[open] watching paint dry

[altusimperius]

WHO: Benedict and you
WHAT: Working on the dining hall mural, smoking elfroot, making himself useful one small task at a time
WHEN: Kingsway
WHERE: mostly the dining hall, sometimes other places
NOTES: ART

I. Style Taste Class

Already something of a serious person by nature, Benedict has never been more invested in a project than he is in his newly-appointed task of livening up the dining hall-- even his work as a chamberlain was more detached than this, what with him making stylistic decisions but not personally implementing any of them.

He's requested a little scaffold be set up so he can get above the large tower doorframes, and he can be found there at all hours that he isn't in Byerly's office, which is to say, in the mornings and late at night. When he sleeps is unclear, but based on the bags under his eyes, that doesn't come often.

But he seems cheerful enough, for who he is, and is usually open to conversation with diners and passersby as his painstaking design begins to take shape*.

*it's an approximation obviously

II. Recreation Station

When not at work either for Byerly or on his Masterpiece, Bene can be found lounging with his semi-erstwhile hookah in a spare room of the mage tower, having amassed a small number of battered and disused pillows and blankets to make the place homier.
His presence there is usually indicated by the smell of scented smoke, much like his former neighbors would be used to when he still had a room of his own, but fortunately he keeps the window open to let things vent properly.

III. Wildcard

The usual stuff is happening! Make your own prompt or hit me up for one.

Comments

[altusimperius]

Casting him a sidelong glance, Benedict nods; it's not that he didn't think about that, since it's impossible not to when the architecture is so clearly Tevinter, but the topic makes him a touch uneasy.

"I hope so," he murmurs, using a little knife to carefully cut at his own stencil, "...I hope nobody gets angry about it."

[keenly]

"They're going to be in awe of this," Colin says confidently. "It'll give people a new appreciation for you. Show them a part of yourself they can relate to. And if they insist on being angry, then they're just generally spiteful and you don't want anything to do with them anyway."

[altusimperius]

"Well," Bene says, unable to suppress a smile but still reluctant to get too enthusiastic just yet, "I'd better finish it first."

[keenly]

A grin. He goes back to cutting out the stencil. "I'm really glad I get to be part of it, too. Getting to make something beautiful out of a place that saw so much bad."

[altusimperius]

Once they get started on the actual painstaking process of stenciling, it's hard to delve too deeply into any conversation that isn't meant to be overheard by anyone who wanders into the hall.

It isn't until they're side by side on the scaffolding again that Benedict, who has up until now been lost in concentration, sits down to take a break.
"How was Orlais?"

[keenly]

“Fine.” Athessa tells him to talk about himself, so he makes an attempt. “Got to catch up with Athessa again. Had a really terrible roommate. Lots of people were spooked by a mage healer. Got back and got Athessa a tattoo. Sort of trying to come up with another design for one of my own.”

[altusimperius]

"Tattoos?" Bene's eyebrows raise, intrigued. Who just Gets Tattoos?

"...and who was your roommate?" He definitely wants to hear about this.

[keenly]

“You’ve seen my tattoos.” Bene’s seen everything he has. “And it was Darras and Edgard, the latter of which was the problem. Smelly, kept waking us up to complain about the laundresses working in the room below.”

[altusimperius]

"Huh. Don't think I've met that one," YET, "sounds like an ass."

But his attention has already more or less moved on. "So she got one too? Like... a matching one?"
He seems rather invested in the answer.

[keenly]

"Not a matching one, no, but from the same person. She got forget-me-nots around her wrist. It's beautiful."

[altusimperius]

"Nice."

He looks down at the ground, his heels kicking lightly against the scaffold.

"...why?"

[keenly]

“Why what?”

[altusimperius]

"Nothing, never mind." Being evasive never works, but now he's embarrassed by the question.

[keenly]

“Why forget-me-nots, or why tattoos?”

[altusimperius]

"Never mind!" Bene insists, hunching his shoulders. It's bad enough being a social disaster without asking a bunch of dumb questions about probably obvious things.

[keenly]

Another social disaster sits right by Bene, the last person to care.

“You’d have to ask her about the forget-me-nots,” he says mildly, “and I like getting tattoos because I’m reclaiming my own body and it helps to see something I chose to put there.”

[altusimperius]

That tracks, and Benedict nods silently, thinking it over.

Then: "I mean, before coming here, I only ever really, um. Saw them on slaves." But that's obviously different.
"I knew they'd tattoo over them sometimes, if they were freed or just on the run. I guess that's..." He winces. "Kind of like the same thing?"

[keenly]

“It’s not altogether different. Actually that’s pretty much it right there.” Colin considers. “The next one’s going on my thigh, I think. Maybe you could, um, help me with what might look good.”

[altusimperius]

Deflating slightly in visible relief, Bene begins to nod, only to perk right back up again.
"Me--? Really?"

[keenly]

“Yeah!” Colin smiles. “Athessa helped come up with the stars on my back and chest, and you’re a really good artist. I love having friends help with designs because it makes it more personal. Though it would just be you and her so far.”

[altusimperius]

"Well,"

Bene drops his gaze, but also gives his head a little toss without thinking. A really good artist, huh?

"Maybe I will."

[keenly]

That’s as good as a yes.

“You ever think about getting a tattoo? Or even just a piercing?”

[altusimperius]

"I used to have an earring."

He turns his head and tucks his hair behind his ear to indicate a mostly closed-over hole from a piercing.
"I lost it at Ghislain, or... around then. It was a ruby."

[keenly]

Colin tucks his hair behind his ear to show the steel hoop in the cartilage.

“This is mine. I’m sure we could pick you out a new one. Have to re-pierce your ear, though.”

[altusimperius]

Pressing it between his fingers, Benedict winces.
"It was for my sixth birthday," he says, a self-conscious smile ticking up onto his mouth, "I cried a lot when I got it.

...can't guarantee I wouldn't again."