Work Text:
Jack liked the subway more than most people. He had to ride it everyday but he didn't mind. He liked how simple it was. All he needed to know was the direction and how many stops. He liked tracing the little lines on the maps, the crossing lines of colors and dots that could get him across the whole city. Most of all he liked sketching the people he saw.
He drew anyone who caught his eye. The old woman seated across from him in the cat sweater. The pretty girl who stepped on holding hands with another girl. The child seated in his mother's lap. The man sleeping peacefully till his stop. Jack liked to capture them in the pages of his sketchbook, each sketch holding the person in the pages. He sat quietly, observing and recording.
Davey didn't like the subway very much. There were too many people. He hated being jostled when they stopped too quickly, hated brushing against strangers in the noisy cars. He preferred drowning the chatter out with his headphones, blissfully succumbing to his own private bubble of sound. He couldn't do anything about the space problem, but at least he could have something.
Jack spotted Davey the moment he entered the subway. He stood taller than most of the people that massed on, his head down like he was trying to blend in. Jack stood, offering his seat. Davey paused in front of him, squinting at Jack with perfect blue eyes. He could sit in the offered seat or stand and be jostled about in a crowd of strangers.
Davey sat, thanking Jack before stuffing his headphones in.
Jack stood with his sketchbook open. He had good balance and trusted himself to draw and stand. He tried to draw some of the people, pointedly keeping his eyes off Davey. He half heartedly outlined the little girl in front of him, her chubby hand clutching a torn up stuffed rabbit. He didn't shade it, just left the contours and directed his attention to Davey.
Davey deserved his own page. Jack glanced down at Davey. He tried to stand far enough away to not crowd him, but there were a lot of people on the Subway. He carefully captured the curls of Davey's hair, pulling the lines down to shape his face. He did multiple drawings, capturing the different angles and expressions Davey made as he glanced around. Jack wanted him to look at him. He wanted to preserve the startling blue of his eyes, the graceful sweep of his eyelashes and his dark perpetually worried brows.
Davey did not look at him, preferring to keep to himself. He focused on his music, ignoring the heavy air of the filled subway.
The subway screeched to a stop with a sudden lurch. Jack, usually so well balanced, tumbled. He didn't fall to the ground, instead collapsing into Davey's lap, his sketchbook falling open on his lap. He froze, dazed and quite shocked to have fallen.
Davey grabbed him on instinct, yelping as Jack landed on him. Davey blushed looking at the handsome boy, stuttering for something to say. His eyes swept quickly over Jack's body before landing on the open sketchbook.
"Is that me?" Davey managed.
Jack unfroze, snapping the sketchbook shut and jumping to his feet. "I'm so sorry." He spluttered, embarrassed. He didn't know how he was supposed to answer. He fumbled with his sketchbook, ducking his head to avoid looking at Davey.
"It was really good." Davey said, trying to relieve the tension. People streamed off of the subway, parting around Davey and Jack as they exited.
Jack sank into the now empty seat next to Davey. He thumbed through the pages of his sketchbook, flipping it back open for Davey as the subway moved forwards again.
"I draw people who come on." He tilted the page to show Davey his drawings from earlier in the week. "I ride almost the whole line, gotta find something to pass the time." He explained. "I'm Jack. Jack Kelly." He added as an after thought.
"I'm David Jacobs." Davey said. He nodded at Jack, his eyes following the lines across the page. "These are really good. Are you an artist?"
Jack sort of nodded sort of shrugged. "I want to be one, I'm trying to save money right now."
"So you have more drawings in here?" Davey wanted to see the ones of him.
Jack seemed to understand. He flipped quickly to the page he had drawn Davey on. His cheeks were a little flushed as he showed Davey the many sketches.
"These are really nice," Davey breathed. He touched one of the drawings, a profile Jack had done in painstaking detail. "You even got my nose right."
Jack laughed. "I like it." He said without thinking. Davey blinked at him. Jack tried to say something that wouldn't make it seem like he just really liked how Davey looked. "It's interesting lines. And form. It makes the space more dynamic." He didn't even know what he was saying.
Davey nodded anyways. "They're nice." He said again. He was a little pink. He glanced up at the subway map, checking how many stops he had left. "What stop are you?"
