Work Text:
The sound of a distant laugh could be heard from the near end of the cliff as Lisa scribbled vulgar structures of her friends' faces down on a journal she had recently bought from a shop that was rather old. She looks up at the heavens only to see winged creatures of various colors gloriously soaring throughout the great, enormous blue sky. Their flock was graciously fluttering in one direction simultaneously, showing their diverse glints of hue as they swiveled along the soft, fluffy colorless clouds hanging amongst the sky with them.
Lisa didn’t exactly consider herself best at tracing their faces, albeit she was often mistaken for an artist due to her eyes being mostly stuck on the pad as her hand mindlessly outlined the details of the people she loved; she refused to consider herself as one. It was more of a hobby she had no interest in improving at. It just so happens that she had an inkling to draw the faces of her friends at certain times and was exceptionally good at it.
She mostly preferred her random sketches at the back of the journal rather than the ones she planned to draw beforehand. For her, the portrayal of the details stuck in the faces of her friends were far better shown compared to the others. Messy, yet intricate sketches she went along as she drew, gave more meaning.
Though her illustrations looked fairly warm, Lisa was stuck on one particular person.
And she was getting really, really frustrated.
Lisa was having a little difficulty with Jean's portrait, her mind rather occupied with the countless thoughts and pictures of the younger woman's details tainted on her facial structure. Gods, why did Jean have to be so beautiful?
Lisa wasn't sure how to draw Jean's glorious blue eyes when even the smallest of characteristics seemed to cloud her mind to the extent wherein she wasn't even sure where to start anymore. The brunette was a little hesitant on how to describe the soft feeling of the acting grandmaster’s gaze piercing her own through the dirt of a pencil and paper.
Even the obvious thought of it was already making her head ache, a little timid on the way she was going to describe the vague scent of soft dandelion emitting from the neat collar of her cottoned shirt whenever Lisa attempted to lean her chin down on the frame of Jean's shoulders. The action itself felt a little stiff and awkward, considering how their heights were pretty much identical. Still, Lisa was constantly looking for the familiar warmth of Jean.
She scoffs lightly, finding it absurd how a stupid trail of pencil lead could possibly express the genuine feeling of Jean’s strong arms gently taking control over her waist whenever she would get the chance to hug her.
It’s sudden. Jean isn’t really the type of person to initiate skinship. You’d have to fish the moon yourself just to persuade her into holding your hand. But it'll feel as if you've exploded with flowers inside your chest when you subtly notice their hand shyly reaching to hold yours under the table. Lisa would always smile foolishly as she interlaced their fingers.
Despite her shyness, Jean was clingy. Once she gets a hold of Lisa, she won’t let go. She wouldn’t move a single inch. Jean would let Lisa shift around whilst she found a better position inside her arms, and you’ll still find her ridiculously long arms mindlessly wrapped around Lisa. Not seeming to be in the mood to release the emotions she feels around Lisa’s body.
To others, it might seem a little absurd that she was pouring her whole heart into portraying such complicated details and thoughts on the illustration of her best friend drawn on a plain page inside her journal.
But Lisa thought otherwise.
Lisa wanted to portray each and every single one of her thoughts onto her drawing. Only that it was hard and something she struggles with. It wasn’t something she was unable to do, it simply takes time.
Like how she wants to convey just how Jean is able to drive her mind crazy insane without lifting even so much of a finger, how she makes her feel perfectly comfortable whenever it would only be the two of them, how Jean doesn't make any type of silence suffocating, nor extremely awkward but makes it feel as if Lisa was leaning on the sky without a single unpleasant thought ruining the peace state of mind she possesses, and how Jean was never the type to voice out her emotions, but has never once forgotten to make Lisa feel loved and appreciated.
It may be as tenuous as a thin line, but it was there.
And Lisa would be dumb to not notice it.
Of course, she'd considered writing about it at certain times when she just couldn't seem to drain her thoughts. But then she thinks about how she could practically picture herself excessively writing and erasing different definitions of different words that perhaps could make it easier for her to convey her inner messages; and well, there goes the thought of writing a letter for her.
“You know, lifting your face from that journal isn’t gonna kill you.”
Lisa abruptly closes it shut and looks up.
There Kaeya stands, a shit-eating grin plastered on his face. The smirk itself was enough proof for Lisa to realize that he’d been standing nearby for a while. She groans internally, of course Kaeya had to pop up whenever she had complications about Jean.
As Lisa was about to remove Kaeya’s grin with a smack, horrified shrieks from behind them quickly took their attention in worry. Amber, the resident outrider, could be seen in the field of grass, running away from what seems like the terror that the little spark knight is.
Klee is laughing as she chases after Amber, her stamina unyielding. Amber rushes along the humongous grassy field of green filled with dirt and the fresh smell of wet meadow still below their feet. Amber laughs maniacally as she dodges Klee’s reaching little hand on the hem of her shirt.
“You sure you’d like to miss out on the fun?” Kaeya smiles at their interaction, gaining Lisa’s attention. He fiddles with the spine of the journal on her lap. “Now, let’s not be a buzzkill. Jean didn’t drive us all the way out here for you to glue your eyes on that paper.”
