It’s Not What It Seems

[Devyn Solway]

"Aww darn. Wanted to get my hands all over some of this stuff." Devyn said with a snap of her fingers with her free hand. She snickered a little as the thought of just going around and touching everything, and being scolded. It sounded a little bit fun, but Zoe had a lot of respect for the arts; well photography and pottery for sure, and thus Devyn was going to be good. So good that she was basically going to stick as close to Zoe as she could and not touch anything. Just look and maybe do a little pointing here and there. She just really didn't want to end up breaking something, even if a small part of her was all 'i do what I want'. Once in it looked like any other art exhibit Devyn had seen before. Not that she had seen that many in her seventeen years of life, but the ones she had they looked something like this. Except the ones on TV, they looked all like over the top and there would be food there.

Wonder if there is food here. Devyn thought to herself and was already sniffing at the air a little bit to see if she could pick up anything yummy in the air. Anything yummy that was not Zoe. "Oooh, that makes sense." Devyn said since this was a fair for the students at the school. Clearly Devyn didn't go to this sort of thing by herself but she was not regretting it. It was interesting what students had made and were brave enough to show others. Devyn knew for sure she would never ever put up like a poem she had attempted to write for others to see. "You better have entered something too or else I'll bite you." Devyn warned but in a teasing manner as she smiled at Zoe, just hoping that Zoe did enter something in. Zoe had skill after all and if this was for the students then Zoe should have put something in to show off. Devyn’s green eyes were already looking around the room to see if she could spot anything that gave off that Zoe vibe.

Zoe meanwhile led her over to some other students work, pointing out the piece and even their signature. Devyn looking of the art with a critical eye but could not really think of anything to say on it. Zoe looked like she was a child in their favorite toy store and it was so cute. "You are going to have to start taking me to more of these art shows." Devyn suggested wanting to see more of this Zoe. A Zoe whose eyes shined and you could just feel the trill coming off of her.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Zoe nodded, glad that Devyn hadn't taken her comment the wrong way. She really did just want to answer questions and have Devyn enjoy this as well. She'd have tried to aim for "as much as she did," but even Zoe wasn't foolish enough to think that would actually happen. She'd settle for Devyn actually enjoying herself.

"I did," she admitted, smiling slightly. Zoe fidgeted for a bit, still looking at the painting. "It's probably over in the photography section. I submitted a few, but I think they only took one or two," they'd sent her a letter which had actually said two, but Zoe didn't want to sound like she was bragging again. She'd read the letter quite often, thrilled to have been selected, though she knew there weren't that many artistically oriented photographers at the school. Which she saw as a shame: She'd have loved to share her art with more people.

Apparently Devyn wanted to be among those people. Zoe bit her lip to swallow another giggle, her eyes still twinkling for a moment. "I didn't figure you'd like them," she admitted, before turning to the picture. She saw the next one down and moved over to it. "oh, see how this one was using color to perfectly mimic the time of day? You can see the right mix of browns here, and it's so hard to do brown and orange and not make it look dreadful on canvas..."

[Devyn Solway]

Devyn was probably going to end up asking a lot of question; if not out loud her face would certainly show that she had questions. Art was not her strong point and she ended up with a C in art class so she was not good at it herself either. She figured she would still end up enjoying just for the fact that she did like to try new things and just because Zoe would be giving off that vibe that she was having the time of her life in this place. Devyn smiled at her girlfriend when Zoe said that she did submit something into the school. Good, but darn because Devyn wanted to get a small bite out of Zoe. Oh well, she just have to try and get a nibble later, maybe when they were in a darker and with less people around in a section of the art exhibit. Zoe fidgeted something that was standard for a slightly embarrassed Zoe and well just Zoe in general. Letting Devyn know that it was probably in the photography section of the exhibit, which made sense.

