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Shikora loved going to the art studio.

It was a place she could go where she could sit in peace, in relative quiet, and just carve. No one questioned what she was doing unless they wanted to talk about art, which she was always willing to do. There were refreshments, and quiet music, and fellow artistic people, and no paperwork (because she had definitely become a psychologist to do paperwork, obviously). She loved being able just to sit and work.

Her latest piece was something she was particularly proud of -- it was an image she had gotten into her head, and after looking at some references, had dived into work on. It was a bird, of course, but birds were more complicated than they seemed, especially when it came to their feet or their plumage. She thought she had managed to capture the details as well as the wood would have allowed.

As she trusted most people at this place knew to leave her things alone by now, she left the finished bird at her seat while she went off to get herself a small glass of wine. It couldn't hurt to take a few sips.

She hadn't expected to come back to find that her carving was gone.

Shikora made a quiet, alarmed squeak. Where had her bird gone? She had spent so much time working on that...

Her eyes scanned the room, attempting to locate where it had wandered off to. Most people seemed to be working on canvasses today. There were a few people that were painting plates. Had someone just grabbed it and run off--

Oh.

Shikora frowned slightly. She didn't recognize that woman. Did she think that was free to take?

Well, this was awkward.

Shyly, Shikora made her way over, trying to figure out what she was supposed to say to the woman who was painting her bird.

"Uhm," Shikora cleared her throat, awkwardly. What was she supposed to say?

That's my bird, give it back?

It's pretty but that's mine?

Hey, the carvings aren't free?

Shikora cringed internally. Too harsh. Definitely not anything she would say. She would feel bad the instant it came out of her mouth. And it was actually pretty. As she looked at it, she could tell the woman had a good eye. She was doing a good job with painting it, even if that wasn't exactly what she had in mind...

Oh, she was making the poor woman feel awkward...

Shikora pulled her hands behind herself and fidgeted. What was she supposed to do? She didn't want to be rude, but in a lot of ways, Bellatrix had been unintentionally rude by stealing her bird. Well. Unintentionally borrowing. Maybe. Would she even give it back?

"Shikora," murmured she, pointing to the bird. "You're doing a good job painting that."

She was, but...

"Ah, that was my carving..." She flushed. "I'm sorry!"

Bellatrix seemed just as flustered as she was, if not moreso. Shikora, who tended to be more concerned for others instead of herself, instantly felt bad. Bellatrix looked sad. Upset. Should she have even said anything? Maybe she should have just let it go. At least Bellatrix seemed to be enjoying painting it. Oh gosh...

She shouldn't have opted to leave her carving there. She could see why someone who hadn't been there in a while could have confused it for something that was just available to paint, though she couldn't help flushing a bit at the unintentional compliment about it being so well done.

"Ah, I'm glad you liked it, at least," offered Shikora, a small, awkward smile on her face. This was such a strange situation. She wished she had known better. It wasn't the first time someone had just snatched up something she had been working on, she supposed. At least Bellatrix realized it for what it was, unlike how some other people seemed to approach her in-progress pieces.

Shikora took the piece back, looking over what Bellatrix had done with it. Even in the short time that Shikora had walked away from her piece, the other artist had already did quite a bit with it. And it wasn't bad, either. She could tell that some of the people here were not particularly skilled. Which was fine! One did not have to be skilled to enjoy doing art, and the only way to get good at art was to keep doing it, over and over, until one developed their own eye and developed their own style. It seemed like Bellatrix already had her own eye, though.

It may not have been the way Shikora planned on approaching it, but it was still pretty.

"I shouldn't have left it just... sitting there," murmured Shikora. Perhaps she had deserved this for making too many assumptions about the crowd of people that came there. It sounded like Bellatrix was a former regular herself. Shikora didn't know everyone who attended. "So it's my bad, too. I'm sorry."

She smiled, even if it didn't seem to be very wide. "And it's pretty. I like what you've done with it, so far."

Bellatrix seemed sad, and even though it could be argued that Bellatrix had been the one who stolen Shikora's carving--why should Shikora even feel bad?--she felt bad anyway. There had to be some way she could help in this situation, but how?

She glanced down at the bird again, before glancing back up at Bellatrix.

"It's okay," she replied, shaking her head when Bellatrix once again asked for forgiveness. That seemed silly. She had apologized enough. It was an honest mistake. Shikora shouldn't have assumed that no one would have grabbed her carving, especially because the assumption was a bad one. It wasn't like there weren't other carved items to paint, here...

