Critically eyeing the canvas and then the scenery before him Asgar briefly dipped the tip of the brush into the paints on the palette, mixing a few shades of blue and green until he was satisfied with the hue. Using delicate brushstrokes, he applied the colour to the canvas, adding highlights to the painted sea to give it a more realistic feel. More highlights were added until the wick was satisfied with the look and feel of the painted waves. A few more touches of shadows and highlights to the ships, the shore and the people wandering around the docks and all that was missing was a signature. Dipping the brush into a rich green colour, he put his signature onto the painted water, where it would be noticeable but wouldn´t ruin the painting.

A brief smile flashed over his face as he looked the painting over once more, but was soon replaced by a frown. There they were again… those bothersome touches of his personal feelings for the surroundings. The softness that gave a dreamy feeling and the slight shadows that hinted towards something slightly sinister, maybe lurking danger. Welcome home… Asgar thought with a slight hint of sarcasm to it. After years of avoiding the place he had decided to visit it again to see how it had changed, if at all. Indeed it was like a dream being back where he had started and at the same there was the hint of fear that someone on who´s bad side he´d gotten due to his ´work´ as a thief would recognise him and want to get back on him for stealing from them.

His coat that he had left on the ground starting to move was what tore him from his thoughts and worries. “You finally decided to wake up, Varg, you pina fur ball?” Asgar asked in an affectionate tone, crouching down and moving the coat a bit, helping the wolf pup, that had been sleeping in one of the large pockets, to climb out.

Picking up the brushes he´d used for the painting and the palette, he moved to the edge of the water and washed most of the paint off, so it wouldn´t dry and ruin them. He´d wash them properly once he found a place to stay for the night, but it would do for now. Setting the painting supplies down to dry he put away the paints, all with the pup jumping around him, begging for some attention. Sitting down on the ground, Asgar let the pup climb on his lap before starting to scratch him behind the ears. He had to wait for the paint to dry at least a little before he could move the painting anyway, if he didn´t want to ruin it and here he was a place as good as any other to wait.

“At least someone´s here to keep me company,” Asgar muttered under his breath, briefly smiling at the pup that was enjoying the attention he was getting. Looking around again, the wick frowned, again hoping to meet no one familiar. Why he had come back to the place was really beyond him. It had been a stupid, impulsive idea for sure, but now it was a bit too late to change his mind. Besides, it had been years and his appearance had surely changed a lot since. The hair was longer, his style was different… It´s enough, he tried to convince himself while gazing at the waves and starting to stroke Varg´s back as the pup´s cold nose nudged his hand that had stopped scratching between his ears while Asgar had been in thought. Absentmindedly rubbing with the fingertips of the other hand at the smudge of blue paint on his cheek, he drifted around in memories a little.

As he had painted, many people had passed behind him. Some stopping to watch, but many passing by.The click of heels stopped behind him, as Gem had been one to stop and watch. She would have to be at work in a few hours, and had gone for a walk along the pier when the painter caught her eye. She had been observing for some time when he finished. She stood out of his way as he tidied, and leaned in when he stopped.

"Its lovely," she said. She glanced between it and the sea with a comparative eye. It was quite lovely, indeed. The greens and blues echoed the ocean, white crests arching elegantly over the pebbled beaches. Gulls on the wind seemed to flap their wings without moving them. She was no art critic, but she could see talent when it was shown to her. "You're very good."

Asgar hadn´t been paying attention to anything but his work while he had painted, so the people watching had gone completely unnoticed by him. The sound of a voice near made him look up and notice the woman standing not far from him. Or rather them, since the wolf pup was still on his lap, looking around excitedly while he was being petted.

“Thank you,” he said with a slight smile as she praised the painting. A little appreciation of his work was always welcome, after all. “Glad to hear that someone likes it.” Usually he received more compliments for the portraits he did, but then again, those were made to please the ones who had commissioned them, not himself, unlike the painting he had just finished. Setting Varg on the ground, Asgar stood up and brushed off his clothes. “I also do portraits, if you´re interested.” He did still have some money on him, but not much, so earning a little was always welcome. Even if she wasn´t interested, maybe she would mentioned it to someone who was.

"Ho, no," she said, laughing,"I couldn't afford that. Unless you were offering to do it for free," she winked.

She held out a hand,"I'm Gem. I don't believe I've seen you on the Pier before..."

“For free hardly, us poor artists have to live off of something too, after all,” he answered with a chuckle. “But maybe if you know someone who´d be willing to give me a roof over the head for a few days. Or rather, us.” The ´us´ of course meant himself and Varg, who was currently running around them in circles and sniffing here and there, playing the big bad predator.

“I´m Asgar. And you couldn´t have. I´m not from around here.” It was a bit of a lie. He had spent quite a part of his life around Old Rose Harbor, but he hadn´t seen it for years. Taking hold of Gem´s hand, he shook it briefly, but firmly, before letting go again.

