Work Text:
"Thank you for being my reason to look forward to the next day."
The afternoon felt slightly chilly. Wind blowing softly, making the fallen leaves cover all the streets — such characteristic autumn sight.
Inspiration flew by in Ryan's mind as he looked outside the window. Watching, admiring the way the leaves freely cascaded down the trees.
Nothing in particular formed in his thoughts. Just mere inspiration to do something, other than laying around — procrastinating.
Ryan silently thanked his earlier self for having changed into productive-person clothes, instead of staying in his old, baggy pajamas. It saved him a fair amount of time.
Before going out, Ryan made sure to grab a coat and a ridiculous hat to top off his outfit, as well as his bag with all the supplies he needed — Sunglasses and short-sleeves were long forgotten as soon as the summer came to an end.
Carefully, he slipped in his earbuds and played instrumental music quietly. He felt the city was loud enough already to listen to any other genre at the moment. Ryan loved classic stuff anyway.
He locked the door of his apartment and headed out down the stairs, greeting some of his neighbors as he passed them.
Once outside, the breeze hit Ryan's face and the subtle smell of rain. Pumpkin spice, somehow, filled his nostrils. The sun was nowhere to be seen in that precise moment — white-grayish clouds were the only thing visible in the sky.
Taking walks usually wasn't in the list of Ryan's favorite things to do. But he didn't mind going outside, stretching his legs as he wandered through the city, every once in a while.
Just around the corner of his apartment, there was a small park. The lack of a playground and areas for kids to play, made the spot fairly quiet and not crowded at all. Perfect in every word.
As he crossed the streets, he spotted a coffee shop sign. A sudden crave for the bitter liquid appeared in Ryan's taste buds. A quick stop wouldn't hurt.
The bell on top of the crystal door rang as he opened it. The café, as it happened to be nowadays, was crowded. Ryan turned the music down and made his way through the people until he got to the counter.
"Good afternoon! What can I get for you?" The person behind the counter asked Ryan half-enthusiastically. Looking up at him as they waited for Ryan to answer.
"I'd like a black coffee to go, please." Without further questions, Ryan ordered the usual. He searched for his wallet to pay for it, and then waited until it was ready.
"Here you have. Enjoy!" "Thanks." Ryan quickly muttered a polite answer and left the place in the next second. Returning the music to the right volume.
The outside world didn't change in the slightest bit as he got himself a beverage. Weather still chilly and the leaves scattered over the pavement. Almost as if he was seeing a picture.
In a matter of minutes, he arrived to the park and found an unoccupied bench in the middle where he could sit. The sight in front of him motivated Ryan enough to stay right there.
Nobody was really close to him, nor paying too much attention. Great, less eyes on him. Ryan retrieved the travel-sized sketchbook and pencils he needed from inside his bag.
When he found a blank page to draw on, Ryan crossed his right leg over the other and used it as a support. Pencil in hand, he started sketching out first — he delicately traced the lines of what he had in front of his eyes.
Drawing people wasn't Ryan strength, but he definitely did know how to draw practically anything else — The simple, yet beautiful, effect the fallen leaves had on Ryan, made them the star of the picture. Silhouettes of trees, leaves, benches and more, were sketched on the plain white space.
Ryan continued drawing, taking sips of his coffee every now and then to keep himself awake — He wordlessly tried to encapsulate his feelings and emotions through every line.
As every other activity, he took drawing too seriously, not ever giving it less importance just because it was a spur of the moment thing or too simple. Everything equally mattered to him.
It also had become pretty normal for him to disconnect from the world when he was deep in concentration. Once he started to focus on something, it was fairly easy for him to stop listening and being aware of his surroundings.
Consequence of his small-like daydream moment, Ryan didn't noticed a person getting closer to him. Neither did he listen to them asking something to Ryan.
"Hi! Would you mind if I sit here for a minute?" The unknown person frowned when Ryan didn't seem to even acknowledge them. "Hello?" They tried again hopefully, but again, nothing.
Ryan must have sensed someone else's presence by then. Because right before they were about to go, he looked up and took off his earbuds, smiling apologetically. "Hey, wait! — Sorry, did you say something?"
The look of slight concern from the person staring at Ryan, melted away, a more content expression replaced it. "Oh, don't worry! I was just asking if I could sit here... But don't mind me, I'll just go."
"No, no. You can sit if you want." Ryan rushed his words and closed the sketchbook on top of his lap. They complied and sat on the other end of the bench, smiling faintly as a greeting — Ryan had avoided being left alone already twice in a really short period of time. The thought confused him.
Ryan didn't enjoy having company as much as other people would. He was a lone wolf. But, this person seemed nice — plus, Ryan had already embarrassed himself in front of them. He could at least try again.
