Just Keep Smilin'

Anew Every Morning, Part 5

EPISODE ONE: Anew Every Morning

Part 5: I'd Come Back for You

"All right, that's enough. We really oughta get to your place now, Luke."

They had been gazing off into the distance for what was probably several minutes now, appreciating the scenery and the company of each other. A part of Luke didn't want to leave for home right then. They had just got here, hadn't they? If anything, he would at least want something to remember this moment by.

Luke truly appreciated Nick bringing him up here. Aside from the view of his hometown, he had gotten them to explore and jump across the rooftops just as if they were children again. Luke couldn't remember anymore why he'd been so anxious to leave for the city as soon as they came home from college. He supposed that, perhaps, he just hadn't realized what he was missing out on until being away from home for two entire years.

| Let's go. |

| Just a bit longer... |

"Just wait a bit, man. I want a lil' somethin' so that I don't forget this. I ain't got the chance to appreciate a view this nice with my best friend in a long while," Luke said.

"I always figured my memory was enough, even if it ain't the best. Sometimes, I think that takin' a picture in your mind is better than takin' a picture with a camera or whatever it is you want," Nick responded.

(O) Sketch

(X) Back out

"Maybe that's true, but I still wanna capture this moment. You never know what's gonna happen. I mean, I might just forget everythin' one day when we're old and this'll be the only thing I have to remember this time by."

Luke reached for his sketchbook, which he had left on the ground next to them. He retrieved his pencil from his pocket and sat down, leaning against the spire. Nick seated himself too, observing Luke's work.

Nick watched as Luke quickly began a rough sketch of what they saw, glancing up at the scene occasionally for reference. "All right, mister Monet. Go ahead... capture the 'moment' or whatever," he teased.

"So, you've been payin' at least a bit of attention to my lectures. I'm surprised you could even say his name right," Luke chuckled. He continued, rushing through his initial outline as his large hand moved all over the sheet of paper. Luke could afford to shade and complete the detail work later, as the image was still clear in his mind.

"Not really. You just wouldn't ever shut up about... what the hell're they called? Impressionists?" Nick justified.

"See? You do give a damn." Luke laughed.

"Whatever. Like you'll ever make an... impression." Nick folded his arms and smiled smugly, thinking that was amazingly witty.

Luke smirked. "Funny you say that, 'cause that's what some of those art critics used to say about him and his friends, after he decided to name his famous seascape paintin' Impression, Sunrise, thinkin' it was funny or somethin'." He looked back at Nick expectantly.

"Don't go on about your dead old painters again." Nick rolled his eyes, uninterested.

Luke smiled, amused. "Fine, I won't bore you."

Nick waited for Luke to finish his basic sketches, to be completed later. The faint rectangles and ovals and triangles slowly took more complex forms, and Nick could begin to recognize the view being replicated onto the paper. He saw Luke begin to sketch two figures in the foreground. Obviously, the two of them gazing off into the distance. After a while, Luke folded his sketchbook and got up, deciding he had made sufficient progress to finish the details at home.