Closed Painting Horses [Kellyn Kye]

[Lenz]

72nd of Winter, 513 AV


Lenz had wanted nothing more than to spend the entirety of the day sleeping. She had spent all of yesterday travelling and with the exhaustion that had built up inside of her, she needed to rest. However, she wasn’t a cruel human being and knew that her horse, Ametrine couldn’t spend her time outside the tent in the cold of winter, so with knowledge of a stables in Sunberth, she planned her day accordingly.

She woke up Ipisol, explaining to her everything she was going to do. Tucking her hair behind her ears, the curls impossible to tame, she promised her return.

“Where are you taking her?” Ipisol asked as Lenz slipped on her shoes and buttoned up her coat.

“I’ve heard of this Killroy’s Kennel a little ways in Sunberth and thought that she could stay there while we are in Sunberth.”

“Killroy’s Kennel?” Lenz saw the little girl’s face hinting at an expression of disapproval.

The woman sighed and shrugged. “Where else would we keep her?”

The child thought for a second, contemplating and truly hoping she could come up with a more reasonable and safer option.

“Exactly,” Lenz interrupted, “besides, I’ll be checking up on her every day.”

“Well, I guess that’s good then.”

“When I get back, maybe we can go into town to get something to eat,” Lenz said, stuffing her slender and nimble fingers into her gloves.

“That sounds great,” Ipisol said as she snuggled up in the mounds of blankets that surrounded her.

“I’ll be back soon.” And with that said, Lenz snuck outside, zipping the tent closed behind her.

Ametrine was Lenz’s horse. She had gotten her from a merchant found a little ways outside of Xy, and since she was in desperate need of quicker transportation, and with a small child to be responsible for, Lenz had eagerly purchased her for a hefty fee.

Ametrine was given her name by Lenz, who had heard the name being used to describe the name of a gemstone. Instantly, the genuine beauty of the name stuck with the woman until she named the palomino horse.

The horse’s creamy chocolate coat and vivid, snow white hair were always Lenz’s favourite aspects, and with striking blue eyes and a white birthmark on her upper right shoulder, she was special to her.

The two had shared an interest in one another, the acquaintances they had made with one another soon blossoming into a sort of bond. Ametrine always knew when Lenz was sad or troubled and often came to her aid, trying to cheer her up.

Now, as Lenz’s brown and green eyes looked the horse up and down, her halter tied around the base of a tree, she couldn’t help but feel sad for her.

“I’m sorry I have to do this to you, baby,” she cooed to the creature, untying the rope, “but I think it’s better for you to be in the stables than out here in the cold.”

The horse pushed her muzzle into Lenz’s open hand as if demanding to be stroked as if in farewell. Lenz smiled slightly and did as was requested, taking the halter in her other hand.

The redheaded woman jumped up onto Ametrine, using the horse’s mane as support. Lenz then began to grasp her hold before yanking the halter to the left, directing her in the direction of the stables.

“You’ll be warmer there and I promise to visit you ever day.”

The horse neighed in response.

“Nothing bad will ever happen to you again; you have my word.”

A short bumpy journey followed in a silence that wasn’t awkward, yet not necessarily comfortable either. The air around the two was chilly, yet appreciable given that Lenz had grown somewhat warm inside the tent.

She was feeling slightly uneasy about handing her horse off to someone, but kept telling herself that everything would be alright. She’ll be safe and every day I will keep my eye on her.

The palomino trotted up a small hill in the land before a large establishment, poor in appearance, yet stable enough, came into view. Comparing to all of the other buildings throughout Sunberth, Killroy’s Kennel seemed to be in good repair, which came to Lenz as a surprise.

“That looks like the place,” Lenz announced before jumping down from the horse to walk the rest of the way.

She led the horse into large and spacious area. She followed from the front entrance to the stable that ran around the back of the building. A few horses were roaming around in the small area out front, and some seemed more valuable than others, something Lenz was also shocked to see.

As the woman continued to observe what she had walked into, she saw two rooms on both the left and right-hand side of the place. A few large dogs, their teeth baring at Lenz’s presence were stuck behind a caged exterior. She had also heard about Kelvic’s having special rooms in the basement and couldn’t help but release a shiver.

Overall, Lenz was thoroughly impressed by the way the building was put together, her faith in the services heightening as she continued to look around.

From what Lenz could see, no one else was in the building, so she ended up taking it upon herself to pick out a stall for Ametrine. She walked over to an empty one, her horse following her stride as she did. She took the halter off the animal and set it to the side, slipping back out before shutting the gate to hold the horse inside.

There was still no sight of any owner, and this made Lenz worry a little. She couldn’t leave without getting conformation from the owner first. She needed to pay for her horse’s stay here. So the woman waited patiently, almost hearing the time go by.

Suddenly she noticed a young woman with straight, light blond hair, her eyes an ominous blue, no hint of pleasure or satisfaction brightening them in any way. The woman looked not much older than Lenz, but looks could be deceiving.

She couldn’t possibly be the owner, Lenz thought, returning back to the time where she had heard locals talking amongst themselves about what the owner looked like.

Tentative and not really willing for conversation at the moment, Lenz tried to look distracted, turning to her steed in terms of petting her fine mane.

She had better things to do than wait around all day.

[Kellyn Kye]

Kellyn was staring. It was something of an asset of hers. The young woman was of the firm belief that staring, really staring, was a brilliant skill. Something that a person could improve. Not being at all modest, well, she knew she was a relatively talented starer, going as far to claim at being better than most. The act itself was more than just looking. It was even more than seeing, though that played a part.

Learn how to stare well enough, and things changed. Things, certain things, became more. Some things, well they just had a moreness about them. That was how she could think to describe it. Kellyn, as an artist, spent her time attempting to sketch, draw, paint, or otherwise craft out that very particular and vague quality. Every stroke of charcoal, every smudge on paper. Seeking that moreness, and selling it for others to recognize.

So, strange as it sounded, staring was what kept the liquor pouring and the tobacco packed in her pipe. Oh. And food on the table, of course. Staring brought moreness, and moreness, for Kellyn, brought both money and a sense of doing right.

And right now? She was staring at a horse, and the horse stared back.

She was pretty certain the creature's name was Signe. But honestly, for the moment she didn't care. Her hands were quivering. She fumbled them to the waterskin at her hip. Untied it, raised it to her lips. Took a long, long drink, never looking away from the horse. There was a welcome flush of warmness that spread through her belly and throat. Kellyn wiped her arm across her mouth. Tied the waterskin back around her waist.

Her hands hadn't stopped moving. Now they went to her pocket, grabbed out a simple wooden pipe. Then her shoulders moved and she had shrugged off both the knapsack and the rucksack. The knapsack was set down. The rucksack was searched. Fingers quickly found what they wanted. A little bag of tobacco. A stick of charcoal. Her sketch book, no wait. Her paint book. The paints could stay where they were for now, as could the brushes. First, she'd have to sketch the horse. Only then would come the painting.

