ᴇʀɪᴋ (metalize) wrote in valloic, @ 2021-02-02 12:39:00 |
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The wine bar in the city Erik was at right now was something of a hidden gem - though he couldn’t say he had ever been to a wine bar before, especially not for something called sip and paint. It was a nice place though, blonde woods and warm orb lights, with a selection of a lot of quirky wines and even some sherry (which was more than just something to cook with or what the average person might smell on their grandmother’s breath before noon) - the main point of it all, however, was the art. Painting. With all the provided supplies, canvases set up on long tables where the participants sat in a row. There was even a theme for what they’d be painting - and it was ‘Fairies Dancing in the Moonlight,’ which Erik was certain involved a lot of glitter but good thing he was with a glitter expert here. He hadn’t really planned to do much for his birthday, besides have a pleasant breakfast with his family, but thought it might be nice to actually go someplace and do something he’d never attempted before. He and Noah worked on metal art, and Noah had been making extraordinary progress - advancing to more and more intricate works - but this was painting and not something Erik did often. Still, he thought it was a good idea and wanted to try. Would he ever get to do this at home? No. Absolutely not. Still. Fairies Dancing in the Moonlight. He was going to be awful at this. “Well - “ He sipped on the wine he’d selected, fresh and bright, a fae wine to go with the theme of the night - it was the first time he’d had fae wine too, but it was actually very good. “Thanks for celebrating with me. I’ll just say that now, in anticipation of my painting turning out awful.” But he wouldn’t let that break his stride. Noah had been having the best time with metalwork. And he liked Erik and the way he was...even when Noah’d messed up on things that he was sure would be easier than they were. And so when he was given the chance to celebrate his birthday, Noah took the chance of doing so. Especially since it was something he’d never done. He didn’t know that much about wine but, to be fair, he hadn’t known a ton about beer when they’d gone for his birthday drink. He mostly went with the suggestion that had been made to him. He chose a sweeter wine because he wasn’t sure that the bitter ones were going to be his favorite. He needed a lot of sugar with coffee. “Of course! You took me out for my birthday, so I don’t see why I wouldn’t celebrate with you.” He gave him a hundred watt smile before trying to put more thought into what he was going to paint. He figured he could hang it up somewhere or give it to Erik as a present if he wanted. He’d gotten him something else, of course, but that didn’t mean that he couldn’t give him something else. He liked the theme. Fairies Dancing in the Moonlight was great for a theme! “Bob Ross says that there’s never mistakes, only happy accidents.” He nodded sagely as if he was very wise. “At least with paintings.” If he couldn’t sleep, he sometimes watched Bob Ross on repeat. The episodes where he had little squirrels or cute animals with him. “So I’m sure it’ll be amazing even if it’s not perfect.” He started to pick out colors for the paintings, keeping the theme in mind. There could be some very subtle highlights from the moonlight and maybe magic. It was fun sometimes to make up stories and he liked the idea of fanciful magic and fairies with sparkling wings. Shimmery, iridescent glitter would look the best for it. He wondered if he could use the nailpolish he had around the house for it. “Do you have a story in mind or an idea?” “I - don’t, admittedly,” Erik replied, though his tone was thoughtful and he gathered he ought to be considering some kind of story. It would probably help with the painting actually coming out well, wouldn’t it? There was an instructor, a guide, at this sip and paint event with a canvas at her own spot at the table - she basically showed the crowd step-by-step, for those who needed the handholding, but of course people were free to put their own spin on things, to design what they wished and use the colors they wanted. Erik both needed the guidance and also wanted to go off the beaten path a little, so it was an interesting spot to be in. He considered it some more, selecting the proper size paintbrush to begin the background - that, it was just a wide sweep, so he was sure he’d be fine with at least this part of it. “My daughter enjoys stories about fairies,” he added. And he’d become a little more whimsical thanks to Anka Irene - it brought him back to the days of telling Nina bedtime stories, old Polish tales that were fictional but exciting to a child. That wonder, that innocence. “So - I think I’ll create a