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Post by June Bankman on Nov 11, 2009 19:58:48 GMT -5
When June left Talon’s, she didn’t know where to go. She hadn’t actually expected him to let her leave. When she threatened, she thought he would fight it, and she would have stayed and made the whole night up to him… but he let her go, and June didn’t know how else to fight for attention. So she left.
And it crossed her mind that she could go back to the office, but they’d already found her there asleep early one morning after a particularly nasty fight with Talon that she refused to talk about.
So she went to Virgina’s… unsure if they could still be counted as good enough friends to warrant a late night ‘please let me stay’ call.
Outside of Virginia’s door, she knocked, sighing and wishing she hadn’t started the fight in the first place.
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Post by Virginia duMaurier on Nov 11, 2009 23:13:20 GMT -5
Virginia was up late, having been seized with inspiration. This was the life of an artist... when the muse struck, she was powerless to resist. And the muse didn't run on a timeclock. There had been times when she was awakened from a solid sleep at 3 am with the urgent need to sculpt. Since she was single, she had no one to answer to except the muse. It was almost like her baby, needy and demanding, but ultimately rewarding.
At the sound of the knock on the door, she glanced at the clock. Who could it be at this hour? She only really knew a few people in England. There was really just Kiara and June.
Still, she could use a little break, so she stopped for a moment and wiped her hands before heading over to the door. Standing on her toes, she peeked out the peephole and saw June outside, looking forlorn.
Virginia released a breath. She had worried a bit about June after seeing Talon's reaction to Brady. After a while, she even sort of suspected that Talon was less than pleased to meet her, but maybe she was just being sensitive. Quickly, she opened the door. "June?" she said. "Is everything OK?"
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Post by June Bankman on Nov 12, 2009 12:35:56 GMT -5
June looked up when the door opened, looking a little lost. It wasn't that she was terribly upset (though, she was. She hated fighting with Talon), she just didn't know what to do.
"Hey, Ginny. I'm... uh, do you think I could crash here tonight?" That was June- never beating around the bush. "I'm sorry. I just mean that I kind of upset Talon earlier, and now I'm making a point and I can't really go back home tonight."
She stopped rambling and pursed her lips, just giving her friend something of a hopeless look.
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Post by Virginia duMaurier on Nov 12, 2009 19:30:39 GMT -5
Virginia nodded immediately and pulled her friend into a hug. One thing about the French, they were never shy with hugs. "But of course," she replied. "Come in, I will make us some tea. I was working on a sculpture... we could talk while I work, if you would like."
She stepped aside and quickly ushered her friend inside, closing the door behind her. "Forgive the mess... I get a little messy when I'm sculpting. I also get loud sometimes, if things aren't going the way I want them to..."
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Post by June Bankman on Nov 12, 2009 20:08:11 GMT -5
June hugged her back, tightly, appreciating the welcome.
"Thanks. I owe you one."
Tea sounded fantastic, but she didn't know how much she'd talk about with Virginia. Talon wouldn't want her to share their problems with everyone, and she sort of blamed herself for the whole fiasco anyway.
"The mess is fine," she said, and then smiled. Virginia knew how anal and OCD she could be, and mess usually drove her nuts, but she could forgive it for the sake of art. "Can I help you with tea or something?"
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Post by Virginia duMaurier on Nov 12, 2009 22:57:57 GMT -5
"It's really no trouble. As you can see, I was already up." She gestured to the lump of clay and the leftover pieces that had already been trimmed from it. "I haven't quite decided what it is yet, but I had an idea, and I had to go with it."
Virginia was usually pretty neat and tidy as well, except where her art was concerned. Art was, in her opinion, chaotic by its very definition. It was an attempt to create order from chaos, and find meaning in meaninglessness. That was how she saw it, anyway.
She led June into the kitchen. "Why don't you start the water, and I'll get the tea and the cups?" she suggested. "The kettle is there on the stove."
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Post by June Bankman on Nov 19, 2009 13:34:40 GMT -5
(I swore I responded to this)
June nodded quietly and moved to the stove where she picked up the kettle. She was thinking about a lot of things, and she was uncharacteristically quiet. She filled the kettle with water and then magically lit the burner under it.
She turned around, leaning against the counter and looking at the sculpture that Virginia was working on. "It looks very high strung... like there's a lot of energy in it," she mused, knowing that she was probably the least qualified to make any judgements on art.
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Post by Virginia duMaurier on Nov 19, 2009 22:58:17 GMT -5
While June was starting the water, Virginia took two teacups out of the cupboard, and pulled out the teabags. As she did, she gave June a probing look. It was clear that her friend was in deep thought about something, and that she was troubled. But she also didn't seem ready to ask for advice. Virginia wasn't even sure what she would say if asked.
