darpow

[darpow]

Letting out a warm laugh as Everett said that he could see what he was talking about, he stepped back to look at the painting again, and then stepped forward to see it up close. "Do you remember those Magic Eye books? The ones that you had to squint at and almost go cross-eyed over to see what the actual picture was on each page, and it would pop out at you? This kind of reminds me of that." Depending on where you were standing, what angle you were looking at it from, and how looked at it, you might end up seeing something completely different every time you came at it. "Maybe we should give the artist a lot of credit. I bet they're sitting somewhere watching us, laughing over the fact that we can't figure it out, and in reality, they painted it to make us have this exact conversation." There was a lot of art that was meant to be a conversation starter, that had different meanings… it just so happened that they found a piece, clearly. "Either way, I think we can both agree that a lot of time went into this one!"

A small nod was offered in return, eyes fixated on the area that the other was talking about. He saw where Darrius' hand was gesturing - and could even vaguely see the path he was referring to - but he still saw the outline of a wolf more than anything. He cleared his throat, eyes focusing again. He had never been one to usually see something other's didn't when it came to art, so he of course felt a little crazy. "Okay." he stated, not meaning to be cordial but taking a moment to pause the conversation and really examine the painting in front of them. "I think I can see what you're seeing." he nodded, eyes focusing on where the conversation had said the ground line was. "Here is where I personally see the wolf outline." His hand moved, circling the area that he had seen the wolf in the photo. "It's a faint outline, but, I definitely see it here." he responded. "I guess that's the cool thing about abstract art though, everyone's interpretation is different."

[darpow]

A lopsided smile slid across his face when Noa said that he would have to get used to it, that she would always find old furniture more interesting than most things. "I'll do my very best to harness any jealousy that might rear its ugly head." But as long as he was still getting some attention, he supposed that he could deal, that he wouldn't get too upset if her eyes were on old, wooden pieces of furniture. "Right, or you could just be saying that to get a 'thank you' out of me." And he would end up giving it, too. Following after her, he grabbed his own coat, slipping it on easily and pulling the collar up around his neck, knowing that it was going to be cold outside. Snowing, even, as he lifted his gaze to the sky, noticing the sparkling, shining snowflakes that tumbled down from the sky. But then he was looking back down at Noa, pocketing his hands and wanting to tell her that she had nothing to be nervous about, but… didn't he feel the same? At least a little bit. "Okay," he said simply nodding his head and keeping his eyes on her face, swallowing down the nervousness that had formed. "Go for it."

"That," she said, placing her now empty drink on a passing waiter's tray, "is just something you'll have to get used to. I'm always going to find old boudoirs more interesting than pretty much anything." She shrugged off the idea of shouldering blame. "I thought saints were meant to suffer. They'll probably canonize you faster for it." She nodded at his question, moving to the coat check first to grab her jacket and scarf before ducking out into the January night. There was no easy way to say what was brewing inside of her. She was terrified of ruining something that she'd grown to lean. Something that felt just as fundamental as the girls on Lupine or her work at the market. She walked them to the edge of the sand, before thinking better of her heels on the cold, giving surface. "I hate feeing nervous around you," she said. It was the first, most honest thing off her tongue. "So, I'm going to ask you something that feels a little like jumping off a cliff."

[darpow]

As much as he wanted to deny the fact that his eyes were on Noa more than they were the paintings, photographs, drawings and various other pieces of art hanging around the gallery… Darrius knew it was moot. He felt like everyone knew. But he didn't need to verbalize that, letting out a soft laugh. "Thanks," he shot her a lopsided smile, debating with himself for a few seconds before saying, "I feel really lucky to have her here as my date tonight, you know? Regardless of what that means," because that would be a bridge that they would cross when the time was right or … whatever the saying was. "Well, she did a great job with the assist! But you're pulling it off beautifully," he said with a bright smile. "But… I hear you. With a cup of cocoa and a warm blanket. Will you be going home with a piece of art, too?"

