Work Text:
Yusuke places a fresh canvas on his easel; he lays his brushes out in neat rows and fills a small cup, flecked with years of paint, with water for rinsing the brushes in. He triple checks the angle of his seat behind his easel and is laying out some paints when he hears a knock at his door.
“Ryuji,” he smiles. “Please, come in.” He lays a hand on Ryuji’s shoulder and ushers him into the Kosei dorm room he calls his own.
“Sorry I’m late - I’ve never been to your place, man. I got a little lost.” Ryuji kicks his shoes off haphazardly, but then, as if worried about his manners, goes back and lines them up neatly by the door.
“It’s no trouble - I expected as much, hence why I invited you over so early. Come this way, please.”
Ryuji steps further into the room and glances around.
“This is your room? It’s…” He trails off. “It’s pretty much what I expected, I guess.” He scrapes at a paint smudge on the floor with his toes.
“Thank you again for agreeing to model for my project,” Yusuke says, ignoring Ryuji’s comment. “When the teacher described this assignment, I knew immediately that I wanted you to be my subject. Please, have a seat while I finish getting set up.”
“No problem, man. I’m just surprised you wanted me of all people.” Ryuji sits on the stool in the middle of the room, picking at a thread in his shirt. Yusuke opens the blinds on the window behind Ryuji, and then takes a seat behind his easel.
Yusuke peers around his easel, framing the scene with his fingers.
“Could you scoot to the left - excellent. Now turn more towards me - that’s far enough, thank you. Now turn your head to your right. Wonderful, stay right there.”
Settling more fully into his seat, Yusuke picks up his sketchbook and begins roughly sketching out possible compositions. After a moment, he looks back up at his model, framing the scene with his fingers again. He frowns.
“Sorry, am I doing somethin’ wrong?” Ryuji asks.
“No, not at all.” Yusuke assures him. “I am troubled by my own failings, not by anything you have done.” He gets up from his own stool and comes around his easel to stand next to Ryuji. “I had intended only to paint you from the shoulders up, but as I look upon you, I feel a full-body composition is worth considering. Here, straighten your spine and put this foot up, like so.” Yusuke places a gentle hand on Ryuji’s calf, skin warm beneath his fingers, and manipulates Ryuji’s pose so that the heel of Ryuji’s right foot is rested on the bar between the legs of the stool.
Ryuji allows himself to be nudged and pulled into whatever pose Yusuke sees fit, and Yusuke moves Ryuji’s body easily and fluidly, finding no resistance in the limbs beneath his hands. He bends a knee, applies light pressure to change the angle of Ryuji’s shoulders, and places his hand beneath Ryuji’s chin, turning his head. Finally, Yusuke steps back and frames the scene with his fingers once more, nods, and goes back to his seat behind his easel.
“Yes, this is much better. Try your best not to move, please.”
“Easier said than done, but I’ll do my best.”
Yusuke sketches the rough shape of Ryuji’s form on his canvas before picking up his brush and committing to the first stroke of paint. Beauty can be found in even the most unlikely of places, if one cares to look, and Yusuke believes his friends are far from the most unlikely of places. Even Ryuji, with all his rough edges and prickly outer appearance has inner beauty, of course, but he possesses a unique outer beauty, as well. As he paints, Ryuji becomes a collection of parts in his mind’s eye - the minutiae of Ryuji’s form each become key details. The spike of his hair and the hint of dark roots peeking out beneath the blond; the faint freckles on the high points of his cheeks and the bridge of his nose; the way the late afternoon light illuminates him from behind and creates golden-hued rim lighting and highlights the shape of his profile. Yes, although some may claim Yusuke or Akira are the ‘pretty boys’ of their friend group, Ryuji has his own charm in his handsome features; a melding of the delinquent image and his inner softness - big, warm eyes and sunny smile juxtaposed with his ‘troublemaker’ appearance.
Yusuke works in silence until the late afternoon changes to evening, and the lighting change forces him to stop.
“That’s enough for today,” he says, rinsing his brush. It’s the first thing he’s said in a while, and it feels very loud after the prolonged silence. “You were excellent, Ryuji, I cannot thank you enough.”
