PAINting (Kelly)

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Phoenix had never really tried this before - getting his emotions out through art. He had always used it as just something to waste time, not much else. But now, with Oriel in the hospital and Phen restricted to only certain hours seeing him as much as he begged and pleaded to be able to stay there all the time. He had seen Oriel only an hour or two earlier, but already he was pining to go back, even though it was getting dark and he would probably be asleep.

Phen would be happy to just watch him sleep, though. As long as he could be near him and see him breathing. That would be enough.

But now here he was, having hardly eaten and with dark bags under his eyes, trying to 'express' himself or whatever bullshit this was, alone in the art room. The paint was dark with traces of crimson, but as hard as he tried, he didn't feel anything, no relief. He just wanted to be with the boy he loved.

Phoenix threw aside the paintbrush, smothering his face into his palms and sobbing. Times like these he would usually resort to his dust, but 1) it didn't work anymore and 2) he knew Oriel wouldn't want him to. And so he sat there, alone, in the dimly lit room, shivering with repressed emotions, fatigue, and stress.

[Kelly Thompson]

Kelly had a free period, so he decided to spend it by painting his room. He had already turned the walls from white to neon green when he first arrived just to give it some color. But seeing how it was fading back to the dull white, Kelly needed a more permanent solution. With the swirling design he was creating across his walls, it was inevitable that he would run out of paint before he was done. He just didn't realize it would be before finishing a single wall.

So off to raid the art room he went. He was expecting to see the room empty or Devon picking up after a previous class. Instead there was a single figure sitting alone in there. He recognized the quivering mass as a classmate, Phen. At first he wasn't sure what the boy was doing, but quickly noticed the random motions of sobs.

Immediately he went to his side. "Hey, Pheonix. What's wrong?" Worried sounded in his deep voice, and Kelly placed a gentle hand on the boy's shoulder.

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Phoenix was so caught up in his own thoughts and emotions that he didn't even notice when someone else entered the room. He hadn't expected anyone to find him - the art room wasn't an extremely popular place, though he should have at least expected maybe Mr. Wentsworth to appear at some point.

So the appearance of Kelly was very unexpected, and it wasn't until he felt the boy's touch and heard his voice that Phen jolted up in surprise, trails of tears running down his tired face. He immediately gasped and wiped at his cheeks, feeling embarrassed at the very good-looking boy finding him in such a state. He lowered his face into his hands again, unable to look at Kelly.

But he did hiccup and manage to reply weakly. "I miss Oriel," he whimpered. "You... Y-you heard what happened, right?" A flash of anger lit up in his chest at the thought of Erik biting his boyfriend, but it was quickly replaced with sadness once again. "I'm worried about him, I know he'll p-probably be okay, but..." He shuddered. "I hate seein' him so hurt." Against his will, he started sobbing again, moisture dripping down his fingers and onto the paint-covered paper on the table underneath him.

[Kelly Thompson]

The second Phoenix looked up, Kelly could tell things have been tough. He looked like a train wreck. The poor guy was in pieces. His brows furrowed with worry. Oriel was gone in the hospital. Kelly had heard vague information about what had happened, but he had a general idea. He nodded to answer his classmate.

Next thing Kelly knew, he was pulling Phoenix into a hug that he really needed. He wasn't sure what made him do this, maybe it was from doing the very same with his little sister back home. Still, it felt like the right thing to do at the moment. "Shh, it's alright. Like you said, he'll be okay." A small rocking motion started as a calming instinct. "Oriel is where he can get better."

Letting go of the Phen, the Canadian got up to grab a paper towel from the sink to help him clean himself up. Feeling cleaner sometimes helped feeling better. He dampened a paper towel and returned, offering it to him.

[Deleted]

Phen gasped weakly as he felt Kelly's arms suddenly wrap around him, blinking rapidly at the unexpected gesture. His body tensed for a moment at the unfamiliar body before he relaxed and collapsed against the boy, sobs renewed at the feeling of someone, even if it wasn't Oriel, holding him. He clung to Kelly like a child, sniffling as he spoke and trying to take comfort in his words. "Y-yeah, I know..." he mumbled, feeling stupid for needing such reassurances, but appreciating them all the same. "I want t'help him get better too... But I feel so helpless..." Useless. All he could do was be with the boy as often as he was allowed. And he didn't feel, as Oriel's boyfriend, that that was enough. "I want him t'be back already..."

He wiped his eyes against his sleeves as Kelly stepped away, trying to get some form of self-control as he sniffled again and blinked blearily up at the offered paper towel. "Thank you," he mumbled, rubbing the towel over his cheeks, which were probably as red as his eyes from embarrassment. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to... Distract you from whatever you were doin'..." He let out a heavy sigh and tried to stopper up the well of tears for now, trying to maintain some amount of self-control. Kelly was so pretty, he felt like an absolute mess in front of him now.

[Kelly Thompson]

Feeling Phen relax in his arms was a good sensation. Staying tense was never going to get him to calm down. "Don't worry. It'll be alright." Kelly understood the boy wanted to help more than was possible. He was really dedicated to Oriel. It was sweet how much he cared, but it also caused him so much pain to see his love hurt. Kelly couldn't relate to this, but he did understand. "Hopefully he'll be back soon."

