The philosophy of art and life

Who: Angelo and Shoshannah
When: Afternoon Jan. 27
Where: Angelo's apartment, then the Village

The cab ride to Angelo's apartment was calm and silent. Shoshannah found herself staring out of the window, watching the people on the streets turn into blurs on the streets. Seeing all the different opportunities for snapshots stirred a melancholy feeling in her. Her hands felt empty without her camera there, but it wasn't like they hadn't tried. She and Angelo had gone searching for the camera yesterday and hadn't found it.

She'd convinced herself that maybe having her camera stolen from her wasn't such a bad thing, but now she was slowly starting to realize that it could, actually, be a good thing. That camera represented a lot of how she felt towards her family. A present for her, a hobby for little Shannah to spend her time with while she wasn't afflicted. But now, with a job of her own, she could someday afford to buy herself a new one. One she'd get to pick out, one she'd get to choose completely. It was a liberating feeling. But she had to remind herself that buying another camera was only going to happen after she could pay Angelo for his painting. Still, this newfound liberation couldn't replace the dull itching in her mind that came when she just needed to be taking pictures.

Thankfully, the cab ride was over before too long and Shoshannah paid the driver then headed out onto the streets. Her day at the bookstore had been largely unexciting; most of the day she spent cataloging children's books and giving the large tabby cat there too much attention. But at least she had something to look forward to now. She'd get to spend time with Angelo, they'd finally go on that restaurant search she'd been hoping for, and generally just get her mind off the need to take pictures. She stepped down the stairs to his apartment, knocking lightly on the door and waiting.

For once, Angelo was feeling punctual about things. Normally, he couldn't be bothered to keep to much of a schedule beyond what time he had to work, but this? Well, this was an exception, a glowing chance at something new. And it was all Shannah's idea, even, to find some part of the city neither of them had yet.

To him, it was easy to think of possibilities. All Angelo really needed to do was find an expensive restaurant, and he'd know he'd never been there before. Maybe Shoshannah had, she came from money. But really, was it actually about finding somewhere? Or was it about looking together, regardless of where they ended up? The smile Angelo wore as he opened his door to her suggested the latter, and there was a spark in his eyes as he tugged on a caddy's hat. "Keep on showin' up at my door an' I might start thinkin' you's fond of me," he greeted, leaning right into Shannah as he tugged the door shut behind him.

There it was, that bright smile that Shoshannah adopted anytime she was around Angelo. Camera or no camera, it didn't matter. Angelo had a way of chasing any sort of nagging, gnawing feeling in her far from her. Although Shannah could still feel something picking at her brain, something she tried to brush off so she could focus on him. She didn't need any more distractions than her already obvious ones.

She did her best to keep him stable, laughing as she turned a bit to link her arm with his. By now, she figured it was a pretty safe bet to say that she was fond of him. Very fond of him. But she let her eyes do the talking since her words were still no match for his. Nudging him gently with her elbow, Shannah glanced up at him with a happiness and a mirth in her eyes, hoping it showed exactly how fond of him she was.

But now with the door shut and her arm safely where she wanted it to be, Shoshannah did have something to ask. "Ok, Mr. expert, which way should we go?" She also figured it was pretty safe to say that in any direction, there would be a place that Shoshannah had never been before.

Angelo looked skyward as he considered the question. It wasn't looking like the rain was going to resume it's torrents, maybe the city would just be a bit soggy for the rest of the day? "Let's take a stroll," he offered without much detail at first, locking up behind him and easily draping his arm around Shannah's shoulders, "P'raps toward Fontaine? I like the park when it's shinin' after a storm, you know? An' a lotta folks on both sides f'get 'bout whatever's on either side of them greens." It was a social wedge, that was for sure; the rich on the nicer side and facing the pavillions, the poor with their slums situated near the mouth of the thoroughfare.

