vibrant

three; crazy good painter

Docking, the Pogues exit the boat yet again, wanting to try to talk to the coast guard, as well as pick up Ophelia's bike. But, when they arrive there's a commotion, different from their last visit. A dead body had been found. Chills run down Ophelia's spine at the sight, a frown etched onto her face. She watches as a woman rushes up to the stretcher the body is on, crying out for the man.

"Who's that?" John B asks as the group approaches some other familiar southsiders.

A blonde girl looks over at him, "It's Scooter Grubs, he was out during the storm," Then, she holds out her phone, "Check out this pic I got, dead body."

Ophelia gives the other blonde girl the side eye, "Don't know if I love how excited you are about this," She mumbles under her breath, looking elsewhere. The girl doesn't hear her.

"What kind of boat did he have?" Jj asks after he looks at the photo.

"Somehow that dirtbag copped a brand new Grady-White," The blonde girl explains, "Everyone's out looking for it."

When they start to wheel the body away, Ophelia feels nauseous, so she lightly nudges John B with her elbow, nodding towards the HMS. He stands, and the rest of the Pogues follow suit, heading back to their boat.

Pretty soon, the sick feeling fades, Ophelia sits on the bow, legs dangling over the edge as John B takes them to the Chateau. As soon as they're back, John B helps the blonde girl onto the dock, "Hey, do you still have that board you want me to paint?" She suddenly asks, looking at John B with hopeful eyes.

John B falls into step with her as they head up to the house, he's wheeling her bike for her, the rest of the Pogues trailing behind, "Depends, are you charging me?"

"Never," Ophelia states. She does commission work for a bit of extra pocket money. But, she usually gets business from kooks, asking her to paint their shoes and airpod cases.

"Then it's in the shed."

"And do you still have the black paint from-"

"In the house," John B responds, a smirk on his face, "I'll grab it for you."

Ophelia grins, jogging over to John B's shed. Immediately, she spots the new, white board that had been gifted to John B a few weeks ago. Tucking it under her arm, she heads back up to the porch, walking around Pope, who is pacing frantically in the yard.

Ophelia sets the board up across a chair, just as John B appears beside her, setting her black paint, a couple brushes that she's left at the Chateau over the past few months, a bowl, and a glass of water onto a small table. Kiara eyes the materials, smirking, "You never stop, do you?"

"Nope!" Ophelia says, eyeing John B, "What do you want me to do?"

"Something cool."

Ophelia furrows her brows at him, sarcastically muttering, "Specific."

John B waves his hand at her, "Whatever, I'm giving you creative freedom."

Instead of responding, Ophelia turns to her backpack, searching through it for her sketchbook, but, she can't find it, "I think I left my sketchbook on the HMS," She frowns.

Jj hops up from his seat, "Get set up, I'll go get it," He chirps, hopping down the porch steps and taunting Pope slightly as he heads down to the dock. Ophelia grabs the paint and the bowl, pouring a bunch of the black pigment into the dish, stirring it a bit with one of the brushes. When Jj returns a few moments later, Ophelia thanks him, and he just gives her a small smile in return. She flips through the pages, looking for inspiration from her concept sketches and random doodles. When she finds one she thinks is perfect, she can't contain her excited grin.