Belief is a Beautiful Armor (Nicoleta/Ludwig)

[Deleted]

Once out of the stuffy confines of the gallery, away from the smothering scents of perfumes and wine and body odor, Ludwig felt like he could breath properly again. Relaxing was still out of the question: he was in public and had a certain image to uphold. But the pressure of the surrounding crowd and their curious eyes had been lifted a little. Reaching up to his collar, the German loosened his tie a bit, letting the night air cool him down. He turned to his companion as the door to the main gallery shut behind them. The low light flattered Rosa: her dark evening dress melted into the shadows, which made her skin stand out all the more, highlighted as it was by the warm light of the street lamps and a faint hint of neon from the glowing gallery signs.

Ludwig cast hardly a glance at the geometric metal sculpture that had collected a small crowd. He’d never had a leaning towards abstract art: to him, it looked as everyday and forgettable as a train or a street sign. Hundreds of similar pieces stood outside of office buildings or in the middle of parks, and Ludwig barely noticed them there. He gave a short, quiet laugh in answer to Rosa's tease.

"To put it politely, I don't see the appeal," he admitted. "It's just a metal square." It took up space and wasted valuable metal and Ludwig simply didn't get it. He found some art beautiful, of course, and loved museums, but in this case, the materials that had gone into the sculpture might have served better elsewhere. When Rosa mentioned another gallery, Ludwig raised his eyebrows; as far as he'd been informed, the show and auction had been confined to just the one. But it was a cramped space now, especially with all of London's finest rubbing elbows, so it was understandable that maybe the exhibit had to spread out.

You might find what you're looking for, Rosa had said. Strangely cryptic words from a woman he'd met in a church, although Ludwig sincerely hoped she wasn't about to get religious on him. Still, he was intrigued.

"I'd like to see this other gallery, then," he offered, along with the hint of a smile. "By all means, lead the way."

[Nicoleta]

Nicoleta refrained a snort at his announced 'politeness'. It be frank, it was ugly. People always had their ways with words, twisting them to kindly mask the bluntness of an opinion. However, he redeemed himself with pointing out the obvious, which made her smile.

"So it is. My four-year old can construct a better square than that with playdough."

Nicoleta turned her head, fixating her gaze at the square art piece. She faltered a blink, and it felt like a twitch around her eyes. The chill of the evening returned, and draped her vision with a temporary fog. She closed her eyes and exhaled a soft chuckle. It would have been a marvelous square to put in the living room. Perhaps, by the television, somewhere high up so that the cat could not knock it down.

Once she turned to him, she gestured him forward, "Right this way, Mr. Beilschmidt."

She ambled forward with an internal reluctance to keep such a slow pace. All she needed to do was show him the damned gallery and get on with it; it shouldn't have taken this long. This brought too much trouble for such an easy task. Nicoleta swallowed once she realized that this is supposed to be a leisurely stroll. Even thought it was for a short moment, she was neglecting the target.

"Do you have any questions about anything?" She asked, glancing over at him to capture eye contact. "I'm not a fan of silence. Formalities can only let me say only so much."

[Ludwig Beilschmidt]

Words: 419

Nicoleta

Color: #003366

Notes: —

Surveying the square for a moment more, Ludwig glanced back at Rosa, his expression one of faint surprise. Perhaps he’d been making assumptions based on poor stereotypes, but he never would have picked her out as a mother. Then again, he had precious little experience dealing with women outside of work or a few fairly disastrous dates.

”If your child is so talented at such an early age, then, maybe you’ll be auctioning off his or her work here in a few years,” he suggested. ”It might sell better than what they have on display tonight.” While Ludwig hadn’t actually had a chance to bid on anything, so far none of the pieces had fit his taste. He’d have to take another loop around the main gallery; it was for charity, after all, even if he didn’t find the art impressive.

As Rosa summoned him in another direction, Ludwig ignored the metal square and followed her. It only took a few moments for the relative peace of this separate path to turn into unnerving silence, especially against the backdrop of the muted echoes still drifting from the lively party nearby. Inwardly, the MP was grateful when Rosa spoke up about the silence.

”We can drop the formalities if you wish,” he suggested. ”I’ve never been much of a fan of them. They hobble what could be a proper conversation, don’t you think?” As he surveyed the lonely path again, glancing over his shoulder at the bright lights behind the two of them, Ludwig realized he was actually curious about something.

”I do have at least one question, actually,” he spoke up. ”If the show extends to this other gallery, why hasn’t anyone else joined us?” While it was possible that the gallery would simply be opened later in the night, Ludwig thought it a bit irresponsible to only show the partygoers a fraction of the art on display. Someone might spend their budget bidding on a piece in the first gallery only to find something they liked more in the second one. Then again, Ludwig realized, most of the attendees probably didn’t have to worry about anything resembling a budget. Some of these people collected cars for fun. Cars. Ludwig certainly loved cars too, but realistically, a man only needed one (maybe two). At least the art auction was for charity, he reminded himself, before his confusion and disdain for London’s super rich could escalate further.

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