Day 8 - Paper

Slight reference to Day 2 - Forget

Sometimes, during the nighttime, Leonardo would sit at his desk and put his thoughts to paper- Not in the form of writing, but of drawing. One wouldn't expect a hobby like that from the blond, but he was content with sketching whatever came to mind. All of his drawings were, however, immediately stashed away in a small drawer, out of sight and mind so no one would happen to simply happen to stumble across them. Today was no different, the paper and his face were illuminated only by the light of the candle next to him as the charcoal in his hand flitted over the paper, creating the shape of a face, nose, mouth and eyes, before moving on to the hair. He paused for a moment, examining the messy depiction of Laura, before chuckling to himself and adding an Aran next to her.

This was one time he let his imagination run wild.

He mainly drew the Dawn Brigade, occasionally drawing an animal or scenery, although his selection of drawing supplies was quite limited with only charcoal and a quill. But he didn't mind. It was better than nothing. Carefully putting the paper aside, he took an older sheet where the charcoal had almost faded, before turning it over and drawing on the back. No need to waste good materials.

But what to draw-?

Leonardo tapped his chin with the stick (which probably left a black smear on his face), before his eyes lit up. Ah yes, that one time-

And as soon as he thought of it, the drawing utensil was gliding over the parchment once more, the vague outlines of a meadow materializing, a certain brunet myrmidon along with it.

One that he happened to draw more often than the others.

A week later, Leonardo was honestly surprised when Edward suddenly stormed into the commons room, a few papers cradled in his arms as if he was afraid they would crumple up and be ruined.

"Leo!" he yelped, before jogging up, careful to not let any papers fall to the floor. Interestingly enough, the brunet was carrying them all face down. Said archer promptly got the stack shoved towards him.

"Explain!"

The blond blinked in confusion, before looking through the contents of the papers. His eyes widened as he recognised them.

"How in Tellius did you find these?"

Yes, the stack was nothing other than his drawings which he had put quite a bit of effort into, and to be frank, the archer was mortified. Why, he wouldn't know, but those papers were a vent of sorts. Which essentially meant that his emotions got transmitted through the sketches themselves. Oh gods, now he remembered why he was embarrassed.

He also happened to notice that this particular stack seemed to consist mainly of Edward doodles.

And the meadow-! Internally panicking, Leonardo looked up at said myrmidon, who was still waiting for an answer.

Wait, was Edward pouting?

Ashera above. Sighing, he ran a hand through his hair in an exasperated manner, cheeks flushing slightly. That one picture, with the meadow. The brunet standing in front of him sitting among the plant life, a flower crown gingerly perched on his messy hair, a wide grin on his face. Looking back, he wondered what on earth possessed him to even draw that. But it did look nice.

"I never had any idea you could draw this well." he murmured, taking the stack back and leafing through it, ignoring his friend's protest to 'not look, it's horrible'.

He then squinted at that one particular image of himself in the field. "Wait, is that- Is that from the time you made me that crown-thingy?" The archer just silently nodded in response. An awkward silence passed between the two before Edward spoke up again.

"Leo, you should be in this picture, too."

Leonardo jumped slightly. "Wha-?"

"Just saying, if we were there together and you gave me the crown, shouldn't you be in this work of art too?"

"I..."

Blue eyes flitted back and forth between the Edward in the sketch and the one in front of him, obviously at a loss. "There was no space..." he finished lamely. He hadn't really thought of it. His partner just smiled at him, before making a rectangle with his fingers and pretending that they were a picture frame, framing Leonardo with them. The blond tilted his head and sighed, before shaking his head. Edward's smile turned into a grin.

"Then make space- there's still plenty of that on there, if you ask me." he chimed, pointing at a spot left empty, right next to the Edward in the picture. The archer didn't even know if he deliberately left that space anymore. Maybe he did.

Maybe.

The next day, Edward awoke to a strange tome lying on his desk, which was odd, he hardly ever used it, nor did he have any knowledge of magic. Yawning and stretching, he groaned, before rubbing at his eyes. Maybe the tome was Micaiah's. Or Pelleas'. However, as soon as he picked it up, a stray page fluttered out to the ground. The brunet stooped to pick it up, tired brown eyes suddenly becoming alert as he realises what it is.

Looks like Leonardo had found space in the picture for himself, after all.

It now depicted both of them, sitting in the field and laughing, The archer himself seemed to be placing the flower crown on the myrmidon.

Perfect.