A little USUK oneshot I did for a friend.
Expect slight OOC, Fluff, and an ending i'm not 100% okay with.
Alfred F. Jones, a junior in high school, happened to enjoy one of his few favorite things about school. Art class. It wasn't like he hated school or anything—he didn't have a reason to. He made good grades, he was fairly popular, and he was great at just about any sport you could throw at him. He was just really fond of his art class. The teen liked being around all of the different people and different kinds of imagination they had. Well, except for those few who only took the course for a free credit.
He ended up making a lot of good friends in that class. Like Kiku Honda, his Japanese friend who wanted to be a Mangaka, Feliciano Vargas who made some seriously sweet sculptures, and Arthur Kirkland, the Briton who did portraits. Okay, so he and Arthur weren't technically friends. They didn't have any other classes together on account of Arthur being a grade higher than him, and the only time they spoke to each other was indirectly during group critiques. But it wasn't like he didn't want to get to know him. …yes, he had developed a slight crush on Arthur. He was intelligent, he had an amazing talent, and not to mention he was incredibly easy on the eyes. A little bit shorter than him, but not by much. A slender face with larger than normal eyebrows that worked for him, and a reasonable build that went hand in hand with his smaller body type. Alfred didn't know when he developed this crush on a guy barely even talked to, but he did. So when his teacher said their next graded assignment would be a group project that landed him with said Brit as a partner, it was only natural that Alfred were to think the world was playing some bitter-sweet prank on him.
It was a few minutes after the bell that told everyone they had better be in their classrooms or else they could expect a nice little trip to the office had rang, and Alfred, along with his classmates, were doing what they usually did as they waited for their teacher to show up. Talking or messing around with their phones, usually both. In fact, he was just finishing up his story about last night's football game when his teacher returned and brought the attention of his class back to them. "Alright, alright. Settle down. We've got a few things to cover before we go on to out upcoming project. First off, everyone who plans on trying for National Honors Art Society must report to me for full details on payment dues. If they aren't paid off by the days stated…" Alfred ended up blocking out what his teacher was saying. It had been the same thing all week, so he took on one of his favorite pass times; watching the people of his class. Because he sat at the back of the class, he was able to sneak peeks at relatively everyone without any awkward caught glances. Kiku was listening attentively as usual. Feliciano was silently asleep; his brother also seemed to be fighting off sleep's grip. He didn't blame the Italians for it; It was the first period of the day and no matter what class happened to be, first period was hard on anyone. It even seemed to be affecting Arthur, who was usually as attentive as Kiku. The Brit currently held his face in his hand, his eyes closing a bit every now and again. The American smiled to himself at the sight' he was used to seeing Arthur awake and aware of what was going on at all times.
"Alright! Now that we've got that out of the way, let's get on to out next assignment."
That seemed to catch Arthur's attention. He sat straight again, and Feliciano was awake by his brother.
"This assignment is going to be done as a group of two using what we went over last week. I want you and your partner to draw one another realistically in a head-shot I don't want any of you to go out and drastically change your hairstyle after you start, got it? I'm going to let you choose your own partner, just make sure you pick someone you know won't slack off." Immediately, Alfred could fee dread wash over him. He wasn't the best at realistic portraits of people. Animals he could handle. Has he been assigned to draw the bald eagle, the American would have been all over it. It also didn't help that the he hadn't paid much attention to what his teacher went over. Maybe he could get partnered with one of the other kids who slacked off all the time. That way his would look better by comparison! Man, that sounded really selfish...but he was started to get desperate. People were starting to pair up and he still hadn't figured out who to pair up with. He looked around frantically hoping to find someone. He scanned the room until he found himself looking back at a pair of vivid green eyes; Green eyes that looked as if they were almost glowing. Green eyes that came with a pair of eyebrows you could never miss. Without giving it another thought, he turned his head. There was no way that just happened. He did not just see Arthur Kirkland was looking at him. If he was, it was a coincidence. Arthur was one of the best at realistic portraits. He was bound to have someone with equal amount of talent as his partner. Why was he freaking out anyway? There was probably something behind him that caught his eye or something. Yeah, that's it. He just- "Excuse me, Alfred?" An accented voice pulled the teen from his fluster of thoughts. He looked up to the owner of the voice, and his jaw almost dropped. "Everyone has pretty much found a partner, so I was thinking we could work together?" Arthur wanted to work with him? He stared at the Brit. But why? Maybe he thought Alfred was good? No, Alfred shook away the thought. It wasn't a secret he wasn't a great portrait artist. Maybe he-
"If that's okay? I mean if it's not, that's fine.." The Brit interrupted his obscene amount of thoughts again. "No!" The words came out so fast it almost seemed like he didn't even say them. "I mean, sire. We can work together." As nervous as he was, there was no way he was skipping out on this. Arthur raised an eyebrow and sat next to him. Arthur laughed nervously. "Can I ask a question?" Arthur didn't look up. Instead he started pulling out his supplies. "You already did," He placed his pencil on the table. "but ask away." "Aha… Well, you see, I'm a little nervous about this project." Alfred scratched the back of his head. Arthur raised an eyebrow. "I'm not the best at this type of style. Realism, that it. So-" "So you're afraid you're not going to do well because of the limited amount of time we have to get it done." The American blinked, a light blush dusting his cheeks. It was like he was reading his mind or something. "Well yeah, actually." Arthur scoffed and got quiet for a minute. That made Alfred anxious. 'Oh shit.' Alfred mentally face-palmed. 'Why did I have to go and tell him that? Nice going Al.. You've made yourself look extremely un-cool." Arthur pulled the other's attention by clearing his throat. 'He's probably going to want to work with someone else now.' "I don't usually do this, but seeing as how you're going to take longer to get this done," He started scribbling on a piece of paper, which he tore from his notebook. "It would be best if you stopped by this weekend. That way the both of us can work on our sketches without rushing anything." Arthur spoke as he usually did. Calm and collected. But Alfred swore up and down he could see a faint blush on the teen's face. He smiled one of his signature smiles. "Sounds like a plan." The rest of the day, as clichéd as it sounds, he always had one hand on that little paper.
