Marvel: 2010-06-22 - Art is Spiffy!

It is a bright and warm afternoon, a little bit after classes for those who decided to stay over the summer. Simone is out in the back yard, sitting at one of the picnic tables. In front of her is a sketch book and a large glass of iced tea. Her small wings are freely displayed, arching now and again when a breeze plays by.

Apparently, artistic minds think alike, because Piotr is approaching the back yard with his bag of art supplies. He sees the winged woman sitting at the bench with a sketch pad and heads over to her. "Excuse me. May I join?" His heavy accent is there, but his English is improving Simone looks up and smiles. "Hi... sure, plenty of room. Are you our new student? Piotr?" she asks and waves towards the open space on the other side of the table. "I'm Simone Dawn, I'm the art teacher.." Piotr smiles as he sits down and holds out his hand. "Yes. I am Piotr Nikolievitch Rasputin. I am pleased to meet you."

Simone takes the hand to shake it gently. "Like wise, So you like to draw ?" she says taking note of the art supplies. Finally some one who seems interested in the arts!

Piotr nods and pulls out his sketchbook from the messenger bag he's carrying. "Yes. I have enjoyed drawing since I was little boy." He smiles at the joke about his size. He opens the sketchbook up and shows it to Simone; mostly landscapes of a farm, some portraits. Many of the more recent drawings are of the grounds here and the students. It's clear he has immense talent. Simone is very very glad! The classes thus far have been a bit challenging, since several of the students have been less than enthusiastic. "These are wonderful! How old are you ? was it 15? or 16?" she asks as she looks over the pages and is very careful when turning the pages. Piotr beams with pride. "I am 16. Thank you for the praise."

Simone grins as she continues to review the work. "Did you have any classes before or are you self taught?" she asks, brushing her hair out of her gold eyes. Piotr shakes his head. "No. I learn by myself. This is first school I ever go to."

Simone blinks at this, nodding. "Did you home school for your other subjects?" she inquires as she flips the last few pages, taking note of his style and techniques. "Yes. My mother teach my sister and I." Piotr smiles and chuckles. "Not many opportunities for education on farm."

Simone's brow briefly creases before she offers him a bright smile. "Understandable.. well what other type of media do you have experience with? If there is something you've always wanted to try we can see about doing that." Piotr thinks for a bit. "I use pencil, charcoal, inks, oil paint...Maybe I try clay. I have not done sculpting much."

Simone is surprised he's done so much! "Your folks must have really supported your talent, that's great." she says with a grin. "We haven't started any sculpture yet, I wanted to get the others used to the foundation arts like sketching and colors.. I'll go ahead and get you some clay, I'll see about scooting it's introduction sooner. "

Piotr smiles and nods. "Thank you. And yes, my parents support my sister and I well. We do not have much, but we do what we can." Simone smiles. "I'd love to see your other work if you bought any more with you, when you start classes." she says. "Yes, I bring several books. I will show you." Piotr looks over at Simone's sketchbook. "May I see?"

Simone nods. "Sure.." she pulls the pages back to the front and slides it towards him. She's pretty good too, then again she'd have to be to be the art teacher. She's only got a few years on him, so it's quite possible he'll be better than her if he continues to practice regularly. The majority of the sketches are also pencil but there are several done in ballpoint pen or some kind of marker. The paper is smooth rather than rough like sketch paper, perhaps it's some sort of cardstock or bristol. While there are a few sketches of the school's windows and interesting architecture, the majority of the sketches are people or fantasy creatures. There's a few sketches of Kurt, a few of Lily, and even Scott and Alex.

Piotr nods as he carefully goes through the pages. "You are excellent artist too. I met Oa and know she is artist too. I have not seen her work." He chuckles and blushes. "Not sure if I want too from what she say."

Simone covers up her smile briefly. "Thanks!.. Ah.. well she does do other types of art besides the manga... but I would suggest declining if she asks you to model for her.." she says softly, trying not to smile too much. Oh my. "So how did the Professor find you? if you don't mind me being curious?"

Piotr blushes deeper and snorts at the idea of modeling for Oa's manga. "Professor say he have a computer that can detect mutants. Takes time to search, but he found me one month after my power appear."

