Happy Little Trees
For Rexanna
Bastien De Rosieres
the Dionysian
Ambassador for the Hollowed Grounds / Artist

Age: 41 | Height: 6' 2" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 5 - Strg: 20 - Dext: 22 - Endr: 20 - Luck: 10 - Int:
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#1
BASTIEN
I have late night conversations
with the moon.
"Meet me, cara," Bastien had said to Rexanna, the last time they had been together. "Meet me at the gate that leads to the fields at dusk, and bring a light of some kind. I will have much to carry for us already. I have a surprise."

The sun had disappeared beyond the clouds, the day coming to it's close; but the evening was just beginning, and that was the time he was truly interested in. In his hands he held a basket containing several items. Whatever they were was hidden by a large blanket laid over the top, bright blue with flecks of gold and white sewn into it (clearly a remnant from his 'Safrin days', but it had been well made and he did not want to waste).

Leaning against a little stone wall by the gate he waited for her, watching the faint beginnings of stars in the sky. It was a cool evening, he could feel that on his numb skin, but calm and quiet, perfect for his plans.

As he saw Rexanna approach from a distance he stood up from the wall and waved, held up the basket as if it would mean anything to her with a smile.
he tells me about the sun,
and i tell him about you.
REXANNA
Rexanna De Rosieres
the Penumbra
Queen of the Hollowed Grounds

Age: 34 | Height: 5'4" | Race: Ascended x Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 4 Abandoned (Level 3 Ascended) - Strg: 19 - Dext: 14 - Endr: 20 - Luck: 9 - Int:
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#2
REXANNA
I have late night conversations
with the moon.
He had asked her to meet him, and she agreed eagerly. He spoke of meeting at the fields, to bring a light to see through the darkness of night, and a surprise that intrigued her. She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t looking forward to it all day. And she had spent the majority of it using her transmutation magic to make a bigger oil lantern to bring. He hadn’t asked her to bring anything else, and she didn’t. Uncertain of what the day might hold and what his surprise might be, she gathered her things and bundled up in a warm sweater to ward off the cold. It didn’t take her long to get to where the meeting point was, and upon the approach she noticed Bastien leaning against the wall, moving to wave to her and lift a basket with a wide fanged grin.

She returned his grin, hurrying to reach him as she eyed the basket with an interested eye. “What is that?” She asked with curious eye and a wide grin. She knew he had it as a surprise, and likely wouldn’t tell her right away until he had taken her to whichever spot they’d be spending their first date. One she had been so incredibly excited for. “I brought a lantern!” She raised her arm up to show the large oil lantern with a grin sent in his direction before she calmed herself enough, seeming very similar to a child in her excitement. “I’m sorry, I’m very excited is all.” A quiet laugh escaped her lips but she moved over toward him to embrace him gently in greeting.
he tells me about the sun,
and i tell him about you.
BASTIEN

Bastien De Rosieres
the Dionysian
Ambassador for the Hollowed Grounds / Artist

Age: 41 | Height: 6' 2" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 5 - Strg: 20 - Dext: 22 - Endr: 20 - Luck: 10 - Int:
PITTORE - Mythical - Gremlin (Disappearance)
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#3
BASTIEN
I have late night conversations
with the moon.
When Rexanna got close Bastien sighed happily, seeing her sweater and excitement and thinking they were adorable. He had gotten very, very lucky here, he knew that. He intended to give Rexanna the best he could to show his gratitude to the world, to her.

"Ah, so you did!" He commented on the lantern, moving into their embrace and pointedly not answering her question about the basket for the moment as he took her into his spare arm, pressed a kiss to her cheekbone. "That will more than do." It was really for her benefit anyway, since he could see in the dark now.

Fingers slipping between hers and Bastien beginning to walk up towards the fields, he smile softly at her. "Do not apologise for your excitement. I am glad for it! If you were not excited, I might be wounded. As for what is in this..." He held up the basket and twirled it in his hand before them. "It is a basket, and a blanket. Did they not have them where you came from?" The only way his tone could get any more teasing was if he actually had his tongue sticking out.

