Scene #2632: Painting Party

Owner	Pose
Ainsley	The party isn't a huge arrangement, but it isn't a small one either. There are a number of mages from the Union lingering around the party, having followed the fliers. Some people that live in towns near where Ainsley lives are also in attendance, as well as some Quetzal who are briefly stopping by in order to check out what an off-world party is like. Some of the Quetzal party-goers are recognized as survivors saved from Aztlan by those group efforts, so it just makes sense that they'd be curious about something like this. It's all set up on a grassy field out in a warm Summer day, with a little area set up beneath a tree for Ainsley to make the paintings. The fee for getting a painting may seem like a steep charge, but the sign clearly states that it's being put into helping the Quetzal people recover a little easier, considering their whole city's been under the control of the hungry dead for months now. Ainsley herself is quietly painting something abstract while she keeps an eye on the party. She hums along to some pleasant and energetic pop music that one of the locals brought to the party, and she occasionally glances toward the exuberance of a couple of Quetzal teens dancing around with some elfy people with glowing hair and gem-like eyes. Ainsley's in a decent enough mood, by the look of the smile on her face and her relaxed posture.
Riva Banari	Riva loves painting! And Riva loves parties! This is basically perfect for her. Hanging out with friends with food and fun and talking about stuff is basically her favorite way to pass the time. So she's here, yammering to anyone who is willing to listen to Riva's endless flow of smalltalk. At her side is her favorite (and only) roommate, the water spirit Ayako Hasekawa. Naturally, being a party, Riva has to pay respects to the hostess, so that's her first stop, popping in behind Ainsley and watching her paint with exaggeratedly fluttery eyes. "Oooh la la, Ainsley! You're getting right into it aren't you? I hope you get a lot of commissions!"
Ayako Hasekawa	Ayako loves painting and parties too! So of course she would come along with Riva. "Hello Ainsley!" The water spirit waves hello cheerfully and then looks over at what Ainsley is painting. "Oh oh! Painting something already? What is it, what is it?" Of course, Ayako is more than willing to listen to Riva's endless smalltalk. Once in a while, she throws in her own few words as well.
Tomoyo Daidouji	Tomoyo arrives, accompanied by only one of her bodyguards. Though it is a warm Summers day, she is dressed in autumn colours. A brown shirt with long white sleeves and a high collar, with a yellow knee-length skirt. She's wearing brown tights, with autumn leave patterns in red and orange. A pair of black sneakers adorn her feet, and an orange pageboy cap sits on her head! As she arrives, she looks around at all the assembled people, especially admiring the feathers on the assembled Quetzal. She almost wants to take a photo, but that would be rude... besides, she hasn't even greeted the host yet! She approaches Ainsley quietly, not wanting to disturb her brush strokes. However, Riva and Ayako just get right in there! The tailor giggles softly and goes to join them. "Hello Ainsley~ It's a lovely party you've put together. Hello to you too Riva, Ayako~"
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa has not had much time off as of late, and she was happy to throw some money in to help Ainsley's people get back up on their feet. So here she was it was also a good chance to catch up with some friend,s that was not in a flith infested enviorment. So here she was and she was in a fiarly chipper mood too as she'd be arriving a bit after Riva and Ayako. She wasn't sure who was coming, yet? This was a chance to catch up with them both. She also sees tht Tomoyo has arrived as well. "Ainsley I see your at work and it's good to see you. Good to see you Ayako, Riva and humm Tomoyo the outfit's working out well enough. I even used it in a few ads for my business."
