[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

[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."

[keenly]

“Tears are a natural reaction to pain. Sometimes you can’t even stop them no matter how hard you try.”

[altusimperius]

With a skeptical little 'hmm', Bene rolls his eyes and starts to get back to his feet.
"I'm not exactly known for my stalwart resolve," he murmurs, beginning to rub charcoal over the stencil where he wants it, "but I sort of miss it, I guess. It'd be nice to choose my own."

[keenly]

“You can choose anything you want. It’s your body.”

A thought, and a gleam of a smile. His voice lowers.

“And occasionally mine.”

[altusimperius]

Bene immediately stops mid-stroke and sends Colin a look that would be utterly scandalized if it weren't also amused.

[keenly]

[altusimperius]

"Well that's no way to speak to a lady." He turns back to the stencil.

[keenly]

Colin laughs.

“I didn’t speak to you like a lady then, either.”

[altusimperius]

"Mean," Bene sings, clearly with no actual truth behind it, and works a little longer.

"...if you want to help me find a new earring, I can't leave the Gallows. But." He shrugs a shoulder downright coquettishly. "My birthday was last month."

[keenly]

"Really? What day?"

A stunned beat later, as if just now realizing something:

"So was mine."