Percy paused, duly impressed at the directness of Dean's comments. It made a part of him squirm inside slightly; Dean's comments made him feel like a coward. And faced with such boldness, Percy wondered if he could ever be as bold and as determined about Dean's friend as Dean was himself. He wondered, fleetingly, if he could ever be as direct and as bold with Lavender.
Percy let the portfolio settle against the table and he met Dean's eyes, "Dean, I have offended you and that was not my intent. Of course do not lie to her. I only meant...if she asks..," and Percy pursued his lips and gave a small shrug, "Then she finds out. But do ask her, please," he said, finding his eyes turned back to the portfolio and catching sight of her face again. He paused again, and then reluctantly moved on, turning the pages. There were other good pieces in the collection, and Percy nodded, and pulled out a different picture, a photo Dean had taken.
"You have a good eye for the emotion. I think that should be the basis of this project. People expressing different emotions. Does that sound like something you might be interested in creating? Maybe a series of paintings we can use for the project?"
Percy was trying to pretend that he didn't feel foolish; his mind went back to Fred's lecture about not being such a damn git about it all.