Bellatrix wanted to learn? Shikora raised her brows in surprise. She wasn't the best teacher, she didn't think, but if Bellatrix was legitimately interested, Shikora might be able to show her some things. "Oh, thank you." She blushed, rubbing her neck with her free hand. "It's something that I picked up on when I was younger. I'd pick up sticks and grab a knife and just shave the stick, I guess." It sounded so silly when she described it aloud. "Eventually I started making shapes? I know, it's kinda a weird hobby, but it helps me relax."

Bellatrix was gathering her things like she was just going to leave. That wasn't right...

She looked back down at the bird, and back up to Bellatrix.

Hm.

"Would you want to," she awkwardly offered the bird back towards Bellatrix, "finish it, maybe?"

She smiled. "Oh, I've heard of projects like that! They can be very cute."

They usually just ended up looking like oddly shaped bars of soap in the end, or just smaller versions of themselves like Bellatrix's daughter's bar of soap, but it was still pretty cute.

Honestly, she wasn't sure if she wanted to make this move, but she could always make a new bird, right? And Bellatrix seemed so excited about being able to paint it. She was already going ahead and moving back towards grabbing the brushes. In some ways, it was nice to see that someone was so excited about working with something that she had made, and in a lot of ways, that was enough. This was the right move. The woman in front of her was no longer sad, and her bird was becoming something that she would not have even imagined.

She chuckled, raising a hand when Bellatrix asked for her opinion. "I was probably going to make it a red-crested bird, but I'm really curious about what you were thinking! You already started it and had something in mind, and I'm wondering what that is."

Shikora sat down in front of Bellatrix, but tried to avoid staring at her, because that was awkward. Instead, she kept her eyes on the bird for the moment.

"Don't leave. There's no point in that."

Her eyes flicked up, and she smiled.

"This is a place to express creativity, and you were doing that, right?"

Bellatrix sounded so excited, and it was enough to bring a smile to Shikora's face, even if she originally was stuck somewhere between distress and anger.

And sadness, honestly, but mostly distress...

Still, Bellatrix seemed so excited to work on something Shikora made. It was nice to see someone appreciate handmade work (so many people didn't realize the number of hours that went into something even so simple as a bird!) and doubly nice to have ideas for it on top of that. When she took a moment to think about the winter they had just had, she shuddered. She had to admit, one of the nice things about the West Coast that didn't seem to be so common on the East Coast was, well, less cold. It wasn't that it didn't get cold, but California was not necessarily known for being chilly...

"If you see a bluebird, then make a bluebird! I would like to see your vision." And she was serious about that, too. If Bellatrix had been inspired by Shikora's piece, she was curious to see what the inspiration was.

When Bellatrix mentioned her lack of friends, though, she couldn't help a small frown on her face. That was, unfortunately, too familiar to her. "I don't really have a lot of friends either," murmured Shikora, glancing to the side. Her siblings often admonished her for that. She had been living there for years, how did she not have any friends? Part of it was, of course, that she wasn't sure who she could trust, the visions of her ... seed withdrawal still fresh in her head. The other part was that she dedicated so much of her time to helping all the broken people in Destiny City.

"I moved here a few years ago and mostly just interact with my clients..."

She giggled.

"Hard to have spare time as a psychologist!"

Shikora smiled. "I suppose if we're both in the same place at least once a week, that would qualify as a scheduled hangout, yes. I think that's a thing that friendly people do." She was somewhat teasing, that was obvious by the quirk of a smirk on the edge of her lips -- but she was at least somewhat interested in the idea of actually talking to someone. Maybe her siblings back at home would stop shaming her for her life choices.

Just because she didn't go to a bar every weekend and preferred keeping to herself away from people who could put hands in her chest--

She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "I mean, I could make a couple extra pieces, if you'd like? It may be interesting to steadily work with someone else! I haven't done that in a long time." Seeing as she had a lack of friends and, honestly, a lack of creative partners, she hadn't actually teamed up with anyone on a creative project since she lived back in Cali. It might have been worth seeing if they could have a decent working relationship.

Maybe something good could come out of this accidental thievery. Bellatrix already seemed happier, honestly. Perhaps that was the good, but perhaps they could make a great?

That sounded so silly--

"I also enjoy long walks on the beach, but Destiny City is unfortunately inland," remarked Shikora, swatting vaguely at the air. She crossed one leg over the other and leaned forward, placing her chin in her hands. "But I do like tennis! I'm pretty good at that, I think. Or mediocre, but it's fun anyway. Keeps me active." She laughed.