✏ PAINTED FACES ✏

[Indigo]

“It has been awhile since we had that kind of date. I accept.” Of course she did. She looked at him and smiled.”We are going to find an artist, though, Adley. Not take out.” She winked and kissed his neck. “Or trouble while the night is young.”

Indigo was not exactly planning on devouring this talent even if Adley had the ability to make anything incredibly tempting. She was genuinely interested in tracking the talent down and seeing if there was anything they could do to broaden their horizons beyond having temporary moving steel canvas carrying the pieces away. Indigo believed she knew what was worth the time and resources she had to invest. This artist, whoever they were, was it. Her new diamond in the rough. She wanted to be apart of whatever creative process it would take to get them where they could shine.

If her uncle taught her anything at all it would be that there was always room in the art world for another star. Phineas made it point to tell her that every time he pulled her away from other activities as a kid to tag along to one of his countless gallery openings. The complaining always ended when she watched him walk into a crowded room surrounded with numerous pieces of his work that she knew all too well. The clapping said it all as well as the wide smile on his face.

“I will text Nigel.” Her body unglued from his and found her means to do so waiting for her to take claim. In seconds the text mentioned was created in the palm of her hand then sent it off. “Now it’s just us and the city. Shall we clean up and hit the streets? Or go as we are? I am good either way. How I end up obviously has yet to be decided.”

[Adley Reed]

As tempting as it was to hit the streets in shorts, t-shirt, bare feet and all the colours under the rainbow, Adley doubted how professional it would be. Indigo’s teasing had him rolling his eyes and nipping lightly at the tender skin of her neck before she unglued herself from him.

“Yes, Bee. An acquisition, not dinner,” he said. Though what kind of ‘take away’ Indigo was referring to was beyond Adley. It wasn’t human blood that he craved. It was her blood. If they were going to be getting that kind of take-away, it would only be for Indigo to consume. But, with Adley and Indigo there was more than one kind of take-away, and food had nothing to do with it. Adley didn’t elaborate. Lord knew he and his Bee could get distracted and, with that text message already sent to Nigel, it was up to the two of them to get to work.

“And, given it’s an acquisition I don’t think she’ll take us seriously like this,” he said, gesturing down to his own colourfully filthy appearance. Indigo was better -- the colour could probably be brushed from her without too much left behind. Adley, however, was in dire need of a shower.

“Me, anyway. I’ll be quick. You better not join me,” he said with a wink, slinking away from his better other half to find a shower and his clean change of clothes. The quicker they were out on the street, the quicker they’d be able to find their artist. Theirs, he said, because everything that was his was Indigo’s and he hoped -- assumed -- it was vice versa. Not that this artist was a thing to be owned, of course. They might not even find her. But Adley was nothing if not confident. In all things.

[Vita (DELETED 9215)]

“No, no, no, no. no.” Vita said as one hand went through her curls, the other still held her phone. Her pupils had doubled in size, and her skin turned a chalky color as she scrolled through a few pictures on a ‘friend’s’ feed. Colorful images; her colorful images had been damaged and tagged by her ‘friend’s,’ friend.

All of it was her early work, the stuff Vita didn’t realize she cared about until she saw clean, fat, red lines over her images. Maybe if it had been artistically modified, she wouldn’t have cared so much, but drawing some lines and tagging her name was far from artistic and was a straight attempt at calling Vita out. Vita and the ‘tagger,’ better known as Jessa, shared a mutual friend named Zion. The three had been really good friends until middle school came around and Jessa and Zion began hanging out by themselves and eventually became a couple. Jessa and Vita grew apart over some jealousy issues of Vita hanging out with ‘her man,’ and it seemed that Zion wasn’t as good of a ‘friend’ as he once was.

“Not my work. Uh-uh.” Vita stuffed the phone in her pocket, not needing to figure out the location of where they might be. She knew where every character, phrase, or image of hers was at over the years. The only challenge Vita faced was...her mother. Slowly, Vita cracked open her door and listened for the sounds in the apartment, hearing the low monotone voice of some paid programming show her mom was watching. And then a gentle snoring sound every few seconds. As Vita closed the door, it creaked a little, but she continued to close it and then turn out the lights in her bedroom. Vita moved to the sole window in her room, unlocked it and slowly shoved it upwards. The screen was easily detached with just a few twists of a lame safety lock and soon it was on her bedroom floor. Vita moved to the closet to grab a black hoodie, put it on and zipped it up, before climbing out the first story window.

