"Whatcha doing?"
Jean's pencil halted as he heard the interruption, groaning to himself as he put the art tool down. He felt a warm breath at the side of his ear, just knowing who was taking a gander at his art.
"It's nothing, Floch." Jean grumbled, staring down at the sketch of a young girl with big eyes and a ponytail. She was smiling wide, small crumbs surrounding her mouth. Her expression was unbelievably happy, though. A large grin was on her face, almost childish.
Clearly Floch didn't take the hint to leave Jean alone. He continued to lean over the back of Jean's chair, his mouth making an 'o' shape in surprise. He knew Jean liked drawing but never really took the chance to see his artwork.
"Do you like her? I thought she was interested in that blond Marleyan cook?" Floch pointed out as he took a seat in the library chair. Ever since people from across seas introduced blueprints for new architecture and furniture things had been refurbished, such as the library. The room was empty apart from the two cadets, Jean thought he'd be safe from question here.
Apparently not.
Shaking his head, Jean turned to face the redhead. "I don't like Sasha in the weird way you're thinking. I just like drawing people." He explained bluntly, although he didn't think it was weird to draw people he definitely wouldn't show them. If his friends laughed at him Jean didn't think he'd be able to live it down.
Floch hummed and picked up a nearby sketchbook, flipping through the pages. There was only a few pages that had been used, he recognised the faces of his comrades. Floch gritted his teeth at the sight of Armin, it had only been a few years after Erwin's death but he still held some resentment towards the rest of the cadets. Not Jean, though. Not anymore.
Suddenly the redhead had an idea.
"You have to draw me." Floch demanded, putting the sketchbook down. He watched as Jean's face looked surprised and suspicious. "Seriously. These are really good." He threw a compliment in there in hope that Jean would sketch his face too.
The blond sighed, which Floch assumed was a sigh of annoyance. He soon learned that it was a sigh of defeat, as Jean placed the picture of Sasha aside.
"Alright, fine. Just sit there and don't move, it'll probably turn out better if I can see you at the same time." Jean explained as he positioned himself to be facing across from his friend. He didn't mind having to draw the other, especially since Sasha's portrait was almost finished anyway.
His hands reached to Floch's face, gently gripping his jaw and adjusting the position of his face. "There," he finally said. "The lighting is perfect."
Floch just smiled and sat patiently, watching as Jean picked up the sketchbook and started drawing. It wasn't that boring at all, Floch was able to sit and relax as he watched Jean's eyes flicker between him and the page. He felt his lips twitch up in amusement, Jean looked more serious and concentrated than usual.
"Do you draw people in front of you often?" Floch questioned curiously, trying to start up some sort of conversation. He noticed Jean pause for a moment, he looked rather frozen. But, he resumed himself and continued sketching.
"No," Jean answered, still not breaking concentration. He only brought his hand away from the page to give it a small shake in the air, not wanting it to get sore from being in the same position for so long. "There was someone, it was long ago." Jean added, smiling sadly at the page in his hands.
Floch grew quiet again after that, not daring to ask anymore questions. He did feel rather special that Jean didn't draw everybody like this, now questioning if he had a closer bond with Jean than most. It sounded ridiculous to himself at first, it was Connie and Sasha who Jean laughed and goofed around with. But perhaps this was something deeper than that, something that Connie and Sasha might not understand. Something they'd just laugh at.
Finally, Jean pulled his pencil away from the paper. After a good few minutes of hearing the sounds of scribbles it was complete. "Done." Jean sang as he dropped the pencil on the table, taking one last look at the drawing pridefully before handing it over to the redhead. "Do you like it?" Jean asked, staring intently.
Floch's breath hitched in his throat. The paper revealed a smiling young man, looking right back at Floch with endearing eyes. It was shaded perfectly, the cheeks even showing a blush spread across them. Floch couldn't really believe that this was him, he thought this was something far more beautiful.
"Woah." He whispered, turning back to a smug Jean. "This is perfect, Jean. Really." Floch was completely sincere, his heart beating loudly in his chest. It was strange to feel this happy over something like art, but he wasn't complaining.
"You made me look so happy." Floch added, admiring it even more. He was still in shock.
He turned to Jean when he heard a chuckle.
"You look so happy." Jean responded, pointing to Floch's face. Said male reached his hands to his cheeks, literally feeling the small smile that had consistently been on his face. The skin on his cheeks was warm under his fingertips, making him only realise now he had been blushing. Jean had drawn Floch exactly how he had looked.
Jean didn't tease him about it, instead just smiling too. "You can keep it if you want." He offered, thinking that the redhead might want to. "For the record, I was going to draw you in here too." He continued with a slight blush, tapping his sketchbook. "Just so you don't feel like I'd of left you out or anything." He added, not wishing to sound too cheesy.
Barely hearing a word Jean said, Floch nodded along anyway. His eyes hadn't been torn away from the paper. "Thanks." He mumbled, indeed wanting to keep the drawing. "This is really nice."
The blond rose from his chair and tucked it in. "Don't mention it. I'll see you at dinner, yeah?" Jean asked as he collected his art tools and paper from the table. "Later, Floch."
Floch gave him a nod and finally looked away, a hand covering the side of his face in an attempt to hide his ridiculous expression. Specifically his blush. "Uh yeah, see ya."
Later that night the redhead pinned the drawing to his wall, thankfully he got his own room so no one had to see him gushing over the drawing as he put it up. Floch assumed his expression as he hung it up was the same as in the picture, giving him a small bit of hope that not everyone saw him as some arrogant loudmouth who couldn't ever be happy.
