Creative Indulgence [2430-1-3 Sat 1:00 pm]

[Skye Thompson]

“Thanks.” Skye breathed, relieved that Persephone had agreed not to tell Titus what had happened. She was starting to feel calmer now, with Persephone sitting beside her speaking quietly. But at her friend’s next words Skye felt terrified, though not for the same reason as before. She didn’t want to talk to a stranger about what had happened. She had a hard enough time telling Persephone and Titus about it. How could she possibly talk to someone she’d never met before, didn’t know, didn’t trust?

Persephone’s second suggestion however, intrigued her. “Is there medicine for… for this?” Medicine had helped Skye before, saved her from sickness, kept her from dieing of lack of sunlight. Why couldn’t it help her now? But was she sick? This wasn’t a fever, it wasn’t a cut or bruise, it was fear. Was there a medicine that cured fear? And was it just fear, or was it more than that? “Persephone… Am I- am I crazy?”

[Persephone Ruspoli]

"You're not crazy." Persephone assured Skye, "Crazy people don't worry that they're crazy. They think everyone else is crazy and they're the only sane one. So just remember that, okay? Anytime you worry if you're crazy, just remember that you wouldn't be asking yourself that if you were crazy."

Skye seemed to be afraid of seeing a doctor. Maybe she was worried Titus would send her away, or maybe she was worried about something else. Persephone would have preferred that Skye talk to someone, but at this stage, forcing her to talk wouldn't help her. Which left the other option as the only path available.

"As for medication... there are different meds to help with anxiety attacks, and others to help with obsessive thoughts." Persephone took a shot in the dark at what Skye's issues were. She'd mentioned that she couldn't stop thinking, and Persephone already knew what an anxiety attack looked like. "I'm not a psychiatrist, but I've got friends who could get your a prescription. The only thing is... these aren't a cure-all. They might make things worse if we give you the wrong ones, so we'd have to be very careful about what you're prescribed. And you might have to see a doctor, just to make sure you're not allergic to anything."

[Skye Thompson]

So she wasn’t crazy. Skye sighed with relief. Persephone had said it, so it was probably true, plus the logic of it made sense. Why would a crazy person have the sanity to wonder if they were crazy? No she wasn’t crazy. Just frightened. Her fear didn’t exactly lessen as Persephone continued. The thought of being able to stop the memories from overtaking her was wonderful, but the process did not sound particularly reassuring. How could this possibly get worse? She’d rather be dead than have it get worse. And she didn’t want to see a doctor. But at least she had a solution to that problem.

“I don’t have any allergies. Almost no one in the Below does.” It was rather hard to be allergic to something when you were lucky if you got food at all. Skye couldn’t exactly see what her possibly being allergic to some food had to do with medication anyway, but it didn’t really matter. “Can… can we paint now?” Skye asked abruptly. She wanted to do something, to have fun. That was what she and Persephone were supposed to be doing. And the conversation was starting to make her uncomfortable anyway.

[Persephone Ruspoli]

"Of course we can." Persephone let the subject drop. She would have to talk to some people and see what they could legally get their hands on, and maybe find a doctor that didn't make Skye uncomfortable. That would be particularly difficult, but Persephone had time and money to spare.

She headed back over to where she'd left her canvases and picked them up. The kitchen scissors snipped the strings holding them together, and she lay the paints out on the counter. This would be the easiest surface to clean in Titus' apartment. She didn't want to risk staining the carpet. Skye had enough stress without worrying about that.

Persephone opened up the brand-new set of brushes she'd gotten for Skye to use, lying them out. "I wasn't sure if you had anything in mind or not, but Titus has enough interesting stuff around here to use for inspiration."

[Skye Thompson]

“These are beautiful.” Skye lifted one of the brushes Persephone had laid out. In part, she was talking about them in order to distract herself, and Persephone, from their earlier conversation. She didn’t want to think about it, or talk about it anymore. She wanted to paint. She wanted to be normal. Skye twirled the brush between her fingers, and touched the bristles gently to her skin. They were softer than she had expected, and the wood was smooth.