It was Saturday afternoon and Alfred was making his way to Arthur's house. To say he was excited was an understatement. He was getting the opportunity to hang out with Arthur—and outside of school to boot! It turns out that the other only lived about three neighborhoods down from him. So he decided to walk. Alfred was almost there, in fact, and that was when he started to get nervous again. He started to feel a bit under-dressed just a plain black shirt and shorts. Of course he knew Arthur didn't expect him to show up in a full-fledged suit or anything. It wasn't a date. He smiled shyly at the thought of going on a date with Arthur. Still, Arthur was a classy guy. He always dressed nicely. Who's to say he doesn't at his house? Alfred groaned. "I need to calm down. We're just going to do art stuff. Get a hold of yourself, Al..." Instead of letting himself think too much on his appearance, he busied himself by checking the paper given to him by Arthur. He had reached his neighborhood now, so all he needed to do was find the house. "204…204…202..203..201!" He walked up to his partner's house and rang the doorbell, half expecting Arthur to show up fully dressed in a dress shirt- vest combo. What the door opened to reveal was an Arthur dressed similar to him. A light blue shirt that seemed to be promoting some band he never heard of, jeans cut off around the knees, and in his arms? A huge ball of fur. "Ah, Alfred. I was wondering when you were going to show up." "Yeah, sorry." The fluffy thing in Arthur's arms stirred when he started talking. "I had some things to take care of before I could come over." Arthur nodded and stepped back, letting Alfred come in. "You're here now, so it's fine. Come in, we've got some sketches to do." Alfred smiled and followed Arthur, closing the door after, into what was the main room. "Before we start, can I ask you what that is you're holding exactly?" Arthur turned. "It's my cat, Scones."
At the sound of his name the cat popped his little head out of its hiding place. Now that he could see the whiskers, there was no doubt it was a cat. But it was huge. "Whoa man! Is it healthy?" Arthur frowned. "Of course he is! Why couldn't he be?" he started to per the ball of fluff. Alfred petted him too. "Well he's huge! I can honestly say that's the biggest cat I've ever seen!" The younger teen poked Scones' belly, whom didn't seem to care too much for his words. He began to get impatient and started to wiggle out of Arthur's grip. Arthur let him down and as soon as its feet hit the ground, the fat cat took off, his belly swinging back and forth, which Alfred found hilarious.
"Now you've gone and upset him!" Arthur crossed his now free arms. Alfred continued to laugh. "Sorry, sorry. I didn't mean to. Honest." Arthur sighed. "You should apologize to him before you leave." Although he meant to sound serious, it seemed Alfred's laugh was contagious, and he found himself chuckling along with him. "But aside from that, would you like something to drink before we get started?"
Alfred, after recovering from his laughing fit, shook his head. "No thanks. Let's just get sketching." Arthur nodded and the two took a seat at the dining table. "We'll obviously have to take turns. Trying to draw each other at the same time would be too confusing. So I'll go ahead and go first." Alfred nodded. "Right, so just look straight at me for a little bit..."
The American complied, looking towards Arthur as he drew. And he did it all so fast! It was like he was born drawing or something. In less than two minutes, he already has the head, eyes, brows, and ears sketched out. Every now and again, he would glance up at Alfred, the back to the paper. He was starting to draw slower now, making sure not to miss any details. However, it was still hypnotic in a way. Arthur knew the perfect amount of pressure to put on his pencil that would give him a dark imprint without too much smudging. Alfred also noticed how determined Arthur looked when he drew. Face in a slight scowl, his nose wrinkling up slightly when he got stuck on something or did something he didn't like. Alfred just found Arthur captivating no matter what he did.