”Right, the painting…” Monique repeated, the tone in her voice very much revealing just how much she believed him (even if it was incredibly possible). “You two are almost insufferably cute, either way.” Whether it was platonically or something much more — it wasn’t really any of her business, but she’d heard about Noa’s dating mishaps, and lord knows the girl deserved someone as gentlemanly (in his own way) as Dare. “I’m having a great time! Seeing everyone all dressed up, we could throw a runway fashion show! And thank you — Ken helped me pick it out. I won’t lie and say I’m not excited to also get home and get out of it, though. Slip into some fuzzy pyjamas.”

[darpow]

"Oh, don't worry," he waved off any idea of not calling her immediately, "I'll make sure to bring you along, I know that all the old fossils there will be way, way more interesting than me being taken in for sainthood." And he wasn't talking about the Pope or all the other adjacent old men wandering around. Actual antique fossils. "Make sure that you show them the photos of me in the stockade, but don't forget to tell them who put me in the stockades, you're going to take at least a little bit of the blame here." Although he had matching photos of her in the same position, so he supposed that made him just as bad. Maybe the higher ups shouldn't find out about that. Feeling a small, sincere, warm smile tug at the corner of his mouth, he nodded his head when she said that tweed was an added bonus, and then heard her question, nodding without hesitation. "I do, yeah. Out to the beach?"

"Let me know when they do," she said, "I bet they have one hell of an antiques department." She smiled against the rim of her drink. "And I can sing all your virtues. Tell them how great you do with medieval torture devices, you know - the works." She paused for a breath, considering whether she should tailor her answer, and deciding that it wasn't worth it. Not anymore. "I like a lot of things about you, Darrius. The tweed's just an added bonus." She enjoyed how awake she felt around him, how they could spin into tangents without end, how she'd never heard a single bad word about him from anyone in this town. (Historical nerdiness aside) She looked at the painting one last time, feeling the press of people around them, the ears that could catch any whiff of their conversation, and made a decision. Not here. "Do you want to get some air?"

[darpow]

"Just waiting for the Vatican to call me," he replied airily, shrugging both of his shoulders. That alone would probably get him smote, but he wasn't too worried about it. The joke was worth it. Bringing up the nail gun, he opened his mouth to ask her about that before hearing the next thing that she said and letting out a low laugh, "I might have to take you up on that." In all seriousness, he did enjoy watching her work, he didn't even need to see the tool belt. But he couldn't lie and say that it wouldn't be a pretty good added bonus, either. "Is that what you like about me?" he asked, raising both brows. "What an odd couple we make. Me, enjoying you in tool belts, you, being into the tweed." It took him until the last word to realize the phrasing that he had used. Odd couple. But that didn't necessarily mean anything, did it? That was just a turn of phrase, something someone said when joking around… maybe. Potentially.

"Patience of a saint," he reminded herself. In his situation, she wasn't sure she'd manage the minutes quite so well or be able to spend an evening without complaining about them. "I'm pretty handy with a nail gun too," she said, her words trailing off a little as Darrius' voice dropped. Were they doing this? More importantly, had they been doing this for months on end without her fully realizing? "You're welcome to come find out," she told him, her voice dropping into that same low tone. He was always welcome at her studio behind the brass market. "Come after class in one of those teacher uniforms. You know, sweater vests and tweed." It was the most forward she'd ever been with him, and she'd be lying if she said it didn't make her pulse kick up a beat or two.

[darpow]

Looking back at Naomi when she said that he should go for it, he let out a soft laugh, shrugging both shoulders. She was probably right; what did he have to lose? Other than one of the best friends that he had ever had if he wasn't careful, or if she didn't feel the same way. But she did, right? She had to, or… maybe she didn't, and he would make a fool of himself. "I mean, we kind of did." He said after a moment, before realizing how it sounded and letting out a laugh, "not -- we didn't, okay, we didn't start the year off with a bang," he held up both hands and shook his head, careful not to spill his drink, "but we kissed. At the New Year's Eve party."