Ainsley	Ainsley doesn't look away from what she's doing, despite acquiring a crowd nearby. She carefully traces out colorful shapes that make the eyes want to do a backflip, the strange abstract art even more abstract than what any other artist would try to do. Looking at it evokes a mixture of happiness and social awkwardness, a feeling of belonging and fun and meeting the unknown. It's a painting made of the emotions that people feel about parties. It's obviously magical, since there's a strange distortion in the air around it. It's not painful to look at, just bizarre. "A glimpse into what I see now," she explains to Ayako, "Give it a look, I made it pretty clear." She makes a few finishing touches and turns on her little stool and away from the easel, setting her painting supplies aside. "Thanks for coming! Ayako, Riva, Kotone, Tomoyo~" The lizard woman puffs up her feathers and places her hands down on the stool to look as cheerful as she can, her tail even raising and wiggling in the air behind her. "Please enjoy the snacks. Some of the Quetzal brought some traditional dishes, you'll find it's pretty exotic stuff." She points off to one of the foldable tables, where a large piece of pottery has what seem to be fried, candy-coated insects of unknown species. There's an elderly Quetzal man shoveling them into his mouth by the handful, careless of eating etiquette. He occasionally backs off so others can try them, fairly polite at the very least. "Did any of you want a painting? I can make something by request, or I can make a portrait. Magic paintings might need me to use my Sight on you, so you would need to consent to that in some fashion before I could make anything magic for you. I could make paintings that glow, or give off a certain emotion or have some sort of phrase or paragraph built into it that you'll hear if you focus on it just right. Memetic paintings that don't try to kill you, isn't that nice?" She brightens up even more, if that's even possible. "Painting supplies for the magic stuff are rare, though."
Ayako Hasekawa	Ayako blinks her amber eyes slowly as she watches Ainsley paint. "Uhh... Uhh... Hmm..." Her head inclines to the side gently. Abstract art really isn't her thing! Not to mention her usual emotions are pretty non-standard to begin with, being water and all. And so looking the painting over to figure out just what is being expressed could take her a while. In fact, she's more likely to just file what the painting looks like away for later. Especially when Ainsley herself puffs her feathers up to look cheerful. She smiles cheerfully at Ainsley and waves hello just as cheerfully to Tomoyo and Kotone. "Hello Tomoyo and Kotone!" Food isn't really Ayako's thing, although she does take a look at the snacks. "Ehh? A painting, huh?" And then giggles as she shakes her head slowly. "Always a good thing to make paintings that not try to kill you!" Ayako blinks her eyes slowly. "Huh... they're rare? As in hard to find, hard to make, or just plain hard?"
Riva Banari	"There's something different about that painting, all right. Is it magical?" She pokes at the side of the canvas, careful to not actually touch the paints. You can practically hear the 'poik poik. poik. poikpoikpoik'. However, Ainsley is freed up, and without further ado, Riva lunges to Ainsley with a squeal and gives her a heartfelt hug. She only monopolizes the Quetzal for a few seconds though. "It's so cool to see you expanding your talents, Ainsley! I never knew you were into art~" She says, smiling. "I can't do magic paintings, maybe I should take lessons from /you/." She chuckles for a moment, and then turns away to dive in on Tomoyo as well with another happy squeak. "Tomoyoooo! I'm so glad to see you! If I knew you were going to be here I totally would have wore the costume you made for me! Hahaha. Don't worry, it comes out of the closet whenever I feel the need to style all over people. I'll be right back in a moment, there's someone I notice in essential need of getting topped up on their hugs." She chuckles about that. Kotone is next on the hug train, getting a big hug from Riva and grinning. "Hey Kotone! Glad to see you're out and about! What are you up to?" She looks back to Tomoyo and Ainsley, pondering. "I know what Ains is doing, but what about you too, Tomoyo? You sound like you're busy with a lot of projects."
Tomoyo Daidouji	As Tomoyo peers at the painting, she's filled with all sorts of feelings! Of being among people, some she knows, some she doesn't. The awkwardness of meetings friends-of-a-friend, trying to find some common ground to keep the conversation going... but of course, she can't tell that it's magic. She just thinks it's a highly evocative piece of art! "Oh my, Ainsley, that is a lovely piece~" she says with an admiring tone. She smiles and waves to everyone, giggling at Riva. "Aw, you don't have to wear it just to make me happy~ But I'm glad you like it!" She responds to queries about her work with, "Oh yes, going quite well! A lot of commissions, yes, but I'm managing my time okay~ I managed to cut down total study time by practicing with university entrance exams! A few of those make high-school tests seem like a breeze, comparatively." But, back to Ainsley, she says, "Oh yes! I did come to get a painting." Reaching into a pocket, she extracts a cheque and hands it to the painter. It's from her Boutique checkbook, and while it meets the prince that Ainsley was asking for, it's not exactly... much, relatively speaking. "I'm sorry I can't give more... the Boutique is doing well, but not as well as some companies..."
