Lurking in the Library (attn: Avyra)

[Locke]

Terric

Terric did his best to take notes on her descriptions of how to make an illusion. He found it more productive to draw out what she meant. He labeled the parts so he would remember what it was later. Honestly, he wished he had a set of colored inks. He did the best with what he had though. He wondered with an illusion, did you have to weave a big net in the shape of what you wanted to imitate or would the pattern of your weaving determine all of that? It all seemed rather complicated and he was quite impressed with her knowledge.

He continued listening as she moved the topic back to fire balls, they apparently also used Air. It made sense, flames needed air to survive. Any Aiel child knew you dumped sand on fire to kill it. Lightning required Air as well? Now that was interesting. He would have to study how lightning worked one day. Lightning probably required fire and air in different quantities. It was like baking. At least he thought so. If he had water, flower, and butter, he could combine them in different quantities to make different types of breads and pastries. He could even change the type of flour, from zemai to wheat for example, or add another ingredient like honey or nuts or even peppers. It was just fascinating how much variety Channellers could make with just five ingredients.

Avyra suggested showing him how the weaves worked first hand once she was an accepted, he was still distracted with the trying to piece apart how weaves worked. Absently he said, “I don’t think your voice is boring,” while pondering what one could do with weaves of Water. Had the Wise Ones already looked into this? If so wouldn’t they have shared their knowledge with the rest of the People?

Wait, why is she asking if I draw? Oh she saw my sketch of Tallia Mathys Sedai. The thought interrupted his theorizing, drawing him back to the present. “You saw my sign all those months ago? Yeah I drew that. I’m not really all that good but I do draw sometimes. It comes in handy though.”

[Avyra]

“I don’t think your voice is boring." That was... good to hear. The little Novice couldn't help but perk a little. Did he mean it? He was writing things down, obviously lost in thought, and she was enjoying watching him work over his shoulder. His writing was nicer than she expected, and watching the ink sink into the paper was calming, in a way. She was almost pressed against him to watch easier. “You saw my sign all those months ago? Yeah I drew that. I’m not really all that good but I do draw sometimes. It comes in handy though," he said, not seeming to be impressed with his own skill. "Terric, if you say things like that I will box your ears properly, I will!" She crossed her arms, shooting him a playful glare. "It looked wonderful. You're very good at art."

[Locke]

Terric

Terric snorted and flipped to a blank page. “If you try to box my ears, I’ll just stand up,” he said with an amused quirk to his lips. “But seriously, they’re nothing special. It’s just a skill I picked up. I’ve got steady hands that’s about it. My drawings never have any ‘life.’” He gave a shrug. “Not that it’s ever mattered. Most of my drawings have been for practical reasons. Back in the Thee-fold Land, I would draw suspects or missing people based off of descriptions. It was very useful but there wasn’t ever a need for any real artistry. I’ll sometimes sketch people when I’m bored or make less than realistic doodles but—“ he trailed off with a shrug. It really wasn’t something he really thought about. It wasn’t something he’d ever really been encouraged about, he hadn’t been pushed away either but was just something else that he could use to be the best Red Shield he could be. Did a blacksmith have to enjoy stoking the fire for his forge? Did a baker give any extra thought to cleaning up his kitchen at the end of the day? Why shouldn’t he care though? If he was good at it like she said, why not practice more? There was ji in improving a skill. He knew he had a talent for accuracy, and could work wonders with a description, so why not? Why not practice? He looked up from his blank page, “I’ve mostly sketched thieves, murderers, and boring teachers. I don’t think I’ve ever actually sketched somebody I actually like. Do you mind if I sketch you? I don’t keep a real art set but I do have a pencil.”

[Avyra]

He didn't seem too confident about his abilities. Or rather, he didn't seem to take any pride in them. Not self lothing, but not owning up to the praise he deserved. However, he had a purpose to use for it. That was better than her flute playing. She never had a useful purpose for it. She just liked it. Odd, to think that maybe she could someday use it for something. But she didn't know what. They had both fallen into their thoughts, but Terric looked over at her again, studying her for a moment before asking, "I’ve mostly sketched thieves, murderers, and boring teachers. I don’t think I’ve ever actually sketched somebody I actually like. Do you mind if I sketch you? I don’t keep a real art set but I do have a pencil.” Avyra, well, blushed slightly, not able to keep the smile off her lips and the glow from her eyes. "Me? I'm hardly art worthy. Like... I don't mind, but this face? I'd rather sketch a Trolloc than this face of mine."

[Locke]

Terric

Terric began digging through his bag for his pencil. He really should try at least to be more organized. There, he found it buried under a crumpled paper, the tip wasn’t broken thankfully. “Drawing a trollic would be an interesting study,” he said idly while sharpening his pencil with his belt knife. “Last time I saw one I really wasn’t interested in drawing anything.” He studied her face, in the torch light. He stopped realizing he was being silly, he didn’t know much about lighting, he had always stuck to simple line drawings with light shading for contours. Lighting didn’t much matter when you were drawing from descriptions. “Your face is perfectly art worthy,” he said checking the tip of the pencil. “I do want to sketch you, it’ll be a rather bland sketch but at least we’ll have something to give out if we lose you in Hama Valon because you’re too short.” The amused glint was back now. He had already begun the rough outlines of a face. “Honestly, I wish I had practiced more. I really don’t think I’ll do your face justice.” He continued to sketch, the contours of her face were coming out accurate down to the quick of her lips, as he knew they would. He just couldn’t catch that spark. How did people capture that light that made a person who they were? Where was the spark of curiosity? He hadn’t captured her determination, or even her vulnerability and insecurity. Maybe it would be worth practicing more, just for that. He decide this as he used his thumb to soften the shading on the sketch’s cheek.

