#I think it’s pretty good considering I haven’t picked up a physical paintbrush in probably what like | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

currywaifu · 4 years

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𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: muse 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩: miyoshi kazunari/reader 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: sfw 𝐰𝐜: 3.1k words, 1 image

𝐚𝐧: got back to writing again~ how much kazu-speak is too much? sorry this took a while, but I finally got over my writer’s block!

When your phone vibrates the exact minute your class ends, you know the text can only be sent by him. As the people around you begin to step outside the lecture hall, you find time to read your boyfriend’s message before heading out as well.

With Kazunari being a year above you, in a different course more so, there were times during the week where the two of you could barely catch a glimpse of each other. Projects were beginning to pile up for both of you, and with his acting to consider you initially didn’t want to bother him, but…

Just as you picked up your bag, your phone lights up again.

Wah, where r u??? I mish u already beb 💓💕💞

Stifling a giggle, you send back a text before quickly shuffling out of the classroom.

Kazunari always made the effort to put time into your relationship and give you affection, regardless if it was eating together during mutual breaks in between classes or sending each other cute messages and memes on social media.

Of course as cute as his selfies were nothing could beat physically being beside him and hearing his voice in person, so who could blame you for picking up your pace and rushing to where you knew your boyfriend was.

He’s seated on a bench when you spot him, fiddling with his phone. Before you could call out to him whips his head to face you. Instantaneously his lips break into a smile and from the lift of your cheeks you know you’re the same.

“Heyho☆ You looking for someone?” Kazunari says as you approach him, a teasing grin settling on his face. “You look a little lost~”

“I’m here for Kazu, my boyfriend!” You reply, lifting your hand and placing it atop of his head. “He’s this tall, and… oh! Super handsome, too. Have you seen him?”

Holding back a laugh, his eyes dart from left to right before sighing. “Unfortunately, he’s nowhere to be found. Aw, but you look totes adorbs~♪ Should I steal you away from this Kazu guy? I’ll def sweep you off your feet☆”

Before you know it Kazunari pulls you into his arms, the spontaneity a surprising but warm feeling. You wrap your arms around him as well, smiling against his sweater as the two of you hug while swaying left and right.

“Alright, that’s enough, Casanova.” You say the moment the hug gets too tight, slowly escaping his embrace.

“I want more though~” He whines, reluctantly letting go of you. He didn’t actually look upset if the glimmer in his eyes was anything to go by. “Well, I needed your help with something anyway!”

Anticipation bubbles up within you, expecting a new piece he needed help with, or maybe something for you to critique. After all, your admiration for his work was one of the reasons the two of you had gotten so close in the first place.

“I’ll do my best, Kazu-senpai!” You beam at him, throwing in the honorific to potentially catch him off-guard. Needless to say, it worked splendidly.

“Senpai?! You haven’t called me that in forever!” Kazunari was buzzing with excitement, grabbing one of your hands to swing it around. “Ahhhh- it was so, so cute every time you called me that! I was like, OMG—”

You roll your eyes. “I know, you’ve said that how many times?” Nevertheless, every time he mentioned it the more fond you grew of him.

“Kazuuu,” you squeeze his hand “come on, we have something to do, right?”

Not letting go of your hand for even a moment he leads you along the hallway, eventually stopping outside one of the classrooms.

“So, like, you can totally say no if you want but I’d be hella happy if you helped me out with this.”

You frown slightly, a little befuddled on what kind of request he’d be asking of you. “Kazunari, you don’t have to beat around the bush. I’ll understand.”

Nodding and looking more sure of himself, Kazunari continues. “I’d like to paint you.”

You tilt your head in confusion. “Don’t you already do that without asking me? I’ve seen your sketchbook, I’m totally okay with it.”

“This is different. I need to submit a painting of something or someone that’s my muse, so I wanted you as my model,” he explains, silently watching your expression change as you grasp the whole situation.

Avoiding his gaze, you look away from Kazunari. “Muse? So- so that means inspiration, right?” You stammer slightly, imagining how frazzled you must look already. “Wait I’m- are you sure it should be me? I’m not really…” you trail off, unsure of what reason you were going to give at the end.

