Illustrating Thoughts and Feelings [Alexandrea]

[Hanei (DELETED 3287)]

The address was here, though it was considerably unassuming. Checking his acquired cell phone, the young fifth generation vampire was uncertain as to whether or not he should attempt to enter the home. If Alexandrea did live here, then she certainly was not what he had expected her to be based on what little he had heard about her. Wasting no more time, the man formerly calling himself Hanei, now going by his true name of Johnathon Kelvin Anderson, walked up the side walk, across the street, and then up the steps. After brushing some dust off of his loosely worn suit jacket and looking up and down the night encompassed streets, he then knocked three times and waited quietly.

[Alexandrea]

Busy with her latest project, Alexandrea almost missed the knocking at her door and then remembered her appointment with Hanei. The Allurist didn't know her fellow member of the Deux Corbeaux very well but she had been making an effort to get to know all of her new DC family. When they had exchanged words on the family crownet, Alexandrea had suggested he try art as an outlet when the Killer had found himself having trouble expressing his feeling. The romantic in Alex hoped he was smitten with someone, she hadn't had a chance to play matchmaker in a long time.

The blonde stopped her work and went to go greet her guest with purple footprints trailing behind her as she went from her art studio to the front door. Bare footed except for the paint, and with more paint all over her cut off jeans, once upon a time white tee, even her face and hair; Alexandrea opened the door wide after looking first looking out the peephole.

"Greeting and salutations! Welcome to my home, please come in."

The Allurist stepped lightly out of Hanei's way and smiled brightly at her fellow vampire.

[Hanei (DELETED 3287)]

Hanei was startled at the way she entered the door, wondering if some strange, forlorn creature of the Fae had attacked Alexandrea and left strangely colored blood all over her. Then he remembered that he was hear to paint, and it did cause his eyes to recognize that the strangely colored liquid on her pants and shirt was in fact paint.

"Thank....you....Alexandrea." He said in his hoarse, husky voice which was never intentional. He carefully stepped inside, adjusting his tie out of habit.

Looking around the apartment, he found that he had greatly misjudged Alexandrea's living conditions.

[Alexandrea]

Closing the door securely behind her guests before any of the cats could get out, Alexandrea caught him adjusting his tie out of the corner of her eye. Perhaps he was uncomfortable, Alex decided. She would make an extra effort to put him at ease.

"I hope you didn't have any trouble finding the place." the blonde smiled warmly as she led the way past the sofa heaped up with Halloween decorations. "Excuse the mess. My room mate and I are a bit behind in getting ready for the holiday."

"Kira and I just love Halloween. Do you celebrate?" Once Hanei was in the workshop, Alexandrea picked up a clean painter smock and held it out to him. It was a larger size than she had suspected he would need since she hadn't any idea what kind of clothes the Killer might wear.

"If that doesn't cover your clothes enough, I have others. Did you want to relax and hang out first or should we just get busy right away?"

[Hanei (DELETED 3287)]

Hanei didn't really mind the mess at all, it wasn't like he hadn't seen an unkempt home before. He himself had never had an apartment of his own, he had always stayed on the streets or at someone else's home because of their charity. This was actually a fairly clean home compared to where he normally slept: the sewers.

He didnt know what to do with the painter's smock at first, having never used one before, but soon just took off his jacket and set it aside along with his tie.

"We...can skip....the...pleasantries....if you...wish."

He hoped she wouldn't be bothered by his raspy voice, most people were put off with how ill he sounded, even if they weren't wrong exactly.

[Alexandrea]

Alexandrea grinned at the man and set his things someplace safe from any wayward paint before donning a smock of her own and tying it behind her waist. "I always forget to put one of myself, as you can see!"

She said with a chuckle and then directed his attention to several canvasses leaning against the wall. "They are not all white but they are all blank. Find the one you want, set it up on that easel, and we'll get started."

Alex already had a bright yellow canvass set up on one of the two easels in the middle of the room and she left Hanei to find the one he would start with. The Allurist got out an assortment of brushes, sponges and other odd items she used in painting and set them all on a small table between the two work stations as she waited for the young man to pick.

[Hanei (DELETED 3287)]

Hanei nodded to her advice, listening closely to what she had to say. It may not have been life-changing information she was giving to him, but he felt that what she had to say was important since not only was she Family, but she was also the expert here in what they were doing.

He examined the canvases carefully, looking at each one with equal interest. His mind could imagine many different possible scenes and scenarios illustrated on the paper, but none stood out to him at first. After more than a minute, he noticed one canvas tucked into the back of the others, as if discarded as unsavory. Curious, he pulled aside a white and blue canvas, discovering an all charcoal black canvas. What he wanted to paint, to show to Alexandrea about how he was feeling, would be perfectly represented here.

He walked over to where she had set up the easels, and set it gingerly on the wood, taking a seat on the stool. He examined the paints she had gathered together briefly, then picked up a small brush and dipped it in white paint, predictably.

[Alexandrea]

Alexandrea nodded in approval as Hanei set up his canvass and picked a brush. She choose a small sponge herself to begin with and then seeing that he had already taken the first step by picking some paint, let him be for the moment. If it was going to be that easy, Alex wouldn't complain. She began to hum softly under her breath, just some soft nameless tune and dabbed her chosen tool in a bright yellow, using it to fill in the background of an off white canvas of her own while staying alert to her company should he need any help or direction.

"Have you ever painted before, Hanei?" The Allurist asked him in a quiet distracted sort of way, keeping the mood light and casual. She knew the Killer had something on his mind that had brought him here, his words on crownet seemed to suggest he was feeling conflicted perhaps. But pressuring someone to open up wasn't the best way to handle someone of Hanei's path. Alex knew that from plenty of first hand experience. She wold just try to help him to relax and feel at ease, trusting that if her guest was ready to talk about anything that was bothering him, that he would just start.

[Hanei (DELETED 3287)]

Hanei began with a soft stroke, a simple half-circle crescent to begin the shapes that would soon unfold on his canvas. It wasn't perfect, but he had steady hands and so it wasn't noticeably wavy or crooked. In response to Alexandrea's question, he could only shake his head, and carefully dip his brush back into the white paint beside him.

"No..." he said softly, his voice still audibly hoarse even if he wasn't very loud, "I have....never...done this...before."

He continued to paint, leaving his circle unfinished halfway, so that each end of the crescent ended in the center of the canvas. He made the crescent reminiscent of a moon, as best as he could, and left wide enough space to add additional features. He then cleaned his brush in a small water bowl.

"How long...have you...painted...Alexandrea?"

[Alexandrea]

She watched his progress out of the corner of her eye as she dipped her sponge into a yellow that was mixed with a rich brunt orange. The two colours swirled together with a twist or two of the Allurist's wrist and then she was dabbing at the canvas again, filling in the sides to give the background she was creating more depth.

"You are off to a great start there, Hanei. Some people... the first time they try to paint? It's like they are almost scared to touch anything. "

Hanei's question gave her pause and she considered for a few minutes before speaking in a sad tone. "I only started working with paints after I was turned, which is going on three years now. My first Thrall, Morgan was her name, she taught me. We... were close. I still miss her."

Alexandrea was finished with the one canvas for now and took it off of it's stand to place in one of the racks to dry before grabbing up another one. This time it was just an off white one. "I want to build that other one up in layers, to give it texture. So I'll let it dry over night. Maybe longer. Depends on my mood." The blonde chuckled, her attitude right back up to up beat like a light switch had been flipped.