“Honestly, I was kind of surprised- not by her looking for a photographer, but rather that she called me directly. I mean, I didn't really know Rin that well,” Hanako says as she jumps into the couch in the living room. “I don't recall her being all that friendly with anyone except for you, and I figured if she wanted to contact me it would be through you.”
I settle onto one of the low seats next to the coffee table in the living across from Hanako. “Well, she doesn't see a whole lot of people nowadays. We used to hang out with Emi a lot, but since she got onto the Paralympics team a few months ago she's been busy with practice. Rin isn't really a fan of any of my friends from work or school, and she hasn't done any showings of her art for almost a year now.”
Hanako's jaw drops slightly. “Wow. I mean, no offense meant, but that's nuts. I thought I was devoted to my work- does she just sit there and paint all day, every day?”
“No. Sometimes days are for thinking. Can't paint every day,” says Rin, rounding the corner from the bedroom into the living room. I'm about to say something when I notice.
Oh good lord.
She's naked.
“Rin?”
“Oh, hello Hisao. Good morning. Is it still morning? Oh! And hello Hanako. Thank you for coming.”
Hanako turns turned a slight shade of red. You can almost see the gears in her head grind to a halt as she tries to come up with something to say. I decide to try to fix the situation.
“Um, Rin? Why are you naked?”
Rin's face goes from “groggy-content” to “totally confused.” She looks down at her naked form, then back up at me as if to say, “What kind of question is that?” Rin cocks her head.
“The bed was hot and my underwear was getting sweaty. And rather unpleasant. But the bed was comfy,” she says, her eyes narrowing. “Too comfy. Compromise was necessary. Negotiations were had and a solution was found.”
I find myself sighing deeply and face-palming once again. “Well, that's wonderful, love, but how about you go put on some clothing now that Hanako is here?”
“I considered that, but that was my last pair of underwear. Well, not technically, since my last pair is actually somewhere under the covers, no doubt still all sweaty and moist and smelly. And I would rather not put that on again until it's been washed.”
“Well, go put something on, please. I don't care if you take my underwear. Just put something on. Please.”
Rin's eyes pop for a second, and she goes back into our bedroom. I'm fairly certain I can hear her muttering to herself, and I manage to catch the phrases “own his soul” and “awesome power” amidst quiet cackling before the bedroom door muffles her voice.
Hanako turns to me. “So, uh, is she like this every day?”
I let out a chuckle. “More or less. It confused me at first, but I've learned to enjoy it. People at school, at work, in general- they're boring compared to this. I fell in love with how unpredictable she can be, among other things. Keeps me on my toes. Anyway, what have you been up to?”
“Well, I finished my undergraduate in journalism in three years, then spent two years traveling with my old friends from the newspaper club. We settled down after that, and decided to publish our own magazine and write for our own website as well. Took us a bit, but we finally got our own offices three months ago, moved out of our shared basement suite, and we now publish twice a month,” Hanako says excitedly. “I mean, we have to be doing pretty good if Rin knows about us. Speaking of which, do you know exactly why she wanted me over? We didn't really start covering paintings until last month, so forgive me if I seem ignorant.”
I shrug. “Well, she mentioned that she was sending out portfolios to some museums, although she hasn't told me which ones she's sending to. I mean, she's been putting up pieces here and there, about one or two a month, and people are buying them for a TON of money. I figure she's sending her portfolio somewhere big, and she wants someone professional to do the photos.”
“A ton of money? How big is a ton?”
“Well, let me think. The least she sold a painting for in the last three years was around 16,260 yen, I think. The most she made was for Cardiac Arrest, which I think she sold for around fifty million yen-”
Hanako nearly jumps out of her seat. “Did you say MILLION?”
“Um, yeah. I don't make nearly as much as she does,” I say sheepishly. “It's how we managed to afford such a nice place, and how she paid for all the little additions that make the place easier for her to use.”
Hanako slumps into her seat, pouting. “I wish I was good at art.”
“You are,” says Rin as she comes back out of the bedroom in her trademark yoga pants and tank top.
Note to self: buy Rin clothing that does NOT include yoga pants or tank tops.
Then make her wear them more than once a month.
“You can take pictures. Good ones, none of that black-and-white stupid blurry stuff everyone else has on Mixi. Dumb, dumb, dumb. Photos that pull, pictures that have weight, meaning.”
Hanako smiles a bit, evidently still in shock at how much money Rin has. “I'm flattered, but I don't think I'm that good. So? How have you been, Rin? Hisao was just telling me about your-”
“Not yet. Photos are more important right now. Digital camera?”
“Um, yes, I do use a digital camera.”
“Follow me, please. All the paintings are in the art room,” Rin says insistently. “We can catch up over dinner tonight.” With that , she goes running off to her painting room. I shrug, and beckon for Hanako to come along.
/////////////////////////////////////////
Thanks for your patience! I need to go restock on medication and not miss therapy. It's expensive! Seriously.
As of this chapter, the first post will now contain links to the other chapters, and links to the new fic that I'm working on, which will contain glorious amounts of smut and femdom.
Thanks for reading and as usual feedback is wonderful
), her "catching up" part is probably about getting tired with holding a phone with her foot, dropping it, and picking it up with the other one or so (maybe switching to keeping it by her ear with a shoulder, like people sometimes do, or arm's stump). At least that's how I have read it.