“Mmm… so I see.” She glanced at him, smirking. Now was she familiar with Noa, not really. All she knew was what he told her in bits and pieces. And the one time she met her at the candle shop. “It’s not my intention to pry , promise buttttt… I say go for it.” She wasn’t calling it advice or anything. “If you feel it then she probably feels it too or whatever.” Now was she speaking on herself and her own feelings with someone, maybe but she was going to play her annoying little sister role to a tee. “Start the year off with a bang no pun intended because ew, I do not need the visual so sorry.”

[darpow]

"I was looking at that painting," he argued, pointing to the navy background with silver and white swirls, perfectly wintry. The fact that Noa was just beyond it was not something that he was going to acknowledge as he turned to look at Monique. "I am," he broke into a smile. "How about you? I love the dress!"

WHO: Moni & Dare

WHEN: Snowflake Gala (Jan 25th 2025)

“Careful, Darrius. Don’t stare too long, or people might think you’ve started developing feelings for a special someone.” Brown orbs teasingly gazed up to the preoccupied male, having seen him dazing from across the room. “Having a good night so far, I’m guessing?”

[darpow]

I'd like to argue with you and say that you're very wrong and I'm not a baby and you're mean but you're not wrong and I am a big baby and that's just the way that it's going to be. I feel like a lot of times the stray ones are cuter, anyway, right? Something about them being even better about giving you the big puppy eyes! Well, you did a pretty good job tonight. Do you feel all fancy and spiffy? I had to try to live up to my date.

It's literally the big baby thing. You and I are both just massive, big mama's boy babies and that's why we get along. Thanks, because puppies are really cute and charming and even when they're strays, it almost makes them cuter. See, that's the only reason I work, to have shiny suit jackets and fancy earrings for every party this town throws at us. I have to be hot, no matter the consequences.

[darpow]

"You get used to it," he admitted with a small scrunch of his nose. It didn't mean that he had ever come to like it, he still found gatherings at so and so's house, or a bar in town, to be incredibly stuffy. Until the alcohol started flowing and people actually let loose a little bit, but that did take a while, he knew. And until that point… but he pulled through. "You could," he smiled brightly, "I'd actually call you to help me with any home improvement project over absolutely anyone in this room." He paused for a moment, "well, Mr. Newman does construction for a living, but between me and you," he lowered his voice, "I bet you look better in one of those tool belts." Was he being a little bold, dare he say, even flirting? Maybe. Trying. He wasn't sure if complimenting how someone looked in a tool belt counted as flirting, but it seemed to work in the moment, none the less. Taking the moment to look the shoe over, he nodded his head with approval, breaking into a smile. "I think we did a pretty good job, in that case. You're still doing most of the heavy lifting, but that's okay. I'm happy to ride your coattails at this Gala."

"How do you stand it?" She shook her head, her nerves forgotten momentarily just by the idea of having to rub shoulders with those type of people. Antique dealers might not on the surface seem much better, but what they were talking about was tangible, measurable. She smiled at the compliment, turning halfway to face Darrius and to lean forward slightly, eyeing the crowd behind them. "And I'm actually useful. I could hammer a nail better than half the people in this room. I like to remind myself of that actually," she took a sip from her champagne, "whenever someone critiques my work." She lifted her skirt an inch to show off the shoes, proud of the fine blue embroidery over them. "It was touch and go for a moment there. I figured if we were doing this, we had to look so good we made other people jealous." Though this was still rather amophorous in her mind. A slowly ticking bomb that she wasn't sure she could dismantle before the night ended.

[darpow]

"Most of us are," he agreed with a laugh and a nod of his head. There were always going to be exceptions, but Darrius hadn't run into many people who put a lot of thought and concern into that sort of thing. People let other people live their lives as they wanted to. "It took us a while to take our trees down, too," he laughed, nodding his head, "and I'm still finding little decorations around the house that we forgot about, I'll admit. But yeah, so I want something more wintry that can stay up from like… November through March, you know?" Something that screamed winter more than the holiday season. "No," he let out another laugh, sipping his drink to try to hide it and swallowing a big gulp. "I don't really think we're here as friends… but we haven't talked about the latter part yet?" he tried, still working through all of it in his head. "Somewhere in between?"

