Solo Broken Routine

[Martini Elwood]

9th, Winter, 519

Routine gave a sense of normalcy. Normalcy gave security. Two things the woman was severely lacking as of late… A normal morning seemed few and far between, distant and unreachable. And despite telling herself that she'd acclimate and get used to it some part of Martini screamed that it wasn't fair. Why did she have to get used to it? Why couldn't pain turn a blind eye to her and walk away like all the good things in her life?

Waking up was always sudden. Sleeping was always torture. Nowadays even the little things she clung to seemed smaller and less significant. She stared at the roof of her apartment for a few chimes as the cold lips faded from her forehead. She sighed as she unfurled her limbs from the blanket and sat up, combing through her hair with a sluggish hand. Getting up tired in the morning and going to sleep in worse shape. Rinse and repeat.

"Good morning…" She whispered to the seemingly empty apartment as she lifted from the bed to dress. It was getting colder after having snowed the day before - she noticed herself shivering even under the blankets. New clothes, warmer clothes were a necessity now. Martini had no evidence but she did believe Morwen was returning. Dagger on her waist she grabbed her cloak and wrapped it around her shoulders as she emptied her bag and slung it across her shoulder.

She needed to go shopping.




The Azure Market was quite the sight - especially with hurrying Lhavitians filling the space. Most of the buildings were in shades of blue and despite that it was very easy on the eyes. Martini couldn't recall her last trip or even having visited before but it seemed like a good place to shop for general supplies. The first booth she stopped at was filled to the brim with hats, scarves, and gloves. A tidy profit to be made now that Morwen had returned. She had a some kina to spare - she didn't need gloves but a scarf might be nice… and the cowls looked very well made.

"Excuse me, what kind of fabric are the scarves and cowls made with?" She asked, sending the booth owner a small smile. She was a portly woman with round cheeks and dark hair. She smiled back, ten times brighter.

"Depends on which ones you want! Most of them are wool or yarn - Would you like a pair?"

"How much for the yarn ones?"

"I'll give you both for three kina."

"My, that's a little higher than what I hoped. Would you consider two kina? I'm just a bit low on coin right now…" Martini said, exhaling loudly. She wasn't the best actor - and while it wasn't exactly a lie it still made her bit… Uneasy. She looked down at her sandals and realized she'd need boots soon too. The older woman seemed to consider her with a hard look before she sighed and nodded.

"Just this once. Here's a your cowl and scarf - be sure to keep warm!" Thanking her, Martini wrapped the white scarf around neck and covered her head and ears with the cowl. She wasn't the best haggler but she was aware merchants liked to - well at least she thought they did. Should she have asked for lower? Ah, but her feet were freezing so she decided to move on.

The next stall she paused before was quite small, having only a small number of shoes and boots. Giving the area a quick glance she found no others in the vicinity. No point in looking further, Martini smiles at the merchant as she inspects a pair of high collared boots and a nice pair of shoes. Slightly worn but in great condition the brunette clears her throat to grab attention.

"I'd love to take these two," she motions to the pairs in question before continuing. "How much would you like for them?"

"How about to two kina?"

"They look a bit worn down… perhaps another stall might have a newly made pair." Martini tried her best to look sad as she turned to walk away. She hoped the merchant would stop her-

"One kina and six jade."

"Deal." She was positive she whipped around to quickly, but the merchant didn't comment as she slipped on the boots and put her sandals and her new shoes into her bag after handing over the coin. She waved politely as she made her way back to Tain's after having had her fill of shopping.

Ledger :

Headwear, Yarn Cowl | 1ki
Scarf, Yarn | 1ki
Leather Boots, High | 1ki
Leather Shoes | 6jk

Total | -3ki 6jk

[Martini Elwood]

Getting assignments from Tain wasn’t something Martini took lightly - she respected his and Nat's skill and if they believed her capable of a job she would gladly take it and prove herself to be reliable. She was aspiring to be just like them, but she wasn’t the least bit overconfident in her skill set - she knew her limits art wise. With that said, she found herself in a tight spot thanks to her idolization of Nat.

Loathe as she was to admit, Martini was easily swayed by praise from those she respected. Her current predicament may have something to do with that. Running the situation through her head didn’t help, she couldn’t make sense of the request. She had the utmost faith in both their decisions but this was…

“You can’t possibly think I’m ready for that,” Martini voice almost sounded flat if not the the obvious shake   in her words. She winced at the expectant look on Nat’s face - there was simply no way. Nat tapped a foot impatiently but Martini made no effort to change her mind, instead staring back into the eyes that held her own. Nat was serious..? Oh gods, the other woman was serious! “Nat, you can’t possibly expect me to paint a commission! My skills are-”

“That’s exactly what I expect. Any work you’ve been given is always in  charcoal or ink, you need a broader horizon. There’s nothing to worry about as its not a serious commission, think of it as practice. Surely you know if you don’t practice you'll never have a skill? I believe you have what it takes, you just need a bit of encouragement.”

