Private It's Time To Paint

[Iris Arani]

The apartment Iris was living in with Briana Sal-Soren was home. Or at least starting to become home. Gone were the numerous layers of paint, instead replaced by a single, pale blue. One that the Padawan hadn't changed in almost a week. It was surprising in on it's own, but then again, her talk with Arlo Renard had taken a lot off of her mind. Peace had a place in her heart again. Or at least no longer feeling as troubled on how she felt for the Doppleganger. Still somewhat troubled, as any teenager would be, but no longer drowning in it.

She was outside. Her master was no longer in hiding, so she didn't need to hide herself. A nice change, especially since it meant she could go out and find a place to paint. Not a wall of course. She'd finally kicked that habit for the most part. Right now, she just needed to find a nice balcony or bench to set up with a canvas and get to painting. Or would have, if not for a noticeable blue in all the colors around her. Too curious for her own good Iris followed the trail to it's source. When she found him, she did the only thing she could think to. She held out a paintbrush and a canvas to the red head, smiling wide.

"You should paint."

Arcturus Dinn

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

He'd left at the crack of dawn.​

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There was no way he could risk sinking deeper into it. Losing himself to the addictive nature of her. There was more at stake now than he or she, he had to do it for them. So he had. He'd left, gathered up his things from where Starlin Rand had safely stashed them and gone out into the barely lit Coruscanti morning. Just two things remained behind... First, and less obviously, a small snowmouse lingered within her general proximity. It knew better than to get caught, so it remained out of sight. Just watching. Observing... ​

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The second was actually stranger than the mouse. It rested upon the bedside table, with only a carefully written note for company. In case you wish to forget... Break me. No name attached, nothing that could bring back thoughts of him should she actually make use of it. Just those eight words, and a Soulstone. What Ishani Dinn did with it was up to her.​

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Suffice to say with all this in mind, he wasn't quite himself that morning. He'd paced the streets of Coruscant with his head in the clouds, sinking deeper and deeper into the layers the world had to offer. He didn't stop, he didn't acknowledge anyone else on the street, he just wandered aimlessly. Arcturus had left Nwit and the other golems back near the Rand residence, one of the few places on this busy ecumenopolis he knew the way to by heart. Alone.​

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He walked alone.​

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Until he wasn't.​

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It took him a little while to realize his trail was being followed. His danger sense prickled ever so slightly, not enough to be alarming just to tear him from the depths of his mind. He turned to face her just in time to see a paintbrush directed his way. Canvas too.​

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The absurdity of her statement had him blink twice. He even checked over his shoulder to make sure he wasn't standing between two people trying to have a conversation. No... No she'd meant him.​

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"Paint?" he asked, his approach rather tepid and unsure. "Why would I paint..?"​

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For the first time in hours though, his mind was on something else.​

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Iris Arani ​

 

[Iris Arani]

"Why not paint?" Whatever had him so blue seemed to fade from thought. At least by the colors around Arcturus Dinn . "It's better than whatever you're thinking about. Sometimes it's better to move on." It was hard to tell just what she was referring to, especially with the kind smile she had on her lips and the general air of 'I'm just here' she had about her. Iris would keep the paintbrush and canvas up, still offering them out.

"It'll help."

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

It was obvious from her choice of words that she had no real idea of exactly what it was that weighed on him. Perhaps she was some sort of empath, able to sense the emotion but not its root cause? He couldn't remember the last time he'd encountered such a being. If indeed he ever had. They'd always fascinated him though, so much could be gleaned from the emotions of another.​

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Part of him felt a little irritable at having been interrupted from his somber musings. Wanted to shake her off and keep on walking. Another part of him, deep inside, whispered that it wanted to try.​

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"I don't know how."​

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As a boy raised a slave there was no time for such trivial pursuits. As a slave turned Apprentice he had too many studies and duties to tend to. He had his hobbies of course, but even those pertained to his craft. Artifice, tinkering. Even his more recent pursuits of botany had something of a point to it. An end goal beyond pure satisfaction.​