“Oh, you’re done? Can I see?” Ryuji stretches his arms above his head, joints cracking after sitting in one spot for so long.
“No, I’m done for today . The light is all wrong now, so we have no choice but to pause and come back to it another day.”
“Well, can I see it, anyways?”
“I suppose I cannot stop you from looking at it. ” Yusuke shrugs, taking his brushes to the kitchen sink to be washed. “I’d appreciate it if you could come back tomorrow to continue - but if you need to choose a different time, I’m agreeable to that, as well.”
“Uh, I’ve got physical therapy after school tomorrow, but I can probably come after that.”
Yusuke shakes his head.
“No. Physical therapy makes you sore, does it not? I would not want you to be uncomfortable. We can arrange for a different day - I have plenty of time before the project is due in class, so there’s no rush.”
“Alright. Well, it’s still kinda early. Wanna go get ramen? I’ll pay.”
“Ramen! I have worked up quite an appetite.”
For a week or so, that’s how things go. Ryuji goes to Yusuke’s place after school and gets twisted like a doll into the same pose as on the first day. By the third day, he puts himself in the correct pose on his own, though Yusuke still comes and fine-tunes things until he feels satisfied. Yusuke is exceedingly quiet when he’s painting, so Ryuji brings earbuds and listens to music to entertain himself. And when the lighting has shifted too much for Yusuke’s liking, they go grab a bite and hang out together.
“So, really, dude, why’d you want me of all people to model for you?” Ryuji asks over lunch on the third day. “I could get askin’ Ann or Haru or someone, but me?”
“The assignment was to explore symbolism in our art,” Yusuke says, meticulously placing ginger on his beef bowl, as though that was an art in itself. “I decided on color symbolism - the color gold, in particular.”
“I’m still not getting it.”
“It will make more sense when you see the final piece.”
“Well, I wanna know now. I’m too impatient.”
“I expect to finish it tomorrow, so you won’t have to wait long. I’m sure you can bear it until then, yes?”
Ryuji groans.
“I guess,” he sulks. “I ain’t got a choice, do I?”
“You do not,” Yusuke smiles serenely.
Ryuji pushes his rice around on his plate, pouting.
"You're so quiet while you paint," he says, just to break the silence. "I end up just sittin' there watching you most of the time, since I can't play on my phone or anything without messing up the pose. I've looked at your face so much lately, I'm kind of startin' to feel like I could paint you, next."
Yusuke chuckles at that. "I would be interested in how your vision of me differs from my own," he says.
"I wasn't serious, dude," Ryuji grins. "I'm not a good artist."
"Have you tried? 'Good' art isn't always what's done with the best technique, you know. I would like to see what kinds of art you could create, Ryuji. You should try it next time you visit - you may even use my supplies."
On Ryuji's next visit, Yusuke prepares two easels - one with a fresh canvas and one with his nearly-completed piece. When Ryuji walks in and sees the second one, he stops in his tracks.
"Dude, I told you I wasn't serious," he laughs, though the sound has an uncertain edge to it.
"I'm aware. I, however, was quite serious."
"Whatever I paint is gonna be embarrassing compared to yours."
"Nonsense. Although, you certainly aren't obligated - I cannot force you to partake, after all."
Ryuji looks at the canvas, then at Yusuke, eyes searching Yusuke's expression. Then he shrugs.
"What the hell," he says. "May as well, right? Even if it ends up looking like crap, tryin' the stuff you're interested in is kinda part of bein' friends, right?"
And so, in a weird twist, both of them take a seat behind an easel. Yusuke's piece is very nearly complete, and the finer details he has to finish are things he doesn't need Ryuji to model for any more - things like background details or refining textures. He works on his painting, while Ryuji, seated across from him behind his own canvas, paints without asking Yusuke to so much as strike a pose or move for better lighting. Yusuke quivkly becomes so absorbed in his work that he forgets Ryuji is even there.
When Yusuke has finished his piece, he sits his brush aside and steps away from the canvas to get a wider angle on the whole painting.
"Finished," he says when he's sure he's satisfied with it.
Ryuji looks up from his work. “You’re done? Can I see it now?”
“Yes, you may. First, however: Is your piece finished? I would very much like to see it."
