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Bryony Capper ([info]goodlight) wrote in [info]finnigans_rpg,
@ 2014-10-10 20:38:00

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Entry tags:character: bryony capper, character: dean thomas, status: complete

Artist's Meeting
Who: Dean and Bryony
What: Getting to know the new apprentice
Where: Artist's studio
When: Friday morning
Rating: SFW

Bryony was certain she'd have nothing to contribute to the meeting that morning - she didn't feel it was her place, since she wasn't even officially a part of the show they'd be discussing. Still, Braith had said she should be there and so Bryony was sitting in the kitchen to keep out of the way until things got started.

Partly, she was sitting in the kitchen because that was where she'd left the cupcakes she'd made the night before. After making a batch with her aunt over the weekend, she'd realised it wasn't as difficult as she'd expected. The Friday meeting had seemed the perfect reason to try again, on her own this time. They'd come out well and Bryony had only had one to check they were alright before arranging them on a plate with a preservative charm.

Bryony sat at the kitchen table, the plate of cupcakes at the far opposite corner. She was dieting. Again. Finding out her mother was arranging a ball on her birthday and not inviting her had spurred her to try again. Even though it meant she got to spend her birthday with Marcus, she couldn't help but feel hurt. Her mother hadn't even asked if she would mind. Had she just forgotten about Bryony completely? Given up on her now she had a job and somewhere else to live? Bryony ripped a page with a half-formed sketch of the cakes out of her notebook and balled it up in her fist.


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[info]artistdean
2014-10-10 08:28 pm UTC (link)
Dean was avoiding starting painting before the meeting. His tendency to get wrapped up in it meant he was likely to be late if he made any start at all, and Cadmus tended to be awfully huffy or downright cruel at his 'poor time-keeping' and how it was a 'reflection on his general character'. So he'd mixed some more paint from the base he'd made up and some of the pigment colours he knew he'd need soon. He'd done that, double checked some of his pricing ready for the pieces he wanted in the show and then just gave up and headed for coffee.

"Oh, morning, Bryony," he said, when he opened the kitchen door. "You want coffee? I need some before the meeting." He gave her a smile and headed for the cupboard, mug brought from his studio in hand.

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[info]goodlight
2014-10-10 10:08 pm UTC (link)
Bryony glanced up and smiled, glad of the distraction from her own problems. She didn't know Dean well, or at all really, but she'd brought him coffee a few times and she liked what little she'd seen of his work. "Good morning." It was still strange to her to call people by their first names when she barely knew them, and more often than not she simply left it off instead of feeling awkward.

"I'm fine, thank you." She preferred tea to coffee, generally, though today she was avoiding both because she hated to drink them without sugar. "Would you like a cupcake?"

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[info]artistdean
2014-10-10 10:34 pm UTC (link)
Dean nodded in acknowledgement and set about making coffee for himself. "Oh, that'd be great, thanks," he said, turning to lean against the counter as he waited for the water to boil. "Did you make them?" he asked. "They look good. I bake but it's a bit... sporadic recently." What he meant was he'd mostly been sleeping okay because he was exhausted or he'd slept on his sofa in the studio where there were no baking facilities, but she didn't need to know that.

"So, are you coming to the meeting? I know Braith used to insist I did most of the time, and they're almost never interesting."

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[info]goodlight
2014-10-11 07:31 am UTC (link)
Bryony smiled at his praise. They didn't look as good as professional cakes she'd seen, but Bryony figured there was time to learn those skills if she wanted. "I did. Thank you." It surprised her to learn that Dean baked. It wasn't something her family would consider appropriate for a man to do, unless he were a professional or exclusively making bread or other masculine things. Then again, quidditch wasn't something Bryony was supposed to be interested in as a woman so she tried not to apply her family's standards to too many things. "I'm still learning, so I'm sure they're not as good as anything you've made." She blushed a little as she said this.

With a surprised laugh, Bryony nodded. "She said I should come. I don't mind, but I thought cupcakes might be nice."

