Eight Picturesque Views of an Explosion [Bambietta, Izumi]

"Depends, if you only ever indulge in the more prestigious things in life eventually they to become mundane and dull, no different to the things that you ascribe lower quality."

Izumi did perk up a bit when she heard Bambietta's response, her sly look going to one of a little surprise and with her eyelids raising a bit more in her interest. A small pause until she returned to a smug grin.

"That sounds nice. You know someone once told me, it's not just the meal but the presentation. How it looks, textures... the dish that you eat it off. Fufu."

Now that wasn't subtle was it? Bambietta wasn't exactly being very subtle at this point either Could she feel at fault for putting in some more effort into whatever peculiar foreplay that Bambietta was into?

Well, if nothing else, Bambietta could tell herself she'd really done her best on this, but she'd taken the bait even knowing it would get dangled in front of her. This wasn't great, but oh well.

"That's true, yeah. People forget about presentation, but it's half the enjoyment of a nice meal. You eat with your eyes before the food even touches your mouth. A friend of mine used to say that."

Oof. Talking about her personal life now, huh? Look at her. She really was falling right on into the pit. Well, could be worse.

"I think even prestigious things will stay fresh as long as you make sure to expand your horizons and all that. But that's why I got into cooking, it's not enough to just hope other people will make something I like."

"Oh, you like cooking? I'm not much of a cook but it's a bit of an art, isn't it? To capture flavours of the world in your cooking which can effect the soul. Making it feel so satisfied and euphoric."

She rambled while leaning in which didn't help Bambietta's conundrum by a bit of extra cleveage being on display. Fortunately though, when Izumi rambled about art it did draw her attention from salacious and otherwise unnecessary thoughts for her passion to bleedthrough.

"It's temporary though, a momentary thing is food. I prefer that which is permanent, the world captured through my brush or my pencil. Every stroke becoming closer to replicating scenery and people which I put to canvas."

It made her go a little wistful while she closed her eyes satisfied, remembering that her father once said that he painted the world because he couldn't bear how ugly reality was and the painting allowed him to make it look more beautiful. For her it was different though, the opposite.

While the cleavage did in fact throw Bambietta for something of a loop, the turn in conversation actually helped distract her a great deal. Good, this was good. Get her head off sex and onto stuff that was actually important.

"The way I see it, the temporary part is what makes it so interesting. It only exists in the moment, you know? It's the same way with music, it's a whole experience."

It was, frankly, an infinitely more healthy outlet for her than blowing shit up was. That didn't change that she liked to see things crumble now and again, but she'd found she got a lot of attention for her flashier dishes. Definitely didn't get her in any trouble, either.

"You make it sound like a firework, fly fly fly pop."

She explained and made gestures of her hand climbing up and popping her hand open to emulate a firework, even with a wiggling of her fingers as she let it slowly come down back into her lap with a delighted beam.

"I like thinking that things are retained as memories though, inscribing your likeness into a canvas would mean that as long as that canvas survived then the memory of you would be eternal or a beautiful scenery which is captured in a painting. I think that's far more satisfying than a fleeting experience, a snapshot of sorts."

Izumi brought her hands up to lean in and rest her chin on them while she looked intently at Bambietta. What was her core? How would she paint her? What pose? What did she evoke? Many a thing that filled an idle mind for her of just picking random people and composing a piece in her head.

"A firework, huh? I guess you could call it like that, though sometimes it's a lot more subtle."

Well, it seemed like they were at least on the same page about that sort of thing, though Bambietta had to admit that she didn't quite feel the same way about it. Subjective stuff, she guessed.

"Well, you aren't wrong. The memory is the part that matters, though I think that's got a lot more impact when you experience it yourself instead of just seeing the picture of it. Know what I mean?"

Bambietta looked over to one of the staff and let them know what they were ordering, alongside a pot of tea. She'd actually wanted a drink at first, something sharp to go with the meat, but getting drunk was the furthest thing from a good idea now. She was staying on her toes.

"I like fireworks.. they can be subtle."

She pouted a little bit, while fingering the table a bit more as she justified her answer. Quickly growing past it and moving onwards to not get caught up on the imagery of trying to compare it to a firework. Izumi was more focused on the talk of memory being what mattered.

"Memories fade though, even if they're in our hearts they vanish over time like a riverbed is eroded. If I could capture the world in my brushstrokes so that a heart could tremble like they could experience everything in my painting as if they were there... I would know that I succeeded as an artist."

Then the waitress showed up and the artist got a bit bashful, Bambietta might not have been willing to drink but Izumi raised her hand and ordered some sake. Oh right, they were sharing weren't they?

Ufufu.

"I see..."

Bambietta had to think about that, and she had to admit that it was a pretty good answer. She admired that kind of dedication, and it reminded her of herself. Not really in a good way or a bad way, or maybe a little bit of both.

"Well, I don't really have any ambitions quite that big. As long as people remember me, that's enough. I'm not looking to go out quietly."

She'd gone and ordered sake, huh? That was fine. Maybe one cup was fine, right? Just to be polite if she offered. But she was sticking to tea. Talking about all this had cleared Bambietta's head enough that she wasn't nearly as caught up in the moment. Thank god.

"I think that's impressive, wanting to do that though."

"Oh really? I could definitely make people remember you, people love my artwork you know."

She knew that Bambietta had already agreed to be a model but didn't it sound far more sincere when she would like to help her achieve her dream in the process of it? Izumi was quite selfish but hey, if her own wants aligned with others then she looked a little more compassionate than she lead on. Right?

Did she want eternity though or just a nebulous memory of her to keep existing? Izumi didn't know and it wasn't really something she felt like asking. Instead once her sake appeared, she took it and had a sip from the dish before offerring some to Bambietta.

"Want some~?"

"Well that doesn't sound so bad, but I want people to remember me for what I do, not just how I look or how well you paint me. I think I'd rather people remember you for painting me that well."

Bambietta shrugged at that one, focusing on the tea in front of her. At least, until Izumi offered her a sip of the sake from the same dish she'd just used. Damn. Really doing something like that? Oh well. She reached out and took the dish, knowing full well she'd probably wanted her to just sip from it out of her hand, and took a sip.

"Hm... That's good. Heavy, kinda buttery. I like it."

And she handed it right back. Just one more thing she knew she should probably keep from overindulging in.