Head in the Clouds (Nik) ●

[Valerie Fiore]

It was still early in the morning when Valerie gathered her paints and set out for the park to enjoy the serenity that only the sunrise could bring. The clouds were a perfect pale pink mixed with shades of blue and beautiful shades of purple. It was a scene like no other Valerie intended to capture it on the canvas she had placed before her. Today was her day off and Valerie could not think of a better way to spend it than to capture the vibrant colors the lit up the sky and ushered in the new day. The glistening, frost covered trees only served to capture the beauty of the moment to the point that it seemed as if the ground had been sprinkled with diamonds instead of tiny ice crystals.

Capturing the scene would be a simple enough task, Valerie had learned early on that mixing the colors was equivalent to creating formulas to arrive at the solution to an equation. The canvas itself was like a grid that could capture the essence of the breathtaking scene before her with a series of geometric shapes that could form trees, birds, and every other thing. First, Valerie simply sketched the outline of the trees and clouds along with the few birds she saw flitting about here and there. It was a simple matter to mix the paints thereafter, first with the various shades of white, green, blue and grey that composed the trees then the vibrant colorful hues that formed the clouds and the rising sun.

The clouds were easy to paint with long, sweeping strokes that created the whimsical, yet beautiful clouds. It was important to capture the clouds quickly before they moved too much out of position or the sun rose too high. Every moment that was wasted changed the shadows that would be created by the rays of the sun. Already Valerie had painted the sun's rays lighting up the sky and had captured the shadows that were cast by the trees and various birds. Now all she had to do was the finishing touches of the painting which would require slower, more careful strokes.

Normally, Valeria hated the cold and wouldn't have gone out in such weather for anything. However, sunrises were unique and early morning happened to be one of the few times that noisy children weren't running around and disrupting her concentration. Besides, painting was calming and helped clear her mind. She could think more clearly while she was painting and after dealing with difficult cases all week long, it was good to be able to unwind by recreating the scene that only a sunrise on a winter morning could make. If only every day could be as peaceful and serene as this morning was, but that was illogical and if nothing else, Valerie was a creature of logic.

[Nikolai Maksim]

Though crisp to some folk of the south, the temperature was moderate at best for Nikolai. Long inherited Russian blood could have been said to contain antifreeze for as unaffected as he was at whatever the weather dared throw out in such a season, and that morning, despite the residual breeze, he wore nothing more than simple black slacks and a nice pin stripe dress-shirt. Not even a jacket adorned his shoulders as he strode along the park’s many trails at ease with the world around him.

Hands in pockets, Nik moved at ease with yet another soft breeze that inevitably brushed passed him and traveled further into the park. With its movement, the air grasped and radiated the soft hum initially upon his lips. Baritone notes rolled out especially fluidly as he moved, but Nikolai took little notice of this. A symphony of chords better and more exuberant than anything he could produce on his own played in the back of the white haired man’s mind, and he did not attempt to contend with the nature of it on his own. To those that caught his eyes, however, it was clear Nik’s mind was elsewhere, somewhere far away from even the more scenic trails. Far away from the toybox in general, really.

Further behind Nik, his companion, Anya, padded after him. Despite being in her pup form, Anya was both aware of the nature around her and not one to let her master get too far out of sight. When she fell too far behind, a series of quick leaps forwards would close the distance before she’d relax again. Otherwise, her attention was consumed by the varieties of trees and plants in the area. It would be Anya who recognized the artist farther off amongst the green, and it was Anya who took it upon herself to release a warning yip before starting her bounding trek over.

Upon hearing the bark, Nik stopped mid-step. Blue eyes glanced sideways, and a head turned immediately in the direction he’d heard the sound in order to catch his familiar’s track towards… Ms. Fiore. Nikolai blinked briefly surprised to catch sight of the profile of the woman painting there, and for a few seconds, he was unsure of what to do. The owner in him was quick to rebound, however, and rather quickly, Nik was closing the distance between himself and his familiar. “Anya, decist,” his voice spoke in Russian right then and there. Upon hearing the words and their tone, Anya did in fact stop a good few paws right before the woman. Staring up at her, she puppy frowned before sitting down and turning her head to gaze at Nik as he came forwards instead.

[Valerie Fiore]

Several hours had passed since Valerie first arrived at the park before she heard the bark that alerted her to the presence of another person. Sigh, so much for peace and quiet. Regardless of the other presence, Valerie continued to work on the painting as if nothing at all was amiss. This was a public park after all and she could hardly prevent anyone else walking through it. The most she could hope for was that the dog wouldn't jump on her and ruin her work, and it seemed that the owner had enough thought to stop the dog from doing just that.

Usually Valerie would hardly glance at another person while she was painting, her work was considered more important after all, especially if she was going to capture the sunrise before the sun had ascended completely. She wasn't necessarily worried about such things now however since she had managed to capture the scene before her enough to complete the painting without having to rely on her sight. Besides, the voice had sounded familiar and there was only one person she knew of that spoke Russian. It was this recognition that gave Valerie pause, if only briefly before she resumed her careful brush strokes. Her work wasn't going to suffer simply because a coworker had appeared on the scene.

"Good morning, Mr. Maksim,"Valerie said when she heard the approaching footsteps. It was a simple enough greeting certainly, one that didn't draw attention away from her work lest she miss any detail no matter how small. Aside from that, Valerie didn't see the need to comment further on his arrival at the park, simply acknowledging his presence was enough to not appear rude. If nothing else, Valerie had learned how to pick up on what was considered socially acceptable and it was logical to at least extend a greeting to someone she worked with regularly. Beyond that, Valerie saw no reason to engage Mr. Maksim in conversation, at least until she was mostly finished with her painting.

~~~

Nikolai Maksim