"As for what is in the basket..later. For now, tell me of how you have been, Rexanna. I would love to know."
he tells me about the sun,
and i tell him about you.
REXANNA
Rexanna De Rosieres
the Penumbra
Queen of the Hollowed Grounds

Age: 34 | Height: 5'4" | Race: Ascended x Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 4 Abandoned (Level 3 Ascended) - Strg: 19 - Dext: 14 - Endr: 20 - Luck: 9 - Int:
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#4
REXANNA
I have late night conversations
with the moon.
Rexanna felt relieved as the excitement was reciprocated. She had always been taught to keep her emotions relative, to not bound and flit around like a bird when something truly amazing happened. But she was with Bastien, and if she knew one thing about him, it was his flair for dramatics. She wasn’t sure why she had been so worried in the first place, but imagined that it had something to do with the fact that Bastien had asked her on a date and of all things she’s done in her life, an official date had never been one of them. It was a new leap, a new bound, and she was honestly looking forward to it. She was also glad for the distraction as he leaned back into her, pressing a kiss to her cheekbone gently before taking her hand in his and lacing their fingers together as he led her to where the surprise was.

But she laughed to him, as he spoke of being wounded if she hadn’t been excited, and breathed a quiet sigh of relief at that fact. He teased her then, about the basket, and she sent a playful glare in his direction with a wicked smirk playing on her lips. “Just a basket and blanket?” She began but before she could make a comment about it, a chime of a giggle left her lips. But he had announced he would tell her later and she pouted about it for a moment as they walked, deciding where to start on the entirety of what she’d been up to. “Well, I trained with magic with another Natural. Fought some of those huge worms out here with a white fox. Planted some beautiful flowers with a white raven. Deimos and I tried to meet Safrin to no avail, then went to the Loreseekers Guild. Uhm…” She trailed off, thinking. “Jigano and I made some flags for Fiat Lux. I think that’s about it?” She said, looking to him with a gleam in her eye as if it had been nothing when she had, in fact, been an incredibly busy woman.

What have you been up to?” She asked him, tightening her fingers with his gently.
he tells me about the sun,
and i tell him about you.
BASTIEN

Bastien De Rosieres
the Dionysian
Ambassador for the Hollowed Grounds / Artist

Age: 41 | Height: 6' 2" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 5 - Strg: 20 - Dext: 22 - Endr: 20 - Luck: 10 - Int:
PITTORE - Mythical - Gremlin (Disappearance)
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#5
BASTIEN
I have late night conversations
with the moon.
"Perhaps. I suppose you shall have to wait and see." It was quite clear from the way he was carrying the basket it had some weight to it, but he kept up the charade for now.

Rexanna had been doing quite a lot in their short time apart, as it turned out. With each item on the list Bastien's brows rose a little higher. Was his own life especially boring, or did Rexanna just make sure to pack every moment with a new event? "You have met many white animals, hm? Was this on purpose? Or just a wonderful coincidence?" Luckily he had not yet seen any of the giant worms himself, but he was glad Rexanna had had help to fend them off. "Ah, Jigano. I have not seen him in a while...strange man. Strict."

What had he been up to..? Well, there was really only one thing of note. "I, and the other Ascended, met with The Voice. She gave us a gift; I have seen through the barrier, Rexanna." He squeezed her hand, looked to her with a slightly wild smile. "It is beautiful out there."