[Avyra]

Avyra wanted to watch his work, but didn't move to his side so he would still have a reference for her face. She also tried to remain relatively still for him. He checked and sharpened the pencil. “Your face is perfectly art worthy,” he reassured her. “I do want to sketch you, it’ll be a rather bland sketch but at least we’ll have something to give out if we lose you in Hama Valon because you’re too short.” Avyra rolled her eyes, amused as he began his work. “Honestly, I wish I had practiced more," he pointed out. "I really don’t think I’ll do your face justice." "Well," she teased back. "A simple solution would be to not get me lost in Hama Valon. That's kind of hard to do if I'm following you. You aren't exactly easy to lose." She paused. "Especially if we do end up going to Cairhien at some point together. You're a foot taller than everyone there, maybe even more in some cases." She paused. "I'm one of the some cases. You're too tall. Its unfair. "Besides, I know you can do my face justice. It doesn't take much, honestly. I'm not that good looking of a person." It was true. She didn't think she was pretty, whatsoever. Why anyone would want to draw her was beyond her thought process. Maybe it was because he wanted to sketch a friend?

[Locke]

Terric

Hair was always rather interesting to draw. He wanted to create the illusion of multiple strands of hair without drawing each strand. He needed to show how her hair curled just brushing her shoulders. He considered and added the hint of a shoulder to the drawing. He glanced up at her, “If we go to the Three-fold Land like you keep saying, you might just have to ride on my shoulders.” He touched up the sketch’s eye brows. He had left the eyes blank so far, just lightly sketching vague shapes. He dithered over starting the eyes and instead touched up the mouth. He tried to add a mischievous quirk to her lips but it didn’t really feel right. He couldn’t think of a proper way to explain it.

Still looking at his paper with his eyebrows knit in frustration, he said, “It doesn’t matter if you’re good looking or not. I mean you are, but that’s not the problem. Capturing life. That’s the problem. It’s not something I’ve had to do really. I’m sure if I showed this picture around, everybody would know exactly who it is, but it will still look dead. I want to draw you, not a picture of your face. It sounds like a silly distinction I know, but it matters to me. Maybe I’ll go make a deal with some shades in an abandoned city.” He gave a rueful laugh, “I read a story about an artist who did something like that. He wanted his pictures to be more lifelike. Long story short, they started crawling off the page. One second thought, I probably shouldn’t go looking for mysterious shades.” Oh well, here goes nothing, he thought to himself and began working on the sketch’s eyes. Maybe if I break the problem down. Find a position, texture, color, or something else that relates to each concept I want to portray. So, wide intent eyes for curiosity, slight smile lines for mischief. What about determination and insecurity? Giving abstract concepts physical manifestations wasn’t easy. He would have to pick up some art books.

[Avyra]

He looked frustrated with his work, explainig how while he could draw her face, it still wouldn't be her. It would be dead and lifeless. He wanted to draw her.

She understood. It made sense, the way he explained it.

"Don't worry about it. That's why we practice. I'm sure it looks lovely." She paused, sneaking under his arm to look at what he had done so far. Her eyes lit up.

"Terric! Its wonderful!" She paused with a small frown. "But it lies. I'm not that pretty, am I?" She looked back at him, blinking as she backed back up again as to not crowd him.

"You shouldn't feel bad about it. Trust me, its wonderful. I don't think I've ever met anyone with this skill."

[Locke]

Terric

Maybe one day, Terric would grow used to Wetlanders and their nonexistent ideas of personal space, but today wouldn’t be that day. He felt his face flush slightly as Avyra wriggled under his arm to see his sketch. Terric didn’t think he could be surprised again so soon, but her exclamation of sheer wonder followed by a question of the sketch’s accuracy caught him off guard.

As he replied, she wriggled back from under his arm, aware she had made him uncomfortable. He ignored a quick pang of loss as he answered, “I draw for accuracy. I didn’t embellish this picture at all.” He turned to a blank page, “That’s exactly what I see. You want me to take pride in my drawings? Well, there is something I can do that is rather useful. Describe somebody you know and I’ll do my best to draw them. Care to put a friendly wager on it?”

[Avyra]

Terric's strong features had flushed from her being so close, and she realized with a jolt what she had done wrong. Touching. The Aiel didn't like touching.

Avyra didn't get the chance to reply because Terric beat her to it. “I draw for accuracy." He explained. "I didn’t embellish this picture at all.” He turned to a new page. "That’s exactly what I see. You want me to take pride in my drawings? Well, there is something I can do that is rather useful. Describe somebody you know and I’ll do my best to draw them. Care to put a friendly wager on it?”

That was how he saw her? Avyra looked confused. There was no way. But his next question brought her to think.

"Well, let's see. She's a bit younger than me, Cairhienin. Has long hair, down to her waist almost. Sort of... Light features. Thin nose, thin lips. Still had baby like cheeks. Her hair has a slight wave to it and is dark brown. Her eyes are brown too, and are small and a bit high on her face. She's always smiling and laughing and looks like the light of a room." Her sister.