Art is Hard (Open)

[Elhaym]

20th Day of Fall, 510 AV Another hard day of lifting sacks of animal feed and maintenance at the Tooth and Claw had left Pain without a second wind for an afternoon workout. What better a time then to give her art some attention? She had been neglecting her skill as an artist over the last few weeks, what little skill there was to neglect anyhow. It was frustrating to Pain that she hadn't improved much over the years when it came to sketching. She intended to remedy that today. Pain walked along the streets of Syliras, her bare feet soaking up the cold of the stone. It was a welcome relief from the aches that ran up and down her legs. Her clothing was casual, as usual; a pair of black shorts and a black shirt, with a white shirt worn over the top that had a long piece of fabric on the back that hung to the backside of her knees. She carried her leather satchel, the only burden inside being what little in the way of art supplies she had left. She needed a good subject or two. Maybe an interesting doorway or sign, or a person if they would sit or stand still long enough. She avoided the Rearing Stallion these days, seeing as drunkards didn't tend to sit still for long. At long last she wandered into a courtyard, where the sun touched a small corner of Syliras. She remembered that she had come here before once, and that this was the area that the glassblowers shop was housed. Pain settled on a familiar stone bench, pulling free a wooden backboard and a piece of vellum paper. She found a half used stick of charcoal, and spun it in her right hand as she glanced around the courtyard. She felt a little lonely without her dog, Tanny, but he had been quite content to sleep at home. Perhaps she could find someone to talk to, but Pain usually found that unless someone was extremely outgoing, they quickly grew frustrated with her limited social skills. "Ah... now, theres an interesting one..." Pain thought, as she eyed a figure emerging into the courtyard. "Stick around for a while, buddy... I need to practice."

[John Vicari]

The double edge longsword was placed upon his belt in the black sheath as his outfit was his black cotton pants, a white cotton tunic with brown high boots. A dark cotton full cloak draped along his body as he wore a pair of brown leather gloves upon his hands. A simple outfit yet others had to question if he was not over dressed at times as he kept a backpack upon his back which held two boxes. One was a forgers kit and the other a calligraphy kit. Some gold laid about inside it with some ready made bread yet he did not think hard on that as a brown shaded waterskin was tied to his right side of his leather belt as he left his suite in the castle.

He felt restless as he let his feet walk along the ground, his blue eyes scanning the things around him looking at the faces of passing people and the guards on duty. He lived in the castle like city all of his life and knew a few by name but never did really get to know them. He was far from the holy knight figure. Light blonde hair danced in along his face as blue eyes peered past his slightly tan skin yet his body was lacking any real muscle definition and was more on the skinny side from lack of eating as he should have. A slight limp could be seen if one paid close enough mind yet it was something that was only so slight to him as he grew older.

People knew he worked at the store called "Undeniable Interests" which sold more then just books yet few did talk of what they were outside the store he felt. He kept what he sold to people to himself and his boss as no paper trail did leave his fingers and one could find almost anything worth vaule in the shop if one knew what to ask.

What people did not know of John and only four people in the world did was that John was a mage of sorts but he kept that under the rug more then anything with only his family knew about it. He thought of it often enough as he stepped out to the courtyard looking for a place to relax for the time being. The sun felt nice along his face as he looked about wondering if he should stay or leave.

He had no real plans for a few Bells at least nor any real goal for the time being other then relaxing awhile then working on a few goals which he kept to himself for few would enjoy hearing of them in the end.

[Lelio]

And that figure was shortly followed by another one quite full of energy, jumping after the former while desperately trying to get his attention. He was dressed in a woolen top with long sleeves with black gloves, a complex short with four little pouches on its left end, long white socks and a cloak that had surely seen its share of travel as the little holes here and there showed, but no weapons whatsoever were apparent on his attire and except a side bag and another belt sac didn't seem to carry anything else.

Eh! Eh! Sir, eh, sir! Excuse me sir! Hello there? Sir? Sii ~ iiir, he bombarded the poor John with while jumping around to get closer.

Except if his interlocutor had decided to sprint away from the weirdish Kelvic that was bothering him - and without some extremely good perception or the use of magic, it was almost impossible to tell he wasn't human since his Kelvic attributes didn't show - Lelio was now in front of him, putting his face not far from Vicari's, as if to look at his face better (eh, it works, doesn't it?).

I was wondering if you knew Diane, she's a girl about my age, hum, about that tall, he explained while putting his hand in the air to mime her height, with black hair and uh... eyes that change color which is extremely awesome. Oh, and! She rides a horse whose name is uh... Syn I guess? Yea it's gotta be Syn. And has a beautiful necklace. So yea uh why was I talking to you about that in the first place? he stopped for a moment, wondering.