Kelly offered Phoenix a smile. He was a good guy, really, just with a tough time. His whole face really was red and tuckered out. Cleaned up, Kelly thought Phen was pretty easy on the eyes, and wouldn't mind dating him if that ever became an option. Then he was pulled back to what he was there for. "It's fine really. I was only here to pick up some supplies."

He sat down next the boy. "If you ask me, you're more important than paint." Once again he pulled him into a hug.

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Phen sniffled again, thankful for Kelly's kind, comforting words. It was just what he needed right now. He'd been isolating himself, keeping to his room and other places were he could be alone, but it was amazing how much the company of someone nice could help. "Th-thank you," he mumbled, trying not to soak Kelly's shirt too much. At least his tears seemed to be bearable to hold back for now. "Yeah, hopefully," he agreed quietly. "I'm not sure how much longer I can wait." There was only so long he could go barely eating and sleeping.

He wiped self-consciously at his cheeks again, his gaze cast down to try to hide just how tired he was; it was a weak effort. Phen would have been flattered if he had known was Kelly was thinking, but as it was, he was far too attached to Oriel to even think about messing around with other guys, unless they wanted to join in his and Oriel's 'open-door policy' that they had going on. "Oh, okay..." he replied softly, swallowing as he managed a peek up through messy black hair. "Workin' on somethin'?"

Phoenix shivered a bit at the sweet comment, letting himself fall back into Kelly's warm, solid embrace, taking in a deep breath as he tried to calm down even more. "That's.... R-really nice," he mumbled, burying his face against the boy's shoulder. "You have n-no idea how much I needed this..." He squeezed his eyes shut. "I can't s-sleep, or eat, or anythin'... I've just been too w-w-worried..."

[Kelly Thompson]

"You're welcome." Kelly's voice stayed calm and quiet. And hopefully soothing. It must've been hard for Phen to wait as long as he did already. "Well, you've survived this long. If you need anything I'm always here, alright?"

Kelly watched as the boy wiped his red cheeks even redder. It took a lot to make someone break down as badly as Phen was, but even more for him to do so in public. Kelly would've probably just locked himself in his dorm the whole time. Maybe not if his significant other spent so much time there. He didn't really know every detail of the rough time his friend was having.

"Just my room, nothing special." No matter how personal or significant he made the design on his wall, after his graduation next year the room would be as white as when he first arrived. So he wasn't in much of a hurry to finish it.

The Canadian rubbed his back in a slow rhythmic manner as Phoenix mumbled his problems to him. "You should rest and get some food. It'll make you feel a little better. And you can't help Oriel much get better when you're weak from fatigue." If Kelly'd had some food to offer he would. But of course he had no need to bring anything to the art room with him earlier.

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Another small sob escaped Phoenix, and he nuzzled his face against Kelly's chest, clinging onto his shirt. "Y-you're so nice," he sniffled. Nice enough to care about a pathetic, crying excuse of a person to the point of hugging him and making him feel like everything might be okay. "Th-th-thank you..." he breathed again. "J-just havin' someone t'talk to... Helps..."

Phen felt bad, though, for having someone else have to experience him like this. He should have stayed in his room, where no one would have to deal with it, but being alone in both his and Oriel's rooms had started to drive him crazy; he couldn't take it anymore. He'd thought escaping would help, but... Well, maybe Kelly was what he'd been looking for.

He wiped his nose, blinking up at the bright-haired boy. "Y-your room?" he repeated quietly. "I b-bet it's goin' t'look great." Phoenix hadn't seen a lot of Kelly's work, but he spent enough time in the art room that Phen thought he was probably pretty good. "C... Can I maybe.... Watch you work?" It might distract him better than trying to work on his own.

Phoenix let out a heavy sigh, pressing his face into the crook of Kelly's neck as he rubbed his back and murmured to him. "I... I know..." he mumbled. "I just can't fall asleep... When I'm alone...." And he just hadn't mustered the energy to drag himself down to the cafeteria. Actually, even now, the soft touch Kelly was placing on his back, and just his presence alone, was making Phen feel drowsy; his eyelids began to droop, and his body started going a little limp.

[Kelly Thompson]

Kelly could feel the bridge of Phoenix's nose rub against his chest. He could also feel his shirt cool and dampen slightly with small sobs. He didn't let this bother him. "It usually does. Feel free to just let it all out, alright?"

"Mmhmm… Eventually. I'm taking my time with it." He was in no rush to get the room done. Kelly didn't expect Phen to ask, and most of the time it was awkward for him to know someone was watching him as he painted. Still, he didn't want to just flat out say no, and it was only a casual art project too. "Sure thing."

The Canadian continued to rub as his friend placed his head on Kelly's shoulder. Kelly just nodded quietly. Phoenix really needed someone to be by. He felt the eyelashes move together against his neck, and the boy grew heavy in Kelly's arms. He was falling asleep in his arms? Well, at least he was starting to doze off at all, right?

Carefully, Kelly nudged him so he leaned against his own chair. He then grabbed a few paint jars and set them in a plastic bag that the art room had just lying around. With the bag of paints in hand, Kelly hoisted Phoenix up onto his back in a piggy-back position. The art room was not a place to be sleeping. It wasn't comfortable for that first of all, and if someone came along, Phen might wake up with paint all over himself.

He'd take him back to Kelly's dorm to get a good rest. His roommates wouldn't mind, right? He'd take Phen to his own room, but didn't know which number it was. So off to his room he went.