Kellyn hadn't stopped staring at the hooved beast, not for an instant. Now she said in a low, commanding voice, "You just stay right as you are. You understand? Be a good pony." The pipe was clenched between her teeth, packed with a pinch of tobacco, and lit expertly. Kellyn took a deep puff, risked breaking eye contact with the horse to find a good place to settle in to draw, and noticed, for the first time, that she wasn't the only person in the stables.

"Oh," she said.

Her very first response was not to make any sort of introduction, as it might have been for most others. In fact, she didn't give introductions any mind. No. Instead she glanced critically over the other, turning some of her flat stare onto the stranger, assessing her qualities. A girl. Younger than herself, Kellyn thought. Copper hair. Eyes that looked tired... Kellyn spared a tick to stare harder. No, it wasn't the eyes that looked tired, just the girl in general. The eyes were looking away. Purposefully so. Perhaps the girl was interested, but didn't want to show it. Or perhaps it was something else entirely.

Her own curiosity wasn't long lasting. In fact, it was replaced quickly by some withering sort of emotion inside her, directed towards the new arrival. Not hostility, though that would be typical. She couldn't help being a native Sunberthan. But no, it wasn't really hostility. Just something close to it. Irritation, maybe. She turned away without another word.

A place to sit... there. There was some sort of stained wooden equipment pushed against the opposite wall. Who knew what for. She perched on it, making certain her belongings were grouped next to her, touching her. The rucksack was gathered onto her lap. The paint book placed on top, and opened to the first empty page, which was near the front. Kellyn turned her gaze back to the horse across from her, ready to sketch.

The creature had looked away, to her displeasure. It was looking idly at the other girl. Kellyn felt the sweet smoke from her pipe rolling from between her lips as she spoke. "Hey," she said, "Eyes over here, won't ya?" The horse looked over at her, docile as anything, and she said, "There you are. Now just hold that. Really. That's good. It's Signe, right?" She picked up the charcoal. Got to doing a prelim outline. Made of vague shapes that looked almost nothing like the animal before her. But they would. Very, very soon, it would come together. There was an unhurried quality to her hand. Unhurried, but still quick.

To the other girl, who Kellyn had not spared another glance, she said, "Do you mind not being too interesting over there? I need this creature," she bobbed her chin in the direction of her horse, "to hold steady. And I'd prefer her gaze... over..."

She trailed off. Kellyn tried again, distractedly, "...over..." It was a weak attempt. The word sounded lost, or maybe confused. A stillness had fallen upon the older girl. All except for her drawing arm, which continued its work. She didn't ever manage to actually finish the sentence. The way she acted, the other girl might as well have ceased to exist. Kellyn had completely forgotten what she had been saying. Who she had been talking to. That she had been talking at all. The pipe shifted to the other side of her mouth, the gently curved stem coming to rest warmly against her cheek.

"Just hold there," she breathed after a moment, her voice low once more. Soothing now, instead of sharp, as it had been before. "Yes, those eyes. They really are something else, Signe." She took a deep breath. "I really do think that's your name. My memory's not... not for that sort of thing, but... Am I right?" Her drawing had already begun to take shape, the vague outline coalescing into a recognizably equine face, along with the soft incline of the neck and shoulder. Soon enough, it would be this particular horse, not mistakable for any other. The current detail was all going into the eyes. Making them deeper, darker, softer. Sadder.

Hmm?

Kellyn paused. Her hand stilled. She peered closer.

Yes. That was it. They looked just quiet and sad, didn't they? Subtle emotion. Waiting there to be noticed.

"I just can't help but... would... you say you feel, in the same way a person does?" she wondered softly. Her brows drew down. "...but of course. What sort of question is that? It's all right here, just right here, isn't it?" She smudged a line, her hands having slowed drastically. It added delicate shadow, shaping the bridge of the nose high up, and there it was. She saw it. Signe the horse, staring dolefully out of the page. Encouraged, Kellyn went to the ears. What a lovely shape. Finished the ears. Did the rest of the nose, adding the whiskers there. The downward sloping of the mouth, just almost a frown. Not a strong one. What was it? Just a sense of... dissatisfaction. Maybe that was it.

Kellyn slipped the book from her lap. She held up the drawing, comparing to the horse in front of her. Put it back down. Added a few stray lines, here and there. Strengthened the shadow near the muzzle. Then held it back up. "Tell me: more, or less?"

Throughout the act of drawing itself, Kellyn had been speaking only to Signe. Now, perhaps for the first time after realizing she had company, she turned her stare back to the redhead. She asked again, clearly, holding out the drawing of the horse for the girl to see, "Really. First impression. More? Or less?"

[Lenz]

Trying to steal another glance at the woman, Lenz observed more than she had wanted to of her. It was like she was an eye sore, but was too beautiful to be considered one. It was so complicated a thought that Lenz had trouble understanding it herself.

The young woman seemed to be unnervingly fidgety, her movements rigid, yet motivated as if she had a withdrawal for whatever she was needing.

She carried a backpack and a rucksack, the shades reminding her of dirt. The woman hastily shook off both and rummaged around in one to extract something that made her face light up. Her eyes suddenly flashed from their natural dull appearance to a bright blue, but soon they dulled again.

Lenz raised her eyebrows as the woman’s eyes never left one of the horses from another stable. The horse was beautiful with a long mane, light in colour. Its coat was dark, its eyes a strange mixture of brown and green, similar to Lenz’s but less noticeable.

The redheaded woman saw the lady looking at her from the other side. As if they were magnets that wouldn’t attract, Lenz snapped her attention away as quickly as she could.

The other woman’s gaze gave her a chill that she couldn’t place, but of course if anyone caught someone looking at them, their initial instinct would be to look away. Embarrassment often flooded through someone first at the thought of what they had done.

Out of the corner of her eye, Lenz watched the woman move to position herself somewhat gracefully on a nearby stool. Her eyes never left the horse in front of her as she pulled out a blank book.

Memories were pondered inside her mind as Lenz recalled trying to be taught how to draw. She wasn’t a good drawer and often became frustrated with herself, causing herself to quit, but the idea was nice.

She was more of a poem person, actually. She liked to look at something and describe it using words that flowed together like a melody sung from a bird. She often used proses that rhymed just because it came more naturally to her. It was easier and when you were trying to explain something coming from your heart, you needed an open mind.

Right at that exact moment, Lenz wished she had an open mind, but something about that other woman made her paranoid. She had mixed feelings, her gaze leveling with the woman and then the horse and then they shifted back to the woman again.

The horse’s attention was drawn from the woman, their staring contest becoming interrupted. As Lenz shifted her line of sight back to the animal again, she found its eyes staring into hers.

