A Little Work (Lyric/Jory)

[Jory Addison]

"Hmm." Jory looked at the wall and bent to color the paint and pick it up. "Well, this wall is ours." He dipped his finger into the lavender paint and wrote Lyric + Jory, then surrounded it with a heart. They hadn't kissed, though Jory wanted to, contact at all had been minimal, but he'd been enjoying this. Maybe because of Emilian he was able to be patient. He stepped back from his newest addition, then looked over at Lyric with a small smile.

[Trent Frey]

Lyric smiled, but inside he was nervous. That seemed like too big of a declaration, but how was he supposed to tell Jory that he wasn't comfortable with it, that a large part of him still wanted to cling to the shadows and pretend nobody knew but them? Maybe they'd forgotten since Jory had spread it around the first time. Maybe people just thought he was still being guarded by the Prefects. He didn't want anyone in the shop seeing something so personal, but he couldn't destroy it, either.

[Jory Addison]

Jory raised an eyebrow at Lyric when he didn't say anything and his smile faltered. He was determined not to let his mood fall, though, and stepped up close to Lyric. "Don't like it?" he asked. "Maybe I shoulda used a different color." Or maybe he should have let Lyric write his own name so it was more of a cooperative thing.

[Trent Frey]

"I like it," Lyric said, a pleading note to his voice, even as he looked away. "It's just... it should be ours... right?" Did he make sense? Was he causing trouble? Had he just picked a fight by not being happy with something? He looked up, worried. "I'm sorry, just don't listen to me, forget I said that, I like it, okay?" He didn't want to hurt Jory like he used to, didn't want to lose him again, and he squatted to dip his fingers in the paint, then made strips of war paint on his cheeks, trying to be playful aggain for Jory so he could be happy.

[Jory Addison]

"Hmm." Jory turned and looked at it again. "Hang a picture over it," he said. "Then it'll be our little secret." It wasn't a big deal, he wasn't going to get mad at Lyric for it. He could understand, couldn't he? "Say whatever you want, okay?" he said, looking back at Lyric. He smiled and brought his fingers across his own cheeks to mimic Lyric.

[Trent Frey]

Lyric nodded, but he still wasn't convinced. People thought they meant the whole, tell me anything, but the moment you did, all hell broke loose. He smiled anyway at Jory's attempt, which would have to be enough. "I'll put a really good picture there," he promised.

[Jory Addison]

Jory nodded and looked at the wall, tilting his head and imagining a picture there. "I haven't had this much fun in a long time," he said. It'd been a long time. He had had fun with Emilian in the beginning, but the last couple months had been pins and needles hoping nothing bad happened.

[Trent Frey]

"Really?" Lyric asked. It was heartening to hear that Jory was having so much fun, and Lyric thought back to the past however long, to them making handprints and writing and splattering paint at each other, and his moment of insecurity didn't seem so important anymore.

He stood, rather than crouching by the lavender paint, and looked at the wall again. "That was a lot of fun," he agreed. And he thought he knew what picture he'd hang there, after the paint had dried, and after he started making pictures again.

[Jory Addison]

Jory smiled and nodded. "Now we just need to do the rest," he said, glancing around the room. He ran a hand through paint-blotted hair, leaving it sticking up in even odder directions than normal. "Your shop is going to be awesome. Everyone's gonna love it." If only because it was so much fun.

[Trent Frey]

Lyric's gaze moved to Jory's stiffening orange hair, distracting him from the thought of painting the rest of the building, from the thought of having other people inside it. He was working without a goal, without a thought to the future. He was just doing what Jory said, trying to please him, and thrilled at any chance to get out of the castle.

He forgot to say anything at the thought, and as he had so long ago that he'd forgotten, he found himself staring, finding what was left of the brown beneath the orange and the flecks of other colors, then looking down to catch on vivid blue so much more alive than the prints and spots on the wall.

[Jory Addison]

While Jory didn't immediately feel Lyric watching him, it didn't take him long to notice. He looked over at Lyric and smiled. "I'd like to kiss you," he said, then dropped his eyes again. "If you were okay with it." He didn't want to push, didn't want to ruin the day. He picked up the brush he'd been using last and ran his thumb over the hardened bristles.

[Trent Frey]

Lyric's breath caught, and his eyes moved to the casual way that Jory's fingers moved against the paintbrush. Had he been thinking about it too, on some level? His heart thudded as he shifted closer, trying to gather his nerves, and tilted his head down ever so slightly. He couldn't seem to say yes, but he was willing to meet Jory halfway.

[Jory Addison]

Jory looked up at Lyric again and after a moment he turned toward him, keeping his hands busy with the paintbrush. Another moment and he tilted his head to meet Lyric's lips with his own. His eyes hovered open long enough to be sure Lyric wasn't pulling away before closing. He could keep his hands busy, he knew.

[Trent Frey]

The spark at the touch of Jory's lips against his wracked his entire body. They'd kissed before, a long time ago, but it hadn't felt like this, had it? He was so much more aware, and though it didn't occur to him, this time his full attention was on that contact between them. This time Lyric knew how to kiss, and this time he'd been talking to someone for months about it being okay for him to have the thoughts he was having. This time, Lyric's body had been through so much, then held back from it for so long, that this felt like the start of a vivid memory.

[Jory Addison]

Jory's hand tightened around the handle brush and his other paused against the bristles. He hadn't kissed Lyric in nearly a year, and it had been longer since it had happened sober. At least now there was no doubt that Lyric was sober, there were no questions in his mind about that. He carefully asked for it to deepen.