When he says your name you look back up at his face. “I’m being legit here, you inspire me more than you know. It won’t feel right to paint anything else when you were the first thing that popped into my mind.”

Your eyes widen at his serious declaration. It’s not everyday Kazunari gives you such a straightforward and earnest compliment to that degree. Despite your initial embarrassment, your heart swelled up with joy; watching his shoulder’s ease up made you realize that he was probably waiting for a reaction out of you. At this point, it was impossible for you to reject his request.

“If you’ll still have me, then you can paint me.”

Kazunari’s eyes light up again, expressive and sparkling, before opening the classroom door to lead you inside. “Thank you, and like obvi! Why wouldn’t I wanna show off my sunshine to the world! My baby! My go-“

You let out a huff of amusement as he continued to spurt out pet names for you. Looks like he was back to normal?

When he lets go of your hand you finally take the time to absorb the room. It was obvious it was an art-centric classroom, from the numerous easels, art supplies, and artsy clutter scattered around the room. You wouldn’t have noticed such a difference between this and the other “painter occupied” rooms if it wasn’t for the set-up right smack in the middle.

It made for a pretty picture- loads of white offset by its nature orientedness. A few potted plants (you weren’t sure if they were real or not) were strategically placed along the area. The white fabric was hung and draped atop what was probably a bunch of easels used as a base frame. Similar cloths were set on the floor, a pillow placed on top.

You have a good feeling, a hunch if you will, that you were meant to stay there; if that wasn’t enough proof, an easel with a blank canvas was positioned directly in front of the space.

“When’d you even get the time to set this up? Are we even allowed to be here?” You question, a little surprised how everything has already been prepared.

“Friends from the photography dept helped me out~ Plus I’m lowkey besties with the prof so it’s ayt as long as we clean up.” He replies, grabbing one of the spare fabrics on the table.

“Can you remove your jacket?” Kazunari steps closer to you; as soon as you unzip the garment and throw it aside he wraps the plain, white material around your shoulders like a makeshift shawl or blanket.

You know it’s for the portrait, but there was something domestic about the simple act that made your heart race. He stepped back, smiling at you and looking self-accomplished.

“Huhu I can’t- my baby’s so pretty? How is this possible? Like an angel, no, a deity!”

“Kazu-“

“My venus~ wahh, I need so many pics? Do I have enough space? Do I post on InstaBlam or-”

“Kazu!” You interrupt, your cheeks flaring up in embarrassment. It was literally a white drape! Still, it was always nice when he complimented you, no matter how extra he went about it, so you didn’t have the heart to complain— after a year, you knew he was always genuine with his praise to you.

“We should probably start with the painting, right? We don’t wanna stay too late.” Kazunari perks back up and you briefly watch him choose between paintbrushes before you sit down on the floor.

How do models figure this shit out? Where does your leg go? How do you angle your face? How much tilt was too much tilt? Even the way you sat down was suddenly making you conscious— should you sit cross-legged or on your heels? Legs stretched out or tucked in?

You fidget in place, picking at the stray threads of the cloth beneath you. Should you just let Kazunari do his magic and hope he somehow makes you look good? After watching him from the corner of your eye he drops his paintbrush back in the mug.

“Beb, the vibes are off. I was being legit when I said you looked good, but you look like you’re thinking too hard.”

“Sorry, I can’t figure out what pose works.”

He crouches down in front of you, quietly looking over your awkward form. His hands take action in moving your body, nudging the arm that laid limp on your lap to lay flat against the floor behind you. Then his palms are on your legs, positioning the left thigh atop the right so that your knees faced front and the soles of your feet faced the side.

‘Okay, don’t be weird about it’ you tell yourself, despite hyper-focusing on the ghosts of Kazunari’s fingertips barely seeping through your jeans as they settle on your chin, gently moving your head to the side and tilting it downwards.

Kazunari narrows his eyes, simply staring at your face without a word being uttered. A part of you almost wants him to break into his trendy-speak again if only to give you time to shake off your sudden bashfulness.

“We Gucci! You still look distracted though… oh! Can you think about something that makes you happy?”

