Hibiscus and Sparrow [Fuuen, Yugiri]

Ah, now that was an expression every bit as lovely. No- it was certainly far more lovely in how forward it was. It had been directed directly at Fuuen himself, after all, and he knew that quite well. He found it certainly attractive, but that was hardly enough of a distraction to keep him from remembering the first expression he had wished to draw.

"Consider it a worthwhile test, then, of whether or not my memory is truly proficient."

The pencil he carried with him quickly met paper, and he drew out the absent smile Yugiri had worn rather quickly and efficiently. There was clear passion in his every pencil stroke, but even so, he wished to move past it, to commit the face now before him to paper far moreso. The moment that he finished with the first expression, he moved right to the second, and with far more energy in his every motion, far more focus.

Could he have finished it as quickly? Yes, absolutely. But given that Yugiri was still before him, making such an expression, he would gladly take the opportunity to study it for the sake of perfecting this piece.

Yugiri just remained smug as she sipped away at her drink and he went about his drawing. Once more left to her thoughts, there was the brief consideration to speak and throw off his concentration or focus - however a further deliberation told her that someone who was half as talented as him would not be so easily thrown off their focus. Instead she just remained in her head and enjoying her own company.

"You're taking quite sometime, is it the uncertainty or am I just that enchanting that I am distracting you?"

Breaking her own original decision when she thought he took more time than he needed, Yugiri taunted him. She felt a lot more comfortable, like ice had already been broken but she also liked to wind people up a little bit. One had to have confidence to do that right? So she'd try and convey it rather than act all embarrassed about the situation of being drawn.

She was correct to assume that Fuuen's focus was not nearly so easily broken, and he continued to put each and every detail to paper with a precision that was only matched by the clear effort he was putting into the work. As he spoke in response to her, his voice remained even, cool, yet carried with it that faint tense air of a man who was putting forward no small amount of thought.

"I can assure you that I am not uncertain in the slightest."

Fuuen hadn't gone into this matter intending to have this sort of banter, but if she wished to begin it, he was more than willing to return it in kind. Her response to this whole affair was amusing, outright charming in its own way. He was quite willing to feed into it.

She had two options here as she kept her cool to her reading into the subtext, the first was to be as flustered as she felt at the idea that he was flirting with her or the second was...

"Now your focus makes sense, pervy artist."

Yugiri's tone changed as necessary, a real smug expression creeping onto her features now while she sipped at her drink. It was all about remaining calm and collected, this felt weird though. She was a lot more aware of these things when it was pushed on her more in the Soul Society of would-be suitors. A frustrating endeavour which only irritated her whenever she got the odd one, a minor noble trying to claw his way up the foodchain, eck.

Though her mind was closed off to it from that, she was having fun and so she decided to entertain the situation a bit more. It was a first after all to be in such a similar and yet so distinctly circumstance.

"Ah, Yugiri, you do me such cruelty to make an insinuation like that. There is hardly anything perverse about the admiration of beauty."

Despite the flowery tone of his response, however, Fuuen allowed himself a small grin of his own, his eyes remaining squarely on Yugiri's face as he continued to draw her. He made a few adjustments here and there, doing his best to reflect the ever-increasing air of confidence about her, but he doubted that even the greatest artists to ever live could fully have conveyed that through a medium as simple as this.

"Well, here we are. I think I have done as well as anyone might do."

Setting his pencil aside, Fuuen laid the notebook down and turned it to show both sketches to Yugiri. The first, of her more absent expression, was quite detailed, and certainly accurate. It was the second, however, which had far more detail, subtleties of the light and shadow all framing her in as complimentary of a light as was possible. In a word, it was quite good.

She took another sip and stole a piece of the odango that was being neglected for the sake of art.

"My, my. I shall be sure to be more careful in the future."

"Hmm? That's pretty good, I think you sketch me better than those dreary artists that leech off the nobility for portraits."

It sure was a strange compliment to give him but it was one that he received regardless and was his to interpret. Yugiri didn't spend too much time staring at the pictures of herself. They were after all more for him, she could see her face everytime she looked in a mirror or caught her reflection.

"Do I truly? I will take that as quite a dear compliment, then. I've hardly any love for those who make their living by desperately appeasing the whims of nobility."

It was almost peculiar to feel much disdain for anyone, given the way that Fuuen had lived, but that came with an understanding of the circumstances of his death, he supposed. The memory of those barbarians at the Shinsengumi was not one that exactly irritated him, but that was primarily because he realized he had outlived them. What a thought.

"Any art is at its purest and greatest when it is done for its own sake, after all. Not that I need to explain such a thing to you, given your own pursuit."

"Ahaha."

She laughed despite the fact that she knew in her heart she was once no different, chasing everyone's approval to acknowledge her as something more than just the cripple to be protected and pitied.

"Well yes, though does that mean the pervert that pursues his art for his own sake is just as noble as the swordsman that pursues the sword or the one that pursues footwork?"

It was something she was curious about, how he'd respond given it seemed to be accurate in regards to what he had said for the pursuit of one's idea of aesthetics.

"If he truly pursues his art for its own sake, then I think that would certainly be every bit as noble, yes. In such a situation, does this pervert not actively suppress his own desire and base urges for the sake of his art? I think that quite admirable."

Ah, but there was certainly more to be said on the topic, and after he poured himself a bit more tea, using the moment to think of how best to word it. Taking a small sip, Fuuen smiled a touch more, and continued on.

"Of course, that all assumes it is truly for the sake of the art in itself. If his aim is instead to appease his own desire, to draw women he finds appealing as some substitute for intimacy, then I can hardly call that noble in the slightest."

"Well, I'm glad that you are among the former and drawing me for the sake of art and not your own desire, as innocent as it may be."

Yugiri praised while dipping back into a bit of extra food. and drink. Idly reaching up to twirl a lock of hair around her finger to occupy it after she finished and turn her attention onto him again. Maybe she was teasing him a bit too much, she thought to herself. She should probably consider it as cute. and quirky.