It was as if it was trying to read her mind, or steal her soul. Either way, she felt uneasy. Suddenly, like a thunder crack or a strike of lightning sounding from nearby, the blond spoke out, demanding attention, to be looked at again.

For some reason, be it her respectful or motherly traits sticking through, Lenz recoiled, disturbed by the use of the woman’s voice. Her tone was hostile and aggressive, like she wanted to beat the creature. However, Lenz assumed her to be a local, and retracted her previous assumptions.

As the horse’s attention transferred over to the commanding voice, so did Lenz’s. It was just natural to look at the person in the room who was speaking. Lenz had been raised a polite and respectful girl and although those traits were helpful, they were also a curse to her at times.

"Do you mind not being too interesting over there?” the older woman’s voice rang out again. The sound wasn’t necesaarily rough, but it wasn’t soothing either. It held an edge as if she could hold higher authority on anyone else who thought to stand up against her.

A part of Lenz appreciated that about her, but another part of her hated it. She hated feeling lesser to someone else, for she had always been the better person in any situation. It was in her blood to be older and act older.

“ I need this creature to hold steady,” she continued, the pipe she had put in her mouth, the thing she was restless in trying to get out of her backpack, switching to the other side of her mouth.

“And I'd prefer her gaze... over..."

Eager to listen to what the woman had left to say, Lenz took a timid step forward, leaning ever so slightly forward, anticipating her next words. When none came, frustration swarmed around her like bees attacking a predator to their honey.

You don’t just cut off what you’re going to say, Lenz shouted inside her mind. It was like she was expecting the other person to ask her what she was going to say so that she could have more attention. Lenz despised people who did that. Those people ranked close to the ones who stole and killed in her book.

Trying to peer over the edge of the book the woman was doodling in, Lenz caught a glimpse of an outline of the horse.

Signe, she said to herself. The woman had been rambling on about trying to remember whether or not that was the horse’s name. What an unusual name, Lenz thought when she came to think of it. It was unusual like hers, more or less.

Suddenly the woman held up her work. She had only been using a dark charcoal stick to outline, highlight and shade the figure on the paper.

Lenz’s eyes lit up, a latent smile pulling at the corners of her mouth. She licked her bottom lip as she quizzically observed the sketch. Everything was porprtional as if the horse had been taken from reality and put inside the woman’s art book.

“Wow,” she whispered as the woman asked her for her opinion.

At first, Lenz pointed to herself in question. Was she really talking to her? After all, it had been as if she was an intruder, distracting her from her drawing. But the two girls’ eyes were locked onto one another with such ferocity Lenz almost thought they were in a battle of stares.

She lost.

“I think it looks wonderful,” she said, taking a few tentative steps closer to the woman before thinking it would be appropriate to introduce herself.

“My name is Lenz and that’s my horse over there,” she said as she pointed to the palomino who stood boring holes into the back of her owner’s skull.

“You’re really good at drawing.” The compliment kind of hung in the air like a bad smell that wouldn’t dissipate. She didn’t know what else to say, so she kind of shut down, her shoulders falling a little bit.

She didn’t know anyone in the city and her hopes were high as she wished that could change. Perhaps this woman would be her first friend?

Thinking it was best to continue, she brought up the topic of her arrival.

“I just came in the other day. I was just taking my horse to the stables so that she has a place to stay while I do,” and as if the answer wasn’t obvious she added, “What are you doing here?”

Lenz so wanted to face palm herself right now.

Secret :

I felt like I just restated everything that just happened. Sorry about that, but I'm sure the next posts will be significantly shorter due to the conversation that I see unfolding between the two!

[Kellyn Kye]

The girl seemed to have taken Kellyn's question as an invitation. She introduced herself as Lenz. Kellyn would surely forget her name within the bell. Trying to remember the horse's was hard enough. Signe, she reminded herself idly, though it was likely useless. Her mind just really wasn't for that sort of thing. She would do better just getting on with it and calling the horse what it was: Horse.

No doubt, though, was that she would remember some things. The girl's vibrant hair, for one. Such a striking, bright color. Now that was where Kellyn's memory lie. In the shouting or subtlety of hue. She would also be able to recall for a long, long time that tentative... hmm, uncertain, almost pitiably hopeful look on the other girl's face. Not that it was a loud look. Just an uncommon one. Hope wasn't something you saw much in Sunberth.

Actually, not really at all.

Sitting where she was, Kellyn scooted up a little straighter. Her face brightened with quick interest. Yes, that was right. Hope was a novelty here, especially in Winter. When the starved and frozen dead littered the streets and fed the ratty splendor of the gutter city, and you were like as not to recognize someone you knew lying trampled underneath uncaring feet. Hope was rare as a gem. Belonging, like most of the riches, to outsiders. From those whose pockets had not yet been emptied of it.

The thought now was that she might possibly borrow a little for herself.

"Uh. Lenz, you said, right?" Kellyn's voice had changed, become more hesitant. Regardless of tone she didn't wait for the other to agree or disagree. She simply continued on. "Can you hold onto that look for a moment? That face you're making?" Not even a tick had passed and she sighed. "Nope. There it goes. Gone."

She should have known better. Kellyn's mouth twisted. She took an unhappy puff of smoke and sent it spiraling out into the brisk air. Asking someone completely unprepared to hold still was likely to set them immediately to moving. Faces shifted with emotion-- of course she knew that. So to tell someone to 'hold' a face was to make them wonder why... and of course the wondering itself would end up petching the whole thing. It was only natural.

She would have to go about things an entirely different way.

"Alright." The artist moved, suddenly flipped pages. The newly drawn sketch of the horse was put to rest for a moment. Kellyn could be fickle about these things, but when inspiration struck... well, there was no denying it. It was something of a vice of hers, among others. She removed the pipe from her lips to take a hurried swig of ale from her waterskin, then placed it delicately once more between her teeth. Once done, her stare focused more directly on the girl before her.

Fresh page waiting, her hand gently went to sketching out the fiery mane of curls, framing the outline of a thin but shapely face. This time, trying on another technique as it struck her, Kellyn didn't bother using vague shapes to organize. She simply dived in, skeptical eyes hard, and then growing softer as she drew.

"You're not from here, are you?" she asked, and was surprised by the sympathy in her own voice. Her hand traced graceful curlicues of red (black on paper), a simple delight to weave and toss and braid together in charcoal. "You said you just came in the other day, didn't you? It must have been tough riding. You look tired." Yes, tired. But still... Kellyn had seen hope. She tried to touch on that again, to bring it about. "I can tell," she continued, "You're not coming home. Sunberth doesn't really spit out people like you. And if it does, well. They don't come back to be chewed on again. My own brother was like that. Trust me," she said, and smiled ironically, "when I say I'll never see him home again. And all the better for him."