character to tell her about? Not the Queen of fairies, but maybe she’s on the court - and has dreams about making her own way.” Did that sound stupid? He could go with something else if that sounded stupid. Noah smiled a little at the concept of it. “I think most girls like fairies. My sisters really liked stories, too.” At least he was sure he remembered that. Time sometimes muddled things and when the circle was never-ending, it was hard to know if it wasn’t just something he imagined. But he knew Adele liked fantasy. “Wonder what they’d think of a place like this.” He wondered what they’d think of him. But he focused his mind back on the fairies instead. “I like warrior fairies. Maybe not in the middle of battle, but around a fire, sharing stories.” But in the middle of battle could have been fun, too. But then his mind remembered something else. “Or...or like a movie I saw once. Giant trees with mushrooms growing on them and fairies flying around. Blue and green color trails.” The idea of it settled in a little more, but maybe fairies in art could be something to explore. A sort of side thing to try. He liked the idea. Playing with more glitter. He started with the sky, a little less precise at the start, but he didn’t bring it down too much. It was starting out darker, but he would add more color as it went. The trees, bioluminescent mushrooms, the soft filter of moonlight through the leaves, the fairies themselves. He smiled a little as he started to mix colors to get the look he wanted. “Does she like anything other than fairies? Your daughter.” Noah was a very creative, artistic soul - and so Erik wasn’t surprised that he managed to paint a very vivid picture (figurative painting, for the time being) of a scene that sounded soft and whimsical. But maybe with a bit of an edge too. “Warrior fairy, that’s good,” he chuckled a little. “Perhaps mine wishes to be a warrior too - she’s not where she belongs, but she has to follow her heart.” As one should. He started with the top, going for a beautiful night sky as well, deciding where he wanted the horizon to be and dabbing purple there to darken what he was going for. “I imagine your sisters would find this relaxing?” he mused. “Or at least, that’s the goal. Relaxing and also a chance to exercise creativity.” Eventually, the sky started lightening up a bit the further he painted downward; he was adding layers and mixing colors, playing around with it and finding that at least this part was turning out well. ‘Highlights’ and ‘dimension’ would come in a bit - he was half-listening to the instructor as she went around checking on the class. “Anka Irene loves dinosaurs too,” he stated. “I built a Raptor cart for her to use to run around on Genosha with.” Raptor was the Rugrats dinosaur, apparently - he’d learned a lot more about cartoons for kids than he ever anticipated learning, since becoming a fixture in Anka Irene’s life. “And also mermaids, essentially all the underwater creatures of Atlantis. She enjoys visiting.” Noah smiled a little. “She could be! Maybe with powers that aren’t usually useful for being a warrior. Or maybe her family would frown about it.” He was sure there was a story there. But he’d let Erik decide on his details. There was a quick nod. “I think they’d like it. It’s weird to think about it. It’s been such a long time…” A long time since he’d seen them because he couldn’t actually show himself to them. But it was...one of those things. He did think they might have fun with it, though. He loved his sisters. “I bet if we had gelato it would be even better.” Noah smiled. “Adele liked raspberry.” He’d have to get some soon. Instead of overthinking that, he nodded at Erik’s explanation about his daughter’s interests as he started to paint a tree that was in the distance. “I mean, Atlantis is pretty amazing. I really liked it the time I went. I should look into it again.” His brain hadn’t been thinking about the dinosaur on Rugrats, though. Even though he remembered watching it. He’d just been thinking about Jurassic Park. “It sounds like a lot of fun, though! The raptor cart!” “She seems to enjoy it. I haven’t heard of half the cartoons and shows she likes, but trust me - I’ve become very acquainted with them since we’ve watched them over and over again,” Erik said in his amusement. He used a very tiny brush to paint the line of a tree trunk, black paint that was a bit watered down (a forest at night would be different colors than a day forest), and managed to get the bristles of the paintbrush to spread like a fan - the way their fairy instructor was showing them. So far this wasn’t looking terrible. He tilted his head a bit, getting his bearings and studying where he’d put more trees - happy little trees, as Bob Ross said. “I didn’t know you were a gelato fan,” he glanced over at Noah. “There