When Shoshana was young, she'd been afraid that her skin would stay wrinkled after she'd been in the bath too long. She looked at her hands now and smiled slightly at the thought, it was but a fleeting thing that did not distract her from the conversation. Saraphina's mother had served her well in teaching her to nod. As far as Shoshana was concerned, such acknowledgment, though not the amount of enthusiasm she had expected one to show toward the thriving metropolis that was famous Ahnatep, was acceptable. And as an added bonus, no one had been overly offended as of yet. All generally considered to be positive things in a discourse.
What was more exciting was Saraphina's wisdom in being receptive to face paints. The excitement was visible in her eyes as Shoshana pondered. Could they just do it here? Oh, no. She had used the last of her paints, poor planning, that's why she had avoided washing them off her face. It all came together.
The half-Eypharian could have stayed in the bath indefinitely. It was so nice just to soak after her days on the dirty ship. Brine was almost as bad as sand, leaving a salty residue on her, the wind always making her feel unclean, not to mention the sailors' apparent aversion to bathing. But the kelvic was on the move. Water splashed then trickled as she emerged from the waters and sighed. She also began toweling herself dry. Luckily, the room was warm and steamy from the bathwater.
"I....think it is...same," Shoshana responded to whether it would be like clay pots being painted with oil and charcoal. 'Charcoal' was a bit of a strange word, not always used in conversation. "It is a," her fingers rubbed together in a hand gesture like she was sprinkling salt to indicate something powdered, "dust. And it is mixed to make a paint. We...put them like this," she pantomimed using a brush to outline the shape of her eyes, a very practiced motion for her.
The observant attendants were quick to return Shoshana's things. "But I do not have any here. Do you know anywhere to buy them?" She didn't know Saraphina had not been in the city much longer than she had herself, how could she? And still, perhaps the other had passed something. There had been a street, Shoshana remembered, that looked busy. Certainly there would be some face paints there. A tiny voice in her head tried to incite panic by wondering whether shops here would not sell face paints, since they did not seem to be as popular among the people in the city, but it was ignored for the moment.