dissonates | [Action] (backdated to the 18th)

[Since this happened, Asch hasn't been entirely sure what to do with himself. He eats breakfast, he reads a little. He wanders through the village for a while, aimlessly and calm despite the bad news. It's a normal day. A nice day, even. Luceti is blissfully aware of his loss, and he likes it that way. There is no house to burn, no alcohol to waste, no friend to garner comfort from. There's the village, and there's the memories, and there's that coldness in his heart creeping up again. As usual. It's just another going-home situation, and that's become typical of this place. Maybe people are happy. She's gone back. She's free.

She's dead.

He needs to hit something, so he goes to the Battle Dome for a while. Normal. Everything is normal.

Eventually he'll make his way north- first to House 34, to get whatever Norma has for him. Then he moves on to the cherry blossom trees beyond the edge of the village. And then, finally, he finishes his wandering in the woods not far from the 2nd apartment building, tucked under a tree with a pad of paper and a few pieces of charcoal. He'll be there until the sun gets too low to see.

After that, well... who knows. But he won't return to the apartment until well after dark.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Immediately, something inside of her seems to trigger. She takes the picture and studies it. Black and white...it's a little somber this way, but that doesn't hinder her completely. Perhaps for a moment, Miyabi's shoulders drop and her body language shifts to a more depressing stance, but...then she picks herself up quickly, groping around the roots for her bag. Her bag filled with the art supplies she hasn't touches in weeks now.

Somewhere, somewhere...ha! There. Unfurling a cloth on her lap, she takes out a stick of charcoal, well used so it has a slight point.]

...I'm not a teacher, and I'm not a master. I'm still learning myself, but...there isn't life here, you're right. What I can say is that the body, the face, everything has a certain fluidity... [And she begins scrawling in the lower, unused corner of the picture. It's a similar picture, but at a different angel, with more movement and life.] You can't just look at the world and expect it so stand still for you. You capture the world as it is - moving, breathing...living.

[When she's done, she hands the sketchpad back to Asch.] I can't teach you how to add life to things; that's something you'll have to learn for yourself. I can only show you your errors, and correct them.

[He watches her quietly for a long moment, then studies the sketches, comparing the two. Even though hers is small, he can see the differences already- the movement, the flow of each line, the way it's drawn. He's never drawn anything in motion before, only by memory, a moment frozen in time. Like drawing a statue, still and lifeless. It could be detailed and beautiful and still just as dead inside.

So that's why...

Closing his eyes briefly, he glances over at the nearest cherry tree, its branches blowing in the breeze. It has a life to it, even though the tree itself isn't moving about. Like the spirits of this place, it has colour, energy, force. Like fonons, there's a flow in all things.

Fonons... why didn't that occur to him before? Since childhood he's learned to feel the flow of life through everything- himself, his surroundings, his enemies. This place, and the people here, may not have the same exact cells, but they have an energy to them much like the fonons he's used to. All he needs to do, instead of using the fonons he observes to create a glyph, is to create an image instead.

And then not blow it up. ...Right. Focusing silently, he lifts a piece of charcoal and begins to draw.]

[Miyabi waits as Asch draws, looking up at the branches herself. Ah, this...this fely so nice. She's only given an art lesson once, and that was to Luke. Still,that didn't last long before it got silly and less a lesson than more a game and something to just cheer her up. This was a real lesson, and it...it kind of made her a little proud, having Asch come to her for a lesson. Proud, and kind of nervous. She hoped she did that right. It's so much harder now, to even talk about art, when she can't see the world like she used to.

Everything looked dead to her, cold and lifeless, but it wasn't. The tree was still waving in the chill autumn winds, the lingering blossoms, long dead, danced in the breeze, only to fall,forgotten, on the ground. A final dance on the wind. Even if the tree was dying, it wasn't dead yet. Colorless, but still so very alive in every respect.

Miyabi closed her eyes, breathing out slowly. A kind relief escaping her in that breath. She can't see it as well as she could before, but she could still feel the world pulsing and living around her. She continues breathing slowly, eyes closed, as Asch doodles, meditating.]

[Asch continues to sketch for a long while, flipping from one page to another once in a while to draw something random as practice- a single branch as it moves in the wind, a tilting flower, a segment of Miyabi's hair. They're little doodles at best, but he's tried to capture the life in them for the first time, the movement and fluidity that Miyabi described. And then, once he's satisfied, he sets down the pad and charcoal to wait quietly for it, his own gaze lifted to watch the tree. Really watch it, even. How long has it been since he allowed himself the luxury of seeing the beauty of such things?

Didn't he do this in Daath, before the coldness and the apathy set in? Before he started to kill people? Maybe he stopped caring about the life around him because it was no longer an important aspect of his own.

It's... something of a revelation, that.]

[The scrawl stops, and Miyabi lifts her eyes, feeling oddly relaxed, and at peace. She leans forward, taking the sketchpad, and her face seems to light up in a very bright smile. It's a dramatic change, in such a short span of time. Even she can see it...she really can see it. Life. Without color. Color makes things vibrant, and maybe more beautiful, but that doesn't mean it makes them live. Everything is alive...it had been, all this time. She just didn't see it. No, that's wrong. She thought she couldn't see it.

Miyabi flips through the sketches, making only very subtle changes. There aren't many, and when she sees the doodle of the branch, she tilts her head with a smile, then looks back up to Asch.]

...Can I keep this? It's very good, you're very good, Asch. You learn quickly, and...and I think I learned something, too.

So, thank you. Very much. [And in the deepest form of thanks and respect, Miyabi bows. Maybe she'll start painting again. One color, or even just black ink. She just wants to paint.]

Wh... [Asch cuts himself off before he can even start, glancing down at the page, then gestures vaguely, eyes averted.] ...Yeah. Take it, I don't care. [He doesn't really get what her problem was, but... apparently he helped, somehow, which is a nice change. For once.

Should he ask? Probably not. He has a feeling she won't tell him anyway, which suits him fine. She's smiling now, so...

...Augh. This is hard. Better to just ignore the whole issue.]

Thank you. I'll keep it safe.

[And that is a promise. Miyabi's kept every piece of art she received from people safe in her room. Inside a leather bound folio of sorts. She even has ones others would consider terrible (like Luffy's art skills). Miyabi doesn't care about skill, so long as there's heart there.]

So, why are you sudden;y taking an interest in drawing like this? ...You want to draw something special, don't you? [Because, well, like she said once before - you are rather easy to read, Asch. And the pieces fit together.]

[Erk. Caught. He leans back abruptly, lifting a hand to wave her off.]

There's no reason, don't be stupid! What, I'm told I need to get a hobby and when I try all I get is questions?

[Pff, what a reaction. So not suspicious at all, nope. Even so, Miyabi just giggles softly and smiles.]

I wish you luck with your special picture, Asch.

[Goddammit, Miyabi. Seriously, goddammit. Stop doing that.]

...Tch. Whatever.

[Action] (backdated to the 18th)

[Action] shut uuup. )8

[Action] noooo /awesomeface

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