Chapter 23: Vividria

It was nearing the evening in Dreamland and a certain artist was getting frustrated at the lack of progress being made. This was Vividria, a painter, sculptor, and all-around artist.

"Drat, I just can't seem to think of anything good! I need something to give me inspiration, anything at all!"

Suddenly she heard knocking on her door.

"Now who can that be?" She complained as she stomped over to it.

She opened the door to reveal her friend, Kirby.

"Hi Vividria! I'm here to return that paint set you let me borrow."

The artist then became silent.

"Um... Vividria? You ok?"

"Kirby, I need you to be my model!"

The puff blinked in confusion. "...what?"

"You see, Kirby, I've been trying to come up with a new art piece, but nothing comes to my mind! I keep drawing blanks, literally!" She said, pointing at a drawing of a blank canvas.

"...ohhhh, I guess that is a problem." He replied bluntly. "So, what exactly do you need me to do then?"

"You mean you'll help!?" She asked, stars sparkling in her eyes. "Thank you, Kirby! Just go stand on that podium right in the center."

Kirby was about to say something, but then decided to go through with helping his friend. He put the paint set on a nearby table and began to stand on the podium.

"So, now what?" He then asked attempting to find his balance initially.

"Strike some poses and when I see a pose that strikes me with inspiration, I'll tell you to stop." She responded.

"Oh... uh... ok!" He replied, quickly processing what he was told.

He then began to do random poses that came to mind. Simply stretching, raising his foot, raising his hands, sitting down, just a variety of poses. Eventually, Kirby performed a pose that had him stand one the tip of one foot while pointing to the right.

"There! Hold that pose!" Vividria shouted in excitement.

"Hold it?" Kirby asked, confused at that order.

"Just stay still while I paint."

The child gave a pout. How was he supposed to stay in this pose for so long!? Like he was already getting tired of holding his pose right now, so how was he supposed to hold it for so long?!

"I'll pay for dinner as thanks." She said, as if she sensed Kirby's annoyance.

"Really!? Thank you!" He exclaimed happily, but then he stopped himself and gave yet another proposal. "...but you better include dessert with that!"

Vividria sighed but simply agreed to that part. After all, she basically drafted Kirby into this. It was the least she could do.

"Just try to stay still, Kirby. I'll try and make this as quick as possible before I order us some dinner."

He then nodded in understanding as she got to work.

After thirty minutes, Kirby was starting to get extremely bored by this. He never liked staying still unless it was for sleeping or eating. Standing on the tip of his foot just made the whole situation even more aggravating. It felt like a constant battle with himself constantly forcing himself to attempt to stand still and not lose his balance. Eventually, it was getting to be too much, and Kirby fell forwards face first, crashing into the floor.

"Kirby, I thought I told you to keep that pose!" Vividria shouted.

Kirby pouted as he looked up from the floor. "Well, what happened to being quick about it!?"

"Quick in art time is slower than quick in your time!"

"That doesn't make any sense!" Kirby was starting to get visually upset and that made Vividria take a step back.

She then gave a slight sigh. "I'm really sorry, Kirby, I should have realized how hard this would be on you. I just really want to get this done, but that's not really an excuse is it..."

Hearing this made the puff feel bad for his outburst. "No, I'm really sorry for snapping at you. What are you making this painting for anyway? Is it for a contest?"

The artist shook her head. "Not exactly but you're not too far off. I was asked to create something for the opening of the new art gallery that was recently built in Dreamland. Other artists were asked to do it as well. While it's not an official competition, many of us are treating it as one."

While Kirby wasn't interested in the competition part, he was ecstatic about one aspect of his friend's explanation.

"So, your art is going to be in a museum!?" The child shouted in excitement. "In that case, I'll definitely keep helping you!"

Vividria looked simultaneously happy and concerned. "Are you sure about that, Kirby? I don't want you to push yourself if you don't have to."

"Oh, it'll be fine! You need help, so now I definitely can't leave you be! Just leave it to me!"

Kirby resumed his pose and Vividria got back to painting. However, the puff had a plan to keep him from falling this time. Each time the artist would look away he would drop the pose, stretch his feet, and quickly return to the pose before she noticed. Only issue was that Vividria had the attentiveness of a hawk.

