Closed A Learning Experience (Penny)

[Asterope]

Pleased with Penny's cooperation, Aster supposed she shouldn't have been surprised that the girl didn't react negatively; given how she had acted thus far, she should have expected the curiosity and the questions. She laughed at the wide-eyed look the girl gave her, preening slightly at the awe in her voice. She was glad that the other girl was so curious. It was nice to meet someone who also had such an interest in the world around them.

She swatted gently at Penny's hand with a wordless exclamation of protest as the girl poked at the scab, but it was playful, and Aster watched with amusement as she explored the now closed wound. "How did you do that?" She begged to know, prompting more giggles from Aster. She hadn't laughed so genuinely and freely with someone else in a long while, and it felt nice.

For something that came as second nature for her to be able to do, it was rather funny to see someone so desperate to know about it; but once again, she admired Penny's curiosity. Not that she would have any issues discussing it anyway, but she was more than happy to explain to the girl.

"I wouldn't say it's healed. You probably still have at least a few days for that, depending on if you take care of it." Aster drummed her fingers on her thigh as she contemplated how to explain something that even she didn't really understand. "I don't know how I do it," she finally admitted honestly. "I've always been able to. I don't think it's magic, really. I think it's..." she trailed off, glancing away. The sun was warm on her head and the crown of her curving horns, gentle and reassuring, just as Syna always had been.

"Well. I think it has to do with where I came from," is what Aster settled on finally saying. She doubted that would appease the girl, and expected more questions; but without being directly prompted, she didn't usually say anything about her previous home in the Ukalas. Talking about it brought up too much pain, and she wondered if it would always be that way.

"I can only do it on small things," she explained, trying to move the topic away from where she had brought it. "It ages things just a little bit. See, look." She plucked a small pink wildflower from the grass near her knee, and held it carefully by its delicate stem so that Penny could see it. Focusing on the thin stem she held, cool beneath the pads of her fingertips, the faint glow reappeared for a brief moment, the familiar buzzing sensation running through Aster's hand.

After it faded, she offered the flower to Penny for inspection. It hadn't changed much, save for the faintest of wilting of the petals; they were slightly limper and beginning to wrinkle just around the edges. "It doesn't work on animals I don't think, and I can't do wounds that are too big. Or rather if I can, it's simply not enough to fix much."

She leaned back on the heels of her palms, watching Penny look over the flower. She wanted to ask about the girl's drawing, but she could practically feel the questions waiting to pour out of her, so she waited instead. Navi wandered back over to the two of them and flopped down heavily in Aster's lap, and the Eth absentmindedly ran one hand over her soft, furry head, playing with her floppy ears as she panted happily, tail making soft swishing noises as it wagged through the grass.

Word Count: 602

"Common" | "Nari" | "Pavi" | Thoughts
"Other People's Speech"

[Penny Noor]

Penny stayed quiet, very very quiet as the Eth started explaining what it is that she had done. Perhaps for the first time ever she stayed really still and quiet and listened respectfully, even though her every instinct wanted to interrupt and ask more questions at every word. If she did though however she knew she wouldn't hear out the entirety of the answer and so very quiet she stayed and listen she did.

She observed as her new friend picked a flower and the same golden light emitted from her hand. She watched how it bathes the edges of the stem, made the colours just a little more saturated. After having been handed the precious herb she spun it around in her fingers, bringing it so close to her eyes that she could smell it’s delicate aroma. Perhaps most ordinary people wouldn't have been able to tell the difference but Penny was no ordinary girl. She had the eyes of an artist that payed attention to every single crevice, every line and shape that befel them.

Her fingertips brushed over the leaves as if to confirm that her eyes were not deceiving her. And indeed they were not. The once plump, juicy triangles have wilted just around the edges and became just that tiny bit softer. She observed new lines that appeared in them when they spent at her touch, like wrinkles in green flesh. She inhaled the pink flower and watched as the air of her nostrils pulled up the petals that would have otherwise stayed perfectly still. She noticed the ever so slight gray and purple hues that appeared right in the centre of the flower, the attachment between the petals and the bulb growing thinner, signalling that soon they would fall off to expose the juicy stigma inside.

"It doesn't work on animals I don't think, and I can't do wounds that are too big. Or rather if I can, it's simply not enough to fix much." said Aster but the words have just about barely managed to break through Penny’s short moment of intense concentration.

“Remarkable…” Penny breathed after a prolonged period of entrancement with the herb.

