lifaan (lifaan) wrote in tiberiusswann, @ 2012-11-30 11:33:00 |
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Entry tags: | li, lo |
Monday November 4, 2019
Who: Li and Lo
What: Artist drawing
Where: Art room
When: Afternoon
Li was in his art class working on his drawing project, a 2D image that he would later make into a clay model. It was supposed to be a more realistic version of a turtle pokemon, but he wasn't going to explain it to anyone unless he had to and so far, no one asked. Of course as far as he knew no one else knew he was even there, what with his headphones on and emo hair in his face. He'd taken Prof. Major's advice and tried a different approach. Instead of looking like a sack of clothes, he actually wore things that fit that day. For once.
Li's new outlook and clothing did not go unnoticed. Lo had spent most of his time wandering on the campus sketching things and people that he saw, taking quick photos on his phone to paint later. Sometimes people didn't even notice him, but Lo was good at keeping in the shadows. And today, as he was walking past one of the art studios and he happened to notice someone sitting in it, absorbed in his work and oblivious to the world around him. The piece itself was interesting, but moreso was the guy working on it. Scratching his stubble in consideration, Lo watching this kid work a bit, then let himself into the room and found a spot across from him.
As he took out his sketchbook and a conte crayon, Lo looked over this person. There was something about him, some kind of... well he wasn't sure what. Some kind of presence to him that he didn't seem aware of. It was like looking at an ugly duckling and knowing they would someday be a swan. And when Lo began drawing him, he tried to portray that.
Li was getting into the music and barely noticed someone walking into the classroom because he was so used to the ghosts walking in and out. It wasn't odd for him to catch something in the corner of his eye that wasn't something someone else could see. So, he kept up with his music and sketching, head bobbing along to the beat of some techno underground dj. On another sketch pad he'd drawn Jack like she was alive. That was just for him though. Not for class because he didn't want to share his ghost drawings with others. It was weird enough that he saw them dead, he wasn't confident enough yet to show them when they were alive.
When Lo drew someone, he never bothered to hide it. He just looked, cocking his head sometimes and gathering the information he needed before his hand began flying over the page, scuffs of black sweeping over the page and smudging his fingers and forearms. Maybe, when he finished, Lo would walk over there and ask this kid what his name was. He hadn't done that with anyone he'd drawn yet, but since he was sitting in the same room with him, and was very unabashedly staring at him, maybe today he'd make an exception. But probably not. Unless this guy noticed him, Lo would probably just finish his sketch, then pack up and leave and not say anything. And this guy could find out about it when and if it was hanging up in the gallery later in the week.
Li just kept on to his work, not realizing that the person had actually been the thing he'd saw. Finishing with his pencil, he went to grab his colors when he realized he'd left them back in his room. Sighing and grumbling, he stood up and was planning on going to the art cabinet and using the markers that the art room had. That is till he realized that it was another person that was alive and well that he'd seen come into the room. Freezing much like deer do when caught in headlights, he just stared at the other, unsure of what to do for a moment. Li wasn't sure if he was being sketched or not, but the brief glances up at him confirmed it. "Uh. . ." He mumbled, not sure of how to respond to this other than stare back for a few long, awkward moments.
Very involved in his work, Lo kept glancing up at Li when he needed to, but aside from that was absorbed in his own project. In fact when Li stood up and faced him, Lo was actually pleased because now he could see the kid's face fully and get his features just right. It didn't occur to him that this person had moved, and therefore had noticed him. It didn't hit him until Li spoke, and even then it was only noteable because his mouth had moved and that made it difficult to sketch it. "Oh," he said, smiling shyly and biting his bottom lip. "Um. Sorry. Didn't mean to startle you." Of course, that didn't stop him from sketching, however. Li's eyes were a lot easier to capture right now, and Lo intended to capture them.
All because they were wide and uncertain. His dark brown eyes were the usual almond shapes of his Chinese heritage and while usually were small since he didn't open then very wide, this instance called for it. "No it's. . ." It was what? Li couldn't think of anything to say really. "Cool." Well there was that. Biting his own bottom lip, Li went back to going through the cabinet and found what he needed before going back to his art space and working on his piece, acutely aware that he was being watched and drawn. It was weird, but he did his best to ignore it for a while, getting base colors done before glancing up at the man across from him. "Uh. . . Why are you drawing me?" He asked, finally after he managed to form coherent words.
If Li was just going to go back to work, that would be perfect. Lo really wanted him doing what he had been doing, just being natural and having that sense to him that had been so appealing. Though now he just seemed watched, and cautious of himself. At least Lo had gotten most of what he'd wanted. The voice startled him, and Lo looked up at the other, raising an eyebrow. As an artist, Li should have been able to answer his own question. "Because," Lo said simply, looking back at his work and smudging a few lines, then drawing over them again.
"Oh," Li said, nodding a moment before going back to work and trying to ignore the other in the room. He himself had drawn people unaware and it was kind of fun, though he never showed them to anyone. Finishing with the colors, he moved on to ink it up. Finding he didn't have that pen either and a quick search in the cabinet said that the room didn't have it, he looked over at the other before quietly walking over. "Do you, um, have a black india ink pen, by any chance?" He asked, his voice not very loud, but not so quiet that he had to repeat it.