For Lelio was that kind of person, excited over nothing and with a strong attention deficit problem, always full of energy and wearing a smile in about any situation. Scratching his head while trying to remember why he was bothering John for - not that he realized he was bothering him - he took a few steps backward. However, that tiny moment of silent salvation was cut short as the Kelvic's face lightened up.

That's it! So hum yes, I was traveling with her and I... kind of lost her. So I was wondering, you know, if you had seen her or something, he finished with a triumphant smile, as if he had vanquished the demons of Alzheimer.

[Grayzdo Briety]

A man stood sat on a bench not far from Pain. A gray cloak on his back and a red shirt and loose matching pants sandals torn in some odd places covered his feet and a brown wig drooped over his left eye so as to make him appeared to have two colored hair the other color being white. His right eye zoomed around the courtyard and he let a burp escape him. He didn't really remember what had happened or where he was but most certainly it seemed his pay from working at the Ironworks had made him afford to purchase some alcohol atleast that would explain his drunken state and the ash was on his cheeks.

His thoughts zoomed from subject to subject until he remembered moments ago he was plan on disguising himself but now plans had changed. He stood up and fell back down almost immediately he stood back up and balanced himself out and hiccuped and then approached the artist girl not too far way from him. Once he stood before her he said "Your a painter right?" he hiccuped waiting for a responce.

[Elhaym]

Pain sighed audibly upon hearing the telltale drunken noises and tone from a man loitering behind her. Not only was a drunkard trying to talk to her, but some spastic dimwit was in the way of the young man she had been attempting to draw. He had on a sort of adventurers outfit, complete with a sword, and looked to have been a good subject for a drawing. Now, all ruined. "Does this look like a petching paintbrush?" Pain snapped, turning her head to Grayzdo and letting her agitation bleed into her words. She wiggled the piece of charcoal in the air, as if the gesture was a giant period at the end of her statement. Gods, drunk men were the worst. Another reason she avoided the Rearing Stallion these days. All they ever wanted to do was talk big and hit on girls, and Pain didn't give anyone who approached her drunk the benefit of a doubt. Drinking showed an utter disrespect for ones own body in Pain's mind. "Do me a favor, and get lost. In case you haven't noticed, i'm in the middle of something." Pain snapped, returning her gaze to the young man in the adventurer outfit. She had managed to get a course outline before she had been interrupted. Pain didn't wait for a response, she simply went back to drawing. She began to lightly graze her charcoal over the darker areas of the mans outfit, pressing harder in some areas for a darker effect. She completed the cloak, merging the lighter and darker charcoal shades with a few swipes of her finger, effectively blending the shades together. It was difficult to do detail, but she was more looking to accurately recreate the form than produce a detailed work. Pain's tongue crept out of the side of her mouth, and her eyes set in a squint. She was focusing hard.

[Grayzdo Briety]

Grayzdo burped again but not so loudly as for Pain to hear. His arms swung back and forth in drunken manner and he looked to the charcoal rock quite confused by it. He pushed his wig up so it no longer was drooping over his left eye but now was in the hood of was cloak so as to reveal his completely white hair darkened slightly by ash. He listened to her like a young child would listen to it's mother and then once she finished and went back to staring to John he followed her gaze to realize what she was doing and opened his mouth to speak and said "You don'-" cut off by his own hiccup " 't have to be so rude, why you drawing that guy?" his mind slipped into a new subject and as her tongue slipped out of her mouth he took notice of her hardwork in drawing the man and did quite a funny thing.

"I think you like 'im" he turned to his head to get a look at John. Then he begun a small one person chant which was just "I think you like him." but with moments of silence as hiccups escaped him.

[John Vicari]

John was enjoying his semi time alone until something or someone started proding him with questions. He never once seen the person in his life nor did he really recall that name. He just stopped looking at him, his face blank of emotion as he spoke.

"If you lost anyone then why in world are you trying to bug someone you have never seen nor met? Clearly that person is not me nor here so why waste your time trying to bug someone that may or may not know of them. Go find someone else as clearly I have no idea who you are talking about. Maybe a knight can help you or even the last place you saw them."

His voice held a slight edge as he spoke. He hated few things in life but he could not stand someone coming to him like a child on suger asking him things that he had no idea of. He held back attacking the child with his own Djed but the thought did cross his mind more then once as he spoke.

He just stood still as he looked at them, his eyes looking about as he saw a female upon a bench drawing something looking in his area. At least he thought it was drawring with what she had but he did know who she was or at least by face. She brought a book from him awhile back ago which meant she was still alive. He had to ask later if she did learn anything of that Flux book or not but first he had to deal with a child.