"Lead the way," Shoshannah smiled again. She felt a little better, situated beside Angelo with his arm around her, and now that they were walking she was starting to feel even better. Whatever way they were going felt right. "I like the park. I went there a couple times with my father when I was younger. I used to sneak off and take pictures of it..." When she had a camera, that was. Still, she kept smiling. She wondered if there were paintings filed away in Angelo's apartment inspired by the park and made a mental note to try and find some the next time she was there.

"So what did you do today?" The question was casual, but left her with a warm feeling. It was nice to have someone to ask that of, someone she spent enough time with to be able to ask how their day had been.

"Not much of anythin'," Angelo confided as they moved away from his apartment and Chinatown beyond it. His answer was just as casual, but the feeling with it was just as warm. Peoples' judgments never bothered Angelo, but he knew how many people might look down on him for wasting an afternoon. Shoshannah, though, seemed to embrace his languid nature, and he liked knowing that there would be no condemnation, unspoken or otherwise. "Slept late to the rainfall drummin', walked a few blocks to go pay my rent an' buy some rice. I only had one thing planned," he explained with a grin, "Wasn't 'bout to let somethin' try an' conflict with it. How 'bout you?"

That just enhanced the happy, warm feeling Shannah had. She smiled again at him but continued on with their nonchalant conversation, still reveling in how nice it was just to be able to talk with someone like this. "Work was all right. We didn't have a lot of customers but I met someone new on my lunch break. Her name is Janey. I had sort of...zoned out...and I think I might have been the reason she tripped but she assured me she was all right so hopefully she really is. She was very nice, though. Said she would come by the bookstore so I could help her find a book." As they walked, Shoshannah could feel a different kind of ease set in. They were definitely going the right way.

That was actually a strange idea to wrap his head around still, her working in the afternoon. In Angelo's world, sunlit hours were for sleeping, walking around town, getting high, or all three at once. But he was involved in some capacity with a genuine honest citizen now, wasn't he? "Janey, hey?" he echoed, tasting the name and conjuring his own mental image of what she'd look like, "She ain't even here an' she's remindin' me that I still gotta come by an' see the shop too, shameful man that I am." Grinning to himself at the self-mockery, Angelo's eyes lit up as he spotted the distant edges of fencing that marked the far borders of Fontaine Park. "You feelin' like some popcorn appetizers for our walk?" he asked playfully, nodding sideways at a cart vendor scooping up a bag for a pair of boys.

Laughing, Shoshannah followed easily as their walk brought them closer to the popcorn vender. "I love popcorn, but today is my treat." Fumbling around in her purse for the correct amount to pay for a bag for them to share, Shannah took the bag and wasted no time before she started walking again. The park was nice, that was for sure, but it wasn't where they were supposed to be right now. Still, that didn't mean she couldn't enjoy the walk there with Angelo. She held the bag out for him, offering him the first scoop. There was that same playfulness in her eyes again when she spoke. "You do need to come see me! But don't let it interfere with you getting your rest. I know that's important. Performing on stage isn't like sitting behind a counter all day." Not to mention, Angelo didn't just fall asleep willy-nilly either.

"Naw, I can sleep any ol' time," Angelo assured her as he grabbed a handful of popcorn from the bag and tossed a few kernels past his lips. "Long as it ain't on stage I think it's okay. Shoot, Sho, dozin' off might help a set." He chuckled quietly as they crossed onto the grass of the park, knowing she didn't like when he mocked himself but not really meaning it either. Angelo still lacked confidence about his own work, but he didn't need it when he knew that she or Elle or any regular who came to the Round did like what he made.

Breathing deep as they walked, Angelo held it in for a moment before sighing contentedly. "I love it down here after a shower, y'know?" he asked rhetorically, "Smells like pure life. Grass growin', ozone, whole cycle of nature resettin' around us."

He was right, she didn't like it when he mocked himself. "If you fell asleep, what would Remy and the rest of the band do? It wouldn't be the same if you fell asleep." She assured him, reaching now for her own handful of popcorn. when he took a deep breath, she took the cue from him and gathered a long breath of air too. It did smell nice, a lot different than the smell of rain that she was familiar with. "It smells clean. I don't think I've been here after it rained. All I know is that the smell of rain from my window at home doesn't smell anything like this." Turning to him with a small grin, she asked, "Does it make you want to paint? Makes me want to take pictures."

