"Well, I don't think I could make a living off of my artwork. At least, not as my primary source of income. But it would help bring in some extra cash. But I'm not sure yet what I will be doing career wise." Mildred answers as she starts pushing desks back into place. "Not all art involves drawing and painting. What about writing? Are you any good at that?"

Lacey looks skeptically between Mildred's sketchbook, which is filled with superb sketches in the redhead's opinion, and the modest artist herself who claims there's not much money to be made with her skills. "I beg to differ...there are people who'd pay top dollar for a sketch like that...there are some people who'd pay a lot to be DRAWN like that by you." She grins. "I got lucky; I convinced you to do it for free before you got famous. That sketch of me is going to be worth a fortune if you ever decide to sell it, because you did it here and now, before anyone else discovered you!" The bit about Mildred's sketch of the redhead becoming worth a fortune is a joke...somewhat...but Lacey wholeheartedly believes that Mildred could make great sums off of her artwork if she so desires. Still...the black-haired artist seems to have something else in mind for herself, even if she isn't quite sure what it is. "Well, whatever you decide...don't stop drawing okay? Honestly. It would be a tragedy to lose that talent of yours..."

Helping to push the last desks into place, Lacey opens the blinds on the windows, letting afternoon sunlight stream in once more. She checks the floor for any debris that might have been left behind, but finds none. The athlete blushes at Mildred's question. A lucky guess? "I...uh...." She fumbles for a moment looking for an answer that isn't weird...then just settles on the truth with a sigh. "Okay, look...the truth is...I people-watch. Like...a LOT. And whenever someone REALLY interesting catches my attention...like you with your cathedral painting yesterday..." She shrugs, trying to make it sound casual. "I write a little short fiction about them. Just...something that I think fits them, based on what I can see of them at the time. Like for you...if we hadn't spoken and I'd gone on my way, I'd have written something about how you painted that cathedral...and one day got married at one just like it."

Lacey fiddles with a lock of her hair self-consciously. "I mean, that's the gist of what I was thinking when I was watching you yesterday. You turned around and we started talking before I actually got a chance to flesh out the story more...but I've got four notebooks of little short stories like that so far." She tilts her head in another little shrug. "I fake the details a bit; obviously I can't know everything about someone just by watching them, so I make up names for them and tend to just have them doing whatever it is they're doing at the moment for the majority of their lives, either as a job or a hobby. Your story would have featured you as a successful painter, for instance."

She shakes her head. "Anyway...what I do is just a hobby, an idle fancy. I don't think I write well enough to make or sell novels. The only thing I can do that I consider artistic is Tae Kwon-Do...and there's not much money in that, either. Not as far as I know of anyway." She gives a sunny smile. "I love it anyway...it's been an integral part of my life for a long time now. I'm...not sure who I'd be today if I didn't have that for myself."

"I suppose there is some money to be made, if I find the right customers. Keep in mind that not everyone can afford to have personalized art or self portraits done. So while a few pieces of work may bring in quite a bit of money, there's still no guarantee it would be sufficient enough to support me. I need a skill that I can rely on as a main source of income, I just don't know what kind I should learn. Fortunately, I still have some time to decide on that." Mildred explains. She smiles hearing that Lacey did write some stories based on those she observes. "Well, maybe you just have trouble putting those stories into words in a way that conveys your feelings on what's going on. I can understand that. I have plenty of imagination myself, but I could never put it into words in a way that feels gratifying like I do with my sketches and paintings." Mildred suddenly gets a look in her eyes that shows something just occurred to her. "Wait, I think I know how I could help you with that. What if we converted some of your writing into comics? You provide me with the details and I work them into drawings to tell the story in a way people reading it will be able to feel it the way you intend for them to. What do you think?"

Nodding at the artist's agreement that certain clients would pay well for her artwork, she almost cheers in excitement. "Right? I mean who WOULDN'T want one of your sketches or paintings. They're amazing!" Lacey blinks at Mildred's further reasoning. "Right...because not everyone has a fortune laying around to give to you for sketching them out..." She sighs. "You'd think I'd have thought of that before I opened my mouth..."

