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 Posted: Tue May 03, 2016 6:49 pm
It was really nice out today. Not too hot, not too cold. Shiloh walked with his hands in his pockets, pleasantly comfortable in his long sleeved shirt. Had be been running or ushering himself a little too fast, then maybe he would be uncomfortably hot, but he was nonetheless content for the moment.
He was procrastinating really. The suburbs he called home had nothing wrong with them—nothing inherently, anyway. They looked pretty normal, maybe some were a little run down, others had owners who obviously didn't care for weeding the yard and some were plain ol' normal. Shiloh's house was the one with the garage full of everything but the car and the front porch overflowing with what most people would consider trash. They'd probably be right.
And he didn't feel like heading home, not yet. He'd enjoy the weather, clear his head, steel himself. These sidewalks were walked plenty of times in the past at nearly every time of day. Nothing usually ever stood out, nothing weird (well, nothing overtly weird) ever seemed to happen here. Today would probably be like all the others, and that was okay, because Shiloh liked a predictable routine.
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Posted: Tue May 03, 2016 7:37 pm
Once, the house had been empty and for sale, the yard barely kept and the home in dire need of a wash. Now, two months later, it had been given a pressure washing clean, the door and shutters changed, and just enough yard work done to make it look presentable. There was still plenty of work needed, a little cosmetic upgrades here and there, but that would be done in time. Usually, it looked pretty normal.
Except for today of course. Today, in the middle of the yard on a pinned down, paint-splattered tarp, was the head and shoulders of a melting monster, the base colours already down. Beside it were two arms from elbow to fingers, also already in their base colours.
Sitting down to the side of the melted head was a small woman, wearing paint-splattered coveralls over an equally messy purple turtleneck. Her brown hair was pulled into a braid over her shoulder, and a pair of headphones covered her ears. The music had been turned up so loudly it deafened her to the outside world, but the outside world would no doubt hear the shrill, fast music.
She turned the horrific melted face towards her, her head tilting as she looked over the twisted face through lidded, almost lazy blue eyes. Then she picked up one of her many paint brushes, and got to work adding the small, finer details.
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Posted: Tue May 03, 2016 9:02 pm
Well, that was really ******** weird.
Shiloh was gawking from his place on the sidewalk. He'd crossed past this house probably a million times by now, but he'd never seen the owners, and he never would have thought the residents would be like this.
Which was it that did him in? The blaring metal music? The melting face? The fact she was just... painting on her yard like that, for everyone and their ******** grandma to see? It was a weird mix of confusion and questionable admiration. He honestly couldn't discern the woman's age from this distance, but she was small, though that didn't always mean someone was younger or not. The only other tiny person he knew was Jamie, and he was definitely a senior despite looking like a sixteen year old.
Regardless... what the hell was he supposed to do? Instinct said to keep walking, wasn't worth the trouble. Another part wanted him to go in for a closer look—maybe not necessarily say anything, just look—because he had to give this crazy b***h some sort of acknowledgement.
Okay, so it was settled, he was going to go in for a look. A slow look. She probably wouldn't even notice that he was going in to look sort of look. He felt awkward as all hell treading on someone else's lawn, especially because someone who was painting something like this was either completely off their ******** wall or one of those creepy almost-too-calm sorts. Or maybe he shouldn't judge a character on first glance but whatever.
"Uh." he had resolved not to speak, but it wasn't like she'd be able to hear him over the blast of the music anyway. "Uhhh......"
At least the music was good. Maybe not something he'd listen to during the day to day, but he could get trying to find your mood and balance when it came to art.
"H-Hey?" he only sounded unsure because... well... how the ******** were you supposed to approach situations like this?
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Posted: Wed May 04, 2016 3:31 pm
Eli had leaned up close to her project, putting careful lines along certain parts of the melted pieces, beginning to make them look a lot droopier and deeper than they really were. She did not see the younger man moving onto her lawn, nor did she really hear his awkward attempt at saying hi. In fact, she pretty much ignored him for a few seconds longer, without intending to.
It was only when she leaned back to reach for a different colour that she spotted him, unable to help the small startle. She stared at him for a couple beats of the frantic music in her ears, blue eyes wide as she processed the intruder -
Then, she smiled brightly. The paint brush whirled between her fingers to hold between her knuckles, giving her enough freedom to take off her headphones. They settled around her neck for now, still vibrating with the force of the music.
"Hey!" The music was then turned down a couple notches, so she could hear him better. "Sorry, If you said something, I didn't hear it. What's up?"
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Posted: Wed May 04, 2016 7:06 pm
Oh, she didn't hear. Well that was fine, honestly. Shiloh was pretty used to being ignored, whether it was intentional or not. He either blended in and no one really cared, or he got too much attention from all the wrong people at all the wrong times. If he was being truthful, he preferred being invisible. Even if it was a little lonely.