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[info]artistdean
2014-10-11 09:54 am UTC (link)
He snorted at her comment that his were likely better than hers. "I don't know about that. I've been cooking and baking for a while, sure, but I'm pretty sure my friends would tell you to be cautious eating anything I cook. It can be a bit... experimental. And I'm told I'm far too fond of chilli." He turned back to his coffee making and puttered about as he finished up.

"And yes, the cupcakes will help the meeting. Anything involving talking finances and show preparations can only be improved by baked goods." He grabbed a muffin to go with his mug of coffee and crossed to the table.

"So, are you enjoying apprentice life?" he asked. He knew it could be a lot of hard work, and the difficult or boring jobs, but he had also loved the freedom to create as a job.

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[info]goodlight
2014-10-11 11:29 pm UTC (link)
"Chilli in cupcakes?" Bryony wrinkled her nose for a second before smoothing out her expression, not wanting to cause offence. "Well. That is experimental. How exciting!" She wished she sounded more convincing, but she'd never been a very good liar. Perhaps he'd meant chilli in other things he cooked, or in bread - that didn't seem so outlandish. Bryony fixed her gaze elsewhere, wondering if she'd just made an idiot of herself. Her mind was too full of cupcakes right now, she'd just naturally assumed.

She forced herself to look up and meet Dean's eyes, smiling slightly and nodding her gratitude that he approved her decision. She smiled more widely when he asked about apprentice life. "Oh, it's wonderful." She'd never had any other job to compare it to, but it was so much better to have somewhere to go. Somewhere outside her family home or her aunt's house. Somewhere no one questioned every move or every decision. "And I like living in London, too," she offered - unusually for her. She was thinking of Marcus and how nice it was to be able to see him.

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[info]artistdean
2014-10-11 11:59 pm UTC (link)
"Oh, no, not chilli in cupcakes. Well, not usually, I made chilli chocolate cupcakes once, they were quite good, but chilli and spices in savoury stuff mostly. My mum and her family are from Jamaica, I grew up with a fair amount of spicy food." He waved his hands around rather expressively. He felt oddly comfortable with her, as he did with many artists. And Bryony honestly seemed pretty harmless. "Honestly I send most of my baking to my friends. I get mixed reviews back."

He grinned at her enthusiasm about her apprenticeship. "Glad you're enjoying it. And I grew up here, not sure I'd ever want to leave." Apart from Hogwarts, and when he'd had too. He shook his head minutely, clearing the thought. "So do you have any preferences yet, or is it too soon to tell? I always loved drawing people, so I was pretty sure what I'd end up focussing on. Not that you really need a focus... would you believe that I'm usually quiet when I don't know people?" he asked, feeling a bit sheepish. Outside of art-talk he really was quiet with those he didn't know well, but art often transcended that boundary for him.

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[info]goodlight
2014-10-12 12:22 am UTC (link)
"That's nice of you." And also explained how Dean could bake regularly and still be so thin. Bryony suddenly felt acutely aware of the way her tummy curved the material of her robes. She looked resolutely away from the cupcakes. Dieting. She was dieting, and maybe this time it would work. Maybe if she just kept herself busy with sketching and Marcus and Aunt Hecuba she wouldn't have time to eat so much. "Jamaica? Have you been?" She knew that just because his family was from there didn't mean he had, but Bryony's limited trips abroad had all been to Europe. Which was amazing, in its own way, but part of her hungered to see something else.

She smiled encouragingly, not wanting to say that she was glad when he talked because it meant she didn't have to keep the conversation going, but thinking it all the same. "I like landscapes. My people sketches aren't so great." They were improving, slowly, but her first love would always be landscapes, she suspected. "I like outdoor scenes, especially."

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[info]artistdean
2014-10-12 10:50 am UTC (link)
"Yeah, we went once when I was, about six or seven? Not too long before my youngest sister was born. We never went on a huge amount of holidays, but it was good to see family." It had been a good holiday, although his memories of most of it was a bit hazy. It was, however, the source of the his sand in uncomfortable places story. He rather thought he shouldn't tell that one to Bryony.

"Yes? That's good. I tend the other way: love to capture people. Although it does take a lot of practice." Dean did like a good landscape too, but it wasn't usually what captured his attention. He preferred to explored the intricacies of a face, the expression that could be shown through hands and body position.