When June commented on the sculpture, Virginia turned to look at it thoughtfully. "Well, it's still in the early stage," she replied. "They don't really take their true form at this point. But yes, it is meant to convery energy. It was actually inspired by you, to tell the truth."
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Post by June Bankman on Nov 20, 2009 12:46:56 GMT -5
June looked up at Virginia, and then back at the start of a sculpture. "By me?" she repeated, her nose wrinkling slightly as if she didn't like that idea. She wished she had more time for art, to at least understand it or appreciate it. And even as she thought this, she wondered what she really did that took up her time. She had a job that was going nowhere, a boyfriend that it seemed she fought with all the time, and nothing was really going on in her life.
"Ginny, I don't think I'm..."
She trailed off as the kettle started to whistle and shook her head slightly. She didn't mean any of what she was thinking, she was just in a mood tonight.
She took the kettle off the stove and motioned for Virginia to move so that she could pour the water.
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Post by Virginia duMaurier on Dec 9, 2009 15:19:58 GMT -5
“It isn’t of you,” Virginia assured quickly as she stepped aside. “It’s more inspired by your… your energy. Your open-ness. In France, most people are not like you… that is why I left. They are… what is the word… snobs. You have a… joie de vivre that I admire. I wish I could be like you more. I’m not as open or welcoming to others as you are. And if Talon cannot see the beauty in that, then perhaps it is better to let him go. I know you well enough to know that Brady was just a friend, no different from me. You like him a great deal, and there is attraction there… But you are loyal.”
She left it at that, offering her little bit of unsolicited advice while she brought out the sugar and cream. June may have not wanted to ask for advice, but Virginia knew that she wouldn’t have come here if she hadn’t wanted some kind of advice.
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Post by June Bankman on Dec 10, 2009 15:39:48 GMT -5
June had been about to admit that she didn't think she was happy anymore. It was a realization that devastated her, but Virginia's next words made her keep it to herself.
"Don't jump to any conclusions like that or anything. I'm not in a place where I even need or want to think about leaving Talon. That's not even really the issue. I mean, I know he gets jealous. And maybe there is some attraction between me and Brady, but I'm attracted to everybody and Talon knows it. Its not a sexual thing at all. It's just..." she sighed, shrugging.
"I threatened to leave tonight, not for good or anything, just for the night. I didn't think he'd let me. I wanted him to yell or fight with me or anything... He just told me not to be out late and ignored me. I don't know what to do with that."
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Post by Virginia duMaurier on Dec 16, 2009 13:14:14 GMT -5
Virginia wished she was better at giving relationship advice. Unfortunately, she really had precious little experience in that area. For reasons she couldn’t quite comprehend, she didn’t get a lot of dates. And most of her “relationships” had only lasted a few weeks at a time. She was honestly beginning to think that her parents had read some sort of prophecy of her future when they chose to name her Virginia.
“I don’t mean to assume,” Virginia replied. “But I am honestly worried about you. Talon… I usually can get a better feel for a person, but I find him hard to read. He keeps himself closed off… And for one as open as you are, it seems an odd combination, that’s all. You deserve someone who will fight for you; who won’t let you walk out.”
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Post by June Bankman on Dec 16, 2009 15:12:44 GMT -5
"Look, don't take this the wrong way, Virginia, but you just moved here. You've seen me with Talon once, and I don't really think that's enough time for you to tell me that he's wrong for me or that you're worried about me. He's a really good guy, and he loves me. Socially, sure, I'm a lot more outgoing, but that's really no one's business but ours. When it's just me and him, when we're not fighting, it's really great."
She didn't realize that she was close to making excuses, and that she was sticking up for him even after coming to Virginia for advice on the very topic. She just didn't see any of this yet.
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Post by Virginia duMaurier on Dec 17, 2009 15:40:13 GMT -5
“I didn’t say he was bad or wrong for you,” Virginia pointed out lightly. “I simply said he was hard to read.”
She’d heard it said before that sometimes it was all in how a person interpreted the words. June immediately assumed that Virginia was trying to get him to leave Talon, when all she was really doing was trying to get her to think about the relationship objectively. But June wasn’t ready for that yet, so she backed off. “But we don’t have to talk about him, if you prefer.”