"Not quite," Angelo answered, looking far across the park. He could see the broken fountain far away, and beyond it, ringing them in on one side? The outline of the woods, indistinct on the horizon. "Makes me think a'things I wanted to see again so's I could paint 'em, though," he explained, shifting the course of their walk just enough to gradually aim them towards the woods. "I 'member, when I was small? My ma an' pops took me here for a picnic, an' we got caught in one devil of a downpour," he recalled with a laugh, "Din' have no umbrella, so we took to the trees, right? An' we was walkin', I think lookin' for that lil' village folks say is out there, an' I looked up? And there was... all these raindrops on the leaves, catchin' sunlight like they was diamonds. I tell you what, my pa had to pull me down least three times since I kept climbin' up to try an' grab 'em."

The image was adorable. A little Angelo climbing trees to try and reach rain diamonds. It had her smile brightening just at the thought of it. She didn't have any adorable childhood stories like that, but it didn't stop her from smiling. "Think there are any out there right now? Maybe we could go look for them and then go find that village?" It was a place she'd never been but had definitely heard of and among the top of her list of places in the city that she wanted to see. "I bet there's some great food in that village, someplace neither of us has been before even?"

He laughed contentedly, leaning into Shannah a bit as they walked and shrugging. "Diamonds? Don' know," Angelo said, "I figure there's plenty 'round here jus' as precious an' a whole lot softer, though, an' like I said? There's things I wanna see so's maybe I can paint 'em. So c'mon, let's go lookin'." The idea was a captivating one, for sure, and even if they only got lost and wet from left-over rain in the trees? It wouldn't be a loss. He wanted to see her there among nature, and even if the skies were still gloomy and grey? Angelo thought that the sun just might spare a ray of sunshine for them.

Shoshannah wasn't starving and even if she had been, it wouldn't have mattered. Walking with Angelo in the woods felt right, very right, and they had their popcorn to tide them over until they got to the village. So she walked with him and took her first of many careful steps into the forest, making sure she didn't trip of anything right away. Heels and soggy earth didn't exactly mix, but that also fell under the 'didn't really matter' category. She had Angelo there to lean on.

Glancing up into the trees overhead, Shannah saw the first glimpses of what Angelo's diamonds and they took her breath away. A whole forest overhead, filled with rain diamonds. "No wonder you kept climbing. They're beautiful!"

"Couldn' no one deny," he agreed, smiling appreciatively at the look of wonder that Shoshannah wore, "'Less they never saw 'em for themselves, maybe. But no one would if'n they'd jus' look up a touch more." He'd touched on that in his work often enough, both painting and music; the idea that the people in this city were blind to the wonders around them or misunderstanding the stark grey skies. Shannah seemed so open to a different view of the world, though, and it was inspiring to be around.

He chuckled softly, snatching a bit of popcorn and tossing it back behind him before moving on towards where he thought the village was supposed to be. "We jus' might lose ourselves here, girl, chasin' these gems," he waxed, "Never hurts to have a trail back out, right? Or a snack for them birds." Which was the cue for him to start tossing more pieces as they walked, one by one in errant tosses over his shoulder. He thought he could smell woodsmoke now, and unless his senses deceived him, that meant they couldn't be too far off.

She laughed along with him as she held the bag of popcorn and he tossed pieces back on the trail they'd made. Shannah could smell the faint aroma of smoke too, as well as some sort of delicious scent. Meat of some kind. She quickened her step, peering through the forest to see glimpses of the village. Just scattered colors moving for now, perhaps people on their way from here to there, but the change in Shoshannah had her smiling more. Any sense of caution she'd had pertaining to her condition or even to her clumsiness had left her. Turning to Angelo, whom she regarded as a dear friend here, she continued to smile. "When we get closer, I should like to show you my house."