"Kirby, you can just tell me if you need a break."

Kirby fell flat on his face upon hearing that. "But won't that slow you down? I don't want to waste your time..."

"Nonsense, your safety comes first!"

The puff was conflicted. One on hand he appreciated her concern, but on the other hand he didn't want to burden her even further. That's when an idea hit him.

"Do you have any stones I could borrow?" He suddenly said, getting a slightly surprised look from his friend in response.

"Oh, yes, give me a moment." She then left the room for a moment before returning with a couple of smooth rocks. "What do you need these for?"

"Watch and be amazed!" Kirby inhaled the stones and acquired the Stone Ability.

It seemed like Vividria figured out what the puff was going to do in an instant.

"Oh, are you going to turn into a stone statue, so you don't have to worry about getting tired?" The child nodded happily.

"Exactly! It's a win-win for everyone!" Vividria took a moment to think. "Hmm...well, if you think it'll work, let's try it!"

"Ok!"

Kirby began to transform using this ability. However, there was one issue, Kirby didn't have complete control over what he transformed into, so there was plenty of trial and error. Kirby became a normal stone block, a statue of his animal friends, much different poses than what he wanted, a statue of his rival and mentor, and even a golden statue of a chubby plumber for some unknown reason until he finally got the pose he needed.

"Ok, now hold that pose as long as you can!"

"Sure thing! Good thing I can stay as a stone for as long as I want." Kirby said, his voiced muffled from being turned to stone.

With another nod, Vividria got back to work.

As Vividria continued to paint, Kirby realized that there was another small problem with this: He was still bored. His best option right now would probably be to try to think of things that are interesting... or at least try to make conversation. He couldn't let his friend down now!

"So Vividria, when is the deadline for this museum stuff anyway?"

His friend paused her working for a moment, as if she needed time to think. "It's in... two days, if I remember right."

Kirby was glad he was stone at the moment or else he would have faceplanted again.

"So, in other words, not that much time left?" He then said.

"That's right. Stupid artist's block." She mumbled to herself. "But now that I know what I want to make, I shouldn't have any issues getting done on time."

Kirby mentally nodded at that.

Now to just focus on not being bored. The only thing Kirby could rely on was his mind.

"Hey, so, what exactly are you making?"

Vividria hummed happily as she worked. "You'll see when I'm done, but I'll give you a hint. I'm depicting a battle between you and a previous foe."

Hearing this made Kirby excited to see what the finished painting will be.

After an hour of silence Kirby was again starting to get bored.

"Would you say I'm a good statue?" He blurted out in an attempt to make conversation.

"You're doing a rock-solid job."

Kirby gave a giggle. "Thanks!"

Suddenly Vividria stood up from her chair. "Alright, Kirby, while I'm not done yet, I did finish painting you. So, you're free to go back to normal now."

The puff nodded and transformed back to his normal self.

"Fwaaaah! I was starting to feel a bit stiff!" He exclaimed while stretching.

Kirby then looked at Vividria with a confused expression.

"So, since you don't need me to pose for you anymore, now what should I do?"

"Hmm... since I'm sure you want to see the finished piece... do you want to try your hand at making a piece for the museum?"

Kirby looked surprised by that. "I mean I suppose I could try, but I don't think I can make anything as good your art."

The artist only smiled. "Oh, I'm sure they'll accept it if you put some effort into it!"

The puff didn't look completely convinced but decided to give it a shot. If anything, he wouldn't have to worry about being bored anymore.

"If you want, you can use the Artist Ability for your work." She added, pointing towards various art supplies.

Kirby gave a playful pout. "I was going to use it anyway, but thanks."

Maybe it was because he was quite literally stone cold for a while, but for some reason the child felt like creating a statue. The question was, what should he make?

"Vividria, what do you think would be a good idea for a statue?"

"Hmm... you can make a statue of whatever or whoever you like. That's the great thing I art!"

The puff stared blankly but realized that Vividria was simply overcoming her own art block. It wouldn't be right to get annoyed by that.