"You ask what I'm doing here? Right now, sketching. Looking to see something a little more, and I think I have already. Twice. I came here, however, because... Signe...? Well, the one with the deep, gloomy eyes over there, she's mine now. And I don't know anything about horses. So maybe I came to tell her she's going to have to tough it out until I can learn on my own. Or get myself a little help." Her right shoulder shrugged upwards as she spoke. She allowed it as it wasn't connected to her drawing arm. The left continued puzzling out a mass of tendrils of hair.

Said hair was certainly more artfully designed than Kellyn's own. By far. She just let hers do what it liked when it liked. Shoved a hat on top. This girl's-- oh, her name was already fading, Lindsey? No, that wasn't right. Lenna? Um, well... whatever her name, the redhead's hair looked cared for. Another thing uncommon in Sunberth, unless there was a good reason for it.

"Actually, I'm interested in why you came. Not here to the stables. You already said your reason for that was to tend to your own darling creature. Really, I'm wondering why you've come to Sunberth. Certainly you know what it's like here, don't you?" Her voice sounded curious, far more than it had before.

[Lenz]

Lenz felt a small breeze dance with her hair. It led as a few strands of the scarlet curls flew into her eyes and partially open mouth.

She had felt her lips curl slightly, one of her eyebrows raised a little higher than the other. A small crease had appeared in the centre of her forehead, right in between her eyebrows and her nose was barely crinkled.

She was both confused and amazed, admiring the woman before her, yet misunderstanding her body language, tone of voice and personality. Not everything, but many things had been given to her from their first impression. She just hoped she was pleasant enough to her as she thought she was.

When the woman asked her to stay still, her facial expression to remain like it was, Lenz couldn’t help but twitch slightly. She started to think about how she was looking, which in turn threw off the entire appearance.

It was like asking someone not to think of a pink elephant, but the person almost always thought of a pink elephant. Something with the brain and how it works, but Lenz didn’t know that. Hardly anyone did.

Lenz gazed at the woman, a new expression replacing the old. Her eyes squinted considerably; the corners of her mouth raised a fraction. Her lips portrayed a smile of someone who was trying their best not to.

She was fascinated by the determined look on the woman’s face and her passionate interest in art. She was good at it too, from what Lenz had seen her capable of creating.

The horse piece was astonishing, but she knew that if she were to try to do something like that the entire thing would end up in a big, black smudge. Admiration welled up inside of the woman as she continued to observe her fellow acquaintance.

"You're not from here, are you?" the woman suddenly asked, throwing Lenz off guard. The silence that had settled around the two had caused some sort of ease until it was pierced like a balloon with a needle.

Well, no she wasn’t from here, but frankly if the woman was trying to get an answer out of her as to where she was from, she didn’t have one.

There was no possible way that she would tell such a stranger what she was running from. Even explaining to her where she was born made her feel uncomfortable. It made her feel like she had no more secrets to keep hidden.

"You said you just came in the other day, didn't you?” she continued, her eyes leaving the fresh piece of paper she had flipped to. “It must have been tough riding. You look tired."

Did she look tired? Lenz tried to see out the corner of her eyes, to try to notice if there was anything she could see that made her look like she had been out travelling all day yesterday or even for the past few seasons if that were visibly true.

She titled her head as the woman went on, her chilling explanation of Sunberth and the personal experience she had had with her brother making the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

That wasn’t going to happen to her, though, was it? It’s not like she had any home to return to, really, but if she had finally succumbed to facing her fears and returning back to Kenash, would she be able to?

She continued to dwell on that thought for a moment before shooting her gaze towards the woman’s horse. She was beautiful, yet the idea that she didn’t even know the creature’s name was a little disturbing.

Lenz was too personal like that. She didn’t like it if someone was being mistreated even if it was just their name being forgotten. She was all about protecting the people who couldn’t protect themselves and it irritated her skin and even her mind when she had to witness something wrong being done and she couldn’t help it.

The horse was beautiful, Signe was the name. Lenz took a glance at her own horse again and dared to compare. Ametrine was a little on the more muscular side of things when someone was telling a difference and the colour of their coats and manes weren’t even similar.

She wasn’t a horse person, but had come accustomed to taking care of her horse during her trip from Xy to Sunberth. She had made a bond with Ametrine and the two got along quite well with another, so when the woman mentioned not having much knowledge in the area, Lenz instantly perked up.

However, the questions, rhetorical or not, still lingered in the stagnant air. It was beginning to get a little cold, the breeze still trying to give her hair a licking. It nipped at her nose and made her eyes sting a little bit.

“No, I’m not from around here,” Lenz said, trying not to give too much away. She didn’t even like to remember her past, so why would she spill it to someone she hardly knew?

Just what Lenz had tried to avoid, the woman persisted in knowing the reason behind the redhead’s arrival.

She ended up sighing, leaning against the side of her horse’s stable. She gazed into the woman’s curious eyes and held them for a few moments. Her own eyes smouldered, the brown, green hues dancing like embers in a fire.

What to say, what to say? Reject and deflect, wasn’t that a reasonable alternative than speaking the truth? She didn’t like to lie, so that was certainly out of the equation, but deflecting the topic off of her was surely ideal.

“I was just wandering the wilderness looking for a place to start over,” she said, adding a shrug of her own. “I just happened to find sea and here I am now.”

It was a tale very simply stated, and although it wasn’t vast in detail, it would hold and hopefully it wouldn’t be brought up again. It was like a sin to speak of her past, so Lenz tried her best not to, for it was much too painful.

Relieving herself of her leaning position, Lenz started to walk over to the woman, glancing over her pad of paper to see what she was drawing.

What was already represented gave her high assumptions that made her feel warm. Is that a picture of me? she asked herself, a smile hinting at her chapped lips.

Lenz folded her arms, but it was in a way of relaxation and in no means meant to be hostile or reclusive. She had a few questions of her own, but first she was about to offer up a suggestion.

“I could help you with Signe, you know. I may not be very good with animals, but Ametrine and I… we’ve bonded over the seasons and I’ve learned a thing or two. But…”

And now the woman was leaning farther over the other woman’s current artwork, her hand stopping mid-stroke as if from surprise at Lenz’s sudden mood change. This was where things got interesting, something Lenz had never dared done before.

“…but you have to tell me your name-“ she paused for a second or two- “and you have to teach me some of that colourful sorcery you have going there.”

Lenz smiled vaguely, her hint at an exchange of knowledge overwhelming the frigid air around her. Her skin began to grow warm. She wasn't shy at confrontation and would often jump to someone's aid when needed, but when it wasn't necessary, she often doubted herself.

However, she kept a smile on her face, her emotions never faltering as she waited for the woman's reply.

Interesting indeed...

