Welcome to Gaia! ::

Qadir peered up at the large museum, blinking against the light that threatened to burn his retnas. Silly museums and their refusal to stay open at night. Some such bull about security and all that jazz. But it couldn't be helped. The owner of the Courland insisted that Qadir meet with him to thank him for the 'generous' donation he'd brought back from his last treasure hunt.

Of course he'd invited Crystal along, but it was a shame that he couldn't drape his arm about her waist as his only good hand was holding up a parisol in order to keep the sun from scalding his skin. Gods he hated the day.

Flashing a smile at Crystal, he nudged her as best he could with his elbow before walking into the museum and asking for directions at the information desk after folding up the parsol. With a nod, he pointed in the direction he and Crystal needed to walk to get to the meeting, unknowing that it led right past a certain scent he'd had the pleasure of meeting before.

Degas looked up randomly from his sketches then blinked in surprise. What the heck was a vampire doing out during the day he wondered.

"Qadir!!" He called loudly disrupting the serenity of the museum. The scent stood up and dusted himself up and smiled. "It's been forever! Since I've seen you. How-" Then the scent saw his next surprise a young lady was with the vampire. She looked oddly familiar yet he couldn't place it. "Ma'am you look familiar to me but I can't remember from where."

Crystal smiled shyly at the boy; so he did remember, at least in part. She crinkled her nose in a very unlady like fashion at Qadir's compliment, shaking her head with a bounce of curls. Her merry grey eyes turned back to the boy, extending her hand to him like she had at the Masquerade, although it was significantly less tense this time. "A pleasure to meet you formally, Degas L'Artisanale." The woman rolled her vowels as she had a tendancy to do, as if perhaps she was tasting the name to get a better feel for it.

"We have met before. I was wearing a mask," she covered part of her face with her free hand, "and the circumstances were quite chaotic with that child and its ball." Crystal's lips parted into the barest hint of a grin, her expression warm as she looked at the boy. She would not say more than that in front of Qadir if he didn't want to share the information, especially since the boy seemed to know and like the vampire. "I'm glad you are well."

Qadir's face soured slightly at the mention of him being out in the sun and a deep sigh followed the annoyed look. "I didn't have much of a choice," he muttered, looking towards a window and giving a downright hateful stare in the direction of the sun. It wasn't that it hurt him really. Clearly he didn't go bursting into flames at just the thought of sunlight, but damn if it didn't make his eyes hurt and give him sunburn like no human could imagine if he let it touch his skin.

And thus was the reason for his overly extravagent outfit: a black parasol, black gloves, an overly long black coat buttoned up to his chin and black pants that were long enough not to reveal his ankles when he sat down. It was far too hot outside for all his dark attire, but it was better than what would happen if he felt like thaking them out. "Crystal is a great friend of mine and I'm quite pleased to find out that you know each other. Saves me a long winded introduction that would make me seem far more boring than I really am," he teased with a broad smile. "May I see what you've been sketching Degas?"

Degas nodded at the vampire's distress feeling some empathy for him. "I hope then that the sun goes down soon in order to make your time more enjoyable." He handed over the book to Quadir without hesitation as he was not shy of his art from the nude figure drawing to the abstract stick figure standing alone. "I think I think I might make a painting of this one."

Degas's Drawing

He murmured softly smiling a little at Crystal. "I have been drawing since I first emerged. I hoping one day to become an artist and have something in this fine museum or help run it."

What an interesting term to use - 'emerged.' Crystal nodded to Degas, another smile playing over her lips. "Don't lose that dream. Qadir and I will be the first to visit when your art graces these walls." Her grey eyes shifted to the vampire before lifting a slender brow at Degas, as if in silent question if it was okay that she saw his art.

Moving to join Qadir at his side, she looked around his arm, her smile spreading into an earnest grin. "It looks as though it belongs here," she complimented Degas, moving her attention from the art to the boy. Crystal paused in thought, looking at Degas before quoting, "'To find a form that accommodates the mess, that is the task of the artist now.'"

She looked thoughtful, almost far away before her expression softened as she realized she was being awkwardly silent. "Personally, I'm...that is, I think the human form is a difficult one to capture. I'm jealous." Another grin graced her features as she winked at Degas.

Qadir's nose wrinkled in a most ungentlemanly way, but then again Qadir was the most ungentalmanly gentleman he knew, so it wasn't all that surprising for the man to have the expression upon his tanned face. "My last treasure excursion provided quite a haul for me and I had not enough room for all of it. I thought it would be best to donate it to a museum, and while this one does not deal heavily with older artifacts, their brother museums will more than happily take them off this museums hands. I've no care as to where they end up as long as they are taken care of properly."

Wrapping his arm loosely about Crystal's waist, as much for support as for a comforting embrace, Qadir continued, "Because I'm already injured and the owner of this museum would only meet me duing the light, I terribly needed the help of a friend and my dear Crystal was just the perfect maiden to call upon. Be certain though that you're not taking up any of my time. If it was my wish, I'd not be here at all as these are the hours I spend sleeping and I'm quite missing those hours." Although the man smiled wide, his expression was still lacking it's usual luster and it was clear that the injuries he was still sporting were not healing with his lack of sleep.