I had found The Artist's address but it was my first time actually seeing their home. I don't know what kind of house I expected someone who uses an alias for their artwork to live in, but The Artist's abode is a bright, yellow-painted bungalow that seemingly overflows with flowers and plants. They're neatly arranged, so it doesn't seem like something out of a movie where they're trying to give visual clues that a reclusive witch lives here, but there was greenery in the windows, and potted flowers with buds of pink, red, and orange that I'm pretty sure don't usually grow in Coast Venus. The feeling I got looking at it reminds me a bit of my neighbour's house, honestly. His place used to be owned by a local who moved away, so you can tell it's a real Coast Venus house under there, but he painted it black and added this creepy metal gate and that's not really what this town thinks of as edgy, you know? Things like that just sort of make you wonder if the person who lives inside is an expat… not that I think The Artist is, but all the foreign plants would give you that idea.

We knocked on the bright blue door, and, although I half-expected them not to, the way you sometimes feel when something you want too much is happening and you can't really believe it and wonder if it's all a prank... the Artist opened the door.

I've been trying to think of a way to describe their appearance without giving away too much since they're fairly easy to find in Coast Venus, but I feel like I owe it to you all to say something. I think their most disarming feature is their eyes. I don't really know how to explain it, but they have a sort of Mona Lisa feeling, like they've seen enough in their life to be able to see through you. 

They led us through their foyer, where everything in sight was either made of wood, green, a magazine, or a bird, into the living room. There were sun hats on the walls as decorations, and when they motioned for Kam and I to sit, I was almost surprised there weren't plants sitting on the yellow couches because they were present on nearly every other surface. There was even a vine dangling, I noticed with glee, on the easel The Artist had set up by the window.

"What brought you to come looking for me?" The Artist asked once we were situated. They wore a playful grin when they said it that probably should have warned me how things were going to go…

Kam and I explained our plan to search for The Writer, and The Artist listened thoughtfully with no trace of emotion in their expression except for amusement. Determined to stay true to the game of things, though, they told us apologetically that they couldn't give us any hints about The Writer's identity or how we could find them. 

Now you might be wondering - Hayden, is it possible The Writer doesn't want to be found after all? If this were a scavenger hunt, wouldn't The Artist give you a clue? I understand where you're coming from, but The Artist was willing to look over our route, told us they were very impressed (while also making a small comment that Arabella seems like a detour… which, really, could be a hint in and of itself, but whether that means we shouldn't go or that it's very important we do go is a mystery… and I've elected that we're going to go because it's the iconic first destination The Writer went to and I vent possibly miss out), and they "sincerely wished us the best of luck."

Determined to press more, I did ask Mirah for one more favour… if they could read to us from Signed, Venus. Mirah knows The Writer and how they talk - they can convey the story with a level of insight no one else has. Their reading was, hands down, the most poignant I've ever heard - and we do a lot of Signed, Venus readings here in Coast Venus! I really felt a connection to The Writer hearing their words in The Artist's voice… and it really made it sink in how close we already were, sitting in their close partner's greenhouse-like living room.