1726/Letting go...

Letting go...
Date of Scene:	05 July 2024
Location:	Club Building
Synopsis:	Hinoiri tries to understand... painting. For relaxation. Fortunately, Michiru is more than happy to step forward and offer her some advice. Hinoiri is a little surprised to find out the girl knows much about painting, though. How little she knows...
Cast of Characters:	Hinoiri Kirara, Michiru Kaiou

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Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara was in the art room, a paintbrush in hand. There was a flower across the room which she was, obviously, painting.

It was... not going well. Oh, no, the picture she was painting was magnificent. The problem being... she was trying to do this to relax. To release pent up energy.

But all she could think about was how the picture wasn't perfect. The lines weren't juuuust right. Stupid hands. All things considered, she was doing a pretty incredible job. The painting of the flower was almost entirely realistic for what it was.

Then again, she did a lot of ritual circles and things like that. Images were easy for her to draw, it was characters, her handwriting, that was atrocious. But that was more because, in the end? She didn't... really... care.

Her handwriting was, generally, just for HER to see. So what did it matter if it was illegible? Speed over function, in that case.

But, as always, perfectionism was striking again and her little 'relax' attempt was anything but. How did anyone find... this... to be fun, anyway?

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
    Michiru Kaiou had been practicing in the music room with some other members of the Music Club, but it was time to head home. As she passed by the art room, she noticed there was someone inside. A rather unexpected someone. Someone whom she was sure had been having a rough time lately, even though she knew nothing of specifics. But most importantly, someone she'd never seen in the art room before. She was curious.

    "Hinoiri-chan, what a delightfully unexpected surprise," she says just as soon as she's in through the door. "Did you decide to take up painting now that you've freed up all that time you spent doing evil?"

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara glanced up at Michiru. For a moment, she felt relief. Oh, good. At least it was one person who didn't know she--

"And of bucking course you sparkle," Hinoiri said bitterly, focusing back on the painting. "World renowned violinist by day, probably... I don't know... Cure Violin by night or something." She did, however, sigh after a moment. "Sorry for ummm... attacking your concert that one time. For what it's worth, I wasn't trying to mess up your show or anything. I was... just..." Being bitter because she had, for once, tried to be 'nice' and had been told the place was already sold, so she had to deal with it? She.... was NOT the best person. Oof.

"... Yeah, painting seemed to be a better use of my energy than destroying the world."

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
    Michiru walked across the room, setting her bag and violin case down on one of the desks. Normally she stowed her violin in her senshi space but since she'd come here for Music Club she needed to be seen carrying it. She kept on moving around behind Hinoiri to look at what she was painting.

    She stood behind the flame-haired girl with one hand at her chin, leaning back and just looking at Hinoiri and the painting. She was very clearly observing. Judging. It didn't sound like Hinoiri knew she was also a world-class painter. This was going to be fun.

    She gestures toward the painting. "You've done a good job putting that flower down on the canvas," she says. "Very technically precise. Clearly this isn't your first time painting." But then her lips twist and she says. "But your shoulders are so tight they're practically touching your ears. I wonder why you're so tense, painting should be relaxing, if you're doing it right."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara tensed up a little more when she felt herself being judged. Of course she was being judged. When was she not? If she didn't want to be judged, maybe she could like... try not destroying the world almost.

She relaxed a little bit at the praise. "Yeah, a lot of my prior work required a lot of precision. Drawing that kind of stuff actually carries over rather well."

Then, however, she tensed right up again. Gritting her teeth. Deep, slow breath. She was sure Michiru wasn't... trying to be... condesending. Right?

"Yeah. I've heard that. Apparently it's supposed to help you let out frustration or whatever. I... don't really see how, but I figure if I do it enough times I'm bound to be... less stressed. Right? At least, I'm hoping it works that way."

It, does not, in fact work that way. "Just having some trouble getting the stem there to curve just right, since the flower kind of has that small little indent, but the brush isn't really... narrow enough to do it precisely."

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
    Michiru smirks, but it's really more of a smile if you look up at her eyes. It turns into a smile real fast as she laughs. "You sound just like me when I first started painting," she says with a knowing shake of her head. "If you want to get it perfect, get a camera. This is painting not photography."

    She turns and walks over to grab another easel and drag it over to be right next to Hinoiri's. "Art is all about emotion, Hinoiri. Whether you know it or not, you're recording your feelings on that canvas with every stroke." She walks over to get a blank canvas and brings it back over. "I can tell you're really stressed out, Hinoiri-chan. Your strokes are all so heavy. It's no wonder your shoulders are so tense."

