Aquarium Art Show

Maggie Smith
[dex+crafts, how is my work here?]

Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (2, 4, 4, 5, 5, 5, 7) ( success x 2 ) [WP]

Maggie Smith
The aquarium, for some unknown and unreasonable reason, was open late on Sundays. Perhaps as a promotion. Perhaps as publicity, perhaps for a whole number of reasons. Someone had rented the place for the evening, opened it up to the adult public as something of a marketplace.

Maggie had considered it a time to offload some of her more mainstream work. One couldn't really consume performance art in the way that one could consume pottery. She'd been invited to come, to display a couple pieces, but frankly the young woman had been more interested in staring at the jelly fish than she had about talking about her pottery. Her choices had been simple, utilitarian. Her thoughts had been frank, generalized. Maggie was standing around in a white pants suit with a shirt that dipped down further than strictly necessary.

Maggie didn't care. It was open to the public, and Magdalena was more saddened by the fact that Marshall wasn't here to come to the aquarium and that the people at this particular event were failing to see the natural beauty of the things around them. Her eyes, dark in the dim lighting of the aquarium, watched in the dark as the deceptively delicate creatures floated shiftlessly across the water.

She sighed, and the sound was happy.

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is where we open our scene- in an aquarium full of artists.

Verna Gardner
It seems that artsy and literary sorts of places are the only places where Verna Gardner may be found these days. It's true. Mostly this is out of boredom, and out of a desire to avoid someone.

Somehow, she doesn't see the former marine who runs an illegal fight club being the type to hang out in art galleries and libraries. So she uses the more respectable venues as a kind of shield against the terrible. So far, so good.

Tonight, the aquarium is open to the public and full of artwork -- free access to pretty fish and pretty paintings? The perfect thing to get the mind amused and all without having a hit to the pocketbook even.

She's wearing a navy dress, perhaps to go with the water. It's got a little white collar and a little white belt with a little white bow in front. It looks like someone is going for the picture of innocence.

And it is this picture of innocence that approaches Maggie's pottery stall, looking first at the wares, and then greeting the woman behind them with a polite smile.

"Hi," she says, and then her eyes graze the ceramics again.

Maggie Smith
"Have you seen these?" she pointed at the jellyfish.

Yes, they were at an art opening and Maggie's work that she'd brought outside of the books and whatnot was passable and utilitarian, but Magdalena was more concerned about the jellyfish than she was anything else. She was stuck at her stall, but her stall had a glorious location and that location happened to be by something light and airy and liquid- a hard contrast to her rather earthy, solid pottery.

She pointed, and her nails were bright red and the wedding ring on her finger glinted bright and impressive in the lighting.

"If I knew I would be here, I would have brought frame and nothing else," she said with a laugh.

Bo
Bo loved the aquarium, she had visited it many times before, if they had a frequent visitor's card she really should get one because she was in this aquarium more then most would presume is healthy. But it was peaceful restful place, it was for her as it was for many, a fine distraction from lives that were far from peaceful.

The room was full of artists, eccentrics and most likely, those with more money then common sense. It was after allthe second and the latter which helped the former live and thrive, that early chance at finding someone who might become something, or someone who was just becoming that something that drove such individuals to spend their many hard earned dollars.

Amongst artists Bo might not seem all that out of place, straight black hair accented with lines of red, a matching set of blood red jeans and a leather jacket might make her look like she belonged in Akira, all save for the soft purple camisole beneath the jacket.

She moved through the crowd with an undeniable spring in her step, a force of life which some might find annoying, others endearing, and regardless...hard to ignore.

She was busy bebopping her way through the crowd, looking mostly at the fish, but occasionally those bright green eyes fell on this painting or that sculpture. Her steps were drawing her towards Maggie and Verna, but her implacable energy had not yet made them all converge in this space.

Verna Gardner
"Ohh yes, they're lovely. I suppose I just didn't want to insult you by gawping at the jellyfish right by your stall," Verna says, and gives Maggie a soft smile.

She glances at the plaque announcing the name of the species the tank has to offer. "Chrysaora fuscescens. Pacific sea nettle. Huh. They don't look like nettles to me, more like a surprisingly pretty combination of umbrella, spaghetti, and umbilical cord."

Deep red and orange jellyfish, half-solid things slowly propel themselves around the tank behind the stall. They are rather amazing to look at, even if it does seem as though they are composed of the entrails of animals which never grew a skin.

