RP:Sketchbooks and Whiskey

Part of the Once Upon a Midnight Dreary Arc

Summary: Quintessa and Meri bond over their sketchbooks while drinking.

The Rebel Room: Art Gallery

Meri :: Quintessa receives a letter from Meri, nothing overly wordy. Just a very quick and simple note that reads something along the lines of, 'me, you, the gallery, your sketchbook, some whiskey?' A date and time is included, of course, as Meri does not always haunt her gallery space. Little has changed about the building, except for the fact that this time the front door of the establishment is not actually unlocked. It has not been ever since that disaster of a Halloween party that was held down on the docks of Cenril. In order to get into the building? Tessa is going to have to knock, as Meri is pretty intent on keeping the sick out. When Quintessa does come a rapping on Meri's front door, she will not be left waiting outside for long as Meri is nearby! And when the door of the gallery does swing up? Tessa will be greeted almost immediately with a bottle of whiskey and a grin, "I'd offer you a glass, as I hear that is what people with class drink out of. But I'm going to tell you a dirty little secret?" Alright, this is not really a secret. It's common knowledge. "Your Aunt Meri ain't got no class. Here we drink straight from the bottle."

Quintessa slowly makes her way through the city of Cenril, making sure not to drift too close to the quarantine zones closer to ground zero of the zombie outbreak. She was spending more and more time in this area, especially as she continued to aid displaced citizens and the infected any way she could. It wasn’t exactly a humanitarian effort, the changeling being more interested in furthering her research on undead beings, but it couldn’t be ignored that the countess of the Dark Forest was actually doing some good. This was not the reason Quintessa was here today, however; her purpose for visiting Meri was more lighthearted. With her black leather satchel on her side, the dark fae girl drew closer to her aunt’s gallery, already excited to show off her sketchbooks that were contained within. After a quick knock on Meri’s door Quintessa would wait, practically buzzing even before the lycan answered. “Hello~” the fae greets as she enters, fleshing the woman a grin of her own, full of pointed teeth. “Oh, that’s fine with me,” Her grin shifts into a cheeky smirk, “I’ll let you in on one of my own secrets; I might call myself a Lady and waltz around House Dragana like I own it, but I’m no noble. I just do whatever I have to do to survive.” She gestures at the bottle. “And with all the stress I put myself through, a drink is necessary for survival.”

Meri and Quintessa stand the main entrance of the gallery for only a few seconds while the woman contemplates if they should move down into the exhibit space, or into the area that once served as her flat during that year long period that she was a single mother. It does not take long for Meri to decide to lead Quintessa into the apartment space. To get there? They just have to go a few quick steps and then through another door. As Tessa has been here before, Meri does not bother with playing the role of hostess. Tessa was family, not a total stranger. "Being too much of a lady is no fun. Who wants to be all prime and proper all the time? Not me. I'd rather give into the urge to deck someone on a whim and other shenanigans." Meri declares as she flops down onto the couch that has been placed within her living room, presuming that Quintessa will do the same so that she could show off her artwork. But...! Just in case she does not, Meri pats a spot on the couch next to her. "I guess another secret that I have for you is that you're probably the first member of House Dragana that I actually like." Excluding Khitti, obviously, back when she was closer to Larewen. Meri's reasoning for disliking Larewen are entirely different than a certain cranky Maharan. "But if posing as a lady is how you're managing to survive? Well it sounds to me like you are doing something right. Could be homeless and surviving." While Meri is quite familiar with the notion of survival of the fittest, it wasn't exactly the discussion she was looking to have with Quintessa. Blue eyes were soon fixated on Quintessa's satchel, the blonde had a feeling she knew what was inside. "Well come on now. Show me what you've got."

