"What're you painting?"
Bernadetta nearly fell out of her seat, startling any nearby animals with her screams of fright as she whipped around, primed to attack whoever had found her. She had found what she believed to be an unknown bluff looking out over quite a scenic view. She'd already done a few paintings at the different spots Caspar had shown her, but she found this one independently and wanted to paint it immediately. With the flat horizon and the lake below, the forest on the right, it seemed so picturesque.
She supposed she shouldn't have been surprised someone had found her.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you so badly," Linhardt said with a small laugh. "I was just curious what you were painting out here."
"H-How did you find me?!"
"You didn't really go that far away. Plus, I like to use this place for naps, so I just happened to find you here," he explained.
"O-Oh…so I wasn't the first person to find this place…" Bernadetta said, curling in on herself a bit.
"Nope, sorry. Though it is a beautiful spot, isn't it? The sun hits just right, reflecting off the water in a way that makes you…" The boy yawned, "…tired."
"I…guess?"
"So, what have you got so far?" he asked as he leaned in, and Bernadetta felt her body tremble. She didn't paint very often and even more rarely showed those paintings to other people. She was willing to let him see, trying to accept the interaction like Byleth had told her to, trying not to let her insecurities get the better of her. It still felt terrifying to see his eyes roaming over her work, however.
"Well?" Bernadetta asked after he stared at it for several minutes.
"There's something off with the colors," Linhardt finally said.
"Huh?"
"I think they are bright enough," he explained. "The grass and trees, the lake and the sky, they seem so…dim."
"Well, that's-"
"If you were to see these at a certain time of day, they may look like this, but right now, they are far more colorful than this."
"That's because-"
"Painting it so drably removes the inherent beauty, does it not? Leaving it as something drab and lifeless like this is-"
"Would you let me talk?!"
Linhardt blinked in surprise as he turned to Bernadetta, who hadn't meant to snap at him. She immediately wanted to offer an apology. At the last moment, however, she pushed it down. "If you'd let me speak, I could explain."
"Oh?"
"I painted it this way because…this is how I see it."
"How you see it?" he questioned.
"I see the world this way. Darker, more dreary," she explained, her voice still shaky with apprehension. "I know it sounds depressing, but…it's the truth. I see the world as dark and scary, so I felt I should reflect it in my art."
"Isn't that kind of insulting to its natural beauty?"
"No, I don't think so," Bernadetta answered. "Of course, I could paint it how I see it, but there's no originality to that, is there? Some people might want to just paint what they see, but I want to do something different. I want to paint how I see it, so if anybody did see my work, perhaps they'd be able to finally understand how I see things. Then maybe…they'd be able to understand me a bit more."
When Bernadetta finished, Linhardt was silent, and when she realized she'd been rambling a bit, her cheeks heated. "A-Ah, I'm sorry, I kind of just…went on, huh?"
"No, it's alright. I never considered that kind of stance before," Linhardt said. "It's actually quite interesting. I can see why you'd try it."
"R-Really?"
"Yes. I apologize if my comments seemed rude," Linhardt said with a small bow. "I'd like to see the painting when it's done, please."
"O-Oh, sure," Bernadetta agreed without thinking, but before she could take it back, Linhardt was already waving as he walked away, yawning. She watched him leave, and once he was out of sight, she turned back to her work, surprised with herself. Not only had she spoken up for herself, but she'd agreed to let him see her work both in progress but also when it was done. Sure, her gut reaction had been to take it back, but after a moment of thought, she wanted him to see. She'd somehow opened his eyes to a new way of thinking about art, which blew her mind.
So much so that even as she continued working, she stewed on that idea for a long time, all the way until the work was done. And when she finally found a chance to show it to the boy, he smiled and praised it for showing a new side of the world he hadn't considered.
"I think I understand you a little more now," he said.
And Bernadetta couldn't stop the blush and the smile from creeping across her face.