"Alright, cool. Can we head there soon then?" Devyn asked, not wanting to rush Zoe through the exhibit and didn't know if it was okay to just wonder back and forth all out of order only looking at things that caught your eyes. "One or two is better than none, they probably had a hard time just picking one or two of them." Devyn said as she grinned a little, basically hinting at that this whole place would have been full of Zoe's work if they didn't limit peoples work. Devyn did want to see Zoe's work; she had always loved it, even the poems. She had a lot of respect for things someone else could do that she could not do. Devyn could make a girl scream her name, but Zoe could move people of different gender and ages with her art. That was a real talent right there. Devyn's jaw dropped with a release of something of a gasp at hearing Zoe's words about figuring that Devyn would not have liked them. "I love all of your work..." Devyn said in a serious tone, wanting to add more to that but she didn't want to get all deep on Zoe or herself.

They moved over and Devyn tilted her head a little at what they were looking at next. Zoe pointing out something about using colors to get the time of day in an image with talks about browns and oranges. Oh, okay she could see it...a little bit. It looked like it was actually occurring when it was not early morning or night. Then the whole brown and orange talk made Devyn snicker a little, a bit or immature thoughts slipped into her head, but she tried to play it off by clearing her throat. "You paint too?" Devyn asked then, not knowing that Zoe also painted and yes she did not say anything about the painting because she was waiting to her the things Zoe would say about the art work so she could get an idea of what was the right thing to say.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

"Soon," agreed Zoe, fighting yet another giggle down. She felt almost like a mother escorting a naughty child. Devyn had wanted to do everything from touch the art to darting off to look at "the good stuff" ahead of time. That didn't cause Zoe's enjoyment to diminish one whit, however: she just loved being there, and she certainly enjoyed Devyn's enthusiasm. she could handle it, no matter how it worked.

Though the comment about her work had her smiling nervously again. Devyn just sounded so serious, so sincere. And she hadn't really seen all Zoe's work. She'd seen the bits and pieces in Zoe's room, sure, but surely she hadn't looked at some of the rejected photographs. She didn't see the pictures that Zoe decided weren't worthy, or the ones that she deleted off her newer digital camera.

For now, she decided to focus on the art in front of her instead of her own. It truly did look magnificent, and she hoped that Devyn at least got a "it's pretty" vibe from it. Zoe didn't expect everyone to become an art critic or what have you. that wouldn't do anyone any good. The question caught Zoe off guard, and she again smiled shyly. "I've done some painting in the past," she said. "I mostly focus on my photography any more, since I'm much better at that. A lot of it overlaps," she was tempted to add that she'd been close friends with a painter for a while. Instead she moved along, looking at the next one. They were in watercolor landscapes now, which Zoe enjoyed, though they were hardly a favorite.

[Devyn Solway]

"They need to like post up like art rules up or something in this place." Devyn responded back to Zoe's soon, that meant that they had to go through all of the work and not dart around. Darn. Oh well, she figured she would still find all of it interesting but part of her wished she was a kid who could just dart around and not really get in trouble. Her parents would get in trouble which would then result in them publishing her, so in a way she was still being punished for not being a good art viewer. Was that the right word? Art viewer? Devyn didn't know and she just remained close to Zoe so that way she would not end up breaking any rules of some sort. She did faintly wonder if there was a no yelling rule for a moment as she looked around and it was just so relatively quiet other than the inside voices here and there.

Devyn really did mean her words, having found Zoe's photos and her poems to really touch her somewhere in the heart or emotions if that were the better way to say it. She may not have seen all of what Zoe had done, but from what she saw on Zoe's walls and what Zoe had shown her she thought Zoe had a real talent. The way that Zoe had even captured photos of Devyn that somehow managed to reveal other sides to Devyn that she thought she had hidden. She wondered if Zoe realized that she brought hidden things to the surface in her photos. Or was it that Zoe was just good at taking a photo and upon seeing the phot of themselves, the person came to a realization. No other photo of herself had ever done that for her until she had seen a photo of herself that Zoe had taken. "I mean it you know. You have some serious skill." Devyn said since Zoe didn't really give a response other than her cute nervous smile.

