RP:Art Therapy

Summary: Meri invites Khitti over to check out her new space in Cenril.

The Rebel Room: Art Gallery

Meri sent a letter to Khitti asking her to drop by her new business sometime soon, and that's really all there was to the letter....Which could mean that the visit Meri is wanting could be as simple as showing off her new space, or complicated enough that she doesn't want it written in a letter. Who knows with the blonde's life these days. It's the former though, Meri just wanted a simple visit. When Khitti would arrive to the big brick warehouse, the main door of the shop would be unlocked and she'd have no trouble getting inside. As Khitti makes her way inside, first glance would show that the artist has not managed to fill the walls with paintings for purchase quite yet. Meri could only produce work so fast, but there were still paintings. That is where she'd find Meri today, in plain sight on the gallery floor working on mounting hooks to the walls so that paintings could be fixed upon them in the future. Fleur was down there too, hanging out in a portable crib. Khitti would have to make her way down from the catwalk to get to them though, which a flight of stairs might quite easy to do. There would be no sneaking up on them though, Meri spies the redhead the moment the main door of the building swings open and closed for a bell chime marks Khitti's entrance. So Khitti is greeted with a wave, "Heeeey."

Khitti had thought to bring Dominic with her, but upon realization that Fleur would also be there, she decided against it. Mainly because she didn’t know if she could handle two babies at once right now! Who knows what sorts of shenanigans Fleur and Dominic would get into (okay, so it’d really just be Dominic and Khitti needed a wee break from her son’s antics). She’d wander into the and then back on into the gallery, a wave returned to her sister, “Hi!” The redhead took a bit of a look around, nodding in approval, “It looks great! I’ll start working on some stuff at home to help you fill it up.”

Meri would have loved for Dominic to meet her daughter, on top of being able to selfishly get to steal time with her nephew for herself. So Meri inquiries, "No little firebug today? I suppose that may be for the best this time..." Meri did only just get this place...and was still in the process of getting it into shape. They did not need any accidents. Fleur on the other hand was still in different stage. Sure she might fuss sometimes and poop her pants, but for the time being she was not crawling around and getting into trouble. Give it another couple of months, with how she grows. "Well you're more than welcome to help me fill it up if you would like to, but you're not obligated to put anything you paint up for sale. Still....that is part of why I asked you to come out. You had mentioned wanted to paint for therapy?" Meri falls silent at this point, waiting for Khitti to confirm if this was an avenue of exploration and release that she was still thinking of pursuing.

“No, not today. We’ll have them meet soon though. If the kid’s not gonna eat his vegetables, then he doesn’t get to see Aunt Meri for a little bit. He didn’t like that, of course. So I stuffed his new stuffed chicken in his face and put his butt to bed. I don’t know what I was thinking, having a kid. Of course he’d end up as stubborn as both Brand and I,” Khitti said with a smirk. Meri mentioned the therapy painting and Khitti nodded, “Yeah, that still sounds like a good idea. Still get those nightmares every so often. Had a minor episode at Scandal’s house too when I was helping him sort through some items he’d found in a tomb.” The redhead would elaborate if Meri wanted to, but otherwise… “Whatcha got in mind?”

Meri gives a little tsk tsk when Khitti declares that Dominic didn't eat his veggies. "See, that's the thing. Kids were probably the last thing you were thinking about when you made a Dominic. You were probably thinking about how hot Brand is." A chuckle and a shrug from the blonde, who at this point as long abandoned whatever work she was trying to get done around the gallery. When Khitti asks what Meri has in mind, Meri makes her way toward Fleur and scoops her child up and out of the crib. Once the baby was tucked neatly under an arm, she toward the back of the gallery motioning for Khitti to follow. They would first swing by a desk, stationed at the base of the stairs that lead up to the catwalk. On this desk is a key that is presented to Khitti. Meri does not seem to have the mindset that she needs to explain which doors these will unlock, Khitti is a smart woman. Meri is not stationary now that Khitti has been given this key. She is moving again, and toward the back of the gallery again. To a door. Which Meri waits for Khitti to unlock. There are a lot of doors in this place, one leads out, one leads to Meri's flat within the warehouse, and then there are more doors inside of that space! This door though? Leads to a painting studio, kept behind a door because even Meri enjoys her privacy. "Pretty simple. If I recall you mentioned you did not want to paint where Dominic might stumble across them. I doubt he will here. Unless you teach him how to pick locks. So I was thinking this would be a suitable space for you to paint at your leisure." Mention of this episode is not forgotten though. "You had a minor episode...?"