Where had the nervousness started? Angelo wasn't sure, but it was undeniably there; blossoming up the back of his neck as he looked to the trees that had been peaceful and welcoming moments earlier. Now? They were unfamiliar ground, raising a chill in him. He wanted his familiar four walls and roof, his favorite mug, some quiet time to spend... writing? The very thought made him frown as he followed, and the expression deepened with Shannah's words. "Closer?" he echoed, "These woods don't link to your neighborhood, Shoshannah. How would I see your house?" His drawl was fading, his words forming more fully, but he was oblivious to it as he wondered over the vague apprehension he was feeling now, spying the first houses off among the trees.

"Why, of course they don't link to my neighborhood, it'll bring us out right around the pub. My house is just a little way aways from the pub." Turning her bright eyes back to him, Shoshannah gave him another wide smile. The village grabbed her attention again as they made their way out of the trees and onto the actual street. "See? There's the pub right there," She pointed towards it, although her attention shifted yet again. There was a little boy, not much older than five or six, sitting alone on the street with a scraped knee. "Excuse me a moment, please," She said to Angelo just before leaving his grasp and walking to the boy. She handed him the bag of popcorn, pulled a handkerchief from her pocket, and dabbed very lightly at the scrape before wrapping the handkerchief around his knee and tying it there. "There, all better now, isn't it?" Smiling to the boy, she placed her hand on his cheek for a moment. "Now, don't let that spoil your dinner." And with that, she turned back to Angelo and was once more beside him. "Now, would you like to see my house? Or would you rather stop by the pub first?"

It didn't feel right to Angelo, and it was infuriating that he couldn't voice just why. Something about the place just felt so archaic, so crude... Where were the comforts and security he liked so much? Not here, that was for sure, but what other options did Angelo have? heading back by himself seemed a daunting task, even if all he might've wanted was a soothing record. Maybe some Coltrane or Gillespie, but... Who? he wondered as the lines of confusion deepened. "Uh, the pub? I... I think I could stand to have a scotch," he said eventually, thinking that maybe the company of others could help banish some of the oddness. If nothing else, he could at least eavesdrop and piece some things together.

"A scotch? Well, I'm not so sure about that, but the ale there is spectacular." Still smiling, Shoshannah slipped her arm through his, linking them together, before giving the gentlest of tugs to get them started toward the pub. Neither of them had to open the door because a man who was just heading out had done so and stepped back to allow them both through. After ensuring that his own shop was thriving, Shoshannah bid farewell to the man and was offered a table. The pub's atmosphere was light and friendly, Shoshannah saying her hellos to the people inside as if she'd only just seen them yesterday. A complimentary round of ale was brought over for both of them, to which Shoshannah gave a soft nod and raised her glass to the man who'd brought it. Finally she turned to Angelo and held her glass up and out to him, "Cheers!"

Eavesdropping didn't seem likely, given how upbeat and unfocused the people here seemed, but it didn't bother Angelo too much either. The people here were lively, welcoming, and maybe that was what was throwing him. Back in the city itself, it was usually just Angelo who was so welcoming, so maybe being here around like-minded types had staggered him. But it was a good thing if that was the case, he figured. He'd much rather be welcomed and smiled at, he was even willing to grapple with some nonsensical thoughts that could only be the last vestiges of a high from that morning creeping back in. "More cheer than I've seen in quite some time, I believe," Angelo agreed, clanking his mug against Shannah's and drinking, then grinning a bit more steadily through a foam moustache. "Everyone here's so welcoming... do they know you?"

While the ale was the best around here, Shoshannah rarely ever could finish an entire glass. At least this time she might be able to ask Angelo if he wouldn't mind finishing it for her. She did so hate to waste it, especially since they were so kind to gift it to her. She wasn't able to answer his question right away since an older woman was passing by her, expressing how nice it was to see Shoshannah again. She said a polite hello and reciprocated the feelings of the woman, but turned again back to Angelo. "Oh, yes, I've known them for years. Everyone here is very kind." She pointed towards the woman that had just left. "She has three boys, all rugrats, and unfortunately her husband passed away, so she's been raising them all on her own. Some day, she'll have three strong boys who can take care of her, but until then she works as a tailor in the town. She just came to tell me that she's finished the alterations on one of my dresses and it's waiting for me back at my home. I'll show you it when we get there. She does marvelous work." Leaning in a little closer to Angelo, she let her eyes wander down to the mug of ale he had. "How do you like it?"

