Work Text:
Celeste barely stopped herself from squealing incessantly, this was too extraordinary of a moment to be ruined by idle informalities. Instead, she distracted herself by conserving all of her mental effort into putting her gracious, and diligent hands into work, a subtle smirk having broken through the cracks of her oh so well composed mask.
She gently dabbed the foundation onto smooth skin, onto her girlfriend’s forehead, cheekbones, and chin as she proceeded to spread it out throughout her face in a stippling motion. Kyoko’s silky, velvet hair was caught in a ponytail, exposing every little detail of her face. Celestia. watched her dark circles disappear under the beige, magic, smoothness of the coating. She watched her skin tone shine into life as blood had seemingly started pumping all over again. The tips of her cheekbones glistening as they give her face an adorable puffy but sharp shape to it. All she did was enhance her already existent beauty- Kyoko was stunning, the spitting image of Victorian natural beauty- oh how she envied her and loved her at the same time. That was one of the many reasons she was worthy enough of Celestia’s grace and attention.
She usually loved how makeup granted her so much power, the power to drown out any ugliness she might perceive in herself, the power to lose herself in her fantasies as they feel more real the more and more she gives in, the power to lie to everyone around her as well as to herself. But that wasn’t the case for the girl before her. Even without makeup the mere flutter of her eyelashes would be enough to capture Celestia’s heart, the subtle hints of emotions that she let on as her shoulders tensed and relaxed from excitement would make her eager to see more, the sheer intellect she demonstrated during her long rants on how her cases at work are going. Finally, an intellectual equal! Although, despite being the so renounced Queen of Liars, Celestia had never desired to see the truth so much before. A burning sensation that felt more and more insistent urged her to see what it’d be like to let Kyoko Kirigiri in. To share a part of Celestia Lunderberg with her, to show her what it was that Celestia loved so much about herself.
But Kyoko didn’t see it that way, she looked at Celestia Lunderberg and her eyes glimmered with a passion that clearly was not meant for her. She was thinking of another person. Goosebumps and shivers would wash all over the gambler’s fragile body at the growing uneasiness that was fostered within that look and at first she absolutely despised it. I mean, who did Kyoko think she was to dare neglect the utter perfection that was Celestia Goddamn Lunderberg in favour of whoever lowlife was on Kyoko’s mind?! How would she dare to employ her cunning techniques- in this case, her soul piercing gaze and attempt to dethrone Celestia from the glory she’s built for herself. Something… unsavoury to say the least had clearly hexed her with a demonic curse and that’s why her heart hammered in her chest, and her breath was caught short as her mind and body desired nothing else but to smell the sweet taste of lavender, and it was clearly Kyoko’s fault.
As time passed, she grew more tolerant of it, and couldn’t admit that she didn’t absolutely loathe the attention, but she shouldn’t be thinking about that- nono.
It irritated her so much! And the worst part was that Kyoko didn’t own up for it! She saw nothing wrong with her cunning techniques to break Celestia: To make her submit and accept that seemingly innocent gaze, but Celestia knew better than to be tricked. She’d subtly break the way their hands were intertwined and excuse herself saying that her deeply spiritual, almost telepathic connection with her cat required her urgent attention as her poor darling was starving without his hourly intake of Japan’s most renounced gyoza!
Even though Kirigiri would be quickly to declare that as an obvious lie not representative of the Queen of Liars but instead a representative of the girl behind the mask, little did she know that this one was a partial lie: Behold! Celestia Ludenberg: The Ultimate Gambler, the Queen of Liars, the Victorian prodigy born to a German nobleman father and a French musician mother, cuddled up to her greatest confidant and most trustworthy companion, Grand Bois Cheri Lunderberg! His fuzzy paws kneading her belly, his rear legs having been sprawled on each side of her hips, and his tongue sticking out as if he was a broken toy.
‘’Grand Bois Cheri Lunderber, I know we’re in our private headquarters but could you excuse yourself and show some courtesy? We shall be royalty in both body and mind and never let ourselves be led astray.’’ Celeste whined graciously, and tried to forget the warmth that melted her heart when she caressed his soft, thick, fur to the same rhythm of his purring.
Her mind trailed off to Kyoko’s gloved hands that were entangled in hers. They were soft but so firm. They kept her grounded and smoothed out her coarse skin whose skincare effects had eventually faded out. They were relaxed and missed the usual deliberacy and precision of Kyoko’s every action. It’s as if that quiet, comfortable silence they were sharing was enough to put Kyoko’s mind at ease and let go. Celestia loved being the only one to see her in such a state.
