RP: Unveiling

[rar_dean]

Date: 6 September 1999
Characters: Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnigan, Chance the Painting (NPC)
Location: Carine's Studio
Status: Private
Summary: Seamus comes by the studio to see Dean's portrait of him.
Completion: Incomplete

Comments

[rar_seamus]

Seamus would've been lying if he'd said he wasn't excited to see what Dean had come up with. Wasn't every day you landed yourself in a painting, after all. And it seemed special, somehow, that it was Dean's painting, Dean's project. Anyway, he was curious.

He approached the studio, nearly jumping when some bloke popped into the empty portrait. "Fuck, mate, give us a warnin' next time, aye?"

"Keep talkin' like that, and I won' be lettin' ya' in. Take it yer Dean's mate?"

"I am, yes," Seamus said, and muttered, "some host you are."

"Some guest you are," the lad in the portrait quipped, and swung open the door. "I'll tell 'im yer here."

Seamus stepped through and found Dean standing by a covered painting. "Need to teach that painting o' yours some manners, mate," he grinned.

[rar_dean]

"Been sayin' that for months now, but Carine won't let me take him down," Dean said, grinning as Seamus stepped into the studio. "Seems she's rather fond of him, for some dumb reason."

He glanced quickly over his shoulder at the covered painting again, then back to Seamus. "So this is it," he said, gesturing to the space around him. "I can give you the tour if you like, but it's mostly storage rooms and Carine's office and such, other than this. A few of her latest on the easels back there." He pointed to the larger area where his mentor usually worked. "She's bloody brilliant. You should see how real they look."

[rar_seamus]

"So this is where you and your hot teacher do your ..." he waggled his eyebrows exaggeratedly, "thing." He looked around the space, and was actually pretty impressed by it all. "It's nice, mate. Real professional, like."

Out of curiosity, he took a look at the paintings Dean indicated. "Oh, yeah," he said as he walked closer. "She definitely knows what she's doin'."

[rar_dean]

"Oi!" called Chance. "That's my sister yer talkin' about! What have ya been tellin' this bloke, Thomas?"

"Now you've done it, mate. I'll really never hear the end of this," Dean said, groaning. He glared at the painting. "Can you go guard the door or something else productive? We've got a bit of business."

Chance snorted. "Business? Looks ta me like yer stallin'. Just show him the bloody painting, will ya?" Then he disappeared out of the frame.

Dean ignored Chance for the moment and nodded at Seamus's comment about Carine's work, genuinely glad his mate liked the paintings. Just being a Master Painter didn't mean her works would be to everyone's taste, but Dean happened to admire her style a great deal. That reminded him.... "Carine recommended a few places in Paris," he said. "Some wizard galleries, maybe even a possible place to stay."

[rar_seamus]

"Dean, if you can't handle a bleedin' painting, then I don't know what to tell you," Seamus chuckled and shook his head as the portrait-bloke made his exit. He raised a brow, then turned to Dean, frowning slightly. "Havin' a brother die, then just havin' him around like that ... bit strange, aye?"

Dean brought up Paris, which made him grin. "No kidding? We'll have to keep it in mind, for when we go. Figure she'd have been to Paris more'n a few times, bein' a big-time artist, and shite."

[rar_dean]

He shrugged, glancing over at Chance's empty frame. It hadn't really ever occurred to him just how strange that might be, because it had just made sense that she'd practice her art on close family. "Maybe so. Guess it's just a hazard of the art, you know?" It was hard for him to even imagine a walking, talking version of one of his sisters in a painting, much less to imagine how that would be if she'd died.

"Did her Mastery there, actually," Dean explained. "Her mentor died a decade ago or something, but she said there're still some of his paintings on display." He grinned as he added, "It'd be almost like studying, too. She said she doesn't mind my taking off a Saturday if I'm using part of it to brush up on my Masters."

[rar_seamus]

"Aye, I reckon it is." Seamus didn't know if it was for him, though. Seeing the dead people in the paintings at Hogwarts was one thing; he didn't know any of them.

Seamus laughed. "Well and good, mate, as long as there's not too much studying happening."

[rar_dean]

"Well, you wouldn't be studying it," Dean countered, laughing as well. "All you non-artistic types have to do is look at them. But you know me. Always got my sketchbook anyway, so I can't imagine it'd be much different."

He glanced back over his shoulder at his own canvas, which was still covered, and rubbed the back of his neck with one hand. "So I guess I should get this unveiling over with, yeah?"

[rar_seamus]

"Nah, I know," Seamus said easily. Paris was supposed to be some kind of paradise for artists, so he knew Dean would be getting all googly-eyed at least some of the time while they were there.

Dean seemed a bit nervous now he'd brought up the subject of unveiling, and Seamus lifted a hand to clap him on the shoulder. "Sounds good to me. Probably ought to get it done before the arse in the portrait comes back, aye?"

[rar_dean]

"Chance is all right," Dean said offhandedly, moving toward his little corner of the studio. He didn't have much space, but it was certainly better than trying to spread everything out in his bedroom. "Nice having someone to talk to sometimes, even if it's only a painting."

He paused in front of the easel, reaching up to grab the cloth that was covering his painting. It was ridiculous for him to be nervous; he'd told himself that a million times already, and he kept hoping it would sink in. Now it didn't really matter, because he was going to show it off regardless.

"I've never really painted anything like this before," Dean said, carefully unhooking the cloth from the top corners and then letting it fall to the ground. "So...yeah. Here it is."

[rar_seamus]

Seamus watched eagerly as Dean reached up and removed the cover from the painting and stepped back.

His mouth might have fallen open a bit.

It wasn't what he'd been expecting, that was for sure. Dean had far surpassed that. Seamus took in the scene -- a rather simple one, really, just him in the pub like he'd been that day. Except he wasn't alone. Dean had put himself in there too, his arm around Seamus, and they were both mid-laugh.

"Well," Seamus said, clearing his throat. He didn't know exactly what to say. "Shite, mate."

[rar_dean]

"Never really tried painting myself, other than as a lark," he continued, chancing a look at Seamus's face. His best mate looked...surprised? Well, that made sense, he supposed

[rar_seamus]

"Wouldn't know it to look at this," Seamus said, still looking at the painting. It was really detailed; that was all, and Seamus thought it should be looked at for a while.

After a moment, Dean started talking, explaining about what the painting meant to him, which was pretty unnecessary from where Seamus stood. He'd put it all right there on the canvas, hadn't he? It was better than any words Seamus knew. "Makes sense to me," he said finally, then looked at Dean. "I figure we've come out the other side just fine, aye?"

He smiled. "It's brilliant, mate."

[rar_dean]

"Yeah," Dean said, looking at the painting, at Seamus's and his own smiling faces, now made permanent in paint. It definitely made sense. "I think we did."

He couldn't help but grin at his best mate's final pronouncement. Dean was really pleased with how the painting had come out, despite the trouble he'd had with it in the middle. And well, he liked it and Seamus liked it, so that was all that mattered, wasn't it?

"What do you say to a pint, then? Life imitating art and all," he said, nodding at the portrait before covering it again.