Simone nods, and sits back, resting her hands on either side of her upon the bench. "Cool... So did your gift manifest recently?" she asks, watching his face for any sign of hesitance to talk about it. Not everyone is comfortable with what they do after all.

Piotr nods. "Yes. Three months ago. My family and neighbors know, but they not scared of me. They know I am different, but still the same, yes? I am lucky."

The young woman smiles back. "Wow..Is all of Russia so ah.. accepting of mutants?" she asks. Wouldn't that be nice.

Piotr shrugs. "I do not know. I think Russia like everywhere; some people accept mutants, some people no. I think because I come from close neighbours and I use my power to help, I am accepted."

Simone nods and then offers a grin. "What did you do? " see? still curious!

Piotr chuckles. He really doesn't like showing off; can he help it that his power is so dramatic? "I have a younger sister, Illyana. She was playing in wheat field after harvest. There was tractor out of control and heading to her. I ran to grab her, but was almost too late." He stands up and backs away, concentrating for a moment. In an instant, he grows a half foot and his skin turns to steel. "Next thing I know, tractor is crushed and I look like this. Illyana was safe and that is all that mattered."

Simone blinks! "Oh my! " she says as he shifts. That's pretty amazing!! "Wow.. " she gasps. "Indeed, I'm glad your sister was okay.. " she says as she squints, the reflection from the sun off the steel is pretty bright. "That's a really wonderful gift Piotr.. " Piotr turns back to normal and sits down. "Yes. I know I am lucky to have power like this. Others, not so lucky." He looks at Simone's wings. "How did your family react when you grow wings?"

Simone shrugs. "Not as well as yours I'm afraid.. but that's alright.. I'm here now and that's the best thing, really." she says pulling her sketch book back over and closing it up. "I wouldn't trade my wings for anything.. I love flying." she grins.

Piotr smiles and nods. "So did my brother, Mikhail. He was pilot in the Air Service. Went on to be cosmonaut."

Simone arches a brow. "Really? like into space? That's great.. I can't fly any where that high... still have to breath and all. " the change in verb tense makes her curious. She's not sure if it's in error because of his unfamiliarity with the English language or if something has happened. "Is he still with the space program?" Piotr shakes his head. "He died on mission in space."

Simone ohs. "I'm so sorry hon.. " she bites at her lip. Ooops. Space exploration is very dangerous.

Piotr shrugs. "Thank you. It happened many years ago." He smiles. "I miss him, but I am proud of him too."

Simone nods. "It's hard loosing family, but you gotta do what you love, even if there are risks. I'm sure he'd be very proud of you too." she grins back. She then taps at her chin. "I just had a thought. In your.. ah.. metal form you might be able to create some pretty interesting sculptures in some really new ways." Piotr thinks for a bit, then slowly nods. "Yes. I know I can hold melted steel and not get hurt." He chuckles and smiles wide. "Might be hard to find blocks of steel to sculpt, yes?"

Simone chuckles. "Well actually I wasn't thinking steel...I don't think we could find a way to melt it.. but that'd be amazing too.. perhaps some of the softer metals like bronze? and not ah, molten..but that could be something to work towards in the future."

Piotr smiles and nods. "Maybe. And maybe student could help with softening or melting metal"

Simone grins. "I'll certainly look into it. I've never done any molten metal work, out side of soldering some silver. We'd have to build a facility to do something like that, it's way too dangerous to try inside and there isn't currently anything on campus that'd work. "

Piotr nods in agreement. "Yes. I may be safe, but others not so much."

Simone smiles back and writes up a few notes on her sketch book. So she'll remember to check up on the supplies and possibilities. "So how are you settling in? Have you met many of the others?"

Piotr nods. "Yes, I am doing well here. I have met Alex, Jono, Lily, Oa, Scott, Mr. Wagner, and Kyle. All have been very good to me."

Simone grins. "They are a good bunch." she says with a soft chuckle. "If you need anything when it comes to art supplies let me know, I'm always heading down to the art shop.. "

Piotr nods. "I will. Thank you. I am looking forward to your class, Ms. Dawn."

Simone chuckles "You can all me Simone, most of the others do." she grins. "I think I'm going to go do up some new lesson plans, I'll see you later, okay?" she says cheerfully.

The End.