Description: Alma does what is Right; which, tonight, happens to be drawing a hella dope portrait of Momo. And eating ice cream. Mmmmmmmmmm.
Though today Southtown was overcast, the evening has cleared up some, and as the sun begins to set and the fading haze of twilight reveals the stars resplendent in the sky, people have begun to come out of their houses in time for some last-minute errand-running. The streets are full enough to be safe, with people constantly passing by, but things are fairly quiet, and little automobile traffic disturbs the serenity of downtown. All in all, it looks to be a beautiful night.
Not that it should matter, as every night's a beautiful night when you're Alma Towazu.
But, naturally, that won't stop him from taking advantage of this particular night, and so Alma is out and about tonight, taking a rare break from his studying, martial arts practice, and modeling schedule to simply relax and feel the rhythm of the city tonight, the slow beat soothing his worn spirit and easily revitalizing him. For someone who works so incredibly hard all the time, the fighting model doesn't really seem to push himself very hard; he just goes with the flow, and his passions take him toward what fulfills him, and thankfully, part of what fulfills him seems to be working hard and getting good grades, at the moment. But the flow has guided him here, for he needs a little yin with his yang, and it's time to chill, dude. Recently, his random spacey art wanderings haven't gotten him anywhere, really, and he knows deep inside that unless he draws something well, soon, his resolve is going to leave him.
Thus, the handsome, bronze-skinned youth is now sitting quietly at a small metal table outside the line of shopfronts here, his pad of paper and set of pens and pencils before him, wearing a white jacket, dark undershirt, and red cargo pants, with his dark backpack laying limp by the chair. With that calm, mild smile and an open, alert gaze, the teenaged psychic simply... waits. For when it will be Right to draw.
Momo is deep in concentration, sitting outside a nearby cafe. This math homework was really hard! But, alas, she needed to at least try and keep her grades up, chances were that at some point she would need something to fall back on that wasn't her cuteness or tennis playing ability- as crazy as that sounds. Well, in truth she hardly believed she would need mathematics to become a world champion tennis player... but at least she could avoid detention with it.
Of course, this being Momo, she is hardly going to just buckle down to some serious work, and so she is also enjoying a nice bowl of strawberry ice cream at the same time, what was the point of studying away from home if you couldn't get a good treat at the same time? And naturally, her tennis racket is ever present.
Of course, one would think that with all the alleged trouble surrounding Gedo school, such a young girl wouldn't be out all by herself, but she doesn't seem to be with anybody else, and she certainly doesn't seem very nervous. Although the expression on her face points to her increasing frustration with this darn homework... maths definitely wasn't her strong point.
Psycho Senses tingling...
Slowly turning his head, Alma sets Momo in his sights. With slightly raised eyebrows, he leans forward in his chair, studying her from his vantage point behind her, and his eyes widen ever-so-slightly. Then, his mild smile broadening a bit, he rises, leaving his things behind for now, and approaches the younger girl from the back to look over her shoulder. A couple seconds pass. Then, in his deep, gentle baritone, he says, "The answer's (x + 2)(x - 3) + 7. It's that 7 added to the end that makes the factoring tricky in that problem."
The handsome older boy looks down to smile winningly at Momo, looking the picture of innocence without really trying to. "Sorry to interrupt you, miss, but I couldn't help but notice..." He pauses slightly, and for a moment that perfect composure is distrupted as he looks a bit awkward -- maybe even bashful -- as though not exactly sure how to phrase is. Finally, he just gives that slightly sheepish smile again. "Well. I'm Alma. Would you mind if I sat with you?"
Momo blinks slightly, she pencils in the answer and then looks up at the boy, she does recognize him- he was that new model some of the girls were talking about all the time. Well, she wasn't too impressed with him but, he seemed nice and, of course, could maybe help her with her homework. Which is a definite plus.
She smiles her own little smile, looking so very cute all of a sudden as opposed to the intense concentration she had displayed before. "Sure Alma, that would be great, I'm called Momo, pleased to meet you." She returns the innocent look, although hers is more due to practice than any genuine innocence, but nonetheless it does look very convincing... she just looked like an ordinary teenager, maybe a little short- and obviously a tennis player but, still, an average little girl.
Privately she had to admit, with his bashful nature and his good looks, he was definitely not the sort of person she was used to talking to, let alone who would normally approach her, but she wasn't going to complain. It would be nice to have some company this evening, even if it wasn't from one of the people she had been trying to win over from school. And a genuinely nice person would be a good change of pace to her usual circle of friends.