The drink was damned good, as it happened, but Angelo was too busy savoring the nuances of it to say as much right away. He could taste the richness of the brew in every swallow, and it put him in mind of something else, some mental itch he couldn't quite place. He'd had something like this before, but as to where or when? He couldn't say. All Angelo knew was that it had been expensive there. "It's amazing," he said eventually as his mind raced over everything Shannah had said, bringing him back up to speed in the conversation, "Exceedingly better than anything I've had back in the city, for sure. How often do you come out here, though? Obviously often enough to visit the tailor." Which was just one oddity among a slew of them for him to try and puzzle out, and drinking wasn't going to do him any favors in solving those puzzles.

Shoshannah took one more sip of her ale, a longer one, before sliding her glass towards him. "I was wondering if I could ask of you a favor, then? You see, I very much appreciate the ale here, but I can never seem to finish an entire glass and I so hate to waste it. Would you mind terribly finishing it for me? I hate to be rude and not drink it." Although it wouldn't be a shock if she didn't finish it. She never did and no one ever seemed to mind or even say anything about it.

"I come here often, but not often enough. I really should spend more time here. But yes, Mrs. Nickols has been working on my dress for a little while now. She says all good things take time and I agree with her. " Shoshannah continued to smile at him. "Are you hungry? I could ask for some food for us if you are? Their meals are just as delicious as the ale is."

It was her, that was what felt so different, what threw Angelo off. it had to be. This wasn't the Shoshannah he knew, she was animated and familiar with these people. And if what she'd said on the way here was true, she had no way of knowing them in the way she claimed to. "No, I... I'm alright," he lied uncertainly even as Angelo held a hand out for her ale. More drinking wasn't going to help his awareness, but it would get them out of here sooner. Something about this place just felt strange, was making him feel strange, and Angelo didn't like it. If only he could pin down the vagaries drifting in and out of his mind... "But could we still go see your home?" he asked, tilting back the remains of Shannah's ale for a drink.

Thankful that he'd finished the ale for her, Shoshannah nodded. "Of course! I'm looking forward to you seeing it. Shall we go now? I hope you like roses." She smiled again, standing up then carefully pushing her chair back into the table. She would have taken the mugs to the bartender and paid, but she never had the chance to. Someone was already there cleaning up after them and when she turned toward the bartender to thank him, he insisted that she not pay, like he always did.

"Let's," Angelo agreed, following Shannah and leaving the table behind. Fresh air, that would help, right? All he needed was for things to make sense, because none of it felt wrong, just unexpected. The changes in his own mannerisms, the loss of slack posture, it felt good to Angelo. Almost like he'd just climbed out of bed and stretched out. It just wasn't anything he'd anticipated. "And I do like roses," he added, following after her, "Lilacs are my favorite, but a blooming garden's a beautiful thing no matter what's in it." He must've misunderstood before, maybe her home out here belonged to the wealthy parents, or maybe it was an artist's sanctuary of sorts for the burgeoning photographer.

Slipping her arm through his again, Shoshannah turned her eyes up to him again. How nice it was to hear a man talk about flowers. She so rarely found a man interested in such things here. "I've always been partial to roses. There's just...something about them." It could be that they'd always been on her house. The stone walls of her home were quite literally covered in roses and vines, so it could be that she enjoyed them so much because they'd always been there. Something familiar. Not to mention they fascinated her. That something so beautiful could even possess something as unpleasant as thorns was a riddle to her she still hadn't solved.

