Closed Artist to Artist

[Vera Ito]

Vera had been enjoying the time at home after their last tour. She was still adjusting to normal human hours, not that she every truly obeyed them. She was a night owl at heart but getting into bed before the sun came up was nice. Especially now that the house was quieter without Delaney around. She missed him and feared for him constantly, she couldn't fault him for moving on. It was early afternoon and she was still drinking her coffee when she heard a knock at the door. She wasn't sure where Leo was but he didn't seemed to be around. Usually she let him take charge in those situations, he always handled social situations better than she did. With a heavy sigh she walked to the door and slowly opened it. She recognized the boy, he was Asher's cousin, and opened the door wider. "Hey...Casper right?" she asked after searching her memory for a name. She had met him in passing and she was always terrible at names. "Asher isn't here." she said quickly. "I can probably call him if you needed him." she offered. She wasn't sure why she felt so awkward. Casper was technically an adult and could take care of himself. It wasn't like she fumbled like this with Ezra or Elise.

 

[Casper Kinnek]

Casper had been wanting to expand his social circle- as much as he loved Linden, he knew that he needed more friends than just him. After a bit of thought, he'd remembered Asher talking about Vera. Gathering up his courage, Cas had grabbed a bag and packed a makeshift art kit with a blank canvas and a collection of his favorite paints. He made his way to Ashers old place, thinking it looked awfully big and newly intimidating knowing that Ash had moved out to live with his boyfriend.

Still, he squared his shoulders and walked up, knocking on the door. He stepped back, giving a relieved smile when Vera showed up and seemed to recognize him. He gave her an almost shy smile, rubbing the back of his neck. "Actually, ah, I was hoping to see you," He offered, shoving his hand in his pocket while the other clutched at the strap of his bag. "I- well, I was wanting to make more friends, and I remember Asher telling me you were an artist. And well, I'm an artist," He shifted his bag on his shoulders. "If it's not like- too weird or anything, I brought a canvas and my favorite paints, I was hoping maybe we could like... hang out or something?" He managed, hoping he didn't sound too silly. And that she didn't just immedietly slam the door in his face.

 

[Vera Ito]

Vera stood there shocked when Casper said he was looking for her. She hadn't been expecting that at all and gave him a questioning look until he explained. "Oh." she said once he was done. She wasn't sure if she should be embarrassed of flattered that Asher spoke about her when she wasn't around. Vera considered her options and stood there silently for longer than what was probably appropriate. She wasn't very good when her schedule was unexpectedly changed. She didn't really have any big plans and was intending to paint this afternoon but having someone with her was not a part of said plan. But she didn't have the heart to turn him away. Not after he had bothered to come to her. When had she gotten so soft? "Right, ok. Yeah." she mumbled and stood aside to let him in. "Well I'm in the middle of redoing my studio at the moment so it's a bit of a mess." she explained. She was stretching the truth a little because she was actually in the middle of turning Delaney's old room into her studio. But it didn't change the reality that the space only consisted of a few easels and a cart full of her paint. Still she let Casper inside and cleared some space for him.

 

[Casper Kinnek]

Casper waited for Vera to think, shifting a little nervously on his feet. He smiled shyly when she finally agreed, and walked in, following her into the house and to her studio. He chuckled. "Wasn't this Delaneys room?" He asked, remembering a bit from when he'd visited Asher before. "If you're taking this over as your studio, what did you do with Ash's room?" He asked her with a playful smile, setting his things down. "It's not too much of a mess. Besides, I heard once that beauty comes from chaos," He offered, running a hand through his hair.

 

[Vera Ito]

Vera felt her lips twitch into a slight smile. Apparently Casper was more observant than she expected. "It was." she said, emphasizing the second word. She still felt a twinge of sadness when she thought about how much the house and the band had changed over the past year. As reluctant as she was to say it out loud, they were her family. She finally did laugh when he asked about Asher's room. "It's up to Leo. I don't know what his plans are yet." she said with a shrug. She glanced sideways at the younger boy when he started spout of platitudes. She doubted if he had ever experienced real chaos before but she kept that thought to herself as she wandered to the side of the room where her canvas that were works in progress leaned against the wall. "Do you think that's true?" she asked, glancing over her shoulder as she settled on one of her mostly empty canvases and brought it back to her easel.

 

[Casper Kinnek]

Casper chuckled, taking a seat and pulling out his own things. "Controlled chaos maybe," He countered, laughing lightly. "Personally I've always found people to be the biggest inspiration. What about you?" He asked her, laying out his own paints. He could see why Asher liked it here so much- the vibes of the house were just generally fairly nice, like laid back. But maybe that was because Asher and Delaney weren't here to fight.

 

[Vera Ito]

Vera grinned but hid it mostly by looking forward at her painting. "Beauty is subjective and I guess chaos is too depending on who you ask. Or at least their definition of it." she said in response to his quip about chaos and beauty. Aesthetics and beauty was hard to define, especially with work as abstract as her's. She reached for her trusty palette and peeled off some of the dried paint before adding some fresh colors. Vera paused and Casper's next question. She rarely had to verbalize such things and inspiration until it was time to put a show together and even then writing it all down felt like pulling teeth. In conversation it felt worse but she tried to put on a brave face. "Inspiration is tricky. It can come and go." she said calmly even though it wasn't really answering his question. But it was something she had learned the hard way. Sometimes to create you need to bypass creativity and hope it finds you along the way. Vera took a deep breath and grabbed a brush. "But I guess I'm always trying to express what I'm thinking or feeling. I struggle with words so it's easier to use the paint."