Despite how I like the Luphia pairing, I thought it wouldn't kill me to write a Fayphia for the fans since they survived through chapter 17 of Aquios High. This is an alternate setting of Aquios High where Fayt and Sophia are together, rather than Fayt and Maria. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: I do not own SO3 or any of its characters, they are the property of SquareEnix.
A Face to Draw
It was a secret desire that even she hadn't been aware of. Sophia just loved Fayt's face and wanted to capture it in a picture or drawing. She often stared at him, tracing every curve and angle of his features. Since she was his girlfriend, she had every right to stare at him without any awkward moments or teasing from Maria and/or Nel. But of course there were times when Fayt was off working with Lancar after school and during weekends, causing him to come home really late and prevent her from spending some much needed time with him.
The thought occurred to her to take a picture of him so that she wouldn't feel too lonely, but no camera did his features justice. Sophia decided that she needed a drawing of him. The only problem was that she couldn't draw. She was an actress, not an artist. The only artists she knew were Albel and Nel and while they were both very talented in their own right, Sophia wanted to do the drawing by herself. …Plus it would be awkward to ask Nel to do it and it would be next to impossible to get Albel to do it unless Fayt agreed to have a sword sticking out of his gut for the picture.
Sophia tried practicing by drawing copies of photos of her friends, but they all ended up as lopsided creatures with disproportioned features. It wasn't long before Maria found her many sketches behind old homework papers. The blue haired girl was somewhat offended by her friend's attempt to draw a portrait of her and dragged her to Nel for some much needed advice.
"If you want, I can draw the picture for you Sophia," the red haired girl offered when she heard the whole story. Sophia only shook her head and pulled her newly purchased 11 by 14 sketch book closer to her chest.
"I want to do it myself. It would mean more that way."
Maria shrugged before pulling out one of Sophia's sketches of Nel, "I didn't want to resort to this, but have you seen this piece of art, Nel?"
Maria didn't want Sophia to walk away without at least some helpful advice and had to show the red head what horrors Sophia was capable of without it. Nel blinked a few times as she tried to make out what the drawing was supposed to be. There were horns all over the head that was most likely supposed to represent the light spikes in the hair.
"Is this supposed to be Albel?" she wondered in a dry, but concerned tone. Sophia blushed before sinking her face behind her sketch pad.
"No it's you…" the brunette replied timidly.
Maria chuckled as she remembered the Albel sketches, "Actually Albel had more 'horns' than you and had eyes more psychotic looking than deranged."
"Then that means she had at least drawn Albel correctly," Nel replied before going over to her locker to retrieve a book, "Here Sophia, this is what helped me learn to draw and I know it can help you."
Sophia shifted her large drawing pad to take the small sepia colored book. The cover said 'Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain' and had a life like drawing of a girl on the front, "This can really help me?"
"Sure, it can help anyone who wants to learn. It teaches you to ignore the left side of the brain that wants to use preset symbols you learned from childhood and to use instead the right side in order to actually see what you want to draw. Just read it carefully and follow the instructions on the examples. You'll be drawing as well as me in no time," Nel assured her.
"Thank you Nel!" Sophia cried excitedly as she opened the book to start reading. Maria muttered thanks for the fact that Sophia wouldn't be making her pictures with a stick figure body. The brunette got no more than five pages before her face reddened and she dropped the book with a squeak.
"Th-that's…" she stuttered as Nel shook her head and picked up the book.
"You mean Albel got to this book too? He has been doodling BloodyClaws and other random stuffed animals with blood and daggers all over my things…" She trailed off as she opened the page Sophia had previously been viewing and quickly realized that the art was not the usual theme he often used. Maria looked over Nel's shoulder and her eyes widened.
"Wow, that looks like something you'd put on the cover of a hentai manga…"
"Sophia, you can buy a clean copy of the book at a bookstore or an art store. Now excuse me while I go kill a certain Nox for drawing me in the nude!" the red haired girl exclaimed before tearing out the page and storming off in the direction of Albel's classroom.
"Technically you're not nude!" Maria shouted in a not so helpful tone, "He put chains all over your limbs and around the private regions!"
Sophia had found a copy of the book on her way home from school and read all through the weekend. She worked on every exercise that trained her on drawing fundamentals. Fundamentals like lines, negative spaces, perspective, lights and shadows, and finally the gestalt of the subject. When she reached the end of the book, she practiced again and again on self portraits, sitting in front of a mirror for hours until she got it right.
She was now satisfied with her abilities and waited for the subject of her next drawing to come home. She prepared the paper by rubbing a graphite stick and then smoothing it out until the surface of the paper had a nice silvery coating, just as the book recommended. She then gathered all the needed supplies like a plastic eraser, a couple of artist pencils, and a pencil sharpener in case one of the drawing utensils broke.
Sophia glanced up when she heard the front door open and then close in Fayt's house. She quickly picked up her supplies with a grin and crawled through the window passage between their rooms. She found him on the sofa with his eyes closed and his head resting on the back of his seat. He must have had a hard day at work again, she figured, but at least it was a perfect pose for her to draw. Being as quiet as she could, she walked over to his slumbering form before straddling his legs and placing her huge drawing pad on his chest.
He awoke with a start and focused his vision on the girl in his lap. She smiled mischievously at him before saying, "Hold still. I want to draw your face."
"My face? Why?" he inquired, his voice sounding tired.
"Because I really like it and I want to be able to capture it my own drawing," she replied and then gave him a quick peck on the lips, "You can go back to sleep while I do this. It won't take long."
"I can't…" he said, slowly becoming more wide awake.
"Why not?"
He decided, for the sake of his throbbing headache, not to mention how close she was sitting to his… Fayt shifted uncomfortably, hoping that Sophia wouldn't notice anything bulging down there as she went about her new art hobby. After all, even if he did have a girlfriend, he was still the country's biggest pervert. And what was worse …he was also the country's biggest perverted virgin.
"Well that's good," she answered in a cheerful tone when he didn't reply, "That means I can also draw your pretty eyes if they are going to stay open."
She then quickly grabbed her 2B pencil and began drawing the outline of his head and features. After so many cuddle times that allowed her to caress his face with her hands, drawing the curves and lines seemed to come out naturally. Sophia had finished the outline in seven minutes and was reaching for her eraser to draw out the lights that shone on his face.
When she was done with the lights, she reached for her 4B pencil to begin darkening the shadows on his face. The lights and shadows gave drawings a 3D look to them and were often difficult to capture without some practice. She stared intently at her drawing, realizing that she had perfectly captured the smirk he was giving her as he decided to test his luck by massaging her sides. It was apparent that she was too distracted to notice his ministrations.
It took ten minutes for the lights and thirteen minutes to finish the shadows. Overall, the work was a half hour long and the drawing turned out wonderful. The detail was exact and there was a range of tones from black to white with several different shades of grey. Upon first glance, one would mistake it for a black and white photograph. It was then that Sophia noticed that his hands were in the forbidden zones and shifted to look him in the eye. His eyes widen when he realized that she was out of her trance and he was caught red handed.
But Sophia only smiled at him sweetly, catching him off guard. After she carefully placed the sketch book on the cushion next to them, she then chose to whack him upside the head and call him a pervert. She did love him though, but she wasn't sure if she was ready to take the step Fayt had wanted. She was hoping to wait until after marriage. Her boyfriend understood her feelings quite well and backed off slightly, but there were still things he could try that were still just as good.
Sophia gasped when she felt a hand on her rear that pulled her closer to his body. She was about to hit him again on reflex, but he caught her wrist with his free hand and then moved in for the prize. The kiss was gentle and sweet, just how Sophia liked it, and then slowly deepened when his tongue swept past her partially open lips. She soon responded while making sure that he wasn't going to pull off anymore perverted moves. For the remainder of the hour, they sat comfortably together and kissed occasionally before Fayt decided that it was time for bed.
Sophia gathered the supplies she left on the couch and then glanced at her boyfriend, "Fayt?"
"Hmm?" he responded in a relaxed tone.
"When are you going to draw a picture of me?"
"What?" Fayt exclaimed as his gaze shot back to her.
"Well, I worked my behind off to make that picture of you. I think it would be sweet of you to do the same," she suggested while giving him the puppy dog eyes.
Fayt sighed as he rubbed the back of his head, "You know I can't draw Sophia…"
"So? I couldn't either, but it didn't stop me from learning."
"How about this: I'll use you as the model for the next heroine in the new video game that Lancar and I are planning. You'd make a nice cleric mage," he offered, earning a small pout.
"But-" She was about to argue until Fayt placed a finger on her lips.
"Come on Sophia, becoming a video game character is an honor and not many people get the privilege. Plus, if you accept, then you'd have to come to work with me. We can spend more time together that way."
Sophia decided not to bother mentioning that many people had the 'privilege' of becoming game characters. Cliff, Mirage, Maria, and his parents were already modeled and put in a game. She liked the idea of spending more time with him and agreed with his plan.
"Good, then we can start tomorrow," Fayt smiled before he led her up to his room. He gave her a good night kiss before she crawled back to her room through the window passage and prepared for bed.
Once the lights were off in her room, Fayt laid down on his bed and then pulled a small, velvet covered box out from under his pillow. Maybe he'll have the courage to propose to her while they model her. After all, the artists need to capture her surprised and (hopefully) happy expression for the 3-D model…
I know it isn't long or actiony, but I hope the fluff was enough to please you guys. Once Aquios High is finished, I may do little one-shots explaining back stories and more alternate settings featuring Fayt and Sophia if I get another plot inspiration. See ya on the next chapter of Aquios High!