Fields of flowers and tall grasses were beginning to surround them now, Bastien walked past these. He knew where he wanted to be. "It's not a long walk." He reassured her.
he tells me about the sun,
and i tell him about you.
REXANNA
Rexanna De Rosieres
the Penumbra
Queen of the Hollowed Grounds

Age: 34 | Height: 5'4" | Race: Ascended x Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 4 Abandoned (Level 3 Ascended) - Strg: 19 - Dext: 14 - Endr: 20 - Luck: 9 - Int:
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#6
REXANNA
I have late night conversations
with the moon.
She agreed, though was slightly upset at the waiting part. She had waited the entire time since she’d seen him last, and despite it she felt she couldn’t wait a few minutes longer. But Rexanna endured, looking to him now and then as they walked and when he questioned about the white animals, she shrugged her shoulders slightly with a quiet laugh. “Happy accident I suppose?” She grinned to him before he spoke of Jigano and she nodded in agreement. Strict, but he had been kind to her. A good friend. So far at least, and she was concerned with how far he would go to try and find out about Jedidiah. But that was for another time, another day. Besides, he would have found out about Bastien’s “revival” eventually. It likely would have ended with the same results.

But her attention strayed to him as he spoke of the Voice and what she had gifted them, squeezing her hand gently. Her heartbeat thundered and she looked off in the distance as if she could see the barrier before her. “That’s better than incredible…” She mused, looking back to Bastien with a hopeful smile in her chest. “I hope to see it soon. Remi told me that he had seen past the barrier too, saw life out there and everything. I hope to see it too, one day.” She said, though trailed off a bit quieter at the realization that came with it. To keep the Ascended in. Her eyes softened as she looked back ahead and away from Bastien, uncertain if she should tell him that part of the information she has been gathering. “And we can go on our quest!” She finished, pushing the feelings down to deal with at another time.

Bastien seemed inclined to know where he was going, and she allowed him to lead her wherever it was he had planned. Her hand holding the lantern swung among the tall grasses as the stars began to take over the skies and she glanced around perhaps a bit out of happiness and extreme curiosity. “I would walk with you however long it took to get to the surprise.” She informed him, squeezing his hand back in response.
he tells me about the sun,
and i tell him about you.
BASTIEN

Bastien De Rosieres
the Dionysian
Ambassador for the Hollowed Grounds / Artist

Age: 41 | Height: 6' 2" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 5 - Strg: 20 - Dext: 22 - Endr: 20 - Luck: 10 - Int:
PITTORE - Mythical - Gremlin (Disappearance)
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#7
BASTIEN
I have late night conversations
with the moon.
"Perhaps we should go on a walk sometime so you can gather your snowy animal friends." Bastien said with a smile, imagining Rexanna drawing forest wildlife to her with song like a princess. He did not know of the connection to Jigano nor the man's judgements on his choices; probably for the best as for now he was trouble-free, easily walking hand in hand with a wonderful woman. It was not the time for complicated concerns.

"Yes, there was life. Deer, and wonderful flowers, and..." He paused and wondered how to describe it all. "The most vibrant colour, and small dancing lights. We shall go and experience it all together, il mio amore." If he knew anything of the barrier's purpose he did not reveal it in the excitement in his face, the way his smile grew fond as he imagined travelling with Rexanna.

He suddenly turned in the path towards a gate, one leading to a field with a large tree in the middle on a slight hill, shorter grass with swaying flowers. "Well. Luckily for you, we have arrived." Bastien pushed the gate open for Rexanna first then followed her, headed to the tree. Once he was there, he took the blanket from the basket and laid it down on the ground, making them a place to sit.

"Is it not beautiful here? I found it a while ago and decided to share it with someone special." From the hill you could see the fields of flowers, the criss-cross of walls and the eventual town fading into the distance, the sunset, pink clouds behind newly-budded green leaves...it was enough to draw a breath from any man.

