Ninth Link

[colorbymemory]

Characters: Namine, Amaterasu, Zidane
Content: Ammy and Zidane find Nami on the Theatre Deck. Talk of art and other things ensues.
Time: Morning
Warnings: None.
Notes: None


With practically the whole satellite serving as a laser tag arena, Namine hadn’t had high hopes of the theatre deck being quiet. She was pleasantly surprised to find no one else there; maybe they were all sleeping in. Setting the supplies she’d brought with her on the table she’d claimed as “hers,” she set about gathering the other things she’d need.

Finally, with all her crayons, pastels, pencils, and paper set up, she could get to work. Before long, she was so caught up in it that she was only half-aware of her surroundings.

Comments

[yabigfurball]

Amaterasu wasn't much for participating in laser tag herself...not the least because she didn't at all feel comfortable using a gun. Swords and reflectors, sure, but guns were much harder to direct here, and the game didn't quite appeal to her as much anyway. Besides, now that her son Chibiterasu was here, she wanted to spend some time with him, too.

She was down scouring the theatrical deck for some more art supplies (both she and Chibi went through paper and paints so quickly!) when she spotted Namine working on her own art. Interested, she trotted over to see what she was working on, and to see if she could contribute something there, too.

[colorbymemory]

Namine was, in some ways, just getting the hang of this "playing" thing. While she'd enjoyed trying board games, the idea of a game based on actual combat didn't appeal to her at all. She'd leave that sort of fun to others; Riku and Sora certainly seemed to be enjoying it.

She hadn't noticed Amaterasu's approach until the wolf was right beside her, startling her slightly. Recovering quickly, she smiled and reached out to scritch Ammy's ears. "Hello there. Are you exploring?"

[yabigfurball]

Well if there was anything Ammy could do, it was sneak up on people...she'd had to do it for awhile in Kamiki Village, after all. She accepted the ear scritches with a smile.

At the question, she gave a bit of a quick shake...she wasn't exploring per se. She pulled out her paintbrush...she was looking for art supplies, and willing to do some more art herself.

[colorbymemory]

The paintbrush reminded Nami of their conversation earlier. "Oh, that's right, you paint sometimes."

It didn't occur to her to wonder how a wolf could paint; she'd seen stranger things. Instead she turned in her chair to face Ammy. "Were you looking for something? Maybe I could help you find it."

Being the only person she knew of who was regularly down here for art supplies, she'd taken the liberty of organizing them according to her own system.

[yabigfurball]

While Ammy usually did the painting with her tail (and it was painting more on reality itself than on paper), she was forced to just using her mouth and a normal brush for now.

As for what she was looking for, she shrugged a bit...mostly she was looking for paper. She examined closer what she was working on, and what she was drawing with. Once she spotted it, she nudged a nearby stack of paper with her nose.

[colorbymemory]

Namine waited patiently while Ammy checked out the materials on the table. It took her a moment to realize what Ammy meant by nudging the paper, but when she did, she smiled. "Oh, the paper? That's what you needed?"

She divided the stack into two and gave half to Ammy. "Here you go. Can you carry it? Or maybe you'd like to paint here? We could work together if you want."

[yabigfurball]

Ammy nodded. When Namine offered the half-stack of paper, she took it in her mouth and then carefully balanced it on her back. While it was easier to do with her powers, she had mastered to art of carrying things that at times seemed kind of improbable...if only out of necessity.

She held up her brush to show that she wanted to stay and paint. She rarely got to work with anyone else, just by virtue of being the only one who could paint reality. She was interested to see what she could do with Namine here.

[colorbymemory]

Namine's eyes widened in surprise, then she smiled. It looked like Ammy was quite able to take care of things herself. Which probably should have been expected, seeing as Ammy could paint. "Looks like you've figured it out."

When Ammy pulled out her paintbrush, Namine took the hint to bring out her own brush and paints. "You want to pain together? Okay."

