Seeking an Artist

As she had said over the Chimlink, Kita is easy to find within the city of Tolbana. Scale Emblem's resident Artist takes great care over those things that she has put her time and effort into. On this particular day, she isn't in her usual black mage garb, but dressed in trousers and a long-sleeved shirt as she works on cleaning out the fountain.

Mostly, it is kept in good condition by the people of Tolbana, but there is always maintenance that needs to be done on anything that happens to utilize magical elements. At the moment, Kita is standing on a step stool, removing crystals from the statue to clean them. The Imp's whip-like tail flicks behind her as she rubs one of the blue crystals with a rag.

SpritesHero does not announce his presence immediately, and certainly not when Kita is handling magical crystals. He's handled enough chandeliers before to know the associated hazards. Thus it is that his prompt approach is quiet, nearly silent save for the rustling of clothing. It is also from the front rather than from the rear, in order to avoid any unpleasant surprises.

He holds in place, his presence unvoiced until such time as the most recent of the magic crystals is put back into place, at which point he offers a light clearing of his throat. "Need a hand?" he queries, face up-tilted, one hand shielding his eyes against the sun.

The fact that Robert is relatively quiet is probably for the best, as Kita seems quite focused on her task, at least at first. Once the crystal is replaced, she steps back, surveying the statue. That's when she hears the question and the clearing of his throat. The girl pushes her glasses up on her nose, blinking and then steps down from the stool. "Just a few more to clean, but thank you for the offer."

Up close, it's obvious that Kita is relatively young, likely in her late teens or early twenties by the look of her. For someone Japanese, her outlandishly colored hair, blue with white bangs, certainly stands out. "So, you were looking for an artist for something?" She asks, wiping her hands off with the same rag she had used on the crystals. "I'm probably your best bet in Scale Emblem. I was training to be a graphic designer before... well, everything happened."

Then, she tucks the rag into her pocket and explains, "I've helped a few people with illustrations, sculptures, building decorations, that sort of thing."

Where Kita's hair is exotic, his demeanor is almost calculatedly not-so. Easy to glance at and move on, unnoted and unremarked-upon. And though Robert is clearly long past that stage of youth, he has no issues deferring to expertise.

"I'd heard that art is about showing what's already there," he muses, amusement flickering in his gaze for a brief moment. "How -does- that interface with taking on commisions?" A pause. "Well, perhaps I'd best start with the situation rather than the art," he reflects. "I'm trying to get the tower gnomes interested in helping us with technology development. -They- have expressed a great interest manga, among other things. I was hoping to hire someone to make this manga--namely you, if you are willing--but I frankly have zero idea how to go about such a thing in terms of practical details. If you were me, how would you approach this?"

Kita's head tilts, a few of her silver earrings making a jingling noise in the process. Her blue brows raise ever so slightly as she initially opens her mouth to explain her commission process, but then he continues to explain the situation so she closes it again, listening.

"Manga, huh?" There is some curiosity in her stormy gray eyes, the young woman seeming to catch a spot on her lower lip where there is a visible scar. There are a couple of those places on her features, which suggests that her appearance is the result of a body scan rather than a randomizer. "Well, I used to do anime and manga styled commissions back in high school as a side job, so it's not out of my realm of expertise."

She swipes her hand in the air, drawing out blue book which seems to have the unusual appearance of a relic. Kita takes the bookmark and flips it open to a blank page, then grabs a pencil from one of the pockets of her trousers. "So, the first question would be what are the Gnomes there interested in? You need a story that speaks to them. Likely a writer who can capture something that appeals." Tapping the pencil on her cheek, she adds, "I don't really do writing, myself. But if you can get someone to do the writing, I can do the art to go along with it."

As if to show an example, she starts to doodle on the page, drawing out what appears to be a manga version of Robert, himself. Some aspects are exaggerated for the style, making him look more like a cartoon version of himself. Some of the features are even accentuated, giving him a more 'protagonist' sort of look. "This is the sort of thing I can do. Though I imagine you won't be the lead character, no offense. I don't think any of us appeal to the Landers all that much."

"No offense taken," Robert remarks, his tones dry, though he otherwise remains quiet as Kita sketches. "I've never been a white knight. That said, I appreciate the makeover. I think my ex-wife would've greatly preferred it if I had that face instead." Laughter, silent, echoes in his brown eyes; it fades, slowly, as his thoughts reorient and it's back to business.

"They do seem to be oriented towards tinkering--so maybe some sort of mecha story in which a tech development individual becomes a pilot?" He looks dubious, though. "I suppose it depends on if gnomes prefer stories glorifying who they are, or glorifying what they could be. Or something completely unrelated to their everyday lives. Or..." He frowns outright, lifting his hand to rub at his forehead. "I'll probably have to do some sort of personality profiling on the individuals we're most interested in collaborating with. Do you have any recommendations for someone who might be interested in writing?"