Now, for the surprise. Once he had sat he reached into the basket and brought out two taunt canvases, small enough to be balanced on one's knee, and a set of brushes, some water in a tightly lidded jar, and a little palette of paints. "I thought we could both make an interpretation of the sunset. After all, you may be my muse, but you are not just something to be looked at, hm? You can be the artist just as well as I, and I would love to see your visions. Have you ever painted before?" He handed a canvas to her, as well as a couple of brushes.
he tells me about the sun,
and i tell him about you.
REXANNA
Rexanna De Rosieres
the Penumbra
Queen of the Hollowed Grounds

Age: 34 | Height: 5'4" | Race: Ascended x Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 4 Abandoned (Level 3 Ascended) - Strg: 19 - Dext: 14 - Endr: 20 - Luck: 9 - Int:
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#8
REXANNA
I have late night conversations
with the moon.
She snorted in response to his suggestion. It had all been coincidence, and none of the other creatures she had passed by in the day to day ever had any kind of connection to her like the white raven and fox had. She imagined after talking to Jigano, that it was probably a shy person – afraid to reveal that they were in fact human and not just a unique creature that happened to understand. But she didn’t say anything towards it, instead letting Bastien imagine her as a princess with flitting birds picking up her hair as she twirled in a meadow.

She knew none of it was true, but the thought made her smile regardless.

But he spoke of what was outside of the barrier, and she grew intrigued. He spoke of colors, vibrant and swathing, small dancing lights, and she imagined it in the best of her ability. And he spoke of them going and seeing it together, speaking soft gentle words in his own language that Rexanna still had yet to understand. Perhaps he would teach her one day. But she leaned into him, smiling at the thought with him by her side, braving the unknown just to say they did. Perhaps there would be incredible things out there to explore and witness. She wanted to be one of them, a pioneer of sorts. To get her hands dirty (though they wouldn’t appear dirty at all) with all the opportunity she could find.

Turning sharply, she followed him along the path with her hand in his toward a large tree in the hill, swaying flowers and beautiful albeit shorter grass than before. “Oh?” She quipped to him, eyeing him briefly with a small suspicious look. He opened the gate for her, however, and she slipped through on quiet feet toward the tree. Once there, he began to unwrap everything he had brought. First, the sapphire blanket that reminded her of her eyes before it would remind her of Safrin, and he began to make a place for them to sit.

When he spoke, her attention turned to the horizon, to see the pinks and purples, small goldish hues of the rest of the dying sun that created a halo effect from below the horizon line. And she couldn’t help the brilliant gleam to her eyes, the wide grateful smile that crossed along her face. She turned toward where the sun had gone down, before turning more in a spinning motion – the movement graceful and soft, like ink through water as she moved around the tree to get better vantage points of the beauty of the land. “It’s so beautiful, Bastien.” She said partially breathlessly, staring off into the distance, as if it were the first time she had truly been able to see the beauty in the world.

And when she turned to Bastien, she noticed him sitting and hurried back over to sit as well. She watched silently as he pulled out two canvases, some water, and some paints. For a moment, she simply stared, letting her breath catch up to her. Her eyes flickering from the canvas he offered to his face as he spoke. He wanted to see her visions, her art, her side of the story that could be so different from his own. And for her, that was enough. She could have tackled him there and planted a kiss to his stubbled cheeks – it wouldn’t have been the first time she’d done something like this in the Fields, but the first time she ever felt like this too.

I haven’t really, no. Aside from fixing some paint inside rooms for the nobles. That’s all the painting I’ve done.” She offered, eyes flitting back toward the pallet of paints as she grabbed onto the canvas and looked back to him with a hint of tears in her eyes at the thoughtfulness of it. “This is so wonderful. Thank you.” She said to him, ducking her head slightly and looking down to the canvas she arranged on her lap in case he might not think she was happy about it because of the tears that brimmed in her eyes. But she loved it, and the smile on her face was perhaps the most brilliant, genuine thing she’d ever done. "So where do we start?"
he tells me about the sun,
and i tell him about you.
BASTIEN

Bastien De Rosieres
the Dionysian
Ambassador for the Hollowed Grounds / Artist

Age: 41 | Height: 6' 2" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 5 - Strg: 20 - Dext: 22 - Endr: 20 - Luck: 10 - Int:
PITTORE - Mythical - Gremlin (Disappearance)
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#9
BASTIEN
I have late night conversations
with the moon.
Rexanna seemed happy with his idea, touched to the point of tears even; Bastien smiled with the knowledge that he had made her happy. It had been the point of the evening, after all (as well as having a good time and creating two paintings, but...really all that matter was the way her eyes lit up when she looked in his direction, and he knew he wasn't alone in the sudden slide of emotion they'd begun to slip down).