Her eyes go wide at Mildred's next idea. Comic books...? She muses over that for a moment. It's possible...she can write decently...maybe not well enough for a novel, but a comic book? The words are little more than a means for characters to communicate in a comic book...the art does a great deal of the talking, and Lacey knows how to write dialogue! She's awful at engaging in it...but she can write it just fine! "You would...you would draw out panels for me...?"

She'd never even considered letting anyone read her short stories before; it's something she does to pass the time, as part of her hobby. But here...if she can do this, and if Mildred will help her...Lacey might be able to discover an art of her own, with the lovely artist's help of course. She could learn how to tell stories to other people, rather than just writing them down for her own enjoyment. "Mildred..." The redhead actually starts to get a little teary-eyed, overwhelmed with excitement and gratitude. She's calm most of the time...but then most of the time, someone she just met isn't offering to help her learn how to express herself in a new fashion. This moment is, to her mind, as pivotal in her life as the day Victor had agreed to teach her Tae Kwon-Do...and that's been the most important moment of her entire life.

Without warning, she hugs the raven-haired beauty tightly, locking her arms around the girl happily. "Thank you so much, from the bottom of my heart. I'd appreciate it so much if you'd help me..."

Mildred wasn't expecting to be hugged so tightly, and what strength Lacey had. If she hugged any tighter, Mildred would hardly be able to breathe. "Eheh, of course. I think Izumi should be returning to our room by now, if she's not there already. So let's get going." After gathering her belongings and sketch book, Mildred leaves the classroom with Lacey.

They soon arrive at Mildred and Izumi's room and knock just to see if Izumi had already arrived, but there was no answer. Mildred opens the door and steps inside looking around. "Hmm, I guess my mistress hasn't come back yet. So we'll just wait in here. Come on in, Lacey."

"Right behind you!" releasing Mildred from the hug, Lacey's happy as can be; she's made a new friend, been sketched out (and takes some pride in the fact that she looks good in a sketch, whether or not she's as busty as some!) by said new friend...AND she gets the opportunity to turn her writings into something other people can enjoy! Not to mention the fact that she gets to meet the mysterious Izumi and...her face flushes a bit as that thought continues on its course. Well...she'll see what comes of the meeting first...though it'd be a lie to say she isn't hopeful.

She gathers her own stuff up and follows along behind Mildred, feeling like a little redheaded ball of sunshine. She can't remember the last time she was this excited. She's been in dire need of a good day...but good things come to those who wait and endure, it seems. "Just us for now, huh?" She steps through the door, looking around the room before she finds herself a place to sit that's out of the way. "So you share this room with Izumi, huh...? That...must be nice." Lacey herself has no one to share her room with; normally it doesn't bother her, but given how isolated she's felt lately, it's gotten to her more and more, particularly as she tries to sleep at night. The loneliness gets particularly crushing then. She pushes those thoughts aside; no use getting melancholy now. After all, she has someone to talk to now, doesn't she? For a while, at least.

Izumi had no idea that they were having company over or that her girlfriend/pet had made a new friend not that such would have surprised her any. Mildred was kind and sweet after all and even she had a thing for her even though they had separate classes.

She had been stuck behind during Physic class. Since it was her Major and what she had been good at it was often a girl or two approaching her after class about a problem area that he could explain to them in ways that the professor couldn't.

On two occasions she had even been it on but he rebuffed the girls gently and carried on with things. Today wasn't one of those days, just a simple question on motion and acceleration but at last the day was over, her last class was out and she had wanted to relax.

Her mind was still being fucked with. At last count it had been Aegir, before that, Wraith. Both capable of creating such realistic scenes in her head. Through Aegir she had met Lily and even entered into a strange bargain though she had yet to introduce Lily and Mildred, something she had thought upon before.

Seeing that the “dream” was over and Aegir's influences had been gone so to did that scenario end though she suspected that Lily wanted more, was anxious in meeting Mildred and while that possibility loomed she herself had been busy with Physic project after project and so that had been pushed aside.