The last time someone had been this cooperative at being drawn, it had been on Lo's life drawing class. Even Matt had never been willing to let Lo stare at him this long. Hell, he could have broken out the pencils and done something a bit more detailed. Doing some final touches on Li's lips, Lo didn't notice the kid walk over until he heard him speak. Without a word, Lo reached into his shoulder bag that was sitting on the desk, rummaged a bit, and finally produced the ink pen in question. "You know you have a beautiful mouth," he said as he handed over the pen, looking over Li's face. "Here."
Li's eyes were wide before, but now they seemed to pop out of his skull along with this new found fire red across his cheeks. His hand had closed around the pen when Lo had made the comment about his mouth, so when Lo had let go, Li's hand was still hovering there in awkwardness. "Uh, , ," he managed as a response before nearly skittering back over to his station and buried himself in his work so the other couldn't see his face erupt into molten lava red.
Cute guy. Lo couldn't hold back a smirk as Li nearly burst into flames right there, embarrassment obvious on his face. He hadn't meant to make the kid uncomfortable, but it had been something Lo had noticed and he felt like sharing this fact. It was pretty obvious to anyone looking at him. "So," he said after a moment, breaking the silence that had been between them this long, "what are you working on, anyway?"
"Um. . . An art project for my class," Li said, as he carefully started to ink his drawing. "We had to pick a cartoon to make realistic for our 2D to 3D class and I picked a cartoon from when I was little," he said before chewing on his lip as he worked on getting the right line width and was less focused on the person talking to him.
"Hm." Lo didn't like to pry, and it seemed that this guy was focused on what he was doing and not too keen on talking, so he didn't ask more questions. Though he was wondering a little whether or not that was supposed to be a pokemon. But it couldn't be. Pokemon had barely been around when Lo was a kid, and this guy was what, seventeen? He looked like a twelve year old actually but since he was in college (presumably) he had to be at least seventeen.
Polishing off the rough sketch, Lo considered it a moment, and decided that he liked it. But he didn't like it as a piece of art, at least not something that anyone else might enjoy. He liked it because it looked like this kid, but not quite. It looked like a prettier version. Like how this guy could actually look if he didn't shrink into himself so much. So Lo packed up his things, walked quietly over to Li and placed the paper onto the desk beside him. "My name's Lo," he said softly in his quiet, deep voice. "Thanks."
Li was actually eighteen, but he was constantly mistaken for being younger. His mother would chide in that he'd appreciate it as he got older when he would whine about it. Looking up as the other walked over to him, Li watched him place the paper on the desk. It was him, but it wasn't. It was like something he'd never seen before. "Li," he said, looking at the picture back up to the man standing above him. "My name's Li and. . . You're welcome?" He said, cocking his head to the side and blinking, confused for a moment.
Chuckling, Lo slung his bag over one shoulder and brushed a curl out of his eyes. "Well, you did sit there and let me draw you for the past half hour. And it came out pretty well, don't you think?" Brushing a few fingers over the drawing, Lo smiled at it fondly. "At least, I like it. What do you think?"
Looking back down at it, Li inspected it with an artists eye as well as someone who was the object of the picture. "I like it," he said. How had this guy made him look like this though? He looked more attractive and just plain better in the picture. "Though, you did a lousy job of making it really look like me and not some model dude," he said, trying to be funny as he snorted softly. There was a bit of the old Li still able to flirt and joke a bit, it just needed to be dug up.
Raising an eyebrow, Lo gave Li a look, and chuckled softly. "Bullshit," he said after a moment. "I drew you. Maybe you just do a lousy job of being yourself, did you think about that?" So maybe he hadn't drawn Li exactly true to life, but he had just drawn what he saw. Sometimes potential was just as good as reality.
"Ouch," he said, making a face before snickering a bit. "Truth hurts, but damn it's philosophical." So maybe Lo's statement was more true than Li's, but oh well. "It's like riding a bike. You get off for a while and you can get back on and start riding a bit. Maybe I just haven't ridden in a while." Because all of that made complete sense.
Actually, it made perfect sense. Lo had been sitting off to the sidelines as well, so to speak. He had withdrawn from himself, and his life, for months now. He was just starting to get back on the bike. "Well... you're nice, Mister Li. But this guy..." Tapping the paper with one finger, Lo smiled. "This guy is really something. He's got something to him. Confidence, maybe, or charisma. I dunno. But he's kinda sexy." Shooting Li a look and a wink, Lo started toward the door. "See you around, hm?"
"Sexy?" Li parroted back as he looked up at Lo. "Yeah, uh. . . Yeah, definitely," he nodded as he played with the pen he'd borrowed from Lo without realizing it. "I live here so it shouldn't be too hard to arrange," he chuckled, smiling and trying not to look like a total dork.
Nodding, Lo tried his best not to laugh at this kid. He was clearly not used someone paying him compliments. "That's handy," he agreed. "I'm in the Witt Dorm, room 101. If you feel like dropping by sometime. Y'know... return my pen if you ever feel like it. Or keep it if you like. Doesn't bother me any." It was just a pen, and if he couldn't spare a pen to a fellow artist, what good was he? "You work on riding that bike. Get back in the habit."
"Frat house," Li nodded. "Yeah, oh. . . Sorry," he chuckled sheepishly, realizing he still had Lo's pen. "I will and maybe I'll have my training wheels off next time I see you or something," he said, though he doubted it. He didn't talk to anyone besides other mediums and that was only in class about class. Well, there was Jack and the ghosts, but still. . . Lo was the first real interacting he'd done since he'd gotten to the school. Score life skill point for him!