[Kellyn Kye]

She was caught up in shading. It was the hair. Taking up her attention. She hadn't done the face yet, of course. She needed the right expression. But for now, simply the hair was enough. Kellyn felt herself tangled in it. Each loop, each little whirl, needed individual consideration. When one was done, it was simply to get right to the next, without stop. She was almost finished with it, actually. She almost had it.

There. The hair was done. Kellyn gently smoothed one cheek on the paper, readying for the features to be added. Then looked up. Straight across from her. Where the girl was--

Was not.
The voice a moment later came from right beside her. Kellyn's drawing hand jerked to a halt. Her other jumped to her waterskin, unthinkingly. A deep inhale from the pipe set her at ease once more. So did a swig of drink, heady and reassuring.

“I could help you with Signe, you know. I may not be very good with animals, but Ametrine and I… we’ve bonded over the seasons and I’ve learned a thing or two. But…”

“…but you have to tell me your name-“ There was a pause. “-and you have to teach me some of that colourful sorcery you have going there.”

Kellyn turned her head. Looked straight into the other's eyes.

"Have you heard of personal space?" she asked evenly, as if the girl actually might not have. "Get back." Her tone of voice was reasonable. Pleasant, even. "You, right now, are too close. To my thinking and many others', this means you're trying to take something of mine. If not something that belongs to me in a physical sense, then something that does so intangibly: my personal space. I won't have you wrest anything from me that I don't want to give. So get back."

She waited for the girl to give some room with a purposefully patient look on her face. Then continued smoothly, as if she had not stopped.

"Thieving involves much. Much more than just silver and gold and gems. My name is my own. My knowledge, my own. My interests are my own. Along with my personal space, you've just tried to take all of those away from me. Tried to steal them all away."

"I don't have a lot. What I do have is an excellent sense of what is mine, and what could or should be mine. You demand a lesson? Here it is." She smiled to match the girl's vague expression. Yellowish smoke drifted out from between her teeth, stinging past her eyes. "Everyone is trying to take something in this city. But nobody, nobody wants to be taken from."

"So, let's try this again. Neither of us here has to feel as if they are being forced, or robbed. My name is Kye. My interest is in your knowledge of horses. My knowledge is of drawing, sketching. A bit of painting, too. Would you like to make a fair exchange? Or would you attempt to take from me what is rightfully mine once more?"

She looked steadily over at the girl, then took another drink of her waterskin to soothe her throat. She was not used to talking so much to others. It seemed she did more and more of that these days. Another couple of things that a person could steal from her. Her words, her time. Unfortunately, there was not much to do but let those things be taken.

OOCSorry for the terrible writing.
Hopefully it's passable.

[Lenz]

Lenz’s eyes glazed over, the multi-coloured irises churning in the heat of her anticipation. A smirk had slid onto her lips subconsciously before she wiped it away with the back of her hand.

The immediate reaction the woman gave her was not one she had predicted. It was certainly shocked and unsuspecting, but daringly hostile. This girl had had her fair share of time spent in the harsh environment of Sunberth alright.

"Have you heard of personal space?" Her voice ignited a fire in the redhead’s stomach. She felt her throat clench up as her memory reverted back to times spent in her home town.

The voice was oddly familiar. It was one of authority and power and the maturity it held sent a cold sweat suffocating her skin. Her breathing grew shallow as she tried her best to recall whom the voice belonged to. Nothing came to her, and this made her furious.

"Get back." Her tone of voice was strong and defiant, like she knew more than she looked like she did. It made Lenz feel inferior, but it also gave her respect for the lady and her protest to protect her space.

Lenz took a few steps back, the smile still latched onto her face. She didn’t know where she was getting such a feisty attitude from, other than in terms of showing the locals that she wasn’t someone to mess with on her first day in town.

She made sure to hold her hands up in surrender, a latent truce wavering in the air above them. She puffed out her cheeks in defense before she frowned slightly, her lips puckering as the expression showed one of uncaring, yet attentive understanding.

The girl’s scarlet hair blew in the breeze once more, her eyes cold, her facial features rigid. Her posture was stoic, as she too, tried to maintain what was rightfully hers.

“Sure,” she said finally, the words igniting fire from between her teeth.

“I’ll play by your rules, even if it is Sunberth after all.” She spat the cities name out like it was stale bread.

Her hard gaze matched the other woman’s as her name met her ears. Kye, a sensible, yet tough name, something Lenz would never have thought her name to be. It was a good thing she had asked and that she had answered, or else she would have gone by the term ‘woman’ for far longer than what was necessary.

“Would you like to make a fair exchange? Or would you attempt to take from me what is rightfully mine once more?"

Those last two questions rang like bells inside her mind. A fair exchange or an attempt to take away from her once more.

Lenz’s eyes turned to slits as she contemplated what had set Kye off. Sure, she had come far too close to the woman than she had planned, but she had remembered to maintain a sensible amount of space for the woman to feel somewhat comfortable in. She wasn’t a total brute.

Another thing that was worth introducing was that fact that Kye didn’t seem all that much like a local as Lenz had thought she was. She seemed to have high expectations of everyone she met or otherwise would through a fit. Sunberth was the land of lawless thugs and it wasn’t un-thought of.

And Lenz made sure she made this clear.

“I see you’re one of high standards, huh?” She didn’t understand what had gotten into her. She wasn’t being offensive, she was just stating the facts she saw and her opinions about them. However, something in her made her seem much tougher than she really was.

“I respect that,” she added to sooth the feeling that the two were slowly drawing to the side of foes rather than friends.

“I see that you haven’t let go of your opinions on personal space. Surely you would have been deprived of such things long before now though, am I right?”

Lenz started to twirl her crimson curls around her index finger as she returned to her position leaning back on one side of her horse’s stable.

“I’m impressed that you didn’t let me get away with such things. I really am. I am especially enthralled that you had stood up to reserve the property of you name. Most would either make up an alias or not say anything at all. You didn’t back down. That’s… something.”

Lenz smiled again, her head cocking to one side before she licked her chapped lips.

“I may not have been in Sunberth for more than a day, but I know how life works. Life isn’t all fun and games and much of it is lived in failure until you make something of yourself. Life steals things from you and its increasingly hard to steal it back. You’re a strong woman,” she continued making sure that she stood as still as she could without seeming timid. She didn’t want the woman to get the impressed that she had been scared off.

“It’s important to demonstrate that to people. That is one of the most important attributes in people I tend to favour. I’ve been through some of my own difficult times, but strength and hope were the things that kept me going. There is no doubt in my mind how you have survived all on your own.

She wanted to make sure she didn’t sound like she was labelling Kye as sensitive, frail and insignificant in being able to take care of herself, so she made that clearly stated.

“I’m not stating anything offensive. I deem all people as equals until I get better acquainted with them. You strike me as a passionate and responsible person; one who takes charge and who doesn’t back down from a challenge.”

She then titled her head forward, her eyes slitting, but only partially this time.

“I would also like to learn some of those traits from you as well.”