He sipped his coffee and relaxed slightly.

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[info]goodlight
2014-10-12 11:28 am UTC (link)
Bryony nodded, holding herself back from asking too many questions about Jamaica. "It's a pity you were too young to paint," she said. "I'm sure it must be amazing." She wanted to ask about his sisters, but too many personal questions wasn't polite. At least with art she had some kind of right to ask, since they sort of worked together.

"I suppose everyone is different." She tried not to feel like her preferences were inadequate, but it wasn't easy. She did love landscapes - both to sketch or paint herself and to look at when painted by others. On the other hand, she did most of her sketching alone when there were no other people to sketch. Perhaps that was why her skills were still lacking. "I want to get better at both, eventually."

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[info]artistdean
2014-10-12 06:33 pm UTC (link)
"I doubt I'd have wanted to really. I was an active child. Plus it was somewhere new to explore. I would love to go back someday though. Paint some of my family, some of island life," he said, his voice slipping into a reasonable imitation of his mother's usual twang on the last two words. There were odd phrases where it just happened, although very few of them he used often.

Dean nodded. "Of course they are. Where would art be if we all made the same thing over and over again?" he said. He could see something about her, slightly hesitant or nervous maybe? He doubted it was for the same reasons he could be nervous, but it was worth remembering. "Well the apprenticeship will give you plenty of practice time. Although it's amazing how two years can fly by and drag by in clumps," he said, remembering it fondly.

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[info]goodlight
2014-10-13 06:04 pm UTC (link)
"Ah." Bryony nodded. "My brother Rowan is like that. He didn't like sitting still." Of course, Rowan had been allowed to swap piano and drawing lessons for flying and horse riding from a young age. If Bryony or her sisters had tried that, they'd have been put firmly back into their places. "Does anyone else in your family paint?" The slightly wistful look on her face showed she could certainly understand his desire to return.

His reassurance eased her somewhat. When she'd been showing her portfolio around, trying to find an apprenticeship, she'd heard from some people that portraits were what was commercially viable, that only great masters still sold landscapes and she certainly wasn't that. She was glad Dean didn't seem to feel that way, that he - like her - appreciated art of all kinds. "It's been wonderful, so far."

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[info]artistdean
2014-10-13 07:41 pm UTC (link)
"I wasn't much for sitting still as a kid, but as my friends will tell you I can now stay still for hours at a time, well, painting which is fairly still," he said. He found calm in the stillness these days where he'd itched to move as a child. A year on the run would do that to you. "No, not really. My mum can make clothes a little, but none of them are particularly creative types. My sister's a university doing biochemistry, oh, you're pureblood, right? That's sort of...really hard to explain since I don't particularly understand it, but chemistry is sort of a bit like potions, and biology is studying living things." He moved his hands in a gesture of submission. He had no other way to explain things.

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[info]goodlight
2014-10-15 01:57 pm UTC (link)
Bryony sat forward a little at the unfamiliar word. She was pureblood and had had little direct exposure to the muggle world — but that didn't stop her from reading. She'd started with books on muggle impressionist painters, who were by far her favourites, even if she would never say so to her family, and had found that there was a huge amount she didn't understand even in the simplest books outlining their work. Her Ravenclaw curiosity had lead her to history books and geography books, all smuggled home without her parents knowing. "And university is a school that muggles go to after they're eighteen, right?" Her understanding of modern muggle society was more limited, but she had picked up bits and pieces here and there - and was always eager to know more. It felt strange to understand (more or less) what muggle France had been like over a hundred years ago and yet have no idea what to expect should she walk into muggle London today.

"She must be very smart, your sister," Bryony said, smiling. Ravenclaw or not, she couldn't imagine continuing school after Hogwarts - or needing to. People took private lessons and apprenticeships, of course, but that was different. "Will she still be in the UK?" (There were, Bryony knew, universities all over the world.)

