#i was gonna draw the fourth drawing but got LAZY so it'll either happen at a later date or i'll commission it or something

[stormcrow-whispers]

Three Times Kallista Drew Ronan and One Time She Didn’t

Kallista shook her head in disbelief as she watched Tami and the others inspect three of her childhood drawings hanging on Ronan’s wall. “I can’t believe you kept those.” she said wryly, a teasing grin pulling at the corners of her lips. He chuckled softly, “I kept them so I could show your friends if you ever brought any home.” He may have meant it to sound sarcastic, but she was overwhelmed by the warmth she heard in his tone, a warmth that rarely ever made an appearance, a warmth he reserved only for her. 

She whipped her head around to face him, the rings in her ears clinking softly together as she did so, and her fiery eyes went wide. He was smiling, albeit it was a small one, but it was a smile nonetheless. He had a far away look in his lilac eyes, too lost in his thoughts to acknowledge her. Kallista grinned widely. She knew full well the difference between Ronan acting and Ronan being sincere, and if that fond look on his face was any indication, he was being sincere as shit. God he’d gotten sappy with age.

Ronan liked to think of himself as a patient person. Calm, cool, and collected under pressure, he’d never truly lashed out in impatience at anyone. It’s why he was so good at his job and one of the many reasons he’d gone up the ranks so quickly. His daughter, however, was proving to be a real test of his patience.

“Kallista! Come eat your dinner!�� he called out for what felt like the thousandth time, annoyance starting to color his voice. The only response he received was silence once again. At this rate, she was going to go hungry, especially given how picky she was with her food as of late. He stuck his head through the doorway to the living room to scold her, but stopped when he spotted her sitting cross legged on the floor in the corner by a small lamp, her back to him. She was hunched over something and seemed to be working very intently, her little arm moving furiously back and forth, a subdued scratching reaching his ears. He frowned. What could she possibly be doing that she was completely tuning him out?

He slinked forward silently to get a better look, stepping carefully around the room so as not to be detected by the small tiefling. Once he reached her side, he crouched down to her level to get a better look. Despite his obvious presence at her side, she still hadn’t shown any indication that she’d noticed him, too engrossed in her work. He stared down at her quizzically. It seemed like she was drawing something, if the wide array of crayons strewn around her were any indication, but he couldn’t tell exactly what yet. It could be a person, but he’d need to get a better look to know for sure. He waited a few moments to see if she’d sense him, and when she didn’t, he finally spoke.

“What exactly are you doing?”

At the sound of his voice Kallista yelped in surprise and flung herself forward onto the drawing, completely obscuring it from his view, sending her crayons flying across the room in the process. She whipped her head around to shoot him a nervous look, her tail curling around her diminutive frame in what he could only guess was discomfort. “N-nothing! It’s nothing!”

“From what I saw it wasn’t nothing.” he drawled, tilting his head to the side to try and get a look at it between her tangled limbs, which caused her to curl even further into herself and give him a petulant look. He huffed impatiently and rolled his eyes. “I already saw some of it so you might as well show me.”

For a moment, she didn't budge, eyes narrowing slightly at him. She shifted just enough so she could look down at her work, then back at him, her face drawn in a mask of deep thought, brows furrowed slightly as she analyzed her options. Eventually she sighed, her shoulders falling slightly in defeat as she slowly reached down to pull the drawing out from under herself. She examined it for a moment, her crimson eyes flicking between him and the drawing, before very quickly shoving the thing in his face, her head turned away in embarrassment. The gesture took him by surprise, but not as much as what he saw when he finally got a good look at the piece of paper before him. His eyes grew wide. Ronan could count on one hand the amount of times he’d been rendered speechless in the last several years. This was definitely one of those moments.

She’d drawn HIM.

He plucked the sheet of paper from her grasp to inspect it properly and held it at a more acceptable distance. It wasn’t a masterpiece by any means, drawn with a heavy hand, comical proportions, colors going outside the lines in many places, much like any child’s drawing. She’d neglected to add his pupils and had simplified his armor considerably, and his scar was not much else than a dark line slashing across his face, and….was that a scowl? And why had she given him fangs...?