She was testing Kye. Over all, it was unusual and astonishing that her responses held such indifferent outcomes than Lenz had initially expected.

She liked this woman and thought that if the two were to get over the suspicious and hostile barrier, the two would become great friends.

“So yes,” she began again, “I would love to barter with you if you will allow it. I would never intend to infringe upon anything you claim as rightfully yours. I’m not like any of the other people in Sunberth. I only like to state my true worthiness in the beginning.”

She blinked a few times, her line of sight never wavering from the Kye's.

She wondered if the name she had given was indeed an alias, that or a surname rather than a first name. The name was strange, giving her much doubt, but she had heard stranger before.

She didn't dwell on it much longer. She had more important things to deal with at the moment, for instance, she had to mend together the aggression she had provoked upon Kye.

"Life's too short to be taken advantage of. Everyone needs to stick up for themselves and others."

She sighed then and stopped playing with her hair. She stood up straight and clasped her hands together in front of her stomach. Her smile was no longer a mischievous smirk but a heart-felt grin.

“That’s important you know.”

Secret :

Don't worry, your reply was fine. You did, however, make it difficult for me to reply to something like that. There were so many different responses I could have made Lenz say, but in the end I made sure things continued to play on a good note. I hope things continued to go smoothly.

[Kellyn Kye]

The girl stepped away. Which was good. Kellyn took a drink, and with it noticed the heady buzz of the liquor glowing slightly in her mind. And her belly. Spreading slowly throughout the rest of her body, too. It felt like a trembling, but that wasn't exactly right. After all. She was quite certain she was not shaking. Her hands seemed steady enough to her. It only felt like she was quivering. She need not worry. She was steady.

Backed away from her, the girl said something about high standards. Kellyn paid little attention to it, until: “I see that you haven’t let go of your opinions on personal space. Surely you would have been deprived of such things long before now though, am I right?”

"So you suggest that I simply accept that my space will be violated without fight. Because 'why bother.' Is that it?" Kellyn shook her head. "How about you try that? I'm sure all the fellows of Sunberth will appreciate your passivity. I'm sure many of them would like to get close to you, if you'd let them. As would all the pickpockets of the city."

She stared over at the girl, Linds?, and studied the hand as it twirled a lock of the red hair. Linds? continued to speak without interruption, as Kellyn did not bother to comment. Not for the moment. Might as well let her company get what she wanted to say out, and done with. While that happened, Kellyn took in the slim shape of palm meeting wrist, the gentle curve of the knuckles, the long, delicate fingers, which had somehow been kept clean despite the filth of the city.

On a whim, the hand was incorporated slowly into the sketch. It appeared, with a bit of tricky maneuvering, amongst the curls at the side of the head. Where Kellyn saw the real hand as a show of some sort of, what, contempt? Agitation? A sign of irk? On paper, with a bit of clever placement, it was nothing of the sort. With her help and a bit of imagination as to where it should go and what it should look like (easier to do with the model right in front of her), the gesture came across as gentle. Maybe even hesitant, the way it hovered so close to the cheek, fingers curled in towards the palm. It looked as if at any moment it might move to lightly touch the as-yet-undrawn mouth. An action that would hint of thoughtfulness, or of simple wonder.

Something that the girl was saying caught at Kellyn's attention more than the rest. She tilted her head to the side, tucking her hair behind her ear as she did. It was a bit about what the girl thought of Kellyn. The doodling artist repeated the chosen words back to herself as they were spoken, her lips barely moving. A muttering under her breath, in a questioning, almost sarcastic tone. Certainly they were pronounced too lowly for Lenz? to hear. "Strength? Passion? Responsibility?" Was that really what the other thought? And even, maybe for a moment, the younger girl was suggesting that Kellyn, Kellyn of all people, had "Hope?"

She felt herself smiling wryly. Amused by the description of herself, going over each point again. The strength was right, if one was referring to strength of will, of nerve. The rest, well. She supposed she had passion for her sketching. Responsibility? She didn't see that in herself. A drunk could hardly be considered responsible. And certainly there was no hope within. That had gone. Or, more likely, had never been. Not in Kellyn. Someone as barren as she had no use for hope.

But others did. That was clear when she looked up and there it was, shining for a moment in the girl's lovely teeth. The smirking expression that had been on Lenz?'s face, which Kellyn had dismissed out of hand, had left. A smile had settled in place. Kellyn saw it. She saw the hope there, just a flicker, and she stared harder. Searching. Finding. Yes. There it was. That there was an expression that spoke of possibility. For an instant, jealousy, hideous and lightning-fast, flared through her. But then Kellyn took a long draw on the smoking wooden pipe, and whatever envy she had momentarily felt towards the other girl went out, expelled with her breath.

There was something else, though, that wouldn't leave. Something else trying to make itself known. And then Kellyn realized. "Oh," she said. Suddenly getting it.

This whole speech that Lenz? had been saying. The praise that had seemed to reluctantly come. The civility. The nicety. Kellyn suddenly understood. The girl was acting sociably towards her. That was why she had backed away without complaint when Kellyn had asked, hands raised in silent placation. That was why she had outlined her perceptions concerning the positive quirks of Kellyn's generally rude and ignoble character. That was why she had said the things about strength and passion and whatnot. That was why she was now smiling.

She was hoping to get along.
She was hoping to get along.

Kellyn's own self-indulgent smile dropped from her face, replaced by a set of concentration. She took in Lenz?'s smile, sharply, critically, seeing how it sat prettily upon the tired face. The way it rested upon the cheeks. The way it shaped the eyes. The lines it created, and those it smoothed. How it stretched the lips. Her hand set to making quick markings, in case the smile would go. Preserving it. She had the shape of the mouth down. She added the vague outline of the nose, which could be added to later. The eyebrows were important. The eyes perhaps most of all, even above the actual shaping of the smile itself. The eyes were what held the most emotion. She had seen that in Sammie?, no. Well. In Horse earlier. It was true in people, too.

After a few long ticks, the frenzy of her hand died a little. The tightness of expression loosened once more. She even smiled, a crinkle of her nose. She had set out the layout of the expression. Had memorized the rest. Now, she could fill in detail at leisure. No longer did she have to worry so much about whether or not the girl would bring forth her hope again for Kellyn to see. The image of that smile had been etched into her mind by careful scrutiny, observation. By her excellent staring. It would be copied onto paper, possibly within chimes, and as accurately as she knew how.

"Life's too short to be taken advantage of. Everyone needs to stick up for themselves and others. That’s important you know.”

"What I know is that a person should attend to themself. I just can't see how others should come into it. Or why they should." Kellyn's voice was distracted, a replication of how it had been earlier when she had been drawing Signe?. There was one noticeable difference, however. Though her words were still somewhat adverse --who was the girl to tell her what should be important?-- the hostile tone had gone out of them. They were airy, yet sure. Simply stating what Kellyn herself knew to be true: an individual cared about themself. What she said wasn't an attempt to force the other to think like her. It was as it seemed, a bit of conversation.

