Work Text:
Gavin wasn’t sure what came over him when the model walked out from the back room, wearing a robe; from the moment his eyes landed on his face, he was just… awestruck. Dark hair, light eyes, full lips. He was fucking beautiful.
It wasn’t like this was the first Life Drawing class he’s taken, either. After three years as an Arts major, it was starting to become pretty monotonous. Hours-long studio classes, hundreds of dollars spent on art supplies, hustling across the university campus with large folder portfolios. Gavin’s seen many a nude model in classes, practiced translating what he saw with his eyes onto the canvas. But this time, for some reason, it was like his brain had decided to short-circuit.
Tina kicked his stool, literally jarring his focus back. “Dude, quit staring,” she whispered quietly, shaking her head in amusement. She inserted an earbud before reaching for a pencil.
Gavin felt a fierce blush creep up his neck. He cleared his throat as he went to adjust his station, fiddling with his canvas placement and the pencils and graphite at his side. When the professor made an announcement to the class – something about their project timeline, he wasn’t paying attention – he could still hear the blood rushing through his ears.
“Nines, you can go ahead and get situated,” the professor said lowly to the student model, nodding as he returned to the back of the room. It wasn’t long before he turned his radio on and filled the large studio with ‘90s throwbacks.
Gavin angled his head down to his canvas, affectively blocking his view from the model – Nines. What kind of name was Nines? It was stupid. Just like his stupid, handsome face. Tina was already sketching out outlines and shapes beside him. He leaned around the easel then, inhaling a shallow breath.
Nines was lounging on the small futon in the middle of the room, one leg folded behind the other as one hand sat loosely on a knee. A white sheet draped just barely over his hips. His form was lean, arms and chest and legs toned with muscle. Gavin felt warmth gather in his gut before he willed his hand to move.
Reigning in his focus, he marked fluid lines that followed the slope of Nines’ posture. Each time Gavin’s eyes flickered back to his muse, the butterflies in his stomach would lessen little by little. He raised his pencil in front of his eyes to measure proportions, hatching out circles and ovals and soft rectangles.
The room was generally quiet, save for the professor’s music and a couple students speaking silently amongst themselves. Gavin was finally getting into his groove, working methodically as he sketched the outline of Nines’ body and extended limbs. The figure on the canvas was taking shape, looking less like a throw-up of random shapes and more like a real humanoid.
He stood briefly to move his stool in order to get a better view of Nines, intent on getting a good rough sketch. Gavin switched to a darker pencil. He began first with his head, outlining the details of his features. Nines’ jaw was strong, sharp; his lips slightly parted, with a cupid’s bow that immediately drew him in; his nose was both delicate and defined, slightly freckled. For the briefest of moments, Gavin wondered what it would be like to kiss him – God, no, stop it – and shook the thought out of his head immediately.
When his gaze returned to his face, Nines was all but staring straight into his soul. Gavin froze for a moment, stilled after meeting the other man’s icy grey eyes. There was a twinkle of delight behind his eyes, a small smirk tugging at the corners of his lips that stirred the once resting butterflies in Gavin’s stomach. Nines sent a quick wink in his direction, pulling his bottom lip between his teeth before his face returned to its previous neutral expression.
Oh, he was done for. There was no way he could focus properly with Nines staring at him like that. Gavin’s brain melted as his heart threatened to jump out of his chest.
