11229/Paint Me Like One Of Your French Girls

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Paint Me Like One Of Your French Girls
Date of Scene: 23 March 2020
Location: Piotr's Room (North Halls), Xavier's School
Synopsis: Things come full circle as Piotr and Betsy recreate a moment from the past.
Cast of Characters: Colossus, Psylocke




Colossus has posed:
    The hour just before dusk, the magic hour. The perfect time when the light is right. Bright enough to grant detail but subdued enough to lend a muted quality to the illumination, it was enough to prove the needed insight into a subject, to see the small delicate imperfections, and to expose the beauty that might not be noticed. It was the same hour that he had last depicted his subject, and so now to show the subtle transition of beauty that had taken place with her, it was now that he chose this time as well.
    There in his room, with the door open to the hallway in part to lend some aspect of propriety to their meeting, she was given a setting from which to relax and pose. His four poster bed with the canopy was covered with silks and pillows. The window was partially open, the blinds twisted so the light was just the right level. It was all a perfect ensemble of elements that gave Elizabeth a tableau to present herself in a lovely way.
    And there was Piotr behind the canvas, wearing his form-fitting jeans and work shoes, a black t-shirt hugging the contours of his muscular chest as he held easel and paint brush. At times he would mix paints, lightly brush the canvas. Then take a look at her again.
    "Thank you for agreeing to this, Elizabeth."

Psylocke has posed:
"Thank you for asking," Betsy said as she remained still there upon the bed. Some of the silks were arranged around her, keeping her body discreetly covered in the right places but her upper body bare. It was a comfortable position since a painting like this took time.

The first time he had painted her, she had been in her original body. The one she was born in. Now that she had been swapped with Kwannon, she had come to accept this form after years living in it. So it was time to accept it fully, go full circle, and repeat the past by embracing the present.

"I had considered it for a time and kept meaning to approach you but things always seem to happen."

Colossus has posed:
    "Da," The tall man says as his brow furrows, focusing on the painting with an intensity of effort. He has painted many people, and has always conducted himself professionally. For him she is just a subject albeit a beautiful one. But he is not unaware of the way tongues wag in the school and thus, the door remains open. "It is best to seize the time when we have it, lest nothing ever gets accomplished."
    That said he leans to the side and dips his brush in the paint thinner, then wipes it dry in an old cloth, dabbing a bit more white paint onto the palette. He looks back again and murmurs, "I hope I shall be up to the task, and can present you with something you can display beside the other. If you so choose."
    But then he is back focusing, observing, then trying to capture her likeness as best he can.

Psylocke has posed:
"That's just it," Betsy admits, a little bit of color coming to her cheeks. Hopefully that won't mess up the image. She is cheating a little though. She didn't let the Crimson Dawn tattoo show for this sitting. She wanted it to be her, but that was something that she didn't consider as a part of herself so much as an onus she must bear. Until someday, if she could get rid of it all. Not that the abilities weren't helpful but she felt there was something more to it all with that shadowy realm she teleported through. Something that would come back to haunt her someday.

"The last one you did for me is on display but back in England, at the family home there. In my room. I want to put them together here, in my apartment in New York, where I can see them. It is time for me to put my regrets behind me and embrace the present and that includes this form."

Then she smiles a bit, unable to stop that expression. "I have no doubt it will be amazing, as the first one is."

Colossus has posed:
    There was no question from him, no curiousity as to how she chose to present herself. This was what she wished to be seen as, to be perceived in this moment as he tries to capture her beauty. His voice lifts as he murmurs, "You are too kind, I have a long way to go."
    These are the broad strokes of course, the wild movements of the brush, the outline in part had been gained in pencil and augmented with him taking time without her there to sketch the landscape before her arrival. But now it was an attempt to capture the dynamic aspects of her, what it is to be alive. For Elizabeth is a unique model to have. There is the beauty, but now with her in this form, there is... an edge.
    "I have no idea when it shall be ready." He lifts his voice and then pauses, looking over to her, brow furrowed and focused. "But you shall be the..." His lip twists, "Well, the second to know when it is."

Psylocke has posed:
That earns a soft laugh from her, another one of those bright smiles appearing before she schools her expression back to the one required for the pose. "The second. If we need to do a couple of sittings, that isn't a problem. You know where to find me." She flipped a hand gently into the air, indicating the mansion the were inside.

"I find I am mostly working and going back to my apartment these days. Not a lot of adventure. Stopped stalking the rooftops in New York. I do try to travel a bit so I guess there is that but really, I think I'm turning into a hermit."

Colossus has posed:
    "Ah," Piotr looks up for a moment to give her a smile, nodding a little as he murmurs, "It seems many of us are finding lives beyond things. I have..." He pauses as his brow knits together, then murmurs a few words in Russian that he would be embarrassed should Illyana hear him. He applies some white paint then shakes his head, "I have started teaching some classes in the city..."
    He takes a deep breath and continues to paint, then murmurs, "I also have accepted a job as a personal trainer at Levinsky's Gym in Little Odessa. I felt it would be good to get out and about to meet people."
    His nose crinkles as he murmurs, "I am afraid I have not met many people whom I would wish to associate with."

Psylocke has posed:
"Oh?" Betsy has to ask. There is no way she can't follow up with that sort of information as she continues to half recline there, one arm draped overy her hip in front of the satins hiding her form. "I would've hoped getting to meet some people from your Motherland would lead to converysation at the very least. Nothing that impressive though?"