She sighed quietly, her thoughts absentmindedly trailed to the lilac haired beauty. The way she'd feel in hers arms, unclad, and vulnerable before her, Celestia as naked. Every flaw of her exposed, every blemish on her skin, every thought she had on her mind, everything she was ashamed of about herself and tried to hide away behind this persona. Breaking down her walls, letting Kyoko in, working on her fear of intimacy she so deeply wanted but was also terrified of. She almost entertained that thought, but Celestia swore she almost choked on herself amidst all that. The utter disgust that nearly spilled out of her mouth made her rush to her bathroom to chug a bottle of mouthwash in the most unlady-like way possible. She gargled on it, spread it all over her mouth as she spilled and chugged more in the hopes that the stinging sensation would both cleanse her inappropriacy and distract her from the embarrassment of vulnerability. Kyoko is playing games with her mind, challenging her, and Celestia is never a loser! But why, why would Kyoko be deliberately torturing her like this?
Why would she stroke Celestia’s drills-absent short hair and synchronis9e her breathing to the other’s rising and falling of their chest.
Why would Kyoko invite her out to dine out in Celestia’s favourite fancy restaurant during Taeko’s birthday? Celestia and Taeko had different birthdays, after all.
Why would Kyoko stay up late comforting Celestia via phone as the mask of her gothic persona would crack. Her voice stern, and words deliberate but with an ounce of softness never heard anywhere else seeping in.
Why would Kyoko keep saying to her those three words that freaked her out so much without ever saying them?
No, she wasn’t saying them to her. She was sure of it.
After all, Kyoko Kirigiri loves Taeko Yasuhiro, not Celestia Lunderberg.
And it hurts- it hurts so goddamn much. It hurts being Celestia Lunderberg. It hurts being unlovable. Putting your walls so high to protect your fragile ego. It hurts having that love presented right in front of you, and not being able to accept it, nor believe it. That’s something Taeko would do, and she’s not Taeko anymore, and she hates Taeko with a burning passion.
But she loves Kyoko, and naturally she wants Kyoko to love her back. And so, Celestia will prove to Kyoko that she’s worth loving, and she’s getting started by introducing her to her fashion sense. She’d tell as many lies as it takes as long as her Queen obliged to her ways.
‘’-ko!’’ a mumble invaded the back of her mind.
‘’-eko’’ she felt a strange numbness in her arms. Where was she?
‘’Taeko! You’re zoning ou5t!’’ Kyoko’s stern voice sliced straight into her mind, and she was brought back to the sight of her girlfriend’s face in front of her, fully done up. Her eyebrows were turned lean, dark purple eyeliner embraced her eyes, highlighter made her features shine, her lips were now dark and puffy, and her hair was braided into long, thick wavy strands. She was also vacantly gazing back at her, her expression unrecognisable after the gambler’s recently reawakened mind. Kyoko had placed her gloved hands on her cheeks, gently caressing them in an attempt to ground her to reality. It took her several seconds before she achieved that, and the gambler’s first conscious sight being the girl before her mesmerised her to such an extent and made her so proud of her work her cheeks almost flushed. Her instinctive reaction was to hover a mirror over Kyoko’s face, showing the greatness of her diligent hands.
Kyoko blinked at her own self-reflection. She put her hand on her chin in a thinking posture, and actually let out a quiet hum. Nothing came after that. Celestia couldn’t interpret that reaction at all. Was she not impressed by her work? The services that many others would bend over to have a chance of getting them one in a million? Would Kyoko never appreciate the beauty that is Celestia Ludenberg? Would she keep loving that scum Taeko instead of her?
‘’Something is bothering you, your breathing quickened and your left eyebrow twitched several times. You also kept rubbing your thumb and index finger in a smoothing motion as if seeking out comfort. I know how you work, there’s no point in arguing’ She coldly laid down her facts, all characteristic traits of Celestia trying to suppress the negativity bubbling up inside of her that only Kyoko noticed.
Celestia remained still.
‘’Taeko, talk to m-’’
‘’Don’t call me, Taeko.’’ Celestia growled, her body tensing as tears welled up. Kyoko immediately noticed and her breathing sped up.
‘’I- understood… Celestia.’’ Her voice was lowered several octaves, seemingly trying not to frighten the girl further. Having nothing but her girlfriend’s hitched breathing to guide her, Kyoko tentatively intertwined their hands together and squeezed.
Celestia heart started hammering again, she felt safe when Kirigiri took her hands on her own. It felt good having her warm gloves caress her exposed. She wanted nothing more but to feel more of that safety, and warmth. To jump into her arms and embrace her tightly. Be reassured by the obvious, that Kyoko Kirigiri loved her and would do anything to make her happy. But love was Taeko Yasuhiro’s thing, not Celestia’s, Celestia was unlovable, and after meeting Kyoko she despised how that fact made her hate Celestia as much as she hated Taeko.
And so she pulled away.