It seems a bit unfair that I've got two drabbles for one pairing. But...here it is~ ^u^/

Drabble #11
Pairing: Noel X Jin
Theme: Muse

~ x x x ~

Expressing herself on paper was never a problem; it was a task she found much ease and fluency in. While she could not function well in words- and embarrassed herself quite often because of her social awkwardness- Noel could express herself confidently equipped with only a pen and a piece of paper.

But now...she was unsure.

Sitting with a chair pulled up to the wooden desk in her room, Noel scribbled across a paper blotched by fresh ink. She sat back, her eyes scanning her work. With a frown she crumpled it up added it to the growing pile in the waste bin- evidence of her numerous attempts.

"Why is this so hard...?" Resting her cheek in her hand, she tilted her head to the side as she leaned her weight on her elbow and stared at the next blank page. She pressed the top of the pen to her bottom lip, thinking, thinking...

There came a knock on the door and she snapped out of her daze. She glanced down at her written work- still forming in a slow, hopeless pace. She placed her pen down and pushed the chair back as she stood up. The door creaked faintly as she opened to see who it was, and she had to blink to make sure she wasn't imagining what she saw.

A blonde young man, taller than she was, stood there in his uniform with his glasses held in his hand. "Tsubaki said you needed help with something," he explained. His blasé gaze shifted to the desk behind where the half-written manuscript rested on. "...A novel you're working on?"

This was strange for Noel as she wasn't expecting someone right then, least of all Jin Kisaragi! Stunned into silence that he came all the way to her dorm, Noel didn't want to be an inconvenience to him; after all he was a busy person. "It's okay...I-I can manage."

The minute she had said that, an idea suddenly hit her.

A muse was a source of inspiration that motivated writers in their work. It could be a person, an object, anything that inspired one actually! She had read that even the greatest masters of literature turned to their muse when they reached a laborious point in their writing, a stalemate. They would think long and hard and with that reflecting, they'd link their emotions and thoughts to form a masterpiece of creative work. And that was exactly what she needed to do!

As the blonde-haired student turned to leave, Noel quickly stopped him, grabbing his arm. "Ah, wait! Actually, could you sit over here for a moment? It would really help."

Looking over his shoulder, Jin quirked an eyebrow, skeptical, but the girl had already led him to the armchair in the corner of the room, gently motioning for him to sit down. With an unheard sigh, he sat without protest and watched as she seated herself at her desk, hunching over the manuscript.

This time it came easier, she was slowly settling into a comfortable zone as her thoughts drifted to a particular person, someone she saw as an important figure in her life. Someone who watched her feeling perplexed, mildly annoyed, yet at the same time curious to see what she was up to.

She glanced at Jin briefly, grinning uncertainly when he caught her at it, raising his brows. His green eyes...they were as jaded as ever, yet she once caught a glimpse of gentleness in them, even though it was skillfully obscured from all. He was laden with great expectations yet he did not let the pressure get to him. Even now he was keeping up the stature. He was quiet, stoic, but all the same, his presence was kept with an air of poise and certainty. He knew what he wanted in his future, unlike her. But that's what made her look up to him all the more...

Thinking about it now...Noel realized that her main character was in fact a fictional embodiment of Jin. She blushed privately at how influential he was, focusing her attention on her writing. Description came a lot easier now. The words flowed onto the paper with little effort, soon filling the next page and the next page and the next and the next.

"And how is sitting here helping exactly?" Jin finally asked with a sigh, breaking the silence.

"In a way you wouldn't know," she answered vaguely with a lighthearted smile, without averting her gaze from her manuscript.

Jin stared in confusion then shook his head. It didn't take a genius to know that Noel was an odd one, he'd known that all along the few times they've spent together. He was better off not knowing what she meant by that, he thought to himself, relaxing in his seat a little.

Noel smiled softly, glancing up at him as he reached for a nearby book. Although aloof and indifferent, she had made a new discovery from this situation. Jin, whether he liked it or not, was her muse. And she quite enjoyed his presence.

"Hm? What's this..." he murmured, regarding a pink notebook. "Adventures in Love by Noel Vermillion?"

The blonde girl's eyes widened. "Aaah!" She jumped out of her seat, reaching out uselessly, "Wait don't read that, Jin! Jiiiiinnn!"

~ x x x ~