Vita hung with her feet in the air for a few seconds, before letting go with both hands. The drop wasn’t too big, just a foot at the most. Still, she didn’t want to land wrong and break anything. Vita couldn’t even think of a good lie to tell her mom while she sat with a busted up ankle outside her bedroom window. She waited a few seconds to see if there was any signs of life in the apartment and when none were seen, Vita moved to the front of the house, where the front porch was at. It was an open porch, meaning no walls or barriers prevented anyone from going right under the porch. Vita ducked through it and grabbed an old coat wire she transformed over a couple of nights and brought the long, somewhat curved metal rod to her window. The hand with the coat wire in it reached up into the night sky, latched to the horizontal rail by the latch and pulled it down most the way. The metal hanger was tossed back under the porch before Vita darted off due north to confront her so-called ‘friends’.

[Indigo]

While Adley made quick work of cleaning off the paint she took his advice and opted for the sink in the studio to wash up. Once her skin was free from the evidence of an artist at work elsewhere she picked up her cell phone and got the location Nigel was at earlier. It was not too far off from where they currently were. She changed out of her shirt and pulled on a hoodie hanging nearby. Her business dress shoes were traded out for a set of canvas white runners. The rest would just have to work as it was on her.

Waiting on adley to reappear gave her the time to gather up the last of the supplies and put them back back where they were usually stored. She stopped at her desk and checked on business emails and responded to one that wouldn’t wait. Hearing signs of footsteps that were likely Adley’s she headed through the rest of the Apiary to do a last check and make sure all was going as it should be. Not that it was a common occurrence to have issues that needed to be dealt with. It generally was smooth ship when it came to the diverse and eclectic group of bodies that utilized the space within the industrial designed walls. Everyone took care of their projects and the work areas were left just as clean as when they were first encountered.

“Ready?” She called out as she rolled up the sleeves to reveal her wrists and forearms. “It isn’t too far from here so it is up to you.” She continued figuring he was within earshot. “Walk, run or ride?” She was inspired enough to do any of the mentioned. “I am good for whatever you are up for.”

The merging of her feet and the passing of a massive wall canvas enroute to a storage space had her pausing in her steps. The scent of clean skin and oil based paint still in the drying process combined and hit her as she continued on when the coast was clear. Something about both stimulated her and if it was any other time she would have fed into the temptation of spotting Adley ready to go. She smiled and reached for the door and pressed an pulled it open in visual offering to the one she couldn’t imagine heading out into the great unknown without.

[Adley Reed]

Adley could not say why he opted for all black, but he did. It was coincidence, and it was stark contrast to how he’d just looked. Even now he was unsure whether he’d got all the colour from his hair and his skin. He’d scrubbed as much as he could in a hurry, watching the combined colours swirl down the drain. Out of the shower he’d rubbed the white towel over his skin and rubbed at his hair -- there’d been a few spots of colour that he’d missed which showed up on the towel. If any remained, still, it would have to be too bad.

The outfit that he finally decided on was… well, it looked like he was about to go rob someplace. Black leather pants, black joggers, and a black jacket zipped up over a loose black shirt. He had come to work that night dressed for work; it was simple and it was professional, ish. Not that he thought Indigo minded what he wore to work, given the nature of the Apiary.

The door soon opened and Indigo stood on the other side; the steam from the shower billowed out to greet her, and the sight of a fully clothed Adley, pulling on his last shoe.

”I’m ready,” he said, slipping his arm around Indigo’s waist. He didn’t skip a beat as he led the way, exiting the apiary with his girl at his side. If they stayed inside, this whole trip might not happen. Such was the way with Indigo and Adley. If they had a honeymoon period, it had not yet ended. He was not sure that it ever would.

”We can walk. Assuming our artist is on foot, it’ll be easier to find clues if we’re walking,” he said. Once out on the street, he waited for Indigo to lead the way, his eyes already open, peeled, looking for ...for what?

”Do we know anything else about this artist or where we should go next?”

[Vita (DELETED 9215)]

"What are you doing?" Vita's voice boomed at Jessa and Zion from behind the grated fence that was barely standing anymore. Years of climbing from kids in the neighborhood, along with the shifting ground when it got wet and muddy, made the fence lay at just over a forty-five degree angle. "Does your momma know you're out this late, Vita? Go home." Zion waved her off once he saw who it was talking to him, but made no attempt to do any further damage to her art work. Jessa, as usual burst into a spit of laughter, grabbed her red spray paint can and draw a couple zig zagging lines across a woman's face that was the shade of mustard. There were more features to the graffiti are work other than a woman's face and the precision of detail to shading (one of Vita's very best), but the image was lost on most people.

