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Title: Fall Colors
Author: TeeJay
[livejournal.com profile] whitecollar100 Prompt: Autumn (seasonal prompt)
Genre: Gen
Characters/Pairings: Neal
Word Count: 300
Rating: PG
Warning: Spoilers for 1x14 'Out Of The Box'
Summary: Central Park in autumn prompts Neal to go back to something he hasn't done in a long time.
Author's Note: This was written for Round 4 of [livejournal.com profile] thenewpub 's writing session on June 18, 2011. The prompt was Cities & Skylines - New York. And of course I wrote this with the seasonal prompt in mind too. One fits all, haha! :o)
Disclaimer: White Collar, its characters and its settings belong to Jeff Eastin and USA Network. And, guys? Your characters are not only welcome, they're wonderful. I'm just borrowing, I promise.
 
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Neal loves Central Park in autumn. He loves the yellow and red cotton ball-like broadleaf trees against the starkly blue sky, the air that's starting to have a sting to it, the interplay of colors that you don't see during any other time of year.

He always goes home with his mind full of images, colors, impressions that he wants to capture on canvas. He rarely ever does, though.

It's been a long time that he's painted anything that wasn't a forgery or a copy of something preexisting. Sitting in his studio loft, he stares at the empty easel in the corner, and his fingers are suddenly starting to itch. A flurry of warm colors flashes in front of his mind's eye, and he goes to the desk to take out the tubes of acrylic paint and the brushes.

Over an hour later, he pauses for the first time to review his handiwork. It's amazing how he's forgotten just how calming this is, how he can get lost in transferring mental images to canvas. It is then that the realization suddenly hits him.

The last time he's painted an original painting, it was a gift for Kate. A lone tree in a field of white lilies, her favorite flower. He lowers the brush and squints his eyes.

Does it matter now? She is dead, and he thought he was moving on. Maybe he is. Probably he is. He's noticed he starts taking pleasure in flirting with women again—and not just because he needs them to help with a con or other.

He smiles a small smile to himself, reverting his attention back to the painting. The reds and yellows are vibrant, the angles are crafted naturally. He's happy with the result and wonders why he's not done this sooner.

Date: 2011-06-19 04:05 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] jrosemary.livejournal.com
Lovely--such a sweet and poignant exploration of what Neal paints when he's not busy forging.

Date: 2011-06-19 08:39 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tj-teejay.livejournal.com
Thanks! I've always wanted to explore Neal's lack of desire to paint original paintings, although in late s2 they actually rectified that.

Date: 2011-06-19 03:41 pm (UTC)
ladygray99: (WC100)
From: [personal profile] ladygray99
This is lovely and sweet. I just love things about Neal paining. Especially original work.

Date: 2011-06-19 08:57 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] swanpride.livejournal.com
They did? I thought that all the paintings he made forged some sort of style of different painters...

Date: 2011-06-19 09:02 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tj-teejay.livejournal.com
I was of the impression that the Chrysler painting and the others that Neal had stacked there in his loft that Peter went through at the end of On Guard were original paintings. Remember when Peter first noticed the Chrysler painting in Under The Radar, and Neal told him painting calms the nerves and that he's trying to refine his technique? I interpreted that as him having painted original paintings rather than copies of others' works.
Edited Date: 2011-06-19 09:03 pm (UTC)

Date: 2011-06-19 09:04 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tj-teejay.livejournal.com
Aw, thanks! I wanna see Neal do more original paintings on the show!

Date: 2011-06-19 09:28 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] swanpride.livejournal.com
I'm not sure...the first painting he did when Peter visited him in "Forging Bonds" looked like one of Monets lost frames according to Peter. And the Chrysler painting, while not a real painting (as far as I know) could be a copy of a supposed painting, like the haustenberg. It was certainly painted in a more or less fitting style for the 30th.

Date: 2011-06-19 10:42 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ladydragoness.livejournal.com
I've been waiting to see if Peter enters Neal's apartment, sees a painting on the easel, then tries to guess who's work it is. Only to have Neal confess that its an original Caffrey. There could be some humor in that.

Lovely fic, BTW. I really enjoyed it, and I believe that's how Neal sees things.

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