It's really not good," Ryuji says, looking squarely at the floor and not at Yusuke.
Yusuke is not deterred, however. He steps around Ryuji's easel to stand next to Ryuji, who is still seated in front of his painting.
It's a portrait of Yusuke, that is certain.
"You did not have to paint me, you could have chosen any subject," he says.
"Yeah, I know. But you're room's kinda... empty. There wasn't really anything else, and you're such a pretty boy anyway, you seemed like the best thing to pick."
Yusuke doesn't say anything about that, just hums in acknowledgement as he looks over Ryuji's art. It is certainly not technically skilled, Ryuji did not lie about that. But it's far from the worst thing Yusuke's ever seen. Even beautiful pieces with flawless technique can be ruined by having no feeling behind them - and the same is true in reverse. Pieces that are disasters from a technique perspective can still be quite beautiful in their own way if they're painted with heart. Ryuji's piece is certainly a disaster from a technical standpoint, and his skills at drawing and composition are also... lacking. But the portrait of Yusuke does appear to be done with painstaking detail given to even mundane things, like the precise way his hair curls at the nape of his neck and the shape of his eyelashes against his cheek.
"You've captured many minutiae of my face," Yusuke observes.
"What's a minutiae?"
"Small, trivial details. Things most people would overlook."
"You think? I've spent so much time the last few days starin' at your face while you've been painting, I've had plenty of time to notice all sorts of little stuff, I guess." Ryuji rubs the back of his neck, sheepish.
"It is... quite endearing, actually. To be captured so lovingly."
"L-lovingly?" Ryuji's voice cracks on the word.
Yusuke looks up from the painting, blinking at Ryuji. "Yes. It's apparent in your piece - although technically sloppy, the attention paid to precise, inconsequential details tells me quite a lot."
He hadn't been aware that Ryuji paid such close attention to the tiny details of his form, so the painting does tell him a lot. The presence of such minutiae reveals more about Ryuji's feelings for Yusuke than perhaps Ryuji realizes. It's not just anyone whom you'd depict in such painstaking, specific detail, after all. The presence of these depictions means Ryuji has noticed these teensy details about Yusuke - and that is telling in itself. They're in the painting because they're not inconsequential minutiae to Ryuji. Yusuke is stuck by the idea that Ryuji, seated across the room from himself, has likely been staring at his face while he paints and noticing - memorizing - these stupid, specific details; he has been watching Yusuke's face over the last week or so and has found himself taken enough with these things that they have shown up in his depiction of Yusuke.
"This is way more embarrassing than I thought," Ryuji grumbles, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Enough about mine, now I wanna see yours."
"Fair enough," Yusuke agrees, moving back to his own easel.
Ryuji stands from his stool to follow, wincing.
“Ah, my leg does not like being in that position for so long - dude, that’s what you’ve been painting?”
“Yes. I’m quite pleased with it.” Yusuke says, but when he looks at Ryuji’s face, he notices how Ryuji’s eye darts about the canvas. “You seem… disconcerted. Is something the matter?”
“That doesn’t look like me, man.”
“What are you talking about?” He looks back at his painting.
Ryuji’s form is captured, backlit by the golden light of late-afternoon. The sharp, rough shape of his hair; the curvature of his shoulder and bicep; the shape of his handsome face, turned in profile to the viewer - all highlighted by the sunlight that casts rim lighting to the edges of his form. The yellow-toned light brings out the warmth in Ryuji’s summer-tan skin and his eyes, flecked with gold. His freckles, the way his yellow tank top bunches and folds across the planes of his stomach, even the scar above his knee that vanishes beneath his denim shorts; all of it is captured in loving, careful brush strokes. The background is simple, lighter near Ryuji in the center and fading to a darker shade on the edges of the canvas. An intricate gold design is depicted behind Ryuji’s head, delicate lines in a sort of sunburst.
“Of course it looks like you.”
“Man, you painted me so… so…” Ryuji crams his hands in his pockets, ears turning red. “Pretty.”
Yusuke’s brows furrow.
“I depicted you as I saw you. It is surprising to hear you don’t feel it resembles you.”