"Aha," Gem laughed,"you not being here would explain my not seeing you here."

She liked his handshake. Firm and to the point, but not rudely blunt.

"So, if you're not from here, where do you hail from, then?" She bent to give the pup a scratch.

“From here and there… I keep to travelling,” Asgar answered, mostly truthfully, since he had been travelling for the last few years, only stopping here and there for a few weeks tops. Conveniently he ´forgot´ to mention where he was from originally, hoping that Gem would just think that his parents had also been constantly on the move. For all he knew they probably had been or still were. “You´re from here, I take it?”

He watched Varg sniff her hand briefly before leaning his head against it in an attempt to get more caresses. The pup was too good natured for his own good, really. “I hope I never need a guard wolf…” he muttered under his breath, but it was still obvious that he wasn´t really displeased with the pup.

Gem could understand that. While she herself had never wandered out of Old Rose (walking along the beaches was the closest she came to leaving town), she knew people who had traveled everywhere.



"Born and raised," she said,"Live here, work here, probably die here if Alioe wills it." Gem laughed. She loved Old Rose, and though she wondered about the rest of the world, she had no intense desire to leave her beloved city. Unless, of course, it was because she was a famous touring singer...

She giggled again as the bander nuzzled her hand, and so she scratched him behind his ears, baby talking the animal, "who's'a purty doggie? Yes'oo are! Yes'oo are!"



"Ha ha, I don't know what you're talking about," she said with mock seriousness,"he's the most devilish creature I've seen in my life! The meanest, nastiest guard dog around, aren'ch'a, puppy? Yeah, you're the roughest, toughest guard dog ever." She had lapsed back to baby talking the dog, ruffling his fur on the sides of his face.

“As long as you´re happy where you are,” Asgar said with a smile, that was convincingly warm even though in truth it was more of a forced smile than anything else and the slight pang of bitterness was fighting to show itself in it. Travelling was wonderful but having a place where he would really feel at home sounded just wonderful. As long as Old Rose had been the place he had considered home, it didn´t really feel like home should in his mind.

Pushing the thoughts aside, he chuckled as Gem spoke to the pup while scratching him behind the ears. “We´re going to have a long talk sometime… it´s unfair that he always gets all the girls,” he remarked with a playful pout, crossing his arms over his chest. The pup did have the tendency to attract women with his friendly demeanour and cuteness.

“Sure… I can just see myself waking up with everything I own having mysteriously disappeared in the night and him sitting there and looking all happy and satisfied with himself. He´d probably even help carry the things away if someone petted him or gave him a treat as reward.” It could happen that Varg´s personality would change a bit when he grew up, but right now, Asgar was pretty much sure, that the wolf was less likely to bite someone than he was. Then again, he hadn´t wanted a guard dog in the first place, having a travelling companion had been in his mind. “I swear, when he´s not sleeping, he´s running around, charming everyone into petting him… Sometimes I almost feel envious… the simplicity is very tempting.”

"I am," Gem replied,"Though I have a lot more planned for myself than what I'm doing now."



"Aw, now, don't be upset," she winked at him, flirting,"I'm sure there've been plenty after you. He's just too outgoing and friendly for his own good." She ruffled his fur again playfully.



Gem laughed, "I've known plenty like that before- dogs and people."



"Ah, yes, the simple lives of dogs. Layabout scoundrels, the lot of them. And most of them entirely charming. It's a good thing there aren't spells that can turn people into animals, or there'd be quite the line at the golly's doors. All in all, I think it'd be better to just stick with what you are." She gave another wink, laughing lightly.

“Don´t we all?” Asgar asked non too optimistically before realizing how discouraging it actually sounded and adding “Though quite a few get lucky and manage to achieve at least part of what they planned.” All one needed was a good opportunity and a healthy dose of luck sometimes.

“You say that now, but if you had me jumping around you all hyper and overly friendly, you´d think ´What a loser´ and run for the hills,” he said with a chuckle at the mental image the statement produced. “Besides, I always thought that pretty girls love bad boys.”

“But imagine how easy it would be to get rid of people that get on your nerves… You´d just throw a stick and they´d go away. Or rather, run. But still it´d probably be enough time to get away before they came bouncing back with the stick,” Asgar pointed out, green eyes shinning with amusement and a bit of mischief. Having people turn into dogs would also work quite in many aspects it seemed. “I´d sure miss my thumbs though.” As nice as the lives of dogs appeared, he didn´t know what he´d do if he couldn´t paint. “You´re right, I´ll stick to what I am. I´d look silly crawling around on all fours anyway.”

----



Gem was giggling at Asgar's commentary on animals. It was too true that people acting like animals always sent a completely different image from the animal's image itself.