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa does not really need to eat but she can still enjoy such, right so she's going to take a few but leave more for everyone else. She listens about the options for painting anf she semes curious about what offered. "I'd be up for you to do a painting of myself if you like. I admit it's a bit strange to think of memetics that way but there can be good ones can't there be? I think I'll just go fo a normal one." "Space travel, caught up in uprisings, all the trouble back on Rory's world. I been busy honestly and a bit concerned about Kingsmouth it's been to quiet there. Now with that out of the way how hve you been doing? I heard something about a book thief hitting Heaven or Hell? Have you been doing all right with your own art work?" She turns her attention to Ayako and grins widly at the water elementaol. "I'm taking it sounds like it might be quest level hard, ayako but adventures for things that don't have the fate of something resting on you can be pretty interesting." She finds a good spot and sticks to it for the moment. "Extrance exams in Japan? You got my sympathy. I got cherrie picked by a program trying to lure people of Japanese decent back to the country."
Ainsley	Ainsley emits a soft chirp noise when grabbed and squeezed, one of her eyes closing. She just sort of accepts the hug, leaning into the affection. She's not a hug person but she appreciates it, obviously. "I've mentioned the paintings before, but I only really thought about making it something I do more regularly because Psyber suggested it," she tells Riva, "I guess I always had an interest in it. I went to a gala in Brockton Bay and painted some nice portraits of Protectorate members." The lizard woman answers Ayako in a most helpful tone! "The materials themselves are hard to find. They don't just sell them on any market that I can find, and then I have to process them down into a form I can actually use. So for now they'll be for special occasions like this one," Ainsley tells Ayako, and then reaches to pick up a small jar of something blue and glowing to hand over to her helpfully so she can take a look at it. It isn't labelled but it might be fun to watch the bizarre viscosity of the goopy substance inside. The cheque is received and tucked away somewhere carefully for later. The lizard woman gets off the stool to pick up a chair and finds a place to unfold it. "Do you want a portrait, or did you have something specific in mind for me to paint? A magic painting?" She's quite eager to get started. Kotone gets a soft nod to acknowledge that she wants one, too, while she prepares to do a painting for Tomoyo.
Ayako Hasekawa	Ayako smiles brightly at Tomoyo. "Oohh... interested in a painting, huh?" She hops up and down slightly. "What kind, what kind?" She leans forwards slightly in Tomoyo's direction, eager to hear what sort of thing she wants painted. Ayako smiles softly at Kotone. "Quest level, hard, huh? Hmm..." She looks back at Ainsley and giggles when she chirps when grabbed and hugged. "Aahh, ahh... Well, I hope you can someday find a good source!" She gently takes the small jar that she's offered and looks it over carefully. "Oohh... blue." Now that's some strange paint! She puts the jar back where Ainsley picked it up from and watches curiously.
Tomoyo Daidouji	Tomoyo glances over towards the snack table, particularly that bowl of friend insects. She's actually rather curious about how they would taste... but what if they were bad? She would hate to seem rude or give a bad impression by spitting up food... Oh, but they're addressing her! She acks, and says, "Oh! Well, I wanted something to spruce up the Boutique... I was thinking a magic portrait of myself? Something so you have to use your Sight on me. I hope that's not too narcissistic..." Privately, she's just a little curious as to what that might look like... a glimpse at her true self, maybe?
Riva Banari	Riva Banari shrugs at the question of her own artwork. "After a recent big piece I've mostly just done some small things here and there. With how things have been lately I haven't been quite as inspired as I can be." Riva stands back as Ainsley gets into the Zone when Tomoyo requests the painting. She knows how it is, and she nods with a knowing smile. "Those are some odd paints, all right. Definately too exotic fo my blood." She smiles to Tomoyo. "Man, I bet it'll be beautiful!"
