thought the so-recently intimidating Void Hunter suddenly looked shy and adorable.

"You are welcome," said Miyabi softly. "Ms. Yao."

"Call me, Astra. The 'Yao' is practically a title." Astra smiled warmly, affection already growing for this new subdued personality in her life.

Miyabi did not say anything in response. She only stared expressionlessly, her fingers gripping and releasing ever so slightly on the scabbard of her sword. Astra wondered what Miyabi was thinking, but her face didn't give off many clues. That was interesting. And fun. Like a mystery.

"Time, Astra, time," said Evelyn from the doorway, her lips thin. That meant it really was time and she wasn't trying to trick Astra into stage position early- Evelyn was prone to try that. "We have an elevator waiting for you."

Astra glanced from Evelyn back to Miyabi. "You'll come down to see the rest of the show? Won't you? I'd love it if you were there, Lady Hoshimi. And Evelyn will get you a good spot to watch."

One of Miyabi's ears twitched. "...All right. I will attend."

"Great! See you down there! And come see me again after!" She gave Miyabi one last smile and then headed for the door.

Astra saw that Evelyn's eyes were fixated on her as she passed, and it seemed like that question was back in them again. What was Evelyn trying to ask? Then Astra saw Evelyn's eyes shift away from her to look over Astra's shoulder, presumably at Miyabi, and then they darted back to Astra. A blond eyebrow rose slightly.

Oh. Ohhhh! Eve liked liked the Lady Hoshimi!

Astra leaned in close to her bodyguard, subtly tracing her fingers lightly over Eve's abdominals. She whispered a very soft message into Evelyn's ear:

"She's a yes for me, Evelyn. So: your call…"

And Astra strutted on, immediately enjoying a fantasy of what Evelyn's face looked like in that moment. If Astra was right, Eve had finally found someone she approved of! Which was very interesting! And Astra felt so cinematic laying out the suggestion so bluntly to Eve like that! Hoo hoo!

Oh, what did Eve look like? What was her facial expression?! Astra couldn't resist taking a peek.

But in the instant before Astra could look over her shoulder, an iron grip snagged her wrist and brought her to a stop. She blinked back in shock to find what she had not imagined at all: a very annoyed and very glaring Evelyn.

Uh oh. Astra must've misjudged something. Maybe that thing about Eve liking Miyabi wasn't it at all. Astra wondered if her own imagination had gotten the better of her?

"Do you really think that I'm letting you walk anywhere without me again?" Evelyn's voice was so low and grim it was practically a growl.

That's what it was. Astra tried to put on an innocent smile, though Evelyn no longer believed them to be genuine (and she was right, they usually weren't). Oh, foo. Anywhere without her ever again? Eve was in overcompensate mode! Like when she'd made one bad breakfast and then taught herself an entire cuisine! Astra decided she urgently needed to put Evelyn back together or the woman would soon become unbearable to live with.

Meanwhile, Evelyn looked over her own shoulder, not lessening her grip on Astra's wrist. "Lady Hoshimi, I would like it if you joined us? I can't let Ms. Yao go alone."

Miyabi appeared in the dressing room doorway, her red eyes shifting back and forth between Astra and Evelyn. "I shall, then."

"So, let's go, Ms. Yao. Curtain up in ten," said Evelyn. "Though we won't have a curtain out there, of course..."

Astra's wrist was freed of Evelyn's grip and Astra rubbed it with her other hand- not because Evelyn had squeezed too hard and hurt her, but because the texture of Evelyn's gloves really didn't feel good on the skin! It was some weird material that let her handle that razor wire she could toss around- worse than sandpaper, that stuff.

Might work for exfoliation, though, now that Astra thought of it. Maybe she could ask Eve to rub her heels and wear the gloves while she did it. That might be effective. And fun.

What kind of music should be playing?

Astra looked from Evelyn, who was ahead of her and to the right, to Miyabi who walked off to her left and slightly behind. Miyabi stoically returned her gaze, saying nothing. Revealing nothing.

Astra wondered again: what was she thinking? What did those little ear twitches mean?

What kind of music might she like?