The way he spoke does cause a brief hint of a smile to ease onto her features —- it’s familiar, isn’t it? Not knowing that others would take an interest in the things another does, but with the ability to roam freely like this, Lauren has seen and heard things that have warranted a closer look. An actual look at things, so to speak.
( Circus Baby’s game gives her a lot of time. )
When she floats over to the pictures, her smile fades, her neutral expression returning. The child could name each and every partygoer in the drawings if she so pleased —- Circus Baby needed her wardens to be familiar with them, after all, and even if they hadn’t been, the retrofitting of certain technologies ensured they’d be unforgettable.
“So it is true what she said —- that a
picture can hold a thousand words.”
A pause, one spent lingering over the faces of the drawn partygoers, before she returns her gaze to Afremov.
“You have an eye for people, don’t
you? To mimic them on paper, and
bring out their personalities with what
few materials you have…
That small smile returns again, albeit appearing to be much more knowing. Her gaze lingers on the man before returning to the pictures once again.
“When you can portray strangers as
well as you do your friends —- maybe
that’s a sign that this place will hold
their memories long after their souls
have left…”
Afremov couldn’t say whether the smile the ghost displayed was a good or bad thing. Gestures like that in here from any of the wardens were often... cryptic. Yeah. That’s a way of putting it. The erasure of the smile as she looked had about the same effect.
Watching her gaze across the pictures, he idly wondered what exactly she was thinking about. He also wondered if she could make sense of what he written on the papers, given it was all in Russian. Just information about each person on all the partygoer’s papers. Observations he’s made. If he actually did plan on taking this wretched game seriously, he may have an easier time of it if he can actually keep track of everyone else somehow. Names. Habits, if they’ve shown any that he’s noticed. Even the ones he’s friendlier towards. Bella is up there too, smiling above most of the others, but surrounded by less of the writing.
When she mentioned comforting, the artist raised a brow. “I don’t know if that’s quite what I would call it, but sure.” The only thing comforting he really wanted would be to just get the hell out of here.
As for what she said last, his teal gaze snapped into focus on the ghost, brows furrowing. That kind of thing wasn’t something he expected, nor wanted, to hear. Was she trying to tell him something with that? A warning? What? Hard to say. Out of this kind of a context, perhaps it would be comforting. Now it was only... perturbing.
After a brief moment, his posture shifted and he offered a frown. “I should hope not. I’m pretty sure this place would be a crappy place to be tethered to, even in memory form.”