"I don't know about that." Kita replies, looking up at him over the edge of her sketchbook. Though it's obvious that she is likely younger than him in the real world, she can't help but offer a flirty sort of wink in his direction, "You're handsome enough to sway many a girl, I'm sure." It comes across as truth rather than teasing, but it is well known within Scale Emblem that she is in a long term relationship with the Salamander Tank, Jurou.

"I've heard of Elemental Machines, though I can't say I have much experience with them, myself. Might be good to research some of the sort of devices that they might be familiar with and build something up from there." Flipping the page, she starts to sketch out a basic mech form, but without too much detail. "I'm not sure if we're looking more for Gundam or Escaflowne or something else entirely."

At the question of who to be the writer, she laughs, "I think that depends on what you're going for. If it was a comedy or slice of life, I'd say Uta. That one has some interesting and comedic ideas." She seems to think, "Schneider maybe. I think he's pretty well familiar with anime and manga." She suggests. "I'd almost suggest Jurou, but ... I doubt she'd be confident enough with that sort of creative task. She's more used to depending on her physicality." Kita shrugs then. "I'd go Schneider if you wanted someone inside Scale."

SpritesHero ultimately appears to chalk it up to Kita's personality being prone to mischief, rather than any genuine interest, though the wink does cause a half-second's pause. No doubt there's some mental gymnastics going on there. "You're probably right," he concludes at last, tapping at his chin. "Why, just the other day, I was very aggressive pursued by a young lady." He sighs, then, forlornly. "A pity she had four legs and wanted to bite my head off." Amusement, again, and a quick return-wink. "I appreciate the assessment. Any partner of yours is very, very lucky." Well-known as Kita's long-term relationship may be within Scale, it seems that Robert is either completely unaware of it, or only dimly aware of it.

He falls silent, again, considering. He frowns. His brow furrows hard, down the middle. He runs his tongue over his teeth, squints. It's a truly ghastly set of facial expressions, hopefully roughly mapped against some sort of internal dialogue rather than reflective of a seizure. "Between the two, I think..." he begins at last, "...that Uta may be more suitable. Schneider seems rather serious, and I'm inclined to think that people who ask for manga as a part of negotiations are bound to have an off-kilter sense of humor. But he's a good lad, Schneider. I'll look into it. As for Jurou, how much of an issue is confidence likely to be? I expect that confidence will come as competence is demonstrated, and you seem to think that Jurou has the technical capability in spades?"

"Oh, did you run into Setsuna's puppy?" Kita has no idea what the gender of the necromancer's Cerberus happens to be, but it is the most amusing possibility among the many that could have sprung to mind at the moment. Her expression softens somewhat at the statement about her partner, though, "I'm the lucky one. Trust me on that." She doesn't explain any further than that, though.

The line of questioning that follows, though, has her more thoughtful about her recommendations. "If that's the case, Uta might be the better choice. They're a bit of a space case at times, but I've known them to be pretty capable. Besides, they've already done some writing so there is that practical knowledge." As for Jurou, Kita's voice quiets again, just ever so slightly as she nudges her glasses up her nose.

"In the real world, Jurou depended on her physical abilities. She was a runner, competitive at the collegiate level. That's... not something likely to be the case when or if we get out of here." It's already been a year, the chance that any of them are going to be anywhere close to their original physical forms seems... very unlikely. "I've known her since high school, but even I'm not sure what else I can nudge her towards. All I know is, a lot of us are going to need to throw out our old dreams and figure out new ones. I'm just trying to figure out what I can nudge her towards." There's a lot of care, there, in those words, and maybe even a hint of responsibility, as if she felt she were at fault for Jurou being trapped here.

"No, Setsuna's puppy has been banned from my room ever since it piddled all over my files," Robert clarifies, darkly. Kita's response to his comment on her fortune is...interesting enough. His head cants to the side, considering, lips pursed in thought, a posture that is maintained throughout Kita's description of Jurou's background. And then he is silent, fingers tightening around his chin, gaze flickering from the floor, to Kita, then back to the floor again.

"I think," he states, finally. He stops, then resumes. "How soon do you think you can get a sense for whether Jurou is willing to give this a shot? It'll take a while for me to get to know the gnomes anyhow. And I don't think we'd need a full Manga chapter by the time negotiations take place. It may even be better to just have a teaser anyhow. To whet the appetite, as it were."

Another pause. "To clarify what I'm looking for, I'm looking for a work that is meaningful to you and Jurou, if Jurou is up for involvement. Beyond the most general guidelines regarding what I sense the gnomes are most interested in, you would have complete artistic freedom. I've seen art produced for political purposes, and it is both fascinating and tragic. Not what I'm looking for here."

"I'll talk to her, see what she thinks." Kita replies, offering a lift of her shoulders. "Not even sure if it's something she'd be all that interested in, but it's worth a shot." There is a quirk of her lips, "She used to have more of a creative side, back when we first met, but... I'm sure you know the sort of parents who drive their kids to overachievement."

Rather than dive further into that, the Imp simply nods her head, tucking the pencil behind her ear and then using a few swipes of her hand to stow the relic book back into her inventory. "I think the harder prospect will be actually finding a way to print more than a single copy of the manga you want to produce." She explains.