The art was interesting, she didn't really think this one was pretty but her mind was still settling into the whole art mindset. Zoe answered the question, revealing that she did paint but that she stuck to photography because she felt that she was better at it. Then something about overlaps that Devyn blinked for a moment, kind of feeling stupid that she didn't really know what Zoe meant by that word in this context. "Will you paint something for me sometime?" Devyn went ahead and asked, figuring she still wanted to see what Zoe could paint, seeing as Zoe tended to be hard on herself, she might have been really good at painting too. They were moving on again, not to work that looked pretty but at the same time a mess. "This might be a dumb question, but are the colors supposed to have been like touching one another and looking like the paint was like dripping or smearing?" Devyn asked, not even sure if she asked the question right and just sort of gestures as how things seemed to have come together.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Zoe nearly sighed as Devyn talked about rules. It was sigh or giggle, and she actually thought about both. There weren't so much rules as, well, guidelines, bits and pieces that everyone just sort of knew, well, everyone but Devyn, apparently.

"You wouldn't like my paintings," said Zoe, smiling a little. "They usually don't look very good. Landscapes, for the most part, or still lifes of inanimate objects," she looked at the next painting, nearly wincing. This one must have come from one of the younger art classes, or maybe some kind of special ed. The lines had definitely blurred slightly, and Zoe wondered why it had been included at all. She looked down and, ah, yes, definitely from one of the younger students. Good for that.

"Yes they are," said Zoe, nodding. She'd folded her arms behind her back, but she pointed with one. "This is watercolor, so all the colors have a tendency to blur together. Good artists can usually pull it together and whatnot. This one is, well, I believe they're one of the beginner artists. They've a good eye for subjects though." Zoe nodded, pleased with the picture and Devyn's attempt. She was already looking at the next though, which was another from the starter group.

[Devyn Solway]

Devyn had her guess at what the rules in an art exhibit would be, but no one had ever actually told her and she only ever saw like the whole 'No Touching' signs around before. She figured that you were not supposed to run, talk that loud, east, drink, and of course be dressed. All the rules that kind of went with being in a public restaurant or something, but were there other rules besides those and the no touching one? Like was she allowed to take photos and were the art works up for sell or no? She just had a lot of questions and they were written all over her face but she would not just ask Zoe every single one of them. No, she would try to figure things out on her own and only ask Zoe for the big things that she did not fully get. Most of those questions then would be then about the art work.

Zoe said she would not rally like her paintings and that they didn't really look all that good. Talking about landscapes, still lifes, and inanimate objects. Devyn blinked for a moment as her mind tried to recall art class and what a still life was since her brain was thinking it was the same as an inanimate object. "I probably would like it just because you made it for me. Plus we could try painting something together then." Devyn pointed out and then added and felt that really if Zoe made her something she would keep it even if it was not something she was a huge fan of because it was a gift from Zoe. Devyn did feel that this work was not really like the best out there of its kind, but she was not one hundred percent sure. Looking to Zoe and watching her girlfriend to see what kind of reaction she would have. Devyn was pleased that she was at least sort of right to think that this painting was not all that good, it having been done by a beginner.

She gave a small nod as Zoe answered her question about the whole blurring of the colors and what not. That was what water color was supposed to do, while these beginners didn't do a great job at it, they apparently had a good eye for the subject. Devyn just tilting her head one way as she looked at the painting and then the other way when they moved onto the next. "So do we look at all of them, or would it be socially acceptable to pretend to look at something and keep moving?" Devyn asked, wondering if they were really going to stop and look at every work in here for a few moments. She wanted to get to Zoe's work, or maybe see something that got her blood flowing and what not. Still, it really was all very interesting and she felt like her mind was being stimulated in a way.

"Thanks for uh...answering my questions and stuff. Sorry I'm not the sharpest tool when it comes to art stuff." Devyn said, feeling the need to apologize a little as she was still feeling eager about all of it, but still a little bit confused on something. She gave Zoe's hand a squeeze, moving onto what was next and was happy that Zoe had suggested this, but with all this standing she wondered if she was going to need a nap after.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Somehow, Zoe didn't doubt what Devyn said: that she'd like it simply because Zoe had made it for her. Zoe appreciated it; she knew what it meant. But it sort of put her art on the same level as a painting a child did for a mother or something. Plus, Zoe just didn't want to make something for someone unless she knew it would be good. She also didn't see Devyn behaving herself long enough for the two of them to really make anything together or, at least, nothing that didn't look like some of these amateur paintings.