The walk to her home was pleasant, if short. She enjoyed being close enough to the villagers that she could potentially walk outside and be right there in town with them, but far enough away that her home felt like a small village in itself to her. Around the stone house there was a fence made of the same stone about half Shoshannah's height with vines of various greens entwined together along the stones. The entrance to her yard consisted of a small wooden gate, also overrun with vines just like the fence. She led them through the gate and down the small cobblestone sidewalk up to the door of her house, passing by rose bushes on either side of the path. "This is my home. Do you like it?"

For some reason, the sight of her house struck another itch in Angelo's brain. He recognized the rustic architecture, but was used to seeing it juxtaposed with more modern work to make the antiquity stand out. "I do," Angelo said with a grin, "It's got a wonderful symmetry that we're seeing less of these days, who designed it?" Did it even have a designer? Or was this place so removed from the modern city they had come from that people simply built things?

"I suppose the carpenter and his sons would be the designers as well." Smiling, Shannah reached for the handle and turned it, the door having been kept unlocked for her by the woman that cleaned her house here in town. She carefully stepped inside, the warm, welcoming feeling her home gave her growing with each step she took. "I have always loved this house. Perhaps it has something to do with the design you mentioned," She added, slipping her purse off to hang it on the hanger there beside the door, then do the same for her jacket. There was something so safe about it, something so embracing, something that made it specifically for her. She glanced at Angelo over her shoulder. "Please, come in. Make yourself at home."

The smell of something delicious and freshly baked was wafting through the rooms and right to the doorway. Shoshannah took a deep whiff of the scent then, looking back at Angelo, motioned towards the kitchen. "I believe Ms. Whitaker must have left us a present."

Following after her, Angelo found a small comfort against the oddities in his head in the form of a clock ticking rhythmically away somewhere in the house. Somehow, just the idea of something as simple as measuring time helped him, it became his own little metronome to tune into as he was baffled by everything here. "So... you have a house here and in the city?" he asked as he walked, "Or does Ms. Whitaker take care of this one most of the time?" Maybe he was just missing something that would help reconcile the Shoshannah he was seeing now with the one he'd come here with.

"She cares for this house most often, but I do have one both here and in the city." Shoshannah led him to the kitchen, where a freshly baked pie rested on the counter. "Ms. Whitaker is a dear friend of mine. I've known her as long as I can remember and she's always helped me look after this home." She moved to the cabinet, pulled out two small plates, and brought them to the counter along with a knife. "You must have a slice. Her desserts are the best I have ever had."

"Only a small one," Angelo requested with a touch of trepidation. He didn't feel like he was in danger, but there were so many points of confusion here that all Angelo wanted was some solitude and a fresh pipe, both things sounding like possibilities that would soothe his anxiety. "As nice as it is here? I can't stay too long today, though we can always visit again." Surprisingly, he meant that; there was too much to decipher here, both in Shannah's own change of behavior and the vagaries of his thoughts that he couldn't quite pin down yet.

Shoshannah heard him speak, heard him say that he'd like a small piece of pie. She registered his words but didn't move to cut the pie just yet. Instead she just stared at the blade of the knife, considering it for a moment. She knew what would happen if she touched it. She'd bleed. As a testament to that, she glanced down at her hands to see the scars there from all the slip-ups she'd had as a child. But still, there was something about the knife's blade. Something forbidden, something alluring that called to her, made her want to test that forbidden feeling by touching it. But lucky Angelo was talking again and it pulled her out of the daydream she was having in order to hear his words. Nodding, she sliced through the pie, plating a small piece for him and a small piece for her. "Oh, of course not. We can leave as soon as you're ready. I just wanted to show you my home."

The drifting angle of her focus there wasn't lost on Angelo, and he watched in deepening bewilderment as Shannah stared at the knife blade. For all of his artist's eye, he'd never noticed the worst of the scars on her hands before, but this time there was something in the contrast of the blade's sheen and the pallor of scar tissue that he couldn't miss, as if he were studying a painting at a gallery in.... where? Not Eidolon, he knew that much; the galleries here were high-class sorts that he wasn't welcome in. "I'm glad you did," he said as she approached, "Though we'll still have to find somewhere neither of us has ever eaten at before sometime."