She continued plainly in explanation. "Let others deal with their own lives, and things never need get complicated. You and me, for instance. I have my own interests at heart: learning something useful about horses. You have your own interests at heart: learning something useful about art. We can work together, briefly. But I don't see how it's necessary for either one of us to internalize the other's self-interest.

"That being said... if we're going to do this, we should get to it." The words tasted abrupt, but it was getting damn cold in the stables. Her fingers were certain to get stiff and fumbling soon. Her nose already felt red with chill. "I'll let you decide who is doing what first. If you choose your first role to be of the student, then ask whatever questions may come into your head. Or request whatever demonstrations you deem necessary. I will do my best to enlighten you." Her spirits had lifted a bit, resulting in this sudden show of generosity and relative politeness. She knew it had to do with the amount of spirits currently invigorating her. And also with the smile she had gotten from the other. The look of hope which was translating nicely, even as they spoke, to paper.

[Lenz]

The redheaded woman let her eyelids fall so that they were nothing but slits. Her hazel shaded irises were still barely visible as she scrutinized the other woman with her hostile glare.

She was turning her words around. She was assuming things that weren’t correct, but Lens supposed that she might have done the same thing without meaning to. All she had wanted was the come here and make sure that her horse had a nice place to stay while she took her time as a resident in Sunberth.

She had never expected she would come face to face with such an unruly being such as Kye. She kept taking drinks from her canteen and by the way she fidgeted and the way the words trembled out of her mouth, Lenz questioned whether or not what she drank was water or something much stronger.

Either way, rope started to tie itself in knots inside her stomach. A small sneer spread across her lips, something she would never have done until now. The people here were misleading and negative, and thus far, Lenz didn’t have a good first impression.

She wanted out of what she had walked herself into.

“You think I meant everyone would simply stand by as their items were stolen? That is an incorrect assumption my dear. I was merely stating that I have high pride for how much hope you still have. I have heard things about this place, and frankly I have seen much wrong here and it sets fire in my heart to watch it happen.

“So, no, I was not trying to give off the feeling that you were a passive bystander. I was simply stating an opinion that wasn’t biased. I’m sorry if you took it the wrong way. It seems like many people here do.”

Lenz uncrossed her arms and walked backwards a few steps. It felt as if the space around her was shrinking. If there were walls surrounding her, they would have been touching her on all sides. She was feeling claustrophobic and needed her space. How ironic was that?

“I understand that it’s difficult to see the positivity in others and I understand how it may be challenging to think what someone says is sincere and not a lie, but I tell you the truth. I mean no disrespect. I have not come here to offend you.”

The woman with scarlet hair set her back to a post on the right side of Ametrine’s stable. She slid down it until she was in a squatting position. She felt rather relaxed, the tension from her shoulders leaving her. Her eyes, however, were the opposite; they continued to stare into Kye’s blue ones.

“I rather find your accusations offensive now that we get down to it. You think I am a weak, passive individual when in reality I can take care of myself. You and I are similar in the fact that we won’t go down without a fight.”

As Lenz continued to speak, she couldn’t help but notice Kye’s arm motioning in different shapes. She let her hand guide strokes in her pad of paper, but this didn’t satisfy Lenz. She was unamused and frustrated. It was as if the other woman was hardly acknowledging her presence. Her work must have been more important in her mind than talking to someone.

Couldn’t she take a break for a second and carry on a common conversation or was it too irrational and difficult for her?

She wished nothing more than to walk away from all the problems she was having. They wafted around her and suffocated her with their dark clasp. She wished that the woman would stop drawing her, but what would she do? Just walk away?

After thinking over that idea for a few moments, she found that it wasn’t such a terrible idea. She could just walk away and never come back here again when the other girl was here. Although, something stronger nagged at the back of her mind. She couldn’t leave her horse here, especially with Kye here. She didn’t trust her and to have something of hers here alone with such a person gave her the chills.

No, she would stay and wait it out. She would hopefully find something much more interesting to do with her time until it was safe to leave and return back to camp. She wished that things would go smoother as she got accustomed to the locals of the city.

This was a high doubt to her, though. She doubted every word she spoke to herself and with doubt came grief, and the kind that was often mixed with sadness and frustration.

Why couldn’t things be easy for her for once? She had just travelled for many seasons from the worst place in Mizahar and this is where she is greeted with? How traumatic is all of this in her personal story of life?

Suddenly a few choice words were muttered from the other party. Lenz felt her cheeks flare, her immediate reaction being what anyone would have done and thought.

She’s talking about me isn’t she? And with a smirk plastered onto her lips, Lenz gave more trust in that assumption.

Shortly after, Lenz noticed a change in both of Kye’s expression and body language. As Lenz’s eyes narrowed again, she noticed a small halo of colour radiating off of the woman’s skin. It surrounded her like an outline the woman had once been drawing.

Upon closer expection, Lenz’s head hurting as she strained to focus, she noticed that the colour was dismissing from a faint red to a mixture of faded purple and teal. It was a warmer mood, one of understanding as if she was perceiving things in a different perspective.

Lenz smiled warmly this time, all aggressive smirking and sneering diminished from her usual kind face. Her arms were no longer crossed over her abdomen and her squatting position fell into a sitting position, her legs crossed over one another as her rear hit the floor gently.

She too tilted her head, matching that of the other woman’s. What is she thinking about now? Lenz asked herself quietly, her focus shattered.

Much energy had been drained from her whilst she had taken all of her attention in trying to read Kye’s aura. Now, she was just trying to read her mind. Of course this was bizarre and daft considering that no one could do such a thing from what Lenz knew.

But then the woman abruptly dropped her head and sketched a few more details on her models’ persona. Disappointment fled through the redheaded female. She really thought some sense and socialization had been knocked into Kye.

Even though she wasn’t paying much attention to Lenz, Kye continued to try to continue the faultering conversation spent between the two.

"What I know is that a person should attend to themselves. I just can't see how others should come into it. Or why they should,” she said, her voice muffled as it hid behind the paper she drew on.

Lenz’s sunken shoulders and dropped head quickly shot up. “I completely agree, however I think that in times of need, it is reasonably considerate for one to help another. Some people try to help themselves, but cannot whatever the case may be. It may not be another’s duty, but there needs to be some kindness and consideration in the world for it to continue to thrive.”

With a foot sticking out in front of her, she scuffed the floor, making sure she added, “But that’s just my opinion,” to her statement.

Kye’s mouth continued to move, but most of the words that left it passed in one ear and out the other. Lenz had become distracted by what exactly, she didn’t know. Had it been the way she was scuffing the floor in front of her? Was it the future she was preparing for? Was it her last opinionated response she had given to the other woman? It was all a blur to her, but one sentence caught the attention of her distracted ears.

