I am SO glad you liked it! You're the person I most wanted to like it, because of how much work you obviously put into that art. Every time I look at it, I see something new - Uhura's right shoulder, for instance, in the action shot, is just SO spot-on.

The paint... my god, woman, you gave me fits with that. "It can't be paint. People would notice if it was paint. Makeup doesn't last long enough and would take too long to apply stealthily. It has to be at least semi-permanent. But then how do I make it come off? GRAAAAR." I finally found the answer by remembering, of all the weird things, a Star Wars novel in which a character had to break up with his alien girlfriend because he was faintly allergic to her fur, and his sweat was acidic enough to irritate her skin. (Thank you, Mike Stackpole!) From there, I was all "AHA, I CAN HANDWAVE SOME BIOCHEMISTRY!"

I think Gaila didn't tell Uhura much about the prince (who's not really a bad guy, I think. Just a little careless, and a product of his environment.), to protect her a little. She might have gone to sleep anyway, though - busy few days, and she'd been put through Navaar's danceclass-wringer. No matter how much someone wants to stay awake, eventually exhaustion catches up.