902/Lost Paintings

Lost Paintings
Date of Scene:	19 December 2023
Location:	Club Building
Synopsis:	Anna and Veronica meet in the Art Club! Art is discussed! So is food!
Cast of Characters:	Anna Domenico, Veronica Perenna

---

Anna Domenico has posed:
Anna Domenico was in a buzz earlier in the day. Anna Domenico! The famous Italian landscape and still life painter was going to be attending Radiant Heart Academy. Thusly, she had a crowd around her as she arrived in the art club and did a small work for everyone and there was clapping and--- that was over now.

Anna Domenico was now working in silence and finally mostly alone save for the few students that we're working on their own late projects. She sighed a little as she brushed a hand up across her face as she put down her pencil and took a too long sip of water. "Mannaggia." she'd say to herself as she stared at the canvas. It was a busy second day at the school, she'd only arrived yesterday.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
Veronica is one of those students a few seats over working on their project. She happens to be working on a painting too, but she is doing it on a double-mesh linen canvas with painting and spools at her side. The brunette is currently applying colours to form the base for her actual work, an embroidered still-life conpositions with fruits and vases.

The pan-European girl, as she has jokingly been called by another student once, is surprised to hear another girl swear in Italian, and it is with a curious gaze that she makes her way over after leaving her work behind.

"Hello!", she cordially smiles. "Is everything all right? I couldn't help but hear you swear and wondered if you needed help."

Anna Domenico has posed:
Anna Domenico looks up as she 'ehs'? and 'ohs' in rapid succession. "I am just tired. Don't mind me. It's been a busy two days, arriving and settling into a new school." she says with a little smile. "I don't need help, just a break. You're welcome to help with that, of course." she holds out her hand for a shake, when she pauses and withdraws it. "Right. they don't. Do that here."

She instead, bows in her stool as she then introduces herself. "Anna Domenico." she says. "I see you're in the art club, too. What is your name?" she asks. "I'm a transfer from Italy."

Veronica Perenna has posed:
Veronica extends her hand when Anna pulls back hers. So what if they don't don't that here? She used to have that habit herself, and it doesn't hurt to pick that custom back up since they would both practice it in another situation.

She nods in understanding when Anna mentions being tired from settling here. First days are harsh like that. "That sounds rough, transfering really sucks your energy."

Whether or not her handshake is accepted, she pulls the hand back after a while and introduces herself. "I am Veronica Perenna, nice to meet you. Moved in here from England a while back. How was Italy faring before you moved here?"

She extends the other girl a protein bar as a pick-me-up for her tiredness, her face shining as she starts talking about art. "Yep, I am about to embroider a still-life composition. What about you, what are you doing?" she asks, peeking at Anna's canvas.

Anna Domenico has posed:
Anna Domenico will accept the handshake if Veronica does not seem to mind it. She still needs to get used to Japan's language and customs. "Yeah, transferring can be pretty rough." she says. "Getting used to everything new, but eh, I'm taking it mostly on stride." she says.

"Veronica, then, Italy was alright. But my education opportunities we're becoming limited." she says. She'll accept the protein bar and place it to the side for now as she drank her water.

"Landscape tracing for now, before I paint." she says. Indeed, a little newspaper cut out of a landscape taped to the corner she was using as a base.

"Embroider, eh? Isn't that with... the sewing?" she asks. "Into the canvas?" she asks.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
Taking it in stride sounds good, lots of things to get used to. Though admittedly that also earns a perplexed look. Surely she is not tackling everything at once, right? She shouldn't jump to conclusions yet, though.

"Your education opportunities?" Veronica repeats. She is admittedly not very informed on that particular subject. Should she take that to mean the education over there is lacking, or on the contrary, Anna has exhausted everything? At least on her chosen subject, she thinks as she whistles impressed. "You have learnt absolutely everything about art, I presume? That's quite amazing. What are you practising now?"

When it comes to her own work, Veronica smiles and winks. "It's a pleasure meeting a fellow artist", she tells Anna. "And yep, I specialise in embroidery, so decorative designs over sewing items, though I can do the latter too." With a quick, fluid movement, she picks her canvas up and shows it to Anna. "I am currently painting the background, then I will embroider vases and fruits over it."

Anna Domenico has posed:
"I've studied as much as I could in Italy. It's time to branch out." she says, politely as she can as an answer. It's a lie of course. She's in Japan to hunt for a few things and they all related back to the one family enemy. But she isn't about to spout that. "So I'm here in Japan to find new locales to paint, techniques to study, and such things like that."

She looks over to Veronica's art and places a hand on her chin and considers it. "Looks good enough." she says. "But I don't like critiquing other's arts." she admits.

"Since usually, I'm studying and working at a much higher level anyways." she admits sheepishly.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
"Yep, that checks out, a change of perspective does wonders", Veronica exclaims in agreement. "I needed a change of air too, and had heard lots about RHA's new reputation, then enrolled here back in September. What are you going to do first?"

Of course, that it happened at approximately the same time Hallward's famous painting "The Moonlit Phantom" was stolen back in England is totally a coincidence, as is the fact that Japan happened to gain lots of precious relics at about the same time.

"We could totally trade tips, if you would prefer", Veronica suggests after Anna mentions branching out. They do have different methods, after all. "Much like coming here at RHA, someone else's perspective can do wonders to make you excel over yesterday's you." Then again, that's a bit complicated when you work through different mediums.

