Who: Patrick Chambers and Mary-Anne Prewett What: Home studio tour When:backdated Tuesday afternoon, 18th October Where: Patrick's flat Warnings: Low Status: Completed in docs
Patrick had been looking forward to seeing Mary-Anne again. They'd only chatted for a short time, but he'd found himself quite interested in spending more time with the woman. She was funny and very obviously talented and he was curious about her. He wanted to know more about her and because she'd shown an interest in his art and his studio, he figured inviting her over had been a good plan. They'd figured out a day that would work well for the both of them and there was a knock at the door right on time for their meeting.
Pulling the door open, Patrick grinned at Mary-Anne and stepped aside to let her in. "Come in. I hope you didn't have any trouble finding the place." He'd taken the time to tidy up the flat and was thankful for that now. The last thing he wanted to do was give off a bad impression to Mary-Anne. "Can I get you something to drink?"
--
In the end having felt so nervous-excited about seeing him again that Mary-Anne had needed to talk to Caitlin and Prim about Patrick; even though they hadn't chatted for long, and there maybe wasn't a great deal to be excited about, she knew her friends would be both excited for her and also be able to get her thinking more calmly about the whole thing. There was the added bonus that she'd been able to get their opinion on what to wear, because she had wanted to look nice but not overdo it, and thanks to their suggestions had actually managed to settle on an outfit without having her wardrobe take over her room.
Mary-Anne, having had a sudden onset of nerves, had stood outside for a time nervously looking up at the building where Patrick lived and trying to ignore the voice that was telling her that this maybe wasn't such a great idea. She promptly ignored it, took a deep breath, and after checking the slip of paper where she had rewritten his address, went inside and to his door.
"Hi," she greeted, with a slightly nervous smile, when Patrick answered the door. Mary-Anne shook her head, she hadn't had trouble finding the place only working up the nerve to actually come in and knock on the door. "Um… some juice, please… if you have any."
--
Mary-Anne looked quite lovely and he wanted to tell her as much, but Patrick was worried that it might come off oddly or frighten the woman away before he ever got the chance to really get to know her. For now, he kept his compliment to himself and focused instead on letting her inside and closing the door behind her. When she mentioned juice, he was thankful that he'd gone to the market earlier in the day and gotten some and wouldn't have to make a fool of himself and offer her something else.
"Luckily, I do have some juice," he told her as he stepped into the kitchen area and retrieved a glass from the cabinet. Pouring her a drink, he then handed it to her. "I'm glad that you decided to come over," he told her. "I was hoping that you wouldn't change your mind."
--
Mary-Anne smiled and thanked Patrick for the juice, then took a small sip of the juice while she listened. "Well, I did still want to see something you've painted, so it probably would've been silly to change my mind at the last minute," she said with a shy smile. Though she had considered whether or not it was a good idea going over to the flat of someone she barely knew, especially when she considered what her cousin would say. However, she was her own person and needed to make her own mistakes - not that she thought visiting Patrick was a mistake.
"At least you didn't change your mind when you opened the door," she tried to joke, though her voice was tinged with a slight nervousness wondering for a second if he might change his mind.
--
Patrick smiled at her. Whatever her reason for coming, he was pleased regardless. Even if it was his paintings she was interested in, he would be lying if he said a pretty girl in his flat wasn't a nice thing to have. Especially one with such a lovely little smile.
Her mention of him possibly changing his mind at opening the door got a laugh from him. "Oh, no, not at all," he assured her. "If anything, seeing you again made me happy I invited you all over again." Which was true, even if it did get his cheeks feeling a little warm. "The studio is just through this way," he told her. "Up the stairs. If you want to follow me, I can let you have a look."
--
Mary-Anne probably wouldn't be able to say so, at least to anyone but herself, but she was interested in seeing Patrick. Although she had no real idea how to express that without coming across as strange as she attempt to explain or being too eager and scaring him off. However, she was actually interested in seeing his paintings too.
It was nice that he was happy that she was there even if Patrick's reassurance had her blushing, and smiling shyly again. One day she might be able to take such words or any compliment without blushing - though it was probably far off into the future knowing her luck.