Finally she pulled her sketchbook out of her bag and placed the flower between the paged, Squeezing it to flatten it before reopening the page once more and drawing it in the new flattened state. It exaggerated the slight ageing of the herb even more as her hands traced all she just witnessed. The little groves, the places where the green skin folded over itself much like wrinkles did when one smiled. Her hands scribbled lightly but energetically into the paper as if lead by some greater power. Penny First mapped out the basic shapes where each leaf went and then added more details to capture the form as well as she could. It wasn’t perfect… but it was pretty damn close. Far better than her usual simplified, stylized drawings. Once she was done, which did not take long for the sketch was just bare bones, no shading, no extra bits that would render it looking more three dimensional, just a well captured outline of each feature of the herb; she looked back to Asterope with a smile.

“It has to be magic of some sort. It’s like a miracle. A small miracle but still a miracle what you did to the flower… and my arm.”

She closed the sketchbook and placed it by her lap as she gathered her simple skirt up and knelt in front of Aster and Navi, placing her palms on her knees. In the delightful, warm breeze of the meadow her hair swayed like the branches of the wisteria tree.

“I do beg your pardon. I’m simply amazed by your gift but that’s not important for now. Do tell me, my new friend, a little more about yourself. For all I know so far is your name and that you have an impressive knowledge of herbs, but that’s hardly enough to know about one’s new friend. And I do admit I’d be much delighted to get to call one such as yourself a friend, Asterope.”

[Asterope]

Aster gave Penny room to work, but her eyes watched the girl's hand move with vivid curiosity; she knew firsthand how frustrating it could be to work while being hovered over, though, so she sat in place until the girl put her pencil down. Only then did she lean forward to peek at the sketch. "Oh, Penny, that's lovely," she marveled; it was a bit rough around the edges, clearly the work of someone still learning and practicing, but beautiful and accurate nonetheless.

"It’s like a miracle. A small miracle but still a miracle what you did to the flower… and my arm." Aster blinked, stunned slightly by just how close to the truth that was; she let out a laugh, but it sounded strange, even to her. It was less humorous and more sad, almost bitter.

"A miracle," she repeated, quietly. "Yes, I suppose it is something like that." Her eyes flickered up in surprise when Penny knelt in front of her, searching the girl's honey shaded eyes, a silent question in them. The small speech, for really it was one, rendered Aster speechless. The girl's words were so genuine despite them having just met.

"You're very sweet. It would be lovely to have you as a friend," Aster said, trying to convey as much sincerity in her tone as she could, for she really did mean it. Strange how sometimes connections just sparked between people, how the potential for friendship or romance or just genuine companionship blossomed so easily. A flash image came into her mind's eye, of two redheaded women sparring, laughing even as they traded blows. One of them she identified as herself, or who she once was.

Was that it? she wondered, as she gazed at Penny and thought back to Nara. Were some connections formed so easily because they were souls that had known each other, been familiar in another life long ago? It was impossible to say, but the thought comforted Aster. To know that souls who loved each other, in any sort of way, sometimes found their way back to each other to be together again. Perhaps one wasn't as alone as they thought.

But Penny had asked her a question, and she was getting wrapped up in her thoughts. She stowed the flash of memory away to examine and consider later, instead focusing once more on the present. Penny had asked Aster to tell her about herself, but she was at a loss as to what to say. It seemed inevitable to touch upon her past, then, since there was so little else to tell.

She didn't remember quite how she had explained herself to the Drykas that took her in those years ago, and even so, she had matured and grown since then. It was still a struggle to put into the proper words, so that Penny would understand and not be too shocked, and to even still keep herself from reliving too many painful memories.

"I'm a child of Syna," Aster finally said, very carefully. She tilted her head to the side, the curling lengths of her aureate horns glittering in the sunlight as if to reinforce her words. "I...fell, from where I was. It's been a very long time since I've walked on the land like this. I'm still very new to it, really," she confessed. Her voice seemed to grow increasingly quiet as she spoke.

There was more she wanted to say, suddenly; so much more, about how much she missed her goddess and the other divine beings that had made up her family, of how she missed the name she could no longer pronounce, of how beautiful home had been. All such human concepts, but the best way she could voice them; but Aster was afraid that if she continued, she wouldn't be able to stop, and she was afraid of the flood of emotions that would come with that. So she forced herself to stop speaking there, watching Penny cautiously for her reaction.