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[info]artistdean
2014-10-15 08:02 pm UTC (link)
Dean saw Bryony's interest and mentally smiled to himself. Clearly she was interested in the muggle world, and if he was reading it right she was a pureblood with next to no muggle exposure. "Yes," he confirmed. "You have to take exams like we took OWLs and NEWTs to qualify for places, then you apply for what you want to study and at what universities. I don't really understand the process beyond that, I haven't been in muggle education since I was ten," he said with a shrug. He knew the basics from Jess and Cat but by the time his friends from primary school were making that sort of choice he'd lost all real contact with them.

"She is!" he said, proud. "I was never much above average in many of my subjects, but Jess is really good at lots of things, although she's not very creative in the artistic sense." He was very proud of both of his sisters, who had both worked hard. "Yes, she's moved up to York which is tricky for my family to visit, but with magic it's pretty straightforward for me. Although with the show coming up I've not had the time I thought I would, plus I don't think she wants her big brother around cramping her style."

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[info]goodlight
2014-10-17 01:40 pm UTC (link)
Pleased that she hadn't made a fool of herself by being wrong, Bryony smiled and sat up a little straighter. She liked knowing things about the muggle world, it was something that distanced her from her mother and sisters while bringing her closer to her father, who had an academic interest in nearly everything. "Oh, I'm sure she'd be glad to see you," Bryony said. "It's comforting to have someone you know around when you go to a new place." She was thinking, specifically, of having Marcus at Hogwarts when she'd started, even if it was only for the first year.

It was with a slight purse of her lips that she realised Dean had been talking as a big brother and her mind had jumped straight to Marcus, rather than to Rowan. "I mean," she added quickly, trying to correct a faux pas that Dean couldn't possible know she had made, "I wish I got to see my brother more often, but he's so busy with training..."

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[info]artistdean
2014-10-18 02:25 pm UTC (link)
Dean was peeling back the paper from his muffin, trying to be slightly politer than his usual stuffing his mouth plan. "Yeah, I'm thinking of dropping her a note and going next weekendish after our time is up for anything to go in the promo material. I hope we don't end up changing that to earlier. My latest won't be done."

"Oh, what is it your brother's training for?" he asked. He honestly couldn't have told anyone that she even had any siblings a few seconds ago, but it was good to learn a little more about her.

He broke off a chunk of muffin and stuck it in his mouth. "Oh, these are good. Thanks, Bryony."

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[info]goodlight
2014-10-19 10:58 am UTC (link)
Bryony watched with some trepidation as Dean unwrapped his cake. So far, only her aunt and Marcus had tried her baking - she hoped that Dean wasn't going to find it unpleasant. "I don't think we will," she said quietly. Braith was busy too, and she had two pieces she was working on simultaneously - Bryony didn't think she would be finished until the deadline. She didn't want to speak for Braith, though, so she didn't mention any of that.

"He's Keeper for the Montrose Magpies," Bryony explained, pride obvious in her voice. Rowan might not be as attentive as Marcus, but she still loved him - and hopefully she was going to actually see him play for the first time soon. She smiled to herself at that thought.

Her smile widened at Dean's approval. "Oh, I'm glad!" She really wanted one herself, but she held back.

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[info]artistdean
2014-10-19 02:34 pm UTC (link)
Dean poked the muffin a bit, breaking it into more pieces. "I doubt it, I've only been involved in a few of the shows so far, but it's more likely that it'll be moved later than earlier." There had been the time just as he was finishing his apprenticeship when Cadmus had tried to move the date earlier because he was finished even though nobody else was. Braith had managed to talk him down, especially as Dean was being allowed to show a piece for the first time.

"Oh, nice," he said, grinning. "I played a couple of games for Gryffindor in my sixth year, but I was never good enough to go pro." And of course after the war he really wasn't up to playing Quidditch like that. He grabbed another morsel of cake and asked "Did you ever play?" before popping the cake into his mouth.

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[info]goodlight
2014-10-19 05:07 pm UTC (link)
Relieved that Dean agreed without having pushed for details, Bryony nodded. "We'll find out, I suppose. If it was going to be moved forward, you'd all have to agree to it soon." She really didn't think it would happen, not when Ophelia had only recently arrived.