Though it looked like it might be difficult for Ammy to reach the table. After a moment's thought, Nami went to find one of the dropcloths used to protect the floor from paint. Once it was spread out she moved the art supplies from the table. "Let's try putting the paper on this--that way we both can both reach it."

[yabigfurball]

She nodded when Namine asked if they wanted to paint together. She was usually focused on doing the lines of a painting, and wanted to see how they'd look with color added.

Once Namine put a drop cloth on the floor and moved the supplies down to the ground, she moved over to the paper to see what she should start on. Taking the brush in her mouth, she started sketching out the cherry trees that grew around Kamiki Village.

[colorbymemory]

Their talents should prove to compliment each other well, then. Namine wasn't used to outlining things so much, but did enjoy working with colors.

She watched as Ammy began to draw and the trees took shape. She hadn't seen any trees like those before; either that, or she wasn't used to Ammy's drawing style. Rather than just guessing which color to use, she lined all her paints up and gestured to them once Ammy was finished. "Can you tell me which color they're supposed to be?"

[yabigfurball]

Ammy did have a particular style of drawing, since she was used to using ink on her tail, but it was also quite possible that Namine had never seen the cherry blossom trees that defined Nippon.

When asked, she scanned the colors and tapped the tube of pink paint with her paw. Green also worked, but the trees were so beautiful when they were in full bloom.

[colorbymemory]

Namine had never seen cherry blossom trees, though if they were anything like the picture, she wanted to. Ammy made them look beautiful.

She picked up the bottle and squeezed out some paint. She hadn't been working with watercolors for long, so she hoped this turned out well. Once the paint was ready, she slowly began filling in the trees.

[yabigfurball]

Ammy watched a little bit as she began to fill in the trees with pink paint. The paints here weren't quite like the paints and inks of Nippon, but they were similar enough. They were a little thicker here, and seemed to be mixed with something other than water.

Namine continued to color her pictures with an interesting meticulousness. As she did, Ammy continued working on the picture...adding in the mountains in the background, and starting in on the stone roads and river that ran through Kamiki Village.

[icanhastail]

As a thief, Zidane was very well used to the fact that sometimes he wouldn't have his own choice of sleeping accommodations. As a semi-revolutionary, he'd gotten used to flopping down on whatever surface was available after they'd cleared out the local monster population.

But this was war, and in war, sometimes sacrifices had to be made.

A misshapen pile of costumes off in one corner began to move not long after Naminé got absorbed in her work, shifting about as if something was tunneling under them. The very tip of a laser gun pointed out as a blue eye scanned the surroundings, just to make sure no one was waiting in ambush, and when he was certain it was safe, Zidane pushed his way out from under the pile of clothing with a huge and loud yawn, gun in one hand and ...not actually looking all that bad for having just spent the night in a pile of fabric. Scratching the back of his head, he looked around more freely before grinning at the blonde girl. "Hey!"

[colorbymemory]

If she hadn't been so absorbed in what she was doing, Namine night have noticed the rustle of cloth and been on the lookout for Zidane. As it was, the relative safety of the satellite had led to her getting out of the habit of always being somewhat aware of her surroundings while she worked.

It looked like it might be time to get back in that habit.

She visibly started at the greeting before turning in her chair to locate the speaker, relaxing visibly and offering a small smile when she recognized him. "Zidane, right? Hello."

[icanhastail]

Zidane scratches his head and lets out another yawn as he drops his gun in the pile of clothing since the girl in front of him doesn't look to be playing. "That's right - you're Naminé, right? You were that really pretty white unicorn when we were all turned into ponies."

Trust him to remember that one and finish up the greeting with a grin and another compliment. "You know, you're even prettier in person. The mane you had a pony didn't do anything like justice to your hair and your eyes are even more gorgeous now that I can see them properly."

Wink. ...He's a flirt. It's just his job.

"So what're you up here for? Not playing?"

[colorbymemory]

"And you made the joke about horns." Namine's smile turned a bit wry. Not that she'd fully gotten the joke, but the song Cambot had cued up had given her a hint.

