It all started when Thomas was sitting in the park.
Yuma was creating chaos at their house so went to the park to get some peace and quiet.
Since the sun was still setting, it was quiet, but after a while, Thomas found it boring.
He sighed, took out his sketchbook and, well, sketched.
The Arclight didn't quite get it but sketching, coloring, painting...
Just art in general helped him let out his feelings without any violence. What he felt would often end up on the canvas or on paper or whatever.
The outline of the head and the neck. The chin line.
He knew where everything went, how everything was positioned, if the pose was realistic.
He changed tiny details to make it look alright.
It was getting dark. Thomas switched on the mini light so that he could still see and resumed drawing.
Long flowing hair, bangs that somewhat resembled bananas, bandages drifting off with the wind, but not quite revealing the girl's eyes and-
It was only when he reached for his pen that he realised he was drawing Rio Kamishiro.
Or was it Merag now?
Thomas sat there and looked at the sketch. How did he capture Rio's beauty –Merag's beauty, he mentally corrects himself, but he doesn't really care– so well?
Or at all?
Really, Rio was a wonderful girl; a nice blend of sweet and witty, didn't take his shit, actually liked him for who he was and not his blasted façade.
But apparently, Rio Kamishiro never existed. Just like Ryoga. That's what he was expected to believe. That he liked a ghost! That—
"Drawing this wonderful picture of me only to ruin it with your tears?"
Thomas hadn't noticed anyone behind him, nor that he was crying.
Wait, he was crying over Rio? God he was pathetic!
"I'm right behind you, you know."
Thomas gasped and looked back.
Speak of the devil.
"...hi, Rio," he said nonchalantly.
"Merag," the Barian corrected.
"Didn't work when Ryoga said it, not gonna work when you say it," he laughed, giving her his trademark smirk. "So, what are you doing here Rio? Obviously not for the art. Or my looks."
Rio rolled her eyes. "I was taking an evening stroll and happened to find you here," she explained. "May I see your sketchbook?"
Thomas blinked before handing her the sketchbook.
Rio looked at every page in awe. She could tell how much he's improved and grown as an artist from his first drawing to his newest one.
"...whoa," was all the Ice Queen could say.
"Yes, woah. Now can I have my sketchbook back?" Thomes asked.
Rio handed the sketchbook back to him.
"Can you teach me?" Rio asked.
Thomas sighed. Here he goes again.
"Sorry, don't teach," he stated.
"Please?"
"No."
"Pretty please with a blueberry on top?"
That last plead was coupled with big pink puppy eyes.
Thomas tried not to give in. He was used to this sort of thing, right?
RIGHT?!
"Argh! Fine!" he agreed, glaring at a smug Rio. "Tomorrow, 3pm sharp. If you want to use Paint Tool SAI or whatever, then bring a tablet or something!"
Then they parted ways.
It was 10 past 3.
Thomas was getting impatient. Geez, what was taking her so long...?
"I'm here!" he heard a female voice announce.
"You're late," Thomas stated without turning around.
Rio huffed. "Well, it's hard to sneak out with an overprotective brother like Ryoga!"
Thomas chuckled. "Alright, I forgive you," he said. "So, what do you want to learn about art?"
"The actual coloring process and some new poses and angles," she said.
Thomas smiled. "Than let's begin."
Thomas and Rio had been meeting up for these art lessons for 4 months (somehow without Ryoga's knowledge, but Rio didnt question it) whenever they were available. For convenience, they decided to swap numbers (and no, Thomas was not flirting with her during that. shut up) so that they know when the other is free.
Thomas was a bit of an awkward teacher at first but he soon got the hang of it.
Rio enjoyed the lessons. It was a nice change to her usual schedule. Shoulders back, be polite, speak softly. Here, she could be as carefree as she dared (without breaking the china vase of course!)
Sometimes, they did other things, catching up over tea, duelling (Rio won their rematch), going to the arcade for some DDR (how the hell was Thomas so good at DDR?), walking in the park.
It was all so...surreal.
One day, Thomas walked into the room to wait for Rio.
To find her sitting on the couch with a pack of pastels, an unfinished poster (he thought) and a cup of coffee on the table.
He walked over to her to see what she was doing and burst out laughing.
It was a picture of an eggplant* running away from a cute onion and a bell pepper.
"You like?" Rio asked, a wide grin on her face.
"...I envy you," he said. "How do you use pastels that well? They always get all over my hand and i end up messing up the picture!"
He smiled. "But it's cute. Looks like a movie poster."
"Well, in Barian World, the preferred medium for art are Baria Crystals," Rio clarified. "Pastels were the closest things I could find.
She giggled. "And it IS a movie poster. The Misadventures Of Nasu and the Evil Onion-and-Pepper Duo!" Then, she burst out laughing.
Thomas snickered. "Is this because Ryoga is as purple as an eggplant and hated onions and peppers?" he inquired before he too began laughing.
As they began to calm down, Thomas sat down beside her. "So..." he said, lying his head against Rio's shoulder.
Rio hummed in agreement, blushing a bit.
Okay, she may have developed a tiny itty bitty little crush on him.
Oops.
Her hand slowly crept towards his, but then pulled away.
'Phew,' Rio thought. 'That would've seemed weird.'
Then, she felt Thomas's hand hold hers and blushed deeper.
"You know," Thomas said, "if you wanted to hold my hand, you could've just asked~."
"Dork," she muttered.
Thomas rolled his eyes and sat up. "What~?" he whined. "You know I'd do anything for my fans." He smirked. "Or are you scared?"
Rio looked at him with a smirk of her own. "Anything?" she asked.
"I don't see why not," he shrugged.
She leaned a bit too close, prompting a blush from Thomas.
'Goddamn it!,' he thought. 'Not now.'
"Kiss me," she commanded.
His eyes widened but did as she asked.
Rio's lips tasted like cool mint and Thomas's like cinnamon but their lips didn't really fit that well and it was basically childish. They decided that they really didn't care.
They hesitantly pulled away, panting slightly.
"Well..." said Rio. "That was, um...nice, I guess."
"Yeah..." Thomas agreed.
There was a long silence as they stared at each other, not sure of what to do.
"So, does thing make us, you know, a 'thing' now?" Thomas asked, not sure of what else to say.
Rio smiled. "Ryoga will murder us, you know," she stated before kissing his cheek. "But I suppose we can handle it."
Thomas chuckled. "Sure. But what about when he sees that?" He gestured to the movie poster.
"We'll live," she said. "Speaking of art, shouldn't we be starting our next lesson?"
Thomas smiled at her.
"How about a collaboration instead?"