A New Idea [Mark]

[antehya]

Sketchbook under one arm Antehya slipped quietly into the Art Room. It was a free lesson and she though that seeing as she'd had an idea she may as well get it down on paper before she forgot it.
Settling herself in her usual position in the corner of the room she took out a few lead pencils and set to work, first sketching then outlining and then shading like there was no tomorrow.

Under her capable eye and hands the form of an eagle spread across the page, lethal hooked beak sharp and firm-gripping claws fastened around the branch it perched on. What had been blank was filled in. The bird's body slowly grew feathers - each drawn in carefully with individual attention like she cared for each separate feather as she did for the whole artwork. The eye of the bird grew rounder, more pronounced and a slight gleam in it told the viewer the eagle was just as real as the artist who drew it.

Its position was somehow poised and tense, as if ready to fly off at a moment’s notice.
Antehya’s critical gazed raked over the picture for a few moments. Her entire mind was taken up with the page in front of her. Is it supposed to look that tense? she thought, critically, her artistic eye observing all points of the picture. Was that particular feather in exactly the right place? What about that beak? Or that bit of shadowing? It suddenly reminded her of her; tense and ready to take flight at any minute but at the same time just wanting to stay exactly where she was.

[_KAT]

MARK.

Mark loved free periods. If he had his way, his days would consist of art lessons and free periods. And his beloved textiles club. And, of course, he had to get the art club up and running again. Although he may not be the best artists in entire school, he had a passion for it. Needlework was the only thing he enjoyed more than art, and he woukd undoubtably be running the textiles club if he hadn't had the art club passed onto him; he could give even Cirila and Fantasia a run for their money when it came to a sewing machine. He thought he might like to go into costume design in later years, but engineering was, at the moment, his immediate goal.

He shouldered open the door as usual, considering his hands were full. He was clutching the usual assortment of sketchbooks, and draped over his arm was an assortment of coloured peices of material. They were the banners that Mark had stayed up all last night sewing for Fantasia. She had asked him to do them yesterday, and being Mark he couldn't pass up the oppurtunity. He was a sucker for a challenge. Needless to say, he'd only had a couple of hours sleep last night, but he often stayed up late and it hadn't caught up with him yet. It was the day of the ball, and so he needed to add some finishing touches using fabric paint. In his mouth, he was trying to hold onto a reel of black thread and a number of pins, things he had left in his dorm after sewing the banners.

Eyes turned his way as the door creaked, and Mark attempted a smile while trying not to drop everything. He scanned the art room. Quite a few of the people were in his year, obviously having the same frees as him. His eye caught on one girl in particular though. Antheya. Mark felt his heart lift; he been texting her only yesterday to say they ought to catch up. He wended his way among the tables towards her, and when he reached her he dropped the books and fabric carelessly on the desk before removing the items from his mouth. He peered over her shoulder, having noticed she was one of the few people who hadn't glanced up at his arrival. He knew her well enough to know nothing could distract her once she got concentrating. Right now, though, she was gazing critically at her sketch. He looked over it for a moment, then let a grin spread over his face. "It's great," he remarked, "And you actually finished it."

SAY CHEESE.

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[antehya]

It's great. And you actually finished it.
The voice made her look up and she smiled in spite of herself. To say that Mark looked as if he were carrying too much would have been understatement - he looked more like a human packhorse or something of that sort.

"Er, is all that for the banners?" she asked, indicating the fabric he now dumped onto the table along with his assorted sketchbooks. She knew Fantasia had asked him to sew banners for the Ball via a text she'd had earlier from Mark and she had offered then to help out with the finishing touches.
"I guess now would probably be a good time to do the fabric painting? Fantasia only told you about them yesterday didn’t she? How late were you up?" She did not mention the fact that she herself hadn’t got more than about three hours sleep but she knew he’d probably work it out soon enough as she knew from her minimal glance in the mirror this morning that she looked like she’d had no sleep at all.

She flipped her own sketchbook shut and pushed it out of the way along with her pencils, pushing up the sleeves of her thin black cardigan which she'd forgotten to do earlier before. Darn, I'm going to have to get all the lead off the sleeves again. She could actually see the grey-ish dust from her pencils on the dark wool and knew she should have remembered. After stifling a yawn she let her hands fall onto the table, pale against the relatively dark wood of the art table.

