Nicolai
Legacy Name: Cadthey

The Artist and his Passions

He hated going to Centropolis.

Sure, it was a great place to find his favorite art supplies. All the best galleries, the ones that featured his work, were all within walking distance of one another. The two most important ladies in his life - his lovely muse and the psychologist who kept his inner artist from tormenting him too much both lived there.

He still hated it.

The crowds, the noise that jarred his sensitive ears, the bitter tang of pollution in the air... these were all valid reasons why he'd tried to convince Glacida to consider a cozy condo in the snowy hills of Arctic Frost.

She'd changed her "no" to a "maybe". He continued to hold out hope.

He knew he'd never convince Rhiannon to relocate. Her active practice and many patients (needier than him, if such a thing were possible) would keep her firmly rooted downtown. She would occasionally agree to a house call, when he was having an especially bad week.

Glacida loved the crisp mountain air as much as he did and the beautiful glacier tigrean never tired of strutting down the street, showing off her luxurious white fur with its swirling, mysterious patterns. Maybe this would be the day... after certain business considerations were attended to.

Dragorian would absolutely never leave the city. The top-notch art dealer was addicted to the Centropolis night life (and a certain high-end restaurant that had named a main course in his honor.)

He needed Dragorian. He was the best art dealer to be found in any corner of Subeta. Nicolai's work was the best, therefore it needed the best sort of seller. Hence his current trek down the mountain in his Jeep. Spatters of mud up the side were a woodsy imitation of one of his paintings on a more volatile day.

Well... most of his paintings were done on volatile days, if he was being honest. He had been known to bite the heads off visitors who spoke at exactly the wrong moment and interrupted the flow of creative potential.

Rhiannon was helping him work through the rage. He'd had the same house cleaner for seven months straight. A record.

Art was more than creative expression. It was the opportunity to let his pent-up aggression prowl over the canvas. Bold abstracts and impressionistic landscapes of more dire scenes. These were his signature pieces. Those rare portraits he did were declared "brutal honesty captured" and "realism at its finest". Such praise was always welcome, but the hours required to stare at the same static subject, the frustrations of not getting every tiny flaw captured perfectly...many a promising piece had ended up shredded to confetti in a fit of rage.

Flinging his own painting into the ocean during an art exhibition had led him to Rhiannon. She wasn't just another clinically cold medial professional. She had understood him on a deeper level. She had listened, truly listened and her suggestions were truly inspired.

Yet it was Glacida who truly made his life worth every frustration.

His girlfriend was sweet and sassy, never willing to settle for second-best but always willing to drop what she was doing and help to ease his troubled mind. The one portrait he could never find fault with was one of her, looking at him coyly, her violet eyes wide and alluring but far from innocent. That painting could almost distract him away from the stunning beauty curled beneath it on a custom-designed ivory couch.

Almost, but not quite.

They'd met through her boss... and his art dealer. Dragorian had been cautious to encourage such an unlikely match at first but when he had seen Glacida's face light up and when Nicolai had proved he actually could be quite the gentleman, he had been happy to keep a distance and allow the attraction to blossom into full-scale dedication.

She would have looked sensual simply brewing a cup of coffee. He wasn't good at romantic talk, so he had to hope she read all the affection and longing in his eyes, every time he looked at her. Sometimes his minion Dimitri, the golden Epicron, had to give his leg a subtle swat from under the table when he became too lost in her eyes.

There were many reasons Dimitri was never allowed to leave his side. Glacida's beauty was at least half of them.

Would they ever have that contemporary wedding that was likely to get their pictures in a dozen glossy magazines?

Like his most abstract works, Nicolai is happy to leave that question to the imagination...

At least for now.

~Credits~

Profile Code by: Ringo
Extra Code by: Yuzu
Edited by: Chrysariel
Redone Overlay by: Necolasa
Story by: Pureflower
Animated Sparkles by:
Lemat works #motiongraphics
Moon Background by: Geralt Pixabay
Cave Background by: Creation Effects Pixabay
Name by: Chrysariel