Lisa quickly retracts the journal from his prying hands, “Okay, I am not a buzzkill. The grass is simply too wet for me to play around. Have you any idea how much that’s going to stain my dress?” She points to her flowing white dress. Scoffing at the use of Jean’s name to guilt trip her. Lisa waves him off before he could counter her words. “I’ll pass.”
A series of boo's and yells of discouragement were thrown her way from the back.
Lisa rolls her eyes and momentarily drifts off onto her Jean-habited train of thoughts rummaging inside her head. As much as she wanted to join along on the temporary bliss they were having, she didn’t really have the energy to dash after her friends and end up smashing her face down the dirty ground, knowing how fond of jokes Kaeya and Amber are.
She figured it would be best to finish the piece she was currently working on rather than getting her mind obscured by the easy feeling of ecstasy. Archons, I sound like Jean.
“Lisa! Look out!”
The brunette looks above her shoulders to see a soccer ball angrily mounted towards her, aimed to hit her pretty face. Lisa couldn't process anything that was happening as the ball was still flowing in the air and could make contact with her any second now. All she could do was close her eyes, bracing for the impact.
But it never does.
Lisa leisurely opens her eyes to see Kaeya’s gloved hand gripping the ball. “You’d be waking up with a concussion if I wasn’t here, so you’re welcome.” He says almost sarcastically before walking off to the field.
Annoyed, Lisa stood up, dusting off her dress using a hand. She turns her heel and strides away from the edge, finding her foot mindlessly making its way towards one of the benches that was rather closed off, but not quite far enough to let them know that she was still around the area. Otherwise Jean would order an immediate search party for her, should she be gone for more than thirty minutes.
Faintly, she thinks of how long this one bench in particular had been left abandoned by people, wondering to herself if she should jog back to the car to gather the coat she had left on her leather seat and use it as a mat to sit down on. But nevermind, Lisa supposes that she had just previously sat down on the dry grass without a blanket below her, how bad could an old bench be?
She sighs before settling down, leaning her back comfortably against the rest and stacked her right leg on top of the other as she uses her knee as another kind of table.
Lisa stays still in that position, the top of her pencil on her right hand pressed against her chin as she purses her lips together. Submerged deep in thought as she tries to force herself to start illustrating the acting grandmaster. Mentally cursing herself for not being able to start sooner just as she originally had in mind. Why is this so fucking complicated.
“Are you okay?”
Fuck.
A soft voice like honey enters her ears and puts a stop at the train of thoughts mercilessly exploring the outskirts of her mind. Lisa averts her gaze away from the colorless clouds above her and snaps her head to the left side of the bench, only to see the muse of her mind sitting at the opposite edge, staring at the magnificent view set before her.
Lisa sighs, smiling. “I’m fine, my love. You need not worry about me.”
“You seem busy.” Jean’s head nodded towards the journal, she couldn’t help but steal a quick glance to the outlines of the face that seemed all too familiar for her own liking.
“I’m just… having a rather hard time with this piece.”
“Who is it?”
“You.”
Her muse doesn’t fight the small genuine smile creeping up to her lips. Jean was the one person Lisa hardly sketched down. Not because she disliked her, no, it was far from that. It was more because Lisa would have countless thoughts and ideas of how to possibly draw her, and being the most indecisive person that she is when it comes to having Jean, she couldn’t just stick to one. Usually, she would neglect the desperate desire to illustrate her muse; it never went well, seeing as her unfinished works would pile up one by one to the extent that she would have to force herself to finish a single work.
“Huh.” Jean looks dumbfounded.
Lisa laughed lightly, “I never know how to start with your eyes..” She trails off. “I know how to draw them, but I can’t really draw them. Do you get what I’m trying to say?”
Jean smiles before scooting over to sit next to her, scanning the dirted version of her face hesitantly.
“May I?” She smiles heartily and gestures to the item on Lisa’s knee. And Gods, Lisa just cannot find the will to reject that stupid, charming smile of hers.
She trusted enough that Jean would never flip onto another page without her permission, so without much thought, she handed the paper over to her. Jean carefully sets the journal down her lap, intently eyeing the portraits of her own self. She held her euphoric emotions deep within, opposed to the idea of Lisa seeing her acting oddly giddy for a mere sketch of herself.
She was so glad to be inside one of Lisa’s pages, knowing that someone actually took the time to study her and even attempted to draw it down. Especially when that someone was a particular person she had preferred more than others.
“This… it’s beautiful.” Jean barely managed to breathe out, fascinated by the amount of details she could see, and even if it wasn't finished, anyone that had eyes could tell it was going to turn out amazing.
"How can it not be? It's you." Lisa couldn't help but open her mouth. A part of her didn’t want to let those words out, worried that it might freak Jean out. Yet the other wants nothing more than to let her mouth blabber away before she could even regret not saying anything.
Ignoring the burning red blush creeping up her neck, Jean throws another question to divert the topic. “Do you ever color your works?” she asks, lightly trailing her fingertips down the rough surface.
