Artistry (ApplePoisoneer)

MellowYellow

MellowYellow

Pulsar
Joined
Sep 28, 2013
For much of his life, David had been interested in the aliens known only as Gems. Not for their culture, or their close ties to human history... or even their technology. Having grown up in a small fishing town, he had been living close to Gem ruins for much of his young life. The patterns, the shapes, the intricate engravings... all of it had caught his eye and he had been highly intrigued in copying those designs in his artwork.

So once he graduated, got his independence, he had become even more invested in Gem artistry. A place like Beach City, with the largest known intact Gem temple in full view... it was a hard thing to ignore. The young man, blond and clean shaven, had headed into the town mainly to study that temple, and had been living there for about a fortnight.

Almost every second day he had headed out to the beach, set up a pallet, and sketched details of the multi-limbed female statue hewn into the face of the seaside cliff. The blond hadn't actually spoken to any of the residents, outside of the young man who called the house under the statue his own, and so it was hardly like there was any issue to his acts. Warm sunlight caressed him from above, heating his skin under his ivory shirt and dark blue trousers.
 
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" A soft, female voice spoke from behind the young man on the beach. A voice full of pride, love and a tinge of sadness. "Sometimes I get so caught up in how lovely it used to be, that I forget how lovely it still is."

A tall (by human standards), thin woman with sharp features, stood with her ankles planted in the sand. Her blonde bop, which bristled to a point in the back of her head, framed an enormous pearl in the center of her forehead. The hue of the gem radiated into her skin and caught the glimmer in her ocean-lbue eyes.
 
"Oh! You uh... you startled me," David admitted with some surprise. He had seen this one more than once on the news, and in his history books. The thin one of the trio, named... Pearl, if he wasn't mistaken. She was perhaps his favourite. While he had sketched all three in his papers, David had sketched Pearl with a bit more detail. She had been so graceful in her motions, fluid like the motions of a river.

He set his pencil down on the end of the pallet and turned his focus to Pearl. "I ah... I didn't mean to intrude or anything. I was just hoping to get a better look at the statue at this angle. You know, to add some extra perspectives. If... I'm in the way I could always move back if you wanted," he suggested.
 
"Oh no, I'd say you're a safe distance away." She brushed his anxiety off with a dismissive wave of her hand. Glancing over his shoulder, she noticed the partially completed sketch. "It's starting to shape up very nicely."

She thought a moment and realized she'd seen him once before in passing. "Do you come here to draw very often?"
 
"Aha... yeah it's safe to say I have," he replied. Steven had noticed him first, and had spoken extensively with the artist. As was his way of living. "There's a lot of detail to take in on that place, and I wanted to do it justice." As he said this, David raised his pad up and flicked through the different pages, letting her see the various sketches of the temple, distinct parts, and some images of the gems themselves.

"I'm David by the way," he said, flashing the pale alien a slight smile.
 
"Pearl," she smiled gently and plied, as was her usual greeting. "I... I couldn't help but notice you've sketched me. When did you do that?" A little touch of color rose to her cheeks. It felt like he'd taken a picture of her without asking her, but somehow it was more personal than that. Like he'd really needed to look at her, scrutinize, measure her. It caught her off guard. She wasn't used to getting that kind of attention.
 
"Ah... so you saw that huh? Sorry. I was kind of zoning out and sketching without thinking, and I kind of drew all you guys without realising it. But I should say that your movements are enthralling. Incredibly graceful." David opened up the page for her to appraise. Sure enough most of the images of Pearl had been her in motion, and decently detailed. "That was about... two days ago, I believe. You were demonstrating... something, to Steven, and I guess I got a little entranced watching you."
 
Pearl smiled inwardly at the word "enthralling". She recognized it's capacity, and understood that it was not common in the language of humans. And that was the fear that lived inside her before and after Rose touched her life, that she was common. An ordinary, servile pearl of no consequence.

"Oh, I think that was the day we were practicing evasion." She said matter-of-factly, while spinning in a delicate parry over the spanof a few feet. "Your work is very fluid. It's very impressive."
 
A genuine compliment? Boy, today was turning out pretty well. Better than he would have expected.

"Oh, why thank you. I've been practicing for a lot of my life... Admittedly, I'm better when it comes to landscapes and scenery, than when it comes to people, but I'm glad I did you justice," David said. He set his pencil down in the small wooden gutter of his pallet, shifting his attention back to Pearl. Outside of the gemstone in her forehead, she really could pass for human. An ethereally beautiful human. "Sorry, I'm rambling. I wouldn't want to take up too much of your time or anything," after all, the gems did important work. "But, well... It would be nice to get together and chat more often. If you wanted."
 