"Me?" Bryony practically squeaked, shaking her head quickly. Only Marcus knew she'd ever even been on a broom - it wasn't something she felt comfortable sharing. Though she still didn't like to lie, but Dean must know she couldn't play Quidditch. She was far too big, anyway. Quidditch players had to be fit, not like her. "No, no. I've never played." At least that was true. Part of her wanted to add that she wouldn't want to play, as she knew her mother would want, but she didn't.

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[info]artistdean
2014-10-19 07:30 pm UTC (link)
"Yeah, I mean I only think it'd be a week either way, and I doubt anyone but maybe Cadmus would be happy with it moving earlier. I know Ophelia's still working on something complex for the promotional material, and Braith's like me with deadlines usually, works right up to them."

Dean nodded vaguely as she squeaked in reply and then shrugged when she said she hadn't. He'd never bothered discounting any possible interests for anyone, living his formative years with two very capable multi-talented women like his Mum and Aunt Rose had seen to that, and even his Dad joining the family hadn't dampened that impression. "It's not for everyone, and I don't fly much any more anyhow."

He sipped his coffee thoughtfully. He'd still not found out that much about her, although she seemed nice enough. "So what house were you in? I was a Gryffindor, same year as Harry Potter, never did my NEWTs," he offered.

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[info]goodlight
2014-10-20 12:58 pm UTC (link)
"No," Bryony agreed, wishing she could say that she loved flying, even if she'd never played Quidditch, but knowing that that, too, was something it wasn't acceptable for her to be interested in. At least, according to her mother, and hiding that part of herself for years was a hard habit to break. Logically, she knew that most people were not shocked by women who liked to fly. Emotionally, however, that didn't help her to know it was something she personally was allowed to like. "Rowan's the only one, really. My father doesn't like heights much."

A slight noise made her glance away, expecting to see the other artists waiting for them - but there was no one there. Probably it had just been the wind, or an owl through one of the windows that was out of her line of sight. "Oh. I was in Ravenclaw. I must have started in your third year, I suppose." She paused, hands fidgeting with her sketchbook. "My parents took me out of school after my second year, but I went back for - from fifth year."

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[info]artistdean
2014-10-20 03:06 pm UTC (link)
"Ah. Yes," Dean said, subdued. It wasn't a happy topic exactly, the interrupted nature of schooling in the latest war. "I, er, missed my seventh year and decided to apprentice rather than going back," he said. That was the highly simplified and sanitised version of events, but he didn't feel like talking about it so he didn't elaborate.

He sipped his coffee rather awkwardly, not sure what else to say. Perhaps Bryony had questions. They still had another few minutes to waste before the meeting was due to start.

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[info]goodlight
2014-10-22 01:11 pm UTC (link)
Bryony could easily guess why Dean had missed his seventh year. Muggle sisters meant his parents were probably muggle too. Even one witch or wizard in the family was usually enough to hand down magic to all children, unless they were squibs. "Braith said you apprenticed with her," she said, thinking that by far the safer topic. She didn't like to think about her year in Hogwarts under the Carrows, let alone talk about it. She didn't know what else to say to keep the conversation going and pure habit had her reaching for a cupcake at last. Dean couldn't expect her to talk while eating.

"Would you like another one?" she asked as she quickly unwrapped her own. "Or should we take them through to Braith and the others?"

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[info]artistdean
2014-10-22 03:12 pm UTC (link)
He could tell Bryony had picked up on his reluctance to speak about his 'seventh year'. It was blatantly obvious to anyone why he'd not been at school that year. He swallowed, and then took a sip of coffee when he realised he needed something else to lubricate his throat enough to speak. "Yes, it took me a little while to... decide what I wanted precisely." To sort my head out enough to cope with anything, "I interviewed with a few people, Braith was the only one who I came close to clicking with, and she liked my art best too, which was a nice bonus."

He hesitated before shaking his head. "No, I won't, thanks. Although, speaking of," he said, taking a glance at his watch. "We should probably head for the meeting. It was nice talking to you though." It really was. He had a slightly better idea of who she was now, and she might be a bit quiet, but he thought he was going to like her.

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