"I often find the work of people just beginning can be far more poignant than that of the masters." He said, intending to encourage her in the case of any nerves. It was true: he had taught many classes and seen many amateurs capture a certain something in their work that even the greatest amount of practice could not manufacture.

She asked where to start. Ah, what a question. It was one he actually had to think about for a moment, always having just begun his artistic endeavours without any real consideration for how he was going to do it. But for her sake he took a moment to go through his process.

"I would take a moment to look. Just...drink it in, yes? The colours, the mood...what you would like to remember of this, and what might be best left out of the fantasy. We are under no obligation to represent the world accurately. Just as we like it." This was a major part of his artistic philosophy, something he'd quite wrestled with with the contemporary artists of his time. Representative was in, impression was out. But here he was not a part of their boring tradition, and he would do as he liked. "Then...some like to begin with a sketch, others with a wash of colour. What feels right to you, Rexanna? Personally...I will begin with a wash, I think. To get a beginning of the colours."

With that said he dipped his brush in the water and took some yellow, confidently running it over the canvas. Expertly and with clear practice he switched to another brush in his hand, dipped this one in orange and began to blend up.
he tells me about the sun,
and i tell him about you.
REXANNA
Rexanna De Rosieres
the Penumbra
Queen of the Hollowed Grounds

Age: 34 | Height: 5'4" | Race: Ascended x Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 4 Abandoned (Level 3 Ascended) - Strg: 19 - Dext: 14 - Endr: 20 - Luck: 9 - Int:
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#10
REXANNA
I have late night conversations
with the moon.
It was thoughtful of Bastien to have done it, something that interested her but she’d never chad the option to do it. Certainly, she could have started painting in her home – but she’d never really had a reason to before. She was fine enough working on things she was good at rather than figuring it out. But with Bastien helping her, to guide her when she got stuck on colors or how to use which brush to make the detail she wanted to, it made all the difference. That he had set aside time for her to simply try, just to see what she could do with no judgements within it. And with his encouragement, she nodded to him with a soft smile, inhaling deeply to try and push the tears away that brimmed on the surface of her sapphire gaze. Immediately, she thought of the opulent paintings in the palace – even the one made of her and her bright, doe-like eyes. But the artist had hidden a kind of darkness in her portrait, like a stain on the long list of true Asciends that had a hand in the throne.

It didn’t really bother her, but she wanted to portray the happiness of the event, hiding the darkness away in light of the beauty of this new world, of old worlds past. She listened to Bastien as he spoke, telling her where to start by simply looking and seeing where she wanted to start. She felt encouraged, knowing he wasn’t expecting her to portray something completely accurate (she was certain she couldn’t even get close if she tried) and spent a moment looking at the way the hill rolled with the grasses and flowers popping out colors over the tops of the deep rich indigo hues of the grasses. She also noticed the enriched shade on the tree, and how she might go about framing her work with their sweeping branches. And when Bastien mentioned people started different ways, she looked over to his as he began to confidently place a beginning part of the colors. She knew she didn’t want to start there, and so placing the lantern in a place she could easily see her canvas in case it grew dark, she reached for a piece of charcoal.