She blushed and ducked her head at the compliment, shifting in her chair as she did so. It wasn't that him saying things like that (or the joke) made her uncomfortable (which was almost surprising, since Marluxia had never made any comments of the sort but had still managed to keep her always checking for the others out of the corner of her eye). It was awkward, since she couldn't quite figure out how to respond. A moment's thought led her to the solution of simply moving on to answering his question.

"No, I'm not playing. I just came here to draw for a while."

[icanhastail]

And there was a slight pout when she didn't play back with the flirting, but Zidane knew what that likely meant - she was one of those girls that didn't really like it, or at least know how to handle it. So it probably was for the best to drop it.

And Zidane did, stretching once more and stepping out of the pile of clothing to come up next to her table. "Drawing, huh? So are you any good at it?"

[colorbymemory]

Namine was relieved that he was willing to drop the subject so easily. From the pout she guessed he wasn't happy about doing so, which was too bad, but she really wasn't up for that kind of game.

Thankfully, there was another available subject. "I'm not sure, really. I've never had any basis for comparison." No real lessons, either, but that was a story for another time.

[icanhastail]

What is personal space? Zidane wasn't paying attention to that as he craned his neck to look over her shoulder at the drawing on the table, starting to smile when he got a good look at it. "Hey, that's not half-bad - I've seen other artists sell a lot of their work with less talent. It looks like you're pretty good at this, basis or not."

[colorbymemory]

Fortunately Namine was used to people coming to take a closer look at her drawings. Granted, usually she knew them better than she knew Zidane, but she could at least keep from fidgeting. Instead, she shifted to not only give herself a bit more room and let him see the picture better. The compliment drew a genuine smile out of her.

"Really? You think so?'

Sorry about the phrasing, it's just too appropriate XD

[icanhastail]

Zidane would not do anything to her that she would object to, even in his natural exuberance. It's canon, he has the battle ability. But for the moment, all he wanted to do was look at her pictures, an idea slowly forming in his mind.

"Really - you put a lot of heart into these. That's the one thing that true art requires, is heart and passion - when you give that up, then you're a failure as an artist, and a sellout. But you haven't lost that at all. It's good to see."

XD No apologies needed, for it is.

[colorbymemory]

Most at fault was the fact that Namine's personable bubble when dealing with new acquaintances was bigger than most people's. Even after a few months on the satellite, she was still getting used to being around new people because of a tendency to hermit in places not a lot of people went.

"You think so?" Her eyes widened with surprise, and her cheeks reddened at the compliment. This probably would be a bad time to mention that she hadn't started out drawing to create art. On the other hand, maybe the reason she took so much care with her pictures was because her first ones were memories, and those were important.

Indeed it is!

[icanhastail]

Zidane was a bit sensitive about memories, so it was probably for the best that she didn't tell him that.

"Really." He nodded, still looking over the pictures, reaching out to straighten one a bit. "It's like any kind of art - you don't do it because you think it's going to make you famous and wealthy, you do it because there's something inside you that just need to get out. Some people do it for selfish reasons, but all the real artists or musicians or performers I know do it because they love it and can't live without it." And he smiled at her, a real smile, with no flirting overtones. "We're a strange bunch. If we don't like something, then we won't do it. We have to love showing part of ourselves to other people to get into it in the first place."

[colorbymemory]

Memories usually were a sensitive topic for anyone; hence the fact that, while very truthful and willing to explain if asked, Namine did not often voluntarily talk about Castle Oblivion and what she'd done there.

His smile got a real smile out of her, though the rest of her expression was serious as she considered what he'd said. She'd never drawn for fame or money, though the Organization had used her fear of being left friendless to dictate her first attempts. So much of her drawing before she got here had been for others, and she wasn't sure if all ZIdane was saying fit her. "Or maybe...maybe we just want to say something. Tell everyone that we're here, tell them about themselves, or send a message."

It wasn't until after she'd finished talking that she realized she'd included herself among the artists by saying 'we,' and blushed slightly.