Deli

Deli looked back at Indelia, a flash of interest passing across their eyes at the pose she was striking, her attitude, her whole "draw me like one of your cave girls" thing going on. They'd store that information away for later. For now, they chuckled and dipped their paw back into the red paint and beginning to sketch again.

They glanced over at her every so often, trying to capture her pose, with the front paw and the stretch, and even a wink in her eye. It was bigger then the other one, they had to almost stand up fully on their hindlegs to reach the top of her ears, it was in more of a sketch-like style, but when at last they stepped away and marveled at their work, they realized how much it looked like her. Tail began to wag and they glanced back, proud of themselves for drawing up such a wonderful piece of art. "Hey, hey, look at this one! It's even better then the last!"

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@Indelia

Indelia watched with interest, making sure to keep her pose, as Deli drew her. It was larger than the other one, something she appreciated greatly. Now it would be impossible to ignore! Or so she hoped, anyway. When they had finished, she got out of the pose and took a step closer to look at the drawing.

They were right - it was better. More detailed, though maybe that was because it was bigger. Whatever the reason, it was definitely better. And still just absolutely amazing. "It looks so good! You'll definitely be a great artist. Already are!" It felt...odd, almost, to be giving them so many compliments. She usually just focused on herself. But these cycles of being alone made her want to...appreciate those she saw a bit more? She didn't know.

What she did know was that Deli was good at this. And...she wanted to be good at it too. It looked like a lot of fun, and she wanted to be able to do that too. "How do you do it?"

Speech. Thought.

@Deli

Deli

Ah, there it was. Deli'd been watching her carefully throughout their interactions and they figured her out pretty well - self-centered, self-absorbed, proud, and with an illusion of superiority. Of course she'd want to know their secrets! They bared their teeth in a wide grin that seemed a little more drained of humor then before. "I learned!" was all they offered to her.

They weren't going to give away their secret! They were generous enough to paint her on the wall, but not enough to give away their best talent or even help anyone get close! They let out a giggle again as they stepped away from the wall. "If you want to do it too, learn yourself!" But of course! Nobody was going to be as good as them. The thought was so funny, for some reason, that they barked out a full laugh as they pressed their paws against the wall and sealed the sketch there. It was quite a mess now, two wildly different drawings, a straight line, a smeared line, and some squiggles.

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@Indelia

Indelia was a little disappointed. No, scratch that, she was a lot of disappointed. She should've known it wouldn't be that easy to get them to teach her. Well, fine then. She will teach herself. She would try to see if she could convince them to teach her - even just a trick or two - but she wasn't sure how successful she'd be.

So she'll just teach herself. It can't be that hard. If this dog could do it, especially one not even fully grown, then so could she. She'd show them. She'd show everyone.

For now though, she just smiled, a tad apologetically. "Right, right." She frowned slightly as they start laughing but was quick to dismiss the expression, adopting the smile once more. "Can't give away your secrets. I understand." A glance at the drawings. "Of course, even if you were to teach me, I wouldn't be as good as you. I'm not sure if anyone would, no matter how much they tried." Her attention went back to Deli. "Are you sure you can't give me at least a tip, though? I'm sure I could find some way to repay the favor."

She may as well try to see if she could at least get some tips.

Speech. Thought.

@Deli

Deli

Deli's eyes widened and the smile on their face grew wider with each passing second. Ahaha, was she trying to manipulate them? They'd observed her. They'd been watching her. There was something different about the way she was complimenting now - too sweet. Too fake. She was proud and self-absorbed, she wouldn't willingly put herself down like that! She was trying to coerce them into teaching her! That was funny! Really funny! Of course, it made them so angry they felt like they were made of hornets, but they still yapped out a laugh.

"Nope! No tips! I didn't get any, you don't get any! Learn yourself!" He accentuated their last word with a loud bark before turning back to their wall, dipping their paws in the blue paint this time, and beginning a new drawing. It wasn't of Indelia this time, they weren't really sure what it was - they were just drawing lines before they exploded on the cat. All the while smiling way to wide.

---

@Indelia

Well, she had tried.

"Alright, alright. Fair enough." Disappointment reigned again but she quickly pushed it aside. She wouldn't press it. Did Deli know she had been trying to manipulate them? It hadn't worked, so probably. They seemed to only laugh at it, which she found a little odd. Had she made them angry? She couldn't tell.

She watched as they started to draw again, though she couldn't tell what of. Whatever it would be, it wouldn't be as good as all the drawings they had done of her. spk>"Still, if you ever need a model, I'm here. And I might come and find you later, with some feathers, so you can dye my fur." She hoped she hadn't made them angry and that they'd still be willing to dye her fur at some point. She could figure out how to paint, sure, but she had no idea how to make it permanent. Plus, it'd be hard to do it to herself.

Speech. Thought.

@Deli

Deli

Deli didn't respond right away, staring almost blankly ahead, smile plastered on their face, as lines came together into something far more abstract then the painting before. They paused every so often to lick the paint off their paw (and spit it out) before dipping it in the red paint and continuing.

It didn't really look like anything, with weird lines and edges. If one looked closely enough, they might be able to see jaws, perhaps, with a burst of fire-like red billowing out from between the teeth. It was...hard to discern, but when Deli stepped away, they felt a lot better.

They looked back at Indelia, a gentler expression on their face then before. "Okay! And you can watch me whenever. I'll be...here, maybe? Maybe somewhere else. You'll find me! Bring me things to dye! And maybe a treat too!"

---

@Indelia

Indelia watched as Deli's painting came about. She couldn't really tell what exactly it was, but she wasn't going to ask. It wasn't her, and that was all she cared about. When they turned back to her, she noticed their expression was a bit gentler. So hopefully she hadn't made them angry?

"Yeah, alright." A treat? She wasn't sure what she'd bring as a treat for them, but she'd figure something out. For now, she had to find some feathers. And hopefully figure out how to paint, too. "I'm going to go now, but I'll see you around!" She took a few steps away and turned to go before looking back one last time.

"Good luck on the painting!" And with that she turned and walked away.

-exit Indelia-

Speech. Thought.

@Deli

Deli

Deli smiled wide as Indelia turned to leave. An inner part of themselves was relieved she was leaving - the self-centered shtick was tiring and they now had some time to work on more paintings, but she was taking with her appreciated company and Deli's first model that actually stood still - all those mice didn't really count.

They pressed a paw against the wall to fix their latest painting to the stone and called after her, "Seeya later, Indely!" They snickered at the shortened name and turned back to the rock, wondering what they were going to draw up next. Oh, wait, didn't she say something about wanting dyes?

Yeah! They should work on that!

---

Deli

Dipping their paw in the red ink, they began to sketch out Indelia again, using the second drawing they'd made as a reference this time. They kept glancing back every so often, making marks and lines, but as they went on, the less and less it ended up looking like a cat.

They got frustrated as they went on, smile getting wider and wider until they stepped back from the sketch and saw something that was absolutely not a cat at all scribbled all over the rocks. They barked out a high-pitched laugh and jumped up, scratching at the wall furiously to get that off get it off the rock! They scratched and scrabbled and tried to wash it off until their paws were stained red and what remained was barely a messy blotch covered in claw marks and scratches. They stared at it for a moment, blinking, before turning away and trotting off, a grin too wide plastered to their muzzle. They were gonna find some more paint.

*exit

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