There’s so many beautiful colors, how do you choose which to flow together?” She asked him curiously as she bent over the canvas to lay in the rough outlines of how she planned on the trunk creeping up on the right side of the canvas, with the lines of branches framing the top and a few stray pieces that curved around the top left. Then she set in the horizon line, with a small raise here and there for the blooms to sit. Her main focus, the focal point being a smidge off center, would be the last rays of the sun and the clouds that would peek from behind the leaves of her tree and the way the sun would cast its pinkish purple hues over the colorful blooms of the flowers in the fields. When she had mocked up the lining, she sat back and looked at it proudly, grinning to Bastien with the result. “Ah okay. Let’s see…” She mumbled a bit as she looked down to the brushes, deciding on a medium sized one to get the pale yellowish gold that would rise from below the horizon line, taking care to be sure she would start from back to front. That was the logical thing to do, right?

She paused before placing the color however, spending a moment to tie her hair back and grumble quietly at the length it had gotten to before she looked back at the scene before her. “When did you start painting? What inspired you?” She asked him as she carefully, squinting slightly with her tongue poking at the inside of her cheek, placed the beginnings of paint onto the canvas.
he tells me about the sun,
and i tell him about you.
BASTIEN

Bastien De Rosieres
the Dionysian
Ambassador for the Hollowed Grounds / Artist

Age: 41 | Height: 6' 2" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 5 - Strg: 20 - Dext: 22 - Endr: 20 - Luck: 10 - Int:
PITTORE - Mythical - Gremlin (Disappearance)
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#11
BASTIEN
I have late night conversations
with the moon.
"I just try to get as close to the colours I see...and you can always redo them or change them later..." Honestly, now that she asked the question, he wasn't sure. He'd always just known the right colour, even if it wasn't what was before him. That would not be a helpful answer though. He didn't want to come off as patronising, not to Rexanna. "Or you could just choose whatever colours you like. I do not like to put rules to art."

He added in the purples, gold flecks in the sky, fading up to a dark space. Occasionally glancing over to see what Rexanna was doing (and smiling with approval as he saw her going right for it, with the characteristic determination he loved) he added in a dark line for the horizon, starting with an almost-black brown then going over in greens, highlights of browns and yellows, the colours of the leaves illuminated by the late sun and incoming moon.

Bastien was wrapped up in looking at the nape of Rexanna's neck, a spot that practically begged for kiss, when she asked her question and momentarily knocked him from the idea.

"Well...my parents were gardeners. De Rosieres...of the rose bush. It was a long tradition in my family, to take care of the flowers around Paris. When I was young my mother would bring clippings home and draw them in an evening, and I began to do it with her...as far back as I can remember, I was drawing flowers with her." He looked down into his work with a faraway, warm smile on his face; he did not have many good strong memories of his childhood.

"In my teenage years and much of my twenties I was more of a performer, but as I began to put together my sanctuary, I found I desired to make images with a brush, not my body. Something more permanent, lasting. I suppose everyone begins to think of their legacy? I do not know. But I did, so I taught myself to paint." His first attempts had been...passable, maybe, but not anything he'd ever shown anyone else. "I was inspired by many things. The first thing I painted was the morning light coming through my curtains. Then a man I had spent a night with...it was rather unflattering. He did not like it." Bastien laughed.

"I could ask the same of you, though not for paints. What interests you in a debate? A discussion? Why choose to place yourself in a place of negotiation? Even if you were thrust into it by happenstance, you clearly still have the gift."
he tells me about the sun,
and i tell him about you.
REXANNA
Rexanna De Rosieres
the Penumbra
Queen of the Hollowed Grounds

Age: 34 | Height: 5'4" | Race: Ascended x Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 4 Abandoned (Level 3 Ascended) - Strg: 19 - Dext: 14 - Endr: 20 - Luck: 9 - Int:
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#12
REXANNA
I have late night conversations
with the moon.
She agreed, finding that rules could make something like this too far limiting. And she continued to work while she poised the question, glancing to him occasionally and seeing the nostalgia on his face. It sounded lovely, surrounded by those that loved you and were able to imprint a kind of legacy within. Rexanna had never known her true parents, but the servants that had adopted her had done well – had kept a secret from the world and everyone else for 18 years. Their loyalty knew no bounds, even if it was for a maniac king. “That sounds wonderful.” She eventually responded to him, imagining a small Bastien with his mother, painting flowers at the dining table. It brought a smile to her face and she listened diligently while he continued about what inspired him. And as he spoke of beginning his painting career and the man he had painted hating the painting, she stopped adding in the thick swaths of deep green growing darker the further from the light it got, to look at him and chuckle quietly with him.