When Momo starts to look Heart-Attack Cute, Alma-- well, he doesn't get a heart attack. Instead, he smiles broadly again, as though pleased somehow by her cuteness, and nods. "Please to meet you too, Momo. One moment... your ice cream has inspired me to get some of my own. I'll be right back." Stepping into the nearby store on the street, it doesn't take him long to procure a cup of rainbow sherbet; people in ice cream stores all over town have now found Alma a semi-frequent visitor. On his way back, he casually picks up his bag and art supplies, and then seats himself across from Momo with another unconsciously super-photogenic smile, the much taller youth taking a bite out of his sherbet before speaking again. "So, you're in high school?" he says with his usual mild cheerfulness. "Looks like you're doing early high school algebra. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask me." There's another pause, and he starts to look a bit awkward again; when he gets going, he sounds quiet eloquent, but this sort of thing seems to happen often. Yet even so, he also recovers easily enough, and forges on. "I do have a favor I'd like to ask of you, though..."
"...I'd like to draw you."
Momo blinks slowly, wow... he wanted to draw her? Well, she was fantastically cute, she knew that... hell, she put a lot of effort into it, she guessed it was only natural that people would want to draw her. "Uh... that would be, umm, great, thank you..." she stammers herself, a little unsure how to react, which is pretty rare for her. A light blush comes to her cheeks unbidden, it was pretty flattering but, wow, she couldn't miss out on an opportunity like this!
In response to his other question she just nods "Yes I am going to Taiyo high... I've only just really moved in there, I was homeschooled before... there is quite a big difference, but, well, I'm coping with it quite well, even if I'm not too good at the more complicated maths and science work yet... the Tennis team is a lot of fun!" She perks up at that, her smile widening "Yeah, I'm really good at Tennis..." She trails off, murmuring to herself... too quite for all the words to be made out, but the word fighter is definitely mentioned...
Alma smiles at Momo's flattered response; somehow, the guy is able to look composed and calm, and yet all his smiles seem so open and genuine. He doesn't remark on or in any way really seem to notice her blush or mild bashfulness; perhaps out of empathy, since he seems to suffer from that sort of thing more consistently than she. At any rate, he listens, apparently with genuine interest, to what she says about herself, quietly eating his sorbet all the while. "Taiyo. That's great, I know a few people at Taiyo. Sakura Kasugano and Megumi Andou." His smile grows a little sheepish again, and he tilts his head slightly. "I'm only an amateur martial artist compared to those two, but I've... worked with them before, and I've always been very impressed." His smile broadens into a grin now, and his eyes seem to sparkle in the light of the setting sun. "Tennis! That's great," the handsome youth says, and he sounds like he really means it. "Martial arts has always been my sport, but I've always thought that everyone ought to do some kind of sport, just to find the one that's right for them. Skills you learn in sports can cross-apply to other sports, and even to aspects of daily life, I've always found." His grin widens. "Why, I wouldn't be surprised if your tennis skills could make you into a formidible fighter. You never know."
Or maybe you do sometimes know. Alma may've not caught exactly what she mumbled after 'tennis', but he can knows a fighter's aura when he senses one. He's psychic, you see.
"Anyway, please, go right ahead, and feel free to ask me for help if you ever really need any. Hopefully I gave you some clues, with the answer to that one problem." Alma sets aside a piece of paper and chooses a pencil with a smile. "I'll do my best to capture all the facets of your beauty."
Momo gasps, eyes going wide and shiny, her smile growing incredibly large "You know Sakura? Really? I... I'm a really big fan of hers, I haven't worked up the courage to approach her yet but, well, actually, I was inspired to go into the martial arts because of her, I've tried to put my love of tennis together with the, the pure spirit that she fights with, I hope one day I can match her, I mean I think I'm pretty good... actually, I've entered the Saturday Night Fight thing to try and test myself, I've mainly just practiced against inanimate objects and such so I'm not too sure how strong I am, but, well, I'm sure I'm nowhere near as strong as her. Say, do you know Shingo? I heard that he and Sakura were like... together or something. I'm quite surprised actually- I mean, I sure don't get what Sakura sees in the guy, its kind of sad how he is so desperate to mimic Kyo, despite the obvious fact that he'll never be as strong as him..." She trails off, the hypocrisy of her own statement goes completely unnoticed by her, unless of course she thought that one day she could be Sakura's equal... she glances back at the homework as though she had pretty much forgotten it in her little rant. "Oh uh, about that, uh, I'm sure I can figure that out later, you know... its only homework, not like it is that important, not really."
