Ballad of Arts *DISCONTINUED* (Sammy Lawrence x Henry)

Chapter Two |S| Catching Up

Another day of work, as the same old smell of ink pressed around me like life's usual. As I orchestrated "The Lighter Side Of Hell", I could hear Susie's heavenly voice pitch in at the last verse as everything came together.

I was glad to finally have gotten that song done. Me and Susie walked to the break room as she hummed the tune "Willow Weep For Me", my favourite song. When we got there, Susie sat down at a table for her lunch break as I went to join her.

From further down the hall I could here Henry and Joey's voices. I leaned on the wall with a cup of coffee with my eyes focused in the direction of the conversation. After some eavesdropping on what started out as a friendly chat between good childhood friends started to turn a little sour.

"-You just wait Henry! Someday I'll cheat death itself with just a pencil and a dream!" Joey's voice exclaimed with enthusiasm. "Er...right..." Henry replied sounding somewhat disappointed.

I peeked around the corner, where at the end of the hall I saw Joey walk away from Henry, who let out a small sigh.

"Hey!" I called out, giving a slight smile as Henry turned towards me. "O-oh, hi Sammy." Henry replied, giving the same slight smile and a small wave. I could tell that he was feeling down, and I understood that since Joey was self-centred and ignorant to reality.

"You okay...?" I asked, aware that something was wrong. "N-no I'm fine," he replied "Joey's just...changed a little since the last time I ever met him...". "Joey can be somewhat stubborn, but don't let that get to you." I said, reassuringly. "Right..." Henry muttered, still feeling a little down. "So how is it working here?" I asked, just to change the subject. "Great so far," he replied "So what are you doing?". "Well I'm just having lunch with Susie Campbell but I think I'll also head home early." I said. "Well after work, maybe we could go get coffee together?" Henry asked. "Yeah! That'd be great!" I exclaimed.

I suppose it was a good time to catch up with each other and I rarely go out.

After lunch with Susie, I headed to the cafe downtown and sat down at a table near the window. I waited since I knew Henry would be working late and looked out the window, watching the sky turn into a sunset and automobiles pass by. The interior of the cafe had a relaxing scent of coffee and baked sweets.

In the evening, Henry finally arrived as I waved to him.

"Sorry for taking so long." Henry apologized, as two cups of coffee steamed in front of us. "It's all right." I replied. "I think it's a nice time just to catch up with each other." he said. "But we only talked to each other once, right?" I implied. "Yeah, But still," Henry insisted "Did you ever share your written songs with anyone after we met?". "No, but I did carry on with my music career..." I replied "...thanks to you...".

My cheeks felt hot when I said that and I could see tints of pink around Henry's cheeks as well. We didn't say anything else until one of us decided to break the silence.

"So I never told you this but..." Henry spoke "...back in high school, I watched you sing and play music in the abandoned hallway at break.". My face felt even more hot, "Y-you did?". "Y-yeah, I always went to the abandoned hallway so no one crowded me," he said "And then I found you, so I always came there at break just to listen.". "That hall is nice and quiet, so I always go there." I replied. "Because everyone thought it was haunted right?" Henry asked. "Not as far as I'm concerned." and we both laughed.

We chatted for awhile more about our careers, until the conversation led to Joey Drew.

"Say, was Joey ever supernatural lover and somewhat talked about immortality when he was younger?" I asked. Henry gave me a strange look and replied "No, he was never like that when we were younger, until I talked to him today he does seem..." he trailed off. "Joey can get on peoples nerves, but don't take it too much to heart." I said, reassuringly. "I know." Henry said, scratching the back of his head.

"So how's working here so far?" I asked. "It's alright so far, even with Joey being stubborn," he replied "But on the bright side, I've sketched out a new character that I think everyone is going to love".

We chatted more about his new character, after awhile he glanced at his watch. "Sorry, I gotta go back to work." Henry said, scraping back the chair he was sitting on. "Work?" I repeated questionably. "Joey gave me some time off to see you, but after that I had to go back to work." he replied and left.

I sat by myself in the cafe, only thinking about Henry. So after two hours I went to the studio just to see if Henry went home.

When I got to the studio, at the animation level, I found Henry sleeping at his desk.

"Huh...".

A. N: Sorry for the short chapter, it's just a filler I suppose. But thank you for sticking around for more chapters.