And now that he was here, actually being addressed. He felt pretty uncomfortable. Why had he decided to do this again? Oh yeah, because some crazy b***h was sitting on her lawn painting... whatever that was. It looked kind of cool though; his eyes were honestly more on the painting than they ever were on the painter.
"Uh..." seemed to be his vocabulary word choice of the day. Maybe of his entire life. It suited him. "It... it's fine. I didn't."
Except he had but it hadn't been anything intelligent anyway.
"Just... uh... cool painting..." he was pointing without really moving his arm from his side as he oogled at the canvas again. "T-Thought it was um... like, really cool."
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Posted: Wed May 04, 2016 7:19 pm
"Oh, okay. Hi anyway." Eli grinned up at him, noting pretty quickly that his gaze was on her project. Not that it bothered her; that was pretty much where they belonged anyway. This thing was beautiful..horrific, but beautiful. Finally he found his words, and Eli's grin, as sleepy-looking she appeared, lit up once more, her shoulders straightening with pride.
"Hey, thanks! I'm pretty happy with it so far. When I'm done, it'll look like it could move at any moment." For a moment, a split second, her grin turned impish; hopefully, it would be good enough to frighten someone. "That's my goal, anyway. I have to make it look human, and inhuman, all at once. Challenge accepted, right? Anyway, this bad boy'll be fit with animatronics and will probably find a home in a horror house, or as a background character for something or other." Her brother had been pretty vague about it, but that was pretty normal for him. Not that she was particularly concerned where it would end up; she was just happy to be able to make it. The small woman beamed happily at the rather awkward-looking younger man.
"You can sit and watch if you want! It won't bother me any, I like the company." She gestured vaguely beside her, indicating a space on the tarp or the grass, whichever he was more inclined towards.
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Posted: Thu May 05, 2016 3:40 pm
W-Wha? "Animatronics?'" his words spelled out his astonished thoughts for him, thoroughly starry eyed. Sure, Shiloh drew a lot, but anything that wasn't a pencil and paper was absolutely mind boggling to him.
Unfortunately for Eli, Shiloh wouldn't be too scared of it, at least not now. Maybe if it was in fact moving and finished and something he was totally unprepared for, then yeah, it'd scare the s**t out of him. As it was? It was just ******** badass.
Shiloh on the other hand was pretty bothered by the concept of company, but found himself quickly sitting down anyway. Even if he was shy and awkward and belligerent around people, maybe he could still walk away from this with a little more art knowledge under his belt.
"That's... really cool..." he was literally just repeating himself over and over, unable to find a better word. "How long have you been doing this? It's... so wiggy."
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Posted: Thu May 05, 2016 4:17 pm
"Yeah! My brother makes them. We tag team a lot of projects." Eli watched as he sat down, still smiling as he settled in to keep her company. She loved the expression on his face, and the way he repeated how cool it all was. After all, she agreed whole-heartedly. It was pretty cool…and it was good to find others who saw it too.
"Well…Professionally, probably about four years. As a hobby, banking on about ten? Then the schooling for it somewhere in between." She waved her hand noncommittally. "It's hard work, and not very steady, but I love every minute of it." It was worth it, and Devin had a pretty decent job as well. They made it work, despite the distance and the toddler.
"Are you an art fanatic too? Or a fan of horror? Tell me about yourself." There was a small pause, and then: "Also, do you mind if I keep working while we talk? I want to get the face done before lunch. If that's okay?"
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Posted: Thu May 05, 2016 7:06 pm
Oh, she had a brother? "I-I have a brother too!" he blurted out without meaning, shuffling a little bit from where he sat. "But he's more uh, into music I guess. I kind of do the whole art thing, yeah..." he was scratching the back of his head sheepishly. It was one of the few things he allowed himself a semblance of pride in, even if he still had a long way to go with learning.
"That sounds tough though." Shiloh was pretty disillusioned with school, and he honestly had little to no plans of attending college, especially because he'd want to go for something like art and he knew just how unlikely that would be.
It felt weird talking about himself, but maybe not that bad.
"I only really do uh, two dimensional drawing, like... with pencils 'n stuff. Sometimes charcoal." among other mediums, so long as it wasn't a damn paint brush. He just didn't have a lot of money to dabble around. "I don't think I like horror, but I don't dislike it. Actually uh, that music you were listening too was pretty neat. I kinda get the whole um, drowning everything else out thing... so you can focus and stuff...."
God, he felt really weird talking about himself.
"You can draw, s'okay. I don't mind." he was pretty content and fascinated with watching Eli anyway.
