fairybond ╱ lisanna strauß.
He had a point, flight was certainly a dream shared by many. She could understand it herself, and had the good fortune of being able to achieve it with her magic. There was nothing quite like soaring through the air, high above everything else, all worries fading away… If she could manage it, she would fly everywhere. But thoughts of flight and the joy it brought her were pushed from her mind as she focused on Ren, eyes hardly believing the smile she glimpsed as he spoke.
The rare expression intrigued her almost as much as his story. She listened about the collection of feathers, eyes alight with interest. Her smile grew into a grin, laughter threatening to bubble out, and she pressed her fingers to her lips to contain it. She could only picture a particularly gaudy bird costume and of course her imagination had to then create the idea of Ren wearing the outfit. It would become a mental image saved for cheering herself up in future.
“There are all sorts of people out there, that’s for sure,” she said with a laugh, “Maybe your bird costume client is the person I saw.”
Briefly, she looked away from him to check the area as they walked. The train station was coming into view, and it appeared they had made good time. Travelling by train was not her preferred method, as she tended to get motion sick, but she could appreciate the efficiency it provided.
She turned her attention back to her companion, nodding at his words. There certainly were many things that could make a quest memorable and, she supposed, there were positives and negatives to that (she still wondered what might’ve happened had she not gone with her siblings on that fateful mission). Pulling her thoughts back towards the topic of interesting rewards, she smiled. “I like statuettes as much as the next person, but I don’t know if I’d like ones that may or may not be cursed.”
She tapped her lip in thought and added, “One time, the request said the reward would be a ‘masterpiece’…but it turned out the client was really full of himself, and the reward was a self-portrait he’d done.”
The painting had sat in her room for a while, untouched until she had the bright idea to graffiti decorate the artwork one night. Eventually, she’d taken the painting out and reused the frame, as it really was quite nice.
“I should get some art for home someday,” she said, thinking about her mostly bare walls, “And maybe I’ll make some teacup candles for myself too, they’ll make everything look pretty.”
She hummed a little in contemplation and, as they came to a stop, she asked, “Do you like art?”
in his time as a career mage, ren had met a great many weird people. sometimes, because they had been his employers. other times, because they had been the people causing trouble. he did not mind the weird people much. self-expression was important and unless other people got hurt, he did not really care about what weird people did. after all, he was typically more concerned with the bad people around. and on one memorable occasion, the bad person had been his own guildmate. he did not like to think about karen. she had mistreated her spirits, yes, which was all sorts of fucked up. and she had hurt hibiki. which really---he did not care much for angel, but she had inadvertently done him a solid by getting rid of the green-haired monster.
ren did not like killing.
he did not like thinking about karen either.
thinking about the bird guy was . . . well, it was less of a complicated topic, no? his thumb rubbed one of the scars that had been left on his face, his sentiments drifting towards thoughtfulness. being pensive was better than being furious with a dead woman. ‘ ‘ i wouldn’t know if the bird . . . man is the same guy, if he graduated from dressing like a bird to living like a bird, ’ ’ he said, ‘ ‘ but the painter person sounds familiar. i think that---what’s her name? she’s in lamia scale. transformation mage . . . corinna? no, wait. kora. she dealt with something similar some time ago. she was complaining about the artwork not being up to her standards when i was there for a meeting with her colleague. ’ ’
( he had teased hibiki a little bit that it had been him who had been able to have a chat with adam saunders while hibiki had been stuck in a meeting with someone else. )
and well, focusing on lisanna again . . . his own apartment was---well, hibiki had called it sleek in the past. which was really just a nice way of saying underdecorated and boring. he had been meaning to get some more things, maybe a new rug for his living room, but the last time he had tried, he had felt rather . . . overwhelmed by the sheer amount of options. come to think of it, the last piece of decor he had added had been the crystal and glass mobile eve and hibiki had gifted him. it looked nice enough when the sunlight hit it and it painted colourful patterns onto the walls and ceiling.
but huh, did he like art? the honest answer would be--- ‘ ‘ it depends, i’d say. ’ ’ he paused for a moment, sorting his thoughts. his parents’ home had had plenty of artworks, but that was to be expected. being able to afford famous pieces of art was a subtle showcase of wealth. not that his parents had ever been good at subtlety when it came to showing off---and the same went for many of their so-called friends. his first impression of some art was therefore inherently . . . tainted. ‘ ‘ i like abstract art. not even because i think it speaks to me, i just find it pretty. ’ ’