"It must be nice being able to work on your paintings from home, rather than travelling to and fro between here and a studio elsewhere," she commented, as she followed Patrick up the stairs. Though after a second of realising exactly where her eye line went had immediately started blushing again and cast her eyes down to focus on the steps instead. "Which is um also helpful if you suddenly had inspiration and wanted to paint it."
--
Patrick was fairly oblivious to where Mary-Anne's gaze had landed. His mind was completely set on the wondering of whether she would like his paintings. It usually mattered very little what someone thought of his artwork because he didn't paint for other people but because he enjoyed it, but he found himself hoping that Mary-Anne would like what she saw. Once in the studio, he let her have a look around, nodding at her words.
"Yes," he agreed. "If I want to paint at two in the morning, I can. It's definitely better than having to put on trousers and head down to a studio far away." If he wanted to paint in his underwear, there was no one there to stop him from doing so. "Is it like that for you with music?" he asked. "Does the inspiration just strike you randomly sometimes?"
--
At the top of the stairs was an open space that seemed equal parts light and airy but also cosy. It seemed very much like an ideal space in which to have an artist's studio. Mary-Anne knew that feeling, since with the setup Panquake House had she could play her music any time she'd wanted and, if she really wanted to, could even play in her pyjamas. Well, provided that she knew there wasn't any chance of someone taking a photo of her doing so.
"Sometimes, I suppose," she replied with a nod. "Though it's more being inspired to play rather than write lyrics or music. I've never actually tried either. I mean, I can read music just fine but writing the actual notes I find harder to do."
--
"I think that just being able to play an instrument is amazing," he told her. "I've never been quite good at it. My art is as creative as it gets. I'm afraid Ken got all the musical talent, the bastard," he teased, flashing her a smile. He was envious of Ken, yes, but that didn't mean he wasn't proud of his brother and what he was capable of doing.
"I'd love to hear you play sometime," he said. "I'm sure you're quite good at it if the band has pulled you into their little family." No doubt she had to be talented to even be considered as a member.
--
It was the one good thing to come out of the short time she'd spent at that Muggle primary school when she was little. Mary-Anne chuckled at his comment about Ken getting all the musical talent. "Painting is pretty creative though, and it's not something that can be quite as easily fixed as hitting the wrong note or singing the wrong words," she pointed out. "Music is definitely easier to deal with than getting halfway through a knitting project and realising you've used the wrong stitch or dropped one."
"Th-thank you, and oh… um… if you uh really want to?" she stammered nervously. Not that Mary-Anne didn't want him to hear her play she was just surprised and nervous. Suddenly playing in front of crowds didn't seem nearly so frightening as playing for Patrick currently seemed.
--
He nodded. Painting was creative, he couldn't deny that. He loved it. He wasn't sure that he would feel the same way about music if he'd gotten that talent as well. Maybe it was good that the creative juices were split up a little when it came to he and his brother. "Takes some work to correct something if it goes wrong, that's for sure," he sighed. He didn't want to think about mistakes. They could be easy to cover up if they were small, but sometimes they were much too big to completely work out. Those were little accidents that sometimes made the paintings that much better. Sometimes, though, they were much, much worse. "You seem to be very good at your knitting projects, though," he said. "Do you have little accidents like that often?"
"Of course I do," he told her. "If you play half as good as you knit, I'd like to hear it."
--
"It's okay when I'm paying attention to what I'm doing. Though if I get distracted or too excited, I find I drop stitches," she replied. "Though sometimes it's just completely by accident, which I think is sometimes worse because I don't usually notice then until I'm a few rows ahead of the mistake." Which wasn't so bad if she was making more simple scarves or blankets because she could easily whip either one up in a few hours or so; however, when she was knitting toys or figures dropping a stitch and having gotten ahead of herself got all the more frustrating. The hard part overall though was sticking to the project and not just frustratingly throwing it aside to come back to later. "It takes a bit of patience to undo everything and start again from that point," she admitted. "I imagine it'd be the same with painting?"
Mary-Anne blushed at the compliment, and really wished she'd stop blushing so much. "When would you like to um come over then?" she asked with a nervous smile.