Khitti would do the things she that was asked of her in order to get the three to where they were going. There would be an offhanded “Well, he -is- a fire mage.” tossed to Meri as they wandered about the warehouse. Once they got to the door needed, and Khitti unlocked it, she shrugged, “That’s not my area of expertise, surprisingly. Brand, on the other hand--he might know. Then again, if he’s anything like us, I’m sure Dominic will be a smart kid and figure it all out on his own.” That’s a problem for future Khitti, though. “And, uh, yeah. Like I said, nothing major. One of the things in these crates Scandal’s got… There was some sort of magic staff in it. A ‘spell-less staff’ I think he called it. I guess he’s a bit of a magic fountain in dragon form, so when he used it, it was nothing but raw magic… But, when I used it… it split my holy magic in two… One beam was light magic and the other was dark.” There was a slight frown given to the thought, but ultimately she shrugged again, “I dropped the thing, made him deal with it, and we moved on.” Looking around, she nodded, “But yeah. This place should definitely working for painting therapy.”

At first Meri is smirking, for the tone of the conversation was lighter. It would probably be Brand's area of expertise, it's a skill he could probably pick up from Aunt Meri too, if he did not learn it on his own. Meri taught herself that trick, she'd not be surprised if Brand was not self taught in that regard too. That is indeed a problem for future Khitti. Meri moves a bit further into the room and leaves Khitti to explore it on her own, if she wanted. She'd find no shortage of artistic supplies, even if Meri liquidated her shop back in Larket she still had plenty of left over stock readily available to supply this venture. There would be canvas, paint, paint brushes -- Khitti has seen all these before and is undoubtably not surprised by any of what she is seeing. Meri furrows her brows as she tries to understand what Khitti is telling her. Was this a minor episode? Should she be more concerned. Meri confesses, "Ahh, I am sure you know that is not really my area of expertise. Magic and such. I mean, I try and pick up on things from my more magically inclined friends...Why is it a bad thing that your magic might have reacted this way to the staff? Is it a bad thing?"

Khitti would indeed look around, stopping once she found the watercolors, her preferred medium when it came to painting specifically, “I’m just… hesitant I guess. I’m not really sure if it’s a good thing or bad thing? It was just all of a sudden and freaked me out because I wasn’t expecting it. I’m not really sure what it means and it’s just... “ She shrugged, “It’s that whole ‘fear of the unknown’ thing, I guess. It could just be nothing at all, to be honest. It could just be leftover magic from the mind flayer. Sometimes it lingers. Especially when someone puts as much willpower into it as the flayer likely had.” Khitti shook her head, “It’s fine though. I’ll figure it out when I’m ready. Maybe after some of this therapy I will be. Could be by that time, if it is just residual magic, that it’ll be gone by then anyway.”

Khitti would be given total freedom to look around, she was family. She was one of few people who could make there way into any room of this oversized building and Meri would not even bat a lash. "I think in this case, a healthy dose of the fear of the unknown is wise. Especially where magic is involved." Meri falls silent as she considers everything she knows about Khitti's journey, from becoming human again to losing her magic. Was this something they should be more concerned about? It's not Meri that breaks the silence first. It's Fleur, who gurgles. Then Meri, "Part of me feels...alarmed by what you are saying, even if you believe it to be minor. Another part of me has this notion that...isn't that part of magic? Light and dark. Yin and Yang. All that stuff." Meri shrugs. She's half tempted to keep vocalizing her thoughts and overanalyzing it. Why would the staff react that way with Khitti and not Scandal? Meri shakes her head and pushes the thoughts to the back of her mind, trusting that her sister who is more adept with these things is correct. It is minor. "Maybe some therapy will help. You've got a key, and you can come and go as you please."