She thought about the offer for a moment, unsure if it was wise to become involved with a human. Rose had, and now she was no more. But in her place, there was Steven, someone new and entirely different. She hadn't liked Gred, and for a long time, she thought it was because she disliked humans. But it was only after Steven was born that she realized, it was because he'd taken Rose away from her. But perhaps she could get to know this human without getting hurt again.

"I'd like that. I'd like that very much." She told him, pondering her words as she spoke. "Perhaps, if we're not fighting something the next time you're drawing on the beach, I could pay a visit."
 
David smiled faintly. "I'd like that," he replied politely. That was putting it mildly, a chance to chat with a cornerstone of history was something few people ever got the chance to do. "I'll probably be back around sunset tomorrow. You know, take the statue in from a different light," he said. With the different angles of the sun, it provided the chance to take in the ornate runes and angles of the statue with varying levels of detail.

He moved to stand, plucking the pallet up in the process. "Well, I'll um... probably head home, maybe get something to eat. But it was nice to chat with you Pearl, and I hope we can do it again," he said. Smiling still, he made his way back down the beach, and was filled with a kind of giddy excitement he had never really known before.
 
"Oh, me too. Have a good night." She fluttered her fingers in a signal of farewell and leapt up from the beach to the middle of the stairs. She spun, giving it a little extra flurish and leapt again to the porch before the main entrance to the house. When she entered, Garnet smiled and shook her head, having apparently seen the whole stunt. Or perhaps she'd seen it in her mind's eye, and was thinking of the outcome already. It made Pearl too nervous to ask, though the urge was powerful. She was not a gem to waste time, and if Garnet could tell her what she was doing was a waste or not, she would love to listen.
 
He'd had Pearl on the brain for much of the next day, left to ponder the ethereal beauty of the polite alien woman. Surely she was out of his league, he wouldn't need to be told that one twice, and she was probably a lesbian anyway... or did they even have things like sexuality where she came from? It was a mystery, and somehow David felt simply asking about it wouldn't wind up too well. Still, hanging out with her would be nice all the same.

As he had said, when the sun began to sink into the sea and cast Beach City in a warm orange glow, David had appeared once more with his supplies and took up a spot in full view of the temple. Alone for now, he slowly began to sketch, all while taking the new levels of light into account.
 
It had been a long, grueling chase through overgrown jungle and delapidated ruin, but the gems had finally caught and bubbled the fragmental monster they were after. The gang warped back to the temple, patting each other on the back and then parting ways. Garnet went to put the bubble with the others, Amethyst and Steven went for a snack, and Pearl checked the position of the sun. It was beginning to set, and she wondered if the young man who'd been on the beach the other day would be back. Then, she stopped and wondered what made her care if he'd returned or not. She supposed it was curiosity, or that need of being needed that reared its ugly head from time to time.

Never-the-less, she thought she would go out and see. She passed in front of a mirror hanging on the wall, catching sight of her disheveled appearance. If she were going to meet someone, anyone, shouldn't she look presentable? Pearl brushed the leaves and dirt from her bristle of hair and took a dry cloth to the gem in her forehead. She straightened her clothes, though, since they were illusions, they hardly needed cleaning or ironing.

"Hey, P. Got a date?" Amethyst called from the kitchen, where she and Steven had been making nachos.

Pearl turned up her nose at the jokingly snarky comment. "No, but I don't like walking around looking like I've just crawled out of your room." On that, she turned on her heel and leapt down the temple stairs to the beach.
 
For some moments he was worried if the alien was going to show up or not. Perhaps she had simply been humoring him earlier when she said they'd chat again, but he supposed ultimately he wouldn't have been shocked by that. It didn't seem to disrupt the flow of his pencil strokes, intricately doing the carvings on the arms and adding in the shading to correspond to the sun. Eh, it was maybe for the best to not get distracted in getting to work.

"Hm?" David stopped briefly, turning his focus to the slender figure as she stepped onto the hot white sands of the beach. "Oh, h-hey," he said, managing a modest smile. "Busy day I take it? You've look like you've been ah... hard at work, I guess? Not that I'm complaining. I'm betting it was pretty cool."
 
"Oh, yes." She laughed a little awkwardly, clasping her wrists. Pearl didn't converse much with people who weren't Steven. Her gem gleamed and caught the orange of the sunset, illuminating her eyes and cheeks. She smiled, looking up at the temple, then back at David. "How's the light this evening?"
 
