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 Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2016 9:29 pm
Wil was working on one of his many 'art projects'. Of course the definition of what art was could be flexible and of course in the eye of the beholder, but when you went to school for art it was pretty much dependent on if you professors thought it was art. Thankfully Wil had a couple lenient ones. Or they just liked him. The blonde was currently laying in the sun on his stomach with no shirt on in the middle of the park. He still had a cat eared beanie mashed over his curls, but he was enjoying the spring weather for the short period of time he could. As soon as it even got remotely sunny or warm he was out in it soaking up sun. There was a floppy backpack shaped like Barney the Dinosaur and a rather pricey looking camera beside him on the lawn. Wil seemed to be setting up what at first glance was army men but on closer inspection were a small collection of flat grey Warhammer figures. This was a test run, trying out angles and arrangements, but really- if it was art it looked a bit like he was just playing.
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Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2016 4:25 pm
Today was a park day. Well, most days were park days, if Eli didn't have something to work on. Or if Otto made enough of a fuss about it. Usually he was pretty content to run around, climb on some of the rocks, or just chase various toys. Eli's favourite game with him was fetch - but she at least had the grace to pretend it wasn't fetch, to try and save some face and pretend she wasn't an awful parent.
Today though, the soccer ball Otto was chasing kept mysteriously going further away from him. He couldn't figure out why, but he was content to keep trying to grab at it, though it kept leaping away at the last minute. He was unaware that he was kicking it, but Eli was, and was being very diligent in sending a short snap chat about it to Devin, with the captions no dna test needed - he's yours. Of course, that was until she noticed that he was heading towards a topless stranger. The snap chat was forgotten, and she went running towards the pair, calling his name in hopes of getting his attention.
Both her cries - and the ball - were already completely forgotten and ignored, in the wake of spotting a certain purple dinosaur.
"Mine?" He questioned, pointing at the bag, despite already sitting down heavily beside it to make a grab for it.
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Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2016 7:18 pm
Wil was bumped by the ball first, a bump to his bare ribs that made him turn with a lazy glance, then there was a child there thumping down in the grass and trying to steal his stuff. "Heh.. nah." The blonde smiled and turned further but didn't actually really sit up. He propped his head on his hand, "It's mine but..." Wil hauled himself upright only when he realized a small human should have a larger human with it, which is when he spotted a woman bee-lining for them. He waved lazily, "But if you're allowed, dude," he hushed his words like a secret to the boy, "I have candy."Even if Otto grabbed the bag he'd find it squishy and surprisingly empty. He'd dumped most of the contents to make way for the boxes he'd transported the figures in. enoh love the stoner is offerin ur child 'candy'
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Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2016 6:10 pm
He wasn't really paying attention to the cat-man. The idea that this thing wasn't his was clearly not important, because it was now, and he was going to play with it anyway. He'd already found the zipper and was investigating his new thing when he heard his magic word.
"Canny?" He repeated, suddenly interested blue eyes wide. The backpack was forgotten - even so far as pushed aside - and was about to open his hands for the candy when he finally heard his Mother's voice. He looked over his shoulder at her, beaming happily. "Canny, Mama!" He informed her happily, pointing at the stranger, who was now clearly his best friend.
"Uh, honey…" Eli, breathless, tried her best to sound calm and collected. Instead, she likely just sounded mostly worried. "Let's leave the nice man's candy alone." Her hand rested on his head, and the other went to gently take his forearm, encouraging him to at least stop pointing. He did neither of those things, and began to chant candy like he could summon it.
"Sorry for bothering you!" She apologized to the stranger instead, still in the process of trying to nicely redirect her son.
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Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2016 7:33 pm
"It's cool." Wil smiled and blinked up at the mother, lifting a hand to shield his very blue eyes from the sun. He was very scruffy, smelled vaguely of something spicy and herbal and as he sat up the blonde revealed himself to be lean, near scrawny, and in need of corrected posture. He slumped lazily to pull his bag over and unzipped the bottom of Barney's stomach to open a smaller pocket. Wil pulled out a baggy with a handful of jolly ranchers in it. ALL THE COLORS. "I really have candy. If he's allowed?" Of course now he'd mentioned and showed a strange child candy. He would be ruining this mother's day if she didn't agree. But at least it wasn't chocolate.