"Oh, well," she said flirtatiously, turning sideways and cocking a hip, she locked eyes with him over her shoulder,"I'm sure I don't know what you mean," she blew him a kiss and giggled again.



She snorted at the connotation. She tried not to laugh outright. For all her ladylike charms, she indeed had a mind in the gutter just the same as everyone else over thirteen--at least-- in Old Rose.



"I have to say again, I certainly don't know what you mean," she was trying not to laugh again. Once your mind was in the gutter, it was difficult to get out again. "Depends what you're into, I suppose," she smiled coyly, biting the tip of her finger. She stood with her arm crossed over her chest and her elbow propped on her hand. She leaned back to look him up and down, and laughed again,"you look like a straight man, but then I've been wrong before..."

Chuckling, Asgar deliberately put on an innocent, completely clueless expression as Gem said she had no idea what he was talking about. If she would put on a naughty act, it was only fair to counter it with one of complete innocence. Well, halfway believably faked innocence would have to do actually.

“You wound me deeply…” Putting a palm over his heart, Asgar gave her a shocked, disbelieving look while she laughed. “I can´t believe how you take my completely innocent remarks and twist them into forms and meanings that I´m sure are of a quality that would make even a pirate blush!” he said, quite a bit more dramatically than would have been necessary.

“How can such vile, eeeevil words even find their way into such a pretty head?!” he went on with his exaggerating, now having to work quite hard on keeping a straight face while he did it. “Just because we artists are different, everyone goes assuming we´ve only got perverted ideas in our minds… Ah! The tragic fate of always being misunderstood and misjudged!” By this point, he really couldn´t keep a straight face any more and burst out laughing, the beads braided into his hair jingling softly when they collided with each other as his hair swayed, shoulders shaking as he laughed.

Varg, a bit miffed about not getting attention anymore, gave a whine, before he sat back on his haunches, looking up at the two with his head tilted slightly to one side, giving a perfect picture of puzzlement over the strange behaviour.

"Pshht, you don't know the half of it," she waved her hand, as if to dismiss the idea as last week's news.



Gem joined in his laughter,"Oh, you suffering, starving artists. Contaminated and decadent layabouts, the lot of you. You'll be the ruin of society!"

She looked down at the befuddled canine, scrubbing his side as she said,"And you, there, you just let him, do you? I'll have you arrested for being his accomplice."

“So your true opinion sees daylight!” Asgar said with a deep sigh, shaking his head slightly. “The fate of us geniuses to always be so horribly misjudged… When all we want to do is give beauty to the people. Just because we don´t spend out time hidden behind stacks of books or working hard the whole day!” he went on, putting on a overly tragic expression once he had gathered himself enough to keep a straight face again. “We give so much and you all just praise the paintings and shun the painters… such a sad, sad fate.”

Varg leaned into the scrubbing hand and at once looked much more content. Not unlike his master, the pup also enjoyed attention. “Oh please do. Just my best puppy eyes look might not be enough to persuade the jailers, but throw in his and we´re sure to be contaminating the world with decadency in a few days tops,” Asgar mused as he watched the little wannabe fiend practically melt into the scrubbing. Wolves and dogs were indeed very lucky.

"Ah, yes," Gem replied,"what's a world without decadent artists? Or decadent anything," she added with a wink. Her mind reverted to chocolate. The last guy she had dated traded with Mugroba and had an in with some chocolatiers. Mmmm...

She gave him a genuine smile and a slight bow, "Well, it's been wonderful talking to you. Thanks for sharing your art with me."

She reached down to the bander again,"And your puppy."

She straightened with a laugh,"But I suppose I'll let you go now. I work at a tavern down on Rhoda Avenue. It's the only one. If you ever come by, I'll see about getting you a free drink, mkay?"

“What indeed… Boring, I would say,” Asgar commented with a low chuckle. How boring the world would be if everyone was perfect and pure and innocent… What a horrible thought really.

Asgar smiled back at her quite warmly. “Thanks for sharing your ´serious´ views on the likes of me and providing me with a good laugh,” he said and it was again accompanied with a low chuckle. It had indeed been fun talking to her, especially due to the fact that her mind seemed to be in the gutter quite a lot.

“I´ll try to drop by before I leave this place again. If nothing else, then just to tell you, that there is one less source of corruption present,” he joked while crouching to get a hold on the wolf. Otherwise it would probably run after Gem, he usually did want to follow new people for at least a little while and it wouldn´t be hard for the pup to get lost.

Gem laughed again, eyes sparkling, "I look forward to it!"

She gave a little wave, treated the canine to one last scratch, then walked toward town.

She smiled to herself. Nice guy, she thought. Probably too nice... artist. Hmm. Eh, not my type. Probably too young. Sexy hair though... Fine. I'll crush on him a bit...