Maybe it was because he suggested it, or maybe it was because he’s your boyfriend— either way, the first thing that popped into your mind was Kazunari.

Settling into university was tough, but you had worked so hard to get accepted into Veludo Arts that you could look past the taxing work handed by the professors. Aside from the workload, you came to really enjoy studying here— you learned first hand how talented your peers were, and that motivated you to work harder.

During one of the campus’ exhibits your eyes were immediately drawn to the canvas with a Japanese painting style. Even from afar you could tell the artist was incredibly talented, but the closer you got the more you were able to see the tiny details and how purposeful every stroke was.

‘The devil truly is in the details’ you thought, looking at the exhibit label card beside the painting.

“Miyoshi Kazunari, 2nd-year student…” you read out loud, wondering if he had more works you could look at around the school.

“I heard my name just now~♪ Could it be, I have an admirer?” You immediately turn around to face a guy with blond hair and green eyes, keeping steady eye contact with you as he grinned.

Cute as he was, you might have totally ignored him if you hadn’t absorbed what he said.

“Hello, you’re Miyoshi-senpai, then?” You ask, trying to hide your disbelief at how he just popped up out of nowhere. Had you been staring at the painting that long that you lost awareness of your surroundings?

“The one and only~♪ You like the painting?”

Abandoning your bewilderment you immediately shifted into admiration mode. “Definitely! I thought the sparse use of colour was genius, particularly how certain parts of the painting got bolder colours than others. Not only that but the title! You think it’s literal at first, but it’s actually a double entendre! I also-“

Your rambling gets caught off by your new acquaintance chuckling, looking infinitely amused by you. You feel pinpricks on your cheeks, deliberating if you had gone too far with your praise or not.

“Kouhai, you’re so cute~♪ If you ever need help, just DM me, alrighty? I’ll always answer ya piko☆”

It had started out with you asking for his advice or to borrow materials, but somehow someway a couple of selfies and hundreds of DM stickers later the conversation shifted to topics unrelated to art.

You had eagerly begun looking forward to seeing the green circle beside his icon as he logged in to tell you about his day, whether it be something he did at Mankai or some crazy shenanigans with his friends.

Becoming close friends with Kazunari, to getting asked out by him, to dating him— you’d be lying if you said the past two years would be just as enjoyable if he wasn’t there to celebrate with you.

The sound of your name made you escape your daydream, being met with the sight of the blond in front of you.

“Were you calling me for long?” You ask, smiling as he pets you on the head.

“Nah, but aside from some deets the painting’s done now!” Even though the easel was turned to you, you still stand up to take a closer look.

Leave it up to Kazunari to make a human look so… pure? Angelic? How’d he even make you look so good? It was almost as if he had put a dreamy filter over you. As expected, even though he said there was still work to do, the tiniest of details were present— from the creases of the fabric hung behind you to the slight discolourations of the monstera plant beside you.

However, easily the most impressive thing about the whole portrait was the look on your face. The slope of your eyelashes as they shaded your eyes— averted with a faraway look to them, as though enchanted by something unseen to the viewer. The corners of your lips lifted your cheeks, a closed smile holding onto words unspoken.

So that’s what you looked like in love.

“What were you thinking of here, my muse?” Kazunari breaks the silence, and when you turn to face him you notice he’s not looking at the painting. You don’t break the eye contact.

“Were you… musing about me?” He teases, though it’s a little lacking in spirit. You don’t fail to notice— neither the lower timbre of his voice nor the gentleness of his eyes escape you.

Even with all his eccentricities, you and Kazunari aren’t too dissimilar when it comes to love.

“Yeah, I was thinking about you.”

The look on his face was something you wish you could capture in a photo or painting yourself, a medley of unpreparedness, joy, and adoration. You can’t stop your small laughter when he literally clutches his chest.

“OMG my heart, I’m so? You’re so?” He takes hold of the cloth around your shoulders and pulls you closer until the only thing you can focus on is the brilliance of his green eyes. You could look only for a few seconds as he stretched his head forward and pressed his lips against yours.

The kiss was sweet and inviting, not unlike the first they shared months ago. Kazunari’s lips were warm and he tasted faintly of the candy he always liked to stock in his bag. After a moment, he brings both hands up to your cheekbones, cupping your face like he was savouring you.