That’s a shame.” She replied, even if she hated something, Rexanna often wouldn’t tell anyone. She lived a life of many displeasures, and in all of her experience it had resulted in worse things to come. Rex was better off keeping her mouth shut tight. But as a question was poised to her with debate, her smile faltered slightly as she thought about what it was. And when she finally decided what had caused it, for her to be the way she was, she looked back to her canvas and continued, now being able to add the deep almost indigo hues to the trunk of the tree that blocked out some of the light.

I think it’s a mix of blood and experience?” She paused in her thought, taking time to switch brushes and laugh at the idea of it. “I got to experience the poverty of servants and the opulence of royalty. But I never met my parents. My mother was the Queen of Halyven… She was beheaded soon after I was born. My father, the top general of our soldiers, was beheaded then too.” She informed him, but she wasn’t upset by it. She didn’t know them at all – but she often wondered what parts of her came from which one of them, and what was entirely her own. “I think I get my stubbornness from my father, but everyone says my looks came from my mother.” She smiled at the thought, yet had no way of knowing.

I grew up with my adoptive mother and father, though. Highly revered servants. “Papa”, I called him. He took care of arranging things between nobles. A right hand man sort of thing. He kept us away from it. My adoptive mother was the head of the kitchen. And while I grew up I was sent to do a variety of jobs. Sometimes I’d bring in food from the kitchen to the banquets, sometimes I’d clean the nobles bedrooms. I am quick on my feet and I think they picked jobs that were better suited to making you invisible.” She contemplated, using a smaller brush to bring the branches further down to frame her work. “But when I got older and betrothed, I had to learn a lot in the ways of diplomacy. My country had been at war with Asciend for centuries. I was trained to be the advocate, to live among wolves in a place where everyone wanted my country wiped off the map.” She rolled her shoulders in a small shrug as she looked back to Bastien with a small smile.

Perhaps that, I get from my true father. I kept the flames away the best I could for a time before everything happened. I suppose training and my nature made it possible?” It was a bit of a rhetorical question, but one that she did think about often. She was a target, and up until Caido she always had been one. She just never realized it before ascending to royalty. And oh, how complicated the messes got with that. She turned to look back at her painting as she grabbed a different brush and dipped it into some greens and golds, beginning to put leaves on the branches to hide some of the clouds she had painted. “I have a hard time keeping my mouth shut too, sometimes. Especially when threatened.” She said, casting a playful wink in Bastien’s direction.{/b}
he tells me about the sun,
and i tell him about you.
BASTIEN

Bastien De Rosieres
the Dionysian
Ambassador for the Hollowed Grounds / Artist

Age: 41 | Height: 6' 2" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 5 - Strg: 20 - Dext: 22 - Endr: 20 - Luck: 10 - Int:
PITTORE - Mythical - Gremlin (Disappearance)
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#13
BASTIEN
I have late night conversations
with the moon.
"It was." He agreed. Bastien had not seen his mother long before he'd come to Caido, had left her when he'd become an 'Outlander' in Italy, but all of a sudden his heart ached for her, remembered the soft smell of her perfume and the precious saris kept in the bottom of a wardrobe, only for the most special of occasions.

She took a moment to respond and Bastien took the time to quietly, sneakily add a figure into the bottom right of his painting, where she was in his vision, the profile of a woman looking out into the sunset. Soft brown hair, careful hands, her expression lost in thought as she spoke. His paintbrush could not match the real thing but he tried his best to get as close as he could as he listened to her speak.

