Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Very well, Miss Ellandra." Lauss didn't give Lee time to object, bowing to Ellandra before he headed out. Lee's eyes widened and fixed to the floor, not having the courage to look at the young woman. Why didn't I just stick with the studying?

Lauss was back rather quickly, considering the distance it was from Lee's bedroom to the study, and holding three canvases. Lauss offered one to Ellandra, which was very obviously a landscape, though their was no perspective. The other two he held up to display them proudly. One was a portrait of some unrecognizable person; it was horribly disfigured and resembled no one Lee knew of, though it was supposed to be Akira. The last was more conceptual, and the combination of this and Lee's poor technical skills ended up making for a confusing combination of colors and shapes, none of which were distinguishable as actual objects. They were all mediocre for her age, at best.

"These are the paintings that Miss Lee is most proud of." Lee curled her legs up to her chest and hid her face in her knees. Lauss was acting like a proud parent showing off their child's talents in front of guests. She'd never been closer to strangling him.

Lee never looked up at Ellandra, never peeked at her reaction to the abominations Lauss was flaunting. While Ellandra didn't seem to be the type to openly ridicule a person, she wasn't taking any chances. Her imagination ran wild for a bit; she's probably tearing her eyeball out, or maybe vomiting a little... Lee had a talent for over-reacting.

Ellandra's voice eased her humiliation, but Lee still kept her head buried in her knees. "It isn't you..." she mumbled, her voice sounding quite muffled. "He's the bother." She looked up and glared with contempt at the poor little proto, who was really just trying to please his guest. Lauss continued to hold the paintings up, and while he was fully aware of Lee's hatred, it didn't seem to bother him in the least. "Just put those back, Lauss." "Yes, Miss Lee." Lauss gracefully took the painting from Ellandra and bowed his head before exiting. "You like essentics, right? Just take him. I don't want him anymore. I didn't even ask for him." Lee held her head and tried to hide her reddened face, half wishing that Ellandra really would take Lauss.

Lee sighed and looked up at Ellandra as she spoke, with her face still slightly hidden; she always did as she was told. She was ready to protest at every new word out of the woman's mouth, but couldn't bear to disrespect her in any way. "I know he thinks he's helping..." Lee lifted her head, and the red had faded from her cheeks. "He's just... so..." She didn't know a word to describe him. Ellandra's use of the word "enthusiasm" was pretty accurate, she supposed. Lee rubbed her arm, making her look as distraught as she was. "He's like a little kid. Only he knows a lot of useless junk." Lee shook her head, a bit impressed but still very much annoyed.

Lauss sure was taking his time, wasn't he?

"You've met four essentics?" Lee was a bit shocked. She'd only met one aside from Lauss, and it was ready to kill her at a moment's notice. "You really are tight with Banning and all of them, then, huh?"

At that moment, Lauss slowly crept into the room, holding a plate of neatly arranged Fig Newtons. "I brought you a snack, Miss Lee. You may have some, as well, Miss Ellandra." He handed the plate to Lee and backed away and to the other side of the room, watching the two to see their reaction. He knew her favorite snack? She didn't think she told him about that...

Lee'd never hated herself more than she did at that moment. She swallowed uncomfortably, not wanting to look over to Ellandra. She really didn't want to know what she was thinking right now. "Thanks, Lauss," Lee whispered. Lauss simply nodded.

If Lee was more of a people person she would undoubtedly have hugged Ellandra for being so kind, but alas, she was just Lee. She fidgeted and nodded slightly, looking down at the plate in her hands. While Ellandra gave her one less thing to worry about, Lee couldn't help but continue looking down on herself. She owed Lauss an apology but certainly wasn't about to give him one. Pride was a funny thing.

Lauss watched the two interact. This was unusual. There was a strange air about the scene that Lauss had never encountered. A lot of... emotion.

"Miss Lee, do you not want the fig newtons?" Lauss spoke out, slightly confused that she hadn't gobbled them up already like she normally did. Lee looked over at him, then looked down once more at the plate she was holding. She slowly bit down and chewed one, smiling halfheartedly to the proto, who seemed content. It was least she could do for him.

"This wasn't as fun as you wanted it to be, was it?" Lee whispered and looked apologetically at the woman who was trying to comfort her.

Lee had never known the word "interesting" as a positive thing, and so she was a bit surprised at Ellandra's upbeat attitude. Still curled up in her chair, she thought for a moment on what to ask her, on what similar interests they could possibly have. If Ellandra wasn't an artist, student, or fig newton enthusiast, then the chances of finding common ground was slim. But there was still Lauss.

"Miss Ellandra, are you fond of the Victorian Era? I've been looking for more books on the time period and was thinking that perhaps you may have written a book or two set back then?" Oh, yes, Lauss had been saving that one for quite a while. His love for all things Victorian was hard to keep at bay, especially when the topic of "interests" and "fun" was present. This was the one thing Lee didn't mind him jabbering on about, though, so she sat back in her seat and waited for the flood of useless facts to seep from the proto. It was actually kind of cute, she thought, that the little guy had his own interests already. Kind of.

"It would be a pleasure to read it, Miss Ellandra." As long as it was accurate he would be thoroughly satisfied, regardless of the quality of the writing. He proceeded to ask for the title and genre, as well as a short synopsis of the novel. He would find it and read it if it was the last thing he did. "I would be more than happy to assist you in the writing of your next novel set in the period." He seemed to be certain she would write another; such a wonderful era deserved more than one book, after all.

Lee felt bad for the woman, as Lauss was bogging her down with questions and generally being his usual self, but she had a feeling Ellandra would be more patient with him than Lee had been. She was still preoccupied with finding something "fun" to do. What did people do for fun? Lee studied, painted, and... that was it. She found it slightly pathetic that the adult in front of her probably had a more lively social life than she, the high school girl, had, and this fact kept her mouth shut in fear of revealing itself.

Lauss bowed to Ellandra, very pleased to hear he could possibly be of use in the future. But her comment on her possibly not doing another novel requiring his knowledge didn't sit right with him. "But Miss Ellandra, did you know that it was considered impolite to--" "Lauss, that's enough," Lee couldn't help but interject, but it wasn't in her usual harsh tone. "Sorry, he has a weird obsession with that kind of thing." Lee scratched her cheek nervously. "But Miss Lee, it would be a terrible waste not to..." he sounded genuinely distraught; talking about the subject always seemed to make him unusually emotional. While he needed to learn that just because he loved something didn't mean everyone did, Lee wasn't about to teach him that lesson and proceeded to ignore him.

"Um... What do you do for fun?" It was worth asking, and having found nothing worth mentioning on her end, she thought maybe Ellandra might find something to entertain everyone with.

"You should get an essentic, then, Miss Ellandra," Lauss suggested, thinking he was offering new advice. "I'm sure one could help you with such a task." "I-I'd be willing to help, too, if you wanted." Lee shrugged, managing to offer something useful to the conversation. "Yes, Miss Lee is quite creative." Lauss only knew this because Lee had boasted about it many times before. It was true, though, and it was just about her only useful trait.

Lee shrugged. It was nice to hear she wasn't the only one as "boring" as she was. "You probably still wanna study, right? That'd be fine, I guess." She was being honest. She'd been a bigger burden on the woman than she deemed acceptable, especially considering Ellandra was a guest. If Mrs. Katan was here, Lee would certainly have gotten an ear-full. Lauss was perfectly happy to hear this, and he leaned forward, hopeful Ellandra would start cracking open some books.