At least Devyn understood about the paintings; she seemed to be picking up on everything fairly quickly too or, at least, pretending to do so very well. Though the next comment had Zoe pausing to look over at the other girl, blinking a few times. "Well, um, I had thought about looking at all of them," she admitted, looking down and away from Devyn, not wanting to meet the other girl's gaze. "I guess we don't have to though, if you don't want to."

Zoe had shifted again, looking at a painting, when she heard Devyn's next something, talking about how she felt like she didn't understand it. Zoe frowned. Was that why Devyn wanted to hurry through? She didn't think she "got" it? "Art's not really something you have to get, Devyn," said Zoe, her voice filling with emotion. "It's something you feel. You're allowed to feel whatever you want when you look at art or what have you. Just because I notice stuff like brushes doesn't mean you have to. Besides, I like focusing on the emotions anyway," Zoe paused after a bit, taking a deep breath. She could do this, say something somewhat forceful and all. Everyone kept telling her she could, and, well, this was Devyn. If Zoe couldn't say something forceful to Devyn, she probably couldn't do it to anyone.

[Devyn Solway]

Devyn had not meant to make Zoe think that she simply meant that she would like it like a mother would love something from their child. In a way she did, but only because to her she felt like whatever Zoe would give her would be great. Zoe was hard on herself after all and she probably would not give anything to Devyn if she didn't think it was good enough. Devyn would practically have to fight Zoe for something that Zoe would not see as good. That was why she knew that whatever Zoe made her she would like, because it would be to the best of Zoe's standards and that it also meant that Zoe had put her everything into it. Who would not want a painting or something artistic from someone that put their heart and soul into their work? If heart and soul were the right words to use, she was not one hundred percent sure.

Zoe said that she had planned on looking thought all of the art work and did her signature looks down and away. This pretty much always happened when Zoe wanted to do something but had some worry about Devyn not wanting to do it. They were still in a relationship and that was about compromise and stuff after all. Zoe compromised for Devyn a lot, so it was not that big of a deal. "We can. It will help open my mind to all of this stuff, plus it’s kind of fun." Devyn said being honest since while it was not something she normally did, she was having some level of fun. Devyn really still didn't understand this whole thing, but she was trying. Catching Zoe's pout and felt like she had said something wrong. She just felt bad for Zoe having to deal with her questions and wondered if Zoe ever thought that Devyn was too 'stupid' for her at all.

She blinked and listened to Zoe as she explained that art was not something that you were supposed to get. It was something that you were just supposed to give you emotions from. Right, emotions. Something Devyn was not good at unless they involved lust, like, and hunger. "I think I understand..." Devyn said as she looked back at the painting and trying to think what emotions she felt. She could do this; she had to be able to do this. Zoe liked looking at things on the emotional side, yeah Devyn knew that already. Devyn gave Zoe's hand a squeeze as she looked to another painting that did looked like it was done with some skill. "Well that painting makes me feel...warm? Like umm...Like that feeling you get when you are sitting close to a fire and it was a good day." Devyn attempted to go with the emotional side of the painting. It had a lot of oranges and reds, but everything was painted in a calm way.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Zoe relaxed as Devyn said they could look further. She couldn't help but think that Devyn had just agreed to make her happy though... and she didn't know how to feel about that. Wasn't that how the whole relationship thing was supposed to work? and didn't Zoe do that quite frequently or anything along those lines. Devyn did follow up by saying that her mind would be opened up, that she had some fun.

Devyn even seemed to listen to the little lecture Zoe gave, and Zoe didn't feel too bad when she heard Devyn talk respond. It did sound a bit like she was readying herself, half trying to convince herself that yes, yes she could do this, she could handle it. Of course she could: Zoe knew as much. Art wasn't hard, so long as you let yourself go and feel. Devyn never had any troubles feeling before, so surely this would just be an expansion of that.

So Zoe waited quietly while Devyn looked. She waited, practically straining as if she could hear Devyn's thoughts. The painting looked quite pleasant to he: all soft strokes and warm colors. Meant to give you a safe, lazy feeling, at least, that's what Zoe got from it.

"Yes, that's sort of what I was thinking. The warm colors and all give you an almost lazy feeling, right? Like you just want to curl up," Zoe gave Devyn's hand another squeeze before nodding. "Come on, we have quite a lot of other stuff to look at. I'm particularly excited about the photography section, though, um, I guess you probably knew that..."