To some, it was just a tool, but to an artist, to Skye, it was just as much an instrument as a flute or a guitar. And just as capable of creating beauty. Only, she had never played this instrument before. Skye turned the brush over to the thinner, non-bristled side and pressed it to the canvas. She drew a line with the brush, like she would have with a pencil and when nothing happened looked up at Persephone, laughing. “Okay, I’m stuck. How exactly do you do this?”

[Persephone Ruspoli]

Persephone grinned at Skye used the wrong end of the brush. "Turn it back around." She told Skye, popping open the containers holding the paints. "And dip the brush end into the paint. Then, you just... paint."

Since the best way to teach was to demonstrate, she did just that. Persephone dipped her brush into the yellow pot and painted a line down her canvas. She went back for another dip and added a second line, putting a bit of a wave into it this time to show Persephone the different effects you could do. "And then we just wash the brush off in the sink." Persephone had brought acrylics espeically for this reason. While they weren't as nice, and certainly didn't last as long, they were good for beginners, espeically the clean-up aspect.

[Skye Thompson]

Nodding, Skye flipped her brush around and dipped it into the paint. She’d figured the bristles must be good for something. Following Persephone’s example, she painted two yellow lines across the top half of her canvas. She looked at it for a moment, and then added a few more lines coming from one corner, than the other. Soon, the top third of her canvas was covered in yellow streaks. Skye wasn’t sure exactly what she was painting, and somehow that thrilled her. Never before had she begun a piece of art not knowing what the end product would be.

As of now, she only knew that she was using the color yellow because she liked the way it looked. It was a cheerful, happy color, like sunlight and flowers she’d seen in Persephone’s garden. Skye rinsed off her paintbrush and dipped it into the green, smiling a bit. Never had she seen a color that seemed more alive, more vibrant. She hesitated a moment, holding the brush out over the canvas. She still wasn’t sure what she wanted the picture to be.

[Persephone Ruspoli]

Persephone was glad to see Skye had figured things out and was having fun. She rinsed a brush and switched to a wider one, filling in the outside of the canvas with pink. Persephone didn't bother to make anything, since she didn't particularly like painting figures or objects.

Instead she just filled in the canvas with pink, and then began adding swirls and circles here and there with blues and purples. It was more fun to just mess around than try (and fail) to create something she knew she'd be able to do more successfully with a camera or clay. She glanced at Skye's painting, smiling a little as she saw Skye deep in thought about where to put the green. If she liked this, she would have to make Titus buy her some real art supplies.

[Skye Thompson]

A drop of paint fell from the brush and hit Skye’s canvas as she continued to ponder the intended content of her painting. She glanced sideways at Persephone’s artwork, hoping for inspiration or guidance. But Persephone didn’t seem to be painting anything in particular either. Was that okay? Could an artist’s work be something that didn’t actually look like a real scene or object? Skye had never heard of anyone doing that before, but if Persephone was doing it, it must be okay.

Happy with this decision, she began to paint a long, green stripe down the middle of the canvas, curving her line a bit to encompass the paint that had dripped from her brush as she thought. Once she had finished this, Skye rinsed her brush off again and dipped it onto the blue paint, beginning to cover the bottom two-thirds of her canvas with that. She smiled as she did so, looking over at Persephone’s work again. “I like yours. It’s pretty.”

[Persephone Ruspoli]

"Thank you!" Persephone looked at Skye's canvas and at the split of yellow and blue, and the green stripe with the curve. It reminded her of Gregory's paintings from his The Essentialness Of Humanity exhibit, and she had to bite back a laugh thinking of how horrified and offended he would be to hear that she thought Skye's untrained paintings were similar to his, "I like yours too. It's all very bold."

Perse washed off her brushes and set them on the counter to dry. Her painting would take a while to finish, so she turned it so the sun would fall on it. "Now, when you're finished, we have to let them dry. Unlike pencils, paints stay wet for a while afterwards, and you have to wait for them to dry and solidify, otherwise you could put your thumb in it and mess up your painting."