She placed his plate infront of him with a fork on the side of it and then brought her own fork to spear a piece of the pie. "I'm looking forward to it," She promised with a nod. Even if she was enjoying the pie for now, pie was not a meal.

Unspoken or not, Angelo agreed with that idea: pie was not a meal. But then, he was surrounded by things that weren't what they seemed right now, wasn't he? This village, this house, Shoshannah... even his own headspace felt different. Not wrong, just foreign and ephemeral, impossible to describe. "Every day should have at least one thing to look forward to," Angelo mused with a slight smile as he raised his fork and tried for a small smile for Shannah's sake, "Here's to the ones we share."

"Yes, here's the the ones we share," Shoshannah said. How easily people forgot the simple pleasures in life and let themselves get consumed with their troubles. It was why she tried her hardest to talk to the villagers when she could, to find out what was happening in their lives and listen to them. She believed that sometimes, the best remedy was a good listener. "You are very wise. If only everyone could live by the mantra you do, then the world would be a much happier place, I believe."

"Maybe," Angelo said as he took his first bite, pausing to savor it, "I don't know that everyone sharing any trait is a good thing, but more of it couldn't hurt, right? Still, diversity, that's the key." That applied across the board for him, really. Variations in music and art were key to evolution, and even with people the diversity was a key thing. "Creator or critic, the differences apply to give all of us a totally different outlook, and that's the beauty of it."

Shoshannah ate daintily here; not that her form of eating in the city was much different, but here it was a natural move, something inherent as opposed to something learned. Still, it didn't take her long to finish the pie and lay her fork carefully on the plate. "I suppose I would not mind if everyone shared a bit more kindness. I believe that is a trait that there can never be enough of."

"Ah, but then we broach the finer points of the very philosophy of art, don't we?" Angelo asked with amusement, a zeal sparking in his eyes. "What creation is motivated only by kindness? So many great works have their roots in strife, a need to declare oneself," he waxed as he ate, smiling to himself. This was rock-solid ground for him; the analysis of expression itself, and while he liked the idea of universal kindness? Content artists didn't create, they were a lot who needed some kind of strife. "I don't know that I could trade that for peace on earth, but I'm a selfish type like that I suppose. I'd rather be moved, even if it's with sadness at times," Angelo explained before finishing his slice of pie and scraping the last smears of filling up with his fork.

Shoshannah listened intently, really listened with her eyes slightly wide and focused on him. This was what she loved about people, honing in on a passion of theirs and listening to them speak about it. "Well, I hope that you don't find yourself in sadness too often. For me, I suppose I am a bit more inclined to hope for peace on earth, as you phrase it." She waited for him to be finished with the plate before offering to take it from him. She'd sit them in a warm water soak for now, knowing that Mrs. Whitaker would take care of the plates the next time she came.

Angelo couldn't tell her that he did feel that way so often, that it fueled his own work. It'd dash her hopes in some sense or motivate her to try and fix things that couldn't be fixed. Accepting his lot in life hadn't been easy, but Angelo had found something he could be satisfied with, even proud of. "I don't know that I'd complain if it happened," Angelo told her as he rose from his seat, "I'm just not going to be holding my breath for it." Handing over his plate, he just shrugged with a thoughtful grin. "There's a vast difference between appreciating dreams and believing them true."

"Is there no real art to be made from euphoric senses like happiness and love?" Shoshannah asked after placing his plate with hers in the sink and turning back to look at him. "Maybe something as simple as the feeling you have on a bright, clear, warm day? I believe there can be something beautiful about those feelings. Do you not?"

"No, there is," Angelo agreed as he took a few steps back towards the door, waiting patiently, "But all art, all feeling indeed draws weight from the contrast of other feelings. Joy holds less meaning if there's no sorrow to contrast it with. In fact, some of the finest works are ones that express a yearning for that joy, not the feeling itself." The confusion was slipping away, leaving a confident, educated man in its' wake it seemed. "Our quest to convey longing, to seek completion or connection, that is the divine piece of all art."

