[D4EA] Artistic Endeavors (Friends Apartment area)

[Petrus Karath]

"Alright, sure." Petrus said agreeably. "Whatever you like. Maybe..." He looked around, "-what about sitting on a chair, legs crossed? I think that'd get some good, uh, folds and stuff." He'd always drawn by feel; he didn't know any technical terms.

[Dove Gray]

"Sure," she was quick to smile again and carry on as if they hadn't just had that conversation. Like flicking a switch.

Dove pulled up a chair to sit on, and after giving her robe a few adjustments she made herself comfortable in her new spot, legs crossed in a relaxed position.

"How's this?"

[Petrus Karath]

Petrus smiled warmly. "That looks great, Dove. Yeah, let's do that." He rearranged his seat before settling himself down in it once more.

For a little time, he was occupied, beginning his sketch, regaining the rhythm. Regaining that comfortable intimacy that had let him ask those questions before.

"I was thinking of having another watch party." Petrus said as he worked. "I kinda liked hanging out with all those people.". Indeed, Petrus didn't usually have people over.

[Dove Gray]

"Oh?" Dove tried not to perk up too much over those news. "Have you decided on who's going to be your girlfriend then? Or is this going to be round two of figuring that out - because it's interesting how the only other guy you invited was a Trandoshan."

She chuckled warmly and shot Petrus a very knowing look.

[Petrus Karath]

"Hey." Petrus raised his hands, smiling and reddening just a little. "I just don't know that many guys. And once I invite you, and Mia, and Vaya, and Jenna's already there, that's almost half the party. So it's more like I invited girls to guys at a three or four to one ration, not..." he frowned, "eight to one. Yikes."

Clearing his throat, he resumed his work, the corners of his lips twitching just a little.

[Dove Gray]

She couldn't help but to laugh softly at Petrus' reaction. "Such a philanderer you are." Her fingers toyed a little with the hem of her robe before she remembered to sit still.

"So...? Which one do you like best? Xanna? Liua? Sacha? Or maybe Vaya?"

[Petrus Karath]

Chuckling softly, Petrus shook his head. "Vaya said that Liua had a crush on me. I didn't realize it. I hope I didn't do anything careless..." But no, Liua was clearly doing well. "But she's way too young, Dawn. And you know Vaya." He waved a hand.

He chewed his lip a few moments as he worked. "What did you think of Xanna?" He asked, smiling a little sheepishly.

[Dove Gray]

"Oh, I don't disagree she's too young. But she was obviously trying very hard to be noticed," she pointed out with her expert opinion. Maybe she should give the girl a pointer or two on clothing and makeup, Dove wondered idly.

"As for Xanna... she's pretty, and a Nice Young Woman. The kind you take home to meet your parents on the weekends. Lovely hair, wonderful personality."

[Petrus Karath]

"Oh, man." Petrus chuckled, rubbing his free hand over his face. "You know, when I think about it, it makes total sense. I really should've seen it..." He shook his head again. "Well, I'm glad I didn't do anything careless. She's a good kid, really."

"Yeah, she is." Petrus chewed on his lip for a few moments. "But I don't have parents. I have you and Mia." He looked at Dove, his expression neutral.

[Dove Gray]

"She didn't seem like a bad kid to me, so I trust your word on it." Liua seemed more like a confused teen than anything else to Dove. Which made her happy she got to skip out on that weirdness herself.

"Ooh..." her teeth flashed over her lip for a moment. "Petrus, are you asking for our approval?"

[Petrus Karath]

"Ah..." Petrus half-smiled, half-grimaced. "I mean, not your approval. Not exactly, anyway. I mean, nickname aside, I actually am an adult, and I can make adult decisions on my own."

He paused, shrugging, stylus still in his hand. "But I was hoping that you guys and her would get along. That would really mean something to me, I guess." His blue eyes flickered up, judging her reaction, before going back down to his sketch.

[Dove Gray]

She did her best to give Petrus a motherly look. Which didn't really work since Dove didn't look like she could be anyone's mother. "I'm sure it will be fine, Petrus. She seems like a nice girl, and could probably help you out with... figuring stuff out. Xanna seems way more levelheaded than reasonable than you."

Yes, she was teasing again.

[Petrus Karath]

"Hey!" Petrus said, grinning. "What's that supposed to mean? I'm plenty level-headed."

He shook his head, still grinning, until he cleared his throat, getting it back under control. "She really is great, though. Brave, talented. Better kisser than I expected. And you're right, level-headed, yeah, good point." He kept his expression bland as he worked.

[Dove Gray]

"Oho, wai-wait, better kisser?!" Dove stuttered, surprised. Her pose was forgotten for the moment now. "You, Petrus Karath, who could barely tie his own shoelaces when I first met him, has doggone done gone and kissed a girl?"