“Ergh, it’s the Ball tonight, isn’t it?” She rolled her eyes and her mouth formed a half-smile before settling back into it’s usual slightly nostalgic-looking expression as she stared unseeing down at her hands again.
“I guess you’re going with someone from your year aren’t you? Who is it?”
Antehya had almost no doubt there would be some pretty girl who would accompany Mark that night and knew she’d probably go alone in the end. Not, she though to herself, that I wouldn’t really mind being alone.

[_KAT]

MARK.

Mark nodded. He supposed it was rather a lot, but each year it seemed the decoration had to get more and more elaborate. Fantasia had only been head of the event committee for two years, but already she was updating and improving everything. "Yeah," Mark then said, "Thought if I got it done now I could have my lunch free." He half smiled; life was often one big project for him, every day bringing new things to be done. Still, if he didn't have that constant work, his life wouldn't be his life. Mark needed the buzz of always being busy or he'd be bored. He took up a seat next to her, shrugging. "Pretty late," he admitted with a laugh, "But they're almost done."

She rolled up her sleeves, and Mark was glad because it meant she was going to help him. His dad had always been one for sayings, and consequently the phrase 'many hands make light work' came to mind. If he got it done even quicker, he'd had more time on his hands to fill up with, no doubt, another job. He was about to go fetch the fabric paints from the store cupboard when Theya spoke again, and he glanced at her. Ergh, it’s the Ball tonight, isn’t it? She didn't sounds too happy about it. Mark was surprised; most of the girls in the school had been buzzing with excitement about it ever since the start of term, and even those who didn't have dates were usually pleased to go with friends. But Antheya was obviously not looking forward to it, which Mark found strange since he was pretty sure she would have a date.

However, when her next question came, he giggled again and shook his head. "Nah," he replied, "I'm not going with anyone. I think I'll go anyway though, might be a laugh." Mark often went to such events on his own, but could usually pick up a dance or two with a couple of other people. He was aware that girls were a lot less inclined to go without dates though. "One minute," he then said, and quickly disappeared off to get the paints. Returning with the box, he put it on the table before enquiring, "Anyway, who are you going with?" He suspected that her question might have been a hint for him to ask her the same. Theya was pretty; Mark guessed she might be going with out of the more popular guys in her own year. But she was shy, so maybe that's why she wasn't looking forward to it?

SAY CHEESE.

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[antehya]

She looked up and met his expression with a sceptical one of her own.
"Me, going with someone?" She half-smiled again and shook her head. "No. I don't have a date. But I guess it can't be helped and I don't really mind anyway...I'll just meet up with some others I know."
Antehya looked back down, her slim fingers sorting quickly through the box of paints as she thought about the banners and which colours would go on which house's banner.

She mock-frowned at Mark's comment. "You have to go, Mark - it's school regulations." Her fingers formed air-quotes around her last two words and she switched to a smile.
"Besides, I guess it's not all in the dancing. I mean, I know I'm a real girl about this but dressing up doesn't happen very often for me - you know, even at home."

She winced internally at referencing to 'home' which was actually her godparents' house along with her two godbrothers who treated her well and truly as a sister. It wasn't that she didn't like the White’s; they had been very kind and she'd gotten used to them now but she did miss Rose...and her parents.
An expression of clear pain crossed her face for a moment and she struggled, getting it back under its emotionless control in a few seconds as she continued to sort through the paints and then run her hands through the banners, feeling their texture and determinedly keeping her eye contact away from Mark's until she was sure she was under control again. However she was sure her eyes still clearly showed pain and she didn’t want to betray feelings quite yet.

"Well, it's banners for each house, right?" she said it more quietly than she normally would have - she was determined to stay in control of her emotions for at least the rest of the daytime - and she kept her eyes occupied with the media on the table.
"Aeris will be white with violet or lavender, Ignis will be bronze with orange and red, Aqua will be blue...what else?"
As she spoke each colour the tube of paint connected to it was laid carefully on the table.

[_KAT]

MARK.

