It's What You Feel (Open)

[Samantha Emerson]

Samantha smiled to herself as she set a wonderfully blank canvas on her easel. She sat facing the window, what little winter sunshine there was falling on her face. She looked around the room, eyes lighting on an empty stool. She dragged it over to her painting space before grabbing her tote bag from the counter where she had left it. In it were her own personal art supplies - or at least the ones she chose to bring today. 

She took a few deep, meditative breaths with her eyes closed. She let her mind wander in whatever direction it wished, merely along for the ride. Today was all about emotion. No still life, no pre-determined lines, nothing but what was in her heart. After a few moments, her eyes shot open and she began painting. Her paintbrush slid across the canvas, leaving behind a smooth trail of blue. She dabbed another color on and made short, twisting strokes. She reached the edge of the canvas and carefully positioned the brush to fit in one more stroke. 

Much to Samantha's surprise and embarassment, as her wrist flicked upwards, the paintbrush flew out of her grasp, seeking some target behind her and splattering paint in its wake.

Clothes

[Julien Duval]

While Julien had not been thrilled about Genevieve's transfer to Vermont from Kocher, it had benefited him. Sure, she came over from time to time, expressing how she'd find him a girlfriend, usually with an insect or two following her. He hated to admit that while his initial reason of going to the Hammel Instititue campus was to see her, he never really went to her dormitory first. But having a meta sister living on the campus, had allowed him to see Hammel, and imagine going there, being a student, having a power. It was easier to imagine that sort of life being in between the walls of the school filled with meta humans.

He wandered around from time to time and when someone asked what he was doing, he'd say he was looking for his sister. It was simple really...and there was nothing against his sister, he'd visit her eventually, but there was just so much to see. He walked down the hallways, turning into an art classroom, which at first sight appeared empty. He'd been recording, but not narrating, to not cause so much attention.

His eyes squeezed shut in reaction to something hitting him in the face, nothing that really hurt him. He heard the object clatter to the floor after it connected with his face. Paint splattered on the collar of his shirt, on his nose, even on the rim of his gray beanie which was his attempt at taming his curly hair. It did, however, miss his camera, which he was thankful for when he opened his eyes. He caught sight of the girl, the only one in the room and took a few steps backwards. "Is that you telling me to leave?" he asked.

[Samantha Emerson]

As soon as the paintbrush left her grasping fingers, Samantha whirled around, one hand flying up her mouth in surprise. Her eyes widened at the second surprise - another person in the room. She heard the brush clatter on the newly splattered floor and registered the boy's newly splattered appearance. Her cheeks colored in embarrassment and she quickly shook her head. "Oh I'm so sorry! Slipped right through my fingers." She exclaimed, a sheepish expression on her face. 

Samantha went to retrieve her inadvertent missile, swiping a few paper towels on her way. As she straightened, she called out, "My backwards, no-looking aim is hardly that accurate." in response to the boy's words. "Here. Sorry again." She said, holding out the paper towels with a guilty expression on her face. "I'm Samantha, by the way. Otherwise known as accidental Robin Hood." She introduced wryly.

[Julien Duval]

All Julien could muster was a look of surprise and "How?" as she turned around to face him. "How did it fly that far?" Maybe it was related to her power, but then again, she seemed just as shocked as she was. Perhaps she really just had a good arm. "Well, it was pretty accurate to hit me in the face," he mused, but he was joking of course. Something interesting. He was sure his camera had to have caught it, right? He'd review the footage later. "Gives me some intersting film content." He shrugged his shoulders and took the paper towels she held out with his free hand. "I'm Julien." He liked her tagline. "Otherwise known as....weird guy with a camera?" Okay, that was in no way charming.

[Samantha Emerson]

“I have no idea. If I could throw things like that on a regular basis, my P.E. teachers of past would have been pretty happy.” Samantha said with a small chuckle. While she did make time for regular physical activity, she had absolutely no skill in anything that involved hitting, throwing, catching, or otherwise manipulating a ball. And with anything resembling a racket, she was outright dangerous. After a while, she was allowed (required, really) to just run.


“Oh! I hope I haven't disturbed anything you might have been doing." She said, concern creasing her brow. She glanced at the camera and was relieved to see that it was paint-free. “Nice to meet you Julien. You been at Hammel long?” She asked with a bright smile, naively assuming that Julien was also a student. “And we’re all weirdos around here.” She laughed, quite willing by now to include herself in that category.

