Pyotr and April - Painting A Spider
Mar. 26th, 2022 12:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsPyotr's trying to get everything done before the art show. This time around it's his suitemate April's turn to get her portrait done.
It didn't take Pyotr long to get everything he needed set up in his suite's common area. Nice thing about painting one's suitemate is that you didn't have to go very far. So he set up his easel, his pencils, his paints, brushes, water for wash and for thinning, his phone to use for photographic reference and for backup, all the other odds-and-ends he'd need. Also, he got himself a bottle of water and some fresh-cut veggies to snack on - today, it was carrots and hummus.
“You look ready to go,” April remarked as she came into the room, backpack slung over one shoulder. She stepped out of her shoes, leaving them neatly beside the door as she made her way to her bedroom. “You wanted my legs and arms mostly bare, right?” she asked, making sure to pitch her voice loud enough to carry. “Tank and shorts, or something a little less casual? I’ve got a few knee length dresses with short sleeves.”
"Arms, definitely." he said with a nod. "Legs, well, that's up to your comfort level. Also, if you have a watch or a bracelet or something you can wear over your altered form, that would be very good." he said, then reached for a baby carrot to dunk into the hummus. Mmm, art snacks.
“Sounds good.” April left her skirt on but pulled the leggings underneath off, then traded the sweater for a tank top. She didn’t have much in the way of jewelry, but a set of bangle bracelets had been one of the few accessories she’d saved up for, and they clinked in her fingers as she deemed herself ready. There was academic reading to do, but she grabbed one of the novels Alani had suggested instead and moved back to the living room. “Couch or the chair?”
"Chair, please. At the table - more room for book, note-taking, all the usual cramming stuff." he said with a smile. He'd have to remember this brand of hummus. It was pretty tasty. The bangles she'd picked would work well, he thought, in highlighting the contrast between the young woman and what she was.
“Totally reading for pleasure today, but nobody else has to know that,” she replied with a wink as she settled at their table. There was a clink of vodka bottles as she shifted a second chair closer, giving her the ability to stretch a leg out if she started to get uncomfortable. Black and blue swirled up her arm, stopping just over her elbow with a seamless blend into flesh. She slid the bangles over the visible arm easily, taking care to not scrape across her own claws. Tendrils appeared along her hair, giving depth and body to her normal look, and more importantly providing a bit of shielding to her profile.
She tucked one leg under her and bent the other, making sure the way her skirt fell around her thighs didn’t show off anything untoward. “This work?”
"Close." he said agreeably. Just need you to turn your head slightly away, let your hair fall down. Keep features obscured." he said. "Then I think we'll be good to go."
April tilted her head obligingly, opening her book and settling in to read. Most of her face was obscured, the lines where jawline became chin and forehead became nose and lips the only parts still visible. “Better?”
"Yes. I think that will work. Going to take some pictures in case I need to go back and retouch after session." he said, using his phone to get pictures of her from a number of different angles. "There. Good." he said, settling back at his easel. "Next am going to do an initial sketch, make sure the pose works and we don't need to adjust much. Do try to keep still, please. Would you like some music as well as your book?"
“Music’s fine if you want it, but quiet is fine too.” She flipped pages occasionally, but was content with the quiet skritch as Pyotr worked. The novel was good too, and several minutes in she was completely absorbed in it, everything else fading into background noise.
He was perfectly content to draw in silence, broken only by the occasional sip of the Pyotr-water and the crunch of carrots. "It's fairly striking." he said to her after a few minutes of sketching. "The … I don't know what to call it. The skin?" he said as his hands went through the motions. "What can you do with it?"
“Hmm?” April blinked slowly, mentally pulling back from the novel and focusing on his words. “Monster form? Other skin? I don’t have a good name for it, really. We thought it was just the arms and tendrils, before I ended up in this universe. What I can do… well, you’ve seen the tendrils. They kinda react to my danger sense, and can grip and hold people in place. I can produce webs when my arms are like this too, and make some simple blunt objects. A hammer, baseball bat, that sort of thing. You can touch it later, if you want. It doesn’t feel as wet or slick as it looks. The claws are every bit as sharp as they look.”
He nodded as he drew. "Sounds pretty useful." he said. "I think you've seen Colossus. The metal is as hard and as shiny as it looks." he said with a slight smile."You have a … danger sense? What is that?" he asked.
