Downtime, Indulging Vice: The Water Nymph

The brush moved gently across the canvas for the last time and Nightingale stood back to critique their work. A painting was never truly complete in their opinion, but the trick was to understand when to leave it, when was it as complete as it could be without going to far and risk ruining it. They were pleased.

Nightingale considered their last interaction with Jackdaw, they had been practicing Cosimo at the time. He was a persona which was still a work in progress and perhaps they had been a little too artsy and silly. Cosimo would need to be altered, more honed before their inevitable encounter with Rafello.

Their attention shifted back to the canvas. Mixing Leviathan blood into the paint was inspired, it gave the water a strangely luminescent quality and served to give the work a feeling of otherworldliness.

The sound of footfalls brought Nightingale out of their fugue. Jackdaw stood at the arched entrance to their chamber, The Water Nymph plainly in sight.