Ryuji’s quiet for a moment. Yusuke watches his expression, eager to understand his reaction to the piece. But his expression gives no clues on why he reacted the way he had - he just looks at it and turns steadily more pink-cheeked.
“Okay, I still don’t get it, though.” Ryuji finally says, chewing on his bottom lip. “Like, it looks nice. But if you wanted to paint something beautiful, you definitely should have asked one of our other friends.”
Yusuke crosses his arms, closing his eyes and thinking for a moment about how to explain it to Ryuji.
“I had hoped I would not need to explain; that the piece would speak for itself. Have I done a poor job conveying my intended message?”
“Uh… no, dude. Pretty sure the problem’s on me, not the painting.” Ryuji shifts his weight between his feet.
“I chose to explore the symbolism of the color gold.”
“Oh, man, did you pick me just because I’m blond?”
“Of course not. Gold has many possible symbolic meanings. It is often used to represent wealth or luxury, though with this piece I was more interested in its other meanings. Things like generosity, compassion, confidence, even at times courage. And if interpreted as a form of yellow, qualities like warmth and energy. Given these properties, it seemed natural I choose you as my muse for this piece. I must say, you cut quite a striking figure.”
Ryuji’s quiet for a long time.
“Dude,” he finally says, voice cracking in the middle in a way that Yusuke won’t make fun of, but that he suspects Ann or Akira would. “That’s… I mean, you really… you think that kinda thing about me?”
“What reason would I have to lie? You said it yourself - I could have asked any of our friends to be the subject of this piece and I chose you. I wouldn’t have done so if I didn’t think you fit the themes expressed in it perfectly. You’re still making a bizarre expression. Is something bothering you?”
“I didn’t know you thought so much of me. And you made me look so pretty in your painting… I didn’t know that’s how you saw me.”
Yusuke tilts his head, eyebrows scrunching up.
“Of course that’s how I see you. That’s how we all see you, Ryuji. You are an attractive person with many good qualities, inside and out. Surely you knew this?”
“Wha - dude, you can’t just say that sort of thing.”
“I don’t follow.” Yusuke blinks at Ryuji.
“That's - it's embarrassing, man.”
Yusuke frowns. “How so? You’re beautiful, kind and compassionate. Would you like me to call one of our other friends and ask their opinion? I am certain any of them would agree with me.”
“Man, I…” Ryuji scratches the back of his neck and looks away, tips of his ears turning red. “I dunno. Thanks, I guess. It kinda sounds like you're flirting with me or something, though."
Flirting... that had not been Yusuke's intention.
"I apologize," he says.
Ryuji's little half-brows furrow. "Huh? What're you apologizing for?"
"For making you feel I was flirting with you. I did not mean to make you uncomfortable."
"I'm not uncomfortable. I wouldn't be uncomfortable if you were flirting with me, I was just saying that giving me all that praise sounded like you had a crush on me or something." A pause. "... Were you flirting with me, or...?"
"I'm sorry, Ryuji, I'm not sure I follow. I was under the impression you did not want to feel like I was flirting with you, but now you seem as if you do want me to flirt with you. Have I misunderstood again?"
Ryuji's whole face lights up bright red, like the head of a match catching fire.
"F-forget it, man!"
Yusuke doesn't want to forget it, though. If Ryuji has feelings for him he'd quite like to know - in no small part because of the feelings he has for Ryuji.
"If you don't mind, I'd like to clear this up. Earlier, did you mean to imply that you'd like me to have a crush on you? Because, and you'll have to forgive my forwardness, I do," he says. "I was not trying to be flirtatious earlier, my praise was genuine. But I do. Have feelings for you, that is."
Ryuji stares at Yusuke, eyes wide, as if Yusuke had suddenly begun speaking in tongues.
"Uh," he says, eloquently. "I. Yeah, that's... I like you, too."
Yusuke smiles. "Oh, how serendipitous. If I'm honest, I somewhat suspected as much after seeing your painting this afternoon, but it is good to know for certain." With no further fanfare, he leans over and kisses Ryuji on his warm, flushed cheek. “Regardless, thank you again for your help - the piece turned out better than even I could have hoped.”
Then Yusuke goes to work cleaning up his paints and brushes, leaving Ryuji staring after him, stunned and blushing from ear to ear.