“Ah.. not sure I have seen metal form yet?” She wasn’t entirely sure how to describe the danger sense. “Basically a very accurate gut feeling? Intuition? If a person or environment is particularly unsafe. It was really hyperactive my first month here–almost everyone felt like a threat. It’s settled down quite a bit.”
Pyotr nodded as he continued to get his framework sketch down. "Good that it has settled down." he said. He really wanted to throw something harmless at her, see how her tendrils and this sense of hers would react, but discarded the thought as unworthy of him. "Classes going well?" he asked her, just to make conversation.
“You know how the last semester goes,” April said, fighting the urge to shrug. “Lot of projects, elective class that makes me question the fundamental concepts of humanity, looking for work.” Not dealing with Chuck made it incredibly more tolerable. “It’s not bad. And the art class is fun, even though it’s styles I’m not as familiar with. How’s your painting for clients coming along?”
"Slow but steady." he said. "On hold so I can do the District art faire. If anything sells, I'll donate it to them, help out some mutants that need it." he said. "This is about the message." he said as he sketched. "Might be using bad terms, but … wanted to show we are just like anyone else. Mutant, yes, but also normal. That gets lost sometimes."
“We get out of bed and go about our business just like any unenhanced human, as much as our differences allow us?” April suggested mildly. She’d always been lucky, weird science and the hesitance it’d caused within her own family aside. She looked unenhanced, her dad had a good rapport with his coworkers by the time May’s powers had activated and she’d been found. Other enhanced–the mutants before the X-People, the original Avengers, Johnny’s sister and husband–they’d already done things that made life easier for the enhanced she’d known. But it’d been a little harder for Grimm and Franklin than it was for her, and she hadn’t been unaware of that. A little more fear, for the giant man of rocks than for the average looking girl beside him. Never mind his personality, just a split second of fear that she was rarely on the receiving end of, even once people knew she was a Spider-Girl.
"Yes. That sounds like right words." he said as he drew. The initial sketch was coming along nicely and it wouldn't be too much longer now. "If I can do something to make lives a little better, I think I have an obligation," he said.
“The Parker family motto might as well be “With great power comes great responsibility” at this point, as much as Dad hammered that into our brains. We’ve got the ability to do something, so we should. Sometimes that means we fight. Other times that means we do something to make life brighter or better.” She smiled down at the book, marking her place since she hadn’t progressed since they started chatting. “You’d fit right in, feeling that sort of obligation.”
"Maybe I would." he said agreeably. "While Communism had fallen when I was very young, there's a sentiment that was often abused but fits at the core of things. "From each according to their ability, to each according to their needs."" he said. "Often used to justify greed and atrocity, but really, at its core, means we have an obligation to aid those less-fortunate than us." he said. "At least, that's how it should be. Often wasn't. Even now."
“People love to abuse phrases like that.” There was a reason she’d chosen her field. Using her brain and interest in mechanical systems to help advance things that could make the world a better place… she knew it might be idealistic, but she got that honestly. And other direct help options tended to require money or dealing with people all the time, neither of which was a good fit for her. “I think the idea is interesting, obviously, or I wouldn’t have agreed to sit for you.”
He nodded as he continued to sketch. It was coming along nicely and once he had the sketch it was time to get the oils out and do this thing up proper. "I think it's an interesting project as well, or else I'd set prices much higher and not bother to theme it quite so much." he said. He reached down and then discovered he was out of Art Snacks.
Unacceptable!
April’s eyes flicked to the side. “Something wrong?” She couldn’t see what was happening very well from her pose, but her roommate sounded a little frustrated.
“Minor crisis. Ran out of art snacks.” he said. “One moment.” he said and then got up to reload on snacks.
“Snacks sound good. I should have thought about that. Is there anything in the fridge to eat that won’t have me moving around too much?”
He went back into the fridge to rummage around. "How do you feel about dark grapes?" he asked, removing a small bunch.
“Sounds good.” April accepted the bunch easily, resting them out of sight and occasionally popping one in her mouth. “We’ll have to make a run to the store this weekend–I know, I know, market is better.” She tried not to smile too broadly, and ended up settling for poking her tongue out briefly instead. “But there’s less options there right now, so the actual store is better.”