--
Patrick knew less than nothing about knitting. He was sure that if he tried his hand at it, he would fail miserably. He did like that she compared it to painting. He smiled at that comparison and then nodded in response. "It is," he agreed. "There are ways to fix a mistake or at least to hide it. Sometimes mistakes are the best part of a painting, though," he said. He moved over to one of the paintings in the room where they stood, lifting it up and spinning it for her to see. It was a landscape image of a lake at night. There was a boat in the middle of the water that brought it all together. "When I started this, I didn't mean for there to be a boat," he said. "Bumped my brush into the wrong color but I think it turned out better for that mistake, don't you?"
That blush on her cheeks made him smile wider. "Anytime you want," he said. "You know my address now. If I'm not at work, I'm here."
--
Mary-Anne nodded in response as she admired the painting. If Patrick hadn't said anything she never would've even guessed the boat had been the result of a mistake. She was sure it would've still looked just as lovely without it but the boat did seem to give focus to the painting. "I think so. It's a lovely painting," she commented. "I really like how you painted the moonlight reflecting on the water."
"Oh, but I couldn't just come over without asking," she exclaimed, her eyes widening at the thought of doing so. "Um but that's probably not what you mean, was it?"
--
Patrick grinned. Any compliment to his work always made him feel like he was doing something right. Especially when the compliment was coming from a pretty girl like Mary-Anne. "Thank you."
"Well, I certainly wouldn't mind you just coming over," he told her. "If you'd rather owl first, that's fine too. I won't be unhappy either way. Owling is probably better, just in case, though. I wouldn't want you to come all the way out here and me be at work." Patrick didn't want her to waste the trip out if he didn't get to see her in the process. "What I'm trying to say is that I definitely wouldn't oppose the idea of seeing you again and whatever day is best for you, I can totally work around."
--
"I think I'd probably owl first, manners and all that," she said smiling sheepishly, her cheeks still red from her previous comment. Also her mum and aunt would probably give her a talk or something if she did - well, if she ended up mentioning any of this to either of them at all. Though they'd also probably have some comment about going over to someone's home when she didn't really know the person terribly well. It might be a naive thought to have but she really didn't think anything bad would happen just because she was here in Patrick's studio when she barely knew him. "I wouldn't mind seeing you again either," she shyly admitted. A little voice in her head though was reminding her that even though they weren't exclusively dating that she really ought to let Cedric know before things went too far or got to awkward to explain. "Maybe sometime next week, or maybe after Halloween?"
--
"Right," he said, nodding. "Manners." He had them too, of course. Sometimes he used them more than others. He supposed that could be said of most people, though.
He was pleased to hear that she would like to see him again, especially when she came up with a suggestion of sometime soon or shortly after Halloween. He knew that Halloween could be a busy time for everyone, so he thought maybe after would be good. "Well, I'm definitely planning on coming to the party," he said. "So we can plan for something right after Halloween if you'd like? I've got a bit of work to catch up on that I can clear out of the way before then and devote my attention more to you when we do get to see one another again. Maybe dinner?"
--
"Well, I did happen to invite you, so I'd hope so," she joked a little. Though she might be a little disappointed if he didn't come, she was the sort of person who was understanding enough if someone explained that they were too busy to come to something. Mary-Anne was about to reply that after Halloween would be fine for her when Patrick suggested they might have dinner as well. "I… dinner? J-just as friends or do you mean like a um… well, like a uh… date?" she asked, her question coming out in a nervous stammer. Either option was enough to make her nervous though the latter would definitely be moreso even if she had now been on actual dates. Though if it definitely was the latter then she really would need to let Cedric know.
--
He had, of course, also gotten an invite from his brother. The invitation from Mary-Anne was even better, though he just smiled at her words and didn't say that aloud. "Yeah, you did. I'll definitely be there."
Her stammering over his offer for dinner had him tilting his head a little. He wasn't sure if she was stammering because she was happy or because she disapproved of the offer. "Well, I'm not opposed to it being just as friends if you'd rather," he said. "I also wouldn't be opposed to it being a date either. If you're not interested in that, though, forget I mentioned it and totally call it just a friendly dinner," he offered. "Or lunch, even, if that makes it a little easier to say 'yes' to."