"Perhaps it is from your father, but it is still you. I see a fire in you, cara. One that I wish to be surrounded by for as long as I can take it." He looked to her, then down to her painting, smiled just slightly as he took it in, focused on each appearing detail. "I think you may be a natural at this. I have yet to find a thing you cannot do."

All his attention had been drawn to properly capturing Rexanna now, the sunset left in a clear state of unfinished progress as he set about finding a fine brush to use for her eyelashes and the shine on her lips.

"It must be odd to be here, with no ruling class. I find it odd, no government. It is what I always dreamed of, but...I almost miss the chance to rebel. It is hard to fight against your superiors when there are none. Perhaps I always liked the idea in abstraction better."
he tells me about the sun,
and i tell him about you.
REXANNA
Rexanna De Rosieres
the Penumbra
Queen of the Hollowed Grounds

Age: 34 | Height: 5'4" | Race: Ascended x Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 4 Abandoned (Level 3 Ascended) - Strg: 19 - Dext: 14 - Endr: 20 - Luck: 9 - Int:
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#14
REXANNA
I have late night conversations
with the moon.
She hadn’t noticed the addition that Bastien began to paint within his painting as she told him her story. Instead, she worked hard on her painting, adding in pops of color for the blooms of flowers in the fields. And when he spoke next, she felt an accuracy to his statement deep to her core. Smiling slightly while she still stared down at the painting, moving the brush here and there to speckle the color, she spoke. “Some days it feels like an inferno.” It was quiet, but she looked back to Bastien with a small half smile. She hoped he’d still be around, to not shy away from her flames when they grew too strong. But he seemed committed, and despite burning everything she touched, she hoped that perhaps this might work.

At his next, following set of words, she turned to look at him as he focused on her painting. A small laugh escaped her lips at his praise, but she nodded nonetheless, squinting at it before looking back at the surrounding area. “It’s a piece I think that looks good from far away, but when you get close you can see here –” She paused, gesturing with the handle of a brush to the swoop of cloud that hadn’t dried just yet and how it mixed in a bit with the leaves to make it nearly invisible. “How I haven’t quite gotten the hang of it just yet.” She looked back to him and winked again. “I’m very happy with it though!” She acknowledged, giving him a wide grin before she noticed his diligent work on his own painting – and the crispness of the lines, shadows, and how he seemed to play with them all in a vibrancy that she adored.

And when she beheld herself in the image, and the gentleness he captured with the way the sun’s last few rays behind the horizon held a glow about her, she couldn’t help the fullness of her heart. “Sometimes I think you portray me far too beautifully.” She jested, smirking to him but letting her eyes follow his hands while he worked. And listened, while he began to speak of living in a place with no ruling class. She nodded in agreement, but exhaled quietly at it. “It’s hard to say who has the power to make the rules, who can give you the idea of what is the correct thing to do. I wonder if it’ll change when the barrier falls.” She paused with thought, looking back out as if she could see to the end of it, where the barrier sat and the uncertainty of where that left her. “I don’t mind it though. I’ve spent too much time in government to want to do much with it anymore. Spent far too much of it on the wrong side too.” She laughed at that, thankful to even be able to laugh at it now.

But they had that in common, in a way. Except for Rexanna, it was everything she had done was wrong and terrible and dreadful; pegged her enemy number one in the eyes of the countries she had been a part of. For Bastien, it seemed he had a way of rubbing against the grain – of not being what anyone expected. And perhaps that was what she liked the most about him, even if it infuriated her and others at times. She understood it in a way. She offered him a roguish grin at his revelation before gesturing with her hand to the world around them. “So you’ve always pissed off those of a higher power?” She asked with a small giggle of a laugh. “Is it something you aim to do? Or do you just not fit into the mold they want you to be?” She questioned, grin softening as her head tilted.

Because Rexanna, too, had never truly fit into a mold. Had never wanted to fit into one. And never really tried to be perfect. Tried to be good, yes, but never perfect.
he tells me about the sun,
and i tell him about you.
BASTIEN



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