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 Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2016 10:36 pm
 Anyone who knew Galan would not be surprised to learn that as soon as he was given the opportunity to take an elective, he jumped at the chance to study Art. His final project for class was to design a mythical creature. The teacher had instructed it be unique, new, and (most of all) their own.
Galan had an idea to base his creature off his own fears, since so many mythical creatures trended towards being monsters. As he pondered which fear he would work with, he made his way to the Academy's stocked library to try to find a few references. What precisely made a creature mythical? Was it sheer size? Power? Rarity? Need it be a hodgepodge of extant creatures, or could it be wholly invented from the recesses of his worst dreams?
He searched the mythology section until he found a few illustrated books to use as a jumping off point. Then found himself a table in a quiet corner to begin reading and sketching out his ideas.
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Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2016 11:56 am
Zuri roamed a bit feebly through the library, her thick sweater pulled tightly around her. She had decided this was her quiet day, only a few pieces of homework on her docket and nothing too anxiety-inducing on the horizon. Thankfully, the library was usually devoid of anyone too nosy, and with all of the new races of Above joining them, finding another Nixie was actually sort of an accomplishment. She could chill here.
Her side-fins twitched the slightest, her eyes wide as she scanned the spines of the books available to her. She had quickly managed to roam out of the non-fiction section, the titles growing more and more obtuse the further she went. Yet, nothing was catching her eye, and she dragged her black-tipped fingers down the length of the shelf. She was going to waste most of her time today just deciding what to check out, wasn't she? She wished she had that immediate spark some people had for nearly any topic - she was too niche, along with the million other quirks she had.
Finally, Zuri settled on just tipping out a stack of books. She didn't intend to read all six, but hopefully she could find sections here and there as she flipped. With full arms, Zuri went for the quiet corner of the library. It was her go-to spot in the large library but before she could make out a seat just to herself, the books in her arms began to slide. Immediately she shuffled towards the nearest table, the books spilling out before Galan as she panicked, trying not to trash them all on the floor.
"I'm sorry," bubbled out immediately, starting to gather up the books back into a pile. "I just needed - I had to catch myself before I dropped them all." Quickly, she started to stack them back up against the crook of her arm, eyes falling somewhere just beyond Galan's head. Oh boy. How polite Zuri.
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Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2016 4:29 pm
The bang of the books hitting the table made Galan nearly jump out of his seat. He dropped the pencil he had been sketching with and jerked back, bolt upright, eyes wide and startled. When the Nixie apologised, his heart was pounding too hard to really absorb what she had said. Galan took a few deep breaths to calm himself down, and managed to bring his racing heart to heel when he registered the spilled books.
Then he registered Zuri, a Nixie, and with the most vibrant rainbowed skin! He very nearly went starry eyed at the prospect of painting her, but still hadn't managed to find his voice. With a wordless gesture, he half-popped up from his seat and began helping her stack the books in a neat pile in front of the chair opposite him at the table. Having not really absorbed her explanation, he misunderstood that she had wanted to join him at the table and was only too happy to oblige.
Once the books were neatly piled, he sat back again and waived an inviting hand to the seat. "Please, make yourself comfortable," he whispered, not wanting to speak too loudly in the library. He looked back at his sketches for a scaly set of talons and smudged at a bit of shading before fishing for the pencil he'd dropped to resume his assignment.
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Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2016 8:34 am
Zuri blinked, her shoulders raising the slightest as she tensed. Oh. No, oh no. She had not intended to join the Goblin at all, and her short tail stuck out straight in her panic. She was aiming for the table just to their right. She glanced over that way, mouth still held open the slightest. It was too late, the blue-haired Junior had already invited her to take a seat.
She set down the books she had gathered into her arms one by one, forcing the slightest smile on her lips. "O-okay, thank you," Zuri offered, staring down at her assortment. She didn't even know which one she wanted to start with, and in her haste she opted for grabbing what was closest to her chest. With one gesture, she flipped to random pages before ducking her head, trying to seem absorbed in the fictional universe she knew nothing about.
Zuri could only keep that up for so long before she felt her hands get clammy, and she wiped one off on her skirt and she lifted her eyes just to peek at what Galan was doing. Was he doing an art assignment in the library?
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Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2016 1:14 pm
Galan was content to sit in silence as the Nixie settled in and shuffled through her books, trying to decide which once to read first. he had open before him three different tomes on different types of mythology, folklore and legends. The pages were all turned to illustrations of various kinds of monsters, and he was mostly ignoring these as he sketched away from his own imagination.
He had worked through the general movement and pencils of the creature he was creating, scribbling a few name ideas next to it before moving on to the shading. He blindly reached beside him, finding his smudger and eraser and working a bit of the graphite before erasing the pencilled names and scribbling KRAKOW.
He looked the page over with a critical eye and then flipped the page. He pondered the lined page for a moment and then stole a glance up over the stack of books to the Nixie. Covertly he began to sketch her with his pencils, using a soft 4B to capture the dark sheen of her hair, the marks loose and quick. Then, as he darted a glance up again to gaze at his reference, he caught her looking back at him and froze awkwardly. He didn't say anything, unsure of whether to tell her or not. Would she find it rude? would she take offence? He probably should have asked before just etching her into his book...
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Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2016 9:09 am
Zuri put her full attention and effort into looking like she knew what she was doing. Of course, the section the Nixie had finally landed on was far from interesting, and she found herself re-reading the same few lines over and over again. Augh, why did she always manage to do this to herself? Coming to the Academy was supposed to be a fresh start.
Her dark eyes drifted again and back to Galan, finding the Goblin's gaze diverted. Ah, there they were drawing again. Sliding her elbows on the table so she could hunch a little further over her book, she tried to steal a few more peeks. Was... he drawing her? That looked an awful lot like her.
"You're really good at that," she blurted out, lips falling into a slight open 'o.' Immediately she blushed the slightest, ear fans wiggling as she shook her head. "Sorry. I looked."
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Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2016 11:47 am
When Zuri complimented his drawing, his fear of reproach melted away and he smiled cheerfully. "Your colours are so beautiful, I had to draw you..." He watched her fronds waving with admiration. He tried to wiggle his own ears, but they wouldn't budge. Instead, his tail swayed between the slats on his chair. He set the book down and slid it towards her so she could have a better look. "Of course, I've just got my graphites with me, so I couldn't capture the colourful sheen, but..." He smiled, watching her look at the drawing.
"I'm Galan, by the way. I've just transferred here from Above." It was a rare treat for him to be able to converse with someone his own age. He struggled with it. He spent so much time around adults before coming here. Since arriving, he'd signed up for the Big Sibling program, which had enabled him to make friends with some adorable Freshlings. But other Juniors? He hadn't yet had much success in engaging them. They were all already deep within their cliques and he felt wretchedly awkward on the outside, looking in. It was curious that this Junior wasn't surrounded by her own gaggle of friends. Perhaps she too felt out of place.
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