"Don't touch my ****, *****!" Vita warned as her right index finger shot up in the air, her eyes moving to the other works that weren't anything more than a few gang signs, names or slander against someone down the block, or across the street probably. "Or what, *****?" Jessa's tone raised at the word Vita tossed in her direction first. The half empty spray paint can came flying her way, but missed her by a long shot and bounced off the top of the tilted fence and landed on 'their side' again.

Normally, Vita didn't result to school yard name calling, but this was her work and this had been the best shading job she had done...ever. Maybe. A lot of people said she was good, and could name some of her works off the top of their heads; the ones they liked...this one was rarely named. Vita blamed it on ignorance. Anything can be 'pretty' if done half right, but 'pretty' wasn't always what she was working on. The skill varied from day to day.

With the can thrown, and the name passed back at her, Vita bolted up the fence; the metal bouncing as her weight crunched down on it, before she jumped at Jessa. The girl needed a lesson-a few. But tonight's lesson was going to be about keeping her hands off Vita's ****. Or, so, that was how things were running through Vita's mind. But there was one person she blacked out on the scene as Vita lunged towards Jessa. Zion.

An arm more or less closed lined her across the throat, followed with a "You crazy, Vita," as the wind was knocked out of her and the young woman found her back. Crazy? Maybe. She rolled to her left side, and coughed, while Vita gasped for air. The two laughed, before Zion took his spray paint, handed it to Jessa to finish what they had started while Vita was struggling for air, and on her ***. More or less.

[Indigo]

Indigo was able to keep up with Adley's long stride with ease. The leather beneath her cool fingers moved just enough that the sensation it brought to her fingertips had her hand slipping down to feel the muscles at work. A fluid stretch then relax of his lower back inspired the gradual slide of her hand to briefly cup what she could of his backside giving it a firm but quick squeeze of appreciation. She held it many times, sometimes so tightly that in the throws of twisted sheets and gasps for mercy it was as if it was the only leverage she had left to save her. As for his questions voiced all she could think of was that the artist was good enough that she was resigning her wandering hand back to a respectable and less distracting perch on the waistband of his pants.

“I would imagine we will know as soon as we come across them.” Her cell finally shivered in her pocket getting her attention. Pulling it out in front of both of them made the simple discovery that it was the text she was waiting for. “Much closer than I thought.” She stuffed the device away and picked up her pace. It was exhilarating to hunt with him. Especially fresh talent and blood. “If it’s where he last saw them we are a couple blocks away at the most.”

Indigo went over in her thoughts just what she would say. It is a bit odd to have two strangers come out of nowhere without a reasonable explanation as to why. Especially for street artists since there are laws on graffiti. She didn't want to say something that would give the artist a reason to bolt or worse upon first approach.

“Hopefully they are in the position to accept what we can offer them.” Her gaze flipped upward to find that delicious angle of his face that made his lips appear full and the lower one ripe for the plucking.“If not we can always be persuasive.” She couldn't believe how anyone could resist the one she had her eyes on. The ways he could make her feel so close to shattering. The places he could take her that no one else had. Especially when he could make her feel so high with simplest touch. She banished the hunger rising beneath her skin. This was supposed to be about bringing an artist to another level. Yes, that's right. “We have a lot to offer. Training, opportunity and resources you can't find as readily out here in the streets.” She looked to the direction they were heading and picked up on voices. Fine. So their intentions weren't entirely pure and selfless but if they were how boring would that be? “You hear that?”

[Adley Reed]

Adley’s tongue ran over the hardness of his teeth, beneath his lip as he smiled. Confidence beamed from that smile and catered to Adley’s strut; walking along beside Indigo he felt on top of the world. There was nothing to be down about. The weather was nice – in Adley’s opinion, it was always nice. And he was able to touch Indigo without any consequences, no fatal side-effects.

The smile only loosened its hold slightly as Indigo shifted the conversation to business. He nodded, sagely – she didn’t have to tell him any of this. He knew very well what the company could offer a street artist. He himself had been a freelancer before he’d met Indigo, before she’d convinced him to come work for her. Slowly but surely, given the time and, yes, the proper resources, he could focus on doing work that meant something. It wasn’t just for the money anymore. It was for the meaning.

