Pair Project! (Will I Survive?) [Brielle]

[Appoline Meian]

((Date: Jan 13th, 2013))



For the most part, Appoline loved her art class. The teacher was one of those people who liked all kinds of artistic expression and generally let students go about their work as they willed. So far, they'd already gone through the motions of painting with acrylics and watercolors, ink drawing, pointillism, and even did a brief study with the music class to understand how song could influence art. All in all, the class was very interesting, moderately challenging, and was working to push the exchange student out of her shell.


The only thing she tended to dislike were group or pair projects. The small girl had never been terribly good at talking to people, and her last few encounters with students outside of school had been notoriously bad, so she was a little more skittish than she had been recently. It wasn't good when someone wanted to sketch you and you couldn't sit still.


So, when the class was divided in half between artists and models, she knew she was in for something she wasn't ready for.


The girl she was paired with didn't seem all that threatening, though. She honestly seemed just as nervous and awkward at the Japanese girl, and though Appoline nibbled lightly at her sore lip, she still hesitantly made her way over to her partner.


"Um... hello," she greeted meekly. "It... well, um, it looks like... I'm your model for t-today." That sounded just so uncomfortable, but what the teacher asked for was very specific and could not be disobeyed. "It's... um... it's very nice to meet you, Miss Brielle."

[Brielle Vacanti]

Brielle was quite nervous for the project that her class was assigned. And while she was grateful that she was no assigned to be a model, she was also scared of her partner. It wasn't that her partner was scary, in fact she was beautiful. But Brielle was scared of interactions, and an art project with another person was very personal. And that scared her.

So she sat there on her art stool looking down at her sketch book with a pencil in hand. She looked up as she felt the girl she would be working with come near. She ducked her head down to look back at the blank page. She looked back up with and tried to put a smile on her face but she could tell that it didn't come out to well.

"Hi, Miss. Appoline, um I guess I'm going to um...be your artist today."

Brielle could feel the blush fill her cheeks. She hated that her speaking to someone could cause her to blush. But she wasn't used to the social conventions that everyone else was. For the bast 2 years she had locked herself away from the world. It was only recently that she decided to take a chance. Unfortunately this chance, was easier said then done.

"D...do you wanna take a seat?" She motioned to the seat next to her while keeping her head down, shyly.

[Appoline Meian]

An embarrassed blush of her own settled on Appoline's cheeks, and nodding shyly she sat down on the nearby stool, her legs dangling as they always did off the tall seats. She tried not to fidget, but her fingers twined nervously in her lap; without her sketchbook there, she was kind of at a loss for what to do with them. But... since this girl seemed like she was just as shy, maybe... maybe taking a little initiative would be good?


"Um..." It had been a long moment since she sat, and the exchange student thought the sound was a little unexpected (even in a room full of chattering students). "What... what were you planning on drawing? If, um, if you need me to stand... or sit in a certain way..."


This was turning out less helpful than she thought.

[Brielle Vacanti]

Brielle took a deep breath before preparing to speak. She could do this, it was about art. Her life basicly. All she had to do was be the artist that she was born to be. She could do that...Maybe.

"Um well the project is to take your model and create an image of them that is surreal, correct?"

Brielle flipped through her sketch book and handed it to Appoline. She let the girl look through her former work. It was filled with pages of dragons and fairies and all different kinds of magical things that could never be real. At least until Brielle made them real.

"I'm used to doing things that are not real in normal circumstances. So I would like to do that if you have to objections. If you agree, maybe you could tell me about yourself? It would help me alot."

After that last sentence it was like the speaking well had dried up. Her face was full of a blush and finger twisting. She was not used to speaking this much, especially not one that was a virtual stranger.

[Appoline Meian]

She nodded; the project was actually fairly straightforward, considering that by the end of two weeks both students in the pairs will have drawn at least their outlines. One student models a pose of some sort or simply provides inspiration, and the other creates a surreal image from it. Simple, if not exactly made for those who were shy.


Hesitantly, Appoline took the sketchbook and held it awkwardly for a moment before opening its pages. Her own sketchbook was something she tended to keep very private, even if there wasn't anything particularly unusual in it; koi and fish from the lake, a few little fuzzy animals, a number of students from the grounds... it really wasn't something to be secretive about, but showing it to someone seemed so personal. Leafing through the book with a certain amount of reverence, her dual colored eyes looking over every line of the fantastic shapes and designs in a certain amount of awe. They were lovely.


"W-well..." Closing the book, Appoline thought on the request with some embarrassment. She never really talked about herself much. "I... well, I'm Japanese, and... there's, um, there's a lot of stories in our culture about........ about f-fey creatures. Would that help?"

[Brielle Vacanti]

Brielle nodded and started taking notes on a scratch piece of paper, She then took her sketch book and started a rough outline of the sketch. The only sound that could be heard was the pencil against the page. But unlike any other time when the sound of art were the only to be heard, this was uncomfortable. It was obvious that both of the girls were not the most outgoing of people, but even this was extreme.

