In Her Eyes ✔~ trixya

The Price Of Art

- this story is partly based on Sunday in the Park with George

A white page.
A blank canvas.
Katya's favorite.

So much potential.
So much work to be done.

Here, the painter found her challenge as she once again attempted to capture the beauty of the world with careful brush strokes. And soon white turned to blue and red as the canvas was filled with color and light, the shades working in perfect harmony.

Today her subject was her lover, Beatrice Elizabeth Mattel. The scandal of the daughter of a successful politician becoming Katya's new muse had not been small, and it grew even worse once people realized that the young woman not only modeled for the painter, but lived with her. The good Sir Harold Mattel had naturally cut all his ties with his daughter after that revelation, but somehow Trixie had remarkably not complained nor changed her mind due to it.

Katya knew she was not easy to love by any means. In the eyes of many in the higher circles of society she was still Kazimir Zamolodchikov, the only child of the famous war hero and investor Dimitry Zamolodchikov. Her bloodline had ties to nobility and so everyone had expected her to at least marry well and take over her father's businesses, even though the nobility no longer had any real power in the country. Imagine their surprise when she had said she not only wished to live her life as a painter instead, but that she was also in fact female. 

Her father had never spoken to her again, and even on his death bed he had refused her entry into his manor. The disgrace she brought to the family name was unforgivable in her father's eyes, and no amount of makeup or petticoats or wigs could ever make him call her his daughter. No, she remained his disgraced son, the child he refused to speak of ever again. 

 Luckily her mother had been far more accepting. For as long as Katya's father was alive, her mother had sent her money to manage on her own along with apologetic letters, and when he passed, Lady Zamolodchikova had been quick to introduce her daughter back into her circles. Katya had remained in her own apartment due to her studio being there, but her mother's funds had allowed her to live comfortably, and her acceptance had slowly made others more open to buying Katya's paintings. 

Of course, this was not made easier when Trixie moved in as it caused another scandal to be linked to Katya's name, but her mother had remained supportive despite this. The townspeople had of course talked about the pair a lot, and still did, but the paintings were selling and Katya was living honestly so it did not bother her much. They could talk about her all they wanted, but as long as Katya had blank canvases with endless potential standing in her studio and her beautiful lover with warm, caring eyes in her bed, she was happy. 

Trixie was truly something special, Katya thought as she stared the model, her brush working it's way calmly across the canvas. Trixie loved her just as she was, even if she did not always understand her decisions. The girl had been the first to accept and see her as a woman. When Katya had suddenly walked out into the park on a Sunday with a corseted gown, red painted lips, and a long blonde wig, she had instantly greeted her as Miss Zamolodchikova without any hesitation showing in her voice. She had told her that she looked beautiful and then asked Katya if she would like to walk with her, an offer Katya had accepted right away, instantly feeling safe in the young woman's company. 

Now Trixie was her muse for everything, the beautiful blonde somehow present in everything she painted, and yet Katya had been unable to tell the girl that she loved her. Trixie talked about such things openly, could carelessly throw the word love into every conversation, declare her love for the painter in every waking moment. Katya's emotions however were shown through her art, that was were she made her declarations and promises. 

Words.
Words were hard. 

She could paint the entire world without a worry in the world, show her love for those around her so clearly on the canvas, but saying it out loud seemed an impossible task. Unfortunately she knew that it was an obstacle that had hurt Trixie more than once, the girl unable to truly trust their love despite the fact that they had lived together for more than a year. Katya could only hope that the day would come when Trixie would just know, or when she herself would be able to tell her.

"Katya, how much longer must we stay out here in the sun?" Trixie complained, just as she always did when she was modeling outside in the heat.

"Until I've captured what I must. The light is perfect, we cannot loose it." Katya replied.

"Well, you are not the one standing in it. The sun is burning, Katya." The model whined.

"Just a little longer." 

"You always say that." Trixie mumbled.

"And I always mean it." Katya said with a growing smile as she dipped the brush in fresh paint. "You look beautiful."

"You always say that too." Trixie replied, a small giggle escaping her.

"Well, I always mean that too." Katya said lovingly, earning a warm glance from her lover who stopped complaining after that. She stared at her canvas for the hundredth time and then up at Trixie, carefully analyzing how the light hit the side of the girl's rounded face. "More red."