He just hoped nobody would be so foolish as to walk a cat on the beach. But he wouldn’t be surprised if a certain someone did that anyway.
In any case - he was set up, and was looking for a mark. Anything to help him make next month’s rent. But he wanted something pretty - something he could chat up. He was bored.
The boardwalk was only so exciting for a single male.
As it was spring was quickly transitioning into summer and with it more and more people crowded the streets. Seemed the warmth brought the hermits out of hiding.
With her side bag slung over one shoulder, Sonia couldn’t help but smile in amusement at all the poor pale taking advantage of the nice weather. I wonder how many are going to show up to class tomorrow with sunburns. Thankfully, she wouldn’t be among them; one of the the blessed gifts passed she got from her father, the ability to tan.
Reaching into her pocket she pulled out her phone to check the time. Ehhh… I got time. There was still about forty-five minutes till she had to meet up with Imara, just enough time to swing into a few of the little shops or peruse the stalls for some cute shirts.
“Hey, you - cutie with the side back staring at your phone, you got a minute?” Mathias called to the girl as she came into view, waving a hand from behind his easel. “Want to do me a favor and get your portrait done? For you it’s free.”
He was loathe to give the money up - but damnit he was bored, she was cute - and frankly that side of his brain was winning out at the moment. He could always double charge the next sap to make up the loss.
“Don’t get a lot of cute girls out and about this way - so it’s nice to have a change of scenery, you know?”
The look on Sonia’s face could only be described as the definition of confusion. Eyebrows knitted in a perplexed fashion eyes scanning the people as they passed by before hazarding a look over her shoulder.
Short black hair, amber brown colored eyes, and a look of confidence that rivaled opponents she faced before fencing meets that severely underestimated her abilities with a sword.
“Me?” She finally asked hesitantly while pointing at herself not entirely sure he was speaking to her. At least four other people had side bags on, given one was a man but that was besides the point, most of which had towels hanging part way out; a clear indication where they were heading.
“Yes, you.” Mathias said, pointing directly at her and motioning to the chair that sat in front of and a little off to the side of his easel. “Hook a guy up with a pretty face for a little bit?” He smirked at her - roguish and very devil-may-care. He’d already rationalized eating the money on this one - so he might as well go all in.
“You have really nice lines and I think it’d be an honor to draw you. You can keep the portrait of course - free of charge. Be a crime against God and man if I tried to charge a pretty little thing like you for the privilege of putting your image to canvas.”
He’d wisened up and gotten some flat canvases that simply were clipped to his easel, so it saved him a bit in supplies. “So, what do you say?”
It was clear as day he was trying his best to be suave or perhaps charming, either way it didn’t negate the fact she was trying really hard not to laugh. It was sweet it was but really? There had to be a catch…
“Uhh…” Sonia looked back down the boardwalk to see if she could spot any sign of her teal and white haired friend. “Suuure.” she finally agreed before sticking her phone into her bag and taking a seat.
“So.. um, how long have you been doing portraits?” The look on her face was almost apologetic the moment the question left her lips; a question she knew full well he likely received every time he drew someone knew. If anything it was an attempt to avoid that pregnated awkward silence of ‘what the hell do I say now?’ To be fair though, she had been kind of caught off guard with the whole random offer and handsome smile.
“A while,” was the obvious reply to a very often heard question, but if it annoyed him, Mathias did not let it show. “I’m a Fine Art’s major at DCU, so, I mean - it’s been what I’ve been doing for awhile.” He shot her another smile, before getting to work.
“So what brings you out this-a-way?” He asked, his eyes darting from her face to the canvas and back again, but it was plain to see he was looking for conversation more than anything else. His eyes were dancing all over her features. They actually seemed to take on a light of their own, his lips turning up into a small grin as he worked.
“Surprised you’re not going to the beach like the others - body like that is perfect for this kind of weather, you’d fill out a bikini quite nicely.” He chuckled, forgetting for a moment that this was a random stranger and not actually someone he knew. His filter was funny that way.
What the hell was he doing? Undressing her with those gorgeous colored eyes? Given her current shirt did hug her in all the right places but that was besides the point.
“Thank you,” she responded in kind with a smile to match even though her mind was thinking something quite different. “I’m actually supposed to be meeting up with a friend in about a half hour.” Yes, she totally shortened the time in hopes Imara would show up sooner rather than later.
Out of habit, Sonia tucked her hair behind her ears to get the stray strands out of her face.
Warm sunset colored eyes watched as he placed one stroke on the piece of paper than another noting the number of times he looked up at her and for how long. Artists were some what of an enigma; and he, like others, left her wondering what sort of talents he possessed. How important was attention to detail him? Was he like the over anxious sparring partners she faced that jumped in without hesitation or restraint, eager to get it over and done with or did he prefer to bide his time and observe?
“What about you?” she finally asked after a moment of silence. “How come you’re not out there enjoying the warm sand?”
“Because I like having a roof over my head and eating from time to time,” Mathias chuckled, before biting the tip of his tongue for a moment as she move her hair, his hand making a few adjusting strokes over the canvas. “Being a full time student - especially an art student, tends to lead to starvation anymore.”
Though to be fair, he hadn’t been hurting for money so much now that he was actively taking it from those he collected energy and starseeds from - but that wasn’t something for a public forum such as this. “I make enough to get by doing portraits out here for tourists - so I figured one free one for a pretty woman wouldn’t hurt me or my wallet none.”