Maggie Smith
"Chrysaora fuscescens," she repeats, though the word does not sound right when Maggie says it. Truth be told, a lot of things do not sound correct when Maggie says them because she has a fairly thick accent. She reaches out tentatively, knowing she should not put her hand on the glass but there it was.

"They look false," she says, then stops, "they do not look real. Like they should be plastic… how do they move?" And then, an exclamation for the explanation- "Oh! there is plaque."

Bo
"I always thought they looked like a tricked out super dress with all the trim and lace and whatever the hell you could imagine. Mind you then that dress would be made of a quivering, living mass like some craaaazy ass wet dream from HR Giger." Interjection was achieved as Bo was suddenly standing at the table, looking first at the jelly fish in the tank, a quick nod given to her description before those wide eyes turned down to take in the pottery as well.

"Heyyy not bad Dazz." She says looking up at Maggie with a brilliant and affable smile. "Whats your material of preference?" She inquired before looking over at Verna and offering the same smile that held just a tint of impish frivolity.

"Also, does anyone else think they really should have offered refreshments? I mean we are litterally surrounded by water...and there is not a drop in the house."

Llorenç
Whoever painted a jellyfish forgot to give the creatures spines or legs or anything else that would grant them autonomy. All they are capable of doing is drifting along with the current and stinging those who come to close and in coming too close threaten their safety. This is a small thing to those with spines and legs but it is no small thing to the jellyfish.

The young man who drifts along with the current of other people some of them young as he is and some of them younger this being a late-night event on a Sunday night does not feel much kinship with Chrysaora fuscescens. But he does drift.

No one is paying much attention to him. He isn't the sort to draw the eye of an entire room when he enters it. Has nothing to do with his height or his appearance. With the assistance of his footwear he stands five-foot-seven and even looking as if he cut his own hair and forgot to shave whenever it is he rolled out of bed today he's a handsome man. Dangerous energy in his eyes in this light. It's the blue. Blue finds its way into his complexion. Makes him look a bit wild for the electricity blue courts.

His hands are in his pockets and he's minding his own business. Looking up at the jellyfish with childlike calm. His own business does not involve the three women who may or may not share want of a drink.

Maggie Smith
What was her preferred medium?

"For pottery, kaolin clay. Is fine, very moldable? Works well on a wheel, throws beautifully," she said with no small amount of joy at the concept of making poetry, even if she wasn't necessarily proud of the work she had here. More entranced and enthralled by the jellyfish than the work but now they were talking about clay.

"This is not as good as pieces from Warsaw," she said. And Maggie went off to one side of the table to take out a book. She handed it to Bo with a bright and pleased smile. The work in there was… well… the work in that book made the work that Maggie was displaying right now look amateurish. Passable, but too utilitarian.

"Those are from Warsaw. There is wine… uh… somewhere? People are around with trays and tiny plastic cups."

Verna Gardner
"They move via jet propulsion," Verna explains, going into reflexive teacher-mode. "It's the same general principle behind our own jet planes and spacecraft, you know."

Her eyes flash with a bit of amusement, and she laughs a little huff of a thing. "We are the jellyfish of space."

Drifting up off of a surface ocean floor, propelling upward upward upward, farther into the deep vacuum. And where lies the surface?

"There are even stranger creatures at the bottom of the ocean than this, things that look less real. I suppose it's all a matter of how far you get from sea level. Strange things for strange locales?"

She just looks over Bo, the sudden presence of the vivacious one a little discomfiting, but she tries not to show it. "I suppose it would be nice to have some water, but you wouldn't want to drink the aquarium. Eww."

Bo
The book is taken, and the words absorbed, in almost the same moment the photo's and the essentials of each piece before them was taken in as well. It didn't all happen quite like that of course, but with the energy that Bo exuded it might well give those around her the impression of such.

"Very cool, never got to play with Kaolin Clay, i just had the basic stuff from the art store. Super fun eitherway though the only thing i ever got out of it was abstract blob's of surrealistic mash." Bo nodded repeatedly as she looked through the book a second time, taking more time to inspect the various pieces Maggie had made before.

"Aw come on, just think of our tap water...all those microbe's all that...well come on, how often does the water we drink go through a sewage treatment plant? Hell I bet were drinking dino pee on a daily basis." Bo grins again as she offered the book back. "The aquarium could be alot worse." She paused, and for a moment stillness seemed to take over Bo's otherwise undeniable form, as if she had briefly paused to recharge.

"I'm Bo, by the by, nice to meet both of you, and if you say theres wine somewhere Dazz, I'll have to be right back, I have a new quest marker thats gotta be reached. You guys want some?"