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa says "Psyber tends to have pretty solid ideas. Also I suspect your better than I am." She does have the money, she's brought cash. Given the nature of her word most things the Flotilla do in straight cash to just keep things cleaner for everyone. She's goving over the bills at the moment and she seems to have a suitable amount to donate. The wallet gotes back into the pocket. And she grins ato Ayako for a moment. "You know Ayako I can finally swim again now that I picked up a shell that's designed for it, and ya that's just my personal guess on it." She liustens to Riva curious about her work and she does seem interested in it. "I'm glad you still have time to do it, given your on tap for The Union? That must keep all of you pretty busy, I'd wager? Though the ida for something of your true self could be interesting or it could be something you don't want to see. I'm not sure if I'm brave enough for that. I doubt that will be an issue for someone like your self Tomoyo."
Ainsley	Ainsley activates her Sight and directs it toward Tomoyo for a few seconds. It's not that much of a glance, and she doesn't try to read too deeply. She then deactivates her Sight again, and begins grabbing colors for improvised mixtures and sets about painting on a new canvas, which she goes to the effort of stretching out right there on the spot. Hrf! Seems to be made of something that accepts the magic paints, she's also got the normal material that she sets aside for Kotone's later painting. "It's not anything like that," she assures Tomoyo, while she picks up a brush with bristles that accept the paint without degrading at all. A glance at Riva, and then a comment, "It's hard to find the right stuff for magic paintings. You don't want to get anything that might develop an accidental curse. It's like when we got the materials for the mirror, it had to be made of stuff that was high-quality and not tainted with darkness or despair or anything of the sort." She begins tracing out the painting with a piece of charcoal so she has a frame of reference, using her above-average memory to do it. It won't be photo realistic, that's simply not the point of a magic portrait. But it's pretty close. While she works, it's like she's crafting a spell. She probably is, by the nonsense phrases she seems to be using. She murmurs to herself with each brush stroke, trying to conceal the current emotional state of Tomoyo within the details of the painted face, to give the same effect as if someone were looking at the real Tomoyo. The lizard woman is carefully attuning the paint while she works, and the paint is retaining her magic. "I'm going to look for a magic paint brush at some point," she explains to the others, during a pause, "Something to help me perform spells. I think painting will be to me what spell circles are to a more traditional magician. A way to help me focus and create greater effects. So... kind of like Jimmy's flavor of magic." Jimmy Wen, she means.
Tomoyo Daidouji	Tomoyo remains very still as Ainsley gets to work! Trying to be a good model, but the compliments from everyone make her blush a little. "Well, for Union stuff, I'm just mostly preparing for that eventual battle with Jack Slash," she says to Kotone, remaining deliberately vague. Never know who might be listening! "Oh, I'm not all that brave really. I just do what has to be done..." Though, she does sway a little on the spot, clearly pleased! But, she catches herself and goes still again, not wanting to ruin Ainsley's hard work!
Ayako Hasekawa	Ayako quietly watches Ainsley paint. She doesn't want to get in her way! Or distract her. So she watches from off to the side. She smiles softly at Kotone, "So you can swim now, huh? I hope you enjoy it!" She giggles brightly and then looks back to Ainsley painting. She staaaaaares. She's seen Riva paint before, but never Ainsley!
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa watches Ainsley get to work with a good deal of intrest she is curious about how she's doing her rt. She's also finishing off the last of the snacks and seems pretty chill for the moment as she's going to wait her turn. It's also quite the process to see first hand as well. "That's not the way I put it but I think I can see where your coming from."
Riva Banari	"That's true!" Riva replies brightly. "Unless you want your painting to be all gloomy and depressing, I guess, but that's not my style. Not at all!" She chuckles, and looks to Ayako, winking. She's seen Riva paint a lot. A good amount of them have been of Ayako! Riva rubs her chin as Ainsley works. "Do you think a paintbrush would help you a lot? I couldn't say. I got one and it just gives me a lot of grief." She shrugs, and looks back to Tomoyo. "You think you're going to be ready for that?" She asks the seamstress. "This Jack Slash guy sounds like bad news."
Ainsley	"I dunno," Ainsley admits to Riva, shrugging at her in an emphatic way. "It's all a huge experiment." She continues with all the little details of the painting, filling out colors here and there. It takes upwards of an hour or two and it's nothing complex or masterful, at least not at a glance. It is accurate and it's not sloppy, but she's gotta work on a few details. The colors aren't QUITE right, for instance. She added the blush, though. "This'll need to dry, which might take a day or two. Kotone, you're up next." She gestures with the brush toward the seat, and then leans over to get her normal paints, which come in nice little tubes and little portable cans. Seems she goes shopping at modern art supply stores. "I've mulled with the idea of whipping up a haphazard invisibility spell and attempting to cheat with some magic to help you out, Tomoyo," she admits, "I don't think Jack's going to be an honorable sort, and even if he was I'd really prefer not to take the chance. What do you think?"