"Pretty excellent," he admitted. "Wind is stable too. Figure I might have an hour or two before the breeze rolls in." After a moment he turned and found himself examining Pearl with trained eyes, a subtle smile on hi face. Speaking of good light... After checking to see if she was watching he resume the strokes of his pencil, only this time his image wa changing, shifting into an illuminated mage of Pearl's namesake, followed then by the attractive features of her face being filled in by his pencil. He was swift, making ample use of the light to catch a glimpse of the alien's beauty. "Pretty excellent indeed..."
 
As though connected by some ethereal tether, Pearl could feel the faximily of blush (for it was not actually blood) filling each part of her face as he drew it; cheeks, nose, the little pucker of mouth, the smooth, tight skin around her gem. All of it heated under his scrutiny. A nervous giggle welled in her throat, but she surpressed it, lifting a spidery hand to her mouth.

"Yes..." She let herself trail off, distracting her eyes with the luminous stone of the temple. Words wouldn't come, and she wondered why she thought she had to make them come. Couldn't they just stand here? But there had to be something she could say. Phrases that didn't sound right in her head fumbled around until she could pick one. "Do you... use medium besides pencil?"
 
"It usually starts off as pencil. If I'm drawing something I particularly like, well usually I'll add in paint or charcoal down the line," David explained, a modest smile on his face. It was actually nice to know she had an interest, but he could tell it had likely been some time since she'd conversed with a human other than Steven. It was cute in it's own way, though he doubted she'd be all that happy to be called cute. Or would she?

Hm... this'd be hard to figure out. "I keep quite a few paintings at my house. I've sold a few of them to make ends meet in the past, and I figure I'm reasonably good. You could always come on by if you wanted to look at some," David explained. He smiled. "Heck... give me a chance to do some portrait work of you, and I'd be over the moon."
 
"Oh, I'd like that." She wasn't sure why she'd said it. In truth, she'd just blurted it out. It annoyed her that she could lose control of her voice like that, though she had to admit that it wasn't the first time in rececent years. What was it about talking to humans that made her feel so different than talking to other gems?

On homeworld, she had always held her tongue, stood very still, did as she was told and nothing else. It was a hideous life, devoid of art. So perhaps, with Rose's influence and this man's art, it was harder for her to surpress what she'd felt in the place of her origin.
 
"Glad to hear it," he replied politely, taking the time to smirk playfully at the alien. In truth he had no real way of knowing that gems of Pearl's ilk were treated like fashion accessories, though that may have explained why Pearl seemed so... picturesque to the eye. "Well if there are no world ending crises at the moment, we could always do that now," David suggested, proceeding to rise up to his.

"I uh... dunno if you guys need to eat or drink anything, being magic stones and all, but I could always make something for you while you're there if you want," he suggested.
 
Pearl laughed aloud. Humans always seemed to equate technology unknown to them with magic. "Magic is... not quite what we are. And eating is... well it's disgusting!" She laughed a little harder at the thought of it, but when she could catch her breath, she continued. "Let me just pop up to the temple and tell the others I'll be stepping out. Excuse me a moment."

She sprang from where she stood, spinning a little in the air, and landed near the top of the stairs. In the kitchen, Steven and Amethyst were still enjoying their snacks, and Garnet had come to join them, though she did not eat. "I'm going to step away for a few minutes. Don't hesitate to call if you need anything."

Garnet studied her quietly, the corner of her mouth flicking up into a smile. She offered her fellow crystal gem a thumbs up, which Pearl took to mean that she was excused. When she turned, she walked down the stairs, gathering her thoughts. When she returned to the beach, she found David waiting there.
 
"No eating, got it," Dave said, making a quick note of this fact. Well they were aliens, he supposed they were just different in that regard. He was no scientist, and thus felt no need to ask for more details. He simply gave Pearl she chance to leave while he packed his things up, content with today's sketches. They would more than suffice, and at any rate he would have something much more interesting to do now.

After she had returned he led the way into Beach City, and up to one of the newer houses that had been erected at the western rim of the small town. A modest home with white walls, a balcony looking out to the shore, and a tidy red tile roof. They mayor was desperate for new taxpayers, and thus getting this place hadn't been prohibitively expensive or anything. David opened the door and gestured for Pearl to go in. The front corridor had a few paintings already hung on it, intricate coloured fractal patterns of David's own design. "It's not much, certainly not a temple, but feel free to make yourself at home."
 
The living room was of a modest size, but had the kind of comforts one would imagine- the plush sofa Pearl had gotten comfy on, a large and cosy armchair, a glass coffee table dividing the couch from the TV hung up on the wall. Nice, homely. Yet more pictures had been placed on the wall, letting her get another taste of his skill. "So uh... if you wouldn't be opposed... I'd actually be really honoured if I could do a proper portrait for you. I mean... well I'm sure other artists have asked in the past, but you've got a real picturesque beauty that'd be a shame to miss out on."
 
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