They hadn’t yet reached their destination when they heard the voices, and Adley nodded again. Yes, he heard them. If nothing else, they could be questioned; they could ask about the artwork, and whether these people knew who was responsible, and where they might be found.

”I believe you can be very persuasive, when you want to be,” Adley said, swooping down to press a kiss to the rise of Indigo’s cheek, then again to her temple. He turned the corner and slipped down the alley that led to the open space, the fence, the building upon which a bright landscape greeted them. It was art, alright – Adley couldn’t deny that. And yet it was marred, bright scars drawn across the surface that messed with the aesthetic. Ruined it. One of the women present seemed to think so, too.

They were not just having a loud conversation, these three. He and Indigo rounded the corner just in time to see the male clothes line one of the women, who landed on her back and started gasping for air. Two against one? That was never fair.

”Hey,” he called. This was about to be their business meeting, and the art on the wall didn’t need to be ruined any more than it already was. ”I really don’t think that colour suits…” he said. He wasn’t an artist, not in this sense. His feet crunched on the gravel as they got in a bit closer, though he was willing to let Indigo take the lead, as far as the acquisition was concerned.

[Vita (DELETED 9215)]

She had been looking for a fight, and Vita got it full circle. Vita had been so amped up on a natural high when she saw the damage to her work, that the young woman almost felt invincible. But, she was just one person and well, Vita wasn't much of a fighter. It was no surprise she was on her ***, but Vita figured anyone in her situation would have been in the same predicament.

Even still, that didn't stop her much. As Vita struggled for some air that she could hold on to, the copper skin toned woman wasn't giving up. More lines of red covered the bright yellow faced woman, as Vita got up and gasped out. "Stop! Zion." He looked at her and held out his hands, almost as if saying he wasn't the one doing anything, but he was here and he was instigating Jessa.

A voice from behind was heard and Vita looked to see not one, but two people. Maybe if tensions weren't so high, and it wasn't her work that she spent countless of hours on that was being destroyed, Vita would have given them an appreciative. Instead, she held up both hands if saying, 'stop,' maybe even 'turn back.' She wasn't looking to drag anyone in her problems, that's how fights broke out. And neither one of them looked like they were packing anything useful, or knew how to fight. The woman looked as if she couldn't stomach the idea of breaking a nail, and while the guy looked like he could handle himself, Vita was almost afraid to find out if Zion, or Jessa were carrying. It was possible and Vita certainly didn't want anyone getting shot.

"What you thinking, maybe some blue?" Jessa asked, thinking the exact opposite of what Vita had been thinking. That the two of them were more or less 'egging' her and Zion on with adding more, or at least different colors to Vita's work. By this time, Vita had a much better grip on her breathing pattern and decided to abandon the onlookers. "I think blue suits you, *****. Do it." Vita almost demanded Jessa to try and do it, forgetting about her initial idea of not starting a street fight.

[Indigo]

ndigo was taken back by what she was walking in on. While Adley confirmed it was in fact happening with his verbal protest she picked up her pace heading towards the one that caught her eye and stood out most. The one who appeared to want any further damage to the mural to stop. The street art loving allurist was in complete agreement. So much so that immediately she reacted with trying to defuse the situation nice and quick before any blue was added.

“Put down the cans.” People could be so cruel. So could nature. A lesson could be learned all around even if Indigo herself was hardly prepared for what she was truly capable of and what would happen next. “Have some respect for the art!”

The irritation beneath her skin crawled to the surface as her steps had her standing beside the young woman. Irritation boiled quickly. So much went into the work that was about to be divided and marred by lines of thoughtless sprayed scratches. It was wrong and before the allurist could say as much her focus was so severe on the offending two that she wished it could bite those she had it locked on. If only she could sting the two idiots like a killer bee without drawing more unwanted attention. They had it coming.

Out of thin night air the sounds of what could only be described as a freak appearance of ferocious bees swarmed in with an ear stunning buzz. Organized in their path there was no confusion as to the two that quickly became the targets of their merciless attacks. The night sky became all that much darker with the instant presence of what formed a cloud of moving pain. The stray airborne coming to join in and answer the call for war flew through the web of her honey ringlets as she tried to put space between her and the mural. She frantically swatted at them sending them on their intended course as she stepped back. Her long fingers began plucking and shaking her clothing while her feet had her dancing closer to Adley as she did.