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Posted: Thu May 05, 2016 7:36 pm
"Brothers are pretty great, eh? Pains in the butt, but still good." Eli, laughing again, nodded. "Oh, music! My husband is a musician. He's on tour right now~" Which was why she was here, all alone. The small woman leaned in, as if sharing a secret. "Art is way better though." Any chance she could take to dig at her darling hubby, she took. When it came to his comment on being difficult, Eli only shrugged.
"Sometimes, but honestly? I like the fight. It makes my wins worth more, you know? Knowing I ******** earned it." Her shoulder squared, quite proud of herself and her accomplishments. "Blood, sweat and tears and all that."
"Ah, well, horror isn't for everyone! Did you bring your sketchbook with you? As for my music - yeah. When I put this stuff on, the rest of the world just melts away. I don't often get the luxury to do it anymore, unfortunately, but I do value when I can." Eli paused long enough to take off her headphones entirely, sitting them on the tarp between herself and Shiloh, turning the music on just enough to be heard. "So! What kind of things do you draw? Oh." Once more, she paused, putting the brush on her knee so she could hold out her hand.
"I'm Eli, by the way."
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Posted: Fri May 06, 2016 4:07 pm
Shiloh was listening, wide eyed. It was probably good that he was having a relatively alright day, because sometimes his moods were plain sour and he was a total jerk to everything around him. Instead he was actually... sort of enjoying himself? When Eli introduced herself, he fidgeted a little.
"O-Oh um, it's uh... uh..." he was fiddling with his hands in his lap, picking at the band aids on his fingers, "It's... Shiloh." nice to meet you, but he couldn't really bring himself to say it. It was hard enough when he looked over and saw her hand extended. She was offering it for a shake, right? That's what people did when they introduced themselves? He looked back down at his scuffed up hands.
Awkwardly, he reached out, shaking back.
"Cool."
Shiloh shifted his weight and how he was sitting, preferring to have his knees tucked towards his chest. She liked the fight? He fought a lot too, both physically and mentally. Maybe...
"Blood sweat and tears, yeah." he was echoing her words from earlier, "I get that. But I don't have my sketchbook with me, no... But um, I guess I draw a lot of still life things..." it was a lie actually, the part about not having it. It was in his backpack, and while he was very proud of his work, he was also a little hesitant to show it off. When she mentioned not having the luxury anymore, it really clicked that she must have been quite a bit older than he was. Made sense, being apparently married and all.
"That sort of sucks, not having time to do stuff like that... being an adult sounds kinda shitty." he mumbled, picking at some blades of grass now before realizing he probably shouldn't be ******** with Eli's yard.
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Posted: Fri May 06, 2016 8:52 pm
"Nice to meet you, Shiloh! Always good to meet a fellow artist." Eli said what he couldn't, grasping his hand with care once she noticed the bandages. She gave them a curious look at first, then smartly put her attention elsewhere. Her face didn't betray much of what she thought, though she did find herself a little more concerned for the younger man's well-being. There were few things she could immediately think of that would cause that many bandaids in various spots, and a good deal of them weren't good. For now though, she didn't draw attention to them.
Wasn't like she could judge; she'd hurt her hands before with one too many run-ins with an xacto-knife.
"Ah, too bad. I'd love to see your work! Show me one day?" Once the handshake was over, she picked up her paint brush again, and spoke as she started to work on the melted monster's face again, creating careful lines to add further depth. "I have sketchbooks if you want to doodle while you're here. Art jams." Eli grinned at her painting job, smudging a couple of the still-drying lines with her finger. A few other colours were dabbed on here and there, layering the monster with a mash of colours to bring out the horror.
"Well…I guess it depends, right? I mean, I chose to adult this way. I can't do what I used to, but I also kind of made the decision to change that on my own. But someone else might adult differently, you know? It sucks sometimes, yeah. I have a home to care for, bills to pay, all of my friends and family are in different states and countries…it gets hard, real hard. But! I have the cutest little boy to chase after, my husband - when he's home - loves us dearly, though he's also a massive spoil sport, the internet and Skype exist…and I can still create horrible, face-melted monstrosities in my down time!" She pat the monster affectionately. "It's my life, so I more or less set the ground rules, and just kinda go from there. Like I said before, I really love the fight. As long as there's a silver lining in it somewhere, I'm good." As she spoke, she continued painting along, adding faint hints of blood vessels and bruising along the melted portion of the face. It was almost like she wasn't aware that she was rambling, until it was over. If she noticed him yanking out her lawn, she didn't draw any attention to it.
Then she looked at him, giving her best apologetic look, and laughed. "I'm sorry, I get a little too excited, it's just been me and the baby for too long. Actual conversation is a godsend."