Mark nodded. It usually actually worked well when you didn't have a date; you weren't tied down by them. However, it would still be nice to be able to have someone who you really wanted to go with next to you for the whole night, and Mark could see the appeal of having a date. He just needed to find the right girl, he supposed. Theya was already busy, and Mark reached in to help her sort out the paint pots. Some had dried up pretty badly, but over all they were in pretty good shape, they just hadn't been used over the summer break. Mark couldn't wait to get his teeth back into the art and textiles clubs. He might even consider joining a couple of others, to get to know a few more people. He loved having friends, plus he had heard there might be a drama club if they could find someone to run it.

Mark giggled at her next comment. School regulations. It was true that all students were supposed to attend school events, but most of the time that magisters couldn't be bothered to check all the dorms since they wanted to be at the party too. As usual, there were rumours flying around about which one was going with which, and whether the kother two were actually dating, and didn't that one end up kissing the other last year? At Theya's next comment about dancing, Mark shrugged. "Yeah, I've never been the best at dancing. Sometimes the atmosphere is the most fun part," he replied, then added, "And being with your date, I guess."

Theya had gone a little quiet, and Mark could see someting new in her eyes, but he decided against persuing it. Theya was one of these secretive people, people who tended not to open up to often, and Mark suspected this was not the time or the place, or that he was really the person she wanted to talk to about her family or past or whatever. He had noticed she'd been getting closer to Claire lately, which was good since he hadn't seen her having that many other close friends, bar him.

Mark nodded as she listed each house's colour, then as she trailed off he picked up, "Lamnia, blacks and silvers, Terra, greens of course, Traba, browns..?" He continued sorting out the paints until they were in colour groups. "Okay, so, do you want to do the three you said and I'll do the other three? We might even get them finished tday." He laid out the banners and pushed her three across the desk. "And about the ball," he added, "I'll save you a dance, kay?" He smiled and picked up a paintbrush, at the same time pulling a cigarette out of his pocket and lighting up. Of course, he wasn't supposed to smoke indoors, but the window behind him was open and everyone knew him well enough to know that he held a paintbrush in one hand, a ciggy in the other and a needle between his lips most of the time.

SAY CHEESE.

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[antehya]

Antehya nodded and a small smile slipped back onto her face, only slightly out-of-control of her feelings, spreading the first banner, Aqua's blue one, across the table before her. She pulled the pile of blue paints towards herself then ripped a page from the pack of her notebook, then opened two of the paints and squeezed a little onto the paper to put them in easier reach.

She took hold of a paintbrush and dabbed it carefully into the darker of the two blues then brushing it lightly across the corner of the fabric. Satisfied that the colour was right she set to work properly, sending swirls and eddies of what appeared to be real water down the side and across the top of the banner. She added the lighter blue in smaller bits over the top to give it a more three dimensional view then chose another tube from her pile and set to painting a river in a diagonal line from corner to corner of the fabric using all three blues now, occasionally stopping to push back her sleeves yet again as they kept slipping down, creeping dangerously close to being covered in blue paint.

Her eyes unintentionally caught what was already catching in the light from the window and inside she cringed. The scars on her wrists were clearly visible still, even after two years and she had the feeling they would never disappear clearly, regardless of what the doctor had assured her.

She glanced up at him for a moment at his last comment and her eyes were full of pain for a second before she hid it away and she answered. "You don't have to do that, you know. I'm sure there are other girls in your year who might think you're a little strange dancing with a girl from the year below you."

A sudden comment came to her and she couldn't help adding. "Besides, I'm just a pro at dancing and you'd look like an idiot next to me." She laughed at that, a tinkling bell-like laugh that hadn't sounded in months - after all, she hadn't really been this cheerful in months.
"I'm not a pro at all, never fear, she added, her smile still present - she was evidently in a genuinely good mood. The only dancing I've done is ballet and I'm not that good." Even so she felt like she was lying - she knew she had been rather good, or so she'd been told, but she never felt perfect in anything. She was always self-criticising.

She frowned slightly, eyes down as she concentrated on finishing the river that now swirled down the Aqua banner, realising that Mark had pulled a cigarette out. As much as she hated the idea of smoking and was never going to start she could forgive Mark. But it wasn’t that. It was mainly the smell of smoke that put her off whatever she was doing, often making her feel unwell or at least giving her a headache which had already started the moment he’d lit it.

Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. The snide voice in her head was back again and she fought the urge not to scream and run from the room then and there. She won the battle. She had thought she’d escaped the voice and knew she’d be back on medication soon enough. Just as she thought this she felt an unpleasant twinge in her stomach and she winced, feeling faintly nauseous and taking a sharp intake of break but keeping her head down. She hoped the other two banners wouldn’t take too much longer - she needed fresh air as soon as possible. The smoke was making her feel light headed and she paused again, twisting her hair into a large knot at the back of her head and sticking two of her pencils into it to hold it there, making her look like she was posing for an artistic photo while in Japan.

[ooc - this is WAAYYY too long sorry about that I got carried away ]

[_KAT]

MARK.

Theya got to work on the painting and Mark followed her lead, dipping his brush into the silver paint. He began some jagged shapes, not really concentrating too hard. Even if they didn't look their best it wouldn't matter because everyone would be so busy dancing that they probably wouldn't notice the decoration anyway. They'd only really notice if it wasn't there. However, Mark couldn't be entirely sloppy because he was compelled to work hard, a trait he had probably gained from his parents. A calm had descended on the pair, both doing what they enjoyed and both at peace with one another. As he swapped brushes, Theya turned to him again. This time, there was a flash of hurt in her eyes and Mark was sure she'd been dwelling on less pleasant things again.

Still, she hid it once more and her voice was level, if a little quieter. Mark laughed at her worry about him at the ball, then shrugged. "There's enough of me to go around," he joked. In reality, often the ones without partners tended to stick together unless they were lucky enough to be asked by someone else, regardless of year. One year would be of little consequence. He supposed it would probably seem strange if a first year asked a final year to dance, although that would actually be quite comical. Besides, I'm just a pro at dancing and you'd look like an idiot next to me. Mark laughed at this, but was glad to see her making jokes and smiling instead of looking grim.

"I learned at the first opening ball I went to here, two years ago," Mark replied, "So ballet is a pretty good start." Some of the more upper class families obviously learned to dance from a young age, and Mark guessed that a lot of girls would have done ballet at some age or another, but for him it had never been something he'd thought about. Music, to him, was to listen to, not to dance to. However, when he was actually at the ball and stepped up to dance, it did give him a strange elation and in those moments he could why people would want to. "I bet you're actually really good," he added, sticking the cigarette he'd been holding back into his mouth before putting his paintbrush to the fabric again. "So, anyway, did you have an alright summer?"

SAY CHEESE.

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[antehya]

Antehya rolled her eyes and couldn't help laughing. "You're just saying you think I'm good, aren't you?" But she appreciated it all the same, secretly.
She slid the banner carefully across the table so it was out of her way, leaving it to dry out a bit before adding final touches and the water house's name. She pulled Ignis towards her and set out to portray flames roaring up one side of it using a bronze paint combined with a little gold, red and orange with a touch of yellow. She was falling into more of a rhythm with the painting by now, her natural skills she hadn't used in a while coming back to her.

"Summer? Oh, I guess it was alright." She attempted to make her voice sound light and careless, hiding her thoughts behind a facade, as usual.
"I did a lot of art...we didn't go away at all except for the beach one of the days. I had to look after James and Tom most of the time because Peter and Ellen went off to get us lunch and didn't come back for an hour and a half - they got stuck in traffic or something. Peter works a lot; he only got two weeks off his job so I stayed home most of the time and helped Ellen with the boys."
She focused for a moment on writing a large capital 'I' on the fabric before her then continued.

"I also visited my parents and my sisters a few times," she added quietly, her voice cracking slightly on the word 'sisters' and she immediately cursed herself for even bringing up the topic.
Keep your mouth shut, why can't you? the voice complained, angry, inside her head and she stiffened until it stopped talking then quite visibly relaxed.
"Apart from that I just stayed at home." She forced a smile onto her features but kept her head down, now painting out the other four letters of the fire house's name.

She now slid this banner to one side and passed her hand over her forehead, eyes closed for a moment. A headache had begun its incessant drumming on the inside of her skull and the smoke from Mark's cigarette was stopping her from thinking clearly. She struggled on though and pulled Aqua's banner back towards her, beginning on the 'A' in a mixture of silver and blue paint.