"Christ," She cursed to herself quietly, letting go of the breath she was overly focused on holding in.
The noise of the buzzer pierced her concentration, causing the red pigment to bleed into the blue creating a panicked swirl of purple. She moved swiftly, pressing the button to let whoever was interrupting in before going back to what was once in front of her.
She hadn't really listened to the way the person entered, clumsier than anyone she would have recognized. She was accustomed to hearing Jamie's long sigh as he would plop down in his chair, already talking about nonsense she wasn't attached to, so much so she had almost added her customary mhmm's and oh really's.
She heard the voice before realizing to who it belonged, "Haven't seen you in a while."
She should have known, his voice being one of the most recognizable there is. Yet, as habitually as ever, she was too caught up in the way the paint was drying in front of her. She hadn't quite looked up at him yet as she tidied up quickly as if she were hiding what she was working on.
As she crumpled up the old paper towels and plunged a few brushes into the same cup of dirty water, she could see in her peripheral Damon moving towards her with ease. The space itself welcomed him better than she ever could.
"Damon," She greeted finally with a kind smile, "What are you doing here?"
"Looking for your counterpart," He matched her smile once he saw her eyes.
"He's hard to track down these days," She agreed with his sentiment, "I've been here for the past few months and I'm starting to think he won't come around at all."
"Think he's cheating on us?" Damon chided. He had almost missed her slight flush as she was doing a tremendous job at keeping her shock at bay, but as she continued to busy herself he knew his sudden appearance caused some sort of ripple.
"Oh, absolutely," She commented back before her motions halted almost suddenly to say, "I didn't know you'd be out here..."
"I'm meeting Jamie, actually," Damon said, pulling a hand from his pocket to look at his phone as if about to show her proof, "We're working on something."
"Gorillaz?"
He nodded his head and said, "Can't tell anyone though."
She mimed her lips being sealed before going over to the window to open it, the situation unintentionally warming her. She would have liked a warning that a guest would be coming to the studio. It had been months of just her and the countryside interacting with an occasional pop-in from Jamie. He was kind enough to lend her his extra space while her's was being fumigated but busy enough to not stay with her. But it wasn't the unexpected guest who threw her off it was how the interaction started almost identical to how the two had met.
He was trying to hold back his love, but lost easily as the words fumbled out, "I think I'm in love with you."
"I tend to have that effect," She mused through the cigarette between her lips as she held open the door for him, "I promise it's just the tattoos."
At the time, she had no idea of the sincerity of his confession. She believed it was only because she had answered the buzzer that allowed him to enter. She also believed that his intoxication helped. For better or for worse, she couldn't decide as they stepped further into the dark studio.
"You know," Damon started loudly, only to realize his volume and adjust, "I've seen you around here."
"Yeah," She confirmed absentmindedly at the start of small talk, something she detested, "Jamie has downstairs, I've got upstairs."