All things considered, she’d captured his likeness fairly well, but the fact that she’d drawn him...

The longer Ronan sat in silence, the more crestfallen Kallista became. She’d worked really really hard to make the drawing for him, and she’d wanted it to be a surprise, and now he was just sitting there staring at it and not saying anything? She was starting to regret making it at all. He probably hated it.

She stood up awkwardly, dusting off her knees as she did so, eyes glued to the floor. “I’m...sorry it’s not very good...I can just throw it out if-” The weight of his hand on her tiny shoulder cut her off, and her head snapped up in surprise. Eyes still glued to to the drawing, Ronan let out a soft chuckle. “It’s great, I love it. Thank you.” He finally turns to her and gives her the smallest of smiles. It was more of a grimace than anything really, but she’d take it. Although momentarily taken aback by his response, Kallista puffs up with pride, a huge grin cracking across her face. She could barely contain her excitement at his approval. And when he stood up to hang it on the wall, she jumped up and down with glee.

It was the first of many drawings she’d make for him throughout the years. She took up drawing as a bit of a hobby during their downtime between missions and training, and he frequently ended up as her subject. Not surprising, given how much time they spent together, but somewhat annoying at times. Every time she made one he particularly liked, he’d hang it up on the wall in the living room.

For a while in her teenage years, Kallista’s drawings veered more towards the fantastical. Big eyes, crazy spiky hair, bright flashy colors, and more harsh angles in their limbs and wrinkles in their clothing than Ronan thought any person should ever have. He figured it was a phase, he’d seen other kids her age draw this way, but it didn’t make it any less strange to him. It didn’t really bother him much, that is until he stumbled upon her drawing him in this ridiculous new style.

The drawing itself wasn’t bad, just...ridiculous. He wasn’t sure why she’d made his scar 3 times larger than it really was, or his eyes and his horn for that matter, and his hair definitely wasn’t that long and spiky. And who in their right mind cut holes out of their daggers? The wrapping on the handles he understood, sure, better grip was always a plus in a fight, but cut outs? Not to mention the the strange pose she drew him in. Was he supposed to be running with his arms back like that? It didn’t seem safe at all, especially where balance and stealth were concerned. And from the looks of the wild hair and cape and what he assumed were speed lines, he was most certainly supposed to be running at ridiculous speeds.

“You...made me look like some sort of action hero.” he regarded the drawing with a look of intense confusion. “I mean, that’s kinda what you look like when you’re running around on missions and on rooftops and stuff.” she stated very matter of factly, not bothering to look up from her work to greet him as she added the finishing touches. She seemed to have switched out her usual pencils for colored inks this time around, a development that perturbed him when he noticed the dark stains on his kitchen table surrounding her work space. That was definitely never coming out. Lovely.

He continued watching her work over her shoulder, scanning the page as he did so, his frown only deepening as he began to notice various accents to his wardrobe. “Why did you give me so many belts…? Do half of those even serve a purpose? They don’t look like they’re attached to anything.” She shrugged. “Belts look cool, I dunno. I mean, you do have at least two as it is, so what’s a couple more?” He grimaced at that. He wasn’t sure he agreed, but she did seem to be developing a taste for wearing ridiculous amounts of accessories as she aged, so he supposed the logic made sense, at least in her mind anyway.

He let her work in silence again for a few moments, watching as she signed it and put the current date in the bottom corner. He smirked. “That run is not at all practical you know.” She shot him a withering look. “Well if you hate it THAT much I’ll just keep it for myself then.” Before she could put it away, he snatched it from her grasp and put it on the wall next to her first one.

As ridiculous as this new art piece looked, he had to admit it had a certain…charm.

“Well, well, well, I must say I am impressed.”