Alma, drawing gracefully, periodically looking up to Momo and then looking down to the paper, occasionally erasing but mostly apparently going with what he's got, appears perfectly capable of using the left side of his brain for his artwork and the right side of his brain to continue conversing with Momo. "Really? Yes, Sakura's quite strong. And I imagine you've got plenty of talent too. I'll be in the Saturday Night Fight this weekend as well, so I might even see you there-- I'm still in the 'new talent' bracket, as I only recently started attending tournaments." He smiles engagingly; he seems completely in the zone, now. There's a certain glow in his eyes, and a certain sense of subdued yet genuine joy, that permeates his peaceful, graceful movements. "I've never met Shingo Yabuki, however. I hear he's got some talent himself, though, so I wouldn't judge him too harshly." That smile remains. Maybe he just didn't notice the hypocrisy. More likely, he's just reacting to it in the same way he reacted to that cuteness; seeing the beauty in it. Or whatever it is he does.
He works quietly for a few minutes more, and then, pausing for a moment to look pleased, brings out a darker, thicker pencil, and a pen. "Only a few more minutes, Momo. Thank you very much for this."
Momo smiles happily, "Don't mention it, I'm glad I could help. I hope I do see you at the fight, it's going to be my first time though, to be honest, I just hope I don't embarrass myself..." She trails off, not having much more to say, she just sits there trying to look her cutest, whilst at the same time observing the young model. Yes, there was definitely something a little off about him, probably just because he was a fighter, but he seemed nice! And he had helped her out a lot... possibly a bit more than he realized, but never mind, she liked this guy, if only because he seemed to like her, and who can really not like somebody like that? "Thanks for helping with my homework." She adds, almost as an afterthought, yup, she definitely liked this guy. One more person on the exclusive "Actual friends of Momo" list. At least, he was certainly on it for now...
And then he appears to be finished. With a few final touches, Alma looks down at the artwork, smiles broadly -- looking not just happy, but at peace -- and turns it around to show Momo. "I'm done."
There are several unique aspects to Alma's style. For one, there are lines running in the background, denoting various vertical and horizontal planes in the environment, and running tangential to the lines of Momo's face. Furthermore, for certain curves, there appear to be small calculus equations written, as though to exactly calculate the arc. Overall, the work is remarkably realistic, especially considering its simple nature, not oriented too much toward extreme details; yet despite or perhaps even because of that, there is a strange layered nature to the picture. On one level, Momo, looking over her homework, looks extremely, extremely cute. It cannot be denied that that girl, right there, must be one of the cutest people on the face of the planet. But on another level, something about her eyes shows she is genuinely studying, that she's actually concentrating, and gives a sense of humanity to the girl there as well. Yet there's a third level, which requires a bit of a doubletake to find. It's something in the curve of the lips, maybe. Or what seems to be a bit of a glint alluded to in the eyes. But the Momo there looks more than just studious. She looks... cunning. And when a watcher first notices that, and then really looks, she even almost looks cunning to the point of cruel. Yet none of these layers seems to invalidate any of the others; though it's hard to see them all at the same time, they all manage to coexist.
...it's actually kind of a powerful piece of art.
"If you like it," the handsome youth says, "feel free to keep it."
Momo is taken aback, genuinely lost for words for a very, very long moment. She gapes at the picture, "W...wow..." she stammers uncertainly, gingerly reaching out to touch it, "Thank you so much I... I don't know what to say it is, well, wonderful..." She handles the picture with real care, biting her bottom lip slightly. "Thank you so much Alma I... I'm touched, really." She then quickly gathers up her books, putting the picture inside a hardcover one so that it is not damaged, and then, too quick for there to really be much of a response, she says. "But I really have to go, my parents will be wondering where I am, thank you for the picture and... and I hope we meet again." And then she scampers off, getting lost quickly in the crowd. Some part of the girl wondering just how much was deliberate... if everyone saw past the facade as well as the picture seems to... she thought only Kurow had ever seen her stripped of all her defenses, and whilst the picture genuinely was fantastic on one level... on another, it chilled her to the bone, did she really want everybody to see her like that? Or more importantly, did she really want Alma, that genuinely nice person, to see her as the cruel, manipulative person she really was on the inside?
Log created by Alma, and last modified on 02:08:08 08/11/2005.