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Bryony Capper (goodlight) wrote in finnigans_rpg,
@ 2014-09-25 14:35:00

Entry tags:

character: bryony capper, character: hermione granger

Quiet Afternoon
Who: Bryony and OPEN
What: A quiet afternoon sketching
Where: Finnigan's
When: Thursday afternoon
Rating: SFW

Bryony had quickly figured out that she much preferred Finnigan's in the late afternoon to the evening. Evenings were so busy, with so many people and so much noise that Bryony always felt out of place, as if she were taking up a seat or a table that could be better used by someone else. In the afternoons, after the lunch crowd had left but before most people were out of work it was much more suited to her needs. There were still people, Finnigan's was rarely completely empty, but far fewer of them and they tended not to bother Bryony so much. So, after she'd made sure Braith and the other artists had everything they were likely to need for the day, Bryony had slipped away to work on her sketches.

Honestly, she still preferred landscapes, but she'd allowed that preference to direct her for too long and her portraits still suffered by comparison. She got herself a pumpkin juice and set up her sketchbook and pencils on a table by the window. Light streamed in from behind her, falling full on the white page, making it almost glow. Pencil in hand, Bryony looked around for a suitable sketch subject.

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weasley_now
2014-09-25 03:50 pm UTC (link)

Mr. Clegg had given Hermione the rest of the afternoon off. They'd had a pretty large blow up in the office today as an employee who'd been fired the day before for sleeping with a client had pushed his way into the building and proceeded to create mass chaos out of the paperwork that had been on his desk that Hermione had been tasked with sorting and completing. Thankfully, she was quick at the draw and had him subdued before he could create too much damage. An owl had been sent and the proper authorities arrived and took him away without further incident. The worst part of it all being that she'd have to sit in a witness chair if they chose to bring him to trial as he was spouting off that he was going to press charges against Hermione for both intellectual and physical assault.

So, here she was a gaudy romance novel spelled to look like a professional journal propped up in front of her as she sipped a glass of pumpkin juice in Finnigan's. She definitely didn't want to be at home by herself and her boss had refused to let her stay at work. As she flipped the page she paused and looked up to see who else was in the room. Her eyes landed on another lady and she gave a slight nod of recognition before returning to the book before her.

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goodlight
2014-09-25 04:15 pm UTC (link)

After considering her option, Bryony chose a woman sitting at a nearby table holding a book. She needed to work on her hands, and she never felt really comfortable doing full portraits of people she didn't know - it just seemed rude without asking permission. She especially avoided setting anyone's face - their most identifying feature - to paper unless she'd specifically asked them to model for her. Though she was equal parts intrigued and intimidated by the challenge that would be sketching the woman's curls with only pencil, she ignored them and instead quickly drew out some straight lines and a curved edge for the book.

She had chosen a good subject, one who wasn't moving too much and looked like she might well be content to stay in her seat for some time. Bryony subconsciously noted that the woman didn't look towards the door or the bar, so she likely wasn't waiting for a companion. When her model moved her hand to turn the page, Bryony paused briefly and caught the woman's nod out of the corner of her eye. She looked up from her sketch and smiled slightly, fingers tightening around her pencil. She hoped she wasn't being intrusive. Should she stop? Braith had told her to draw lots of people, in as many poses and situations as she could manage, but Bryony hadn't quite worked up the courage yet to ask about the etiquette of such a past time.

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weasley_now
2014-09-27 03:31 am UTC (link)

Hermione could feel the eyes of the other woman on her. One didn't spend almost an entire year on the run without knowing when someone was paying a little too much attention to your presence. Glancing up slightly she noticed the woman had a pencil in her hand that seemed to move in a variety of directions. That meant she wasn't writing so much as likely doodling. Deciding that there couldn't be that much to it, Hermione continued reading.

However, the feeling of eyes continually on her made Hermione more paranoid than she'd been in quite awhile. Finally, she closed her book and watched the young woman until she looked up again. "May I help you?" she asked once eye contact was reestablished.

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goodlight
2014-09-29 08:10 am UTC (link)

Bryony had been lost in her drawing; sketching, erasing and redrawing the woman's thumbnails as she tried to get the shape just right. It had been a while since she'd done a concentrated study like this and she'd stopped thinking of her subject as a flesh-and-blood person - a bad habit to get into - until she looked up and found the woman looking at her. She blushed pink and shook her head. "Oh, no. I'm sorry." Obviously, it was time to find a new sketch subject. Bryony didn't want to disturb anyone, and still didn't have the confidence to just admit what she was doing. She'd more or less finished one hand anyway, that would have to do.

Quickly, she glanced around the room for alternative models. No one else was as close, so she'd have to do a whole-body piece rather than detail work. She chose a couple sat at the table by the empty fireplace and turned over a new page in her sketchbook. She tried to fill in the basic shapes of chairs and table, but kept glancing back at her original model, still worried she might have upset her.

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weasley_now
2014-09-30 02:28 pm UTC (link)

Hermione sighed as the younger woman, obviously flustered by the acknowledgement, turned her attention elsewhere. With a slight shake of her head she returned her focus to the text but still felt as if she were being watched.

Not only did Hermione realize that the woman was nervously taking her in from time to time, but there was also a nagging as to what exactly the woman had been drawing. The fact that she'd actually turned slightly to find a new subject let Hermione know that she was indeed a portion of a page. Never one to be shy, she positioned the bookmark before closing her book and placing it in her satchel. Quietly she stood and walked over to where the young woman was still working her pencil.

"Would you mind showing me your last piece of work?" she asked. One arm crossed over her chest to hold her bag up while the rest of her posture was semi-relaxed.