    She goes about getting a palette and then walks over to her bag to pull out a case filled with paint brushes. "Mind if I use your paints?" She doesn't wait and starts squeezing some out onto her palette, as she sits down in front of her easel. "So the first thing you want to do is relax. I like to do that by squeezing my shoulders up to my neck as tightly as I can for ten seconds, then letting them relax. You try it with me, I bet you'll feel better."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara blinked a few times and then flushed. "W-well, yeah, what of it? What's the point if it's not perfect?" she asked, then cringed. "Sorry, right. I know I'm supposed to try and... stop... that."

She listened, though. Emotion? "Oh... I don't... really see... huh. You can really tell that just from how I've been painting?"

Well, and having spent a few seconds with her.

"Go right ahead. Huh..." she mumbled. She watched the other girl working. And well, Michiru could likely see it in her eyes. She was studying her. Memorizing her. Adopting the mind of a student in this case, memorizing all she could to try and better absorb whatever Michiru was about to teach her. "Squeeze my shoulders up, huh..." she mumbled, before trying it. Holding them up and up and up...

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
    Michiru did the same. She quietly counted from one to ten as she squeezed her shoulders tighter and tighter, then again as she held them, then she said, "Alright. Now, go ahead and relax more and more." She counts from one to ten again, relaxing her shoulders as she goes. Finally she gives a little roll of her head and then smiles.

    "Okay, now, I'm going to paint a flower. But I'm not going to try and make it perfect. The flower itself is not perfect. Look at it. Do you see how some of the petals are starting to curl? What we want to capture is the idea of this flower. The feelings it evokes when we look at it."

    She turns and opens up her brush case and then pulls out a fairly fine brush. "It also helps to have a variety of brushes," she says with a laugh. "If you find you like painting once you've got the hang of it, you should invest in a good set for yourself." She dips the brush in some dark green and boldly puts a stroke to the canvas, and then a couple more. Little leaves off the stem.

    "See? It's not exactly the same, but it looks good," she says. It looks exactly the same. What's she talking about?

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara would try doing the exercise, as directed. "Yeah, the curling petals, the little dent, the little loss of coloration on the third petal from the top."

She did, however, glanced back towards the painting.

It was interesting, how Michiru made it look so... easy. Like she didn't measure every single image of the flower, trying to make sure it was just perfect.

"Hmmmm... no, I think I see what you mean..." Hinoiri said, a hand moving up to rub her chin in thought... unwittingly painting it a little. "You focus more on... the emotion it evokes. Spending less time memorizing the flower, allowing you to paint what the flower seems like to you, less than what it is, dimensionally speaking..."

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
    She dips her brush in the jar of solvent she'd brought over, and then sets it on the easel to dry. She reaches for a different, wider one, and gets some red on the tip of the brush and presses it to the canvas at the top of the stem. The first couple of motions don't really look like petals. It's not until she makes a third stroke that it comes together.

    "Painting is all about optical illusion," Michiru says. "We arrange lots of small strokes of paint in such a way that when someone looks at them, they feel something. I want people to feel the joy of looking at this flower. So I don't want this painting to remind them of the inevitable death of all cut plants, and so I don't want to paint the petal curled like that."

    That brush goes into the solvent. The flower already looks quite good. And she's only just getting started. "You're right, though. Once you get your technique down, practice is key. I've painted so many flowers, Hinoiri-chan. Although, I prefer to paint the sea."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara nodded, watching her work. "Optical illusions, huh... so less about what they see, more about what they feel..." she mumbled, looking back towards her own painting.

She didn't really feel it made anyone feel anything. All she felt... was disappointment, to be honest. She slid it off the easel, sliding a fresh one on.

"What... I want... others to feel..." she mumbled.

Shoulders up, count to ten... lower shoulders... try.

And then she tried. A little more uncertain. A little more shaky.

And the flower wasn't perfect. It was shaky. Her strokes were uncertain. Slightly jittery. Slightly shaky. Vulnerable. But it was a flower...

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
    While Hinoiri looked at her painting and went about starting anew, Michiru kept putting oil on canvas. Next up was the vase the flower was in. She started placing paint all around the stem. A few strokes here and there crossing it, but many not even touching. And yet when she was done it totally appeared to be something containing the stem of the flower.

    Illusion.