Ayako Hasekawa	Ayako smiles back at Riva and winks back at her. Lots of paintings! Lots! Doesn't hurt how vain Ayako tends to be. Her head inclines to the side gently as she regards the painting that Ainsley has finished. "Huh. So it takes a while to dry, huh?" She nods her head once and then watches Ainsley work on Kotone's painting.
Tomoyo Daidouji	Tomoyo bites her lower lip a little when the conversation turns in the direction of Jack. "Oh, I'm improving. At the very least, I won't die right away! Ehehe..." Tomoyo comes over to peek after the hour is up, and claps her hands together in delight! "Oh my goodness, I love it!" She reaches around Ainsley's neck to give her a firm hug as thanks! Though she's careful that not even a single strand of her hair brushes up against the wet paint. She does let the featherlizard go though, when she needs to start on a new commission. "An invisibility spell? Goodness, that could come in handy..." she murmurs, rubbing her chin. A part of her doesn't want to make trouble for Ainsley though. It's her fight, she's the one who got embroiled in all this...
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa has kept herself busy chatting and what not with everyone else. She'd brough up how the small line of Motorcycles she'd developed were going. She looks at the finished product and will sit down where she's asked to. She takes a look over to Ayako with a grin. "You know there's a neat trick for me to keep still watch this." Once she's got a psoe that Ainsley likes Kotone will be still as a stone, not even seeming to breath.
Riva Banari	Riva watches the painting with a sort of squint on her face. Maybe she's trying to critique Ainsley's work? Whatever it is, she seems to be having a hard time finding words for the moment. Kotone's neat trick causes Rive to snort in amusement before she looks back to Tomoyo. "I don't want you to die at all, Tomoyo." Riva replies, Serious Time on her face. "If there's anything we can do to help, just ask. We'll figure something out."
Ainsley	This time, Ainsley takes her sweet time. She carefully sketches out Kotone first, then tries to get all the right pigments, and puts all of the Grey Scholar training to the test to create a portrait that anyone would be happy to keep on their wall. It's accurate but there's this indication that Ainsley sees colors in a more saturated way, like everything around her is somehow more vivid just by the odd hues she picks for some of the details. They're not visible to plain sight otherwise. Might just be a quirk with how her eyes work now. "Not so much invisibility," she continues, "As a spell that tries to trick someone looking at me into thinking I'm not there by cutting off the information getting to them, so I look like a statue or a piece of shrubbery instead of a person. It might not even work, so I'll be doing it from a safe vantage point at the very least." She smiles warily at Tomoyo. "I can do a lot with sound and talking, visual stuff is a lot harder, and the abstract stuff tires me out really fast." She looks at Riva after Kotone's portrait is finished, fascinated by the scrutiny. She stares until Riva divulges what she's being all weird about, or at least distracts the lizard away from it.
Tomoyo Daidouji	Tomoyo smiles at Riva! "I know~ I don't want to die either! But... well, it might still happen, you know?" She offers a half-hearted little shrug. "And I know that everyone will do their best to make sure it doesn't. But a lot of people have been trying to stop him for a long time, and he's still at large. So..." Another shrug. Looking to Ainsley, she smiles. "That's appreciated, but... he has that teleporter. If he wanted, he could grab me and warp us far away from the rest of the fight." She rubs the back of her neck and glances around before whispering. "That's why I'm building up my own capabilities, rather than trying to learn to fight with others." She then smiles softly. "Sorry~ It always seems to come back to this when I talk to people recently~ You must all be bored to tears by it! I'll hush~"
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa is sitting the4re as Ainsley pains she's talking but she's not moving much if at all. She does seem to be enjoying waing she's curious how this will now take a moment once things are finished. "That's quite a trick the cloest I get is blending in with what's around me and this is quite the painting you done here." She'll get up and let Riva have her turn now.