(No problem)
Lucas soon finished his painting and pulled out what seemed to be a personal sketchbook to work on. He was working on a drawing of what seemed to be two of himself, but one of the figures had a slightly different hairstyle and hair color, based on how he'd shaded it in. It was sort of what he imagined he and Claus might look like together if Claus were alive today.
Only Fools... // ROMANCE // OXO
group
Aurian felt a bit unsure of her piece, but tapped Lucas on the shoulder lightly. She covered the paper with her arm so it was a bit harder to tell who her sketch was of. She tried to be careful to not allow the lead to smear under her skin. It was hard not to feel a pang of sadness when she caught a glimpse of Lucas' artwork. He seemed so torn up about his brother and it hurt to see him this way. Aurian pretended she hadn't seen it though, looking away as quickly as she had seen it.
"Hmm?" Lucas looked up at Aurian, quietly closing his sketchbook and sliding it into his lap. He could see the paper under her arm, but wasn't quite sure what it was or what Aurian was wanting to do with it. "Oh, do you know where to turn things in?"
group
Aurian shook her head. Still being careful not to smear the lead, she held out her drawing to him. "Nope, it's for you. It isn't great, but with being out of class and stuff, I think it turned out decent enough," the girl replied quietly. Truthfully, to someone else, it was quite detailed and pretty good for realism. However, that was one of the few things Aurian wasn't sure of herself with: her art. She wanted to improve and sign up for this class because it was fun. Doubt crept into her mind at times though.
Lucas seemed surprised for a few seconds, carefully taking the paper into his hands as if it were fragile china. It had quite literally been years since anyone had gotten or done anything for him, so he wasn't quite sure what to do. After a bit of not being able to audibly voice a 'thank you', he just gently set the paper down and hugged Aurian.
group
Aurian was a bit taken aback at the sudden embrace, but hugged him back a second later. It made her insides overjoyed at the fact he had liked her small gift. A quiet thought lingered in the back of her mind whispering that Lucas deserved better than a sketch from her, but she shoved it down. Negativity could die in a ditch. It got nobody nowhere. Plus, Lucas seemed quite happy with it. That was what mattered.
He drew back from the hug a few seconds later, seeming a bit flustered. "I'm… I-I'm sorry if that was an overstep, I just… thank you." He stammered as he looked up at Aurian. He occasionally glanced at the drawing to keep an eye on it, as though he expected one of his classmates to steal it.
group
Aurian took his hand in hers with a small smile. "No, I'm just happy you liked it," she replied, tone a bit timid. It was unusual based on her demeanor from earlier on in the day.
(Sorry that it's short)
(No problem)
Lucas nodded a bit and laughed weakly. "I'm probably acting weird… I haven't been given a gift in a while. It's very kind of you." He ignored the looks from their classmates, too preoccupied to care much at the moment.
group
Aurian shook her head. "No, no. It's fine. You weren't acting weird at all. I like hugs," she reassured, squeezing his hand lightly for extra measure before letting go. It was the truth. To her, they were like a short gift anyone could give. It was warmth and trust put into one action. In this case, it was more like warmth and thankfulness though. Aurian thought about getting a new piece of paper to start on her classwork, but wanted to wait until Lucas was done speaking to her first.
He nodded again, finally sparing a glance to their classmates. "Still… thank you. It really does mean a lot." He smiled softly. It was definitely small, but it was a genuine smile. Smiles like that were rare for him, unsurprisingly.
group
"Still… you're welcome," she replied back in similar structure to Lucas' words. Aurian laughed lightly before taking another sheet of plain paper staring at it. What else could she draw…? Another realism piece perhaps? Or maybe something from her imagination? Nibbling on her upper lip, she hummed in thought, trying to think of what to do with the rest of class time.
After a bit of unsure hesitation, Lucas turned back to his art. He flipped the page of his personal sketchbook and started drawing a dog. It seemed to be a chocolate lab, or something of the sort, and this same dog featured in many of his drawings.
group
(Do you wanna timeskip?)
(Sure. To when?)
group
(After class ends if that's okay?)