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Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2016 7:14 pm
Eli's expression dropped. Not only was he offering her son candy, but he was offering candy that she couldn't, in good conscience, let him have. Plus, to make it all worse, Otto had seen the candy now, with his own eyes. Her little sugar monster wouldn't easily let this loss go. She whined internally, trying to quickly think of a way to refuse the gesture that would also soothe the upsets it would cause.
"Err - those candies aren't good for toddlers." She plunked herself down on the ground, and wrapped her arms around Otto's middle before he got the brilliant idea to further invade the other man's space. He struggled against her, his still chubby fingers grasping for the bag and the colourful treats within. "Choking hazards." She explained over the boy's fluffy head.
"Those candies are bad for you, sweetie." Her attention moved down to her spawn, who was steadily getting impatient with the whole situation. "-and we don't take candy from strangers, remember?" She was trying her best, really.
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Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2016 7:41 pm
"Oh- s**t.. err.. crap?" Wil smiled crookedly like he was asking for forgiveness before he fished in his bag and pulled out what looked a bit like a sack lunch. There was a beautiful looking sandwich in a bag, a can of soda, a bottle of water, and then 5-6 small snack baggies or candy, nuts and cereal. There were definitely some fruit loops. "Fruit Loops?" He blinked, looking more awake at the moment than usual and possibly because he was actually participating in an activity he enjoyed. The mention of being a stranger made him blink again before the delayed mental processes kicked in, "Oh sorry. I'm Wil." He held out a hand to the mother, "I, umm, I do art at the college. This is one of my installations." Not a creeper. Promise.
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Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2016 8:06 pm
Eli almost groaned when he started pulling out the other food items at his disposal. The swearing was fine, unfortunately a fact of life, but the food? She had hoped, deep down, that refusing the jolly ranchers would be the end of it. That she could haul off her very disappointed son and that'd be the end of it. But no. He had more cereal now. One of the best kinds, to boot. Not only that, but he was introducing himself, which meant technically no longer a stranger. Dangit. There was not going to be a good escape to this.
"Eli." She gave in a moment later, with a heavy sigh, and shook Wil's outstretched hand after adjusting her hold on her protesting spawn. An installation? Blue eyes lit up with curiosity, and she looked towards the war hammer figures, as if really seeing them for the first time. It seemed she was about to ask about it, but a rather shrill cry from Otto silenced her, and made her remember what she had been trying to do in the first place. Right. The whole cereal thing. Her grip finally loosened on her son, but she still held on tight enough to prevent him from going rushing at Wil.
"Alright. Alright. But just a little, I don't want you to ruin your dinner." She informed Otto, and to some extent, Wil. "Plus, you have to ask him nicely. Okay?" That was her deal. Otto could have some fruit loops - hopefully none of them were poisoned - but only if he were nice about it. In the face of the ultimatum, he paused and pretty much sobered up immediately.
"Please?" He asked, the word drawn out and pitched at the end, as if trying to do it as cutely as possible meant he was asking nicely. Both his hands were out again, pressed together with palms out, as if maybe he could encourage a little more than a little fruit loops.
Meanwhile, Eli watched on carefully, still not entirely convinced Wil wasn't a creeper.
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Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2016 8:48 pm
Wil smiled and picked up the fruit loops to fish out 2 or 3, "Sure little dude." He set them into the toddler's palms and watched him a moment before Wil looked back up at Eli and scratched his curly head through the pointy-eared hat. "Heh- sorry. Probably shouldn't offer toddlers candy in the park huh?" Yeah he figured that out. "What's his name?"
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Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2016 9:05 pm
Otto pouted down at the three little pieces of cereal in his hands. "More?" He inquired, holding his hands out a little further.
"No. No more." Eli said, before Wil could attempt to be nice again. "You wouldn't want Wil to take all of your food, would you?" He frowned at her logic, about to argue, until - "Now, what do you say?"
"Thanks." He said, not even looking at Wil. Now he was too busy plunking himself down to chew away at what he had been given. Meanwhile his Mother seemed happy enough with at least the attempt, and put her focus back to Wil with a small laugh.