At last she got to the room of her dorm, Milly was probably in already though she fished out her key card, swept it through the card reader and entered ...

Mildred was having a little talk with Lacey as they waited for Izumi. Nothing all that important, just idle chit chat to pass the time. They didn't have to wait long. Mildred looks over at the door hearing it unlock and start to open, and she immediately goes over to meet with Izumi. "Welcome back, mistress. I hope you had a nice day. I have someone here I want you to meet." She explains as she takes Izumi's book bag and leads her inside. "This is Lacey. I met her in the art room."

A beep, a click, and a paused conversation. A split second in time is all it takes for Lacey's heart rate to spike, excitement and nervousness shooting through her in a rush. She takes a deep breath; meeting Mildred hadn't been horrible, hadn't ended her life or crushed her hopes and dreams...meeting Izumi won't either! She calms herself a bit while Mildred introduces her.

The slender martial artist rises, her hands fidgeting a bit, as she gives Izumi a somewhat nervous, hopeful smile. "Nice to meet you...I'm Lacey. Lacey Renault. Uhm...like Mildred said, I met her in the art room...well...really it was more like I was acting odd in the art room, and she was kind enough to help me out rather than telling me to go away." She shrugs a shoulder. GOD she feels so awkward..."Anyway...it's nice to meet you." She says again, uncertainty and anxiety clear in her voice, on her face.

“Thank you Milly.” She says as her bag is taken away. She moves inside her place, her eyes brown today and hidden behind her glasses as she ran out of contacts and had still been waiting for new ones but she answers her roommate simple enough,

“The day went well, long and a bit tiring. Company?” Her attention shifts and sure enough she sees the small redhead. She doesn't strike her as the Art Major type but who would.?

Instantly she picked up on the nerves of the other girl and she was waving her hand somewhat dismissively. “Relax, there's no need to be so tense.” Now Izumi was pretty smart she had been a Physics Major after all.

Why would the girl be nervous to meet her of all people? She had a pretty good idea as to why. “Nice to meet you. What year are you in? First year?”

Mildred smiles watching Lacey nervously introduce herself to Izumi. After putting Izumi's belongings away, she rejoins them. "Shall I make you your usual tea mistress? And how about you, Lacey? Would you like anything?"

"Yes..." Lacey nods, taking a deep breath and trying to calm her nerves. "Right! I'm a first year, yes...I'm in the Liberal Arts program! I uh..." She shrugs. "I wanted to be an English teacher...so I'm double-majoring in English and Literature." She manages to calm down a little; Izumi seems gentle and even-tempered. Not that Lacey had been expecting anything else, but...well, given the circumstances, her nerves are wound a little tightly.

"O-oh, yes! Water...I'd love some water, please." She answers Mildred, fidgeting for a second. Usually, it's easier to burn off nervous energy with motion; if someone talks to her while she's moving or doing something, she's just fine. But here, it'd likely look odd if Lacey starts jogging in place while trying to introduce herself and get to know Mildred and Izumi a little better. So the redhead fidgets instead, a little ball of restless energy.

"Actually...that's what led me into the art room in the first place, where I ran into Mildred." She says, returning to her conversation with Izumi. "I...kind of spent up my money for the week on some things...and then I found out that I needed some pens. Well...one pen." Dunce...who cares how many pens you needed?! Keep calm, focus..."Anyway, when I went in there, Mildred was painting a cathedral...a portrait...a portrait OF a cathedral!" She blinks. "IS it a portrait? Or are portraits just for people?" She asks Mildred, flushing a little in embarrassment.

She sighs inwardly, continuing with her story. "At any rate, I saw what she was painting...and it was amazing! I'm...I'm not an art critic or anything, but it just looked so...beautiful." A self-conscious shrug. "And so I kind of sat down and started watching her paint...and eventually she noticed me." She looks around the room, though there's really no need; it's not all that massive and she'd seen it when she'd walked through the door. Finally, her eyes fall back on Izumi's. "And that was yesterday." She concludes lamely.