--
"I don't mind either," she said quietly. Mary-Anne didn't want him thinking she didn't want to not go to dinner with him because that wasn't the case at all. "It's just… you're um a good looking guy and guys don't usually ask me out ever. Except once but that was after we'd been on a blind date to a really weird opera. But that isn't important or relevant at all. It's… well, it sounded like maybe it was a date, and that's not a bad thing, and if it was just as friends that'd be okay too. Or lunch, that'd be okay too." Mary-Anne paused for a breath when she finally noticed she'd been rambling and reddened when she realised she hadn't actually given Patrick an answer as to whether she'd go or not.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to ramble like that," she apologised, looking down at her hands. Mary-Anne took a deep calming breath before continuing. "Whether it's a d-d-date or just as friends, I wouldn't mind going to dinner or lunch with you…"
--
He had to admit that it felt pretty good to be called a "good looking guy". He doubted there was anyone in the world that didn't like to be told they were attractive, especially when the person telling them was very attractive themselves. "If guys don't usually ask you out, they probably just think that you're out of their league," he told her. "I like to at least try to get close to a person when I find them attractive." Which wasn't the only reason that a date wouldn't be a bad thing with Mary-Anne. She was attractive, yes, but she was also very sweet as well and funny. All of the above were good reasons to want to ask her out.
"I don't mind the rambling," he assured her. "It's really rather cute." He smiled at her hoping that it would somehow calm her down a little. "How about we have dinner and then afterwards you and I can decide together if we'd like to call it a date or just dinner with a friend?" he suggested.
--
"I'm not so sure but thank you," she said quietly with a smile. Even if she didn't believe it herself she appreciated that he was trying to make her feel better about guys not asking her out. Mary-Anne blinked owlishly wondering if she had actually heard Patrick correctly. "You… you find me attractive?" she asked, dumbfounded that he or anyone would think so. Not that she considered herself to be ugly but she honestly didn't think she was much to look at and most of the time still consider herself to be that awkward girl who went through one too many growth spurts and was all gangly.
She tried and very much failed at not blushing when Patrick said her rambling was cute. Mary-Anne smiled in relief and nodded in agreement at his suggestion. "I think I'd like that," she replied, feeling a little less nervous about it now.
--
She seemed in disbelief that he found her attractive as if it wasn't something that happened every day. Patrick was left blinking at her for a moment because he wasn't sure how someone who was as pretty as Mary-Anne didn't get told so on a daily basis. "Yes," he said, nodding. "I'm sure I'm not the only one." Maybe the only one brave enough to at least try his luck, but definitely not the only one who thought she was pretty.
"Good," he said. "After Halloween, then."
--
"Oh. Well, if so, you're the only who's actually told me," she said quietly, as she willed herself not look down at her hands again. Actually it wasn't entirely true, although Mary-Anne couldn't recall if Cedric had actually said as such he had kissed her and she guessed that that was as good as saying so.
"After Halloween," she parroted. Mary-Anne briefly gazed around the studio trying to think of something to say and trying not to fidget nervously with her hands. "I really like the look of your studio," she commented, then cringed at how it sounded. "Sorry, I was trying to think of something to say so it wasn't just quiet and… I didn't know what else to say. I really do think your studio looks good though…"
--
"Well, maybe I'm just brave," he said. He smiled at her, hoping that she didn't think he was just saying he thought she was attractive to be nice. She was attractive, whether she believed it or not.
The way she fidgeted was really sweet. "Thank you," he said, nodding. "I find that I like it. It serves its purpose, that's for sure. And it doesn't have to be so quiet," he added. "I can turn on some music if you like?" Anything that helped her relax a little was probably a good plan. "And show you some more paintings. How does that sound?"
--
Mary-Anne smiled softly back at Patrick. While she did think he was being awfully nice to her, Mary-Anne didn't think he was saying she was attractive just to be nice.
"Oh, well I only meant the conversation. I didn't want us to not talk at all..." she said trailing off. "But some music might be nice though? I wouldn't mind at all seeing more of your paintings. The ones I've seen so far have been quite good."
--
Patrick smiled. "Well, music or not, I still plan on talking to you," he assured her as he moved over to a stereo that he had in the corner. "I usually listen to classical stuff anyway when I'm working so that's what's in here." He turned on the stereo to a lowish setting so there wasn't any silence between them, then moved towards the area of his studio where he kept his finished works. There was plenty to show her and if she was willing to see them, he wasn't going to object.