#( SDJKDS take another picture it's a very rare event!! ) | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

he hums faintly — he supposes that's the expected response. a picture is made to be put on display; that is it's PURPOSE. better that than to see it stripped of its reason for existing, stored away somewhere dusty and forgotten. ( never to see the light of day. ) the wanderer nods — to acknowledge her, or perhaps in wordless agreement, only to freeze suddenly when sora surprises him with her offer.

❝ ... ❞ thankfully, it seems he doesn't need to explain why the idea isn't exactly POSSIBLE — regardless of how ren may feel about the painting, there simply isn't anywhere he can put it. he is a wanderer, after all; someone who needs only share that title to give all the context he needs. idly, one hand raises, fingers curling into the fabric above his chest. he supposes he hasn't been entirely HONEST with her — for he does have his own hidden space to store his belongings, but it's terribly limited. just one glance tells him the painting won't be able to fit, and even if it could, its existence would merely be put in a perpetual ( eternal ) STASIS. what would he be expected to do then? take it out on occasion to stare at — whenever the urge suddenly strikes him? for all the time and effort she put into its creation, that hardly feels like a fate befitting her hard work.

❝ could you ... ❞ ren begins to say. his words are delicate, glass and thinly spun sugar. ❝ could you hold on to it for me? ❞ he finally tears his gaze away to look at her, head canting as if to PUNCTUATE the question. ❝ i'm not asking you to KEEP IT. not permanently. ❞ just for the time being. just as a purely temporary arrangement. it seems like the most satisfactory option — at least for the time being.

❝ it's true that i don't have anywhere to keep it at the moment ... but there may come a point where that won't ALWAYS be the case. ❞ who knows what the future holds? he's been told it's something to look forward to — frankly, ren thinks he'll be the judge of that. he doubts he will ever stop his wanderings; every single thing in this world will long decay before he ever does. ( if he ever does. ) settling down permanently is pointless; a lesson he's had to learn the hard way. however, he supposes it's not so unreasonable to assume he might have a place to call his own — even the birds have somewhere they go to ROOST, after all. if ... or perhaps when that time comes, he may as well decorate his dwelling with things that hold VALUE to him. not unlike a magpie, accumulating little trinkets it finds particularly appealing. ❝ if i ever have a place to display it ... i'd like to. ❞

While it's true this place allows her to keep away from anyone that might wish her harm, it also prevents any harmless interactions that would come from being out in the world. Here everything was safe, predictable. It was nice, but it also took some of the excitement out of traveling.

She tries not to stare at him too much as she shows him around, though she does take note of his expressions. Though she still doesn't know him all that well, from what she's able to tell he likes her workshop. A thought that brings her joy-- sharing her art with others would never get old.

And when they finally arrived at the painting they'd come to see, she watches his face for his reaction. Would he like it? Hate it? Think it was just 'okay?' She'd found herself holding her breath as she waited, only to realize after a few moments that everything had gone almost eerily quiet. He wasn't breathing either. At all. Her ears were sharp enough to pick up on the fact that he didn't have a heartbeat, but she'd known that for a while now. The not breathing thing? That was new.

Though she's burning with questions she wants to ask, she holds herself back. Would it be rude to ask someone why they don't breathe? She isn't sure, and so, she says nothing. More importantly she has an answer to her other question. He must like it, if it's good enough to quite literally take his breath away.

When he eventually speaks up with his lackluster words of praise, she can't help but chuckle. 'Not bad', he says. Well, she'll take it. His reaction had been thanks enough for her efforts.

"See if I have room somewhere to hang it up." She says, glancing around at the walls. "I guess I could put it in my home... or maybe it's time to expand my workspace again." She mused. "Or... do you want it?"

"Ah, but... if you wander like me, and don't have a place like this, you wouldn't really be able to keep it anywhere, huh?" Her ears and tail drooped a little. "I usually give portraits like these to the person I used as a model, but... hmm." One thing was certain, she wouldn't be selling the painting. If he couldn't take it, she'd just have to make room!