semi-open post: portraiture

[peaklordshen]

After shifting his way through oil pastels, watercolors, house paint, colored pencils, and an endless variety of paint markers, Shen Yuan has finally managed to get the Mansion to produce a decent set of oil paints, and—wonder of wonders—an easel. He's set up in a spacious, well-lit hall, probably for dancing or salons or whatever, where he's arranged a bunch of furniture in various configurations—wooden screens that he's draped cloth¹ over for backdrops; armchairs stolen from the lounge, wooden stools and high-backed dining chairs from the kitchens; even a lovely chaise lounge in a deep purple that he wistfully thinks he won't actually use, because it would definitely be for Aleksander, and he doubts he'll be doing that entry in his protagonists of the Mansion series after all. He has one of the stools pulled up next to the easel to hold his paints, and is wearing a wide-necked sweater over a black turtleneck and some loose, worn jeans that already have a few flecks of paint on them from when he was doing his color tests.² He's pulled his hair back in a practical bun, and he's currently laying down a layer of gesso on his canvas.

¹ Look, he has to do something with all of those robes he accidentally conjured in his last post.
² After days of feeling very lost and confused about how he's not required to LARP anymore, he's pretty much decided that it actually means he can just change who he's LARPing as at will, and the main way to do this is through fashion. Today he is An Artist.

[Primarily for those Shen Yuan has offered to paint, but anyone else is also welcome to come bother him while he works.]

Comments

[onthewillowsthere]

Once he has it he comes back to the armchair; he likes the angle he has of Shen Yuan from it. He opens to a fresh page, selects one of the charcoal pencils, and begins sketching, glancing up frequently at Shen Yuan.

[peaklordshen]

Shen Yuan leans against his stool, only sort of sitting. "You like drawing." It's not really a question, because he knows it, but he wants to hear what Galahad likes about it, if he wants to share.

[onthewillowsthere]

"I like doing things with my hands. It makes it easier to listen." He draws in the strands of Shen Yuan's hair carefully. "I like remembering things."

[peaklordshen]

"So do I," Shen Yuan admits. "I like memorizing things, and keeping track of things. I used to make spreadsheets—um, like, very organized lists—about the things I liked. Mostly about stuff in the books I used to read. Plants and their effects. Creatures and their abilities, their weaknesses. People and their relationships." Luo Binghe's wives and their ambitions.

[onthewillowsthere]

Galahad has never written down a great many things, largely because he hasn't ever had many possessions -- paper and ink are precious things, and a blank book to write in would be an unexpected indulgence -- but hearing Shen Yuan describe it he thinks he would like to start. "What else do you like?"

[peaklordshen]

A few weeks ago Shen Yuan would have brushed this off with oh, you know, all sorts of stuff, thinking Galahad was just making small talk. But he knows better, now, knows that Galahad likes to look at people and see everything he knows of them—that it helps him fill in what would otherwise be an inscrutable hollow behind every face. "Arguing," he says, instead, with a laugh. "I like forming opinions, and defending them from other people's opinions. About inconsequential things, ideally—what foods are better than others, what the best method to complete a task is, the meaning of stories. Things you can dig into and get passionate and fired up about, but still be friends at the end of the day."

[onthewillowsthere]

The idea of arguing for fun is a completely new one, but he can imagine it immediately, Shen Yuan and Magnus bickering about pizza or fashion, and knowing that it's a game would mean he wouldn't have to be afraid of it (he hates being present when two people are angry at one another, trying to figure out what he should do and whether he'll be drawn into it, what to do with his face: it makes him step out of his body so he can be somewhere else).

[peaklordshen]

"For example," says Shen Yuan, just to test, "you told me you didn't like noodles as much as you liked falafel. I accept this as a matter of taste, because I'm a very benevolent friend." His tone is playful, clearly joking. "But if I didn't, I might argue that noodles are clearly better, because they're a solid, delicious base for any flavor at all—endlessly customizable. Whereas falafel might be better once, it won't be better every time, because it's always the same."

He hasn't actually eaten falafel, but not consuming something has never stopped him from having a stubborn opinion about it before. Why would it start now?

[onthewillowsthere]

His gaze flicks to Shen Yuan's face and he's quiet for a space before he says, "Noodles are too simple. Falafel is complex." It's slow, and not nearly as obviously playful as Shen Yuan's words, but there's a testing note in his voice too.

[peaklordshen]

Shen Yuan grins at him, encouraging. "True genius is seen in simplicity," he counters. "Complexity can be a shield, a way to hide clumsy or unskilled cookery."

[onthewillowsthere]

"But balancing all the parts does take skill. Good falafel is better than good noodles."

[peaklordshen]

"Ah, but great noodles are better than good falafel, because good falafel is simply a matter of executing the formula of complexity well, and great noodles require understanding--not just of the recipe, but of the person eating."

[onthewillowsthere]

"The person eating doesn't like slippery things," he retorts. This is not really a refutation of what Shen Yuan's said, but since it's a game it doesn't need to be rhetorically perfect. Also, he's still learning how to play, and he thinks Shen Yuan will be patient with him.

[peaklordshen]

Shen Yuan laughs, delighted by this extremely Galahad angle of refutation. "But not all noodles are slippery," he says. "Some noodles are sticky, or fried and crisp. Hence the endless adaptability of the form."

[onthewillowsthere]

"I haven't had noodles like that yet." There's a very faint so it doesn't count implied here.

[peaklordshen]

Shen Yuan shakes his head fondly. "Then it's a good thing this isn't a real argument, because if it were I'd accuse you of making grand statements about preference from a much too small sample size. To which you of course could and should accuse me right back of hypocrisy, since I haven't actually eaten falafel at all, and I'm completely pulling all of these arguments out of my ass."

[onthewillowsthere]

Galahad laughs. "We should both try, then, and argue again."

[peaklordshen]

Shen Yuan stares at him, startled and delighted by the suggestion, but even more by the laugh. He doesn't think he's ever seen Galahad laugh before, and it immediately becomes very important that he do it again—add it to his sidequest goals, along with beating Janet at Welters. "Perfect."

[onthewillowsthere]

"I want to spend more time with you," he adds, a little more shyly, practicing his safer wants. "And you and Magnus together."

[peaklordshen]

"Oh," says Shen Yuan, a little embarrassed by the sincerity of it, but—maybe Galahad can help him practice sincerity, actually; he at least won't judge him for it. "I want that, too," he admits. "I really like you guys."

[onthewillowsthere]

"I like you too. Both of you." He glances back down at the page for a few moments. "And-- I want to ask for your help."

[peaklordshen]

Shen Yuan blinks. "With what?"

[onthewillowsthere]

"For the dance. I want to wear something-- I want to dress as if it were a date." His eyes back on Shen Yuan again.

[peaklordshen]

"Right," says Shen Yuan, clapping his hands. "Of course! Yes. Actually, hang on—can I move for a sec?"

[onthewillowsthere]

"Yes."