Pyotr reflexively shuddered. Sure, grocery stores bought produce and other goods from the farms, but he was a farm boy and preferred his foodstuffs to be as fresh as possible. "I suppose." he said with a graceful shrug. "As you say, best available choice right now."
“Farm snob,” she teased lightly. “How’s your sketch coming along?” She’d done some light stretching while he was replenishing his snacks, rotating her ankles and gently stretching her legs while he moved around. She settled back into place without complaint as he got back to work, glad they hadn’t chosen a more complicated pose.
"You grew up on a farm, you'd be farm snob too." he pointed out helpfully. "And main sketch is almost done. Can go back in and do the paints later, so I'm not eating up more of your time." he told her. "And admit it, fresh food tastes better."
“Better until I’m really craving some spicy Doritos, yeah.” She flipped a page in the book, then flipped back when she realized she hadn’t actually paid attention to what she was reading. “Once you’ve got the sketch where you want it I’m gonna go lounge on the couch instead of sitting so I can stretch out. You’re not taking up my time, or I’d be doing actual school work instead of leisure reading.”
Pyotr frowned. He wasn't up on snack food in general, much less American snack food. "OH! Corn chip things, flavored." he said, dredging it out of his memory. "I never liked those." he confessed with a wrinkled nose. "And I think this will do it." he said, making a last adjustment on his prelim sketch. "You can go lay down now."
“More for me!” April’s feet hit the floor lightly, hands going over her head in a long full body stretch. “Can I see the sketch, or do I have to wait for you to finish with paints?” She popped the last grape into her mouth, grabbing the stem and dropping it in the trash before bouncing lightly in front of Pyotr.
He stepped away from the canvas to let her look. His sketch was complete, capturing outlines and edges and the drape and flow of clothes, her mutant traits, all of it. "Not bad." he said, as always his own worst critic.
“It’s good, don’t be overly modest.” She nudged him in the side, then took a detour on her way to the couch to crack the window open. “You keep doing these good sketches of me. It’s nice, seeing what I look like through someone else’s eyes.” She sprawled stomach-first, opening her book and letting the sounds in their suite fade to background noise as she lost herself in her book.
It didn't take Pyotr long to get everything he needed set up in his suite's common area. Nice thing about painting one's suitemate is that you didn't have to go very far. So he set up his easel, his pencils, his paints, brushes, water for wash and for thinning, his phone to use for photographic reference and for backup, all the other odds-and-ends he'd need. Also, he got himself a bottle of water and some fresh-cut veggies to snack on - today, it was carrots and hummus.
“You look ready to go,” April remarked as she came into the room, backpack slung over one shoulder. She stepped out of her shoes, leaving them neatly beside the door as she made her way to her bedroom. “You wanted my legs and arms mostly bare, right?” she asked, making sure to pitch her voice loud enough to carry. “Tank and shorts, or something a little less casual? I’ve got a few knee length dresses with short sleeves.”
"Arms, definitely." he said with a nod. "Legs, well, that's up to your comfort level. Also, if you have a watch or a bracelet or something you can wear over your altered form, that would be very good." he said, then reached for a baby carrot to dunk into the hummus. Mmm, art snacks.
“Sounds good.” April left her skirt on but pulled the leggings underneath off, then traded the sweater for a tank top. She didn’t have much in the way of jewelry, but a set of bangle bracelets had been one of the few accessories she’d saved up for, and they clinked in her fingers as she deemed herself ready. There was academic reading to do, but she grabbed one of the novels Alani had suggested instead and moved back to the living room. “Couch or the chair?”
"Chair, please. At the table - more room for book, note-taking, all the usual cramming stuff." he said with a smile. He'd have to remember this brand of hummus. It was pretty tasty. The bangles she'd picked would work well, he thought, in highlighting the contrast between the young woman and what she was.
“Totally reading for pleasure today, but nobody else has to know that,” she replied with a wink as she settled at their table. There was a clink of vodka bottles as she shifted a second chair closer, giving her the ability to stretch a leg out if she started to get uncomfortable. Black and blue swirled up her arm, stopping just over her elbow with a seamless blend into flesh. She slid the bangles over the visible arm easily, taking care to not scrape across her own claws. Tendrils appeared along her hair, giving depth and body to her normal look, and more importantly providing a bit of shielding to her profile.
