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[theinsideman]

A tall, brown-haired guy stood just to the left of the bookshelf in the rec room, a look of puzzlement slowly overtaking his face as he stared at the easel kit that seemed to have been mistakenly marked with his name. He fingered the tag for a long moment and shook his head. It wasn't anything like what he'd had at home - it was better, in fact -

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[wishesandsmoke]

"You got a present!" Eden grinned as she walked up to Desmond, hands clasped together in front of her. "God, Desmond, that's amazing." It looked like a pretty damn good set, not that she knew anything about it. For a moment, she couldn't help thinking of Isaac and all the equipment and painting's she'd helped him transport from his apartment to Odessa. God, sometimes she really missed him. He'd been so sweet and now she had no clue what had become of him.

[theinsideman]

"I guess." Desmond didn't even look up when she walked over, instead just shrugging his shoulders noncommittally while staring at the easel set up in front of him.

"I mean.. it has my name on it." He fingered the tag again, shaking his head. "There's no 'from:' part, though."

[wishesandsmoke]

"Mine had a 'to,'" Eden observed, shrugging as well. "But that's about it. I think, around here, that pretty much makes it yours." Reaching out, she ran a hand down the side of the easel, her expression curious. It seemed sturdy, good quality. She smiled, pleased the island had been kind to him.

[theinsideman]

"Yeah," he breathed, still a little wary about the whole thing. "It's smaller, but better than the one I used to have." He ran his fingers against the tips of the paintbrushes then along the top of the packaged canvases leaning against the side.

"Still weird."

[wishesandsmoke]

"Weirder than appearing on a desert island where it snows and throws giant parties?" Eden deadpanned, leaning over to nudge him with her elbow. She grinned. "I know, like, nothing about art, you know? But this guy I knew, Isaac, he was really something. I can't believe it's almost been a year since I saw him."

[theinsideman]

He tapped his fingers against the tray of the easel before lifting his hand to rub against his jaw.

"Yeah?" Jules had always told him he was so talented; that his artwork was so wonderful, but now...

[wishesandsmoke]

"Well, it was comic book stuff mostly," Eden said, shrugging. "You know, I've never seen any of your work. Is that gonna change?" She grinned over at him, shifting back and forth like an eager child, teasing.

[theinsideman]

"I don't know. I haven't really done anything since I got here," he admitted, taking a step back to lean against the wall behind him.

It wasn't a total lie; he'd done a few sketches here and there, but nothing that really warranted the title of 'art' or 'work'.

[wishesandsmoke]

"Well, now you can." She looked at the easel again, clearly pleased for him. Somewhere in the back of the mind was the memory of watching Isaac paint inside the tiny Company room, working under the influence of the heroin she'd made him take, and the guilt that had welled up for what she'd done, how she'd had to force her sense of duty, her love for Claire, to supersede that. "I'd really like to sometime."

[theinsideman]

"Yeah." In a way, he was almost afraid to try painting something again. Like he'd only be able to paint one thing. One person, to be more accurate. The person he missed the most these days.

"Sometime."

[wishesandsmoke]

"We should take these back to your place," Eden said. "Painting in public's probably not all that conducive to coming up with something good, huh?"