[Julien Duval]

"Not one for sports?" Julien asked, getting that from what she was saying. He wasn't much either. He preferred the arts, mostly he just preferred film. And he wasn't too great at sports either.

It was interesting to see that she was actually worried that she'd interrupted him filming. Most people were mad that he had a camera around them at all. "No, I interrupted you actually," he muttered sheepishly. He was the one who had walked into the room she was already in. "What are you painting?" He was curious, stepping further into the room. He smiled at her question. He wished he'd been at Hammel long...or at all. He'd lied to someone before and said he'd attended the school, and while he desperately wanted to tell her he went here and fabricate some power he wouldn't have to prove, but he didn't want to get caught in a lie. She seemed so nice after all. "I'm just visiting actualy..." Dream scenario shattered. "My sister goes here." He wished he belonged to this group of weirdos.

[Samantha Emerson]

Samantha shrugged in response to the sports comment. "Nah, never was my thing."  She confirmed. "Well, I didn't even hear you come in, so I think my paintbrush is the real culprit." She said with a grin. "But that doesn't really matter." She said, taking a few steps backwards and sideways towards her painting without turning her back on Julien. 

"Something blue." She answered, looking her work over. "And some yellow and orange." She said. If Julien came for a closer look, he would see various shades of blue arranged in a gradient pattern that followed a meandering line across the canvas. Swirled in were the warm colors, whose grain went against the blue. Sam had used a lot of paint, making the strokes stand out a little, adding some 3-D contrast between the colors. "It was supposed to be based of my emotions. Exactly what emotions, I'm not quite sure." She said with a little chuckle.

"My sister goes here too. Unfortunately." Sam said, wrinkling her nose and sounding less than enthused. After a few moments, her curiosity got the better of her. "What're you planning to do with the camera?" She asked. 

[Julien Duval]

"Me neither," Julien agreed. "And I guess I can agree that the paintbrush is at fault here." He offered a smile.

Julien took a few steps closer to her painting, trying to see what she was talking about. He tilted his head from side to side, wondering if he was supposed to see something other than colors. He supposed it was subjective to the viewer of the work and she made that clear when she said it was supposed to represent her emotions. "Well...blue is a calm color. Are you a calm person?" he asked, merely throwing it out there.

"Ah, wonder if she knows my sister," he thought aloud. "Unfortunately I don't go here though. But I do use my blood relation to my sister to get a look at the campus." He looked down at the camera he almost forgot he was holding, filming their conversation. "I don't really plan to do anything with it. I just try to catch something interesting on film." He lowered the camera slightly. "Does it make you uncomfortable?" Figures, it probably was.

[Samantha Emerson]

As Julien came over to look at the painting, Samantha watched his expression curiously. While she sometimes hung some of her pieces in the art room for a day or two (supposedly to dry, but no paint really took that long) she hadn't explicitly displayed her work since coming to Hammel, which was also when she started painting her emotions.

She gave a laughing smile at his eventual response. "Only when I'm calm." She answered, very unhelpfully. "But you could say I was calm when I started painting." She conceded, taking another look at her product. "Personally, I think emotions are like a tide. You get highs and lows, but they don't always reach the same line of high or low. Nor do they come and go on a regular schedule. You just gotta let it happen." She elaborated earnestly. She was about to add more, but realized that she was beginning to ramble and reined in her words. He'd gotten the idea, she was sure.

"Sorry, rambling." She acknowledged, a faint blush tinting her cheeks. "What's your sister's name? I could ask her." She asked, though she knew full well that there would be little chance that that Sydney would be consulted. She shrugged as he spoke about his filming. "Not really, actually. I don't have anything to hide, and who am I to stop artistry in progress?" She also didn't mind being on the attention side of a camera, but she wasn't going to admit that, even to herself. 

[Julien Duval]

"So you're not calm now?" Julien asked. Had he scared her? Was it the camera? He agreed with her though, about emotions and offered a thoughtful nod. He was often all over the place.

"It's fine," he told her, understanding the feeling you had after you thought you'd talked way too much. "Genevieve. We're both from France. I'm trying to make her feel more comfortable here." He was very glad that she didn't mind the presence of the cmamera though. "Glad you feel that way." It was art, after all.