She considers a moment then skips backwards a moment, realizing she had gone right past the other part. "You are teaching there? Where and I'm guessing art or something else?"

Colossus has posed:
    "Art, yes," He answers as his brow knits and he then points at her with his brush, "Elizabeth stop moving." So stern is that Russian voice, but she can tell there's no real negativity there, just admonishment. And ok, perhaps a small bit of dominance.
    But he smiles after that and goes back to painting, "A few classes here or there, it is good money. The personal training was at first as a favor to Mr. Levinsky, ages ago. But I liked meeting people it is just... more a place where some unsavory people gather. They do nothing untoward usually. Often they keep to themselves. They are just... not people I would choose to associate with."

Psylocke has posed:
"Sorry." Not that she's intimidated by her friend. Betsy is actually slightly amused when he admonishes her. He's generally quite mellow but he does take his art very seriously. Immediately she is back in the proper position with her arm where it had been when they started this process, as though she had never moved.

"Is it just the neighborhood? Or that they happen to like keeping fit as well thus the crossing of people? Is this something to be concerned about?" She knows how the mob can move in on areas and put pressure on business owners. Not something she approves of. Then there is always the thought of the Hand in the back of her head. That's the influence of the other half of her personality that's buzzing around in her brain.

Colossus has posed:
    "I do not think so, I believe it is perhaps just a changing of the times," Piotr says, seemingly with a handle on it, but does not give voice to other aspects of it. And as he continues to add small dollops of paint to the canvas he draws back and peers at it, then at her, then back at it.
    The shadows seem to grow a little long, and then they drift lower as the light starts to flee. He bites his lip and says quietly, "I believe we have a framework here I can work from."
    And then he looks up at her, "Very well, Elizabeth. You may move." His smile shifts a little playful, "You now have my permission."

Psylocke has posed:
"Why thank you," Betsy says with a soft laugh, reaching down to pull up the material pooled around her lower body and clutching it to her upper. Then she swings her feet off the bed and quickly wraps the material around herself, preparing to move over to the adjoining bathroom where she had left her clothing.

"I am not going to ask to look yet. I learned my lesson last time," she promises as she moves toward that adjoining room to resume more appropriate attire. She pauses just before going though the door. "If there is something needed there, you know I'm always around to help, yes?"

Colossus has posed:
    "I know you are ever altruistic in regards to your friends, good Elizabeth." Piotr says that with the ease of belief and nods as he continues to look at the canvas. It will still take some time for him to work from it, months perhaps. Depending on their obligations perhaps longer. But he can see what he wishes to do, where he wishes to go and all he must do...
    Is get there.
    That done he calls out, "You will have to let me know if there is anything I can do for you Elizabeth in return for your kindness in sitting for me."

Psylocke has posed:
"Well, a couple of things perhaps. First, let me pay you. Instead of just doing this out of the goodness of your heart. You deserve to be compensated for all your work. I know this will take you hours to complete." Her voice comes from in the bathroom. She didn't bother fully closing the door. After all, it wasn't like he hadn't already seen her. She was quickly dressing back in her jeans and a button up black shirt.

"Second, you can go skiing with me. My brother is out of country and not available to join me as originally planned and I hate skiing alone."

Colossus has posed:
    "Your money is no good with me, Elizabeth." The Russian says as he leans close to the canvas and lightly taps a fingernail against a small bit of it, as if finding something that does not please him. "So to the first, I say no."
    He then throws a cloth over the canvas to hide it from view before he steps around and takes up a place standing near the bed, awaiting her as he murmurs, "As for skiing, certainly. That would be lovely. It has been years since I have done so. It will be, as you say, like the riding of the bicycle."
    He nods to that, as if that made sense somehow. But chances are she likely understands.

Psylocke has posed:
He has called that one right. It is something that is pretty easy to pick back up, even after a time away from the sport. "Now, the trip was planned for overseas so I hope that isn't going to deter you. You've already said yes, after all." She comes out, padding along on bare feet. She has a pair of boots carried by two fingers of her right hand. There is a pair of socks balled up and tucked into one of the boots.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, she bends and starts to put them on as she smiles over at him.

Colossus has posed:
    "Ah, a bait and switch, I should have expected such from a ninja." Piotr says as he rises up to his full height and smiles to her. He waits until she's suitably read with her socks and shoes and then once she rises again he curls his arms around her in a small hug that is a brief embrace, then him stepping back to rest his hands on her shoulders.
    "This was a pleasure. I thank you." He says with a hint of formality before he steps back and gives a nod.
    And when she's departing, walking past the canvas he tells her. "Ah, and no peeking!" Just in case she felt the inclination to do so. For he knew her well.

Psylocke has posed:
A hand may quickly be withdrawn to fall at her side as Betsy laughs on the way for that door. "So mean. I deserved it but that makes it no less mean," she points out as she makes it to the door which is still partway open.

She pauses there. "Did you want to grab something to eat? If not, I'll just port back home and get some rest. Tomorrow is a school day. When does this semester end again?" As though she doesn't have it down to the day, hour and likely minute.

Colossus has posed:
    A small laugh comes from him as he shakes his head, "Perhaps in a bit, and it ends in another month and some." He calls out in answer then nods, "I'll be out with you in a moment." And as he says that he rises back up, moving to that canvas and peering underneath the cloth once again. He hrms softly, then shrugs and murmurs. "Very well I am coming now."