Nicolae
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Post by Nicolae on Apr 3, 2011 16:48:04 GMT -5
*Nicolae fussed over the details, leaning in to paint and then taking a step back to survey his work. It was a silly thing, really. No one would see the craftsmanship in the flowers he was painting on the backdrop. Well, perhaps the front row. Or two. But still, not something he should be taking the time to stress over. Nevertheless, here he was on his lunch break, helplessly trying to get them right.
An apple perched half-bitten between his lips, his gray eyes narrowed and examined his brushstrokes. The palette rested effortlessly cradled in his other arm, the linen of his work shirt smudged with various colors. The wear of the fabric made his frame all the more apparent underneath, bound back by the leather of his suspenders. Though he had tied back the length of his hair, a few locks had worked free, giving him no end of grief as he tried to work in spite of their distraction.*
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Post by Ghislain on Apr 3, 2011 17:02:43 GMT -5
"You know it really is something of a cosmic joke, what painters look like," came an amused, almost catty observance from an unexpected guest. Ghislain felt it was his business to know who was who about the opera house, and it had certainly come in handy a few times, if by "come in handy" one meant "led to escapades". The painters were an interesting lot to survey, partially because they tended to be accustomed to people watching them paint, though this sometimes was a double-edged sword - it could make them exceedingly hard to provoke at the same time.
This painter, however, looked like an easy target. And if he was painting on his lunch break, he must be in a hurry to finish, so this'll likely agitate him. Ghislain stepped forward unassumingly, hands shoved in his pockets, overly casual. He didn't have rehearsal yet, so there was no need to stay in one place, not that he would have felt obligated otherwise.
"A little funny how painters preoccupy themselves with the making of art and rarely look it. You're about this close to salivating onto that chin of yours, and is that paint in your hair? Tsk."
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Nicolae
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Posts: 115
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Post by Nicolae on Apr 3, 2011 17:11:39 GMT -5
*Nicolae coughed at the sudden sound, nearly dropping the apple from his mouth. He tried to recover it with both hands, which only led to the smearing of paint on his palette and hand and his brow lowered in frustration. Quickly set the palette and brush on the small stool nearby and took the apple from his mouth, bite mark deep in its skin that glistened with saliva. He turned to face the man, ducking his head shyly and wiping at his chin, which of course only smeared paint there as well. Nicolae fussed in frustration, pulling his handkerchief from his pocket to try to fix himself.
It was all he could do to find the most basic French at this point, terribly flustered and blush rising to his cheeks.*
"Pardon. I...sorry. Sorry." *The words were dressed thick in his Romanian accent.*
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Post by Ghislain on Apr 3, 2011 17:21:08 GMT -5
Ghislain ate the entire scene up with his eyes. Well, this was more or less what had been expected, but the show didn't end after the fellow nearly dropped his things - it was just icing on the cake that the painter would afterwards apologize to Ghislain. Clearly, he had found that sort of sensitive soul who would be quick to feel the bite of shame and slow to pin the blame on the man who deserved it for coming in and startling him with impolite comments. It was a promising start.
But of course he noticed the accent. It was something vaguely Slavic. He supposed Slavs might not generally be known for their aesthetic sensibility in terms of clothing. Whenever he tried to conjure up an image of Slavic folk dress in his mind it did not seem suitable to his idea of a dandy. Perhaps being foreign contributed to his quickness to apologize. He might not have understood what Ghislain had said.
"Oh, let me," he said, stepping in and swiping away the handkerchief to wipe off the paint himself.... spitting into it first.
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Nicolae
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Posts: 115
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Post by Nicolae on Apr 3, 2011 17:28:39 GMT -5
*Nicolae recoiled on instinct at the spit-covered handkerchief. The brief frown quickly smoothed for the sake of politeness and he shook his head at the man, glancing between him and the box of supplies in the corner. He struggled to form the proper words.*
"No. Will not..." *His eyes flustered, trying to make an actual sentence.* "The paint...needs...soap." *It was a sad fact that oil paint was most resistant to water in general, so there was little reason for him to suffer this indignity.*
"I have...over there." *He started toward the box in desperation.*
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Post by Ghislain on Apr 3, 2011 17:38:24 GMT -5
"Ahhh, soap, of course." He winked at him jovially and skipped to the supply box. He pulled out a bottle of paint remover and shook it gently, as though waving it to get the painter's attention. "This?"