"I'm sorry, I know it must sound very strange." The Eth mustered a smile, but it didn't touch her golden eyes; it was meant to reassure, but it simply made her look sad. She hated becoming so moody and nostalgic in front of others. When such moods struck her, and normally they were at night so it wasn't a problem, she preferred to hide herself away and brood with only Navi to keep her company.

Swallowing, Aster did her best to steer the conversation in an effort to deflect any more prying questions and to take the focus off of the sudden shift in her mood. "But what about you? Where did you learn to draw? You have such a talent." That much was true, at least in Aster's mind. Then again, she hadn't known many artistically inclined people personally.

Word Count: 808

"Common" | "Nari" | "Pavi" | Thoughts
"Other People's Speech"

[Penny Noor]

"You're very sweet. It would be lo the vely to have you as a friend,"

Penny smiled. She wasn’t watching the eth closely at all but after peeking up at her once or twice from her drawings, it was impossible not to notice the sudden shift of mood in her. Something saddening her. She wore the same face Penny had worn every time one would ask her of her family. That longing and… thankfulness for having had those many wonderful memories but their sheer preciousness only digging the degree of realisation deeper to knowing she could make no more. A face of both love and grief all in one - it was the only way she could describe it.

"I'm a child of Syna, I...fell, from where I was. It's been a very long time since I've walked on the land like this. I'm still very new to it, really. I'm sorry, I know it must sound very strange." the Eth spoke as if she didn’t want to speak. And though Penny wanted to know more, to solve the puzzle of uncertainty, she felt it was her duty to respect the other’s unwillingness. Perhaps they shared a pain only one who had lost loved ones would know. That was the only reasonable explanation for Aster’s strange actions that Penny could come up with and so she deemed the matter no longer worthy of pushing.

“It is quite alright. We all sounds strange from time to time.” she smiles reassuringly. Her hand drifted to that of Aster’s and squeezing it before returning to her sketchbook, flicking a few pages ahead.

"But what about you? Where did you learn to draw? You have such a talent."

She sheer amusement at the notion of ‘talent’ made Penny snort. Honestly she didn’t think of herself as someone who was talented. What she could do was the consequence of year and year and years of hard work and still there were those, the same age as her, who could draw almost photorealistically. Those who could paint great, beautiful paintings whose talent she was so very jealous of. Penny didn’t see herself as talented but instead as full of potential. Perhaps the paradox of every artist is that they think their own work was rubbish but they still made more and more and more. Well Penny was something different. She shied away from complements but deep inside believe she was the best thing since sliced bread and would have been truly upset if someone was not to complement her drawings. The wholeness of her ego lingered between one complement and another.

“I’ve been drawings since I can remember. My parents were poor so my mama would give me pencils and paper to occupy myself with when I was too little to be good for much else. She knew a thing of two about it, you see. She was someone with real talent but she never took it any further, never worked on it. I suppose she had no love for it.”

As she spoke she’d turn to the nearest blank page and draw an oval with the momentum of her arm tracing the object in the air before it landed on the paper. Then two quick, crossing lines landed slightly off centre of that circle. One a horizontal and the other a rough vertical to map out the planes. Both hardly straight and very light but they were there just to give a general idea. Penny’s hands then made tiny marks all around the circle, shaping it with every line, every pressing of the pencil around the paper, into a more regimented, but still hardly legible shape. Something definitely looking a little like a jawline emerged at the bottom of it, but the lines at the top that went in and then out again; well no one but P4nny could tell what they were.

“My earliest memory of truly falling in love with all art forms was a visit to the library. You know, the sunken one. Uh I hate that place but the things inside are worth being in water for any period. Mrs Morcer who works there once showed me a certain book that changed the way I viewed the world forever. It was an illuminated manuscript and seeing those gilded letters lined in gold and decorated with icons and flowers… well it was something. You don’t see many of those around anymore. But the real deal, the ones painted up with illusions that make the ivy borders sway in the wind and little creatures dance when you look at them… it’s far more beautiful than anything you would see in the real world. Even this place.” Penny gestured around as she spoke, to the meadow they were in. “Alvadas has the best artists for a reason. I merely wish to join their ranks one day… one day. It’s a good job you know and it’s safe. And you get to wear pretty dresses and meet with dignified clients. It’s hard work but I’d still have it over building or dock work or cleaning. At least it feels like I’m accomplishing something, working towards something greater than myself, not just wasting time scrubbing floors. I’ve got something to show for all the time I spent doing it.”