Shoshannah followed, reaching his side and slipping her arm through his as she started to walk towards the door with him. His viewpoint was certainly interesting because it was not something she would have thought of on her own. "So if you had to make the choice between making something out of love or making something out of pain, you would choose pain?"

Walking with her out the door, he lingered in case Shoshannah needed to lock up, thinking curiously for a moment. "I'd say the two preclude each other over and over, with no way of knowing which came first," Angelo answered, "Maybe only once or twice in any given life, if we're lucky, but it's always so. For me? Yes, give me the pain first. Love is absolution at the end of pain's endurance, and I would rather hope for a benediction than fear a curse. Better to live in the depths and rise up than look from on high and fall."

When he put it that way, how could she not agree with him? She smiled again, closing the door to her home but not locking it. No one went inside her home unless it was Mrs. Whitaker. "That is a good way of looking at it. I think love would make a very fitting end to someone's pain and suffering. I'm not much a fan of endings myself, but if love is the cause, then I don't believe I'd mind." As she walked, she steered them back onto the cobblestones but in the opposite direction of the way they'd come, towards a path that would lead them back to the city.

Were all artists as cynical as he felt at times? Angelo didn't often dwell on this sort of reasoning, it never lasted long for him, but here and now? He wondered just how often love was the actual end. In the city, he suspected it was rare. Maybe it only existed in his stories... "Sadly, art imitates life, not the other way around," he explained as they walked, "Were it switched? I'd paint nothing but sunrises and we'd never run out of fresh beginnings."

As the cobblestones turned slowly started drifting into a pathway, Shoshannah's thoughts slipped. Well, technically it wasn't just her thoughts. She knew there'd been something she needed to respond to Angelo about, something she needed to say, but as she walked, she lost her footing on a small dip in the pathway and tripped, clutching to Angelo's arm so she wouldn't fall completely to the ground. When she regained herself, Shoshannah felt much the way that she did when she she was coming out of one of her episodes. A little fuzzy headed but nothing too bad. Smiling at Angelo, she took a moment to rotate her ankle and make sure no real damage was done. "I guess I must have zoned out back there..."

He had to laugh softly even as he stayed close to steady Shannah, lingering to make sure she wouldn't topple entirely. "No harm done," he assured her, "Din' miss much but my rambling." He'd definitely been doing that, spouting off airy concepts like one of the finely-clad gallery owners in the city. Maybe it had been something about the village that made him feel like a classy sort compared to the rustic living there, Angelo couldn't be sure. "I promise I'll get a grip on it f'both our sakes."

Shoshannah shook her head, her smile just as bright and wide as it always was. "Angelo, you don't ramble. Not at all! I'm sorry I missed it, I love listening to you talk. If you want to tell me again, I'd like to hear it." Assured that her ankle was fine, Shoshannah's pace quickened as their path grew narrower and the distant sounds of the city started to fill her ears. "Which way do you think we should go for our restaurant search?"She asked, feeling once more comfortable to let Angelo take the reigns and lead them somewhere. He knew more about this city than she did, so she had no problem relying on his guidance.

"Somewhere uptown?" Angelo suggested, shrugging noncommitally. He figured it was far from impossible to find somewhere he couldn't have afforded before, though he wasn't going to let Shannah break her own limited funds on him either. Grinning lazily at the sounds of Eidolon proper off in the distance, Angelo looked skyward as they walked. "S'nothin' worth a retread, trust me. If I'm wrong an' it sticks with me, though? I'll tell you when it hits a canvas, or bring it by for you t'see for yourself."

"Somewhere uptown sounds nice." She continued to smile as they walked, tightening her grip just slightly on Angelo's arm. "Or maybe I'll be around to see you paint it?" She asked, glancing back up at him to catch his eyes again with that same spark she usually had back in her own. "I'd like that."