Strokes of Genius, Thursday

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

The first thing Katchoo did when she got to work today was stick a sign up on the door:

The Butcher Shop is on Unicorn Street.

Today's music of choice was a mix of Ani DiFranco and David Bowie, and Katchoo was sketching away feverishly in her sketchbook. If you got close enough to examine her drawings, they'd all happen to be of the same person. Idealized and pretty sensual drawings, but the female figure might be recognizable nonetheless.

Katchoo was a little zoned in on her work today, which would explain her flushed cheeks and slightly dazed expression.

[OOC: And I'm singing now because my tear ducts are too tired, and my OCD is disconnected but my post is . . . open.]

Comments

[thatsamilkshake]

A female figure - coincidence, no? - pushed the shop door open, but unlike most days, she wasn't carrying food. She was wearing a raincoat and a permanent flush, and carrying a bag of clothes.

"Help. Me." she pleaded, slamming the bag down on the counter. Then her forehead.

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

Funny how quickly Katchoo abandoned the sketchbook -- leaving it open, with all those pictures of a figure that looked oddly a lot like Francine, funny that, clearly visible.

"Francie?" God, she was glad she'd taken the time to scrub that counter down thoroughly yesterday. And today. If any offending stray bit of congealed bit of deer blood got onto Francine's skin, Katchoo was going to hunt that . . . poor dead deer down and . . . something. She'd do something. But it was a moot point now anyway!

"Francine, honey? What's wrong?"

[thatsamilkshake]

Francine lifted her head up and wailed, "I can't get it off!" And after today, she frankly wasn't about to trust anybody but Katchoo to help her with that.

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

Katchoo's mind wandered bad places there, yeah, but she was used to dealing with that while dealing with an upset Francine. She wished she was more used to it, because it was distracting today, wow.

"Can't get what off?" She was tugging at the raincoat now, freaking out just a little by which we mean "just a little where Francine is concerned," by which we mean a lot. "Did you get hurt? What happened? Do I have to kill someone?"

[thatsamilkshake]

"No--" Well, there were some confusing boys-stalking-off issues, but not actual hurt. "-- class, no, this!" she answered in reverse order, ending by throwing open her raincoat.

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

"Good $^#!ing god, Francine!"

That was not the scandalized howl or enraged bellow you'd normally expect to hear from Katchoo at this particular moment; it was a slack-jawed, nearly glassy-eyed, half-breathed expression of pure gaping hello there.

All the same reaction, three hundred percent more blatantness than usual, really.

[thatsamilkshake]

"I know!" Except there was that look on Katchoo's face that wasn't holy crap what are you WEARING, cover yourself before you poke an eye out but something else. So maybe she didn't know. Confused, she went with acting like it was the other thing. "This isn't what I drew!"

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

"It's --"

A moment, if you will, while Katchoo stopped gaping and remembered she could talk.

"I have never wanted cupcakes so bad before in my life."

She wasn't actually drooling, but oh, it was close.

[thatsamilkshake]

"Oh God, me too." That...didn't come out right. Like really didn't come out right, because while Francine totally wouldn't turn down cupcakes, it wasn't cupcakes that she'd never wanted more in her life, not today. The cupcakes were a lie.

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

"You look . . ." Katchoo wasn't usually this blatant about looking Francine up and down; namely, most of the time there was no lip-licking. Sure, it was just the tiniest flick of the tip of her tongue against her lips, but she usually hid at least that much.

Funny how she had to lift her hair and pull it away from the back of her neck to get some air back there, because wow, was it warm in here. And yeah, she knew exactly why.

"That's the hottest damn thing I've ever seen in my life."

[thatsamilkshake]

"It is kind of hot," Francine agreed. "'Cause it's so tigh--" She stopped. Was it physically possible to flush a deeper shade of red? "That's not what you meant."

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

"Well, the tightness definitely has something to do with it," Katchoo said, still looking with the kind of focused intensity that would mortify her on most other days. (Most. Not all.)

[thatsamilkshake]

The kind of focused intensity that was making Francine uncomfortable in ways she really didn't want to examine. "It's really...clingy." Because that would help.

[formerbrat.livejournal.com]

Elspeth had been feeling restless lately. Maybe having a potter's wheel to work with again would help settle those feelings?

After handwavily asking around a bit, she found out that the art store was likely to be the best place to buy the supplies she needed.

"Hello," she said, coming into the store. "Do you sell potter's wheels here?"

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

Did that movie have to come to mind right away? Really, did it? Katchoo caught herself humming a few bars of "Unchained Melody" before she remembered to respond. "The small ones, yeah." She paused and shook her head hard, trying to clear it. "If you're looking for one of the really big ones we'd have to get it special ordered for you though. Something that size is tricky to fit in here."

Geez. The words. Why?

[formerbrat.livejournal.com]

"Oh, small would be fine. Anything large would just be uncomfortable." Why did that sound funny? "Since I'm planning to set it up in my dorm room," she explained.

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

"Pottery's not my thing," Katchoo said, heading down one aisle toward the relevant supplies, "but from what I've heard from other people you can still do pretty good work with the small ones, long as you know what you're doing. Don't need some giant monster-sized one to get the job done."

Wow, she wished she wasn't painfully aware of being ridiculously unqualified to talk about this on more than one level.

[formerbrat.livejournal.com]

Elspeth followed her down the aisle. "The wheel is just a tool," she nodded. "It's what you do with your fingers that makes the difference."

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

Now this she felt qualified to talk about. "Definitely," Katchoo agreed. "Long as you know exactly how to use your hands the accessories aren't really all that important, are they?"

Not that she wasn't a fan of innuendo on any day, really, but wow, what was with today?

[formerbrat.livejournal.com]

"That's where all the skill is," Elspeth said. "I'm no master potter, but I think my fingers can shape some small bits of art."

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

Katchoo allowed herself a slight smirk as she pointed out several models of compact pottery wheels. "Skill's not the only thing that counts anyway. If you enjoy what you're doing, that's the big thing, innit?"

[formerbrat.livejournal.com]

"Exactly," Elspeth said. "This is something I do to relax."

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

Katchoo made a nonverbal sound of slightly smug agreement. "Amazing how much relaxation you can get all on your own, working with your hands, huh?"

[formerbrat.livejournal.com]

"I prefer being by myself sometimes," Elspeth said, oblivious to any double meanings. "I don't have to worry about anyone's expectations that way."

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

Katchoo was having too much fun with this. If Elspeth had no idea what she was saying, that was just a bonus.

"Less pressure that way, huh? Makes things a lot easier sometimes."