[Devyn Solway]

Devyn had done it to make Zoe happy, of course. It was something she was supposed to do after all and what she wanted to do. Plus again part of her did want to give this all a try and look around the place. She never was the kind of person to do this sort of thing, but again she didn't really do much outside of what she did with her father. With her dad it was hunting, camping, training, and sitting around playing video games when he had free time and was home. Other than that Devyn never really did anything outside of those things. She didn't even do sports and she actually never went shopping or to say the movies before. All of those things she had done or started to do because of her hanging out with people and wanting to spend time with them. She did not do the things she did with her friends by herself really until she experienced it.

So no, Devyn never really been to one of these by choice but that didn't really mean she didn't want to do it. She was still a little confused, but she wanted to give it a try. To show that if she was asked something or simply told something that she could in fact give it a go. Zoe just never really asked her for much so Devyn naturally assumed that Zoe didn't want anything from her. Devyn could do feelings, just not the deep kinds of feelings. She just didn't want to seem stupid or like she was a complete and totally lost. Yea, Devyn typically said that people’s words did not really affect her, but she didn't really like people thinking that she was dumb or weak. That was why she tended to just not really say things about herself and how she was feeling because of that desire to not be viewed as stupid or weak. Still, she took a risk and went ahead and said what she thought of the painting.

She had at least been sort of on the right path when Zoe said that she was sort of thinking the same thing. Devyn got the warm feeling, but everything not so much. Maybe the art was just not speaking to her or she had to stare at it longer. "I think so." Devyn responded, not wanting to say that she still did not fully get it and told herself that she just needed to keep working at it. Her hand was squeezed and Devyn returned it as she moved with Zoe to go look at the other art work in the area. "There really is a lot. I'm looking forward to the photos as well, mainly yours." Devyn pointed out and that was the truth because she felt like if it was something done by Zoe then maybe she could get and feel something more.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

"You'll get the hang of it," insisted Zoe, sounding quite confident in the words, arguably more confident then Devyn herself. She gave the other girl another smile, another reassuring hand squeeze, and then went further down the line. The various pictures continued to be of varying quality, with several that actually made Zoe stop and stare. She got caught up in one particularly striking scene of the lake that she was fairly certain had been done by a friend of hers. In fact, Zoe thought she'd seen him painting it, though it had been some time ago.

They passed watercolors and landscapes and wandered into an area consisting of portraits constructed in various styles. According to most of the information, a lot of them were of various students, and sure enough, Zoe recognized one almost immediately. Just as she was tempted to point it out though, she saw another out of the corner of her eye.

"Oh dear," she mumbled, looking at the very well done portrait of... Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe. She was looking to the side, her hands in her lap, holding a pair of gloves, and dressed in one of the three outfits she actually had here at the Academy. It looked beautifully done: the artist clearly knew what he was doing. Zoe herself, however, turned red hot, burrowing her head into the closest thing, which happened to be Devyn's shoulder. Movement was certainly not an option.

[Devyn Solway]

Devyn smiled a little as her green eyes looked to the ground for a moment at hearing Zoe's words. Her confidence was most certainly down since she was doing something she was not good at and felt dumb in Zoe's eyes. So hearing Zoe say that she would get the hang of it really meant a lot and even causes a small blush to appear on Devyn's face. Of course she was looking down in attempt to hide it and just rubbed the back of her neck. "Thanks Zoe. That actually means a lot coming from you." Devyn admitted as she gave a slight chuckle and then fell back into silence. Staying quite to mostly allow her mind the chance to think about the art she was seeing. To really take it in, understand it, and feel something. Nothing was really standing out to her, but she was most certainly starting to feel things.

One image made her feel powerful do to the colors used and how the work looked like it had been done with a passion and desire to convey something empowering. Another image made her feel alone, almost sad even. The art was so dark, use of a lot of blues and everything just made it really feel like it was actually raining. Not everything was good, and there were certain things that did stand out the most as they walked through. Devyn tilting her head to the side every so often as she observed things and working out how they made her feel. She was looking at another art work when Zoe had apparently spotted the painting of herself. Devyn not taking notice until she felt her girlfriend hiding away in her arm and causing her to look over to her. "You okay?" Devyn asked with concern in her voice, wondering if the banana treat was coming back for vengeance or if Zoe was just feeling tired.

