Interlude

SDA - Art Room

Sandbox threads from TV1.
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Namira
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Interlude

#1

Post by Namira »

Looking at the dreamy expression on Natalie Chauncey's face, one could be forgiven for thinking that she was off in a fantasy world, not paying the slightest bit of attention to what she was doing. Indeed, if an observer knew or even knew of Nate, they'd probably make that their very first guess. Much of the time, they'd unlikely to be too far wrong.

"Trading on uuuuup!"

But in this case, they would be. Natalie was painting. Painting was serious business. She might have been slouching, her eyes a little glazed over, but there was intent concentration in the task at hand. Just... not particularly evident at a glance. What exactly was she painting? Well, that was anybody's guess but Nate's. It would probably form into something that was actually discernable at some stage, but... maybe not.

"Up, up, up I claw."

In any case, her art was the only thing Nate was likely to receive any praise for at school.

"Don't know where, don't know how."

Natalie was taking full advantage of her free periods, or at least... had been. Her free time had somehow given way to lunch time without her noticing. Meaning she was probably going to forget to eat again. Deserted as the room was, soft lyrics drifted through the air, mercifully unaccompanied by any kind of instrument.

"Can't say why, just has to be now."

Nate sounded a lot better when she wasn't playing her guitar at the same time.

"I'm mooooooooviiiiiiing oooooooooooooon!

I'm waaaaaaaakiiiiiiiiiing uuuuuuuuuuuuup!

I'm fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiindiiiiiiing the truuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuth..."
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Un67*
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#2

Post by Un67* »

Marion was walking through the hallway, trying to find a private place to study a bit before lunch was over. It was hardly unusual for her to eat lunch in only two minutes and leave to go to the library to get some quiet (and more importantly private) study time before classes continued, but today the library had some others inside it and she decided to try to find another room. After thinking it over, she decided on the Art Room. It usually was pretty empty anyways, and she figured it might be a nice setting to study. As she came by the door, however, she unexpected heard some singing coming from inside, and carefully listened,

"Can't say why, just has to be now..."

The singing then continued on for a few more minutes. She wasn't sure who was singing, but she certainly appreciated music. After a moment of hesitation, Marion decided to open the door and come in.

She said nervously, "Hello?" Marion then took a look around the room, and saw a frail looking girl singing. Marion saw her a few times before, and knew her to be an artist of some kind. She then said apologetically, "Sorry if I interrupted you. I was just looking for a place to study, and I heard you singing along the way. Have you eaten lunch? It's already been a few minutes in..."
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Namira
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#3

Post by Namira »

A note died on Nate's lips and she spun around, inadvertantly splattering the floor with red paint, something she didn't appear to even notice. She cocked her head to one side to regard the girl that had entered the art room quizzically. The girl was vaguely familiar to Natalie, probably shared a class with her. Kind've pretty, nice hair. Nate blinked at her a couple of times before she processed that the girl was actually talking to her. She tended to be like this when somebody snapped her out of a reverie. A little startled, a little oblivious.

Lunch?

Oh. Oh right. Food. That.

Natalie opted to shrug. She cared more about the fact that somebody had heard her singing than that she was missing lunch. Not in a worried way, more just that she was wondering if the other girl had thought she was good. Eh. She'd say if she had anything in particular to comment.

Nate didn't tend to speak much. Sing? Sure. Speak? It wasn't as common. Her voice was as dreamy and laconic as her expressions tended to be. "Was painting," she said simply, jerking her head towards the canvas, covered in smudges which might have been a boat. Natalie shrugged again. "I don't eat much."

Understatement.
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#4

Post by Un67* »

As Marion spoke, the girl stopped singing, turned around, and splattered the floor with red paint.

I guess I interrupted her...

Marion paid close attention however, and realized that the girl she was talking to seemed to be daydreaming and didn't really even notice that she was talking. Well, not for long anyways. After a few minutes she blinked her eyes and shrugged. She then said quite simply,

"Was painting," and then, "I don't eat much."

Marion inspected her canvas, and shrugged. "Neither do I really. Often I just quickly eat a few bites and go somewhere to study. I try to squeeze as much useful time out of everything, so I guess it's only natural for me.

She then thought over the girl's singing. It was actually pretty great, in a surreal kind of way. Not exactly Marion's style, but still quite good nonetheless.

"Anyways," Marion said, "Your singing's pretty good. I've tried to sing before, and it didn't really work out that well. I'm better at playing the piano, God forbid me trying to do both at the same time." She then shrugged, and said, "In any case, I'm Marion. I think we have some class together, but I don't really remember. Hmm..."

She snapped her fingers for a moment in thought, and said, "Your name is... Nata, right? Or was it Nate? Sorry if I got it wrong, I don't really see you often."
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Namira
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#5

Post by Namira »

A smile very slowly spread its way across Natalie's face at the compliment. Her eyes almost seemed to weigh up the newcomer, not exactly assessing her - Nate lacked the capacity for that - just trying to feel her out. She was a good shape, would probably make a good model. Not professionally, but definitely for a one off piece. Perhaps she'd ask, sometime, maybe not. Nate still had the ghost ship to complete before thinking of her next project.