Jack checked the map. "Next one."
"Me too," Davey said. He didn't know what to say.
"Same stop," Jack said, a little distracted. "Do you want to maybe grab a coffee or something? Do you have time?"
Davey nodded. "Yeah." He checked his watch. "Yeah, I would like to."
Jack smiled. He closed his sketchbook, tucking it into his bag.
Davey watched him, admiring his fine hands. They were artist hands, long delicate fingers and slim wrists. Davey sort of wanted to hold his hand. He busied himself with wrapping his headphones and putting them in his pocket.
The subway stopped again, doors opening with a ding. Jack and Davey stood, sticking close to each other as they exited to the platform.
"I know a place," Jack said, grabbing Davey's hand to lead him through the crowd.
Davey stumbled after him, clutching tight to his hand. It was soft, keeping Davey near him as he moved out of the subway stop.
Jack dropped Davey's hand once they were out of the crowd. Davey wished he hadn't.
"It's just down here," Jack said, following one of the streets down a line of shops. He pulled the door open for Davey, following him inside. "What do you want? I'll get you it."
Davey glanced at the menu, picking out something reasonable quickly. "Double shot vanilla espresso."
Jack grinned. "Double espresso?"
He said it like expresso. Davey laughed. "There's no X."
"What?" Jack said, looking at the pastries.
"It's an S. ESpresso, Jack."
Jack turned to squint at Davey. "I don't know this stuff dammit I drink hot chocolate with gross shit mixed in."
Davey choked on a laugh. He liked Jack a lot. He knew what he wanted in life and found joy in it all.
"Fine, but I still want my ESpresso."
Jack scrunched his nose up, an unfairly cute expression. He turned to order, getting a hot chocolate for himself and a cinnamon roll "to split."
They sat together at a high table, Jack kicking his legs as he sipped his drink. "Want me to cut this up? Or we can just tear it." He said, gesturing to the cinnamon roll.
"Just rip it." Davey said, pulling off some for himself. He sipped his coffee, grateful for the kick of energy it gave him.
"Can I draw you again?" Jack asked.
Davey put his coffee down. "Yeah, okay. Should I do something?"
Jack shook his head. "You don't need to it's just sketches. Enjoy the cinnamon roll."
Davey nodded. He had some more cinnamon roll, acutely aware of the sound of Jack's pencil on the paper. "So where are you heading?" He asked to break the silence.
"I'm going to class early to finish a painting." Jack said, still drawing.
Jack focused a bit too much on Davey's lips, rendering them in detail multiple times. He sketched Davey's eyes, his nose, bits and pieces of his face before he flipped the page over and drew his whole face.
"What are you painting?" Davey asked. He was almost out of coffee.
Jack drew the rough form of Davey's body, leaving the lines unfinished compared to his face. "Santa Fe. There are nice mountains and stuff. Makes an interesting composition. What do you study?"
Davey was technically undecided. He wasn't good at committing to things, always worried he chose the wrong thing. "History." He said, partially true. He had class today at least.
Jack glanced up to smile at him. "That's really cool. I wish I could remember more stuff I learned in high school. I can tell you all about Kaiser Wilhelm at least."
Davey laughed. "His withered left arm?" He joked.
"Yeah!" Jack took a long drink of his hot chocolate. "Well, I don't want to keep you from class, Davey."
Davey finished his coffee, glancing at his watch. He hadn't realized how quickly time was passing. "Oh, you're right. Thank you, Jack. This was really nice."
Jack stood, ripping the page of drawings out. He handed them to Davey. "Maybe we can do this again sometime?"
Davey nodded, taking the paper. He didn't look at it yet, instead focusing on Jack. "I would like that."
Jack beamed. He leaned forward, his lips grazing Davey's cheek for a brief moment. Davey felt his face warm. He blinked a few times, fighting off a grin.
"I'll see you soon, David." Jack promised.
"See you, Jack." Davey left the cafe, glancing down at the drawings.
He stopped on the sidewalk. They were beautiful, prettier than Davey thought a photo of himself could be. And Jack had written his phone number as a signature. Davey put the paper in his bag as gently as possible.
He was looking forward to the subway tomorrow.