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She said it would help.​

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She seemed to know emotions. Was she right on this too?​

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He wasn't fully convinced, yet he reached for the supplies all the same. If only to keep her arms from falling off as she held them out like that. He knew what the supplies were of course, but not how to put them to good use. For a moment he just stared at them. Then he looked at her.​

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"Is this common practice for you?" he inquired, curiosity doing more to obscure his dark thoughts from him than her initial arrival had. "Encouraging people to paint away their feelings?"​

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Was she some sort of shrink? Kark, he didn't want to end up in some psychology paper somewhere down the line.​

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Iris Arani
​

 

[Iris Arani]

"Most people don't." Especially the people she always ended up approaching. Still, Arcturus Dinn took the supplies. That was further than she'd gotten with the last person she met like this. A bright smile took over before she reached back to her pack, pulling out another canvas and a couple more paintbrushes of her own. "Just.. Paint. You don't need to paint anything specific. What you feel right now, put it on the canvas."

She already took a seat, uncaring where they were, to set down her own and start to paint. Nothing specific, just a single line of red. Then another, and so on. No shape, rhyme, or reason. She only paused as she noticed his question. Some seconds after he asked it, at that.

"Painting away your feelings is.. Wrong. You're putting your feelings into reality so you can.. Face them?" No, she hadn't thought about it before. She tapped her chin with her paintbrush, beginning the process of how she would end up covered in paint.

"You should never pretend your feelings aren't there. But you shouldn't let them take over, either."

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

Arcturus felt as though he might have taken her proposal to paint a little bit more seriously if in fact he had, well, something to paint with. He tried not to immediately speak out about it of course, she was doing her best after all, but when she further pushed him to just throw colours on the canvas he had to shake his head.​

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"Is there some sort of painting medium I'm not seeing?" he inquired. Once more the perplexing nature of it all pulled him just that little bit further from the void. He could breathe again, even if only in short bursts, without it aching in his chest.​

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He sat down on the low wall he'd stopped beside, and set the canvas off to the side. Turned the paintbrush in his hand a few times.​

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She said he wasn't supposed to paint away his feelings, just paint them into existence. He wasn't sure what good that was going to do, he already knew how he was feeling. He was living it in that very moment. In fact the thought of it made those blues she was seeing intensify. His mind began to drift as the paintbrush in his hand twirled between thumb and forefinger.​

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Iris Arani ​

 

[Iris Arani]

Iris paused immediately. She blinked, glancing down to her own assorted paints. Then to Arcturus Dinn who had none. Admittedly, no one had ever taken the brush before, so she never thought past it. The Padawan cleared her throat before fetching out another small box. Could of been one of those weekly pill containers by appearances, but without the days marked on them. She handed it over, with a couple tubes of paint.

"Use whatever colors you feel." She smiled, warm as she could through her forgetful embarrassment. "Then, just go with the flow."

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

Great. Now he'd caused her embarrassment.​

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He wasn't sure why that fact bothered him, only that it did. Taking the offered pallet, if it could even be deemed such, he spent a rather long time simply staring at the selection of paint she'd brought out with her. Which only brought up more questions. Why? Why was she traipsing around Coruscant with canvas and paint?​

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For the first time since they'd interacted, Arcturus looked at her. Truly looked at her, through the haze of his self inflicted misery. Noticed the oddities which made her her. The light which danced around her like some sun-splashed halo. Well there was the problem.​

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Jedi...​

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Either she hadn't the capacity to tell him apart from your average Joe, or she didn't perceive him as a threat. That would have been her folly, if indeed his nature was as ill perceived as Arlo Renard had believed. If he'd ever truly stepped up to the mantle set upon him by his Master.​

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Instead... Instead he reached for the colours of cornflower, and hay, of meadow green. He knew not what he was doing when he added a touch of each into separate designations within that little box, nor when he dipped brush in paint then set it to canvas. Clumsy in his initial ruminations, yet purposeful in his chosen hues.​

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Iris Arani ​

 

[Iris Arani]

"You're not as dark as you think you are." As if reading Arcturus Dinn 's mind she spoke up. In truth, she was just saying what the Force told her. No understanding of who he was, or what exactly was going on in his head. Little bits and pieces picked up through the color. She didn't look up from her own art piece, already swirling colors together to create different hues. A sort of shape was also forming. Humanoid, in the center. Yet all the colors seemed dimmer than what someone might expect from the colors she had in her pack.