“Oftentimes, yes. I never do yours, though.” Lisa nods in clarification. Then she brings her right leg down from her other and settles both of her hands on the bench just beside her frame.
“Why is that?” The blonde tore her eyes away from the journal and settled them on the empty spot between them.
Lisa doesn’t immediately answer her, unsure if she should let her mouth blabber her inner struggles away or if she should zip her mouth shut and let herself think. Ultimately, she shrugs. “I can’t find a color for your eyes.”
Clearly baffled by her words, Jean furrows her brows together, inching herself further away from Lisa before laughing awkwardly. “What do you mean? My eyes are just blue, you know that.”
They’ve known each other for several years, have been together countless times, have spent most of their early teenage years in each other’s presence, of course Lisa knew the color of her eyes. But as far as she has been breathing, Jean's eyes have never been just blue.
“No, it isn't.” Lisa shakes her head repeatedly to deny her sentence.
“It’s only blue, Lisa. How hard could it be to find blue?.” Jean pushes it even more, attempting to convince Lisa that she was exactly just like the people born into this world, gifted with nothing but the very same eye color as them.
Jean looked so extremely content with her sentences that it almost made Lisa lose her mind. Her eyes were anything but blue, and if Lisa had to remind her every day just to persuade her, she would gladly do so.
“I don’t see blue.”
“You didn’t tell me you were colorblind.” Jean attempts to joke as she hears the monotonous tone of her best friend’s voice. Once her eyes leave the sky and arrive to meet the genuinely confused green eyes searching for hers, she looks far away, unable to find the strength to meet Lisa’s strong gaze.
Lisa gently raises a hand under Jean’s chin, redirecting her focus onto herself. “I don’t see the plain, common blue because I see something more.. Distinct.” Lisa sighs so dreamingly. “Like a dimly lit fire in the middle of a blizzard.. so subtle, yet so daring. Something so little, yet so full of life.” Lisa breathes. Her voice was unwavering and full of assurance. It was clear that her opinion was anchored and no person could ever make her change her mind, not even Jean herself.
“And I see Jade.” She continues.
“Jade is green, silly. My eyes aren’t green.” Jean, despite the misidentification, smiles; the corners of her apple lips fighting a battle of tug war and pathetically losing as her eyes turned into crescents.
“Green is the color of loveliness, and your eyes are lovely.”
“Are they?” The younger asks, her grin only widening as seconds pass by. The genuine feeling inside Lisa’s words were enough to set her whole mood for the day, nothing perchance could ever ruin it.
“They’re more than just lovely, my darling Jean. They’re full of gems, planets and constellations that even I am not aware of. I see various flowers waiting to bloom, some already as blooming as you, some wilting to be replaced by a much better one. One is yellow, the other is violet, the rest as every single shade there possibly could be. Filled with nothing but happiness, hope and everything beautiful.”
She takes a breath, breaking their eye contact as she hastily looks down before bringing her eyes up again. "I should stop before I embarrass myself.." Although Lisa doubts that Jean would ever purposely make her feel embarrassed, she hesitates. And considering the overwhelming atmosphere clouding them, Lisa decides to shut her mouth before she could make things even more awkward.
“No, no, I’d like to hear it. I want to.” Jean assures.
“You do?”
Jean nods way too eagerly for her own liking.
“Your eyes are like the clouds." Lisa continues, looking up at the brilliant blue sky held in the air. Letting her mouth say everything that entered her mind freely. “Loose, white, but oddly comforting. Something I look forward to seeing after an exhausting day. Something that helps me ease my mind, taking out the worries that live inside it, evaporating it into thin air before replacing it with ones that makes me feel at peace. And it holds the stars, numerous stars. The huge ones, the smaller ones that aren't even visible until you smile and they shine brightly.”
Lisa makes sure to look at Jean’s eyes with all the love she can harbor from her heart. “But you will always be the brightest one among them all.”
“You mean all of these?” Jean slowly lets out, her voice barely heard as her head lagged, still trying to process everything Lisa had said. Not that she wasn't paying attention, it all just seemed too much for her. But she supposes she can handle it.
For the first time in her long, tiring life, Jean felt genuinely flattered, happy and dumbfounded. The feeling of being appreciated engulfed her, swallowing her whole as she found herself foolishly grinning whilst she looked at the woman beside her. It's not that she wasn't used to compliments, in fact, she receives them everyday all the same.
So when you hear a certain someone lovingly sweet talk the living senses out of you, it’s a lot different.
“I do. I always have. I always will.” Lisa answers without doubt, naturally as if she had been dying for Jean to ask her.
Jean was silent for a while. Her hand gravitated towards Lisa’s, holding it securely with her own. She looks as if she’s trying to process everything that’s happened. As if she’s trying to assure herself that this is real, that Lisa is right there beside her, that she is perfectly capable of being loved. She looks as if this is foreign to her. Jean squeezes her hand.
“Lisa?”
“Yes?”
“Can you kiss me?”
Lisa’s smile was breathtaking as she did.