Khitti smirked at Fleur as she’s the first to “speak”, “Thank you, dear. Aunt Khitti is very appreciative of your input too.” She’d nod then to Meri in agreement, “That’s what I’ve been preaching to people, basically. I guess it’s easier to give out wisdom than to actually listen to it myself.” More shrugging ensued as Khitti grabbed up a paint brush and a palette of paints, “You care if I start now? Could give you some company for awhile. Brand’s off making a cargo run to Rynvale and won’t be back til later on, so I am completely free for the rest of the day.” Sure she probably could stop by the bakery or the guild hall to check on things, but… Khitti needed a break for a day.

Meri gives her bundled up baby a little boop on her nose when Khitti speaks her appreciation to the gurgle. Meri settles into a cushioned lounge chair she has in the studio, because sometimes an artist has to mull, and stare and think you know. It happens that Meri does not have a clear view of whatever canvas Khitti chooses, so Meri won't be staring at Khitti's every brush stroke. Most do not have an appreciation for hovering while they work. "Nope. Not at all. Fleur and I will probably be heading upstairs in a little bit, it's about her bedtime. And mine." Which is not surprising, babies don't sleep through the night. "But you've got a key, so you're welcome to stay as late as you would like." A beat. "Anyway, I guess there is no rush need to rush to coming to any conclusions about what the split magic beams might mean. You'd probably have to handle the staff again to make any serious determinations, I would think?" The blonde shrugs out of uncertainty. Rather than beating the horse dead, Meri offers up a subject change. "I am going over to Lanara's soon. She wants another tattoo. And I figure I may as well pick her brain about wolf related things, since she was able to help Eirik. Alvina came by too, I am just not really sure that they'll be the best option for taking tips on how to control things at this point....But I am not making any promises with Lanara either. I'll hear her out, but if she used magic to help Eirik..." There is a lot of shrugging going on tonight. Meri's gonna add one more shrug to the list tonight. "I'm not sure that'd be wise for me to do either."

Khitti nodded to Meri, understanding the need to get some sleep when she’s able to. Kids, man. Oi. “It’ll probably be a little while before I see Scandal again, as I’m not too keen on making it a constant habit to go to Venturil anymore. The wolf thing came up and those red brows of Khitti’s furrowed a bit, “Alvina…?” There was a heavy sigh before Khitti continued, “When you get up, we should talk about that. About what I said during that thing with Alvina and Hudson. It’s nothing to worry about. I just wanted to… elaborate, I guess, on what I meant regarding you specifically.” Meri was offered a smile then though, and a dismissive gesture, “But you two go to bed. We’ll talk if I’m still here, otherwise, another time.” Dark paints are put to the canvas as Khitti let Meri go off to do what she needed to do. In time, the paints would eventually form a shadowy portrait of the mind flayer… and not long after that, it’d find itself covered in scorch marks made from holy fire. Yes, this therapy was definitely needed.

Meri was half tempted to stay so that she and Khitti could just talk this out now, but babies have their own ideas. Fleur's ideas this time may or may not be more pleasant than the time Alvina visited. At least she is not ripping a lovely poop for Meri to clean up....but she does randomly start fussing up a storm. Khitti is probably used to this though, she has a child of her own. The heavy sigh that Khitti issues when speaking Alvina's name is also noted. Did something else happen? Well with Fleur fussing up a storm now, it was definitely not the time try and chat it out. "We'll talk about it later, maybe tomorrow morning if you're still here," Meri tries to say gently, as gently as one possibly can while competing with a crying kiddo. "Enjoy yourself." Once Meri got upstairs to her flat, Fleur's cries were significantly muffled. Khitti got silence while she painted.