Then he drops his chin, breaking off the kiss and pushing you away a fraction, so he could look into your eyes.

“Sorry,” he says with a small laugh, “Just can’t believe that expression was all for me, you know?”

You pout, poking his side. “And who else would I think about? I only have one boyfriend, Kazu.”

“Oh? Does that boyfriend happen to be a good kisser?” Kazunari asks playfully, his eyes crinkling with mirth, “I bet I’d be a better kisser~”

“Is that so?” You reply with a raised eyebrow, slowly erasing the distance until you were but a breath apart from touching. “Would you like to prove it?”

The intimacy of the moment was both strange and wonderful. You tilt your chin slightly and he immediately took it as the cue to lean in and kiss you again, drawing your lower lip between his with a light suction. If the first was gentle if not a little energetic, this time he kissed with an unexpected passion and confidence.

It was clear that missing each other plus the accumulation of little moments this afternoon led to this moment.

Kazunari traces one hand over your cheek, down your shoulder, back up again. His fingers come to rest at the back of your neck, sending a slight shiver down your spine, his thumb playing idly along your jaw as he works his mouth against yours and in the back of your head you realise the fabric on your shoulders had slipped some seconds ago. Eventually, you pull yourself closer, until you were flush against him.

Kazunari releases your mouth and starts kissing down your jawline. He presses his upper body over yours as he settles in to tease and nip at your earlobe, murmuring your name, the sensation against your ear making your whole body tingle.

You could only whimper in response as he attacks the outer shell of your ear, beginning to get overwhelmed by his warmth and his smell and you burrowed against his sweater, trying to lose yourself in all of it. At this point, you were just trying to steal as much of Kazunari’s loving warmth as you could.

You tighten your grip on his clothes when he grazes his teeth against your neck; then his lips were on yours again and you readily opened up to him, swirling your tongue against his.

When the need for air came desperately, you took to a slower pace until eventually coming to a halt, loosening the grip you had on him. You don’t immediately open your eyes, collapsing against chest once more to catch your breath. You only look back up when Kazunari lets out a loud snort that turned into a fit of laughter.

“I forgot we were still on campus for a sec,” He says, gently squeezing your forearms. You step backward, making yourself look presentable, though it serves a bit of a task without a mirror to guide you.

“We should probably clean up and leave.”

Kazunari lets out a thoughtful hum, and you can already see the grin creeping upon his lips. “Yeah, we def should… unless?”

want to order again?

#a3!#a3! act! addict! actors!#a3! kazunari #kazunari miyoshi #cafe: dessert menu #a3! game #a3! actor training game #a3! x reader #reader insert #kazunari x reader

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iakes-on-amasakas-archive · 5 years

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💋, 👾, 🎨, 🌍, ⌛️,🍺 ((PlayKinshara/Rose))

From here || Keep ’em coming!SEND AN EMOJI TO LEARN HOW GOOD/BAD MY MUSE IS AT THAT PARTICULAR SKILL!

💋 — kissing

Haaaaaa, well - good and bad are such subjective words. The truth is, Shinji’s kissing style is loads of fun for some people, and is utter torture for others. He likes to play. He’s a bit of a tease. He likes sweet, little pecks interspersed with sucking on lips and tongues, and he sometimes likes to talk in between kisses. And never forget that he’s got that nifty tongue ring - some partners think it’s fun and sexy, and others think it’s gross and kind of extra. Shinji can adapt to his partners’ preferences within reason, of course, but ultimately, a partner who likes a little spontaneity and some lighthearted fun is going to have a better time than one who’s looking for die-hard romance. (That said - I haven’t written Shinji in any romantic and/or sexual situations yet. With the right partner, I could see him being pretty sweet. He’s cringing at that idea right now, but eh. Give him time.)

Putting the rest under the cut, cuz this got long~

👾— video games

He’s great at video games. He likes them, too. They come naturally to him, the same way fighting does. He doesn’t have to think - he just goes, following the impulses of his body, and flowing naturally with the world onscreen, just like he does with the world around him when he’s engaged in combat. He’s one of those guys who just gets physical stuff, and video games are an extension of that. He prefers combat-based games with tricky combination moves to, say, RPGs. He’ll kick your ass at Smash and Mortal Kombat, but he gets bored by Skyrim and Fallout after an hour or two. Unsurprisingly, he’s also dope at Portal.