Quintessa finds herself giggling at Meri’s comment about decking someone as she leads herself to the couch and seats herself next to her. It was nice to be able to relax, to throw off all those airs she maintained when dealing with courtly affairs. “Well, I’m no stranger to fighting- I have the scars to prove it. If violence isn’t solving your problems then you probably aren’t using enough of it.” The changeling shifted her satchel to her lap as Meri spoke about not liking the members of House Dragana, and a sly smile grew upon her face as she contemplated telling her she wasn’t a real Dragana. She holds back, however, not wanting to spoil all her secrets just yet. Meri would have to earn them first. Pale fingers quickly move to open her satchel, fishing out one of her research notebooks from when she was an apprentice at the Mage’s Guild. “This is from last year,” Quintessa begins to explain, her delicate digits quickly flipping through the pages to skip all of the magical jargon and getting straight to the field research. “I had a teacher, Magister Daath, who insisted that I study magical beasts so I could better care for a baby dragon Karasu and I took in. I read lots of books on them but I became restless and wanted to see them in the wild. Here, look at this.” Quintessa holds her notebook around so Meri can see her sketch of a Xalious Mountain Wyvern, old and worn down, signs of battle and failed hunts showing on his thick scales and hide. “Are you familiar with wyverns? Their venom is potent enough to paralyze a horse but they are incredibly stupid- not at all like dragons. Don’t underestimate them though, their large stingers on the ends of their tails strike as quickly as a scorpion. If I can get my hands on a wyvern clutch I could probably breed them and milk them for poison.” The next page held the image of her mount, Bloodbeak, a Golden Cockatrice with an impressive plumage and massive talons. “Ah, and this is my baby, Bloodbeak. He’s been with me since before… well, since before Larewen disappeared. I used to ride him between Xalious and Vailkrin when I was first recruited into the Necromancer’s Guild. In this sketch I drew him without his armor, but it’s not advised; his gaze has been known to turn people into stone.”

Meri is all eyes on Quintessa's sketchbook. The only little bit of her attention that was not devoted to studying the artwork was dedicated to drinking from her own bottle of whiskey...Which is a pretty mindless task, so Quintessa has pretty much all of Meri's attention right now. And by the expression held on her face? She was definitely enjoying what she was seeing. This moment was equally relaxing for Meri, but for different reasons. Quintessa may not have to worry about maintaining a certain appearance, but Meri was just glad she did not have to chase a toddler around. Adult conversations were nice. "Actually, no. Not really, I'm not even sure I have ever encountered a wyvern before? Drakes and dragons, but not wyvern...I think." Meri has to think long and hard on this, the battles and fights she has been in have become a bit of a blur. "Usually I just leave Khitti to school me on the finer details of any of the creatures we face of with..." Leaving it to Khitti was best. Khitti liked books. Meri did not, at least not books with words. Meri gives a slight wrinkle of her nose at the thought of being turned to stone by a Golden Cockatrice. "But hey, if you ever find a clutch that you want to snag for yourself? I am down to help. So long as I get the hook up on various poisons, that is..." The bottle of whiskey is set aside on a nearby end table so that Meri can lean foward to try and take Quintessa's sketchbook into her own grasp. If she was allowed to do this, Meri would begin to flip through the pages of her own accord, studying each page carefully. "These are all very good. Have you ever tried any other mediums before outside of sketching?" Meri lifts a brow, and then tacks on another question. "Who is Karasu?"

Quintessa brings the bottle to her lips as Meri flips through the pages, not minding at all if she took it and looked through it. “Wyverns are strong- I fought an undead one once. Khitti was there, she saw it.” She takes a long drink of the whiskey, enjoying the burning sensation the amber liquid gave her as it flowed down her throat. “If I ever find a nest I’ll take you up on that offer- and of course I’ll give you some of my poisons. Family doesn’t have to pay. I’m just in it for the chance to expand upon my true passion of poison making.” Quintessa brings the bottle up to her lips as Meri asks if Quintessa has ever tried using other mediums for art before and she shakes her head, mismatched eyes flickering down to the pages of other monsters. Carnivorous plants, majestic rocs, and- Quintessa chokes on her drink as Meri turns the page to a sketch of the woman in question, almost as if she conjured her just by speaking her name. The picture was of a feline looking individual from behind, her nude back facing the viewer as she dangled her legs in what looked to be a hot spring. The fae girl had forgotten drawings of Karasu were in this book towards the back, a collage of her in different poses, most tasteful, usually doing mundane things like studying or practicing her spellblade katas. “That’s Karasu,” Quintessa says as she catches her breath, the hand that covered her mouth while she was coughing lingering now to hide her blush. “My girlfriend. We met at the Mage’s Tower. We were roommates.”

