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"Thanks," Cel answered, accepting the food casually and serving it for both of them. "It's been a while since I've had any guests over, so it's not really too much of a wonder that my place is such a mess... come to think of it, the last time I ate a home-cooked meal must've been ages ago. I'm not too good at cooking," she added with a smirk. "Guess Chinese food gets a little boring after a while." She took a bite and mmmm-ed at how good it was, looking at Anne. "That's my way of saying you should come around more often," she said with a small wink, looking down at her plate with a thoughtful expression... the first time Anne would've seen anything other than a smile.

"So... do your folks know you're here?" she asked, studying Julianne's face with slightly squinted eyes; not because she thought the girl would lie, but because she wanted to memorize every detail of every part of her before she started painting. Actually, she just wanted to get Anne talking, since observing her expressions and gestures would help make the overall end result appear more natural.

Mm... who says... mm... cooking's... mm -- yum -- the only thing you're good at?" Celeste asked between hearty bites. "Maybe I just want you around to keep me company while I paint After all, just hearing your voice makes me happy I met you~" She set the plate down on the table, putting her knife and fork on top of it. "So your folks aren't really around, huh? Yeah, I get the feeling. My brother moved out a couple of months ago, so it's just me around here! Actually, now that you mention pets, there is something..." She trailed off, turning around on the couch and digging her hands behind the seat cushions with a focused expression on her face. Sticking her tongue out to the side a little, she said, "He's gotta be in here... hmm -- ah!" Retracting her hand from the sofa, Cel held out her palms to reveal a little ball of brown fur, that unfurled lazily in the presence of sunlight.

Smiling, she said, "Julianne, I'd like you to meet Piggy the pygmy marmoset. I have absolutely no idea how he got into my apartment, or why he likes sleeping beneath the couch cushions, but we're very friendly and I take him out to the street with me sometimes when I go to sell." Piggy yawned, curling back up into a ball with his tail around Cel's wrist. Cel giggled, putting him down on a cushion and standing up. "...oh, you can just leave those there, I'll clean them up eventually," she said, referring to Anne's dishes. Grabbing the girls hand eagerly, she said, "Come on! I wanna show you my gallery!"

Celeste pulled Julianne into the art gallery in the backroom of the loft and smiled, gesturing around grandly once they were there. "Neat, huh?" she said with a grin. "I spend most of my time in here. Nothing's breakable I don't think, so feel free to touch everything while I set up. Now... let's see..." She'd been holding on to Anne's hand while she'd been speaking, and letting go now almost felt... wrong. Not wrong in the sense that it felt like she was doing something wrong, but her hand just felt a little empty. Honestly, it had been a very long time since someone had visited her in her apartment... as much as she loved it, and as much as she loved coming home to it after a long day out in the cold, it felt a little... loveless.

Pushing the feeling aside -- after all, love was such a funny thing nowadays -- she rummaged around in the back of the room until she produced a little stool, which she positioned in front of a white screen. Looking back at Anne, she said, "Go on, take a seat! I promise you won't have to pose for long, but beauty is hard to capture, so it might take me a while, you know~" Her tone was teasing, but Cel really meant it. Julianne's face, her body, her overall tone... it was just so beautiful and innocent, it made Cels' heart warm. She grinned. "Come on, don't be shy~ I have a feeling this might end up my best work yet!"

"Aw, thanks!" Celeste said with a broad smile when Anna complimented her work. If our friendship lasts, Cel though, noting the snow steadily piling up on her windowsill, maybe she'd like it for Christmas... When Anna finally took her seat on the stool, Celeste was hit with a bout of inspiration that caused her to jump up and run to her closet just outside the hall. From her place on the stool, Anne would likely see all kinds of things flying out onto the floor -- it was obvious Celeste was not a very organized person. Finally, she came out with a pile of clothes; amongst other things, she pulled out a Santa hat and a Santa sweater, which she handed to Anne to put on.

"Perfect~!" she squealed once they were on, running back and forth between Anne and her canvas, sometimes repositioning the canvas, or reorganizing her paints, or pushing the canvas closer to where Anne was patiently sitting. Once she was sure the position was right, she smiled, running over to her beautiful model.