She tucked one leg under her and bent the other, making sure the way her skirt fell around her thighs didn’t show off anything untoward. “This work?”
"Close." he said agreeably. Just need you to turn your head slightly away, let your hair fall down. Keep features obscured." he said. "Then I think we'll be good to go."
April tilted her head obligingly, opening her book and settling in to read. Most of her face was obscured, the lines where jawline became chin and forehead became nose and lips the only parts still visible. “Better?”
"Yes. I think that will work. Going to take some pictures in case I need to go back and retouch after session." he said, using his phone to get pictures of her from a number of different angles. "There. Good." he said, settling back at his easel. "Next am going to do an initial sketch, make sure the pose works and we don't need to adjust much. Do try to keep still, please. Would you like some music as well as your book?"
“Music’s fine if you want it, but quiet is fine too.” She flipped pages occasionally, but was content with the quiet skritch as Pyotr worked. The novel was good too, and several minutes in she was completely absorbed in it, everything else fading into background noise.
He was perfectly content to draw in silence, broken only by the occasional sip of the Pyotr-water and the crunch of carrots. "It's fairly striking." he said to her after a few minutes of sketching. "The … I don't know what to call it. The skin?" he said as his hands went through the motions. "What can you do with it?"
“Hmm?” April blinked slowly, mentally pulling back from the novel and focusing on his words. “Monster form? Other skin? I don’t have a good name for it, really. We thought it was just the arms and tendrils, before I ended up in this universe. What I can do… well, you’ve seen the tendrils. They kinda react to my danger sense, and can grip and hold people in place. I can produce webs when my arms are like this too, and make some simple blunt objects. A hammer, baseball bat, that sort of thing. You can touch it later, if you want. It doesn’t feel as wet or slick as it looks. The claws are every bit as sharp as they look.”
He nodded as he drew. "Sounds pretty useful." he said. "I think you've seen Colossus. The metal is as hard and as shiny as it looks." he said with a slight smile."You have a … danger sense? What is that?" he asked.
“Ah.. not sure I have seen metal form yet?” She wasn’t entirely sure how to describe the danger sense. “Basically a very accurate gut feeling? Intuition? If a person or environment is particularly unsafe. It was really hyperactive my first month here–almost everyone felt like a threat. It’s settled down quite a bit.”
Pyotr nodded as he continued to get his framework sketch down. "Good that it has settled down." he said. He really wanted to throw something harmless at her, see how her tendrils and this sense of hers would react, but discarded the thought as unworthy of him. "Classes going well?" he asked her, just to make conversation.
“You know how the last semester goes,” April said, fighting the urge to shrug. “Lot of projects, elective class that makes me question the fundamental concepts of humanity, looking for work.” Not dealing with Chuck made it incredibly more tolerable. “It’s not bad. And the art class is fun, even though it’s styles I’m not as familiar with. How’s your painting for clients coming along?”
"Slow but steady." he said. "On hold so I can do the District art faire. If anything sells, I'll donate it to them, help out some mutants that need it." he said. "This is about the message." he said as he sketched. "Might be using bad terms, but … wanted to show we are just like anyone else. Mutant, yes, but also normal. That gets lost sometimes."
“We get out of bed and go about our business just like any unenhanced human, as much as our differences allow us?” April suggested mildly. She’d always been lucky, weird science and the hesitance it’d caused within her own family aside. She looked unenhanced, her dad had a good rapport with his coworkers by the time May’s powers had activated and she’d been found. Other enhanced–the mutants before the X-People, the original Avengers, Johnny’s sister and husband–they’d already done things that made life easier for the enhanced she’d known. But it’d been a little harder for Grimm and Franklin than it was for her, and she hadn’t been unaware of that. A little more fear, for the giant man of rocks than for the average looking girl beside him. Never mind his personality, just a split second of fear that she was rarely on the receiving end of, even once people knew she was a Spider-Girl.
"Yes. That sounds like right words." he said as he drew. The initial sketch was coming along nicely and it wouldn't be too much longer now. "If I can do something to make lives a little better, I think I have an obligation," he said.
