MURAL MADNESS, MUTHAFREAKAHZ.

[lightningcute]

Who: Anyone who wants to get in on some hot n' steamy painting action.
What: Village-wide art therapy.
When: Forward-dated to 11/25, and runs until 11/27.
Where: Between the Welcome Center and Azzip.
Summary: Paint with all the colors of the wind! Or at least with whatever colors Pao-lin managed to procure.
Rating: M for MURAL

Comments

Friday!

[mistyarc]

[At first, Hubert drops by in the morning and sees Pao-lin, but decides to leave her for the time being and heads off, seeing as how he has nothing to contribute to the mural. He returns within a couple of hours, when the colors are being laid down.

. . . She still looks busy. The fact that he's no longer a child makes this all the more awkward on his end, since a part of the enthusiasm up and vanished, but that's no fault of hers. Isn't that why he came regardless? With that thought in mind, all he can do for now is simply stand by and watch from a fair distance.]

[mistyarc]

[It's a good thing she came back quickly, though Hubert finds himself a little at a loss at Pao-lin's lack of manners. Thinking back on it, she was this way earlier in the week . . . Not ladylike at all.

He nods.]

[lightningcute]

[Yeeeeaaaah don't expect this gal to act like a proper young lady. At least not 'til Monday afternoon. Be grateful she's not as terrible as Toph when it comes to that sort of thing.

Pao-lin leads him over to the left end of the mural, where there are pencil outlines of feathers left unpainted except for little dashes indicating what color each feather should be. There's a few open, half-empty cans of paint on the floor nearby.]

This'll be easy! Just paint the feathers the color that's shown on the wall. Don't worry if it's messy or whatever, we can fix that later.

[mistyarc]

[I still need to tag that.

He looks the pencil outlines over. That sounds simple enough, but painting is easier said than done. As long as he tries his best and is as meticulous as possible, it should be fine, right?]

. . . Understood.

[lightningcute]

[Take your time, I'm sure the results will be worth it. |D

Pao-lin nods, then cranes her neck over to check on something on the opposite end of mural.]

Oh, hold on, Grune's painting random flowers again. I'll be back in a few minutes, okay? [She scurries off.]

[mistyarc]

[She said "hold on," so he does exactly that and lowers the brush.

Grune, Grune, where did he . . . ? Ah.

Oh. Okay, he'll just let Pao-lin handle that as he thinks about how especially odd his encounter with Grune was, as a child. It's like everything is blending in together.]

[lightningcute]

[Pao-lin returns soon enough, her clothes covered (well, more covered) in orange, yellow, and red paint. She's got a couple of used brushes in the pockets of her overalls and one clenched between her teeth. She's still got the plate of food in one of her hands, and she sets it down on the floor before taking the brush from her mouth, dipping it in paint and straightening up to work on a section next to Hubert.]

All right, let's get started! We'll be done with this part in no time.

[mistyarc]

[She actually set the food down. Keeping that small comment to himself, Hubert readjusts the brush in his grip and looks to the mural.]

Where do I to begin?

[lightningcute]

[Look, where else was she gonna put it? Did you want to hold it?

Pao-lin gives him a bit of a surprised glance, as though the answer to his question should've been obvious.]

Well, anywhere is fine. Everything will be painted eventually.

. . . GRAMMAR, AGAIN.

[mistyarc]

[She could've balanced it on her head via some kungfu mojo, okay.

Hubert's reminded that painting is an art in which he's supposed to exercise his creativity and be liberal. He's so used to the structural approach of a military setting that he needs -- craves -- a certain direction to go in. But if Pao-lin says so . . . and it's awkward doing this in front of her because what is painting; nonetheless, Hubert dips the brush in a paint can and applies the paint to the proper place on the mural. His strokes appear exactly how someone would expect them to be, rigid and stiff. No biggie since it's just covering the surface, right?]

XD It's 3:30AM where I am, so I'll forgive you your grammatical trespasses.

[lightningcute]

[but she used that all up organizing this project

because

murals are a martial art

or something..........

Meanwhile, Pao-lin's freely slopping paint onto the wall with a sort of controlled looseness. She's actually being a little ambitious and working the basic shading into her initial strokes via dipping the brush into two colors and swishing the resulting mix across. Mistakes? No such thing -- Pao-lin does frown when something doesn't seem to look right, but she takes it in stride, either just painting over the problem spot or smearing it with her fingers.

Come on, Hubert, get down and dirty with your bad painterly self.]

How do you stay up so late, my brain is already shutting down.

[mistyarc]

[mural organizing is a martial art that spends a lot of energy, clearly . . .

Maybe he should have brought Pascal. She would've been all over this and flying around the mural with all her maniacal grace, if it can be called that. Now and then, Hubert takes a glimpse at Pao-lin's handiwork. He can't help but feel inadequate.

That is not still not reason enough for him to go crazy. Actually, that's the last thing he wants to do -- never mind that he's already doing the "last thing" he meant to do right now.]

Copious amounts of Mt. Dew + natural night owl tendencies + oh right I was supposed to be NaNoing...

[lightningcute]

[just admit that you're totally Pao-lin's bitch now and you'll feel a lot better about yourself

Pao-lin eventually notices Hubert's general lack of enthusiasm. Her brows furrowed a bit, she lowers her brush and glances at him.]

Are you okay?

Oh, glorious Mt. Dew . . . NaNo is forever neglected.

[mistyarc]

[no, never, anything but that

He rigidly turns his head her way, stopping his brush mid-sweep.]

Ah -- yes. . . . To be honest, I'm not used to this sort of activity.

I'm only about 17k behind. NO BIG DEAL.

[lightningcute]

[Pao-lin relaxes a little.]

Oh, that. [A gentle smile.] You're not the only one. I think out of everyone here, there's only about five of us who have any sort of art experience. That's why it means a lot when people like you come out here to help.

Only . . . GET TO WORK.

[mistyarc]

[Grune is probably not one of those five, he finds himself thinking briefly. He straightens even more at the last part, tensing somewhat from the unnecessary kindness in the words.]

I see . . .

I did say that I would come.