"Don't try to paint something specific. Just.. Go with what your heart tells you."

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

Her intrusive statement caught him off guard, causing the brush to slip unexpectedly across the canvas as he sharply turned his head toward her. Was she reading him? Was this some sort of game to her?​

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In contrast she continued to stare at her own canvas, seemingly paying him very little heed. Out of my head he demanded, should she be there. She shouldn't have been, of course, the ring upon his finger would see that most basic attempts at such would be resisted, and anything more than that he would have picked up on. Right? But no alarm bells had rung in his mind. So how..?​

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His eyes narrowed for a moment. Maybe it went beyond that then. Maybe it was similar to how he'd gleaned from her, surface level. Nothing deep. Thought after thought flashed through his mind as he tried to process it until the incredulousness waned, even if only a little.​

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"You don't know what I think."​

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That was all he said of the matter in the end. The slightest hint of hostility peaking within his tone. It was Ishani all over again, and resentment quickly bubbled up after it. He set down the brush, leaving the painting unfinished, and turned to walk away.​

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Why he'd even indulged her at all he didn't know.​

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Iris Arani ​

 

[Iris Arani]

She did it again. Said too much/ Did she assume too much too? She wasn't sure. But the hostility from Arcturus Dinn was enough for her to shy away. Not literally. But she did stop painting, instead listening for what he had to say before he even thought to speak up.

"I don't." She repeated him. Iris knew little on how people thought. She didn't know how to think about most things herself. Poor choice of words, perhaps. She glanced up from her painting for a moment before getting up. "I just know what I see. It's yours, if you want it." Rather than have him walk away she shouldered her pack, gathered her supplies (Though notably left what Arcturus was using), and left herself.

What happened next to what remained mattered little. She'd painted what she saw. Darkness, dim colors, with a glimmer of light still in the center. Within the silhouette of a person. It was his to take, leave, or even ignore.

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

He faltered some when he heard her response. The words themselves stuck his feet to the pavement as though locked into quicksand, or cement. There was something about what she'd said, and the way she'd said it, that eclipsed the rage and left only unmatched curiosity. Curiosity was always his vice, it always had been. The one thing he couldn't deny.​

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Turning, he watched as she gathered up her things. Forced his legs into compliance. He approached her, reaching out to gently touch her shoulder before she could scurry away. So soft that she could brush him off without any effort on her part should she wish it. It wasn't like he was trying to hold her down, overpower her. The words just weren't willing to flow immediately, so he'd had to act instead. Tempt her into staying put.​

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He whetted his lips, and that brief act brought life back to his vocal cords. "What you see?" he inquired, unable to stop himself. "How do you see?" As quickly as the hand was placed, he released her shoulder. Now that the spell of silence had been broken, he had no need of such to hopefully keep her attention. Arcturus had been bristly, off putting. He wouldn't blame her if she just continued to walk away.​

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But that hunger for knowledge sought answers to questions he never expected he'd be asking.​

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Iris Arani ​

 

[Iris Arani]

She blinked slowly as Arcturus Dinn touched her shoulder. Her gaze traveled to it, then to him. Waiting for him to say something. Or, hoping he was going to say something. Part of her wanted to.. Flee? Maybe. Strangers didn't reach out and touch her normally. Or, more, it was the curiosity that had taken over his colors that put her on edge. With how upset he was, she couldn't help but feel.. She wasn't sure. Neither good nor bad, that much she could tell.