Meri can't help the grin that slides across her red lips, but that grin has nothing to do with the picture that Meri is currently looking at. As a former tattoo artist, Meri has seen and touched a lot of skin during her working days. Heck, Meri has a nude mermaid tattooed on her arm, and it is definitely not of her back. The reason Meri is grinning in the manner that she is? Well that is because of Quintessa's reaction to Meri stumbling across this picture. "She's cute. I don't think I have ever met her? But I would like to at some point." Meri passes the sketchbook back to Quintessa at this point. "If you ever want to try your hand at something other than sketching? Well just let me know...Khitti comes here to paint, you are also more than welcome to as well. She's got a key to the place, if you'd like one also..." Meri presses her lips together for a moment, considering, "Of course if painting is not your thing...It's not like I don't have plenty down there in my storage closets for you to experiment with." Inks. Charcoals. Whatever. "Including my old tattooing needles, if that is something that might strike your fancy." Meri wiggles her brows as she points to that picture of Karasu that got Quintessa all choked up, "You could try your hand at painting that. Hang it up in your bedroom..." The grin on Meri's red lips does not fade, it only becomes more impish in nature. "With your girlfriend. Slash roommate. Though, I mean. Is it really fair to call her your roommate if she is your girlfriend? Shouldn't you just be saying that you two are living together instead?" Unless there was some detail that Meri was missing here. "Seems like some fighting words right there. Like if Cal ever called me his roommate? I'd give him so much hell."

Quintessa had never been this open about her relationship with Karasu before, sure, Khitti knew about her, as did Magik, but they had never seen the little pictures that the changeling girl doodled in her free time. It was embarrassing being this valerable, but at the same time it was freeing. Why should she have to hide the person she loved? “My drawings can’t even compare to her beauty,” Quintessa says with a breathy sigh and the conviction of someone who was head over heels for their partner. “I have thought about trying something new… Paint perhaps,” Quintessa’s eyes trace over Meri’s colorful skin, an idea blooming in her mind. “Or tattoos? I’ve always been fascinated with them despite not having any myself. I’ve even been experimenting with something I call ‘living ink’.” Her gaze of blue and hazel flickers back up to meet Meri’s eyes, shaking her head slowly. “Well, we weren’t dating when we were roommates, to be clear. I was sleeping with my teacher Kasyr at the time and she had a boyfriend of her own.” Quintessa feels shame at admitting her sordid relationship with Kasyr, but it was too late to take it back now. “Funny enough, Karasu’s older sister is the one living with me at House Dragana. Her name is Kanna- oh, but there’s no relationship between us too or anything. That’d be kinda weird.” Quintessa felt like she was digging this hole deeper and deeper the more she spoke. “Elazul’s Bite, is it hot in here?” She jokes as she takes her notebook back and returns it to her satchel. “I saw Khitti painting with oils once, maybe I can try that too… I’d like to have a painting of Karasu hanging up in my room, honestly. Just… Maybe not -that- one…”

Meri seemed to hold no judgement for anything that Quintessa was telling her, from Karasu, to her relationship with Kasyr. None of it. Look, Meri has done some very questionable things in her day, and still continues to do so. In fact her mischievous smile softens into one of understanding. Sometimes Meri can have her deep moments, they might be rare. She might prefer to be a pain in the tush most of the time, but these moments happen. "I am pretty sure even the best of artists would say exactly that when it comes to the object of their affection." Meri moves off of the couch so that she goes dig through a desk that's positioned in the living room. She's searching for two things, one a key and second a sketchbook of her own. It's not too hard to find both and when she does, both are presented to Quintessa. They key is to the gallery, obviously, and the sketchbook? Well Meri has already taken a moment to turn through it so that Quintessa could admire a picture of the object of Meri's affection -- Callum. The next page Meri shares is of her daughter, Fleur. "My heart." Meri sits back down, making herself comfortable, relocating her whiskey. She's done with the mush talk, "I've had a few people try and come to me with various ink ideas, but they've never really followed through? So if you do manage to flesh out this idea of living ink, I would be more than curious. As for tattooing? Be happy to get you started down that path, but on one condition? You're going to have to get some ink of your own. Wouldn't be right for me to teach someone how to tattoo when they don't even have any ink themselves. So start thinking about what you want...and where you want it...Of course, all this comes at the family discount of free."