    Dipping her brush in the solvent, she turns to look over at Hinoiri's canvas and smiles. "Yes! There you go. That's great. Now that is your flower, Hinoiri-chan. It's struggling to blossom into its full potential."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara blinked a few times, glancing to Michiru's and then her own flower. "I... guess. Honestly..."

"All I seem to really see are the flaws. The places I messed up, where I didn't get it right. Still, the... shoulder thing, I think it helps. Thanks." She, slowly, washed out the brush and then put it down. "So... ummmmm... you don't... have to answer, if it makes you uncomfortable. But... when I... I don't know who you are as a sparkle. But... did I hurt you a lot? When I was... before? I guess... what I'm asking... is how sorry do I have to be?"

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
    Michiru turns back to her canvas, grabs another brush and puts some more paint up on it as she listens to Hinoiri. In a surprisingly few number of strokes, she's placed a table under the vase and place some hilights and really made it a scene. Dipping her brush in the solvent and then setting it to dry with the rest she turns toward Hinoiri.

    She looks at the flame-haired girl, and she considers. Aside from her concert, when she'd been briefly transformed by Dark Energy into Sailor Salacia, Neptune had never actually been harmed by Sunbreaker. She'd always been the one to do the harm. She'd even earned a nickname: Sailor Waterboard.

    "I'm sure you've been apologizing a lot lately, Hinoiri-chan," she says, sliding off her stool and stepping over to put an arm around the other girl's shoulders to give her a gentle hug. "Don't worry. I forgive you. Besides, I was usually the one hurting you when we'd meet."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara let out a low sigh and nodded. "That's... that's good. Thanks. I... know right now, forgiveness is something I need way, way too much of. But it's nice to know you don't hold a grudge. And... yeah. A lot of people hurt me when they saw me. But at least you probably never tried to kill me. An... oddly larger number of people than I'd suspect tried on your side."

Hinoiri shook her head. "You know, there are a *lot* of murdery people on your side. Riventon and I were trying to stop things from escalating, but they really didn't make it easy. Then again, I probably have the personality type people just... really enjoy stabbing, you know?" she said with a light chuckle.

"... But thanks. For... not holding it against me. And... offering me help. Your side... really has some good people on it. It's not the easiest to try and be better. But I'm really going to try this time." She reached up and stroked the geode.

"... If not for me, then for everyone who worked hard to give me the chance. I should... go. Though. Ummm. Thanks. Heh. It's kind of funny, though. I found out about you being apparently a world class violinist and swimmer. I wonder how many people know you can paint, too?"

... Oh. Oh Hinoiri... she really, really had so much to learn, too. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone though. I'm sure you get harassed enough as it is."

Michiru Kaiou has posed:
    Michiru gave Hinoiri's shoulders another squeeze and chuckled quietly. "More than you might think. I paint all the art for my albums. I've shown a few pieces in some galleries, but I prefer to keep my painting to myself. Art for art's sake, you know?"

    She lets go and steps away, looking at her painting for a moment and then smiling. She's pleased. It looks bright and inviting just like she wanted it to. She slides the canvas off, and carries it over to a place where it can dry out of the way. Then she goes about rinsing out her brushes.

    "Sailor Moon told us time and again that you were just a girl like the rest of us, only hurt and misguided," she says, as she works rinses all the paint out in the sink. "She was right, and here you are, finding your way along a better path."

    She shakes out the brushes and presses them between some paper towels to squeeze out more of the moisture. "Just remember," she says, looking up at Hinoiri, "You're not alone."

    "If you need help, you can always call me."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara gave a small nod. "Oh? Really? A--" Then she stopped. As she processed 'a few galleries'. Oh. Ohhhh she was going to need to look it up later... find out just what this girl WAS known for. How famous could she possibly be?

"Yeah... yeah. Sailor Moon is... she's not the sort to give up on someone, is she? Though, for a while I think she was really... ready to kick me off a cliff," Hinoiri muttered, chuckling. "But... I'm doing better now. And... that's one of the nice things about this place. You're not alone... even when you should be."

There were a lot of hands reaching out to her... Maybe... She looked at the flower... draw... what she felt, huh?

... Maybe it was time she painted one last thing. Not a flower. Not really anything... But maybe... something she just wanted to. "Thank you, Kaiou-san. I'll... try to keep all of this in mind."

There were a lot of hands reaching out to her. A lot of voices calling her... She really wasn't alone this time...