"Aren't we a little too grown for that kind of energy?" She asked. She didn't know why folks kept tabs on rather others drank liquor or not. "I guess just something colorful and fun for the meantime. I am one of those that like to decorate almost every holiday. I still haven't even taken my tree down in my office." What can she say? She loved the holiday and all the little lights. "For now, i'm just exploring the options and hopefully leave with something." Naomi immediately caught on to Darrius's smile. "I'm sorry, are we blushing?" She wiggled her brows, her head whipped around in the direction of who he was referring too. "Noa huh? Enlighten me some more. Is it just friends or are you going to officially ask her out?"

[darpow]

"No, people are pretty good about that," he agreed with a warm smile. Darrius actually did plan on doing some drinking, but maybe after he had spent some time admiring the art, keeping tabs on what was being sold and what pieces he liked the most. "Are you looking for anything in particular, or just sort of sizing up all of your options right now?" He was the latter, wanting to find something perfect rather than settling for something just because it was there. "Oh," he smiled, a bit shyly, gesturing across the room to where he could see Noa with some friends. "I'm here with Noa."

“Oh please, Nobody is going to think you are a weenie for not drinking.” She waved her hand. She never saw the point in peer pressure when it came to alcohol consumption. She loved a good wine and all, but alcohol wasn’t for everyone. “I am going to try. That’s the plan anyway.” She was still in search for the right peace. Taking a sip of her Shirley temple, she cradled the drink in her hand before speaking “So, did you come alone or did you bring someone with you?” Curiosity had got the best of her.

[darpow]

"Well, if we're going by my experience… yes," he laughed, nodding his head. Because he had come across plenty of people who genuinely had no idea about what they were actually saying, or doing -- they just wanted to sound important. Sound smart. And ended up looking a little less than, but it wasn't really his place to let them know that, they had to figure it out on their own. "Please," he let out a scoffing laugh when she said that she was a glorified repairman, looking sidelong in her direction, "that automatically makes you smarter than most of the people in this room, trust me." Not that he wanted to talk down on t heir fellow townspeople, but Darrius always held a special place in his heart for people who worked with their hands. Or maybe he held a special place in his heart for her. His smile grew a little more when she didn't turn down the words, when she volleyed back, mentioning not wanting to disappoint, and it was then that he couldn't help but to laugh, shaking his head, "you couldn't if you tried. You really do look stunning. And, look at that," he gestured down to her feet with his chin, "you did find shoes after all."

"You'd know better than me, being in academics and all." And even with that, she somehow never managed to leave a conversation with Darrius feeling dumb or uneducated. "I'm just a glorified repairman." She was prepared to lobby jokes back and forth, to smooth over any bumps in this evening with that easy current, but when she heard Darrius calling her beautiful, she straightened. The flute of champagne was a blessing at that moment, giving her the chance to swallow down that first jitter of nerves. She wasn't typically so timorous, much the opposite in fact, but everything with Darrius felt like an outlier. She was used to running through a relationship like she would a Netflix binge. Nothing about this was that easily digestible or disposable. Her confidence never felt more forfeit than it did just now when she was staring down the gulf of something real. The affect in her voice dropped as she said, "I didn't want to disappoint."

[darpow]

He had been deep in thought, eyes locked on painting, but not really thinking about colors of brush strokes. His mind was firmly set on Noa. On the car ride from her home to the Gala, the way that he wanted to drop his hand to rest on her knee, the way he had greeted her with a kiss to the cheek when he wanted to kiss her lips again, finding himself thinking about that through the weeks back at school, or grading papers at home with Walter and Gale at his feet. At least as he stood, wondering how to broach the subject of whether or not she wanted to hold his hand as they looked at he paintings, he could pretend that he was stuck on the art. Only for so long, though, because her voice to his side alerted him of the fact that she had returned, taking the glass that was offered to him with a grateful smile and a sip. "Do you think that they just say stuff like that to sound smart? Like they're so nervous that they don't know what to say, so they just use words that they think make them sound way more intelligent than they are?" He turned to look at Noa, his gaze locking on her fingers on the necklace, and then up to her face, smiling at her compliment, and opening his mouth to say something that sounded smart, and sounded like a snob, but instead, how he felt fell out, "you look really beautiful."

