Mission Start [Jessica]

[Thoma Hirako]

"I like portraits, but landscapes are better," he agreed as he opened the door to the hotel and let them both out, "I feel a landscape can show more beauty, more from the heart of the artist. Likewise, a portrait could in a lesser amount of space, but I only like the portraits where that is true; where someone has put that much into it.

"When I paint, I rarely end up doing portraits." He opened the door to the car for her. Not a taxi or something like that, but nothing too much, like a limo. A good inbetween.

[Jessica Jane]

Jess accepted the gesture by dropping heavily into the car. She closed her seatbelt loop and then clicked it shut, setting her up for the trip ahead. She waited for Thoma to circle about and take his seat before she continued.

"I just find portraits creepy-- especially if its of someone who's dead. Any time I look at one, its like their eyes are drilling right into me. A landscape can't do that." Wonky reasoning? Yes. But it wasn't like that mattered at the moment.

[Thoma Hirako]

He buckled in beside her. The car started going as soon as he was seated. He paid the driver good money to be on time, after all.

"I don't think I feel that way about them, but I can certainly see where you're coming from," he replied, "And most of the time, the only reason to look at a portrait, for me, is the way it was done, not what it's of. A landscape is much better, as the beauty is more easily seen. Not that it's not fun to find the beauty in a portrait, at times. More of a challenge than the simplicity of a landscape."

[Jessica Jane]

"Interesting way of looking at it. The way I look at it, not everyone can appreciate a portrait, since the bulk of the portrait's appeal is in knowing the person in the painting... landscapes don't have that issue since they're just that: landscapes. I don't have to know where they are located to enjoy them." She shrugged to emphasize her words.

[Thoma Hirako]

"You make a good point about the landscapes. You could look at something located anywhere in the world, and at heart, it's wherever you wish it to be. And it could even be one's own heart. Cheesy, yes," he said offhandedly.

[Jessica Jane]

"Cheese or no cheese, if it supports my argument, then I'll take it." Jess said. "I'm not going to lose support over something like sentimentality."

Support was support no matter what form it took. So long as it was there, she'd accept it.

[Thoma Hirako]

He nodded to her, "Well, that might be it for art...," he tried to think of something else, "Literature?"

[Jessica Jane]

"Heh. Unless its a newspaper headline, the last thing that I've read would be a textbook." Jess chuckled at the irony of the situation. "Usually prefer non-fiction over fiction, though. I've got no use for fantasy lands."

[Thoma Hirako]

"Non-fiction," he agreed, "What did you read prior to being on the streets?" he asked, trying to make conversation from there.

[Jessica Jane]

"Like I just said, textbooks-- the sort you use in schools and the like." She turned her gaze out the window as she spoke. If she looked straight at Thoma saying these lines, then it would reveal far more than she'd like it to. As it was, she could at least keep things somewhat closer to the chest. "Math, English, you know the drill. The stuff you have to learn to graduate."

Which she never did. She'd had to leave before graduating high school, and now probably never would. There were a lot of broken dreams involved in that fiasco... But she'd cope.

[Thoma Hirako]

"I see," he said, glancing to her, wondering why she had looked away, but he wasn't going to pry or try to figure that one out. It could be nothing, it could be something.

He leaned his elbow against the door and put his chin into his hand, looking out his window, "I haven't had much time recently, but I do usually keep a copy of "The Prince" wherever I live. I enjoy that book, time to time."

[Jessica Jane]

Jess brought her gaze back to Thoma now that they were past the danger zone. The Prince, huh? It made her wonder if they were about to jump down the slippery slope towards politics. She'd rather not get into that one, primarily because: (a) she had no idea how it worked in Japan; (b) she was now fairly ignorant of what was going on in the world.

"Interesting." She replied. "Do you read it translated or in Italian?"

[Thoma Hirako]

"Italian, of course," he said, looking back at her, "That man was a genius, so to speak. I'm not all that interested in the political side, but his lessons are timeless, at least."

Politics avoided, though he wasn't aware that she didn't want to talk about them either. He had no interest in getting into such a subject.

[Jessica Jane]

"So you're a purist." She put forth the suggestion. "Most people would have just made do with a translation."

[Thoma Hirako]

"I'm not most people," he said simply.