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goodlight
2014-09-30 03:11 pm UTC (link)

Still pink-cheeked, Bryony looked up - not at all sure what to say. Showing her work to anyone outside her family and closest friends was still new to her, but it was something she knew she was going to have to get used to if she was going to make it as an artist. Right now, she couldn't imagine submitting any of her own work to the show her studio was organising, but in the future she hoped she could bring herself to do so. She forced a shy smile as she turned the page back to the one before.

"It's just a sketch," she said, turning the book to be more visible. "I didn't mean to - It's not for anyone to see. I just need to practice." She stumbled awkwardly over her words, as she always seemed to do with new people. There was a reason - even besides her weight - that she'd never fitted in to the pureblood social scene the way her sisters did. "You can take it if you want to be sure." She didn't much like the idea of someone destroying even a simple sketch (and what else could a stranger possibly want to do with it?) but she felt very much as if she were in the wrong here and the offer was all she could think to say to make amends.

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weasley_now
2014-10-03 03:29 am UTC (link)

Hermione had never been shy. If anything the war had caused her to lose any modicum of tact she had before. There were too many opportunities that presented themselves daily that would be lost forever if they weren't grabbed. Hermione was certain this was one of them so she felt no shame whatsoever in approaching the lady and demanding to see the work. Besides, she didn't want whatever might have been sketched to end up being used in an unflattering manner.

When the page was presented to her, Hermione released a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. It was just her hands and unless someone were to say who's hands they were no one would know. Well, maybe Ron would know, but most others would not. "If I want to be sure of what?" Hermione asked as she cocked her head tot he side. "It's a good sketch," she continued.

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goodlight
2014-10-03 04:35 pm UTC (link)

"If you want to be sure no one else sees it," Bryony explained, still tripping over her words a little. She felt a familiar twisting sensation inside - the feeling of having been caught doing something wrong. Usually it was eating something she shouldn't, or not being sociable enough or wearing the wrong thing but it was the same feeling of dread, the expectance of criticism and censure and blame. "I'm sorry," she added, as if by apologising she could head the reaction off at the pass. "I should have asked, but I didn't want to disturb you."

In her own internal turmoil she didn't even notice that her work had been complimented.

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weasley_now
2014-10-04 03:25 pm UTC (link)

Hermione was slightly confused by the reaction she received. "Why wouldn't I want anyone else to see it?" she pushed. Hermione had felt the sting of rejection but had still stood her ground. If she hadn't been brave enough to push through the ridicule there's no telling where the world would be right now. Then again, her ability to use her over active brain had only been worthy because Harry and Ron had chosen to find worth in her. Maybe that was what this woman needed.

"You've done nothing intrusive," Hermione continued. "I'd even venture that if you'd had a model who was aware of the sketch the lines would have been too plain. Your drawing speaks to life because you had to catch the lines through movement not stationary pose."

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goodlight
2014-10-04 09:19 pm UTC (link)

Bryony looked up, almost suspicious of the words. When, after several moments they weren't followed by some criticism or scolding, she relaxed and even managed a smile. "Thank you..." She nodded in enthusiastic agreement. "That's why I come here," she admitted. "To sketch people from life, not just models." And also to escape from her aunt, but that wasn't something she would admit to strangers.

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weasley_now
2014-10-06 12:47 pm UTC (link)

"You've made a good choice," Hermione gave confirmation to the young woman's reasoning. "From what I can tell most of the patron's here are fairly easy going." She didn't necessarily know everyone who came in, but she did know Seamus well enough to assert that he wouldn't take too kindly to unnecessary rudeness and she didn't see any reason for a simple sketch artist to endure such treatment.

"I'm Hermione Granger, by the way," she introduced herself. "Who might you be?" she recognized some of the other woman's features which told her that she'd likely gone to Hogwarts. However, she didn't remember her specifically.

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goodlight
2014-10-07 01:57 pm UTC (link)

For once, Bryony's reliance on proper manners actually served her well. She offered a hand and said, "Miss Bryony Capper. It's nice to meet you." All before she'd really taken in the information that she'd been sketching Hermione Granger. They hadn't been at school together long - just Bryony's first two years and then once more in the year immediately after the war. But, of course, Hermione was somewhat famous in the wizarding world as one of Harry Potter's best friends. Bryony was surprised she hadn't recognised her - but she'd been looking at her more as shapes and lines of light and shadow than as a person.

Bryony did once again turn slightly pink, but other than that gave no obvious indication that she was uncomfortable talking to someone of such celebrity - or at least, no more uncomfortable than she was talking to any stranger. "I do like it here," she said, in an attempt to carry the conversation past this awkward juncture. "Especially when it's not too noisy."

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weasley_now
2014-10-09 11:51 pm UTC (link)

If Hermione knew that Bryony had placed her in the category of celebrity she would have balked at the idea. She wasn't any more important than anyone else that had survived the war. Okay, maybe a few but that wasn't the issue here. Bryony wasn't a Death Eater so there was no reason for her to think herself less.

Hermione caught the slight flush and wondered whether Bryony was embarrassed or simply nervous. "Like wise, Miss Capper," Hermione gave a friendly nod. "when it is too noisy down here you ought to try the corner. It's usually fairly relaxing and quite an easy place to concentrate."

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goodlight
2014-10-10 07:33 pm UTC (link)

Bryony nodded. She'd been into The Corner a few times and had looked through the bookcase there on more than one occasion. She preferred the Common Room. It felt more public. The few times she'd tried to sketch people in the corner she'd felt like she was intruding - even more than she sometimes did in the Common Room.

Certain Hermione didn't want to hear all that, she just nodded. "Thank you. I will."

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