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When Sekani was sure that no one else was home he would often sneak around to explore. For most of his youth he'd been caught in just about every space of the house, poking into things he ought not to, but now that his elder siblings were busy with their own interests and his mother was working once more it was easier to be curious.

It was how he'd initially pierced his own ears. He'd done so with a needle on his own, and had ended up with a pair of horribly uneven earrings. Of course Sekani had just been proud he'd survived. After all, to him, the entire experience was traumatic! To his family however...it was both a source of laughter and concern. He'd had to have it fixed and the whole thing just...soured it, honestly.

So one day when he was sure he was alone Sekani snuck into his mother's room and looked over her cosmetics. Most of the powders and sticks of kohl he'd seen her use before performances, but had never been allowed to touch himself. It didn't stop him from trying, though. With a head band firmly secured around his forehead to keep his curls at bay, Sekani sat infront of a mirror and started practicing with his eyes.

Sekani leaned back away from the mirror to inspect his work. He'd successfully worked out a solid wing on his left eye and was just dipping in for the right when his mother came home. Of course, he didn't really hear her enter; he wasn't expecting it so he'd been off in his own head space. The petite little hybrid was in the process of going across the crease of his eye when his mother spoke out-

-and he jumped.

Naturally it knocked over a few things atop her vanity table, but it also meant that the kohl he'd been working with shot across his face. It left a trail from the top of his eye down his temple and across the top part of his cheek.

"We-wel-welcome home, mother. I was just...making sure that your makeup wasn't drying out...?"

Of course he'd felt the cosmetics go down his cheek, but Sekani hadn't had the chance to look at it before his mother was wiping it clean. That was the only saving grace to the situation. In all honesty he was mortified; she wasn't supposed to be home! Had he just dawdled for too long and missed his shot?!

"It's better that way. Sometimes things can look bad in the jar, but when you put them on it's okay." He met her gaze for all of a second before darting it to the side, back to her, to the other side and so on. Sekani wasn't an exceptionally witty boy. He was honest and kind, but a liar? He simply didn't have the capacity for it so when he tried it was painfully obvious.

"...But it's all good so I'll clean up and get going."

"That doesn't surprise me," Sekani said with a half-smile. His big brother had always been the fashionable sort and it was only a matter of time before he dipped into cosmetics. Still, Visha was probably already a master at this stuff. Sekani...just didn't have the confidence for it yet.

"I don't know if I want to look exactly like them. Sometimes people from the Capital come through looking like birds from Belrea. You don't...you don't think Visha's going to look like that, do you?"

The thought of having his own cosmetics admittedly brought a brighter smile to the teenagers face. To have something that was truly his own, not something he'd snuck out of his mother's room, sounded really nice..."I'd really like that." Sekani could even make sure he bought the right products for his skin since he had a lot of variations she didn't have to worry about.

"Do you...think you could teach me how to use it better, though? I want to make sure it looks perfect for when Visha comes home." Even though they were getting older Sekani still sought his older brother's praise. If he could surprise the older hybrid with something like this then maybe he'd even take him into the city next time he went, and they could go shopping together.

"Is..dad going to be mad?"

"I know he loves us, but-" Sekani bit his lower lip as he thought over his words. "He's just...really big and strong and I'm...not. I just thought that this-" Sekani motioned toward his face, "-would make it worse. Visha can make it work for him, but I'm..." ...puny. The word hung heavy on his tongue. Even his sister had outgrown him by leaps and bounds. Sekani was small, had always been small, and even now that he was growing into a young man there were still kids younger than him surpassing the boy.

With his head cupped in her hand, Sekani gave his mother a heartfelt smile. "I went to see father before he left and when I left one of the dockhands said I wouldn't amount to much more than a doorstop. "

Ah, yeah, Brexxa. At one point he'd thought about asking her if she had a top that would fit him, but every time he saw her his insides froze up. There was still something so unnerving about his big sister that made Sekani scuttle out of the room if it was just the two of them.

"Nooo?" Sekani grimaced sheepishly. Of course he knew which one had said it; they were the same deckhands that were around for years. The man had only been bold enough to say it because he was a bottle deep into his drink and Gael wasn't around. "It's fine, really. I know I'm small, but I just...I tried getting bigger. I thought if I went down there I could help lift things and then one day I could go out with him, but then I dropped a crate and they got mad so...I just came back here to do things I liked."

His parents had enough to worry about with work and his other siblings. Little things like some nasty words didn't mean much in the grand scheme of things and besides, it's not like they were wrong. Sekani was tiny; a tiny little shrimp of a boy who liked to dabble in cosmetics and talked way too much.

"If you think he would then I'll ask him." He perked up considerably and sat on the edge of his seat. "Only after you teach me how to fix my face." That was another thing they'd said; that sons should look to make their fathers proud and be like their elder brothers. Well, his older brother just so happened to look pristine all the time and Sekani wanted to surprise him.

Besides, if he moped around all day then his mother would get sad and then Visha would get said and everyone would get mad sooooo....

"Is Jax coming to visit soon? It's been a while since I've seen him."