Work Text:
"we have art in order not to die from truth." - nietzsche
“What are you drawing?”
They’d been laying on Isak’s bed for the past couple of hours, Isak’s back against the wall and Even laying on his stomach working on something that Isak couldn’t make out. He’s trying to do some of his homework, though he isn’t getting much work done with Even in the room, who is a lot more interesting than solving chemistry equations.
When Even doesn’t answer, he leans forward in an attempt to glimpse the sketch he was working on but Even covered it with his hand before Isak could see, grinning.
“You.”
Isak rolls his eyes, his face beginning to feel a little hot. He can’t hold back the smile in his voice, “Do your homework.”
“I am!” Even replies defensively. “I promised you I’d fill this book up with drawings of you, didn’t I?”
Isak rolls his eyes again but knows better than to try to talk Even out of drawing. One of the first things Isak learned about Even was his interest in art, from the comics he left (and still leaves) for him and from the sketches that cover his dresser. But it was later, when Isak discovered the numerous sketchbooks in his room, that he learned Even really, really likes to draw.
And he was good. Isak noticed that Even mostly drew people and focused on their physical details. He’d asked him about it before and Even had said something about how there was something beautiful in everyone and he liked concentrating on that.
He’d also noticed that most of Even’s sketchbooks were filled up so he bought one for him on a whim one day when he saw it at the store and thought of him. And Even had been so excited at the unexpected gesture and swore to fill it up with sketches of Isak-- a promise he’s clearly planning on keeping. And at first, the thought of Even drawing him had made him feel a little too self-conscious, a little too scrutinized. But seeing Even smile mattered more to him than that.
“I draw you all the time, you know.” Even’s voice brings Isak back out of his thoughts. “You just never see me.”
Accepting the fact that he wasn’t going to get any homework done, Isak tosses his textbook aside and lays forward, parallel to Even. “Oh, I notice. I just don’t say anything.”
Isak, who is highly observant, knows that although Even genuinely enjoyed drawing, it sometimes manifested as a coping mechanism for him. When Even spends his restless nights at Isak’s, when his mind doesn’t let him sleep, Isak would often stir to the sound of pencil moving on paper in the middle of the night. And he’d press himself close to Even because it was all he could do.
Even shifts so he’s laying directly next to Isak and leans over to kiss him. Isak closes his eyes, his hand finding its way to the back of Even’s neck and, while kissing him, reaches over with his other hand to snatch the sketchbook from its spot on the bed. He lets go of Even and rolls out from under him, grinning, sketchbook in his hand.
Even, laughing, tries to grab it but Isak holds it out of his reach. “It’s not finished!”
“Shhhh, just let me see!”
Even sighs dramatically as Isak looks at the incomplete sketch of him. His face feels hot again when he sees that it’s a detailed closeup of his profile and Even had been working on finishing his hair. Even had incorporated every mole, and every strand of hair in the sketch, details about him that he hadn’t even noticed. Smiling and feeling a little warm, he hands the book back to Even.
“What’s your favorite thing to draw about me?” He asks, resting his chin on Even’s chest. Even looks up at the ceiling, furrowing his eyebrows like he's deeply thinking about Isak's question then moves his gaze back to Isak, staring at him for another few seconds. Then he leans up and kisses Isak’s nose, a sudden movement that startles him. He makes a face at him and Even laughs.
“My nose? Really?”
“I can’t like your nose?”
“No, I didn’t say that, I would’ve just picked something a little more interesting,” Isak shrugs, laying back again, his arm behind his head.
“Everything about you is interesting.”
Isak raises an eyebrow, “Oh?”
Even, now hovering on top of him, nods, grinning. “Do you want me to.. “ he places a kiss by Isak’s collarbone, “show you what else I find interesting?”
Isak, smiling too now, pulls Even back up so that their lips meet, a kiss deeper and slower than all the other ones they’ve shared this afternoon.
“Show me.”