His Muse

An artist's weakness for art supplies Pt II

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The underpainting took the longest for them to get through. After the initial sketch was finished, he laid out the values in dark reds and light pinks where the stripes of light laid over Ronan's skin and caught in white lines on the sheets. Nic went wild with everything he ever wanted to try on a canvas this size. It was pure bliss, being given such a wide open range of white, blank space to fill with all the colors he saw in front of him.

He scheduled out the processes in various increments. After the underpainting was done, they took a break where Ronan sat up and the two of them ate the sandwiches pre-made in the refrigerator. Since Ronan couldn't move the sheets around his legs, he stayed put and sat with Nic by the bed.

They didn't talk much the whole time, at least until the break period. "So you and Kieran, huh? How long's that been a thing?" Ronan asked.

"Since third week of school. So around the end of September," Nic confessed. "Sometimes it doesn't even feel like we're dating. Makes the time fly I guess."

"Is that any way to date, though? If it doesn't even feel like it's official?" he asked, and when Nic merely glared at him, he reiterated, "I'm serious. I've been wondering, considering Kieran said you two haven't had sex once in the months you've been together."

Nic swallowed down the bread, and licked his teeth. "We haven't even kissed, let alone had sex. But I shouldn't be talking about this with you. Kieran would probably murder me in my sleep."

Ronan laughed, glancing towards the windows. His hair was now officially a mess, and it looked like he'd just woken up and Nic caught him in the midst of rising from bed. "Yes, well, we all know he's capable of that. You're a good man, Nic."

"Thank you."

"Don't let it get to your head," he said critically, pretending to scowl at Nic. "It's a tough world out there. God knows nothing's been easy for me, let alone you two. Your patience is almost saintly."

"I don't know about that. I'm not a very patient person in general. It's hard to just... sit around and wait for things."

"Says the man who's spent the past three hours sitting at an easel," Ronan scoffed. "I need something to drink. Could you get me some red wine? It's in the cabinet next to the refrigerator on the left."

Nic got up to fetch it, and finished in sandwich on the way. He brushed his hands off on his pants and grabbed one of the upside-down wine glasses on the counter, and then reached for the cabinet. After pouring the glass for Ronan, he brought it back to the master suite and handed it over.

"I was just thinking," Ronan said. "Have you done this before? Painting portraits for people?"

"Not really. I've painted Kieran and when I was in high school I'd paint students for projects. But never... freelance portraits or whatever," Nic confessed. "I've always wanted to, though."

"Glad I could help with that," Ronan laughed, raising his glass before taking a sip. He finished half of the small amount Nic gave him before telling him to set it on the nightstand and change the music. They put on a different genre before Nic helped arrange Ronan's hair to where it was before against the silk, and fixed up the silk to the perfect replication as what they had prior to the break.

Nic aimed to finish the actual colors in two hours, which would leave touch-ups and closer details to the remaining hour. I can do this, he told himself, breathing out shakily as he swept together a bit of blue and red and mixed it agains this palette. He drifted it through the sleek, gentle slopes of the silk caught and wrapped around Ronan's legs.