She wanted to sing again, but this was a conversation, a rare occasion. Not something she herself found particularly remarkable. Just because it was infrequent did not make it special. People and their words were easy to find, Nate just chose not to look. A vague sense of social niceties warned Natalie that turning back to her painting and returning to the chorus of 'Searching, Finding' would perhaps be somewhat rude, so she did not.

The temptation was there, though.

"I play guitar," Nate said suddenly, after being lost in thought for a few seconds. "Not great at it. Better vocalist."

Marion. The girl was Marion. It went into one of Natalie's ears then straight out of the other. The idea of actually remembering names was almost alien to Nate. Why bother with names when you rarely had a second conversation? It wasn't like she just up and forgot meeting people, either.

"Natalie, or Nate. Don't mind," she wavered over 'care' for a couple of seconds. Natalie's eyes flickered to one side, recalling the praise. "Thanks. I write my own lyrics."

Sometimes they even made sense.
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#6

Post by Un67* »

Marion watched the girl and noticed that a smile was growing on her face, and that she also seemed to be assessing her. Or at least it looked like that to Marion. In any case, Marion felt a little happy herself.

I guess happiness is contagious and all that.

Marion then looked at her again. She seemed like she was lost in thought, and that she wanted to be somewhere else doing something else at the moment. Marion could understand. She was far from the most interesting person out there, anyways.

After a couple of seconds, the girl then said rather suddenly, "I play guitar. Not great at it. Better vocalist."

Marion nodded. Some people are better instrumentalists, some people are better vocalists. The girl definitely seemed to fall into the vocalist category.

Then the girl introduced herself, "Natalie, or Nate. Don't mind."

Marion nodded to herself, and said, "Nate. Got it."

Nate then said appreciatively, "Thanks. I write my own lyrics."

Marion shrugged, and said, "You're welcome. You seem like a pretty good songwriter, do you write them down by any chance? Or do just memorize them? Just curious. Maybe some day I could play accompaniment on the piano for you, that might be fun."
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Fiori
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#7

Post by Fiori »

((Debut of Todd Hudson))

Sometimes, life sucked.

Well, for the most part, life was friggin' gold as far as Todd Hudson was aware of. At least it was for him anyway, he hadn't a clue what it was like for everyone else. Nor did he particularly care... Nevertheless, it was little ridiculous moments like this which reminded him of why everyone around him were dumbasses.

Long story short, that morning Todd had Art class. Nothing particularly special, they were learning about some lame-ass who Todd couldn't have cared less about. Michelangelo? Wasn't he, like, one of the ninja turtles or something? Whatever, the fact was, as Todd stood there working on a masterpiece that would make Vincent van Goth jealous as shit he'd decided that he needed to put on a little music. Y'know, for inspiration!

And yet, as soon as he turned up the volume on his mobile phone and started playing his favourite song by The Prodigy, for some reason everyone started complaining! Todd just didn't get what everyone's beef was. After all, "Smack My Bitch Up" was one helluva kickass song, the perfect tune to listen to as your working on your next masterpiece. And yet for some reason that Todd couldn't fathom, everyone in the room told him to turn it off, ending with Mrs Wikowski stealing it off him!

Seriously, are they even allowed to DO that?!? Jesus crap, man, when my pop hears about this he's gonna go completely apeshit! That phone cost him a couple of hundred bucks! If he hears that I lost it to some jerkass teacher...

And so, with absolutely no intention of simply accepting the consequences, Todd had selfishly JUSTIFIABLY decided to sneak into the art room and get his phone back. It was lunchtime, and unless Todd's sources where incorrect Mrs Wikowski had lunch duty that day, so grabbing the phone from her desk should have been easy as cake. With any luck, he would probably still have enough time to grab himself a bite to eat if he was quick enough.

However, one thing Todd hadn't of anticipated was that the art room might of been occupied at the time.

Barely bothering to take note of the two girls who were already inside, Todd barged in through the door only stopping when he realised that the room wasn't quite as empty as he would have hoped.

"Uh, hey! Look, could you both do me a good favour and NOT tell anyone you saw me come in here, okay?" he said, obnoxiously as usual.

Not even waiting to see if they replied, Todd barged between them as he headed for the desk. After all, he had more important things to do than talk to a couple of boobless chicks, what with his phone being stolen and everything. The fact they were there to start with was bad enough, seeing as he was supposed to be doing this in secret.

Then again, perhaps he could use this to his advantage...

"Say, if either of you babes spot Mrs Wikowski comin' along, would you mind giving me a warning or something? 'Cause it'd be real helpful to know about it BEFORE she shows up and starts acting like a demon bitch from hell, thank you."

As he crassly asked his fellow classmates this single request, the frat-boy wannabe began the arduous task of searching through Mrs Wikowski's desk for his phone, not caring about the fact that he was emptying some of the contents onto the floor beside him as he did so.