Hiyori beats him at Mario Kart every time, though. He’s still not sure why he keeps agreeing to play.

🎨 — art

Ha! Oh, gosh. Oh, gosh. We’re talking visual art here? Oh, my gosh. He’s so bad at this, y’all. So bad.

His handwriting is really messy, and any attempts he’s ever made at visual art aren’t much better. He doesn’t attempt very often, because he just doesn’t care that much, and he knows how to stay in his lane - but it’s almost comical how awful his “work” is, on the rare occasions when he feels compelled to try.

Shinji is one of those guys who either picks things up really quickly and excels at them, or doesn’t pick things up quickly and then gets annoyed when he’s bad at them. Fortunately, he’s good at just about everything he tries, so he doesn’t encounter the latter too often - but that just makes his few ineptitudes even more frustrating.

Basically, Shinji’s art looks like if a big, dumb bear on crack grabbed a paintbrush in its mouth and whacked a canvas with it repeatedly. It’s plenty colorful, so that’s something - but that’s just about its only redeeming quality. Shinji would probably tell you that it would sell for millions if it were marketed as a modern abstract, and frankly, he might be right. But at the end of the day, that’s bullshit, and the art itself is still pretty trash.

If Shinji were ever seized by the compulsion to pursue art, he could probably get somewhere. His inevitable self-portrait would probably be brightly bold and pretty slapdash - nothing realistic. It would be one of those pieces that involves a lot of thick paint with hard, scrape-y lines drawn through them with spackling tools. Probably lots of primary colors. His eyes would look totally crazed, and his hair would be these really unsettling straight lines jutting out of his improperly-shaped head. It would be kinda freaky. But then again - Shinji is a bit of a freak, in his own way, and he’s not afraid of it. So, I dunno. Maybe it would be pretty spot-on, when all is said and done.&nbsp

Huh. Thanks for this one in particular, @playkinshara. I’ve never considered any of this before.

🌍 — knowledge of the world

Shinji’s knowledge of the world he’s experienced firsthand is stellar. He understands things quickly, and though he doesn’t always understand why various cultural practices are worth anyone’s time, he appreciates the history and the context, and adheres by them for the sake of propriety and politeness. He’s kinda over some of it, internally, and he’ll only do the bare minimum if he thinks a particular practice is stupid, but he’ll never voice that. He knows how to be respectful, and he understands that not everyone’s morals and values align with his own.

He has some knowledge of the world beyond his own experience. In Soul Society, he was always fascinated by the cultural movements of the World of the Living - particularly music, fashion, and other cultural trends adjacent to those things (like dance and film, for example). His interests aren’t at all limited by geography. As I mentioned in another answer, he reads a lot, and he absorbs knowledge quickly. There’s plenty that he doesn’t know, but if the stakes are low, he doesn’t have any trouble admitting his ignorance and asking questions. He can intuit plenty, and what he can’t intuit, he finds out for himself. He’s a curious guy, and he knows it’s in his best interest to know more, rather than less.

⌛️ — time management

Shinji is… pretty average at this, at best. He’s never grossly late for official business, but occasionally, he’ll roll up a minute or two behind schedule because he got caught up in listening to a record (skipping out when a track is only halfway over is blasphemy in his book) or getting himself ready (if he’s not wearing his uniform, he’s gotta look snappy, after all). He works efficiently, and spends just enough time on things like paperwork to be thorough, but not so much that he often feels bogged down. He makes sure to budget appropriate amounts of time for both work and leisure, and he’s good at staying focused throughout those allotted time periods. He never needs to be nagged to get his ass in gear and get his work done, but he also won’t be thrilled if you interrupt his personal time for a matter of business.

🍺 — alcohol tolerance

Haaaaaaa. Y’all. Have you seen Shinji. The man is a stick.