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Nicolae
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Post by Nicolae on Apr 3, 2011 17:42:29 GMT -5
"Da!" *Nicolae nodded eagerly as he approached the man. Shutting his eyes again, he corrected himself.* "Oui."
*The French was never easy, but he certainly had gotten off on the wrong foot in this conversation. He pointed helplessly to a pile of mostly clean rags behind the box.*
"Please. Thank you." *His ears burned in embarrassment and he couldn't look the man in the face.*
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Post by Ghislain on Apr 3, 2011 17:48:12 GMT -5
Ghislain busily applied himself to the task of getting a clean new rag - one that hadn't seen the inside of his mouth - and putting paint remover on it, then to the far more interesting task of dabbing at the paint now on the artist's face. He was extremely amused by the fact that the man didn't want to look him in face and yet Ghislain was, of course, looking directly at his face. It was unavoidable.
"'Da', hmm? Where's that from?"
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Nicolae
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Posts: 115
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Post by Nicolae on Apr 3, 2011 17:55:45 GMT -5
*Reddening even deeper, Nicolae's shoulders slumped, as if to make himself smaller. Such a feat was rather ridiculous, given his height, but he could not help himself. His gaze fell askew to the floor, biting his lip to buy himself more time. He really didn't want to talk about it. Or at least try to talk about it in broken French with a man that clearly had the upper hand.*
"East." *He whispered the word, heavy lashes shutting in frustration.* "Romania. It is where I am from." *He clarified, though his voice stayed soft.*
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Post by Ghislain on Apr 3, 2011 18:03:28 GMT -5
"Well, yes, one would imagine that you and your accent come from the same place. Paris, that must be new..."
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Nicolae
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Post by Nicolae on Apr 3, 2011 18:07:02 GMT -5
"Yes." *The word held a slightly bitter taste. Paris had been a continued challenge and Nicolae was just thankful he'd managed to find a job and a roof to put over his head. He'd even been lucky enough to meet that Hungarian fellow. But as he stood at the mercy of this Frenchman, all of that seemed to pale.*
"You...are from here?" *He asked gently, trying to move the conversation to something a little less embarrassing.*
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Post by Ghislain on Apr 3, 2011 18:14:49 GMT -5
"Oh, yes, I'm a natural Parisian, if there is such a thing - I'm inclined to think that there isn't, affected as we all are - but as a foreigner I'm sure you'll be a better judge of our nature, won't you?"
Given the man's stilted manner of speaking, it was a bit cruel dragging a sentence out that long, but Ghislain was sure he was too polite to say he minded.
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Nicolae
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Posts: 115
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Post by Nicolae on Apr 3, 2011 18:18:24 GMT -5
*Nicolae was quiet a moment, processing everything the fellow said and doing his best to stay still. Surely he would be done soon, no? He licked his lip briefly, translating an answer as best as he could manage.*
"I am not...I do not think I have enough...experience. I can make not judgments." *Since he'd been here, he'd kept mostly to himself. And most of the time, he was ok with that. It was only occasionally that the loneliness sank in. At least, that was what he kept telling himself.*
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Post by Ghislain on Apr 3, 2011 18:23:41 GMT -5
He wiped off the last of the paint, but the man was too obviously anxious that it seemed as though it would be a crime to let him know it. So he continued to rub dutifully at a clean spot on his jawline.
"Surely you'll stay a little longer, though, at least for my sake. I'm curious to know how I measure up as an example of my city."
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Nicolae
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Posts: 115
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Post by Nicolae on Apr 3, 2011 18:30:35 GMT -5
*Confusion washed over Nicolae's expression as he dared to look to the man's eyes in that moment. Perhaps it was some need for further clarification. He was surprised to find the man's eyes so similar to his own, echoing in cool gray. After holding his gaze for a moment too long, Nicolae's eyes fell again, hiding behind dark lashes.*
"I...do not know how long I should be here." *He answered. In theory he was just here to sell his father's work, but he had no desire to return to the cold of the Carpathians.
It was not as if he knew who this man was at all. He could hardly be expected to compare him to anyone really. He silently prayed the man would be done with his face soon.*
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