Kallista snorted, a lopsided grin breaking across her face as Ronan sunk down into the chair across from her to watch her work, the exhaustion from the the day's work drawn in the lines of his shoulders and face. “Wow, I never thought I’d hear that from you.” He rolled his eyes at that, a sarcastic edge creeping into his tired voice. “You wound me, child.” She glanced up at him with a laugh, her crimson eyes dancing with mirth. “I’m sure you’ll recover.”

She turned her attention back to her work, glancing back up at him every so often, using him as a reference, eyes narrowed in concentration as she added subtle details and shading to her drawing. Unlike the other two he had on display, this one was a simple bust, and a very lifelike one at that. His crooked nose, his high cheekbones and strong jaw, even the deep scar spider webbing across the left side of his face were rendered with startling accuracy.  One thing that hadn’t changed throughout the years though was the heavy black outline she gave everything. His lips twitched up a bit at the corners in the ghost of a smile as he remembered the first drawing she made him all those years ago. “You know I never asked you why you always insist on using me as your subject.”

Kallista sat back in her chair, crossing her arms over her chest and arching her brow at him, an air of disbelief coloring her voice. “Are you really asking me that?” He glowered at her in response but said nothing. She immediately sprung forward in her seat and pointed a finger at him, grinning from ear to ear. “There. That’s why.” “I didn’t do anything.” “Exactly, you have that same stupid scowl on your face all day, makes you easy to draw. No need to ask to you keep still if you always keep the same expression.”

Ronan groaned in annoyance and put his head in his hands. He heard Kallista snicker in response before her chair creaked loudly as she leaned forward to begin working again. When the sound of her charcoal scraping across the paper stopped all together and was replaced by a muffled rustle, he glanced back up at her curiously.

She was digging through one of her little craft bags looking for something. She pulled out a ridiculous amount of metal knitting needles of various sizes in the process, as well as a plethora of different pencils, scraps of yarn and paper, and a small knife or two. The mountain of clutter on his kitchen table grew larger and larger by the second, making him cringe internally, until she finally found what she was looking for--two purple pencils, one lighter, one darker, the same color as his eyes. With the deft precision of a master lock pick, she filled in the color of his eyes, never once going outside the lines or accidentally blending in with the charcoal. Once she was satisfied, she sat back with a smile and a nod, and began stuffing her supplies away again.

“You know I wasn’t kidding when I said I was impressed.”

Kallista looked back over her shoulder when he spoke, and found him near her side, examining the drawing up close. He was always rather good at sneaking up on her, even now. She watched his lilac eyes slowly track around the page, watched his expression change minutely from its usual mask of disinterest to one of pride and wonder. His hand hovered close to the page as he deliberated between picking it up or leaving it be, almost as if he was afraid to ruin it.  She smiled softly, all traces of her earlier humor replaced with warmth, her voice quiet. “Yeah I know.”

Kallista sat perched atop one of the towering buildings in the Plaster District, a stolen bottle of  expensive wine in hand, staring out into the night sky and watching the stars shine high above her. She was going to miss this, miss sitting high above the city and watching the people mill by. Hell, as much of a pain as it was living in Holden as a tiefling, especially one as ridiculous looking as herself, she was going to miss this place and its people. She’d really come to love it over the years, and she wasn’t sure how to feel about leaving for an indeterminate amount of time, especially considering it was her first time venturing outside the city.

Most of all, she wasn’t sure how to feel about leaving Ronan behind. When he wasn’t away on business, they saw each other every day, and frequently ran missions together. He even joked she should have never bothered moving out considering how often she came to visit. It was going to be strange being the one leaving town for once.

She brought the bottle to her lips and took a swig of it, letting out a sigh as the warm liquid burned her throat. Baskerville momentarily attempted to have a taste himself, his tiny little hands hooking into the opening of the bottle, but she plucked him from her lap before he could get close enough and placed him back on her shoulder. He squeaked indignantly at her before nipping at her fingers and running back into the hood of her cloak. She grinned. Sneaky little bugger always wanted what he couldn't have.

