<strong><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 14pt;">Aki</span></strong><br/><br/>Aki looked amazed as he again brushed off his wounds, saying he'd dealt with far worse. That made her frown a little at him, out of worry. She looked inquisitively as he looked so seriously into her dark eyes to ask her a question. "Y...yes...?" she said softly.<br/><br/>She looked away when he asked if she'd ever encountered anyone like him. "N...no I haven't. My father and mother would not allow it back home." she said softly. "But I do not have i...issues with anyone...." she found herself stuttering a little less the more she spoke with him. Roman had a powerful affect on her few others had had in her life, and she still recalled his soft cheek when she'd kissed it.<br/><br/>When he asked about what drove her to art, she sat on the stool once more, the robe falling off her shoulder slightly to reveal that beautiful, soft pale shoulder. She seemed deep in thought, wanting to answer his question. Many people asked Aki what pushed her to art, and she always answered them with an appropriate response. But she sensed that Roman wanted her true answer. "I...I have trouble....expressing myself otherwise. My paintings they.....convey what I...I can't with words." she said softly. She smiled a little as he said he wanted to watch her, and then turned around. She began to work, wondering if Roman would recognize his eyes in her picture along with Richard's, and the lone fork on the table. She soon again became so sucked into her portrait she almost forgot Roman was there, staring at the canvas as if it were the most glorious thing ever.