Whiplash, maybe?

"Colors. .. The Force. It's.. An array of colors? .. It's hard to explain."

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

She was uneased by his touch, he saw it in her expression when she turned to him. Good thing he didn't hold his hand there long, instead it settled back to his side. The girl didn't flee, not yet at least. She looked at him expectantly before he fumbled out his words. The Jedi had presented him with quite the confusing set of thoughts and emotions in the extremely short time they'd known one another.​

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Had it even been five minutes?​

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He exhaled through his nose, and used it all as a distraction. His previous thoughts were quieter now, but only insofar as they had been replaced by the words she next uttered. Head tilted slightly to the left, and he regarded her solemnly in silence as he processed them.​

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A new way of viewing the Force, which he wasn't aware of prior to now? If Arcturus had been curious before, now he felt downright insatiable. But he forced himself to breathe in, to calm lest he scare her off. He had a habit of coming on a little strong when he was excited by the prospect of learning something new, something unfathomable. He'd done similar with Cartri Keswoll back on Denon. It didn't make sense to make the same mistake here.​

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"Can..." he paused. How best to phrase it. He didn't want to seem too presumptuous, or creepy. "Can you show me?" Slowly, in a way that told her she could pull back if she wanted, under zero obligation to humour him, he brought both hands up, and held them close to her temples. Without her say so he wouldn't place his fingertips there, but he wanted to. To see through her eyes, if only for a moment...​

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He was expecting rejection, of course.​

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Iris Arani ​

 

[Iris Arani]

It was curiosity, plain and simple, that kept her there. Not her own. But Arcturus Dinn 's. It showed he wasn't a threat. There was no twisted objective or darkness. Just.. Genuine curiosity. In a way that Iris wasn't used to. People talked about her world of color, but no one had wanted to see it so quickly after learning it. She hadn't even explained much, and.. He wanted to see it? She tilted her head for a moment.

Then shrugged.

His hands by her head was.. Weird. But she didn't fight against him. If anything, she did what she knew she could do. Reached out through the colors. Reaching for his mind, to meld them together. Her world of colors would be on full display, regardless of how he saw through her eyes. She didn't see it with her eyes though. The feeling of the Force that people naturally felt were an array of colors. Life, emotions, everything in a constant, overwhelming swirl of colors. A swirl that was too much for most. She hid nothing, showing Arcturus her world and everything in it.

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

He waited with bated breath as she regarded him solemnly, head tilting in the same way his would whenever curiosity rose within him. A trait he hadn't witnessed much in others; typically he was the more inquisitive of those he was surrounded by. It was nice to see it reciprocated in some capacity.​

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Her shrug was the only confirmation he required, and upon witnessing it he gently settled fingertips against her temples. Featherlight, so much so it barely seemed as though they made contact at all. He was careful not to drive her away, careful not to come across as too much. Just enough for the connection to be made. Then he closed his eyes, and pushed his consciousness forth to touch with hers.​

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It seemed as though she had understood his attempts, for he was met with no resistance. Quite the opposite, it was as though her own presence had exuded to meet with him. The touch wasn't entirely necessary, especially not when the other knew what they were doing, but it helped. Acted as something of an anchor for the boy. A focus.​

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At first he saw little. Through her eyes, yes, but the world beyond felt as limited as ever... Deeper, he delved deeper, paying particular attention to the way in which she'd described it. The Force... She was viewing the Force. He focused upon it, upon them in their shared state, and all at once the view shifted. Ignited in a series of colours so bright they were almost blinding. Thankfully much of Coruscant was metal and duracrete.. Thankfully the Force didn't congregate within it all quite so intensely as it would a sentient rife with thought and feeling.​

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Even so it was a wonder to behold.​