Devyn green eyes went from Zoe and then to the very well done painting of Zoe, that immediately filled Devyn with all sorts of feelings. Whoever did it was really good and Devyn didn't even know that Zoe had posed for a picture before. "Wow..." Devyn said as she just sort of started at the portrait for a moment. Yeah, she was certainly feeling a lot looking at this piece of art now. "One I'm jealous of whoever got to have you with them for however long this took. Getting to have you just sat there while they stared at you. I also feel like I really want you. More than just like bed me kind of way. Like I want to just sort of reach into the painting and give you a hug." Devyn said and gave a nod, personally pleased with her whole 'how I feel about it' little review. Looking back over to Zoe and moving to give Zoe a kiss on her forehead. "I still like the real Zoe best." Devyn added after a moment with a grin.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Zoe flushed slightly when Devyn said that her words meant something. She supposed it was true, considering their relationship. She hadn't said it solely because of that though: she really did have faith in Devyn, thought the girl could do it. Devyn seemed capable of doing so much, especially when compared to Zoe, who felt she could hardly do anything without screwing up.

Including looking at a portrait. She kept her head buried even when Devyn asked, sure that the other girl would figure it out soon enough. Indeed, that guess proved accurate, as Devyn noticed the very object that caused Zoe to want to run and hide. She soon listened as Devyn went on about what the painting "did" to her. She did actually hit Devyn at the mention of "wanting" her. Though by now, at least Zoe wasn't surprised to hear it any more. And no, it didn't matter that Devyn followed up with qualifiers: it still embarrassed Zoe to hear all that.

"A friend made it," she finally said, having slid her mouth off Devyn's shoulder enough for the words to be audible. "He asked and, well, I agreed, since he was nice and all. Can we just get moving?" she fidgeted a little, though she did give the portrait another look. Yes, it was well done, good brushstrokes and it looked like her and everything. Didn't make her any less embarrassed to see it here, where everyone could view. "He didn't tell me he'd be submitting it to the show," Zoe mumbled, turning her face to bury in a shoulder again.

[Devyn Solway]

Zoe's words did have a great effect on Devyn and the same could be said about the people that Devyn cared about in general. When you cared about someone, trusted them, and wanted to be around them they were able to get under your skin a little better. Someone could say something mean to her and she would not even care, it would just roll off of her. Yet if one of her friends or Zoe said something that could be counted as hurtful, it would more than likely hurt. Devyn of course would cover it up and play it off as if it was no big deal, but deep down it would hurt. Not that any of that mattered at the moment since Devyn was more focused on the painting of Zoe. Of her girlfriend, an image that just made her want to just maybe just steal it off the wall and take it home with her. She did wonder if she was like allowed to buy it, maybe place up a bid for it. That was how this sort of thing worked, right?

She could feel Zoe still hiding in her arm and didn't mind at all. It would always be cute to see Zoe hide on her and it just made her feel that more protective over the other girl. She chuckled a little when she got hit for bringing up wanting Zoe. Zoe should know by now just how much Devyn wanted her on so many levels. "Hey, I'm pretty sure there are others who are thinking the same thing but you are mine." Devyn said with a small growl behind her last bit of words. That possessive nature behind her words when it came to things that were hers. Devyn's eyebrow did rise as Zoe said a friend made it. Yeah, 'friend'. Devyn thought to herself as she felt like growling but kept it together and listened to what Zoe had to say about the whole painting being done. Have shocked to hear that Zoe actually agreed to do something like that.

"Fine, but one second." Devyn said as she reached into her pocket for her phone and tried to sneak a photo of the painting. She was not sure if she was not allowed to of that or not but she gave it a go anyways. If Zoe stopped her she would put her phone away and move on, if not she get a photo of this really well done painting, and still move on with Zoe. "I'm happy that he did. Got to see double the beauty." Devyn smiled at Zoe as she moved to give Zoe's cheek a kiss. She had not been lying about wanting Zoe and she was just being good because they were in public.