The Little Grey Mouse (k-michelle412/Twrdgirl)

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twerdgirl

twerdgirl

Edgesquire
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LURKER MEMBER
FOLKLORE MEMBER
Ryan Stark sighed as he walked across campus. His political science class had been mind-numbingly boring. All his classes were boring except for one.

Ryan smiled as he entered the art building and headed to his class. He loved art and if it wasn't for his parents wanting him to be a politician Ryan would spend all his time drawing.

Ryan took a seat and noticed that his favorite thing about art class had yet to arrive. Ryan had a huge crush on one of his classmates. He kept it a secret because the classmate was a guy and Ryan was sure the guy was straight. It wasn't like he had anyone to tell about his crush anyway. He didn't have any friends and almost all of his family would flip if he told them he was gay.

Ryan was sure that his crush didn't even notice him. Ryan was plain with his mousy short brown hair and dull green eyes. He was short for his age and nothing, but skins and bones. His clothe were always neat and he was sure that most people in his class was confused as to why someone like him was doing in an art class.

Ryan head the door open and smiled when he saw his crush walk in. He hid behind his book, but kept it just low enough so he could look at his crush. He held back a sigh and forced himself to look away. He shouldn't waste his time on staring at people who he didn't have a chance with.
 
Zachary walked into his first class of the day. His grey eyes scanned the class as he took his seat. They landed on a little mousy looking boy with his face burried in a book. Recently, Zach had noticed the small kid staring at him. It had only been in the last few days. It sort of made him self-concious at first. Maybe he had something on his face or his hair looked weird. Those ideas were dismissed when Zachary noticed that the glances were continuous.
Zachary opened the cupboard to the left of his table and pulled out his canvas he had been working on. It was a painting of the sunset. The vivid oranges and pinks shone stark against the darker browns and blacks of the land. Zachary was an art major, very talented according to the teacher. However, he felt like something was missing in all of his paintings. Pulling out his paints Zachary looked towards the mousy little boy. Was he watching again? Zachary really needed to find out his name. Or say something. He got to work on his painting trying to dispel the confusion that swirled in his mind. Why was he being stared at?
 
Ryan put his book down and took out his sketchbook. He began working on a portrait of his favorite cousin Leo. He was five years older than Ryan, but he and Ryan were very close. He was the only person in his family he'd ever thought of telling he was gay. He hadn't because he really didn't know how his cousin would react. He might be fine with it, but he might not be. Ryan didn't want to ruin the best relationship he had in his life.

He took extra time on Leo's eyes. Ryan always took extra time with the eyes. He felt that the eyes could make a simple sketch come alive. They could tell you things about a person you'd never met. He wanted to catch the fact that Leo while serious at time, but he loved to laugh. He had plans to give it to Leo as a christmas present. No one else in his family really cared about his talent for art, but Leo did. He would most appreciate the gift than anyone else.

At the end of the class the teacher made an announcement. They would be working on a project with a partner that would be turned in at the end of the month. She announced the pairings and Ryan was shocked when he was paired with Zachary. He looked over at the other male and took a deep breath before getting up and heading over to Zachary. He held out his hand "hey I guess we'll be working together."
 
Zachary snapped his head up after realizing he had been spoken too. "Oh...we are? Sorry wasn't really paying attention." He gave a sheepish smile and shook the smaller boys hand. "Take a seat." He nodded towards the chair beside him. Now would be a great time to ask why the kid always stared but Zachary didn't want to come off as a jerk, so he'd leave it for later.

"Uh, could you explain what we're supposed to do?" Zachary never was one to pay attention to teachers, one of his faults. If he was working on his art you would have to pry him away with the jaws of life just to get even a piece of his attention.

While listening to Ryan, that is his name right? I really hope thats his name. Its be so awkward if it wasnt. Zachary took in his appearance. He wasn't anything extraordinary but Zachary had to fight the smile from forming. Ryan seemed like a nice guy. "Hey you got a class after this?" Zachary was pretty sure that he had just interrupted whatever Ryan was saying. Then again, he hadn't been paying attention.
 
Ryan started to explain that they were going to be working on a project together when he was interrupted. He frowned at the question, but shook his head. "No I have a free period. Why do you want to work on the project?" That's why he thought Zachary was asking if he had class. If not he had no idea why Zachary would want to know about his schedule.

