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Canticle of Hope 6a: Portraits

"So, this is it."

Hitomi gestured vaguely across the rooftop, as she held the door open for Emi. It was a bright, cheery morning, and the kitsune was dressed comfortably in a long skirt and a cute, red cardigan; the warmth of the sun did a great deal to offset the breeze so high up. Most of the rooftop was open to the sky, but there was a small, shaded area beneath an overhang by the door. Hitomi had set out some supplies there; a fluffy blanket on the ground, a comfortable chair stolen from her apartment, and, facing towards those, her easel, and a small stand for her paints and other supplies.

"It... isn't exactly ideal, but at least we shouldn't be disturbed up here. I like to come up here from time to time to just... be alone with my thoughts, and paint."

The kitsune glanced out across the skyline, taking a moment to enjoy the view. Her building was a little higher than the others around it, just from the curve of the land below, which meant there was very little to obstruct the view. There was no glorious sunrise at this time of morning, but she still found it soothing. The truth was that she was a little nervous; she'd been happy to agree to this idea when Emi proposed it, but she wasn't really sure what her friend in mind, and she'd never really been happy with any paintings she'd done of people; she always struggled to get a pose she was happy with. She also hadn't really ever invited anyone up here before; she'd spoken with Orpheus up here, of course, and her aunt, but this was different.

Still, she was looking forward to this. She took a deep breath, then turned towards Emi, and smiled. "So, did you have any idea where you wanted to start?"
 
Emi smiled as she looked around a bit at the surroundings she wore comfortable jeans a t-shirt and sneakers. she carried with her a small suitcase on Wheels. "This is quite beautiful Hitomi, It must be wonderful to work up here all the time! So Where could I change outfits? I brought a few outfits I would Perform in with me."
 
"Oh! I, uh, didn't think about that!"

Hitomi rubbed the back of her neck ruefully as she looked back over the rooftop again, half her mind going to work on solving the problem while the other half berated herself for not thinking about it in the first place. They could always trek down to her room and back every time Emi wanted to try something new, but she had no idea how many outfits Emi had prepared, and that was going to get tedious fast.

"Oh, I know!" The kitsune's ears perked up as she was struck by an idea, and she snapped her fingers. "Wait here for a moment, Hamasaki-san, I'll be right back!"

The kitsune abruptly turned, and vanished quickly back down the stairs. Emi was left alone for a few minutes, until a loud, clattering sound and a gasp from the stairwell announced Hitomi's return. The artist herself came into view a moment later, struggling a little to haul a folded, fabric divider that was a little larger than she was back up to the roof. She waved up at Emi - trying to indicate that she had it under control - and then slowly back up the last of the stairs.

"My aunt found this in an antique store last year. It's... a little heavier than it looks," She explained, as she carried her burden over towards the makeshift portrait studio. She placed it carefully down, then let out a relieved sigh and took a moment to catch her breath. "We don't really have room to set it up anywhere, so it's just been gathering dust in a corner. I almost forgot we had it."

The kitsune nudged her glasses back up on her nose, then reached out to lift a latch on the side of the divider. Taking hold of one end, she began to unfold it, stretching it out to create a screen around their little studio. The screen was decorated with traditional brushwork; extended to full size, it depicted a lake with two herons taking flight, surrounding their portion of the rooftop.

Hitomi glanced into the area from the outside, peering around the screen, and nodded to herself. That was a little more private. "What do you think?"
 
Emi smiles and nods looking over the artwork."Yes it will do nicely this was a lucky find Hitomi. Emi slips behind the screen and begins to change after a few moments she comes out from behind the screen wearing a grey pants suit with a sleeveless vest and black stripes on it and black flats with grey trim." What do you think of this out fit and where would you like me to stand?"
 
While she was waiting for Emi to change, Hitomi took a seat on the ledge by the edge of the building. She leant back slightly, supporting her weight on her hands, as she turned her face towards the sun and let out a small yawn. Like most nights, Hitomi hadn't slept especially well, and it was quite nice out here. If she didn't have company, she could have nodded straight off...

... but as it was, Emi was soon ready. The kitsune leant forward as her friend emerged from the screen, and she clapped her hands together. "Very stylish," she smiled. Climbing to her feet again, she walked over for a closer look. The outfit wouldn't give her many colours to work with, but that just made for an interesting challenge. Hitomi slowly began to circle around her friend, looking her over from every side with a critical fox's eye. "So, this is the kind of thing you wear while performing, Hamasaki-san? I'll have to see that one day... I don't think our challenge that first night we met really counts."

Coming to a stop in front of her friend again, the kitsune nodded. "Anyway, let's start... over there, in the sun. I'll take some photos for reference, first, and then we can figure out how to pose you."

Hitomi directed Emi over to a nice patch of light, then reached for her phone, and set to work taking shots which would give her a good understanding of the outfit from various angles. "You mentioned that your family are performers too, right? But you're thinking about starting out on your own?"
 
Emi smiled "Thanks Hitomi, True might not been a true performance but you can say when i make it big that you got to compete against me!" she moved to the sun laden area Hitomi directed her to. " Besides if you like as further benefit for doing my promo work I can arrange a private show for you if you like?" her cheeks turned a bit red as she made the offer but her smile never left her face.
 
"Oh, I think 'compete' quite oversells it. As I recall, you defeated us quite soundly at every turn." Hitomi's ear twitched at the memory - all of her best plans, so easily thwarted! - but she smiled gently nonetheless. That night had been bittersweet, all told, given some of the other events that had occurred, but it was still precious to her. It was the night that she'd first met the others, after all, and the first time in a long time that she'd felt a sense of belonging. And, of course, the competition itself had been quite a lot fun.

Her phone clicked as she took another few snaps.

Emi's offer of a private show - the word private in particular, and the blush that followed - brought up another memory from that night: lying between Emi's legs, the catgirl dressed only in powder-blue underwear, her thigh pressed against Hitomi's skin... now it was the fox's turn to blush. She focused her attention on her phone for a moment, mentally shooing those thoughts away. A private show didn't mean that sort of thing, she was sure!

"I'd... enjoy that, Hamasaki-san. Thank you." The kitsune glanced up from her phone for just a moment to make eye contact through her glasses, and offered her subject a shy smile before looking back to her work. She clicked away for a few more minutes, making sure to capture Emi's back and sides, before taking a break to flick back through her images.

"Ok," she said at last, nodding to herself in satisfaction. "I think that'll do. Now... we should probably think about how we want to present you. Dramatic? Elegant? Sexy?"
 
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