Virginia let out a soft sigh and pretended to be concentrating on her tea for just a moment. She honestly couldn’t make a judgement on whether Talon was right for June. She had only just met the man. June would obviously know him better. Maybe he really was sweet and romantic and maybe he really loved her. Virginia couldn’t know any of that. All she knew was that he had just let her walk out. What kind of man wouldn’t fight for the woman he loved? How could he just let her walk out?
But Virginia said nothing of any of this. The last thing she wanted to do was make June angry with her. She just nodded quietly and changed the subject. “Since I just moved in, I haven’t had time to decorate,” she said. “I was thinking of doing a sort of Asian-inspired design for the living room area. What do you think?”
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Post by June Bankman on Jan 19, 2010 3:14:54 GMT -5
June frowned, but was quiet for a minute. It was true that Virginia hadn't come out and said that Talon was wrong for her, but it seemed like that's what she was implying. And maybe June was just so used to everyone she knew telling her that he was bad for her that she just came to expect it.
June had always made her own decisions, even as a tenatious child. So no one telling her what to do about Talon was going to get very far, and she was all right with that. It was her life, her decisions.
She wrapped her hands around the tea cup, aware of the change of conversation, but not 100% in it. She really hated fighting and she wished she and Talon didn't do it as often. She was going to feel out of sorts until they fixed things.
"You should use Cherry blossoms. They're so pretty. You could probably find some local artist to help you... maybe a mural or something bold on the wall?"
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Post by Virginia duMaurier on Jan 19, 2010 22:49:12 GMT -5
Virginia wouldn't have dared to presume to tell June whether Talon was right for her. What did she know of relationships? June had far more experience in this area than Virginia did. She loved Talon; who was Virginia to say that she shouldn't? What she did hope, however, was that June would think about the situation carefully and not just go running back to Talon, especially if it meant that she would have to apologize to him.
"That sounds lovely," she agreed. "You have the eye of an artist, you know. Maybe you could help me, just picking out some things."
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Post by June Bankman on Jan 25, 2010 2:16:18 GMT -5
June laughed lightly. "No, I don't have the eye of an artist. I have a rich boyfriend who buys a lot of art. But don't tell him I told you." Talon never liked when she talked money, anyway. She didn't understand it... she didn't date him for his money, and she never made anyone else feel inferior with the knowledge, but whatever made him comfortable, she would abide by.
"Anyway, artist's eye or not, I'd love to come with you to pick things out. Maybe I'll even find something for Talon's place, too. Remind me, I have to introduce you to that barmaid at Stu's... the bar might make you cringe, but I think you'll really like the girl's paintings."
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Post by Virginia duMaurier on Jan 26, 2010 16:49:27 GMT -5
Virginia didn’t comment about Talon. She wasn’t sure there was anything she could say that June would not take the wrong way, and it was best to just stay out of it unless June actually asked for her help. For now, Virginia was happy to be a safe place for June to stay while she figured out what she was going to do next.
“I’d be glad to meet her,” she replied. “I definitely want to get more art than just my own in the gallery. Especially paintings. I have a few paintings I’ve done myself, but I don’t really think it’s my forte. I mostly just do it to unwind after a sculpture, but I don’t take it seriously.”
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Post by June Bankman on Mar 11, 2010 2:40:31 GMT -5
June smiled, though there was little humor to it, and shook her head. "Merlin, is there anything artistic you don't do?"
She always envied Virginia's artistic qualities, having none herself. This was all in a good natured way, of course, and Virginia knew it. They both had their strengths.
"Yeah... her name's Natalie or Nathalia... I'm usually so much better with names. Anyway, I think Stu even put one of her paintings up in the bar. I'm not sure how seriously she takes it either, though."
It felt good to move on to a different subject than Talon. She was still angry and upset, but what good was it going to do to talk about it when she was nowhere near him to do anything about it? She'd figure it out.
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Post by Virginia duMaurier on Mar 11, 2010 17:16:51 GMT -5
“I don’t draw,” Virginia replied teasingly. “I don’t even sketch out my sculptures before I do them. I think it destroys the creative process. I like not knowing exactly how a piece is going to turn out, especially when I hit that moment when I know it’s done. At any rate, my paintings aren’t very good… I keep them for myself, mostly, I don’t display them in the gallery.”
Even though she did not feel that she excelled in all types of art, she was interested in all of them, and she had a good eye. She would definitely have to visit this girl who worked at Stu’s and see if she would be interested in having her work displayed. So few wizards and witches were into art, and she wanted to encourage it where she could.
“We will have to go see her soon,” she replied. “I am quite interested to see her work. Oh… I almost forgot to tell you. You won’t believe who came in here the other day… Kiara Seaton. Do you remember her from back at school?”
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