Painting the Shore

[Devon]

"Ah that isn't what I meant," Forrest responded with a chuckle. "I guess I just wanted an excuse to travel around and paint."

[Darastrix]

"Forrest," Threnody interjected, "I'd like you to meet my husband, Sheldon, or Shel as everyone calls him."

A man seated beside Threnody smiled and waved. He was a solidly built young man, with a square jaw, dark reddish-brown hair, and warm, blue-gray eyes. "Pleasure to meet you, Forrest," Shel said in a deep voice.

[Devon]

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well," Forrest replied. "Thank you for having me in your home this evening."

[Darastrix]

"Even artists have to eat, I'm sure," Shel said, helping himself to a steaming bowl of rice.

"Just help yourself, Forrest," Threnody said with a smile. "There's plenty to go around."

And indeed there was. The food was a simple, but filling, assortment of rice, baked fish, roasted sweet potatoes, and pickled vegetables.

Req, meanwhile, was well on his way to creating a...casserole? Salad? Something with fish mixed in with rice and a heaping portion of pickles.

[Devon]

Forrest did help himself to a plate of food, though he would pause every now and then to see what Req was creating. After he fixed his plate he glanced to Req and could no longer resist asking. "What exactly are you making?"

[Darastrix]

Threnody looked over at her brother, shook her head, and sighed. "Oh, Requiem. You're a grown man, not a child."

Req grinned. "I don't have a name for it; I just like the way it tastes mixed together."

Shel just chuckled at his brother-in-law.

[Devon]

"Its interesting to say the very least," Forrest said with a hearty chuckle. Forrest gathered a modest amount of food on his plate. He was a guest, so he was welcomed to eat his fill, but he didn't want to come off as greedy. He wasn't exactly a starving artist anyway. "Did you make all of this yourself Threnody?"

[Darastrix]

"Shel and I cooked it together," Threnody replied, smiling at her husband.

"Well, I supervised," Shel added with a chuckle.

[Devon]

"You both did a good job then," Forrest complimented them. "You mentioned you had another sister earlier right? Why isn't she here with you?"

[Darastrix]

"Oh, she lives elsewhere in Ronduin," Threnody answered. "We don't really stay in touch; I haven't seen her in several months."

[Devon]

"Oh," Forrest said with a nod. Deciding it was best to stay out of family business he left his questions to that. "I brought along my sketch book, in case you wanted to see some more of my paintings," he spoke up after a momnet of silence.

[Darastrix]

"Oh yes, I'd like that," Threnody said with a somewhat relieved smile.

"What kind of things do you usually paint?" Req asked curiously.

[Devon]

Forrest dug around in his pack for his sketchbook for a minute. Upon finding it he took it out and handed it to Threnody so she could start looking through it first. "Well I paint whatever catches my eye. Usually it is a landscape, or a person I've seen, but one of my favorite things to paint are dreams."

[Darastrix]

"Dreams?" Threnody queried, flipping through the sketchbook. "You mean you paint things that you dream about?"

[Devon]

"Not just my own dreams, but the dreams of others," Forrest said. Quickly he added," With their permission of course. You see I'm a Mind who specializes in Dream Manipulation. I can peer at your dreams if you wanted."