After some time, she felt a familiar presence behind her. “I thought I’d find you up here.” Kallista didn’t say anything in response, merely extended her arm to offer him a drink from her bottle. She heard the soft shuffle of his cloak and the whisper of his leather boots on the roof tiles as he strode forward to take the bottle from her and sit by her side. He took a long drink before passing it back to her. He’d made quite a dent in it judging by how much lighter it felt. She turned her head slightly to look at him, watching as he adjusted and readjusted the bandana around his neck, noticing the slight twitch in his eyebrows and lips and the unsteadiness of his fingers. He didn’t seem to be taking her imminent departure too well either. She said nothing of it though, and turned back to look out upon the city once more.

They sat in silence for several minutes, passing the bottle back and forth every so often, before he finally spoke.

“I’m going to miss you, you know.” His voice was quiet, barely a whisper, and if she wasn’t so accustomed to the hushed tones of his speech, she would never have heard it over the din from below.

She leaned back on her hands slightly and turned so she could face him better. In any other situation she would have answered back with sarcasm, something about how she was the best part of this terrible city so of course he’d miss her, but now was not the time. Not when he was so clearly affected by the situation. She sighed, a sad smile crossing her face. “I’m going to miss you too. A lot.” Silence took over once more, and it was so heavy it was deafening. He was never really good with emotionally charged situations like these, although neither was she, so she didn’t press him. Like father like daughter it seemed, or however it was the saying went.

She glanced over at him every so often, biting the inside of her lip anxiously as she tried to work up the courage to say something, anything to lift the uncomfortable silence. After several agonizing minutes she cleared her throat awkwardly, her fingers twitching nervously over to the pack at her side. “Hey...I, uh, I got you something...”    

At that he finally turned to face her, a look of aloof curiosity crossing his features. Good, that was better than that depressed look he had on before at least. She dove into her pack in earnest, sifting through her tools and notes until she finally pulled out what looked like a heavy envelope. She passed it to him tentatively. He inspected the exterior for a moment before carefully undoing the seal and removing its contents. He was speechless.

Kallista fidgeted a bit in her seat as she waited for a response, and when he said nothing she continued. “I, um, I had two of these made, one for you and one for me. Sort of to remember each other by I guess, since I don’t know how long I’ll be gone or how much I’ll be able to write.”

Ronan’s shocked gaze drunk in all the details on the thin canvas in his hands. It was a color portrait of the two of them, similar to the family portraits the nobles in town hung above their mantles, but on a much smaller scale. It was still remarkable, and it captured their likenesses perfectly. They had their arms around each other’s shoulders, her with a big toothy grin, him with a scowl and the slightest smile pulling at one corner of his lips. He whipped his head around to look at her. “How…?” She shrugged. “I’ve drawn you a million and one times. The painter used one of my drawings as a reference, and I posed with a stand in.” His lavender gaze turned back to the painting once more, before setting it down behind him carefully and pulling her into a fierce hug, totally overwhelmed. “Thank you.” The raw emotion in his voice nearly brought tears to her eyes, and she hugged him back tightly. God she was really going to miss him.

After a while he let her go, thanking her once more before turning his attention back to the unexpected, thoughtful gift. He ran his fingers carefully over the small ridges created by the many layers of paint, a bittersweet sort of sadness taking over him once more as he recalled the many years they’d spent together as a tiny, terrible, and practically inseparable two person family. The quiet between them this time wasn’t quite as unbearable as before, and this time he was the one to break it.

“You know, I guess I never considered they’d send you beyond the walls. That or I was completely in denial about the possibility.” After one final glance at it, he carefully put the painting back in its envelope and into his bag, then turned to her once more. “Either way, this place is going to feel a lot lonelier without you constantly pestering me to death on a daily basis.”

For a moment Kallista sat in a sort of stunned silence, taken aback by his sudden sarcasm after such a heavy exchange. But her bark of laughter that followed broke the melancholic cloud that had been hanging over them, and he smiled, really, genuinely smiled, watching as she doubled over in a fit of giggles. When she finally caught her breath, she roughly shoved at his shoulder, still grinning widely. “Dad you’re the worst, you know that?”

Ronan smirked, and this time it touched his eyes. “So I’ve been told.”