2020-0628 – Ariyah

[Ariyah – Fremont – Canvas Studio (Art Jam Session) – BoL – NA]

[Wake roll: success | BoL roll: success | Hunger: 1]

The art studio was lined with easels down the length of the room and men and women chattered with each other as they sketched and painted to the sound of jazz music playing through speakers installed throughout the room.

Ariyah balanced a tray of paints in her arms as she navigated her way from the paint station back to her canvas, barely side-stepping a chardonnay-wielding woman talking animately with her friend.

Her canvas-neighbour, a young hipster with a goatee and too-tight jeans, chuckled at Ariyah’s perilous journey.
“Some people here are more interested in the alcohol than the painting.” The young man commented as Ariyah set her paints on the little table under her canvas.

“And which one are you here for?” Ariyah asked, smiling as she started mixing her colours.

Her neighbour gave her a rueful smile as he held a paintbrush in one hand and a glass of bubbly in the other, “I could say I’m here for both, but that’s a lie.” He raised an eyebrow meaningfully at a man passing by in the next row of canvases. “I’m here for the pretty faces.”

Ariyah laughed, not turning away from the painting in front of her. She’d put this piece on hold for the last week or so due to the Cassandra project but now when she could finally get back to it she found she had a hard time starting back up again.

“… the latter type then?”

“Huh?” Ariyah looked over at the man next to her, suddenly realising she’d lost track of their conversation, “Sorry, what did you say?”

It was her neighbour’s turn to laugh, “I was saying, by the look of concentration on your face, you’re actually here for the art.”

Ariyah smiled, “That, and a friend once told me that I had to get out more.” She tried to keep the note of sadness from her voice.
She remembered how Jasper always used to interrupt her while she was in the middle of a project. He’d tell her there was some party she had to go to or some new exhibit that she had to see. She’d gotten so used to the constant disruption that sometimes she finds herself attending these art jam sessions just to try to replicate the experience.

“What is it that you’re working on?”

Ariyah found the young man leaning over to look at her canvas. She repressed a spike in annoyance at the intrusion. The overly friendly atmosphere was one of the reasons she chose this studio; it made the other task she had to do much easier.
While the goatee-sporting young man was scrutinising her work, Ariyah inhaled through her nose.

[Bloodhound: Resolve + Awareness: 4 successes vs 3 diff | Melancholy]

The dark, bitter scent surprised Ariyah; she didn’t think someone so overtly friendly and approachable would have such a lonely nature. But then, Jasper was the same way; one moment her Sire would be inspired from a play he’s just watch and the next he would be in the depths of despair at his perceived lack of talent.

The memory made Ariyah smile at the young man with a little more sincerely and she tried to answer his questions more patiently.

She didn’t abandon her painting either, the little walk down memory lane brought back the image of that rain-soaked evening she was trying to capture in acrylic.

[Craft + Resolve + Spec: 6 successes vs 4 difficulty | 1 WP]

The street light reflecting off the wet sidewalk, orange and brown leaves overhead dripping water on them as they walked. A pair of strong and lean hands holding her own. They were both flushed with blood and their entwined fingers were warm…

She completed the painting that night and left it at the studio to dry. She’ll be back again for next week’s session, so she could always pick it up then.
She had tried sniffing out other possible candidates, but none of them had the particulars that she preferred.

[Bloodhound: Resolve + Awareness: 2 successes vs 3 diff | 1 WP]
[Bloodhound: Resolve + Awareness: 4 successes vs 3 diff | Choleric]

It didn’t stop her from pocketing the little slip of paper with the hipster’s number on it. It seemed her little show of kindness had impressed upon the young man and he had gushed non-stop about her finished piece. He’d even suggested that they meet up for coffee before next week’s art jam session, to which Ariyah agreed.

Just because he’s a little sad, doesn’t make his blood any less red.

Ariyah hailed a Lyft and gave the address for Klickitat Avenue.
I’ve put it off long enough, Ariyah thought, It’s time to meet the family.

[Ariyah leaves for #the-elysium]

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