"I'm Brendon, by the way." He introduced himself, the smile still glued to his young face. A genuine smile that Ryan found to be incredibly contagious.
After a short pause, Ryan did too, just saying his name. "Ryan." Brendon nodded and made a face, as if he had taken a mental note of it. Then he shifted in his place, sitting cross-legged instead.
Ryan thought there was nothing more to add after that — he didn't know what else to say anyway. So his attention went back to where it had been before the small encounter.
He opened the sketchbook in the right page and grabbed the pencil. Since he arrived to the park, he had already made quite a bit of progress. The drawing was starting to look more like he wanted it, not just doodles filling the page anymore.
For the most part, it was almost finished. Next thing would be add a dash of color to the black and white — warm colors, orange, red, yellow — Ryan searched blindly for them inside his bag. And when he got them, he went on with it.
He had imagined the final result as mostly pencil with faint colors added. Just to fully emphasize the autumn feel to it. But not much to take away the main, pencil-only, focus.
With orange, he traced some of the leaves covering the ground or those that still were attached to the trees. He did as well with other colors, keeping the warm tones palette.
All the while, a pair of eyes did not stop watching Ryan. More specifically, what he was doing — Brendon couldn't tear his gaze apart of Ryan's drawing, he watched it with utter amazement in his eyes.
Ryan didn't know how to feel about that. It was pretty uncommon for him to have an audience. What did he have to do or say? He couldn't thank him, because he wasn't sure the true meaning behind the staring. But he couldn't tell him to quit it either, it'd be rude.
Concluding in nothing, he guessed he should look up and simply smile at him. So he did. He grinned softly, tremendously shy about it.
The reaction he got was more of the same. The only difference was that the eyes were now boring into his own, instead of the drawing. Ryan cleared his throat before the intensity of the stare.
"Oh shit, sorry. That was so creepy of me." Brendon apologized and shook his head. "God, I'm so weird... sorry, again."
Ryan quietly chuckled in amusement. No matter how little time he had of knowing the guy, he wouldn't think such thing. "Don't worry, it's fine."
"Well anyway, uhmm... I've been watching you draw and hell, you're really, really talented." Brendon spoke a little bit too quickly that Ryan almost didn't catch it.
But he did, and his cheeks heated up at the compliment. "Thanks." Ryan answered in a small voice, a bit too flustered to say anything else.
Brendon laughed softly and waved a hand dismissively. "Oh please! Don't thank me — I should be the one thanking you, for letting me see such beautiful, art piece."
"Ok then." Ryan laughed back awkwardly. He was getting compliment after compliment, and he did not know how to handle this, at all. Ryan's introverted-self was already working past hours, with no knowledge of how to act properly in these different situations.
One thing Ryan did notice though, was that even if he didn't know the guy, he could see the general genuineness of him. No fake smiles, no fake expressions — everything genuine. Ryan liked that, more people like him would make this world a better place.
The time definitely passed far too quickly for Ryan's liking. When he looked away from his little bubble, the grayness in the sky was now becoming darker. Also, Brendon had started saying his goodbyes — And Ryan definitely didn't want both things to end.
"It's getting a little dark here, I think I'll better get going." Brendon said, still not moving from his seat, but already thinking about it.
"Wait! Before you go..." Ryan was taken aback by how fast the words left his mouth. He didn't know where that impulse came from, or if it would be a good idea.
He pulled out a thin marker from his bag and wrote something on the very end of the page he just draw on. A few words, and, a series of numbers too.
"Here, have this." Ryan tore off the page from the sketchbook, being extremely careful to not cause any damage to it. Then, he handed it to Brendon, a barely smile lingering in his lips.
"No way... You're not being serious." Brendon made a face that read exactly what he just said, but grabbed the sheet nonetheless. "You're so not giving me this."
"Yeah, it's nothing really." In the meantime, Ryan was packing up his stuff, standing up from the bench to stretch up his legs. "You can have it."
"Thanks." Brendon's voice sounded a tiny bit breathless, and his eyes were fixed on every detail of the drawing. "Thank you. This is perfect."
Ryan then saw, in a flicker of his eyes, a moment of hesitation in Brendon. As he stood up, Ryan sensed Brendon was considering going for a hug, but refrained to do so. They had just met though, it would've been a little bit weird.
"Thank you." Brendon repeated himself, now changing his weight from one foot to the other. "I'm guessing this won't be our only encounter, right?"
"I don't know... There's my number, just in case..." Ryan trailed off, insecure, feeling like he already said way too much. "Bye, Brendon."
"Will do." Brendon nodded his head gently, holding the piece of paper close to his chest. "Bye."
With that, both went on separate ways. And neither of them could really deny there wasn't a smile painting their faces.