But how do you fix what you are? Brielle could talk to the girl, but she didn't know how. She was not skilled in the skill of small talk, nor was she outgoing enough to actually start a conversation. But of course she made a promise the beginning of the year to try to be more out there.

"What do you like to create? If you don't mind me asking." Brielle looked up shyly from under her eyelashes. She smiled softly trying to be not weird and shy,

[Appoline Meian]

The simple act of note-taking reminded the exchange student of one of her few friends, who reported (and edited, she thought) the school newspaper. It was a simple comparison, but for some reason it let her relax slightly as she handed the booklet back to her partner. "You have a wonderful style," she praised softly, meaning every word.


"I... don't really create," was the shy answer. "I draw what I see, most of the time. Sometimes... I draw as if they were ink shapes, but... I, ah, I still mostly draw from life." She had tried drawing from her imagination before, but nothing had ever turned out quite right; her realistic eye was too keen and would often point out flaws before she even began detailing. "Where... um, where do you get your inspiration from?"

[Brielle Vacanti]

Brielle blushed brightly, she wasn't used to the praise. She kept sketching in the book until she got the facial structure that matched Appoline. She then started to elongate the ears into a delegate point. She looked at it for a moment before deciding to go with it. As she started to draw the body she smiled and spoke.

"Thank you. I think being able to draw things that all ready there is an amazing talent. my creations are often just things that I've let my imagination take on a tangent. But you can draw things that are in one place, and take it to people that have never seen it before. I think that is pretty darn amazing."

Brielle looked up and smiled "I get my inspiration from my power. Illusions."

[Appoline Meian]

Also not used to praise much (though more accepting of it since her spontaneous meeting with the Dragunov boy), the Japanese student flushed as well, though she managed not to hide her head in embarrassment. So many people thought that it was such a talent... could that really be true? "W-well... I suppose," she answered shyly. "Though... I think being able to draw something simply from your mind is wonderful. I've never been able to do that, really."


Appoline met her gaze without thinking about it, her two-tone eyes widened slightly. Illusions? Really? Even though she disliked her powers and just wanted to be normal, the ability to create illusions sounded like such an amazing thing in comparison. Lots of real-world attributes, too, unlike some abilities. "That sounds perfect for an artist," she agreed with a slight smile. "You're lucky, as far as powers go."


There was a hint of something sad in her voice, but the small girl maintained a slight smile regardless. There was no point in complaining and it would have been rude. Not to mention she was finally starting to open up to this girl and didn't want to push her away with her own issues.

[Brielle Vacanti]

Brielle gave her a small smile, but it was one that was not happy. It held a lot of meaning , but she doubted the Appoline girl could understand. She had heard that a lot by many people.' Illusions are the perfect power for you.' ,'Your so lucky!', 'I wish I had your powers'.[/i Brielle only wished that she had the same thoughts. Of course illusions were the perfect powers for an artist, but at what cost. She had gotten so used to using her powers for her illusions for her artwork, that she didn't know if she could do art without them. It was why drawing real life things were so hard for her.

"I suppose I should be happy with my powers." Brielle often had conflict with her powers. Most being not being able to know what is real and what is not after their gone. It had caused her to get hurt. Like last year when she made it rain in her dorm room, but ended up slipping in it and spraining her wrists. She herself knew that it was not real, but you could feel the water on your skin and beneath your feet.

Brielle rubbed the week spot on her wrist before continuing to sketch out the girl. She put her in a kimono, not a long one but one that went to above her knees. Out of the back she drew long graceful wings the pulled up into a point. She made her hair flow back like it was trapped in the wind. She drew patterns into the skin , swirls and knots.

She turned it to face Appoline. "How do you like it so far?"

[Appoline Meian]

If Appoline had known the other girl's thoughts on her powers, they may have had quite an interesting conversation. The Japanese girl viewed her powers as more of a curse - they only made her even more weird and abnormal, so why embrace the idea of having them? All they did was make her flail about to avoid being hurt (not that it stopped her body from trying to destroy itself anyway), and most of the time her acts to avoid harm caused even more. It was something she hated about herself, and there was really nothing to be done about it.


And then, Brielle spoke. With her words, the shy girl looked up curiously, her heterochromatic eyes studying her partner carefully. She was unhappy with them? She hesitated about asking why, but the expression on her face held enough concern to ask the question for her, should the other girl have been looking for it.


They sat that way for a good while, the Asian girl struggling to keep from fidgeting with her hands as her classmate sketched. They actually sat like that for so long that it startled Appoline when Brielle pushed the sketchbook towards her, though she did hesitantly pick up the book and review the design carefully without waiting too long. The initial sketch looked absolutely lovely - she hadn't even thought about adding marks on the skin. In a way, it reminded her of noh masks, or ink drawings of kodama. It seemed so... "Beautiful," she murmured, not realizing she'd spoken aloud. After a moment, she raised her head with a soft smile. "I like it. I can't wait to... to see the colors you choose."