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Posted: Sun May 08, 2016 1:34 pm
Shiloh was nodding along with her words, though it was hard to tell if it was because he agreed or because he was just acknowledging her voice. Probably the latter, all things considered, but he still tried to take the words... surprisingly to heart. It was her life, huh? She liked the fight, and she knew things would turn out okay.
Shiloh wondered what it was like, being so optimistic. Not bad, he ventured. If he could make it that far, maybe he'd take hold of his own life too. That'd be something; going off to art school! Getting into... something related to his passions. Being self sufficient? Having his own place... it all sounded really nice. He could be his own person, make his own rules, do whatever he wanted—within reason, anyway.
"That's okay." he wasn't minding the conversation actually. Most adults he met always tried to talk for him, treat him like a kid. Maybe he was still in high school, but he was pretty sure he'd been through a lot more than they had. Eli was nice. She didn't probe, she didn't assume. It made Shiloh feel a little comfortable in all honesty.
"I'd um— I wouldn't mind doodling, I guess." it was too late to backpedal and say he'd actually had his own supplies the whole time, after all, and it looked like he'd be staying here for a little while. "Like I said, I just like to draw stuff... around me. A lot of kids always complain in class about doing still life, but... I think like," dammit he was picking at the lawn again "like, that scenes can tell stories and stuff. Even objects that aren't in motion. I dunno..." I'm not very creative he wanted to add, but he bit his tongue.
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Posted: Tue May 10, 2016 2:01 pm
"Pah, those kids just don't know how to look at things. Like really look - sometimes you can see some pretty cool little things tucked away in still life, right? Like the stuff that gives you insight into the lives of the people who own the objects. I'm guessing that's what you mean, anyway." Eli, now knowing it was okay to ramble, was apparently going to take full advantage of it. "Anyway. I'll go get you a sketchbook. Watch Madam Melt for a sec?" She stood up, wiping excess paint off on her thighs, and headed inside for a minute at a brisk pace, not wanting to waste too much time on it.
When she returned a few minutes later, it was with a sketchbook and a bright, cartoon-dinosaur themed pencil case tucked in the crook of one arm, and two bottles of water in her free hand, held by their necks. Somehow she managed to close the screen door behind her, but left the heavier door wide open. It didn't matter. She was home anyway. They'd have to cross her path to get into her house.
"Here you go!" She gave a bottle of water first, before dropping the second one near her paints. "And here~" Next came the sketchbook and pencil case. "It's kind of a communal sketchbook. It was mine, but then my son wanted to draw too, so now it's a shared one. I think we've been pretty good about using it in order, so, there should be clean pages near the middle." Describing some of the sketchbook as art was a stretch. At best it was a mess of scribbles in various mediums as the pages progressed, and here and there it was clear he had been trying to draw from life, as more and more stick figures, rainbows and what was probably animals or plants showed up. The art that was clearly Eli's was either colour swatches in various mediums, or little doodles of a drider-like monster whose human half was a ragdoll and whose legs were actually sewing needles joined together. Though there was a page that consisted of a couple of cartoony one-shots; the adventures of a blonde little boy.
"And there's a pencil sharpener in there too, if anything's broken." She indicated the box, and the obnoxiously bright and stylized dinosaur that decorated it. As she had talked, she settled herself back down in front of her monster, and after opening and taking a swig of her water, was already getting her paints back in order to continue on.
"So! What brings you to this neighbourhood? Do you live around here too?"
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Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 1:51 pm
...wow.
No words, really. Just wow. Shiloh watched as Eli meandered off, doing as she told (though really, who would try to make off with this painting. Shiloh would fight them), but when she returned, she really bore gifts. It probably didn't seem like much to the average joe, but Shiloh's eyes sparkled at the colorful dinosaurs, the sketchbook and even the water. This was his? Wow...
He already had half the bottle gulped down by the time Eli had finished explaining herself. When she mentioned the sketchbook, he quickly flipped it open, looking at the stark differences between all the art. He wondered what his old art must have looked like. Would the younger him look at his art now and be proud? That was a nice thought right there.
Shiloh was quick to fish out a pencil, already getting a feel for it in his hand. "That's kinda cool." he said quietly, "I mean, that you can draw with your son like that..."
He licked his lips, eyes trained on the paper, obviously deep in thought. Ah well, it wouldn't do to breach those sorts of issues.
"Nah. I mean, sorta. There's another neighboorhood not far from here." it's kinda ratty and doesn't look very nice, "But I like to uh, walk and stuff. I was just sort of wandering..."
Which was truthful, for once. Putting the pencil tip to the paper, he started to doodle a nearby daffodil.
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