IF YOU LISTEN VERY HARD / sketching

[bubblegum]

DEAR FRIEND as you know,  your flowers are withering
your mother's gone insane, your leaves have drifted away.
    but the clouds are clearing up
        and i've come reveling, burning incandescently,
                                              like a bastard on the burning sea.

YOU'RE JUST LIKE YOUR FATHER,
BURIED DEEP UNDER THE WATER.

One of the few things that still came natural to Goldenluxury despite everything, was her joy found in art. The hobby had been picked up at first when she was young, simply to pass time, to help calm herself, and only grew as she did. The motor skills had not been lost, only needed some time and practice to retrieve once more in their full glory. While perhaps not a master of form, color, or whatever else went into it, she didn't mind so much. There were many different styles she could try, and she liked to try them all. The simple act of making something had been plenty enough for her. And that had not changed in the meantime still.

While she was not great at keeping up with things these days, simply doing her best to figure out who everyone around her was, she was aware of the fact that Valentines Day would be coming up within a few weeks. She'd asked around what exactly it was, why it was celebrated, and she came to the conclusion that the day would be most naturally spent with her new...comrade. So, of course, she would need to prepare something ahead of time for the event. Ultimately, she'd settled on the idea of painting Sophiea's old kingdom, one she spoke of fondly, seemed to miss, one that she hoped the two could revisit some day. It would be nice, and warm, and be something she'd enjoy looking at it, she'd think. So long as she did it justice. And in order to do that, she needed, time, and references.

Before anything, the female had been sure to pick an adequate canvas, sketching out ideas for composition on a piece of paper before finally settling on one she'd thought would look nice. Unfortunately, the island didn't have much reference for what she was looking to draw, so instead she came up with the idea of going to their lighthouse, seeing as that was where they'd kept a majority of their books. That was where individuals would find the female now, flipping through a book to find pictures of forests as she set down her canvas, beginning to slowly refine the messy sketch she'd made for her idea, humming quietly to herself.

[michael t.]

YOU NEVER GAVE UP ON ME; WHY DON'T YOU?
I'LL NEVER KNOW WHAT YOU SEE; WHY WON'T YOU?

Valentine's Day. The occasion had been on Michael's mind quite a bit as of late, and not only because of how he intended to spend it. For the most part, he wouldn't actually have to worry about his personal experiences with Valentine's Day. While he had started to set something up for himself and his husband, Trevor had been quick to stop him as soon as he had spotted Michael plotting. The coyote had insisted in setting up everything by himself, and getting a chance to treat Michael like a prince. The whole thing seemed a bit ridiculous to the dealer, but he didn't have the heart to tell Trev no. So now, he was pretty much just stuck waiting for Valentine's to come along, just so that he could see what he would be in for. As exciting as that was, it wasn't the only reason he was waiting eagerly for the date – he was also excited because of his role as a dealer. He had already gone over a few ideas with Rox for what The Typhoon as a whole could do to celebrate, and he had to admit that he was excited to put things together. Even with how tired he knew he would be afterward.

Much like Goldie, Michael had headed to the lighthouse for Valentine's related purposes. He had wanted to grab a few books on the day and its history, to see what sort of event would be appropriate to put a fun spin on. When he got there, though, he was surprised to see that Goldie was already present, along with a large book and a piece of canvas. His mismatched blue gaze glanced over what she had already sketched out, his mouth working before his mind as he muttered, "Wow Goldie, that's pretty..." Just a moment later, the thief realized that he hadn't even said hello, his ears pinning back in embarrassment. He was quick to rectify the mistake, shaking his head at himself before he spoke once again, "Shit, sorry, uh... hey, Goldie! What're you doing out here? I mean... it's pretty obvious it's something artistic, but... the lighthouse is an interesting place to get to work." Was the lighting better in there for sketching, or something like that? Michael certainly wouldn't have known, since his artistic skills were pretty much just limited to stick figures.

— Reggan