[Skye Thompson]

The last small square on Skye’s canvas filled up with blue, as Persephone explained what to do next. Though she had been warned not to touch the paint, it only made her want to do so more. This often seemed to happen to her, that when she was told not to do something, it only became harder to stop herself. Giving in to her curiosity, Skye reached forward, gently poking the paint with the tip of her finger. She quickly pulled her hand away and glanced sideways, hoping Persephone hadn’t seen. There was only a small mark on the edge of her canvas.

She turned her painting around so that it faced the same way as Persephone’s. “Thank you.” She added, finally realizing that Persephone had complimented her a moment ago. Leaning back against the counter, Skye began to play absently with her hair. After a moment, she looked up at Persephone, feeling suddenly awkward and uncomfortable. “Now what?” She only hoped they would return to her… issues, the topic she wanted so desperately to avoid.

[Persephone Ruspoli]

Persephone finished arranging her brushes so they'd dry and she could collect them later. "Well, whatever you'd like! We could watch another movie, or go for a walk, or whatever else while we wait for the paintings to finish drying."

She glanced at Skye and had to bite back a laugh. Skye had clearly ignored Persephone's advice (or maybe deliberately done so). The bit of hair Skye was playing with was starting to turn blue, probably from the paint she'd undoubtedly dipped her finger into. It was no big deal, it would wash out the next time Skye showered, but it still amused Persephone.

[Skye Thompson]

“Can we go outside?” Skye smiled, “It’s so nice out there.” Despite having been in the Top for almost two weeks now, Skye was still surprised at how fresh and clean the air was every time she stepped outside. It still amazed her when she woke in the morning to find sunlight streaming through her window. It had rained once, when Titus had been away. At first Skye had stayed inside as she would have done in the Below, but rain looked so different in the Top, and it had made her curious.

She had crept forward slowly, almost frightened, until her face was pressed to the window. Then, almost before she had time to decide it, she’d run to the front door and then out into the yard. She had stood there in the rain for a long time, feeling it wash over her until she’d noticed a passerby with an umbrella staring. Back inside she’d dried off and changed, and when Titus returned home, he hadn’t asked about her wet clothes. She took Persephone’s hand and moved toward the door, smiling. “ Those plants you gave me are getting bigger. They’re so beautiful.”

[Persephone Ruspoli]

Outside seemed like a good choice. Skye seemed to almost flourish in sunlight. It reminded her of her plants, poking their way out of their seeds and sticking their heads up into the light for the first time. Of course, most of them didn't have the same growing pains... no, they would leave that be for the moment. Stressing out Skye would just bring on another attack.

"Of course!" She said, but she didn't even really need to say it. Skye had already grasped her hand and headed for the door. Persephone followed, stepping outside and letting it fall shut behind her. Blue sky above, and she could hear the hum of the city, even if it was muffled in this place between the buildings.

So the plants were doing well. Good, really good. If they'd gotten sick, it would have just made things worse. "I'm glad! They're going to keep going pretty fast! Maybe in another week or two, you'll get flowers!"

[Skye Thompson]

Even though the weather was a bit cold this time of year, Skye felt instantly warm as the sunlight washed over her. She stared up wonderingly at the great yellow orb, remembering to late that it wasn’t good to look straight at the sun. Blinking the dark patch from her vision, she shifted her gaze to the city around her, smiling at its beauty. To many, the whole of Terra was a mechanical wasteland, but to Skye, who could only compare it to the Below, it was as full of life as any of the other planets, where nature still lay untouched.

“Flowers? Really?” she didn’t try to hide the excitement in her voice. “That would be wonderful!” In just a week, she could have real, beautiful flowers, just like the ones in Persephone’s garden. A week seemed all at once a short time and an eternity to wait. Time had certainly flown by the last week, but with so many things happening, it didn’t seem possible that all that had happened in just a week. No, it must have been a few weeks, no, a month at least. It had been less than a month since she’d left her father’s house, and in those three weeks her life had changed more dramatically than it had in the other sixteen years of her life.