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She'd feel his amazement, his awe, through the brief bond they were sharing. And through it he chose to communicate with her, forsaking the mundane nature of their voices for something less tangible. <Do you always view the world this way?> he inquired, directing the thought into her mind. A sense of vicarious pride washed over him, that she could exist with such a blatant distraction at all times. That she saw a deeper side of the world through the majesty of the Force than he could ever wish for. He could glean things from others, he'd sensed the light in her, and delving deeper that halo which seemed to project as a result, but this?​

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This was something else all together.​

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It also made sense of her earlier statements. Those he'd been too quick to act against.​

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As much as he wanted to keep watching, he knew better than to pry upon another for too long. It brought a sense of discomfort to most, after all. He was careful as he pulled back, careful not to pull the cord too quickly and leave her disoriented. It took him a moment to blink open his eyes afterwards though, lost in thought...​

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Iris Arani ​

 

[Iris Arani]

It wasn't just her immediate surroundings that were enveloped with colors. Not just Arcturus Dinn or her herself who's shades tinged the air. Everything. Everyone. From the people in their apartments close by, to the surface level above and as deep to the core as life could reach. Or, in the present state of affairs, where the Sithspawn lurked. A startling black against the sea of colors. There was no off button, no escape. Just an endless sea of colors.

<Always.>

No sugar coating that. Then the bond was gone. She blinked as he pulled away from the connection. Ending a meld was still.. It took her a moment to remember that she was herself. With Domxite, it was easy. Strangers, not so much. Iris let out a breath, closing her eyes for a moment.

"You shouldn't leave her. Not if you feel this way."

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

The sights she'd afforded him brought colours with it that he didn't even rightly know existed. Their surroundings thrummed with the intensity of it all, and for the boy personally when he moved his head it was as though his vision blurred, the colours taking a moment to catch up with his overwhelmed eyes. While in that shared state, he could not help but direct his gaze upward to the sky above, seeing it through slithers and cracks between the buildings. He wished it were night, wished to see how the stars looked.​

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Alas, it was daybreak. No stars in sight.​

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Always. The girl had said always... Never a moment without such vibrancy. The mere thought of it was dizzying.​

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"Fascinating," he finally mumbled, when his eyes reopened to a world far more plain. It felt almost monochromatic in comparison. "Simply fascinating. I did not know that such sight existed. And it's been this way since birth?" With his own eyes he tried to tap back into it, focusing into the Force to no avail. With meditations perhaps?​

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Arcturus stopped himself. This was not his thing, and for once he knew that to try and claim it would only sully it. What justice could he do it in comparison to her? It would only be a cheap imitation. As fascinating as it was, as much as he longed to see the stars ignited in such colour, he tamed himself. It was no easy feat for one such as he.​

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Iris Arani ​

 

[Iris Arani]

"As long as I can remember. .. Honestly, I don't remember much from.. Most of my life. It's just been a haze of colors." Either Arcturus Dinn had decided to ignore her other comment, or was just too fascinated by her world. Didn't matter either way for Iris. No one had been this curious before. The two people she'd shown, it either didn't linger long or the other person just.. Didn't care.

Not to his extent.

"Why are you so curious?"

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

Arcturus could empathize with that, the lack of recollection where parts of his past were concerned. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket at the thought of it, as though a chill had traveled down through the street, and felt alongside the expected holes something wholly unexpected. His expression shifted, though for a moment he didn't retrieve whatever it was.​

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That curiosity was now split two ways though.​

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"I am sorry" he uttered, sincerity mixing with just the slightest amount of distraction as he turned the item over in his hand. Whatever it was hadn't been there yesterday. He knew what that meant, of course, and as such didn't know if he was ready to unearth it from its cloth cocoon. "I know how it is to not recall clearly... I know how it can eat away at you, if you let it." Was it quite as bad for her as it was for him?​

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She had the impression of colours, she'd said. Something to draw upon. Was that better than having nothing? Or was it simply more of a tease?​

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His focus shifted intently back to her, especially with her question posed. "Wouldn't you be curious, meeting you?" he inquired, one brow raising with the query. As though it was the most obvious thing in the world. For him, he supposed, it was...​

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Iris Arani ​