[Elhaym]

Pain tried quite hard to ignore the stranger's words, instead focusing on her drawing. How had she managed to attract such unwanted attention? And to make matters worse, the adventurer looked equally dismayed at his guest. "Yeah, I don't have to be so rude. Just relax, ignore it. He's just a drunk. Let him be." She thought, intently filling in the detail of the man's shirt. The folds were easy to replicate with charcoal, though the image was quite basic in nature. The ambiance from the glassblower's shop was soothing to her ear, the sun was shining... even the air seemed to carry a pleasant smell. Yes, this was supposed to be a day for art. By all rights, she was entitled to it. "I think you like 'im... (hic!)... I think you like 'im, I think you like 'im..." Pain's hand spasmed, leaving a dark black streak across her drawing as the irritation took a hold of her. That was it. This petcher had not only interrupted her nice, lovely, peaceful day... but now, he had irritated her so much that she had ruined her drawing. It was always this way with men when they were drunk. They always think they can just approach whoever they want and say and do whatever they want, and everyone will just have to suffer their presence because their just drunk and having a good time. Pain hated such pretentiousness with a passion. Abruptly, she slammed her drawing board and her vellum sketch down on the stone bench, and rose from her seat. "Listen up squirt, you have three seconds to shut your mouth and get out of here, or i'm gonna lose my temper." Pain said behind clenched teeth. She was trying hard, so hard, not to get angry and do something irrational. She had promised herself that she would work on her temper, that she would be a better person. She could be quite volatile and vulgar, this was a fact. It wasn't something she liked, it was just her. Now, in the beginning phases of what Pain thought of as gradual change in her life, she was being tested. She had no reason to hold back her anger at this point, but she had every reason to let it come forth. Pain threw her charcoal stick on the ground, and held up her hand. Her fingers were stained with the loose dust from her drawing utensil, a fine black powder coating her fingers. "I'm gonna count to three. When I hit three, you best be already on your way. Can you wrap your head around that?" She snarled, raising a single finger. "One... two... ... ... three."

[Iasc]

Iasc sat on a bench softly strumming the strings on his mandolin. He was singing in a low voice to himself so no-one would hear as he didn't want to draw attention to himself. He was wearing a dark green cotton shirt and black cloth pants, going bare foot, as was usual for him. The cold stone didn't bother him, he actually found it quite relaxing.

He was in the courtyard because it was quiet. He wanted some time for contemplation where the wrong people wouldn't bother him. While he sat and played a woman had made her way to a bench across the way from Iasc. She was holding an piece of paper and a some charcoal....an artist. The youth let a smile grace his lips. The woman was quite small, yet muscular. Iasc wasn't quite sure why his attention was drawn towards her of all people around. He watched her as she started to draw on the piece of paper. He followed the line of her eyes and saw two men conversing. One was thin and looked to be barely out of his teenage years. The other seemed to be about the same age but was very small.

Iasc looked back towards the artist considering moving over to her. However, his inherent shyness meant that a move like that would be uncomfortable for him. He averted his gaze thinking about the situation. His strumming and singing had gotten slightly louder, but still out of earshot to most people.

After a few chimes he looked back towards the woman. She had been joined by a grey cloaked man. Iasc's singing turned into a subconscious mumbling as he strained to hear what they were saying.
Suddenly the female began to shout at the man who was obviously annoying her.
“Maybe I should go over”, he thought to himself. He decided to wait another chime or two.

[Lelio]

While John's answer hardly deterred the young Kelvic from asking more questions, it did make him frown a bit - as if he didn't understand something in what the human said. His jumping paused for a little while he tilted his head, seemingly reflecting with zeal... Though this part didn't last long at all as he went back to his usual self, jolly and merry like all was pink.

Si~lly, Lelio ain't no bug, Lelio's a fo~ox! he hummed happily.

And knights are bo~oring anyway, so I won-

His sentence was cut short by the sound of a drawing board slammed on hard and cold stone, and Lelio crouched while turning his head towards its source like a wild animal taken by surprise. His nose pointing out and his face turned upward as his diminutive figure was almost embracing the pavements, he did indeed look like a fox.

Ow ow owww, lady's mad, lady's mad, he sang in a low, concerned tone.

It is said that curiosity killed the cat, but although Lelio was no cat he sure was more curious than any he had ever met. Moving slowly and with grace one paw after another on the ground - or hands rather than paws since he was in human form - he slowly moved toward Pain in a cautious manner. As he arrived just right behind her still crouched in a sitting fox-like position, she was already finishing her countdown.

Don't be mad, thin-eyed lady, he said in a childish tone while softly pawing her leg.

Mad people are scary, he added as if accusing her, staring deeply into her eyes with his strange and unsettling gaze.

He raised his right hand... With Pain's charcoal stick in it.