While Ryan would normally find Zachary lack of skills when it came to paying attention he didn't mind it. He could see that Zachary was working on something and it was clear all his focus had been on that. It was something Ryan could understand. He wondered if maybe he and Zachary could collaborate on a painting. Ryan could sketch it and Zachary could paint it.
 
"Wanna get some food then? Didnt get to eat this morning." Zachary elaborated. He gave a small have smile before continuing. "Then we can talk about the project with more time." It seemed like a good plan to him. Hopefully Ryan would feel the same. "We could stop at a food truck and then go back to mine? I got a larger sketchbook back at my apartment." Zachary offered. He lived off campus, being a junior.

"Alright students. Your project will be due in two months. I want thought and emotion put into this. Think long and hard on what you will be creating and most importantly, FEEL your artwork!" The mousy teacher exaggerated. She wore long flowing clothes, had wild hair, and thick glasses. She looked like your stereotypical hippie stuck in the seventies. Despite her strange wardrobe she was an amazing teacher.

Zachary hung his painting up to dry and stowed away his paints. He grabbed his messenger back and thin jacket. "Ready to go RyRy?" He asked giving Ryan his own little nickname. Wallet in hand he walked towards the door and held it open for the other.
 
Ryan smiled and nodded "sounds good to me." He liked the idea of going to a food truck even better. The trucks around campus were always good. Even the ones that sold greasy food were amazing. He got up and gathered his things while Zachary put his stuff away. He blushed at the nickname, but nodded "yep ready."

As they headed to the spot were all the food trucks were usually parked Ryan was deciding what he wanted. "So any idea what you're getting" he asked softly. Ryan was normally shy and kind of awkward around people he didn't know. He felt like he could be more open with Zachary, but if that was due to his crush or just that he had art in common he wasn't sure.
 
"Eh," Zachary shrugged as they came up to a row of food trucks. "Probably just a philly cheese steak. Those things are so flame!" Zachary laughed as he walked up to the window. "One cheese steak, extra meat and ketchup. Sprite on the side. Aaand....RyRy, what do you want?" Zachary asked with a smile. He rested his arm around the smaller boys shoulders.

The server in the truck eyed the two boys curiously. Zachary was a regular and usually came alone. The few times he saw the boy with someone else, that extra person was a female. Zachary was a nice boy and on the more handsome side. Usually he had a girl around, rarely any males so seeing him with this smaller boy was new. The server let it go for now, handing Zachary his meal. He waited patiently for the other boy to order, giving him a strange look. He didn't judge, in fact his own sister was a lesbian, he was just curious.
 
Ryan blushed at the name again "philly cheese steak with fries and a coke." He could see the man running the truck eyeing him. Did he think he and Zachary were here on a date? While Ryan would have liked that he didn't delude himself into thinking that was the case. Zachary hadn't eaten today and simply wanted to do so before starting on their project.

Ryan wondered if Zachary and him could at the very least be friends. Maybe Ryan would lose his romantic feelings if he got to know him. Maybe he would start to see him as more of a brother than a love interest. It would make things easier and less awkward. He would have plenty of time to spend with him since they would be working together for the next month.
 
The man nodded and handed Ryan his order after about a minute of waiting. Zachary paid the man for both meals and started to walk away, arm still around Ryan's shoulders. "Enjoy~!" The server said, sending a wink at the pair.

Zachary turned towards the man in the truck just to catch the wink. A chuckle emitted from him. "Oh we will!" Zachary called back winking back at the truck owner. The shock look on his face made the college student burst into laughter. "Hey you see his face? Priceless!" Zachary chuckled shaking his head. It was only a few feet to the student parking lot where he parked his car. "Car's over there." He unlocked it, opening Ryan's door before slipping into the driver's seat.
 
Ryan was surprised by the wink and than slightly embarrassed as Zachary commented on his expression. He wondered if Zachary was just joking or trying to be mean. Ryan chalked it up to joking since it seemed to be his nature. He wondered though if Zachary knew he was gay. He didn't know how the other student would know, but he hoped that it wouldn't be spread around campus. He didn't need the truth of his sexuality to get back to his parents.

"So do you go to that truck a lot? The guy seemed to kind of know you." He was trying to keep a conversation going. He wanted to get to know Zachary. He wasn't sure if he wanted to get to know Ryan, but he hoped he did.
 
