[Summary: art students... raging.]

Day 21 - Arts/Crafts/Writing

Yosuke only took an art class in college for some easy elective credits. When he found out they were going to do an anatomy study with live nude models, he was ecstatic. Finally he could see a naked girl without any obligation!

But as it turned out, of course they'd start with male models first.

With an aura of dread, Yosuke followed his classmates into the modeling room. The center stage, where the model would soon be, was surrounded by a semi-circle of chairs and drawing easels. Yosuke took a seat at random. It didn't really matter, his mood wasn't going to be improved by a better view.

He glanced at his classmates, wondering if they felt the same as he did about this. Most of them were getting their charcoal ready or looking bored. There was a cute girl in the corner who looked nervous, but her friend assured her that she'd get over the awkwardness fast.

Like hell, Yosuke thought. He wasn't sure how you were supposed to 'get over' a naked man in the room. What if it was an old guy? He'd heard horror stories about saggy old hags doing perverted poses, but the same could happen with a male model too. A pruny old man obscenely spreading his spindly legs apart and giving the college age girls suggestive looks—

Speak of the devil, a gray-haired man in a brown robe was now walking to the stage. Before Yosuke could process it, the old man was shedding his robe.

Oh god, he really was naked. Yosuke fixed his gaze above the old man's head and muttered a curse at Chie for telling him to take this stupid class.

"All right," said the professor, "we will start with 5 minute poses. Seta, whenever you're ready you may pose."

Yosuke didn't intend to see what pose the old man—Seta?— took, but the sound of several charcoals on paper made him rethink that. The professor was already walking around, prepared to give the students advice, and he couldn't have nothing drawn or he'd be drawing her attention instead.

He finally looked at the man, focusing on his face. As it turned out, despite the gray hair, Seta wasn't old at all. In fact, he looked about his own age. Yosuke sighed in relief.

Seta had a pretty face, for a guy, round but not pudgy and with a strong enough chin. His gray eyes were unfocused as he sat crosslegged with his hands in his lap. He was in good shape too. Yosuke noticed this without looking... there. He was muscular but not ridiculously buff and was that a big scar on his chest? Yosuke wondered where that came from before remembering that he was supposed to be drawing.

Yosuke barely got the roughest outline of the man's torso and crossed legs when the first 5 minutes were up. He flipped to the next page in the sheaf and started the process all over again as Seta moved into a new pose.

Seta began to kneel, one knee up and one knee down, which Yosuke was thankful for because from this angle, one knee was blocking the, uh, essentials. Yosuke quickly sketched an outline of the man's body. The curve of his back was totally wrong, but this whole exercise was intended as practice. When the professor came by, she corrected the way he held the charcoal and told him to draw from his elbow for the next sketch.

In the next pose, Seta sat back with one leg in the air, like he was kicking something. It kinda reminded Yosuke of Chie. He thought it was a pretty good pose for practice, since it allowed him to draw that slender leg. Knees were harder to draw than he'd expected. He didn't end up drawing more than the leg before time ran out.

After that, Seta bent forward, like he was about to start a sprint. Since his head was bowed, his hair fell forward. Yosuke spent more attention to detail on this than the pose itself, leading the professor to chide him. Texture studies were something they'd do another day.

For the next pose, Seta rested on both knees and held his arms up, like he was reaching some low-hanging fruit. That's what Yosuke imagined anyway, because there was nothing to block that 'something else' that was hanging from view. Yosuke totally avoided looking at it.

A movement caught Yosuke's eye. He must've made a sound or something, because for some reason Seta was looking at him. Yosuke hurriedly hid behind his easel and tried drawing the arms from memory. When the professor came by, she praised his work but said he should've drawn the body before the arms. Creating the core afterward would be counterproductive.

When she walked away, Yosuke peeked out behind the easel. Seta was doing a stretch between poses. The motion was fluid; he took his arms all the way up over his head and laced his fingers together, yawning quietly. Yosuke could imagine if he was wearing clothes, the shirt would ride up and show some skin. He wondered vaguely why that vision was so exciting compared to his nudity here and now.

What did he wear normally anyway? Was he a t-shirt and jeans sort of guy? Somehow Yosuke doubted it. More importantly, did he prefer boxers or briefs?

Seta's next pose had him flexing his arm. Yosuke snickered, because he didn't actually have much of a bicep to show off. Seta heard him, though. He couldn't turn his head in this pose, but his eyes were definitely aimed at him. Embarrassed, Yosuke pretended to focus on his easel. Geez, he didn't want a naked man's attention, even if he was attractive. Under any other circumstance, Yosuke would be glad to try and make a new friend, but this was hardly normal!

But he was curious about the guy now. He wondered if he was a student. Did he use the college's gym? Maybe if he ran into him there, they could chat or...

Heck, what did Seta's voice sound like? He hadn't said a word this whole time. Yosuke supposed he didn't need to speak, he just needed to stand there and look pretty, but it made him feel more like an object than a person, even if that was the point.

Thinking of it that way, it was kind of sad. This guy was exposing himself for what? Money? Yosuke couldn't imagine he was being paid well, and this wasn't an experience he could well forget, voluntary or not. Yosuke knew if he was the model, he'd be having nightmares for months after. But... he'd always been shy about his body. It had been hard enough for him to wear his swim trunks to the beach without wearing a shirt too. Seta must be strong in ways beyond physical.

Crap, the professor was coming his way, and, lost in thought, he hadn't drawn anything for the current pose. He quickly sketched a poor facsimile of Seta doing the Oscar statue pose. The professor only gave it a passing glance before heading to the stage.

The professor nodded at Seta then turned to face the class. "Good job, class," she said. "You've already made a lot of improvement in just an hour. However..."

She glanced around the room, pausing as her eyes alighted on different students. Yosuke shrank in his seat when she glared at him too.

"There is a vital piece of anatomy that many of you are skipping out on," she continued. "You know what I'm talking about."

Dammit! Yosuke'd thought he'd be able to get through this without... actually acknowledging the elephant trunk in the room, as it were. Let alone drawing it.

Heaving a heavy sigh, he finally lowered his gaze and took a good long look at Seta's...

Yosuke couldn't help but blush. It wasn't like he'd never looked in a mirror after taking a shower, but... to see someone else's... and on display like this! It was weird, wasn't it?

He was staring. Crap, was it rude to stare?

Seta shifted from one foot to the other. When Yosuke finally tore his gaze away, he found Seta grinning at him.

Yosuke opened his mouth to say something—

"That's right," the professor continued. "The nose!"