The brunette beams excitedly when Anna expresses her opinion. "Oh, I think I should totally have you see the finished work. Once I am done with the background and the paint has dried, that's when I start working on the star of my art, the embroidery." It requires lots of patience and finesse, but she has been practicing that since very early on, and is quite proud of that years-long practice.

Anna Domenico has posed:
Anna Domenico nods a little. "Yes, a change of perspective helps a lot." she says. "It's why I went through with moving to Japan after all." she says. She knows vaguely about famous art thefts, in her business. She has to. She heard about them.

"Oh, sure, we can trade tips." she says finally opening the protein bar and taking a big bite out of it, chewing and swallowing as she considers. "What do you use for the paint? Water color? Oils? Something else?" she asks, adjusting her glasses as she tries to get a better look at Veronica's art piece.

"Yeah, but that's gonna take a while, right? Like, the Embroidery?" she asks. "When do you think it'll be done? A few days, or shorter?" she asks as she moves long pink hair away from her face.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
"An upside of choosing this school is that people are really outgoing here. If you ever need help, you barely even have to turn your head to find someone willing to lend a hand", she points out. It's very unlikely for somebody to regret their choice to come here, whether they are actually here for the school or not, she thinks amused by the string of coincidences.

"Though, the streets on the other hand aren't really safe", she comes up with a warning. "Lots of assaults and unfortunate incidents like fires or group cases of frostbites, so when in doubt, head to the school. Have you rented a flat nearby or do you live in the dorms?" There is no doubt as to which option Veronica considers preferable.

And Anna agrees to share tips, to Veronica's satisfaction. "When it comes to my subset of art, I prefer using soft or acrylic paint. They mix better with fabric. On the occasion I am working on a normal painting, I prefer oil paint. I find it overall more durable than the others. What do you use?"

She eyes her product as she works out the reply for Anna. "Something medium like this is going to take me 4-5 hours, so at worst I will be done in two days. I rarely have the time to do everything in a single sitting."

Anna Domenico has posed:
Anna Domenico nods. "It's turning out that way so far." she says as she offer a lopsided smile a little, "I'm meeting nice people so far. Hopefully..there is not a lot of bullying going on at this school?" she asks.

"Oh. I would'nt worry about myself. I can take care of myself." she insist when she says the streets may be dangerous. She probably isn't understanding the subtext of 'because there's magical beings and creatures and badguys out there', but to be fair... she isn't worried about that either.

"I use oil. It was good enough for Da Vinci, it's good enough for me, you know?" she says. "Ah, I can imagine other paints might. Eat through the fabric over time? Miscolor them?" she says as she asks as she huhs.

"Well, I'll look forward to it in a few days then!"

When asked about her living situation, she replies. "I live in a dorm. Better to be on campus." she asides. "This place has a lot of amenities, but I'll be exploring the city soon enough." she says.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
Veronica shakes her head. "As far as I am aware, it's completely free from bullying. The worst thing we get is the occasional disagreement, and that's it." Though, admittedly, the magical side does make those disagreements a tad more complicated since students from both sides live here.

The statement about Anna being able to take care of herself does make Veronica raise her brow in surprise. Is she actually telling the truth or does she just think she is? Her confident tone at least paints her as pretty assured in her own abilities. After a look at the older girl, Veronica just smirks "Welcome to the club then. Not just the art club, I mean. Seems like RHA attracts the type of people who have no problem managing those incidents."

The brunette will certainly do her best to show her finished work with pride. "What about you? What's your typical time frame?", she inquires.

"Oil paint isn't really recommended on fabric because it spoils it and also gets cracked easily. Soft paint that doesn't get cracked is pretty much a must to me. But Leonardo certainly had it right for his paintings, no sense contradicting a master of his craft."

"If you want, we could go together. Chatting with you is fun, and I know some places where the food is good", Veronica enthusiastically offers. If Anna agrees to this, Veronica will also propose a number exchange.

Anna Domenico has posed:
Anna Domenico just says. "I'm used to rough areas." she asides to the talk about 'incidents'. It seems it's not something she wants to dwell on for too long yet. She does seem more relaxed about the lack of bullies. Good. Good, she thinks.

"As for my usual time frame, It can be a feww hours to a whole week to a whole month. Depends how much detail and time I put into it. The ones I do for months can go for a good chunk of money, so I do those once a month, and work on more private pieces in between." she says.

"Do you sell your work, Veronicq?" she asks. She ahs. "So oil will mess with the fabric...I'll remember that." she says as she huhs?

"Oh, food, sure, food is fine." she says. She'll hold up her phone from her pocket and exchange numbers easily with Veronica. "And sure, let's go, lemme just pack up my things, alright?" she asks.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
Veronica doesn't know how to take the info that Anna is used to rough areas, but she at least has enough common sense to tell her it's not her place to pry, even if her instinct would tell her to ask.

And Anna goes in quite a lot of details about the time she allocates for things, which does distract her curiosity. Though then, seeing the splendor that has to be one of months-long paintings is enough to rekindle it. Maybe she will get the opportunity one day.

"A good chunk of the time, I do my art for myself or as a gift", the embroiderer starts answering. Her family typically gives her everything. It does mean that her parents cutting her money off for one reason or another hasn't phased her much. "But I do sell some of my artwork frequently enough, especially after coming here."

Veronica starts packing her own stuff in response. "That's perfect, I think you will enjoy it a lot", she says radiating happiness. She knows just the place. "I will show you a place called Korma Chameleon."