"Here," she said, motioning for Anne to move over a little bit. "Yeah, right there... now move a little more to your left, that's right... now turn your head this way... perfect! Okay, now put your hands like this, in a triangle over your eyes, as if you were peeking out at me, yeah! That's it, that's it! Now move your arms a little like this... perfect!!" Clearly, Celeste was getting incredibly excited as she positioned Anne's body just the way she wanted it, using her hands to move the girls head and body around. Overall it was a very intimate moment, but Celeste wanted to make sure that everything was perfect as she darted back to her canvas and readied her palate.

"Great," she said, her eyes intense as she studied her model. "Now... smile~!"

Celeste couldn't remember the last time she'd been so focused. Normally she was a rather sketchy artist, but this time she found herself wanting to perfect every detail, every inch of Anne's face. She painted quickly, her eyes focusing intently on every little crevice and corner, every shadow, every movement of her eyes and her hair. She wanted to immortalize the girl in a way that was natural, yet beautiful and enchanting. Her strokes were so precise that she splattered excess paint on her face, and didn't even notice. Her lips were pressed into a frown as she worked, looking back and forth, back and forth between the canvas and Julianne, feverishly working to get every last line in place.

When Anne finally spoke again, Celeste's face shot up, as she'd been so lost in her painting that she had removed herself from any sense of time. "Oh, of course!" she said, noting that Anne couldn't have picked a more convenient time to grow tired. "Just a few more strokes, and... there!" Putting down her paintbrush, Celeste stood, grabbing the canvas around the back edge and flipping it around to where Julianne would be able to see it. "It's a little quick, and the sketch lines are still there, but otherwise... what do you think?"

Celeste received Julianne's embrace warmly, her heart starting to pound happily when she saw how excited the girl was about her portrait. She smiled when Anne discredited her own skill at painting. "I wouldn't say that, honey bean," she trilled, handing Anne a paintbrush. "If you think about it, painting is a lot like singing, or falling in love... not that I know anything about either of those things..." She grinned, having found the opportunity to describe what made her so passionate about her work in a way that Anne could understand. "You gotta think about your paintbrush as an extension of your soul... just like your voice, or your heart. I use my paint to capture the beauty I see, just like you used your notes to capture the beauty you hear, and your heart to capture the beauty that you love... I guess it's the same thing, but it made a lot more sense in my head..." She began to laugh again, placing the canvas back on the easel.

"Well that was fun, thank you so much for stopping by," she said then, noticing that it was starting to get dark outside. "I was actually gonna go heat up the rest of the roast for dinner, but I just realized the time... want me to walk you home? It wouldn't be a bother."

Celeste was grateful that Julianne let her hang on to the rest of the food. Some people actually took their leftovers home, which Celeste thought was incredibly rude. On the other hand, if Julianna had requested to take her things home, Celeste doubted she would have protested. Such a warm, kind girl couldn't possibly do any wrong in the artist's eyes. She smiled when Julianna accepted her offer of a walk home, not even considering the fact that she may have actually driven a car there. Most people whom Celeste knew were artists as well, and couldn't even drive a car, let alone afford to own one, especially not in the city were parking was so rare and expensive. Celeste, for one, had rarely ever taken a car anywhere, having been raised in the city her whole life and having traveled almost exclusively by means of the various methods of public transportation available for use... her fear of sitting behind the wheel, for one, may have contributed to it.

Grabbing her over-sized sweater from where she'd tossed it over the back of the couch the night before, she slipped a black pashmina scarf around her neck and slipped barefooted into her converse sneakers. Piggy squeaked in protest, wanting to know where she was going, but Cel just picked him up and snuggled him against her cheek. "I'll be right back~" she cooed, holding him up to a piece of rope that was dangling from the ceiling. Piggy scampered up into the banisters quickly, emitting a little squeak of goodbye as Cel grabbed her keys and slipped on a baggy purple hat, her hair hanging in all sorts of directions as she nodded towards Julianne.

"I'm ready," she said with a cheerful smile, holding open the door and offering Julianna the right of way.