C'mon, c'mon... It's gotta be in here SOMEWHERE.
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Namira
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#8

Post by Namira »

That dreamy smile ran its way across Natalie's face again. She liked being praised. It was not in itself a drive to her behaviour; she was intrinsically motivated... but it was always nice to be told that what she was doing was good. Not essential, but nice.

Even so, Natalie might have known that she was bad at the guitar and that other people didn't much like it, but that didn't really stop her. She was getting better, very, very slowly, but she was improving. What mattered to Nate was her own whims, not the opinions other people had of them. Hell, if she let what other people thought about her get to her, Natalie would've been sunk a long time ago. She was too laid back and relaxed to bristle or break down at barbs.

Writing lyrics down... right, Nate did that. It didn't really come naturally to her to transcribe thoughts, but sadly, there wasn't space in Natalie's head for every idea, nor the attention span. Perhaps that was why her poetry was so mangled. Something about her thinking process did not translate well to paper. She did take notes, though it was perhaps a stretch to call her hasty scrawls in various excercise books (and occasionally the back of her hand) genuinely ordered 'notes'. It could be difficult though, sometimes the ideas just slipped through her fingers, sometimes she ad-libbed a song then, after its conclusion, could no longer remember how it went. That's how things went sometimes though. Perhaps it was one of a kind, like a fleeting dream. At least it saw use, didn't go to waste.

Natalie gave a slight nod. Shrugged again. "I like solo," she said simply... right before they were interrupted.

She raised an arched eyebrow at the intruder, an imperious look that belied Nate's personality and was almost certainly not deliberate. It took her a couple of seconds to recognise him, but his words, they were a sharp reminder to Natalie. Earlier that morning, in class... great, Todd Hudson.

He was loud, he disrupted her painting with his old fashioned music. Old fashioned music that wasn't even that good. In so much as Nate could muster the malice to dislike anyone, Todd was probably that one person she held distaste for. Still, confrontation... not her nature. Asking her for a favour though... Nate could definitely turn that down.

"I don't owe you one," Natalie stated, looking back at her painting wistfully. Lunch was whittling away, she wanted to get back to it. "Not playing watchdog, I'm painting."
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#9

Post by Un67* »

Marion noticed that Nate was smiling pretty broadly now, probably because of her compliment. It was a good feeling, knowing that what you've said has been taken well by others, well, at least when you're being honest about it. She just seem to listen to Marion's comment absentmindedly, and ended up replying, "I like solo." Marion could live with that, she usually preferred playing solo piano and listening to solo piano musicians anyways.

And then she noticed that Nate's eyebrows were arching at something, and then Marion glanced around the room. She then saw Todd Hudson of all people walking into the room and heading towards the teacher's desk.

This can't be good...

Todd then barged through her and Nate, and said to them obnoxiously, "Uh, hey! Look, could you both do me a good favour and NOT tell anyone you saw me come in here, okay?"

Marion just frowned in reply, and didn't say a word. She wasn't going to try to get him in trouble, but there wasn't a chance on Earth that she would try to defend the obnoxious bastard.

He then asked the two of them, "Say, if either of you babes spot Mrs Wikowski comin' along, would you mind giving me a warning or something? 'Cause it'd be real helpful to know about it BEFORE she shows up and starts acting like a demon bitch from hell, thank you."

Nate replied, "I don't owe you one. Not playing watchdog, I'm painting."

Marion nodded, and said, "Same. I'm trying to study, just consider yourself lucky that I'm not a snitch."

Todd then began searching through Mrs. Wikowski's desk, and dumping much of her stuff onto the floor in the process.

Marion just sat down, began looking over some notes for English, and said coldly to Todd without looking up, "You know, if you're going to try to steal something from the teacher you could afford to be a little more subtle about it. But that's not my business, so carry on."
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Fiori
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#10

Post by Fiori »

"You know, if you're going to try to steal something from the teacher you could afford to be a little more subtle about it. But that's not my business, so carry on."

Todd paused his rummaging for a moment as he acknowledged what Marion was trying to tell him, only to burst out laughing after she'd finished. Man, how stupid she was to think that someone like HIM would need to steal anything from some piss poor teacher like Mrs Wikowski. What the hell could she honestly have that Todd couldn't convince his dad to buy whenever he wanted?

"HA! As if... If anyone's stolen anythin' around here, its Mrs Bitchowski. I mean, there I was, minding my own business. Listening to some sweet tunes on my phone when SUDDENLY she'd decided for no freaking reason to take it off me! Just flat out steal it right before my freakin' eyes! Seriously, there must be a law against that or something..."

Todd paused for half a second as he pointed in Natalie's direction, his other hand still feeling the contents of the drawer to see if his beloved mobile was somewhere inside.

"...YOU know what I mean, don't ya? You saw her snatch it right out of the palm of my hand, remember?"
Kicking Akamatsu in the face since 2010
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