Quintessa relaxes a bit into the back of the couch, shifting her satchel from around her shoulders to instead rest on the floor next to her feet, her gaze following after Meri curiously. “Well, I suppose every artist needs a muse, right?” Her eyes fall upon the drawing presented to her, her eyes lighting up in recognition. “Oh, I remember him from the Snowflake Dance- he was dressed very nice, I-” Quintessa suddenly stops, her voice caught in her throat as she lays eyes on Fleur. “Is this your little girl??” If Quintessa could have stars in her eyes they would harbor them in this moment. “She’s so cuuuute!” It turns out that Quintessa really liked kids. After she took a moment to gush over her, the changeling finally looks back up to Meri, her excitement growing at the mention of getting her own ink done. “R-really? You would do that for me?” The changeling’s head was swimming with the possibilities. “Well, the living ink is still in the conceptual phase, but I’ve had this idea in mind that I’d get a spider tattooed on me that builds a little web everyday before tearing it down and starting fresh every 24 hours… but like I said, it’s still not ready yet so I should start with something more basic… Something more colorful, perhaps? Hmmm…” Quintessa tugs on her bottom lip as she ponders. She wanted her first tattoo to be special, to mean something to her, but what? “Perhaps I should give this a little more thought. In the meantime I can do more research on the magic ink. Could you imagine how popular living tattoos would be?”

Meri didn't quite have the same love for children that Quintessa seemed to. But! Meri certainly loved Fleur, and of course also Dominic. They were the exceptions to the rule, that Meri did not usually like children. "You will meet her one of these days." Meri interjects before Quintessa begins to explain her idea of what sort of tattoo she would, once she manages to work out this living ink concept. While she explains this, Meri drunkenly slouches further into her couch so that she can stare up at her ceiling. In her mind she is very much imagining what Quintessa was explaining, picturing these things came pretty naturally for Meri. It was part of being an artist. "Oh yeah, that would be really awesome. I'd of have loved to have seen something like that during my tattooing days." Meri fixes her blue eyes back on Quintessa, another crooked smile fixing itself across her lips. "And yeah, take your time to think about it. It doesn't have to be colorful. Some people like to have only black ink. It's still sexy as hell." The blonde falls silent a moment, her mind shifting into a completely different direction. "Say. I've been thinking a bit. About what we talked about last time?" The syndicate, the drunk means, and is very poorly explaining. A bit on purpose, a bit because she is drunk. "And secrets. Mostly mine. There is someone I want to introduce you to. Her name is Eleanor." Except not tonight, tonight Meri is sloshed. Again. And seems intent on getting even more so, she'll be polishing off that bottle of whiskey soon..."One of these days."

Quintessa grins, flashing her shark-like teeth once more, “Yes, sexy. Tattoos are soooo sexy.” The fae was starting to loosen up more as the alcohol took over, filling the gaps between speaking with the lovely flow of whisky. “Maybe I can babysit for you sometime- I promise not to teach her to cast fire cantips like I did Dominic. Khitti -still- thinks it was me who burnt her curtains in the apartment.” Quintessa snickers, crossing one leg over the other, but when Meri starts talking about introducing her to someone new her smile fades in lue of a more thoughtful expression. “Eleanor?” The changeling quirks a brow, “She must keep her own secrets well hidden since I’ve never heard of her…” She was already intrigued by the mention of this woman. “One of these days.” Quintessa repeats with a nod. She’d do her best not to spill too many secrets while she was inebriated, but it might be difficult as the night went on and the changeling began to speak of her accomplishments, experiments, and ideas for the future. Once she started gabbing, she couldn’t resist, mentioning her fights in the Titan’s of Winter Tournament and the fact that she was the only one to defeat Vexar, or spilling the beans on the Ossian Order that had taken over the Xalious Mage Tower and placed arrest warrants out on herself and her friends within the guild. Basic current events that not everyone knew the fine details to- but Quintessa knew. The web she had spun for the Syndicate had long reaches all over Lithrydel, from Venturil to Rynvale, and now she was letting Meri in on all the juiciest bits she could recall. She was officially in the Raven’s inner circle.