She asks, before she starts into the crowd almost as quickly as she appeared.



Verna Gardner
[Int + Science = Can she answer that oddball question?]

Dice: 8 d10 TN6 (1, 1, 4, 4, 5, 6, 6, 7) ( success x 3 )

Verna Gardner
(http://what-if.xkcd.com/74/ -- Yes, I'm sourcing this)

Verna ponders the question of dinosaurs, water, the years involved. And she is a thing of science,  yes? She is good at ballpark estimations of even the strangest of things. And she likes to show off.

"I would estimate that almost every single atom of water we drink was, at one point, 'dinosaur pee'. The dinosaurs were alive for millions of years, that's more than enough time for the water cycle to... well... cycle that much water through that much dinosaur."

There's something familiar about Bo that she can't quite place. It's been a while, but this isn't the first time they've met. At least this time it's not in the middle of a gun battle.

"Such a... colorful person, isn't she?" Verna remarks to Maggie. Yes. Colorful. Nice descriptive term that.

Maggie Smith
    "Ohhhh, like deep sea squid," she replied to Verna.

Oh god. Oh heavens, there had never been a look so tinged with wonder, so wrought with delight as the very mention of deep sea fish and the terrible, wonderful, beautiful glowing things that lived so far the light could, and would, never touch them. Where eyes are nothing but a formality in most instances.

"Or angler fish," oh reverence, oh joy! Angler fish. "I would like wine, please? It is early. Today is a day for white wine and fish." Even if they weren't eating the fish. Especially if they weren't eating the fish. Her attention went back to the other woman, "she is calling me Dazz, I do not know if that is me, but I am Maggie. Do not be confused."

Bo
And shes's off like a shot across the bow, or a rocket into space. Bo was there for a moment, and then she was gone into the room somewhere, her head might have been visible for a moment as she sought her 'quest marker'.

But then she was out of sight, at least of the ladies in question though she was really only a few feet away, it didn't take long to find her target, a young man was moving through the crowd, and after a quick call she flagged him down and grabbed two cups of wine...

It wouldn't take long to return...but it took a little time to push through the crowd.

Verna Gardner
"Or mantis shrimp," Verna adds, just as delighted. "They would probably not be in the aquarium though. They can punch through the glass. Beautiful things though. Talk about colorful, all iridescent."

Verna turns her attention back to the ceramics, and her eyes dart across the pieces one by one. Looking, not touching, because if Verna breaks anything, she hasn't the money to buy it.

"I wonder where she got 'Dazz' from? Huh."

"Well, I am Verna," she says, and reaches out a hand to shake. "Nice to meet you."

Maggie Smith
She takes the other woman's hand, and gives her a nice, firm handshake. Good eye contact, a firm hang, and the sort of confidence that came with knowing that she was here and life was good.



"It is nice to meet you, too, Verna... and maybe Dazz came from... Da... I do not know," hse tries and offers a helpless shrug. "What are mantis shrimp?"

Verna Gardner
Verna's handshake is not quite as confident as Maggie's. Perhaps it's just the strain she's been under lately, or the very pressing concern that life is not good. She is trying at confidence -- trying to cover for something.

"Ooh, mantis shrimp are these shrimp, they look like iridescent blue-green red things, and they have the most complicated eyes! They can see so much more than us simple humans. They can see polarized light and into the ultraviolet spectrum."

And then, it occurs to Verna that nearly everything out of her mouth to this woman tonight has been aligned toward her own interests. The lady is an artist here to sell things, and is probably humoring the nerd in the off chance that Verna will buy something.

Verna is not going to buy something.

"It was nice talking to you, of shrimp and dinosaurs and jellyfish. I do hope you have a good night," she offers, a little sheepish at the whole not being able to purchase any of Maggie's wares. What she would give to be considered the generous sort, eh?

Maggie Smith
She listens with rapt attention and confident careful, the notion of these shrimp that can see color far beyond what the human eye can even begin to comprehend and oh if she could see like them- perhaps their world would be even more beautiful. She was a naive creative, Madgalena Smith.

But then, Verna is leaving and for a second Maggie looks… disappointed. Saddened, her light only dims but does not fade out.

"It was nice meeting you," she replies.

And her disappointment doesn't linger long, because somewhere in the distance she sees-

"Marshall!"

Her expression lightens immediately and the woman goes to abandon her post to meet up with her husband. Late, but present and there. Finally, finally present.