He was undressing her with his eyes - but not for the reason she thought. He was actually wishing he’d had more time - better lighting and better medium, she’d make a really good pin-up model if she allowed herself to be posed properly. He hadn’t been able to do any of those in a while.
“Tho I suppose if you were looking for some extra cash I could hook you up with a modeling job.” He smirked at her. “Always in need of a good one.”
“I appreciate the offer, I do! But I must decline.” Modeling had never been her kind of thing. Frail women photoshopped onto magazine covers. Too focused on losing weight that they drive themselves to do stupid stuff, nah that really wasn’t something she aspired to being.
“A shame, a true loss to the world of art - ah, but such is the way of things I suppose.” Mathias said, completely nonplussed by the reply. Wasn’t the first time that offer had been shot down and it wouldn’t be the last. “Ah, see, you’re one step ahead of me, you have a job.” He shook his head. “But eh, such is life.”
“Yeah.” Unfortunate but true. “Like you, I’m a full time student as well with a part time job. What little time I do have is typically spent either training or practicing for fencing competitions.” Full dedication to her passion in life as it seemed he was with his. At least that was some sort of common ground they both shared.
Not being able to see his progress so far made it difficult to discern whether or not he was actually good at his chosen profession, but he seemed confident enough in his work to be so bold as to ask her to take a seat.
“Oh, fencing huh? I’m in the amature MMA scene myself - though I haven’t been in any bouts recently, I need to see about getting into the next open tourney.” He clicked his tongue for a few seconds before putting the charcoal pencil down and turning the easel to her.
It was actually a really good likeness of her, he hadn’t taken any liberties or characterized her at all. It wa a bit bigger than her actual face - but it was well proportioned and lined. “I can touch it up a bit more if you want, or even do a real portrait if you’d like - but I’d have to take it to my studio and you’d have to come pick it up if you wanted it… Or you can take it as is - your call.”
Before she was able to comment on his chosen sport, Sonia’s eyes nearly raised into her hairline when he turned the wooden easel around. “Wow!” One simple word that said it all.
Rendered speechless for several seconds, it was hard to look away. The likeness was uncanny, like she was looking in a mirror and seeing her reflection. “H…” how did he get that much done in a short amount of time? she paused for a moment “That’s amazing.” For someone who was expecting him to be an ameture artists or one who would have likely done nothing more than a caricature in the amount of time it took him to do something as detailed as that? Holy crap… Oh she was impressed.
“Honestly, I think it is good as is.” It wasn’t that she didn’t want to go to his studio; ok so maybe that played a little part but who could blame her with all the people that go missing in Destiny City. There was a sketchiness to the image that gave it a stylistic touch which she actually liked.
“Thanks, it’s taken about four years of sketching and painting my a** off… more if you count what I was doing back in highschool. But, yeah, I’m glad you like it.” It wasn’t so bad that she didn’t want him to touch it up. He was fine with that - and honestly he couldn’t blame her. Reaching up, he unclamped the canvas and very carefully rolled it up, placing it in a protective tube and handed it to her.
“Be very careful when you open that so it doesn’t smudge, I’d suggest getting it matted and framed if you want to hang it.” He chuckled before nodding his head.
“Thank you for humoring me - it was nice to work on draw someone pretty for a bit.”
Humbled by the offered artwork Sonia’s cheeks turned a light pinkish hue. “Thank you. You definitely have a lot of talent. If you haven’t done it already I suggest you make an account on DeviantArt, Tumbler, or a few other social media websites and consider taking online commissions.”
As she stood there she half wondered if he in some part still expected her to pay but then started to second guess that thought almost immediately. “I should probably get going. Do you have a business card or something I can take with me so I can show you how it looks once it’s framed?”
“Eh, I don’t like the online scene much - it can get pretty toxic and ain’t nobody got time for that bullshit.” He laughed as she mentioned that. “But I do have a Tumblr - so I guess I’m not completely immune. Tis, mostly porn tho, if I’m to be honest.” He smirked again before clicking his tongue at her next question.
“No, I do not have one of those yet, but, I will go ahead and give you my contact info so you can pass it around. Feel free to whore me out to all your cute lady friends - I’m cheap.” He laughed this time, before pulling out a pen from his bag and scribbling his information down on a small piece of paper from a steno pad that had also been dug from the bag.
“I am really glad you liked it tho, shows there might be hope for me yet out there in the big scary art world.”
A light laugh escaped her as she accepted his contact info. Catching a quick glimpse of his name Sonia smiled “Take it easy Mathias. Thank you again!”
Carefully putting the tube in her bag she pulled her phone back out to check the time. Imara should be here soon hmm… “I hope to see you again.” Whether she truly meant it or not was up in the air but he seemed like a nice enough guy that he deserved the benefit of the doubt.
With a wave of her hand Sonia turned on her heel and continued on down the increasingly busy boardwalk only do disappear amongst the crowd.
Mathias had wholly enjoyed the encounter, and really did hope that she would get in touch with him for another piece. Even if she didn’t, he was sure he’d see her again - she’d crop up in his art from time to time as all the pretty ones did. His ex still showed up quite frequently, as did a certain night and a few other captains and corrupts he’d met. It wasn’t hard to see that he had an eye for the female form and he tended to prefer to work on art showcasing that.
But still.
It was probably time for him to pack up anyway - it was obvious he wasn’t going to get too many more bites here and he didn’t want to have the beat cop come and bug him, so he gathered his things and headed for his car. But it’d been fun - and a good way to cap his otherwise uneventful day.
Torvil
