[OPEN] The Joy of Painting

[backwordscompatible]

Characters: Zatanna Zatara | Midii Une | Aya + OPEN
Date: mid-october
Location: Earth Sector
Situation: Pottery Painting!
Warnings/Rating: things might get a little messy....


ZATANNA

[The 19-year-old Mistress of Magic...was not much of an artist. Although, in her defense, she had never claimed to be. Performance was quite different from paintbrushes, and while her sleight of hand was superb, well...]

[Still, she managed about as well as anyone who's last art project involved allowing a former boyfriend to smear her in body paint so she would turn visible again (long story): after about a half hour, she came away with a few simple, yet seasonally appropriate designs on the bowls she's gathered.]

[She also looked quite proud of herself as she held up one of them.]

Maybe I should use these when I decorate the Welcome Center.


MIDII

[A month shy of her 16th birthday, and Midii had already found herself a present. A teapot. Simple, personal, and something she knew she would get a lot of use out of.]

[It was said the custom was meant to be a social event, and yet she still sat a bit aways from the rest of the group. Several small cups of paint scattered around her. A few drops of every color, in fact, and a small, thin brush she'd used to paint dozens of little hearts all over its surface.]

[One for each friend or otherwise familiar face she'd lost. Not just in Keelai, but...before.]

I wonder...if I should make any cups to match.


AYA

[For her contribution for this most interesting cultural tradition, Aya painted...a green turtle. Because of course she did. She was dressed no differently than ever, unaffected by the cooling temperatures, with the only subtle alteration in her appearance being a...small streak of green on the side of her helmet. Darker than the shade of her construct skin.]

I do hope I have completed the process accurately.

While I have knitted articles of clothing before, I have seldom done anything of this nature in the past.

Comments

[purrns]

[He looks down at his...thingie, smiling softly. ]

I wanted to make a trinket jar for my friend. Something to keep her bit and pieces in while she sews, you know?

It's Ladybug themed.

[Yep. Sure is. ]

[unetrustworthy]

[Hmm. A friend who sews. And liked Ladybugs. Normally, that wouldn't be much to go on, but from what Midii had come to know of them...]

Marinette?

[She could wager a guess.]

[purrns]

[Is that the hint of a blush on his cheeks? Sure looks like. ]

Yeah, I figured it would be a nice gift for her. What do you think?

[You're a girl, you might know what girls actually like, right?]

[unetrustworthy]

[S...ort of? She was a girl, and she knew what she would have liked.]

I think...she'll probably like anything you give her.

[purrns]

[He'll take it. ]

You really think so? She won't think it's lame or anything?

[unetrustworthy]

I never said that.

[It was kind of lame. But also sweet. And sweet overruled lame every time.]

It's just...if someone I liked gave me something, I wouldn't even care what it was. Just the fact that they thought of me at all...that would be enough.

[purrns]

[It's good for him that sweet overrules lame, it really, really is. ]

Oh. Well...that's good! Yeah. I'm absolutely thinking about her...err. To get her something nice. I mean.

[Seriously, he has no idea what he's doing. All his romance cues come from crappy romcoms. ]

[unetrustworthy]

[Midii was hardly the ideal person to ask; her standards were so low, that a boy she liked being nice to her was often enough for her.]

[Then again, her type were often pretty rude to everyone else, so the "nice" part actually held a deeper significance.]

I'm sure she'll appreciate that more than you'll know.

You're both...really lucky.

[purrns]

I hope so.

[Of course, what he and Marinette are is circling around a Something, but mostly camping out in It's Complicated. Still, that blush probably doesn't really make him all that convincing as he babbles out a reply.]

We are? Because we're friends from the same world because in that we are totally lucky. Yep.

[unetrustworthy]

[It...really doesn't, no. But, at the same time, his babbling reply was also not wrong.]

That's a lot more than some people here have.

[purrns]

[And at that, his smile softens, becomes more gentle. ]

I know. I wish everyone could have that.

[By 'everyone' he largely means her. ]

[unetrustworthy]

It would be nice. Even moreso if people got to show up together. And leave together. If they wanted to leave.

[purrns]

Yeah, I think that'd be a perfect scenario. No one would have to miss anyone, then.

[It's not going to happen, but they can hope. ]

[unetrustworthy]

[It was...a nice thought. One she was willing to entertain in her mind for a moment, even though she knew it was impossible. Realistically speaking.]

Unless they wanted to leave, of course. [...yes, this was her still entertaining the idea.] I...wouldn't want to force anyone to stay if they didn't want to.

[. . .]

But...I would be that much happier if they did want to stay. Whether it was for me, or...some other reason.

[purrns]

Oh...no, of course not. People should have a right to leave, if that's what they wanted.

[He smiles softly, nodding in understanding. ]

That they'd found something or someone worth staying for. You know, that they'd built themselves a really nice life here.

[What will happen when he or Marinette leaves? Would either remember if they returned? Would they remember back home? He doubts it. Everything they'd laid on the table, gone in a heartbeat. Who wouldn't want to keep that, if they could? ]

[unetrustworthy]

[She could not have agreed more at that sentiment, even nodding.]

This world...it really is nice.

Coming here was the best thing that ever happened. The only thing better would be if Papa and Michel and the twins could be here with me too. But...at least I know they'd be taken care of back home.

[purrns]

It really is.

[He has to go home sometime, Paris needs him. But this...this is a goo place to live. ]

And that's a comfort too. Though I do hope they show up one day for you.

[unetrustworthy]

I'd love for that to happen. More than anything.

[purrns]

Well, we can both keep our fingers crossed for that, then.

[He'll wish SUPER HARD for her.]

[unetrustworthy]

What about you?

Who would you wish to see most here?

[purrns]

Well, I have three people from home here already, so that's great.

[Two, but you know, he'll just count his alter ego in there, too. ]

I miss my best friend, Nino. He'd love it here. And...I miss my father, too.

[As aware that he is becoming that his father...doesn't really know how to be one, Adrien still misses him. He's the only family he's got. ]

[unetrustworthy]

[Midii had yet to encounter LadyBug, so she only knew of two: Marinette and the snarky cat boy. But he had no reason to lie to her (that she knew of), so she accepted his count with little question.]''

You and your father are...close?

[She remembered something about him working in fashion. And Adrien being a model.]

[purrns]

[There's a delicate pause here, as Adrien ponders the best way to reply to that without outright lying. ]

I-

Well. He works a lot, so I don't see him as much as I'd like to. He's busy.

[Busy. And intent on keeping Adrien locked up against...he doesn't know what. Whatever his father is so afraid of. ]

But he's still my father, right? I mean. That's something.

[unetrustworthy]

[That...didn't sound very close to her, but Midii was alway willing to offer the benefit of the doubt. After all, she knew better than anyone that it's complicated was often less a status and more a way of life for some people.]

Family can mean a lot, yeah. If they're the kind of family that are there for you.

[purrns]

[It sure described Adrien's life to a T. Could he really say his father was there for him? Not really. He knew the man meant well, but his absence was a continued, aching void. Instead, he thinks of Marinette's parents. Hoe loving they are to Marinette, always there whenever she needed anything. He smiles a little softer.]

Yeah. That's the best. Knowing you can always rely on them, no matter what.