Who: @darpow Where: Snowflake Gala

"I just heard someone say a painting had 'chromatic dissonance.'" Noa handed Darrius a refill of his drink, grabbed from a trip to the open bar, as she rejoined him by the paintings. She was jittery this evening and the champagne was not helping the issue. It tasted too much like a night just over three weeks ago. She swallowed it down still, just like she did all her questions and her nerves. The only certainty being that she'd rather be here with Darrius, laughing like old friends, than with anyone else in town. She rolled her eyes. "Like tell me you're a snob without telling me, right? You could just say it has weird colors." Her gaze slid down Darrius' suit as she fiddled with her necklace and she adopted a high society accent. "Though I could say that your chromatic harmony is on point this evening."

[darpow]

"I try," he grinned. It was either that or chase down Noa and tell her that he had gotten too many drinks and needed her to take one, but given that he had the feeling that they were both trying to figure out if they were there as friends or more, he was trying to tow that line, feel things out… and therefore, share his drinks with friends. "I'm a smart guy. Plus, no one can tell I'm being a weenie and not drinking an alcohol to start," he laughed, nodding his head. "I am! I've been eyeing up some of the art, kind of considering buying a piece. What about you?"

“How generous of you.” she replied. The gala was gorgeous and all the decorations really brought in the right mood. It was literally a winter wonderland. “Thanks D, I mean hey, you can never turn down free drinks!” She continued, nodding as he mentioned the drink. “Yes, starting off light is a good idea. You have to ease your way into it. Enjoying yourself so far?”

[darpow]

WHO: Darrius & @naomiayodele

WHERE: From Brush to Canvas, coastal area

WHEN: Snowflake Gala (January 25, 2025)

"Do you want something to drink?" Darrius asked, stepping up next to Naomi and touching the back of her elbow, letting out a laugh. "I, uh, apparently look like I need two drinks, because the bartender gave me double." And he was fairly certain that someone at the Gala would help him take care of that problem. He held out the sparkling drink to her, grinning, "to be fair, it's a shirley temple, so there's no alcohol in it this time around, I wanted to start off light."

[darpow]

SNOWFLAKE GALA; from brush to canvas | january 25, 2025

[darpow]

"... no." Darrius brows knitted together as he tilted his head from one side to the other, trying to see what Everett was seeing, trying to look for the wolf that might have been emerging from the forest. It wasn't that he doubted that he was seeing it, but he was having a hard time making out the shape, and he realized that this was what happened with abstract art, with things that were open to interpretation. You never actually knew what you were seeing, what someone was going to say. "Okay, so to me," he lifted his hand, gesturing to what he assumed was the ground line, "the forest is here up, right? And where you're seeing a wolf, right about here, I'm seeing a pathway, almost like... the trees are making some sort of tunnel through the forest, towards the snow in the background?"

WHO: Rhett Ellington & @darpow WHAT: Having a debate about a piece of artwork WHEN: Snowflake Gala - January 2025 WHERE: From Brush to Canvas WHY: pulled the idea from Cage's page linked!

"You say that, but I'm not so sure I agree. That piece definitely looks more like a wolf in a forest if you ask me." Rhett countered, using his hand and animatingly pointing at where he saw said wolf on the painting. "The color scheme throws it a little off, but, honestly it's right there. You see it?" He felt wrong questioning the male, and while Rhett could honestly argue with a brick wall if you allowed him the chance to, the two had found themselves in quite a few conversations like this before, being two history nerds. Eyes scanned the painting, focusing on it once more and then returning to the other he was in conversation with. "What are you seeing? Show me, please because my eyes can only see the wolf there."