Page 34 of Rivals

“What if we did something leaning towards an architectural fresco and focus on the structure?” I suggest.

Revna frowns. “How would we do that with paint on canvas?”

“I think we could do a few different things. I don’t think we should create a 3D effect by gluing anything to it. I think it would take away from it. It will take us forever, but if we plan it out geometrically and get our light source right, we can paint each shadow, showing our skill and maybe setting us apart from the crowd.”

“That is a lot of words for saying, ‘We need to get our light source right.’”

“Revna,” I growl. She grins, pleased with herself for irritating me.

“Look, I have a tattoo session in about an hour. Let’s at least try to start the first plan for the painting and then go from there.”

“You didn’t cancel it? I thought you didn’t want to stop once we got started?”

I shrug. I don’t want to tell her that I spent too much money today and that I need the work to keep the lights on next month, so I offer the next best thing, which isn’t great, but what choice do I have? “You can come with me.”

Revna scoffs and shakes her head. “No thanks, I’ll stay here.”

“You’re not the least bit curious?”

“Nope.” Her lips pop the P.

“Fine, then let’s do the first one.” Revna stands and stares at the large blank page.

“I think we should make one big painting with all three canvases, and it should be vertical. Almost like if you look up from where you’re standing, you’ll see the ceiling.” Revna gestures her hands up, pointing to the ceiling.

“So then, what point of view will we paint from? The floor or the ceiling?” I ask her.

“The floor,” we say at the same time. Revna grabs a sheet from the sketch pad and pulls two more off after it.

“I need tape,” she states. I grab some from the drawer and hand it to her. She’s short and jumps to tape the first page to the wall, then the second, and the third. “I think we have to lay all three out cohesively to see it.” She grabs the charcoal from my hand and makes large circles to space things out so it’s proportioned well.

“Something about the coffered ceilings was really interesting to me. What if we bring those here?” I point on the page and take the charcoal back. “Then make our light source come from here,” I say, making a light circle. She nods in thought.

“I really liked the way Gaulli told a story through the people that he painted. What if we did that, but in reflection of the people of New York?” Revna suggests.

“I don’t know. I like the idea of angels and demons, good and evil. But what if we did it in that in a classic naturalism style, but maybe modern clothes?”

Her eyes light up, and she grabs the charcoal from me again. I don’t know why she can’t get her own piece. Revna stops talking and starts drawing rough sketches of people around a central area of the three. She draws lines to indicate the light source, and then once I see where she’s going, I add in the architectural features I had in mind with my piece of charcoal. We take turns like the second painting we worked on, and I don’t want to stop.

We have this sense of symbiosis when we work together, and Revna is on a roll. I step to the side and watch her continue to work. It is a form of inspiration on its own. My phone buzzes. I know I need to get going, but I don’t want to leave.

I’m going to cancel. I’ll reschedule, and it will be fine. “Don’t you have to go?” Revna asks.

I cough to clear my throat. “Oh, uh, yeah, but I—“

“I’ll be fine on my own, Lachlan. Plus, I want to try a few things before I start the canvas.”

“Don’t start the canvas without me.”

Revna grumbles something under her breath and looks at me. “Fine, I won’t start the canvas without you. But if the muse takes me, then I won’t stop.”

“You don’t care if I want to have input in this, do you?”

“No, no, I do not.”

“We are ateam, Revna. Act like it,“ I say, crossing my arms.

“I don’t play well with others, Lachlan. You should know that by now.”