"Probably not." Eli replied pleasantly enough. "I mean, you're topless in a park, playing with toys and offering candy and cereal to little kids. All you're missing is the van with the questionable free candy paint job." She raised her hands, gesturing as though unveiling a movie title. It did occur to her to check for any such vans, but she couldn't immediately see one, which was a good sign.
"His name is Otto. He's two and a half, and if I don't get him out of here soon, he's going to steal your art project as well as your lunch."
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Posted: Fri Apr 29, 2016 8:39 pm
Wil waited until the mother-son interaction was over and he quietly bagged up his lunch again. Maybe he'd take a break soon after the next round of shots. "Hey- but I have a permit..." He held up a stained finger and they were at least a testament to his claim of being an artist, "and I totally know a guy with a painted van-" Wil blinked and grinned again, "Heh-" Not helping his case but at least now he seemed more bumbling than sinister. "Oh I can probably give him-" Wil then paused, stuck a finger gun out and got a triumphant smirk, " Choking hazard." The blonde looked down at the little boy and his fruit loops and drawled with pleasant laziness, "Nice to meet you Otto."
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Posted: Mon May 02, 2016 7:05 pm
"Not helping your case buddy." She grinned, shaking her head. "I know how it is though. Public art projects and all." Though she didn't recall offering strange children candy, she did have to do damage control to convince people to not call 9-1-1 on their work. It was a hazard of the major, she supposed.
"You're learning!" Eli laughed. Somehow, she was feeling a little better about the whole thing - Wil probably wasn't a creep. Just thinking before he acted might not have been a skill set he possessed. Not that she could blame him really, she more or less used to be the same way. Damn parenthood.
"Yes." Otto said, as he grinned up at Wil, and held out his hands again. "More?"
"No more." Eli reminded him with a sigh, and lightly tapped his head. The boy frowned, then started picking at the grass. The cautious glances he gave the two adults were nothing short of obvious.
"I imagine you'll be here every day?" Eli's attention moved back to Wil a moment later, after waiting to see what nefarious thing her son was about to get up to.
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Posted: Mon May 02, 2016 7:18 pm
"Sorry dude." Wil leaned apologetically towards Otto, thought he fished in his very light bag and pulled out a notepad of paper and a red crayola marker. He at least knew they were nontoxic. Also cheap alternatives for doodling when nice markers could be so expensive. "You wanna draw? I draw." The first few pages of the book were flipped through for Otto to look at. The beginning looked like cartoons and then the pictures went through various experiments in art style including some scenic views of the park done in crayola pointillism. It seemed like when it came to art, Wil couldn't make up his mind. A clean white page was smoothed over if Otto wanted to scribble too. He glanced back up at Eli and nodded, "If the weather's nice. Doing some inside too. Maybe I'll get enough good shots to show in one of the galleries but-" Wil shrugged, "I just think it's fun."
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Posted: Tue May 03, 2016 10:05 am
"Draw?" Otto perked up instantly, and he leaned in close to the book, oohing and awing at the drawings as they passed. "Like Mama!" He cheered, grabbing for the red marker and for the book with its fresh page. The book was held open on his outstretched legs, and his earlier plotting gone to instead doodle nonsensically on the page allotted to him.
"How the heck are you doing that?" So far, Wil had managed to offer Otto all of the things that he actually liked. "It's like you're a toddler whisperer or something." Eli, once more noting that escaping will not be an easy task, heaved a sigh and settled in for now, making herself comfortable on the ground. They still had time, she supposed. It wasn't like she had anywhere to be for a little while, and even then it'd just be to make sure they had something more to eat.
"As long as you're having fun with it." She mused, with a shrug. "Tell me about the one you're working on now?"
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Posted: Tue May 03, 2016 7:26 pm
Wil laughed a little and scratched his head, "It's not my fault toddlers have like the best taste in cereal and the same sense of entertainment." Nothin simpler than munchies and draws right? When asked about his work he sort of looked around slowly, absently almost, like he had to think about it. "Well this right now... little dudes. Big places. Pictures." Just when it seemed like that was the extent of it (and a piss-poor explanation really) Wil took a breath and yawned, "I just finished up like a pottery phase? I was like really into the human form-- but like in clay. You know how sculptors talk about bringing sh- stuff to life with your hands?" He nodded, near zen seeming if he didn't look like the sunlight could make him nod off momentarily, "Very cool." But unfocused.
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