has to be a good place in the city for it. A place for a date, maybe?” Not that he was being nosy. Could be a little nosy though. Not that he’d admit it. “Well, I haven’t watched a ton of cartoons recently, but that’s mostly cause I like to watch Ghost Adventures and it’s funny. Cause like they shout at the ghosts and I don’t think it’s actually real or not.” He laughed a little at the memory of it. “But that’s usually if I can’t sleep and I need something funny to laugh at.” But maybe he could get back into cartoons, too. Just not Casper. “But the cartoons are probably still pretty awesome. For kids. I don’t know what the popular cartoons are now, though. I was alive a while ago and I still remember nickelodeon.” But it was one of those things that seemed so much further away than it probably was. Or maybe not. When Erik brought up going to get gelato as a date, Noah could feel his whole face heat up. He glanced over at the older man. “Oh. Ha. Yeah. I guess it would be.” He really liked Alex. It was nice that everyone seemed okay with him, too. “I’ll have to ask Alex if he likes it.” Not that Erik really had any idea what was going on in Noah’s social life (they didn’t usually discuss that sort of thing during metallic art lessons at the smithy), but the mention of a gelato date had simply been sort of a prompt - and he’d gotten what he was looking for, so Erik’s interrogation skills were rather solid. He wasn’t really trying to interrogate Noah, however - mostly just wanted to make sure he was happy and living life to the fullest and all of that. And had more options for fun than humoring an old man for his birthday on sip and paint night. After more sipping, and some more painting, he mixed colors to begin attempting this fairy dancing in the moonlight - the most difficult task of the evening. “So - who’s Alex and how long have you been dating?” he asked, sounding pleased. And curious. Noah wasn’t entirely sure it wasn’t obvious that he and Alex were close given network conversations or anything. It was possible. He couldn’t fully discount it, so the mention of dating didn’t seem so unusual. He took a sip of his wine, hoping it would help the slight awkwardness. There was at least something to do with his hands and even if something was a bit crooked, it was fine because trees grew weird sometimes. “He’s uh...a guy I met at a party here. I’d talked to his friend Luke already. Um. He’s in a band and stuff. He plays the drums.” It felt weirder talking about it to Erik somehow than the rest of the Gangsey. Probably because he was kind of used to talking to them even if he’d been slightly more nervous this time around to mention that he was interested in someone, but it went pretty smoothly, so he was less anxious about it now. “He’s a ghost, which is...you know...sort of like me. I mean, I used to be a ghost, so almost the same.” He was mildly uncertain how that would work out in the long term, but also he figured it wasn’t going to help to worry over it forever either. “We really only just started dating? And I’m not even sure it’s dating-dating or like...going on dates to see if we’re dating-dating? I’m still figuring everything out.” Which wasn’t a lie. He was. Wait, what? Erik was a little confused about the concept of dating to see if it was actually dating but he wasn’t about to analyze the situation or really pry about it much. Besides, the more he turned it over the more sense it made. “I’m glad for you - you deserve something nice, that’s why I was asking,” he said, going for more brush strokes, peeking over at Noah’s canvas and then back to his own - theirs didn’t match exactly, but that was okay. Since they were going for different characters and all. “I admit I don’t know all the rules,” he started. “But I think going on dates to determine if you want to see only each other is...generally how it’s done? Anyway, like I said, it sounds as if you’ve got a good thing going.” He couldn’t recall who Alex was, but apparently was a ghost and was in a band - that seemed interesting. Ah, dating when you were a teenager. It was an experience he’d never really had given everything that had gone wrong in his life from an early age, but he was glad to see Noah getting to explore those rites of passage. Noah was pretty happy about the dates thing. “He’s pretty nice and kind of cute.” Well, more than kind of, but just saying that was enough to make his face turn red again. It was probably just one of those things that changed after death. Before he probably wouldn’t have minded saying anything, but he was a little more shy these days. And it was the first boy he was actually going on a date with and could potentially be the second boy he kissed, but they hadn’t kissed yet. “I’m glad I get the chance to date someone. Like the last time I did, she was actually