“Yes, please,” she answers Milly then turns her attention to Lacey. Boy was she nervous! She listened though without interruption. Indeed Milly did some marvelous paintings though she was pretty sure that only people could serve to have their portraits done though there was probably some other term for scenery.

“Yesterday ...” as if that was important for some reason. She moved toward the bookshelf and paused as she gazed at one of the thicker tomes that rested there. She had turned her gaze to Milly afterward.

“And how was the rest of your day?” Izumi was good at witchcraft mainly the “Evil Eye” where she could manipulate someone's luck for good or bad. It never worked on herself though, she couldn't use it through reflective surfaces and since she needed to make eye contact that was all but impossible for her.

Pen, pens, that didn't make a huge difference to her though she did hear once that writers made a big deal about their writing implements or at least some of them …

“Oh … and I am Izumi by the way, that's pretty obvious, huh?” She smiles at her. “So … you're looking for my approval?” She raises a hand to silence Lacey until Mildred gets back with their drinks.

“So, Milly, you had ulterior motives? Be honest.”

Mildred nods and goes into the kitchen brewing some tea for herself and Izumi, as well as getting a glass of water for Lacey. As she comes back out and gives both girls their drinks, she blushes hearing her mistress' question. "Y-Yes mistress. You see, Lacey here was modeling for one of my sketches, and well...we both got a little turned on in the process." She then shows Izumi the nude sketch of Lacey she made earlier. "But I wanted to be sure it was alright with you before her and I did anything."

"Hmm? Well...I guess it wasn't bad...I didn't do a lot after that, just went back to my dorm and worked on a couple of assignments...went out for practice, and then took a bath and went to bed." The redhead shrugs, not entirely certain why she feels the need to list the minute details of her day afterwards like that. All Izumi's asked of her is how her day had gone. She leaves the part about how she'd offered to pose nude for Mildred to explain, thinking it will be better for the artist to tell the story and explain the situation and ask for approval from Izumi.

The redhead nods, her smile coming a little more easily, the expression more natural and less wobbly on her face. "Yes, I picked up on that, but it's nice to meet you, Izumi." She blinks at the question that follows, before her eyes widen as she realizes what she's being asked. Lacey opens her mouth to clarify a bit, worried that she's already managed to blow her chance by not just coming out and saying why she's here...only to be stopped by Izumi's gesture. Her mouth pops shut again, and she takes to fidgeting once more, either missing or misinterpreting Izumi's smile.

The slender athlete accepts the water she's offered with a nod of thanks to Mildred, but she can't quite drink it, her throat feeling kind of tight. Ulterior motives? Oh God...Lacey thinks to herself. I've gone and caused trouble...She looks between one girl and the other, feeling a bit of panic. It hadn't all been Mildred's fault; Lacey'd come onto her kind of strong earlier, after all, and it had been the redhead's own idea to pose nude for the sketch. Really it's ALL Lacey's fault, if she's honest about it. She squirms a little as Mildred tells the story of the sketch, how Lacey'd posed nude and how they'd both gotten a little interested in the possibilities involved in said nudity.

Unsure of whether or not she's supposed to speak yet, but finally incapable of keeping silent anymore and not wanting Mildred to be in any trouble over a situation Lacey's caused, the redhead speaks up. "I..It isn't her fault! I mean I sort of pushed myself at her to let me be her model and she was nice enough to accept and then when I was nude and she was looking me over to draw me I sort of got a little warm and flirted with her a bit and then after she was done sketching me she told me about how she has you and you're her mistress and she has to ask your permission first and then she sort of invited me over to wait for you so we could ask but then I couldn't get up the nerve and I didn't mean to not tell you it just sort of happened that way and I'm really really sorry and please don't be mad at Mildred!" Words rush out of Lacey in a rapid flow without stopping and without even the benefit of a pause or break to take a breath; by the end of her lengthy explanation, the little redhead's voice squeaks a bit as she runs out of air. She's forced to take a couple of deep breaths, her heart pounding both from anxiety and from the lack of oxygen she'd created for herself through her rapid explanation and apology.

Needless to say, Lacey's a little high-strung at the moment.