[Petrus Karath]

Petrus laughed, hard enough that he had to brush his sleeve across his eyes. "Hah! Looks like I surprised you this time!" He pointed at her, then shook his head, still laughing. "Ah, revenge is sweet." He grinned impudently at her.

The smile faded just a little bit. "She's not actually the first girl I kissed, you know. Uh, not quite. But yeah. I kissed her. Or maybe I should say that we kissed." He tried and couldn't quite manage to keep his smile under control.

[Dove Gray]

She scoffed at first, then laughed as she had to admit defeat. "Damn... you're right. You actually did surprise me. Well played, Petrus. Well played." Ah, that stinging humiliation of defeat. Is this what it felt like?

"You know, I have a hard time thinking you had kissed a girl already - isn't that something your teachers would've frowned upon?"

[Petrus Karath]

Petrus smiled modestly, inclining his head as though taking a bow. "Hey, it feels good to be on this side of the surprise for once. I'm sure it'll last until the next time you hit me with one of your sexy jokes."

Still smiling, he nodded. "Yeah... they would have. But..." He shrugged. "Well, that sort of thing happened from time to time. Everyone knew about it. And we didn't... I mean, we just made out a few times."

He sat back a little. "She was a fellow Padawan. Our masters worked together a lot. We were close, I mean, sorta close, and... just wanted to try it out, I guess."

[Dove Gray]

"Oh just you wait, kid, I got the spiciest ones still up my proverbial sleeve." It wasn't exactly a threat but she would for certain increase her efforts to embarrass him.

Dove returned to her original position but was giving Petrus a sly look. "Just wanted to try it out huh. That kind of talk makes me think you guys were almost normal kids."

[Petrus Karath]

"Yeah, I bet." Petrus grinned. "I always figured you were holding back a bit. Well, you can hit me with the spiciest stuff when I really need it, huh?" Although he didn't think much could beat her suddenly disrobing to lingerie...

"Well..." Petrus shrugged. He didn't quite start drawing again yet, although his stylus moved when she resumed her pose. "I mean, in some ways we were. I mean, Jedi feel. We were just... kinda... encouraged not to. Or if we did, to kinda push it down." He grimaced "I dunno. It's probably why I was a little weird when you guys first picked me up."

[Dove Gray]

"Petrus," she laughed, "you were more than just a little weird. You looked like a kid that had gotten separated from mom at the mall. I almost thought you were gonna cry back then."

Even if she was teasing him now, she had felt really sorry for him back then. She hadn't expected it to be easy to find lost and misplaced Padawans in the Galaxy when she first started doing those kinds of missions, but there was something about them that always stood out to her. The look on their faces that resembled shell-shock... the nervousness that didn't quite match the kids that had lived on the streets most of their lives... and the fear in their eyes.

"But... I'm proud of you. You've proven to be much stronger than we thought you were, and, you're doing good." The teasing was dropped, so that he could hear that she really was proud of him.

[Petrus Karath]

Petrus looked away for a few moments. "I did, sometimes, actually. Not for a while, and then suddenly a lot at once. Sometimes when I was watching Warrior's Heart. I haven't for a while, though."

He looked back at her. "Dove..." He smiled. "Hey, thanks. That means something, you know? Coming from you. You're one of the strongest people I know." He tilted his head, regarding her. "I really think you could do just about anything."

His lips quirked. "Although neither of us can clean. What's up with that? Thank goodness for Mia, huh? And my sister."

[Dove Gray]

She knew he had cried. But it was never something she had wanted to point out, or make fun of then.

"Really?" That was some surprise to her. "Thanks, I guess... I don't feel that strong a lot of the time, but... hey, if it gives you someone to look up to, you can consider me your strong heroine in your personal holo-drama. The sexy superspy lady, or something," she chuckled softly.

"As for that, I always had droids to clean up. Never something I had to think about myself. But aren't you the dishwasher at the soup-kitchen?"

[Petrus Karath]

Petrus looked at her, his expression skeptical. "Dove... that's just an accurate description of you. You are a sexy superspy lady. And I don't know any others, so yeah, there you go."

His lips quirked. "Definitely more than I'm a dishwasher. The one time I tried, the sink broke. I ended up fixing that instead."

Petrus chuckled softly, picking up his stylus again. "Anyway, why don't we finish this up? I don't want to leave you stuck in that chair all day."

[Dove Gray]

"Right." She nodded, smiling widely. It had been... nice. Just being honest and open with Petrus for a moment like this.

"Let's finish up so I can put some clothes on."

[Petrus Karath]

"Well..." Petrus smiled playfully. "Maybe I won't rush myself too much, then."

Still, he did resume his work in earnest.

/fadetoart