Strokes of Genius, Thursday (October 29)

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

Katchoo's mood, as she opened the store today, managed to be simultaneously better and more grim than it had been yesterday. For the second she blamed pretty much the last couple of days but more immediately the class she'd just had.

For the first she mostly blamed Arthur. Emphasis on the word choice of 'blame' there.

However well-placed or not that might be, she was at least managing to sketch today, even if the page she was filling up consisted of a largely abstract design, all sharp angles and abrupt turns and heavy shading with the softest charcoals. The poor counter was going to be a mess by lunchtime, at this rate.

See, this was why there was a sink and that industrial-strength Goop soap in back.

[OOC: I'm trying to make the OCD stay home and tend to my stoves in Cafe World. Post is of course open, or will be once I get back online in about an hour.]

Comments

[intraspective]

Ino breezed into the shop, hot chocolate in hand and totally stole an edge of the counter to perch on.

"Yo," she said.

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

"Ninja-girl," Katchoo replied, not quite through a haze of charcoal dust but close. "Got your gift yesterday."

[intraspective]

Ino gave her a wide-eyed glance, then sighed.

"Not much point in sneakin' when the squirrels know all, I guess," she answered.

As if the gift hadn't been totally obvious, really.

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

"Oh, yeah." Katchoo allowed her a small smirk. "Actually it took me about four hours to go through the list of all the people I have conversations about nightlights with and then narrow it down, y'know . . ."

[intraspective]

"I feel sorry for all those you inflict such conversations on then," she quipped with a toss of her head. "I just figured it might be fun, that's all."

Or something like a well wish. Ino didn't know.

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

"It is. So, uh . . . thanks." And it'd come in handy once she thought there was a decent chance of either of 505's inhabitants being able to sleep again. "Feelin' sorry for yourself, then? Didn't think that was your style."

[intraspective]

"Definitely feeling sorry for myself," she said, with a laugh and a sip of her drink. Which was even true. "I just don't normally advertise it, no. That's too much like whining and then I get annoyed with myself. Also, it's kinda dumb, when you've already acknowledged the issue, done what you could, and then... what? Just sulk 'bout it for eons? Boooring."

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

Ahem. Yes. Not that Katchoo knew a thing about sulking for eons or anything -- shut up, Arthur.

She absently smudged at a bit of charcoal on the page with her thumb. "So what then? Go blow things up?" Or set them on fire. Definitely cathartic.

[intraspective]

Ino had a grin a bit.

"Yesterday helped," she said, "I got to infiltrate a place for class. That was cathartic for me, doing something I'm good at."

And she'd gotten to murder Danger Shop-people. Ino called that a win. Cathartic and yet no one got hurt. Win all around!

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

And here Katchoo was feeling a bit of regret at only getting to destroy that screwed-up place inside someone's mind, and not for real. (Granted, it would've been harder to get hold of the supplies on the fly for real, but.)

"Don't get to do what you're good at often enough around here, do you?"

[intraspective]

Ino snickered, but not because that was really funny.

"Half of what I'm really good at," she answered, setting her drink down. "I'm not allowed to do here." She wasn't talking about the Fight Club issues either. Those powers she could totally use elsewhere.

"The other half, hell all of it really, but I'm not even supposed to practice the first bit--there's no call for it. No one needs a spy and saboteur here."

Or an assassin. But, well.

"So it's kinda--awesome, when I get to."

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

A good chunk of what Katchoo was good at was stuff she didn't want or need to do any more, so . . .

"Picking up a hobby on the side isn't an option then, I'm guessing."

World's best conversationalist here, seriously.

[intraspective]

"I've got my flowers," she said, smiling at that. Oh, Katina. "And I've got more than enough things to study. I'm busy enough. I just don't get to do what I'm good at much, so it's a bit depressing sometimes."

Ino rubbed at her eyes and resolutely had more hot chocolate.

"I don't got much that's good for the casual power show and tell this place is sometimes, which is a dumb thing to be fussed about, but everyone's always talking." And Ino was totally just complaining about whatever came to mind now. "I can heal, but that's not--what I do, if that makes any sense."

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Dinah was on her way back from shopping for groceries to make lunch, and stopped outside the store, considering for a minute, before going in. "Hey," she said to Katina, wandering down an aisle, then back. "How's it going?"

Checking up on her? No!

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

Yeah, sure she wasn't. Because they hung out and did each other's nails and crap like that all the time.

"Fine," Katchoo answered. Ignore the charcoal-coated fingers and the general, er, darkness of the abstract shape on the page in front of her. "You pickin' up art now, too, Lance? Where do you fit that in your schedule?"

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"In between the mosaic for the dorm roof and the plans to stuff a thousand pillows with discarded flamingo feathers," Dinah told her gravely, stopping to actually consider an art pad for a second. "You know, you do that for a thousand pillows, and the flamingos spell out your name in the sky." She glanced at Katina's work, considering it for a second, but didn't comment on it. "Since I don't actually need to sleep that much."

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

"Uh huh." Katchoo gave her the briefest questioning glance, at that last comment. "You have a need to get your name spelled out in the sky or something?"

And yet here she was, sticking to the inconsequential topics.

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"If I do that, then somewhere, somehow, fifteen underprivileged kids get to go to Turkey. Plus, I need a photo of a flamingo formation for my scrapbook." Dinah grinned at her, then wandered over to the crayons. "But I need to chill out from that, so I was thinking crayons. You have to pace yourself. Right?"

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

"Long as you're not trying to eat 'em. There's no sugar in there." Katchoo shook her head. How the hell did Dinah do this perky thing so well all the time? Just thinking about it was draining. "When you say pace yourself, do you mean 'breakneck,' by any chance?"

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Years and years of faking normal for practice. And usually it worked!

"Awwww. And sure, why not?" Dinah looked over at her, and her expression was still frivolous, but her voice wasn't. "I mean, exhaustion and collapse, that works until--" She was quiet. "Well, until my brain's calmer. After a while." She grabbed the 128 colors box, and put it down on the counter. "Which paper for crayons?"

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

"Crayon experts have yet to come to a consensus on that," Katchoo informed her, her own voice softening just a touch. "Mostly 'cause crayon experts don't tend to write books or do PBS specials or whatever about paper choices. Not my medium anyway; pick whichever you damn well feel like."

"Didn't see you," she added, pausing with one hand over the cash register. "Where we were."

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"Heh." Dinah smiled at the crayon commentary, then picked a huge pad with soft paper, and put it next to the crayons on the counter. "And look, I'll have supplies the next time I turn into a kid. Or when they show up."

She paused, then said, "We were back at Karla's home. Glacia. Which didn't sound anywhere near as bad as where you guys were, but." She made a face, trying to think of what to say. "It was like a cross between a really bad frat party and a wild west movie. With no sheriff or Man With No Name in sight."

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

"You said frat party. Bad enough far as I'm concerned," Katchoo decided, carefully keeping the conversation as far as she could away from things that might lead to questions of the 'So hey, I noticed you left your dinner all over the floor?' variety. "Jesus. Next time I decide to take a trip like that I'm reading the brochure first."

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Dinah made a face. "Yeah. I knew what it might be like. Karla's said stuff." She was quiet a moment, then said, "And you went in without asking. Heck, without being asked."

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

"No, Francine went without being asked. I wasn't letting her go without me." Katchoo glanced away briefly, then back. The next thing she said, she'd always known, but Ethics had made it pretty damn clear. "I'm not one of you guys, with the heroics and ideals and all that jazz."