"Thanks for the advice!"

The puff began to think but quickly ran into a hurdle. He didn't have artist block; in fact, it was the opposite. He had too many ideas of what to make. He could make a statue of any of his friends, a location he liked, a memorial for his Robobot Armor, he had so many ideas it was hard to just pick one. That's when something he hadn't thought of struck his mind. Inhaling the paint set that he initially brought to return to Vividria, Kirby copied the Artist Ability and got to work. His first step was to summon a slab of stone and quickly got to chiseling. Thanks to his Copy Ability, this process took no time at all. Kirby took a step back to marvel at his creation, which was a statue of his friend Vividria.

"I'm sure she's gonna be really happy to see this!" He said with a slight giggle.

Kirby looked over to see she was still laser focused on her own art piece.

"I guess I'll have to wait for her to be done anyway." The puff said while scratching his head. "Hm... I could probably paint something to pass the time, but what? Maybe the Halberd? Castle Dedede? Bandana's bandana?"

As he was thinking, he began to sketch out whatever came to mind on the canvas before mindlessly adding paint.

"...what is this?" He asked in slight confusion when the painting was complete.

The image was somewhat Kirby's foe turned friend Hyness, but even stranger looking than usual.

"...guess I became too bold and brash..." He mumbled.

Well... now what? That was the next question on Kirby's mind. Kirby turned around to see Vividria was in the process of putting her tools away.

"Oh, are you finished?" He asked his friend.

"Why yes, I am. Would you like to see the finished painting?" She asked.

"Yes please!"

"Well, take a look for yourself." She spoke proudly.

Kirby took a look and what he saw not only completely caught his attention, but also completely amazed him. The painting depicted Kirby's battle against Nightmare. Arguably one his biggest achievements of his hero career.

"Vividria, this is amazing! How did you come up with this from just my pose?"

"It just came to me as an artist." She replied proudly.

Kirby didn't quite it, but he liked the sound of it. That was when he remembered his own project.

"Do you want to see my statue I made?"

"I'd be glad to!" She said happily.

Vividria saw the statue made in her image. The statue itself wasn't of amazing quality but she didn't care about that. The fact that someone made art of her brought a tear to her eye.

"Kirby, thank you, but you didn't need to do that."

"It's not a problem, Vividria! I thought that you always make so much art, yet you never have any art of yourself! I wanted to change that!"

Vividria didn't know how to respond to the kind words and gesture. She has received many compliments over her years as an artist, but there's nothing quite as powerful as her friend's kindness.

"Thank you, Kirby." She finally said after regaining her ability to speak.

"You're welcome! I'm glad that you like it!" He replied with a big smile.

Time had passed and it was the day of the museum's opening. Dozens of paintings, sculptures, photographs and other forms of art were already set up. Vividria's painting in particular was set up in the very front of the museum, making it the first work of art that guests would see upon entering.

"So, Vividria, I guess this means that you won the competition." Kirby said, looking at her art for what felt like the hundredth time in amazement.

"Well, yes, but even if I didn't, the fact that people love it and I did my best on it is what matters to me."

Kirby nodded at that. He admired that part of Vividria.

"Plus, I'm not the only one with highly loved art." She said looking at the statue Kirby made of her.

To the puff's own surprise, there was also a large crowd gathered around it as well. The puff was used to praise from saving Dreamland, but this was a different type of praise than what he got normally. It felt... nice. Not only that, but he felt proud. But there was one question left on his mind.

"By the way, Vividria, were you the one who submitted my sculpture to the museum?" He asked.

"Of course. I had a feeling you'd either forget to do it or just wouldn't bother with it. So, I took matters into my own hands."

Admittedly, he was slightly surprised by this. He knew it was at least decent, but he didn't think it was good enough for an actual art museum!

"Well, thank you!" He replied with a smile.

Vividria shook her head.

"No, Kirby, thank you. Now follow me, we have a lot of the museum to cover." She said while grabbing his hand.

"Ok!" He nodded happily as he followed along.

For the rest of the day the two friends spent a long time marveling at what the museum had to offer.

This was a cute and simple chapter.

Quite enjoyable I think.