(Sure. You want to start?)
group
(Yeah)
Aurian finally settled on drawing a calming landscape consisting of a pond, a few waving hills in the foreground, and mountains in the distance. She had yet to decide if she wanted the sky to be a simple mix of blues or of warm colors representing a sunrise. Perhaps she could draw a tree as well, with someone sitting beneath the shady leaves. Sadly, the familiar light bell was rung and class was dismissed. The girl popped her knuckles lightly before putting her supplies away.
Lucas quickly put up his supplies in the proper places, carrying his sketchbook around with him as he did so it would be safe. He'd put Aurian's drawing into the sketchbook as well, making sure no one else would see it and steal it. "What class have you got next?" He asked Aurian, seeming noticeably calmer than usual. There was a reason art was his favorite class despite his classmates.
group
Aurian gave Lucas a small smile as she pulled her bag onto her shoulders again. "I have science next, what about you?" she asked politely. She secretly hoped that they had another class together again. She was asked to look out of him, and there was also the fact that they were friends. Her insides felt warm at that notion. She had made a friend already!
"Me as well. There's only one science class, since the school's pretty small…" He led her towards the classroom, which was just down the hall. He sat down in his usual spot in the back of the classroom and invited Aurian to sit beside him as he pulled his sketchbook out of his bag.
group
At this, she cheerily sat down in the spot next to Lucas. She looked around the classroom, only to meet the gazes of a few other students.
"There's a free spot up here so you don't have to sit in the back!" someone called to her. The girl already knew what the suggestion was aiming at. Trying to isolate Lucas again…
Putting a smile on her face, she said her thanks, but declined politely. "I think I'll be alright!" she added. Turning to the boy beside her, she watched him sketch for a moment before whispering to him. "At least the attempt was somewhat discrete?"
"Yeah…" Lucas looked up in front of him, sighing. "Some are a bit less blunt than others." He turned back to the drawing of the chocolate lab and started to sketch a bandanna onto it, humming something softly to himself. He looked relatively calm, though he was quite good at internalizing things, so it was difficult to be sure. Either way, he didn't look incredibly troubled for the time being.
group
"Doesn't matter, it's still just plain mean," she said with a huff. Aurina pursed her lips before reaching for her bag. Pulling out a plain lined notebook, she wrote onto the first page Science in her usual curved print. The girl then looked over at what Lucas was doing. The dog was beautifully detailed and it really seemed like each strand of fur was sketched near perfectly. Lucas had quite the talent. "That's really good," Aurian complimented with another smile.
Lucas blushed a bit at the compliment, looking up at Aurian. "Oh! Um, thanks…" He replied awkwardly, his eyes flicking back down to the drawing. "It's the dog I used to have as a child. I draw him relatively frequently."
group
"You're lucky that you got to have one," Aurian said longingly. "My mother's allergic," she added, nose wrinkling as she spoke. She leaned on her elbow that now rested on the table, watching Lucas. "What was his name?" the girl decided to ask.
"Uh…" Lucas blushed a bit, a sheepish grin spreading across his face. "W-Well, my brother and I were really little when we got him, like six years old, and our parents let us name him, so… his name was Boney. Great name, right?" He laughed quietly.
group
Aurian giggled lightly. It was better than something else a six year old could have named a pet. "It doesn't fit, but it's cute," she replied. She assumed the light pink on his cheeks were due to the slight embarrassment she had unintentionally caused. The girl decided it would be best not to say anything about it.
"I suppose so." Lucas looked down at the picture, a soft smile lingering on his features. "Despite the less than creative name, he was a fantastic dog. He helped me during a lot of hard times. It was almost like I could talk to him, he could understand me so well."
group
"That sounds nice," Aurian commented, voice a bit softer. She had never had many people to talk to after her father's passing. Her friends all gave their condolences, but didn't know what else to do. But it wasn't that Aurian had expected anything extravagant. Her mother was fairly good to talk to about it. Aurian blinked a few times, shoving away the depressing thoughts. Things were fine now. That had been years ago and she had Lucas to talk to now. Not about her though, but to make him happy.