"Oh yeah, every day after that class." Zachary smiled sheepishly once again. It was sort of lame that he practically lived at those trucks. "Can't cook so I have to rely on the trucks. What about you? You eat out or are you super cool and can cook?" Zachary smiled playfully as he pulled out of the parking lot.

Zachary drove through the blocky streets of the campus. He lived on the very edge in a one bedroom flat. He parked in the special parking lot nd turned off the engine. "Let's go little man." He grabbed his food and his bag exiting the car.

A short elevator ride later and they were on his floor. Zachary walked down the hall to his door, unlocking it. He held the door open for Ryan before following. "Home sweet Home."
 
Ryan smiled "I can cook a little and I'm hoping to get better at it." Ryan grew up with his family having a cook so he learned from her. She was always willing to teach Ryan how to do things and he learned the basics before going away to college. "Though I love take out as well. I couldn't live without Chinese food at least once a month.

Ryan got out of the car not bothered by the nickname. He was beginning to think that Zachary showed affection by teasing. He hoped that meant that Zachary was willing to be his friend. He fallowed Zachary inside and smiled "maybe next time we can go to my place. I also live off campus so we'd have the place to ourselves.
 
"You do? Sweet!" Zachary slipped off his shoes by the front door. It opened up to a small living room with one couch, a coffee table, and a flat screen. The kitchen was directly to the right with only a fridge, a sink, and a stove. The other side opened back into the living room. The left wall across from the kitchen was a closet and where that ended was a small halway with a bathroom and his small bedroom. "Mind cookin for me some time?" Zachary asked with a smile as he dumped his food onto the coffee table. He quickly unwrapped it and took a bite. "Never gets old." He hummed happily. He liked Ryans company it was nice.

Zachary began to think that maybe after this project was over he would hang out with Ryan a bit more.
 
Ryan smiled "sure I wouldn't mind cooking for you." He took a bite of his sandwich and hummed "mmmm this is good." He took another bite before grabbing a fry. He held them out and offered his fries to Zachary. He didn't mind sharing and for being an only child he did it often. "So Zachary I was thinking that maybe when we decied what were making for the project I could sketch it and you could paint it. I saw how good your sunset was and I've got my sketch pad with me if you want to look at it."
 
Zachary smiled and took a fry. "Thanks." He took a few more bites before replying. A strange feeling of pride formed when Ryan complimented his painting. Usually he just brushed it off, saying it was no big deal, nothing special. But he felt different when Ryan said it. "Yeah sure man. Anything you want to paint. I haven't really gotten any inspiration yet." Zachary gave a half smile and shrugged. He took a sip of his soda and flicked through the television channels.
 
Ryan shrugged "I haven't decied either. She said she wanted emotion and meaning. I'll admit it's hard for me to draw something I'm not passionate about. I need inspiration to work or it'll come up lifeless. Maybe we could do a painting that's split. Like maybe you paint something on one side and I sketch something on the other. We could have a theme like favorite place or important people in our lives." Ryan wasn't sure if Zachary would like the idea, but he was just tying to brainstorm.
 
Zachary nodded half listening. His mind already working out how it would best look on canvas. He liked the important people idea. It would be simple to connect faces but he wasn't sure on how to do it other than strictly half and half. It needed to be new, something that caught your eye right away. "The important people one could work. It's just, Im having trouble on putting them together in an interesting way. It can't just be half and half, everyone does that." Zachary had a concentrate frown in place staring off at nothing as he thought hard.
 
Ryan nodded and began to think. He closed his eyes and began to think of options. "What if we did the two people on one canvas, but we surround them with words we associate with them. I know calligraphy so it could be all nice and elegant. We could show not only the people we find important, but why. I already know who I'm going to do and I can thing of a bunch of words that I associate him with.
 
"Him?" Zachary asked surprised. His first thought was boyfriend. It was a big jump but Zachary found himself feeling a little disappointed. He brushed it off though. He shouldn't be disappointed Ryan had a boyfriend. He just met the kid today, well truly met him.
Zachary forced himself to think of who he would paint. It wasn't really hard considering he knew since the suggestion was made. He was going to paint his little sister. She meant the world to him. She was five and would call him every night to say goodnight and tell him how her day went.
 
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