"That being said... if we're going to do this, we should get to it."

Get to what? She tried to patch together each of the sections she had heard until she came up with a reasonable explanation of what she had been told.

The air around the couple had significantly become friendlier. Lenz was no longer as wary of Kye as she had been when the two had met. This didn’t mean, however, that she still had her eyes and ears out for anything suspicious. The woman seemed to be easily angered, yet somewhat easy to calm down. It was as if her emotions weren’t stable. Her balanced didn’t deem itself stable either.

“Alright,” Lenz started, taking in the Kye’s ideas, “That sounds like a fair plan.”

She stood up and traipsed over to her new instructor, asking in the most polite way she could muster if she could be taught the arts first.

“I promise you as in fair trade that I will help you with your horse,” she added, standing to the seated woman’s side, waiting patiently for the first thing she would be taught.

She hoped she wouldn’t mess up too much or seem like a disappointment in Kye’s eyes. That would only set a fiery explosion to the recently neutral feel they had just reached only moments ago. And she really didn’t want that.

“Where shall we begin?”

[Kellyn Kye]

It was a good thing Kellyn had memorized that brief but genuine smile. It was gone quickly. Replaced by a sneer. Upturned lip. Glaring flash of teeth. Wrinkled nose and brow. No doubt in response to Kellyn's own remarks.

She found a sort of comfort in the girl's attack, though. Found it easier to focus on her when her voice came more sharply. The realization that the other might have been trying to be, what, friendly? That had been disconcerting. Had made Kellyn take pause, and reconsider what was happening here. Coming back into the realm of cutting tongues and mean expressions. That was easier. That was expected. That was something she could make sense of.

Lenz?'s words mostly breezed over her, though Kellyn felt some annoyance at certain terms. My dear was something that made her skin crawl. It was like the brush of large, rough hand across the back of her neck. And once again, the girl stated that Kellyn had hope. Couldn't she see that was completely untrue? Kellyn drew, and drank. Ate whatever shitty food she could rummage up. Lived in the mud and squalor. Hope didn't factor into her life at all. She knew there was nothing out there for her but more of the same. She might find moreness in others. She might be able to copy it down and sketch it out pretty and bare and blunt so that her customers might see. But there was nothing more in herself. And there was nothing more out there for her, either.

What there was was here and now.
And here and now, the somehow mild but confrontational tone was confusing her.

“I rather find your accusations offensive now that we get down to it. You think I am a weak, passive individual when in reality I can take care of myself. You and I are similar in the fact that we won’t go down without a fight.”

"Okay. I just don't get it." Could Lenz? really not see what she was doing? Putting words in Kellyn's mouth. Honestly, where was all this coming from? Kellyn thought she was weak, passive? Totally untrue. She had little-to-no opinion of the girl. What Kellyn knew about her was this: she had nice hands for sketching; she knew something about horses; and she hadn't seemed to have gathered what Kellyn had been trying to impart earlier, about not taking what belonged to someone else. Kellyn was sensitive to such things. She had openly said so. Now Lenz? had decided to take a hold of Kellyn's opinions and throw them back in her face? The most aggravating thing about that was how wrong the other was about it.

"I said nothing of what I thought of your character. Not once. I didn't say you were weak. I didn't say you were passive. Maybe I misunderstood your statement earlier, but now you misunderstand me." Her tone was moderated. Mild. She sighed, rubbing a hand at her face, probably smudging some charcoal on her forehead in the process. The sad thing was she shouldn't drink any more, or she'd start to get actually drunk. Too bad though. She clacked the pipe between her teeth.

"I said what I said because of what you said about others depriving me of my personal space." There was that phantom touch again, like calloused fingers against her neck. A cobwebby, insidious sensation. She shifted uncomfortably, putting it from her mind. "My response was intended to be a petty jab, that's it. The words held no bearing whatsoever of my own feelings towards you. That's not how it goes. Not with me. Really. I don't feel anything towards you. I don't think anything of you. Maybe I should. Maybe I shouldn't. But I don't. And I like it that way just fine.

"It has something to do with what you said, just now. How most people can help themselves, and some can't, and so there has to be 'some kindness and consideration in the world' for it to thrive. See, I just really don't get that. Showing kindness and consideration... people don't do that. Why should they? I've never known anyone to care for me. And I've not much cared for anyone else. And the world keeps going." She shrugged. "It's the same in how I think. I let others alone, don't even think anything of them, and they let me alone, and I keep going. And it's perfectly fine that way."

Their conversation on this topic would likely continue on, Kellyn thought, but since the other girl had asked, “Where shall we begin?” she figured it was good as time as any to get started. And so she did. Without ado.

"I'm like as not to be a shkye teacher. Never taught anyone but myself before. So this is new." The word new left an oddly bitter taste in her mouth. An old sort of taste. Like dust. She really wanted another drink. But she shouldn't. That could come later, when she no longer had to keep her hands sure enough to draw.

"I don't know what you know on the subject. Or what you can do. Have you ever done any art before?" She looked once more over at Lenz?'s clean hands, and then at her own, stained with charcoal. Had she ever met an artist with clean hands? Probably the girl was inexperienced. "Where do your interests lie? In scenery? In animals, people, faces? In objects? If you've never much drawn, objects are the best place to start." An idea came, followed quickly by a thought which spoke out like a petulant child in her mind: I don't want to. But then her hands had moved to the next blank page. She winced. Took a firm grip at the spine of the book, and tore the sheet of paper precisely out.

The girl had gotten close to her again, and Kellyn almost snapped at her for it. Couldn't she petching understand? It was not good to have someone so close by her. Not at all. But at least the alcohol helped. The drunker she got, the more likely she was to tolerate someone's presence near her. This time was no different. She was certainly more buzzed than she had been earlier, when Lenz? had made the same stupid mistake.

Perhaps that was why she simply held the paper out to the girl to take instead of forcing her away, once again. Kellyn even fished in her pocket and brought out a second charcoal stick. That same shout rang out in her mind as her fingers grasped around it: Mine! But she ignored it, and it was like it had never come. She held the stick out too.

"There. This isn't the best place for it..." Kellyn looked around at the stables, judging the objects strewn about. "And like I said before. I don't know what it is you want to be drawing. But it's best to start with something simple." She remembered that she had drawn bottles as a girl. Bottles, and the little bunch of hand-fashioned necklaces hanging around her neck. And the little straw dolly she'd had until... until she'd lost it.

"Nowadays I always pick something that seems... more. Something that I want to be looking at for a long while, because time is what it takes. By drawing, I try to understand more about what I see. It helps me see more clearly. And in turn, seeing more helps me draw. It's a circle, and observation is key. So maybe what you should first do is look around for something good to be drawing. Good, and simple."