[Plot] Wearing the Face That She Keeps in a Jar by the Door

[Katarina Karkov]

"Again, I implore you, Your Highness, to sit still!" Jacques said, exasperated.

"That is easier said than done, Sir Sculptor," Katarina fired back.


Katarina and Jacques were in the art room, Katarina sat perched on a stool in the center. Jacques had an impressive amount of kit laid out, and was carefully attempting to measure...well, everything. Every line, every contour of Katarina's damaged face, comparing them to a wide selection of photos, sketches, and even a bust of the Princess he had brought from home. He had placed a number of white circular stickers on Katarina's face as he tried to completely map the extent of the damage.

They had been going at this for well over an hour.

((open))

[Robin Stanton]

Robin's usually not one to care much for the art room. Not that she doesn't think highly of art in general, but she tends to express herself in other ways. But something's clearly going on inside judging by the noise and arguing, so she strolls in.

"Jacquis-jacques and her Royalness! Sorry, didn't realize you were working in here..."

[Katarina Karkov]

"Her Highness," Jacques said, aggravatedly, as Katarina once more upset his working by jerking her head to the side, both to acknowledge Robin's entrance and to try to hide the damaged part of her face from her.

[Robin Stanton]

"That's what I said, wasn't it?" she brushes off Jacques before turning to Katarina. "You doing okay? Didn't mean to embarrass you by barging in here."

[Katarina Karkov]

"Y...yes, I am. I am fine," Katarina stammered. "We are just...preparing for things, you know how it is."


"Her Highness understands this is very delicate work, I am sure."

[Robin Stanton]

"Yeah, just some angle-grinder surgery, no big. I can stick around if you want, provide some distraction?"

[Katarina Karkov]

"No, I..." Katarina started, and then stopped.

"You are one of the...clay people, yes? You would then have some...experience with these matters?"

[Robin Stanton]

"Ouch. Of all the times I've been lumped in with my Dad, this one... ranks somewhere in the middle. But yeah, suppose I am and I do."

[Katarina Karkov]

"So you will know what this is...what it will feel like, yes? I could use the...comfort of someone to whom this is just, erm, a thing that happens.

Us works of art need to stick together," she said, trying to make a joke.

[Robin Stanton]

"Well, you're a statue in a museum and I'm more of a Banksy on a brick-wall, but sure." she chuckles. "But yeah, this kind of thing is par for the course. Plenty of times I've run into a doorframe or banged my head diving behind the couch and ended up with a big ol' dent or flat face. For me it feels like... flowing or melting. Just smoooooth until it POPS back into shape." she says, clapping her hands. "But metal's a bit harder, so I reckon it'll feel a bit more like really thick caramel. And if he's adding new bits it might be cold and numb for a bit and feel like something's stuck to your face."

[Katarina Karkov]

"He did once add a piece to my leg," Katarina said, hiking her trousers (trousers! Like a peasant!) up just high enough so Robin could see the smooth skin, slightly different than the surrounding area. "It still feels a little...dethatched, I suppose. Not quite numb, but you can definitely tell it is different."

[Robin Stanton]

"Hmm. My guess would be it'll fade the more you from gold to skin and vice versa. But all powers are different. The fact that it's skin at all means it'll probably become more part of you the less you think of it as something external. If that's the case it'll probably be double-important for your face. Lotta people put, like, 95% of their identity in their face."

[Katarina Karkov]

"That does tend to happen when you are put on a stamp," Katarina sighed.

[Robin Stanton]

"Oh it's not just you, but I bet that makes it a lot harder. All the more reason you get your face fixed up how you want and not the perfect ideal of a bust." she says with a glance at Jacques. "Easy trap to fall into. Shoulda seen my first attempts at trying to pretty myself up for a crush. Oof, what a disaster. It's the little blemishes and crinkles and spots that make a face yours. See?" she says, pointing at her own face. "Kept my mouth a little uneven, bit of pores on my nose, the kinda stuff you don't really think about and is real easy to get rid of if you're fixing yourself up."

[Narrator]

"Her Highness' face represents the grandeur and future hope of Symkaria; I shall not be adding imperfections," Jacques said, scandalized.

[Robin Stanton]

"Everyone's got imperfections. Maybe you don't put 'em on a stamp, but you should for sure keep them on a person! You got a selfie? One with no make-up and such? From before your injury?" she asks Katarina.

[Katarina Karkov]

"I do not," Katarina frowned. "Such a thing would not be...fit, should it reach the public," she said, with an an air of frustration.

[Robin Stanton]

"Oh! What about your gi....iiirl friend. The friend who happens to be a girl. Maybe she has one!"

[Katarina Karkov]

"Perhaps," Katarina sighed. "Although I...have tried not to be in too many photos while here. Security, don't you know."