That said, his alcohol tolerance is marginally better than people often expect it to be. Plus, he’s not an idiot. If he knows he has a night of drinking ahead of him, he’ll pound half a pizza beforehand. He’s also mastered the art of making it look like he’s keeping pace with the group, when really, he’s been sipping on the same beer for about two hours. On that note - he’ll do shots if someone really insists, but he prefers beer to everything else. It lasts longer, and it’s nice and cold, and he likes the taste best. (Though, once he discovered weed in the human world, he rapidly developed a new preference. One of his favorite things ever is to come back at the end of a long day, light up a joint, put on a record, and leave all his cares behind, if only for a few hours.)

#asks #meme #playkinshara #hirako shinji

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dysfunctional-college-roommates · 7 years

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Is that where your money goes? -i looked for characters but couldnt find any so you pick

Thank you for sending this!! And, ha, yeah, I’m sure I’ve mentioned some characters at some point… probably a long time ago… but there are many and they’re probably vaguely described / poorly tagged…

(Also, I’m not sure this is at all what you thought I would do with this prompt, but it’s… something. I had fun, at least!)

[Break my character’s heart]

Ben had been trying to ask Ava on a date for three months now. Maybe that sounded pushy. The thing was, he wasn’t trying to be pushy. He’d spent the last year and a half getting to know her – banter on missions, questions over debrief drinks. He taken his time in working up to date thoughts. He wasn’t someone who just asked out a girl because she was pretty; he needed there to be a connection. And when, finally, he’d decided that the time was right, that the stars were aligned, and the mood and the lighting were perfect – she’d just walked away.

That was why Ben hadn’t stopped trying, really: Ava had never yet said no. All she’d done was change the subject, or leave the room, or pretend she hadn’t heard. Ben didn’t entirely understand it, but the best interpretation that he could come up with was that Ava didn’t want him to stop asking. So he hadn’t.

But that brought him to today, weaving a lazy path through the city with Ava at his side, and a movie suggestion in his mouth. “What do you think?” he finished. “It’s a good, cheap date, right?” Ava had told him once that she didn’t have a lot of unallocated income, and she’d told him another time that she didn’t believe in being paid for. Ben was trying to keep that in mind.

Ava stopped and turned to face him straight. “Why do you want to date me so bad?” she demanded. “What’s so special about me that you just keep asking?”

Ben blinked at her, stunned. “Nothing,” he said without thinking. “I mean, it’s not… it’s not that you’re – It’s just, I like you, Ava. And you haven’t said that you don’t want me to.”

Ava’s shoulders sunk; if she’d been preparing for a fight before, she’d already given up on it. No, more than that – she looked like she’d already fought it without him. She sighed, and it seemed as if it had traveled to him from another universe, one with physics that Ben didn’t understand. It was such a small thing, but in an instant, Ben realized that whatever place Ava was at, it wasn’t where he’d thought it was. Whatever place Ava was at was somewhere Ben had never been before, somewhere he’d never even seen on the horizon. It was disorienting, like the Ava he’d known for the last eighteen months had been some person else entirely.

“There’s something I think I should show you,” Ava said finally. She started down the street again, purposeful. Ben followed her to a car that must have been hers, considering that she had the keys. She gestured for him to get in, and then didn’t say a word for the entire drive. It took a little over an hour: minutes full of black and shiny buildings, then gray and dilapidated houses, then green and gasping trees. Ben had guessed where they were going by the time Ava turned down the winding entryway.

It was impossible to be in this business and not know about places like this one – places to store the useless former agents. The ones who hadn’t retired by choice. Some of them were in stasis, from what he’d heard, if they had abilities that they could no longer control. Others were traumatized out of words, or comatose, or injured badly enough that they couldn’t care for themselves. Ben hoped, selfishly, that Ava knew someone here, and that she hadn’t just taken him here to make a point about the dangerous nature of their job. He didn’t really want to think about that.

Ava got out of the car. She didn’t look at Ben, but she was clearly waiting for him, scuffing her shoes along the gravel walkway. He joined her, keeping her pattern of silence. He wanted to ask questions, to hear why they were here, but he didn’t quite know how to talk to her right now. Everything about her body language suggested that she was not in a state for conversation at the moment.