After a pause, she suggests, "While I'm sure we don't have the best relationship with Olympus, I know they have some sort of printing technology. They released a manga at some point last year, though I don't know that anything came of it after that. If not working with them, we might want to try to mimic the technology, ourselves." She waggles her fingers, "There's only so many copies of something I can hand-draw before we really need more modern printing techniques."

"Or parents who have a very, very specific idea of exactly what career their children should select," Robert agrees, though for a moment there's an odd mixture of expressions that filter across his features, ranging from resentment to wistful regret. "I wonder how many of those overachievement-oriented parents ever bother to discuss what achievement means with their children?" The question lingers, and then he pushes onwards.

"I don't think that mass production is going to be a huge problem," he suggests. "If anything, it may be in our interest to keep the first batch to a few copies, as it will drive the gnomes completely insane." He holds up a single finger. "Only delaying the wider dissemination of your work by about a month, not limiting it in any meaningful way. Making copies, whether by machine or by hand, can be phased in over the next couple months. And even then, rather than pinning making those copies on you, it's probably worth seeing if any of the recent refugees in Tolbana have artistic skills. They'll be looking for jobs in the next couple months, once the original resettlement stipends begin to wear off. And once we have the gnomes on board, it should be relatively simple to convince them to...uh...improve on Olympus's printing technology. " Another pause. "Though duly noted, 'not going to be a huge problem' are famous last words, aren't they." He laughs, then, the sound almost a self-deprecating bark. "I'll handle the logistics side. Now then. Compensation for your efforts." His eyebrows lift.

"Mmm." Kita makes a sound of affirmation. "But it's also hard for the children of parents like that to let go of those aspirations. I've always know what I wanted to do with my life." She taps the pencil still behind her ear, "Jurou? I'm not so sure she knows what she is, outside of being an athlete."

The prospect of using the tinkering-focused Gnomes in order to push that sort of technology does seem to get a wry sort of look from the blue-haired imp. "That's actually a great idea. Get them hooked on the story, and then provide that as encouragement to help work on better technology to publish it to a wider audience."

As Robert proposes the situation of her payment, Kita smirks, "I mostly get paid through the Alliance or my Guild for my services. If it's something for the betterment of Scale Emblem, I'm sure you can work out a rate with the Alliance that will be reasonable." She lifts her brows, "If it was someone outside of the Alliance, that's another story entirely. But I work for the Alliance. What helps them, helps all of us."

"No, it's purely Scale Emblem that benefits at this point," Robert confirms, before hesitating, gaze flickering upwards. In thought, not up at the statue. "Although, to be fair, I don't think I ever negotatiated with payroll what the terms of this agreement are. They may prefer more restrictions on what can and cannot be produced, and..." He shudders. "It's enough tempt one to fund the operation personally, and demand a raise depending on its success. I'll check what the going rate is for similar projects--assuming we even have a payroll. We probably do, right? Though I suppose it's either a very curious or a very desperate individual who gets trapped in a game and decides to go into payroll. I..." His hand lifts, briefly massaging at his forehead. Evidently payroll is something he'd really, really rather not be having to think about. "I'll figure it out, and chimlink you within two days."

Logisics (somewhat) handled, Robert turns his attentions back to Jurou. Or lifetime aspirations. "I'm not sure I ever really figured what I wanted to be, per se," he remarks. "I think I just ended up finding something that suits my personality, tried to find the meaning in it, and pushed forward. It worked out, I think, well enough. But I was never swept off my feet." Beat. "By work, I mean. But that's always the image I was thinking of after all the parental and teacher counseling."

"I try to stay out of that side of the bookwork, to be honest." Kita laughs, though it has a rueful tone to it, "They tried to get me to do some of it early on, but my skills are better elsewhere." She motions at the statue. It had, afterall, been one of her major projects, representing the way that Scale Emblem had helped the refugees that settled in Tolbana.

"Whatever the case, I'm in. Either you can work out a regular rate with me, or with the Alliance, I don't really care much either way." She seems relatively easy going about the whole thing, "As long as I have enough gold to pay for potions, equipment, boarding and food for myself and Jurou, I'm good." Somehow, despite Jurou having been the more successful one in the real world, Kita had become the provider in this one.

There is another of those soft, considering sounds as Kita nods. "As for Jurou, I'll keep supporting anything she wants to try her hand at. I supported her going halfway around the world, away from me to chase her dreams, so I know how it is." There is some hint of sadness in the girl's eyes. "Anyways, chimlink me when you're ready. Until then..." She motions at the statue. "I should get back to work."

SpritesHero lifts his hand, as though to offer it, before dropping it to his side in favor of a bow. "I look forward to working with you, Kita," Robert affirms, straightening. Kita does get a bit of an odd glance--bordering on sympathy but stiffly restrained--before Robert steps back, giving her statue his first real examination.

"Huh," he opines at length. "Someday I'll have to figure out what it means. Until then. Thank you, and talk to you soon!" And then he's off at a rushed pace, no doubt bee-lining off to some imminent disaster.