“The Parker family motto might as well be “With great power comes great responsibility” at this point, as much as Dad hammered that into our brains. We’ve got the ability to do something, so we should. Sometimes that means we fight. Other times that means we do something to make life brighter or better.” She smiled down at the book, marking her place since she hadn’t progressed since they started chatting. “You’d fit right in, feeling that sort of obligation.”
"Maybe I would." he said agreeably. "While Communism had fallen when I was very young, there's a sentiment that was often abused but fits at the core of things. "From each according to their ability, to each according to their needs."" he said. "Often used to justify greed and atrocity, but really, at its core, means we have an obligation to aid those less-fortunate than us." he said. "At least, that's how it should be. Often wasn't. Even now."
“People love to abuse phrases like that.” There was a reason she’d chosen her field. Using her brain and interest in mechanical systems to help advance things that could make the world a better place… she knew it might be idealistic, but she got that honestly. And other direct help options tended to require money or dealing with people all the time, neither of which was a good fit for her. “I think the idea is interesting, obviously, or I wouldn’t have agreed to sit for you.”
He nodded as he continued to sketch. It was coming along nicely and once he had the sketch it was time to get the oils out and do this thing up proper. "I think it's an interesting project as well, or else I'd set prices much higher and not bother to theme it quite so much." he said. He reached down and then discovered he was out of Art Snacks.
Unacceptable!
April’s eyes flicked to the side. “Something wrong?” She couldn’t see what was happening very well from her pose, but her roommate sounded a little frustrated.
“Minor crisis. Ran out of art snacks.” he said. “One moment.” he said and then got up to reload on snacks.
“Snacks sound good. I should have thought about that. Is there anything in the fridge to eat that won’t have me moving around too much?”
He went back into the fridge to rummage around. "How do you feel about dark grapes?" he asked, removing a small bunch.
“Sounds good.” April accepted the bunch easily, resting them out of sight and occasionally popping one in her mouth. “We’ll have to make a run to the store this weekend–I know, I know, market is better.” She tried not to smile too broadly, and ended up settling for poking her tongue out briefly instead. “But there’s less options there right now, so the actual store is better.”
Pyotr reflexively shuddered. Sure, grocery stores bought produce and other goods from the farms, but he was a farm boy and preferred his foodstuffs to be as fresh as possible. "I suppose." he said with a graceful shrug. "As you say, best available choice right now."
“Farm snob,” she teased lightly. “How’s your sketch coming along?” She’d done some light stretching while he was replenishing his snacks, rotating her ankles and gently stretching her legs while he moved around. She settled back into place without complaint as he got back to work, glad they hadn’t chosen a more complicated pose.
"You grew up on a farm, you'd be farm snob too." he pointed out helpfully. "And main sketch is almost done. Can go back in and do the paints later, so I'm not eating up more of your time." he told her. "And admit it, fresh food tastes better."
“Better until I’m really craving some spicy Doritos, yeah.” She flipped a page in the book, then flipped back when she realized she hadn’t actually paid attention to what she was reading. “Once you’ve got the sketch where you want it I’m gonna go lounge on the couch instead of sitting so I can stretch out. You’re not taking up my time, or I’d be doing actual school work instead of leisure reading.”
Pyotr frowned. He wasn't up on snack food in general, much less American snack food. "OH! Corn chip things, flavored." he said, dredging it out of his memory. "I never liked those." he confessed with a wrinkled nose. "And I think this will do it." he said, making a last adjustment on his prelim sketch. "You can go lay down now."
“More for me!” April’s feet hit the floor lightly, hands going over her head in a long full body stretch. “Can I see the sketch, or do I have to wait for you to finish with paints?” She popped the last grape into her mouth, grabbing the stem and dropping it in the trash before bouncing lightly in front of Pyotr.
He stepped away from the canvas to let her look. His sketch was complete, capturing outlines and edges and the drape and flow of clothes, her mutant traits, all of it. "Not bad." he said, as always his own worst critic.
“It’s good, don’t be overly modest.” She nudged him in the side, then took a detour on her way to the couch to crack the window open. “You keep doing these good sketches of me. It’s nice, seeing what I look like through someone else’s eyes.” She sprawled stomach-first, opening her book and letting the sounds in their suite fade to background noise as she lost herself in her book.