In they went, past the front desk where Ava exchanged nods with a receptionist. Past the recreation room, where the very sight of some of the residents made Ben feel sick over his own potential fate. Past the empty cafeteria, the TV room, the gym. Finally, they stopped at an art room. It was empty except for one lonely soul.

“Isaac,” Ava said, the emotionless word ringing throughout the space. Isaac did not look up, did not move. He sat still, his eyes transfixed on the blank canvas before him. He held a pure, clean paintbrush awkwardly in his fingers.

Ava noticed this as well. She sighed and headed across the room to him, where she readjusted the brush so it looked more natural. She shook her head at Isaac and said, “How on earth do they expect you to paint like that? Honestly, it’s like they’re new at this.”

Ben cleared his throat uncomfortably, and Ava glanced over her shoulder to beckon him over. “Ben,” she said, “I’d like you to meet Isaac. Isaac, this is Ben.”

Ben smiled awkwardly, wondering to himself whether Isaac could even hear or see either of them. “Hi.”

Ava let go of Isaac’s hand, finally, and he jerked it forward to swipe a slow, invisible swath over the canvas. Ben, admitted, jumped at the sudden movement. Ava smiled sadly. “They give him paint, every once in a while,” she said. “He never paints anything that makes much sense, though.”

“Oh,” Ben said, because he wasn’t sure what else he could say.

Ava jerked her head to the other end of the room, drawing Ben away for a more private conversation. He followed, mainly out of morbid curiosity. Still, for the first minute, all they did was stand there and watch Isaac blindly paint.

“They tortured him,” Ava said finally, her hushed tone breaking the silence. “I don’t even know what –” She shook her head. “He’s been like this for four years.”

“Oh,” Ben said once again. He didn’t want to ask if this Isaac person had been involved somehow in the, uh, incident from four years ago. The entire rule structure of this job had changed because of that incident, and Ben had spent the entire time he’d known Ava being sure that he never asked if she’d been involved. He wasn’t sure, still, whether he liked those changes, and he didn’t want to have any sort of cause to be annoyed with Ava. Instead of heading down that path, now he asked, “So, he – is that where your money goes?”

Ava made a bit of a face, probably because asking about money was nearly as rude as asking about the incident. “Sort of,” she said. “I can’t – I know I can’t do this job forever. But Isaac… I don’t know how long he’ll be here.”

“You’re building up a reserve,” Ben realized. He looked over at Isaac again. He’d stopped painting now, back to staring at the canvas, as if he was admiring his work. “Who is he?” he asked before he could stop himself. “Who is he to you?”

Ava closed her eyes, slow as can be. “I love him,” she said simply.

“You never got closure,” Ben noted.

“There is no closure,” Ava replied. “I don’t know if he’ll come back tomorrow, or next month, next year – or never. But if I try to move on, what if that’s when he comes back?”

Ben sighed. The entire concept of asking her out sounded childish and mundane now. She was not in a place for dating, because part of her was always here. “You don’t have to move on all the way,” he offered. “Just enough that you don’t live like it’s you who’s like that.”

“Yeah,” Ava agreed, but didn’t elaborate. They stood in silence for minutes more, watching Isaac watch his canvas.

“You know,” Ava said after a while, “you’re the only friend I’ve had since –” She gestured to Isaac. “They avoid me.”

Ben nodded, having no words besides “oh.” He didn’t want to ask. He didn’t want to know. Except, he thought that maybe he already did.

#writing #ask #my characters #I've definitely underused that tag in recent history #it was interesting because I realized that a few characters I wouldn't even be able to discuss money with? it's weird #I mean a couple are high school age so what are they going to do with money?#some of my alternate worlds... are a little underdeveloped currency-wise #but hey - this story does have mentions of money in the world-building!#even if I haven't worked on it in a bit and even if this probably won't be the aftermath - this works!#fun fact: Ben isn't actually a character in this story but he was going to be #well - sort of #the characterization might be different but I did recycle the name #Ben was going to be Ava's boyfriend originally - back soon after Ava became a character #then Isaac became a character and I decided that he could be cute with Ava instead #(also it might have been a little much to bother with Ben being linked to Ava considering they're all side characters)

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