[Robin Stanton]

"Ah, tried does not mean succeeded!" Robin says and fishes a smartphone out of her pocket.

yo jezza
jezamabelles?
j-dog!
you wouldn't happen to have snuck a picture or two of goldie-cheeks
they send an art guy to fix her face but i'm worried he's gonna work of official depictions and shit and make her look all perfect child of symkaria and not like real-her
prolly not a good idea in my expert opinion as a variable body-haver

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

sure
just give me a minute
wait
do you need a picture of her face or her cheeks?
i dont share those kinds of pictures

[Robin Stanton]

i mean
i dont THINK he's working on those but if you want her to have a crazy badonka-donk then nows the time to speak up
i'm trying to govern my country but the clang-clang of my cheeks keeps alerting the doombots ˛˛ƪ(⌾⃝ ౪ ⌾⃝ ๑)و ̉ ̉

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

i could say something about cake and marie antoinette but honestly itd be a bit of a stretch
ill just be a moment
i made sure to turn off cloud synch so that they would stay on my ssd

After a few minutes Robin would get another text with almost dozen images, some surprise candids while a few were selfies with the two of them together, and one image of her asleep on a hoodie-clad shoulder.

these good?

[Robin Stanton]

perfect!

"Alrighty, how about these." Robin says, holding up her phone for Katarina to see and placing it next to Jacques' reference bust. "It's a great statue, but would you want to always look like that?"

[Katarina Karkov]

"I had no idea she took some of those..." Katarina said, quietly.

"We're trying to make a head of state. Quite literally," Jacques protested.

[Robin Stanton]

"She said she kept them off the cloud. And no Jacquzzi, you are trying to make a head of state and maybe you should ask her Royalness what she wants first before you replace one mask with another."

[Katarina Karkov]

"I am afraid that Her Highness is not the only one to refer to here. I do have my orders from the King himself; and considering the state of the country right now, it's very important our symbols remain above approach. Why do you believe he let Her Highness flee the country until this could be repaired?"

"Jacques..." Katarina frowned, hurt.

[Robin Stanton]

"Okay first of all, yikes. Second of all, yikes again because the first one wasn't enough."

"Katarina, what do you want. Because I'm not above delivering a swift kick to the butt of someone trying to mess with someone's face against their wishes, if need be."

[Katarina Karkov]

"I...understand your concerns, Sir Sculptor," Katarina said, clearly on some unstable footing. "But my people also do not wish to be led by a piece in a museum. We must...attempt...to maintain a level of realism, in all things. I understand that my father...has his own concerns, but I would much prefer if you would take a more...reasoned approach to this repair," she said, with a frown, scrunching her forehead.

"I know that my father gave you your commission, but I have never known you to put base concerns over that of your art."

[Robin Stanton]

"Yeah! What she said! Listen to the medium, not the patron. The marble knows what shape the artist seeks to free with his chisel."

[Katarina Karkov]

"Her Highness is gold," Jacques protested.

"And Her Highness is correct, in this case. You will attempt a naturalistic look," Katarina said, with a firm nod, decision having been made.

Jacques sighed. "Very well, Your Highness."

[Robin Stanton]

Robin grins and gives Katarina a big thumbs up.

[Narrator]

"I suppose I have all the measurements I will need,", Jacques sighed. "We will need to melt down much of the surrounding material in order to get a smooth, natural graft, so if Her Highness will prepare, I shall prepare the furnace for her presence."

[Katarina Karkov]

"So soon?" Katarina asked, nervous. "I could have sworn you took longer than this when you took my measurements for the last statue casting..."

"You only feel that way because you are nervous. I assure you, Your Highness, I know exactly what I am doing."

[Robin Stanton]

"You got this. Is turning to gold like clenching a muscle or is it like flipping a switch?"

[Katarina Karkov]

"Nowadays, it is more like flipping a switch, though that is because of the...through training my father had me go through. I believe I shall be able to hold form, however," Katarina said, with a not-quite-full confidence.

[Robin Stanton]

"Well for some people it's literally just a swap and takes no concentration or anything, but you'll do fine. Just like keeping your mouth open at the dentist, yeah? You got this!"

[Katarina Karkov]

"Yes...yes! I believe I do," Katarina said, trying to convince herself more than anyone else.

"Though if you would not mind staying for...more support, I am sure I can find some way to compensate you," she added, abashedly.

[Robin Stanton]

"Oh pish-posh, I don't need compensation for helping out a fellow mutant!"

[Katarina Karkov]

"Just as I do not need compensation for assisting Her Highness," Jacques agreed. ​

"I have taken the liberty of setting up the forge here ahead of time," Jacques explained. "Her Highness' face will serve as a sort of armature; we are going to be filling in the dent in her royal visage with high-quality gold, which we shall weld to the underlying structure. This takes intense heat, and will require us to melt down some of the surrounding structure, so we can better integrate the new material with Her Highness' original matter. It will then be a matter of painstaking precision to re-sculpt Her Highness' likeness to her satisfaction; this will likely take several sessions.

Because of the delicate nature of the work, and the danger, I must restrain Her Highness, so that no sudden movements may cause heat to be applied to areas we wish to remain unmolested," Jacques continued, pointing to a bench with a harness not dissimilar to, say, an MRI coil. "Once the initial work has been completed, then Her Highness will be able to move around freely between finishing sessions,.


"Oh, is that all," Katarina frowned, making her way over. "It seems that you missed your calling, Sir Sculptor; the medieval torture room would have enjoyed your expertise."