A/N: Warm Bodies belongs to Isaac Marion
Chapter 7: Sketching
To everyone's delight, Christmas Eve as well as Christmas Day were days off from work. Julie took advantage of the extra time to sleep. Nora cooked Christmas goodies out of what she could, and R found himself baffled about what to do again.
Christmas Eve was rather quiet, a lazy, comfortable day for everyone. R was staring out the window when it started to snow. He loved snow, even as a zombie. It was sort of magical to him. A strange inspiration hit him and he fumbled to get a piece of paper and pencil. He had never drawn before, when he was dead, holding a pencil was something he didn't know how to do. But now he just wanted to make something. He wished he had some clay; back in the airport he found clay once. He was fascinated with it for hours until he abandoned it to find food, and to his despair he found that clay hardens. At least now a pencil and paper sufficed.
First, he drew a hill. His hand was still a bit shaky, but it was okay. I'm going to do this, he told himself. Wait. No. Too quiet.
He turned on the iPod music and smiled. This was perfect.
Losing track of time, R sketched a city. It had a slight resemblance to Citi Stadium, but he tried to make it different. It was a little shaky, a little crude, but it was rewarding. It was relaxing. R was proud of himself.
He pulled another piece a paper out and just doodled little things. Wildflowers, the sun, the moon, a pair of eyes. He was getting lost again when Julie came downstairs, just waking up from a nap, in a big t-shirt, sweatpants, and messy hair. "Hey, cutie," she mumbled sleepily, peering over R's back. "What's this?"
"Doodles," he answered, continuing to elaborate the drawing of a car.
"This is good! Is that Mercey?" Looking at it again, R noticed it did bare a resemblance to his old car.
A smile turned up the corners of his mouth. "Yeah. Yeah, it is." Julie then picked up the sketch of the landscape.
"Aw," Julie sighed. "This isn't bad, R! You've got a talent."
"Hm, I guess." Julie leaned down to kiss the back of his neck, and R quickly noted that she wasn't wearing a bra-her breasts were pressed against his back. He turned around in his chair and pecked her lips.
"Ah," Nora stammered, coming into the room. Julie laughed.
"Come on in, we weren't doing anything." Nora winked at R and joined them in the kitchen.
"Watcha been doing?" she asked.
"R's been drawing." Julie said.
"Don't make a big deal." He still hated it.
"Lemme see," Nora took the picture of the landscape and beamed. "This is good, R."
"Thanks," he murmured.
"Who's eyes are these?" Julie asked, looking at the eyes he had drawn.
"They look a lot like yours." Nora said.
He twisted his mouth into a confused expression. He didn't mean to make them look like Julie's. Then again, he didn't mean to make the car look like the red Mercedes. But they did look like his love's eyes. "I didn't mean to do that," he admitted. "But, yeah, I guess they're yours." Julie, still a bit sleepy, smiled, and touched his had softly.
"I like it." she said, leaning over to kiss his cheek.
Nora let out a light laugh. "Hey guys, don't remind me I'm alone here."
"You're not alone." R promised. She shook her head with a half-smile.
"Hey, I invited Marcus over for Christmas," Nora said. R's eyes widened with excitement. "He's excited to see you, too. He's been hitting on me."
"Oh, he does that to everyone,"
"Even me," Julie added under her breath.
"He told me I was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen." R actually laughed out loud.
"That's great."
Nora covered her smile. "Yeah, it was." Julie nudged her.
R sat back and watched the girls talk. If every Christmas was like this, he knew he could handle it.