sleeping with my ex-best friend behind my back, which was pretty much the worst to find out after death.” It was definitely the most lame thing that ever happened outside of the part where he was murdered with his own skateboard. But he shrugged anyway, painting a few more trees far away, mixing darker colors and lighter colors for the shade and highlights. “I like your painting,” he said after a moment. At least what was there so far. “Thank you,” Erik smiled, genuinely, and pulled back a bit to study his progress. It was looking pretty good to him as well - much better than he expected, anyway. Perhaps he wasn’t so bad at this after all. “And I’m glad you get to date someone too, that you’ve found someone you like. Some people are hesitant, given how unstable life here is - but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try.” The heart was a resilient sort of muscle-organ as well - sometimes you just had to take risks, for a big payoff. It wasn’t easy to take those risks but Erik thought it was important. And much better than hiding away, scared of everything. He didn’t have time to live his life in fear - never had, never would. He kept painting, finishing off his glass of wine (did it help with the brush strokes? Well, he wouldn’t rule it out) and then showed Noah the mostly-finished product. “Is it passable?” he asked, thinking Anka Irene wouldn’t find it too embarrassing, at least. This was really the only place where he’d get more chances. Stability was kind of his normal. “I could leave here at any time and go back to dying for keeps or he could go back, I guess. But I guess if your life is always in limbo, what’s more limbo?” He was happy, though, even if there was a potential for heartbreak and future depression. He was living for a second time and he really didn’t want to give it up or stop himself from things because he might not. He continued painting, a somewhat bright green coloring to the mushrooms on the sides of the trees. As he went on, the forest was peppered with small fairy bodies, only really mostly outlines with either trails of blues and green. There were a few sitting on the mushrooms as well. He glanced over at Erik’s art again, nodding. “It’s definitely passable. I think your daughter will be super impressed with it.” He grinned widely. “Do you like mine?” He smiled a little. “We should take a selfie with our paintings to make a memory out of it outside of just the paintings.” He smiled. “But also if you want a Noah Czerny original in addition to your other present, then you should totally take it with you. Maybe I’ll be super famous and you can silently know you had an epic painting of mine.” He wasn’t sure gifting paintings to the Barns was something. They’d probably have so many paintings eventually. He knew he could find a place for it, though. A selfie, oh no. Erik laughed a little, but he’d just painted a dancing fairy so he was feeling appropriately whimsical. “Yours is great,” he praised. “And I’d be honored to take it with me. I’ll hang it up near my own. Here - “ He set down the paintbrush and rummaged for his mobile device, setting it to the mode where you could take pictures. By now, he’d gotten pretty good at it and had many photos of Anka Irene and Rogue on his phone - some of Peter too, when Erik could actually catch him to take pictures. But he held up the phone and angled it toward him and Noah, attempting to get them both in the shot. “Say cheese, I guess?” Well, it was pretty cheesy. Noah was pretty sure this meant he was the coolest person ever. Who wasn’t directly related to Erik anyway. He wasn’t sure if the selfie thing would work, but hey! He was definitely going to appreciate the memory of the fairy painting night! “I hope Anka Irene loves both of them!” But she could love Erik’s most. Cause he was her dad. He turned, holding up his painting with one hand and resisting the urge to give Erik bunny ears with the other, instead focusing on smiling. He was pretty sure the bunny ears would have been funny, though. He’d just have to get Gansey or Blue. Maybe Ronan. Matthew would let him. “Cheese.” He waited for the picture to be taken before saying, “Make sure to text me a copy.” It was a cute picture, Erik thought, even if he was not usually what one might call carefree enough to take a selfie - but today was an exception, and he wanted to commemorate the birthday celebration. “I will, of course,” he promised, fulfilling that texting task right away. Ding, Noah now had this photo to preserve for all eternity. Or however long he kept it on his phone. All in all not a bad birthday. He may even come back to this place, someday, should he need to paint another fairy in this series for Anka Irene. Just no one mention Magneto was considering fairy art this much - he still had something of a reputation to uphold. |