She drew two circles across the horizontal line, an equal distance apart each size of the vertical. One completely round, the other squashed. And inside them she drew two almonds that slowly with delicate mark making took the form of eyes and eyelids and brows that crowned them. Moving down to the nose she started with another upturned circle and a few lines around it to mark where the shape of it separated from the rest of the face. With a little point shading and care it soon took a hint of a three dimensional appearance. And last were the lips which Penny heavily stylized to look even more feminine than a real woman’s lips would be and fuller and more delicate. Very slowly the face appearing from the paper would resemble that of Aster’s but not perfectly for Penny wasn’t looking at the woman when drawing her. She looked only at the paper and so the drawing as of her memories of the friend that sat beside her. A more heavily stylised and illustrated version and perhaps an idolised, perfected one.

[Asterope]

Aster blinked in surprise, her gaze flickering down to where Penny's hand had reached out to rest lightly on hers with a gentle squeeze. It was retracted before she could react, she was so caught off guard. It was a small but simple gesture, and even though the girl couldn't possibly understand what she was going through, the show of support filled Aster with a sudden rush of fondness for her companion.

She seemed amused by Aster's question, though the Eth couldn't pinpoint why exactly; but when Penny began to talk, she listened intently. Her eyes flickered back and forth from her face to her hands as she began to sketch something. Curiosity itched in her chest, but Aster refrained from trying to peer over Penny's shoulder, not wanting to be rude. Instead she settled for whatever glimpses she could catch when the sketchbook was angled lower.

The artist's voice grew passionate as she spoke; it showed how much she loved what she did, and Aster admired it. While judging by her words Penny seemed more enamoured by the prospect of status, she understood the deep-seated desire to do something better than herself; after all, it was part of the reason why she was so invested in the healing arts.

She was beginning to see a bit of a kindred spirit in Penny, and it was both fascinating yet terrifying for someone as herself who both craved company yet often didn't want it. To see parts of herself echoed in someone else, someone so completely and utterly human at that, it was both elating and disconcerting.

Penny eventually stopped talking, and silence descended over the clearing. Beside her, Navi was chewing at the long blades of grass. Asterope continued to watch Penny draw, occasionally plucking blades of grass herself to twirl between her fingers and then strip apart, but finally she could no longer contain herself. "What are you drawing?" She asked, trying to sound nonchalant but probably failing, trying to catch another glimpse of the paper.

"Common" | "Nari" | "Pavi" | Thoughts
"Other People's Speech"

[Penny Noor]

Her hardened charcoal glided across the paper oh so very lightly to for the faintest of lines. A bowed curve that soon became a shoulder, although a little far out of proportion. Penny licked her finger and smudged some of the mistake out, bringing the anatomy a little closer. A thicker line to create the illusion of correct anatomy. Then her hand performed a quick, jagged motion to create the implied texture of dress ruffles in the paper.

The muffled slurping of Navi’s gnawing on the vegetation, mixed with the wind provided quite the calming ambience to this artistic endeavour. Although truthfully it almost omitted Penny’s ears as she shrouded herself in concentration over the portrait. It took a prolonged moment for Aster’s insistence on seeing the work to be acknowledged, during which Penny’s fingers finalised some of the line, soft shading and texture cross hatching that all came together to become the features of the beautiful Eth. Then she put down the charcoal by her feet and turned the sketchbook towards her friend, hiding her face behind it a little to obscure a goofy grin.

“You have three guesses.” she announced playfully, even though the drawing did indeed resemble Aster quite competently.

[Asterope]

Here are your bright, shiny grades...
Enjoy!

Asterope

Skills

☀Observation +2
☀Socialization +3
☀Botany +1
☀Foraging +1
☀Running +1

Lores

☀Alvadas: Doesn't like to let people leave
☀The Garden of No Return: Known for people going missing
☀Asterope: Not quite human
☀People: Penny Noor
☀The Garden of No Return: Once called something different
☀Penny: Talks a lot
☀Penny: An artist
☀The Garden of No Return: Full of plants and herbs
☀Fauxsil: Can be used in an infusion to help sleep
☀Running: Chasing a runaway dog
☀Medicine: The longer a wound stays open, the more likely infection is
☀Penny: Wants to be friends
☀Aster: Both craves and fears getting close to others
☀Penny: A kindred spirit

Penny Noor

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