Arthur stopped drawing when it came to Alfred's mouth. Said American watched as the other looked from the paper to him, back to the paper, and then back to him once more. He looked frustrated. "Is everything okay?" Arthur kept staring at him, tapping the bottom of his pencil on the table. "Yeah…" Arthur's eyes scanned over his partner's face. "Do you think you could smile for me?" Arthur couldn't stop the blush that came after his words. "Er, for the sketch, I mean. Could you smile for the sketch?"
His partner laughed a little but smiled anyway. Not just any smile, one that showed off the rows of pearly whites. Arthur began to draw that seemingly perfect smile. Oh, who was he kidding? Alfred's smile was perfect. And it fit him so well. However, not even Alfred could smile forever; He would get tired eventually. So he tried to draw as quickly as possible without making it look sloppy. "It just didn't fit a boring expression like that." He mumbled as he drew. "Alright, I finished. You don't have to keep smiling anymore." He blew away some stray eraser shavings and turned the paper around. "Well?" Although he was told he could stop smiling, once he saw his portrait, there was no way he could drop it. "Dude! It looks amazing!" "It's still really sketchy. It'll look a lot better when it's done." Usually Arthur would have just thanked him for the complement, like he would others. But for some reason, Arthur became incredibly nervous about how it looked to the other. He cleared his throat. "I'm ready whenever you are." Alfred raised an eyebrow. "Huh? …Oh! Right, right!" It was his turn to draw Arthur now. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't a bit nervous. Especially after seeing Arthur's work. The older of the two seemed to sense his nervousness. "You know, if you need it, I can always help you out. Give you some tips and such." Alfred mentally sighed. That meant he wouldn't laugh at him if it didn't turn out as good. Right?
After a few minutes of Alfred trying his best to draw, Arthur giving his tips, and a small break because Alfred started to get hungry, He was finished. "It looks pretty good. Well done." Alfred felt like he just died and went to heaven. Arthur just praised him. Praised him for something that would never look as good as his in a million years, no less! "Thanks to your tips of course." He looked back down to his work. He really has done a lot better than he originally expected. He felt a sense of pride. The only thing that really bothered him about it happened to be the very same thing that bothered Arthur with his portrait; The expression that he was given. It wasn't unattractive by any means or anything. It was just…typical. The same face he wore around everyone. When asked if he wanted to make any other expression for the drawing, Arthur said he'd prefer to keep it. He said something about how a true gentleman always keeps a stiff upper lip or something like that. Alfred wasn't exactly paying attention to him. (He started drawing basically at the same time he said it.) He really wished his partner had given him something. He had such a charming face. He didn't necessarily want a big smile from him, but even the smallest smile would have looked good-
There it was.
During his thoughts, Alfred glanced up just in time to witness the perfect expression for Arthur's portrait. Arthur's cat, Scones, had finally come out of its hiding place and made itself comfortable in his owner's lap. Probably used to it, Arthur pet his cat gently, a smile on his face. It wasn't the biggest smile in the world, but it was a nice one, perfect one. Arthur seemed so content while petting scones. A small laugh slipped past his lips as the cat just about tried to push his head through Arthur's hand as a way to tell him to pet him more. That was the face he was going to draw. He made sure to keep that face in mind.
Days later, Alfred found himself in a scenario similar to the day he was assigned that project. The only thing different was that this day was the day they were getting it back. His teacher didn't put grades on the papers themselves; instead he posted them on the school's online grading system. So he already knew he made a pretty good grade on it. Besides, the grade wasn't what Alfred wanted to see anyway. After the day he spent with Arthur, and fixed his portrait, he decided he would try everything he could to make sure Arthur didn't see it. He wanted it to be a surprise. However, that Monday, Arthur didn't even show up and the next two days after that he didn't bother asking him about it. So he was able to turn it in without any trouble. He fidgeted a bit in his seat, wondering when his teacher was going to hand them back out. He glanced to Arthur's seat. Said blonde happened to be sitting with a bored expression on his face, mindlessly doodling on his notebook. He anxiously tapped his fingers on the table until his teacher stood, a stack of papers in his hand.
He nibbled on his lip until he was given his paper. Wait, scratch that. He wasn't given his paper. He was given the portrait Arthur drew of him. Well, that made things simple. He watched as Arthur was given "his" paper. There was a look of confusion at first. He looked from the paper to the retreating back of the teacher, then back. He watched Arthur stare at the picture for a little bit before glancing at him. Alfred flashed a smile to him, and the Brit rolled his eyes, a slight blush on his cheeks.
"Why didn't you keep it the way it was before?" He asked him. They weren't exactly too far away from each other, so he didn't have to yell or get up. "It didn't fit. That boring expression." He quoted Arthur, saying almost the exact same thing he was told. Arthur raised an eyebrow and shook his head. "Git." It was an insult. Well, Alfred thought it was. He wasn't all that familiar with British slang anyway, but the smile of his face told him otherwise. Maybe this project was a good thing. He had a feeling he and Arthur weren't going to be strangers anymore. He was looking forward to it, too.
Well, that's it. Hopefully it wasn't too bad?
I'd like to know what you think, but don't hurt me too bad, as i'm still getting the hang of everything. Thanks~ c: