Title: An Artistic Distraction
Fandom: Kyou Kara Maoh
Pairing: Pre-Yuuri/Wolfram
Prompt: fanfic50's prompt 'Promise'
Word Count: 1,515
Rating: PG
Warning: AU. Adult!Yuuri (he's twenty-one).
Summary: Yuuri is on his way to a job interview, trying to find a distraction, when he meets someone very distracting.
Disclaimer: I don't own Kyou Kara Moah, and don't profit from this.
A/N: I hope you like this! Writing AUs is really fun :)
An Artistic Distraction
Yuuri dropped the coins on the counter and took hold of the ice-cream cone as it was handed to him. Vanilla ice-cream was such a good distraction from things to come, Yuuri thought.
He gulped and forced that thought back in the bottom of his mind, where he kept all unpleasant things hidden. He took a bite of the ice-cream and moaned as the vanilla flavoured cream melted on his tongue.
Two hours left.
Damn, he thought about it again. Distraction ... he needed a distraction! He whirled around, studying the park and looking for something interesting to do. Children were running about, being silly and childish as ever, while the adults sat on blankets, engaging in various discussions. There were also some lonely young guys standing by the rivulet, feeding the few ducks that still lived there. In other words: nothing was out of the ordinary. And ordinary was just not distracting enough for Yuuri.
He sighed, before setting off towards the rivulet, which was a short walk from the ice-cream stall. He absent-mindedly let his tongue glide across the ice-cream, while he thought about the unpleasant situation he would soon find himself in. People send him curious and amused glances or gave him a once-over, as he passed them. He bet he looked ridiculous wearing a formal black suit in this warm weather, and holding an ice-cream cone in one hand. Oh, sweet joy, this day couldn't get any worse. And in two hours –
Job interview. In two hours.
He was applying for a job in a supermarket as shop assistant. He didn't particularity like the job – the job description sounded impressively boring – but he needed the money in order to finally get out of his family's wing, and he – him being twenty-one and all – could maybe finally rent a place of his own. But this being the first job interview in his whole life made him nervous and jumpy.
He stopped, a few feet separating him from the rivulet. He was just about to kneel and sit on the soft earth, but caught himself in time. I can't ruin the suit already. Mum spent all that time preparing it for me, too. He strained up, and removed an imaginary fibre from his sleeve, dusting it off with one hand.
He saw someone approaching him out of the corner of his eyes, but he paid it no mind, concerned as he was with his suit's state. It looked all right to him. It hadn't been ruined with his carelessness. Yet.
"Excuse me."
Yuuri turned around to face the speaker. The sight that greeted him, however, took his breath away, just for a moment. A pretty, blond boy stood right in front of him, looking … Yuuri wasn't specifically good with words, but beautiful just wouldn't even do the man justice. The man in question was staring oddly at Yuuri, looking slightly freaked out … Yuuri wondered what kind of expression he'd been sporting to unsettle the other man this much. He cleared his throat, embarrassed with his reaction.
"Yes?" Yuuri asked.
"Um," the boy started, looking lost, but his expression suddenly hardened. "Could you model for me?"
"What?" Yuuri almost shrieked. That one Yuuri wouldn't have seen coming in a million years …
"I asked you, if you would model for me. I want to do a painting in this park, and you're the perfect model for my idea," the other man said.
Perfect model?
"Why?"
A line appeared between the other man's eyebrows. "You are the best contrast around here. Your clothes and formal appearance shape a contrast to the surroundings; the high, blue sky, the glittering lake and the shining grass. Can you see it?" He looked angry and impatient. Weird how people's personalities contrasted their appearances, sometimes.
Yuuri could honestly see nothing of what the guy in front of him was describing. Shining grass? The grass was just as normal as ever … green and long. But Yuuri didn't have anything else to do, and he really needed to kill the time until the meeting, so why not?
"Alright, I'll do it," Yuuri said. "Where should I stand?"
The man's hand closed around Yuuri's wrist, pulling him closer to the lake, where some children were playing tag. "Stand here and don't move," he instructed. "I'm Wolfram, by the way. You?"
"Yuuri."
–
Ten minutes later the man stood in front of a canvas, palette and paintbrush in hand, staring intently at Yuuri. Yuuri fidgeted a little, feeling self-conscious under the man's green gaze. Yuuri didn't like to be stared at, and had suddenly found himself the item of everyone's attention. Even the tag-playing children kept casting glances at him.
Why had he agreed to this again?
The man's eyes weren't on him anymore, and Yuuri took the offered opportunity to get a better look at the stranger.
It was nice having a hobby to indulge in when boredom grew too much, Yuuri thought. Yuuri wasn't much of a hobby-person himself; yes, he did have baseball, but the time he could play was becoming less and less with all the job-searching and whatnot. And Yuuri hated to admit that he would rather do something else in his limited free time.
Painting was something else. It was a beautiful hobby you could do alone, without depending on a team or adjusting everything to their schedule.
Yuuri was sure it was a relaxing thing to do too … and very distracting.
The other man was completely engrossed in his painting by now, his right arm moving behind the canvas, as he painted with gentle, long strokes.
After approximately five minutes, Yuuri couldn't keep still any more. There was an irritating buzz going up and down his body, making it impossible to stay still. He tried to move his arms subtly, without drawing the painter's attention to him, and felt instantly much better … but his legs were killing him. He wriggled his toes, and got the buzzing under control for now.
-
Five more minutes went, and it itched. Everywhere. Yuuri couldn't think about anything but the uncomfortable itch that tormented him. He had to scratch or he'd go insane.
"Can we take a little break?" Yuuri asked, earning a hard glance from Wolfram.
"Already? We just began!" Wolfram exclaimed.
"I know."
The other man sighed. "Fine," he said. "But only for two minutes."
Yuuri was very busy scratching himself for some time.
-
"I'm done," Wolfram finally said after what felt like an eternity. By then, Yuuri's body felt very weird … stiff and numb and oddly non-existent at the same time. He started to stretch as Wolfram packed his equipment in a small bag.
Yuuri really wanted to see the completed painting and told Wolfram as much, and Wolfram just shrugged.
"Be my guest."
Yuuri didn't know what he'd been expecting – something realistic maybe. Or at least a painting of someone who looked remotely like him. Or something that looked human. But the motive that faced him was a distorted, coloured version of a humanly shape. Yuuri couldn't really see what the background was.
"Er, is that it?" Yuuri asked.
"It?"
"Yeah, I mean, that's not a painting! It's a ... I don't know what it is!"
Wolfram glared at him. "You clearly don't know anything about art!" he huffed.
Yuuri was sure no one in their right mind would call that thing art, but he didn't say anything. This man was clearly passionate about his work, and Yuuri had to admit, that he didn't know the first thing about art ... and modern art certainly looked similar to this painting ... a chaotic mass of colours.
Yuuri suddenly felt an unwelcome surge of jealous. He wanted to be passionate about something too. A hobby or a job -
A job.
The job interview!
He shoved his wristwatch in front of his face. He sighed with relief. Thirty minutes left; he had plenty of time.
"It was nice meeting you, but I really have to go now. I have a job-interview," Yuuri said politely. He hated that he had an expectant tone in his voice. Wolfram just nodded. Feeling awkward and out of his depth, Yuuri turned around to leave.
For some strange reason, the cold goodbye had really hurt him. But why should he expect more from a complete stranger? And on top of that, an arrogant stranger?
Just concentrate on your job-interview, he thought. He had walked five steps, maybe more, when a voice yelled his name.
"Hey, you! Yuuri!"
Wolfram had followed him. He now stood a few paces from him, wearing an unreadable expression on his face.
"Yes?"
"I'm always here on Mondays and Fridays," he said. "You can meet me here. If you want."
Yuuri smiled, feeling happier than he'd had in ages. "I'll be there."
-
As Yuuri, thirteen minutes later, followed the company's boss inside his office, he didn't feel quite as nervous as he'd been two hours ago. He could think clearly, and he was oddly confident.
He smiled. He looked forward to Friday.
The End