“Nat I’ve been practicing here, with non commission work,” Martini seemed to implore with her eyes, do not make her take this job. Surely even this would be something that people would look back on? To have such a mistake under her name would… well, it would be horrible. She couldn’t paint for a commission, not so soon and with her under experienced skills. Encouragement aside, she was slowly getting comfortable with a brush - a misstep could easily prevent further clientele from enlisting her help. If Nat didn’t realize that soon Martini was a doomed woman.

"Elwood, your skill with charcoal and ink is something to be appreciated. But I think your painting needs a little push and this is just the commission that could do it."

"Th-that's high praise and very flattering- but I don't think I'm ready, perhaps someone with more skill-"

Nat seemed to be growing impatient with her refusal as she displayed her foot, the incessant tap of her shoe against the wooden flooring. Finally the coil seemed to snap and Nat exhaled loudly. "If your not up to it I won't force it, but running away from a challenge doesn't make it go away."

Whether Nat knew she had struck a landmine wasn't the question, but Martini visibly crumbled in as she turned on her heels to leave, the soft thump of her shoes echoing a bit too loudly in her ears. Running away... Again she was faced with the part of her that she hates most but couldn't help but give in to. She always did run away.

She rolled her bottom lip between her teeth, inhaling deeply through her nose and out of her mouth. This was a small step to stop avoiding things, but if Nat had faith perhaps...

"Wait. I'll try it."

She swore Nat hid a triumphant smirk behind her smile. How did she get here? Well, after shopping she decided to stop by and see if there were any jobs available. Then Nat had cornered her and encouraged her to take a painting job. Gods she needed to buy supplies for this...

[Martini Elwood]

What Nat neglected to mention was she'd be monitoring and critiquing the work as Martini progressed. Entering the room the colors she needed were already set- blue, red, and yellow from what Martini could see in the small containers. There was some smaller canvas laid across the table and wooden pallet.

"What is this painting commission that I only need three colors?" Her question was valid in her her mind - how was she to know better? Nat seemed to think otherwise and schooled her sternly. Business mode immediately she supposed...

"They're primary colors. You can make any color you need by mixing them in different ways. Er, amounts."

Martini hummed her acknowledgement, that explained what the pallet was for. So red, yellow and blue could make any color she needed..? She'd have to remember that. Nat had begun twisting her hair into a bun and Martini followed suit. Nat had her apron on but Martini wasn't as prepared, instead she hoped a little paint wouldn't hurt. Shrugging off her backpack she put it underneath the table as she sat down and watched Nat expectantly.

"I want you to draw any landscape you can think of to start off. Then I want you to paint it on a separate canvas," Nat placed some charcoal on the table along with a sheet of paper. "I want to see what you can do before we start - something large scale. I want it to take up the canvas with no blank space."

Martini simply nodded and got to work - Nat obviously wasn't taking no for an answer, there was no point in arguing. For whatever reason she wanted a landscape, nothing specific but wanted it to cover the page. Removing her gloves and placing them on the seat beside her the brunette rolled the charcoal stick between her fingers.

Landscape, landscape, landscape... Maybe a bit of meditation? Closing her eyes, she focused on her breathing. Slow, deep inhale through the nose, exhale slowly through the mouth. Rinse repeat. Scenery. She needed scenery. A park flashed behide her eyelids - it was just as the sun was setting.

And just like that she had subject matter. Opening her eyes slowly, she took the charcoal between the fingers on her left hand and held the paper still with her right as she began to sketch.

Basics shapes first, just to get a feel where everything was. She put a light line through the paper, holding it longways. From there she made an ellipse on the center fro the lowering light of Syna. She tried to make the area around the ellipse wavy, almost as if there circle was disappearing behind water.

She added thin strokes of grass around the small water like area for surrounding land. She used the stick to lightly reflect the Syna's on the waters surface - she then got to work on trees and mountain peaks in the background, jagged lines with a mixture of hard and light shading inside. She lightly sketched fluff, signifying the clouds rolling behind the light.

She added more shading to the grass, and added some trees in the horizon line as well as a small bench off to the side. It wasn't perfect, bit it was decent enough that she could look at it with feeling the need to restart. A few bells later she'd handed the paper to Nat who looked it over, impressed.

"The details are amazing on this... Let's see how well you do with the paint though. What colors did you think of? It's going to be hard for you to keep the details if you claim to have no skill."

"Greens, blues, maybe some brown for bark - ah, and maybe some orange to offset the yellow? Grey would be helpful but I can manage with some lighter blue... I'm sure you know how to get the colors but-"

"I want you to make them, yes. Just mix the three you have, different combinations create different colors. I'll leave it to you."