Say You'll Share With Me | Phantom Oneshots

A Starry Night

I was exploring the local Van Gogh Immersive Experience near where I live a little while ago and was struck with inspiration...that soon died, hence why this oneshot is coming out so late, but it's here now! I can easily see Erik and Christine taking full advantage of something like that to just be surrounded by art and enjoy time together, going in as friends, but possibly leaving as something more. I really hope you enjoy this little piece! 

I'll leave a link to a video of this exhibit here so you can enjoy what our lovebirds are looking at :) 

~~~~~ 

the van gogh immersive experience has opened its doors. erik and christine take full advantage of the opportunity to bury themselves in the world of art.

~

The pair stepped through the dark curtains into the large, dimly lit space and Christine couldn't help but gasp and giggle excitedly as she looked around them. The walls were lit up with floor-to-ceiling projections of every Van Gogh painting one could think of; The Starry Night, Café Terrace at Night, Vase with Twelve Sunflowers. If one could think of a painting by the famous artist, it was there, and it was beautiful. That had certainly been lacking in the past year; fear and anxiety and pain had been the dominating feelings ever since the world first slammed into lockdown and even just standing near another person become an enormous health risk, so she was glad to be here - fully vaccinated, true, but still being cautious, with her best friend, surrounded by art. It was perfect.

"Isn't it beautiful, Erik?" she asked as she looked up at her friend, her voice soft so as not to disturb others taking in the art but still loud enough to be heard over the music being played in the space for ambience.

He nodded and looked down at her, and she could tell that he was smiling. That wasn't an easy task, between the mask that Erik already wore on a daily basis long before the pandemic had even begun, covering his face entirely except for his lips, and the cloth mask that he wore across his mouth and nose to protect against the virus, but Christine had become an expert at being able to tell when he was smiling at her even when he was so covered up. She could tell that his mismatched brown and blue eyes sparkled a bit, crinkling in the corners, and that was enough to show how happy he was even when he wasn't flashing his handsome smile or using his beautiful voice.

His eyes had, by far, become her favourite feature of his. Perhaps the pandemic had amplified that, given how much she had seen them and only them, but she had always admired them. They were so expressive; they conveyed the deep joy in his heart so much so that she could feel that same glee, and she could feel her heart crying out when he wept and tears spilled onto his face. The face that he was always so desperate to hide, never convinced that she would stay, that she could be his friend, because of it. Oh, how he underestimated how she wanted to be so much more, that his face made no difference in how much she loved him. She could only hope that one day, he would see that.

"Let's sit, shall we?" he asked as he offered the crook of his arm to her. "We have lots of paintings to look at and I don't intend to view them all standing. This isn't a traditional art gallery, we may as well treat it as such."

"Yes, we certainly should. Good thing we brought pillows," she said with a smile as the pair walked through the small, spaced-out crowd to find an open circle to sit in and view the rotating paintings being projected onto the walls. "This floor really does look far from comfortable."

"Well, given that this space was never meant to be a public art gallery, I can't be surprised," Erik said, laughing quietly. "It wasn't exactly designed to be filled with people sitting around to look at art, so we must make do with what we have."