Sugarscape [Open]

[Devon Wentsworth]

Unsurprisingly, it hadn't taken Devon long at all to find the food.

The lanky Brit sat perched on the table of a picnic bench, the Converse-clad feet at the end of his long legs resting on the bench beneath him as he looked out over the fair. From here he had a great vantage point, able to see all the comings and going with the ferris wheel as a delightful backdrop. On a paper plate on the bench beside him sat a sugar-dusted funnel cake that already had several bites missing from it, the art teacher picking at it in between doodles.

On his lap was a large sketch book, his hand working furiously to capture all the shapes and movements of the fair. He wasn't drawing the view itself, just very quick etches of the things that most caught his eyes. The colourful curves of the giant ferris wheel, the jutting lines of the stands, the swish of a young girl's summer dress, the poofiness of the sheep in the petting zoo. It was creating a surreal landscape of people in motion, and Devon was smiling as brightly as the sun shining over the field.

Capping the red Promarker, Devon fished in his bag on the bench beside where he was sat and retrieved a pale blue one instead. Off to the side of the dream-scape unfolding on the page, a few lines of blue represented the glimmering lake. Slipping the pen back into his bag, he took another bite of the funnel cake and looked out over the fair. It was turning out to be a pretty chilled out and awesome day.

[Jayden "Jay" Hersch]

Jay had, of course, come to the fair with his Zack. They had spent some time on the rides and at the food vendors, gorging themselves and laughing at people's antics and just generally having an all-around good time. Jay couldn't help but feel butterflies in his stomach all day; it almost made him feel like they were back in their young teenage years, two kids going on a not-officially-a-date-at-the-fair-but-sort-of-felt-like-one, although he was quite sure he was the only one of the duo that felt that way. Nevertheless, he was having an amazing time with his roommate, but they had decided to split off for a short time to pursue different interests - Zack to some more rides, which Jay had gotten a little tired of, and he to one of the small stages sprinkled throughout the fair, interested to see if there were any dance performances going on.

He passed through the food area, though, and was distracted by a familiar face. Not really needing to be anywhere quickly, he decided some friendly chatter might be fun now that he was on his own.

"Hey Devon!" he called out, waving as he reached his coworker. The guy had a sketchpad on his lap, which was not a surprise, and Jay whistled with admiration. "That looks great, man," he told him, offering a friendly pat on the shoulder. "Enjoying yourself tonight?" He didn't look like he was with anyone, unless they too had wandered off, so Jay took a seat next to the artist, letting out a content sigh. His newly dyed blonde hair shone orange in the setting sunlight, and he ran a hand through it before leaning back and smiling at Devon. "Don't tell me you came alone."

[Devon Wentsworth]

The funnel cake was a delightful blend of sweet and savoury, going down easily, and Devon was glad he'd decided to be brave and try one out. On his side of the Pond they were non-existent and he'd found it difficult to work out why anyone would prefer them over standard doughnuts, but now he could sort of understand the appeal. Though he was enjoying the sugar-dusted cake, he did still desperately miss the apple turnovers that littered the country fairs and farmers markets back home.

A familiar voice pulled Devon from his sugar-filled reverie and the Brit used the back of his hand to brush the stray sugar crystals away from around his lips. Bloody icing sugar always got everywhere. Of course, like the art student he had once been, he'd managed to get the stuff pretty much everywhere except for on his project. “Alright Jay, good to see ya. Been the perfect weather for it, hasn't it?”

Smiling at the compliment, Devon nodded. “Thanks mate, it's comin' along a'right.” He quickly flicked through a few pages of the sketchbook, showing a number of other small, quick pen sketches he'd made throughout the day. “Just getting the rough shapes down, y'know.” Devon slid the now-empty paper plate out of the way so the trainer could sit down, and he gave a nod of his head. “Yeah, it's been a good day. Ate a bit too much though, I think.” Laughing brightly, Devon looked out over the fair, reaching into his bag for another marker. Speaking and drawing at the same time was absolutely second nature to him. “Ran into a couple people here but yeah, I came alone. How about you? You been wanderin' solo all day?”

[Jayden "Jay" Hersch]

"Yeah, it's been great," Jay agreed with a smile, looking up at the sky. "I think I heard there's a meteor shower going on this weekend too, so that might be nice to see!" Maybe he could convince Zack to get away from town to look for them; that could be fun.

"I wish I could draw," he chuckled as he sat, still admiring the drawing. As Devon flipped through various other sketches, he whistled admirably. "You definitely have the perfect job," he told his coworker, grinning. It was nice to see that someone's passion could turn into an occupation; it gave him hope that he would be able to find a place to use his passion for dancing in order to make a living. Jay laughed again. "I think fairs were meant to be places to eat too much," he replied, patting his own stomach; he felt like he had gained ten pounds throughout the day. He was normally a very healthy eater too, so his stomach was complaining a bit at all the grease and salt, among other things.

"Ach, really, a handsome guy like you coming to the fair alone?" he teased lightly. "That's not right!" He chuckled and looked back to the setting sun. "Nah, Zack's around somewhere. He wanted to go on more rides, but I think I might puke if I go on anymore," he admitted with a laugh. "I was hoping to find some dance performances somewhere. I'll find him later."

[Devon Wentsworth]

“Oh really? That'd be epic!” Devon visibly perked up at the mention of the meteor shower, the art teacher glancing skywards in the vague hope that maybe he'd be exceptionally lucky and just happen to see one passing overhead right now. “I might have to run back and grab my camera before dark, just in case.” Devon's camera had been a 25th birthday present from his brother, and it was one of the few pieces of technology he'd absolutely HAD to bring over from home. It was a semi-pro standard bridge camera, but Devon still didn't know what half the buttons and dials did. He adored it none-the-less.

Devon gave a soft laugh as he uncapped the blender pen, the colourless marker washing colours together to give soft, natural shades and add to the surreal landscape. “Everyone can draw, it's just about practice and knowin' how to put your thoughts down on paper. Mainly practice and patience though.” He smiled as red blended into yellow, making the little flowers on the sweeping dress look like felt on the paper. “'S'not perfect, but I love it anyway.” The Brit had never been all that much of a healthy eater but even his stomach was gently pointing out that perhaps he'd been a touch too enthusiastic to try the new delicacies. “I think it's an unwritten law; if you go to a fair, you have to eat like the world's about to go apocalyptic. Otherwise you're doing it wrong.”

The smile on Devon's lips twitched into a hint of a smirk at the younger man's comment, and he glanced at him with grey eyes flickering with amusement. “Well, I didn't have any fancy pants hero offer to escort me. What's a poor starving artist to do?”

[Jayden "Jay" Hersch]

"Yeah, I think so," Jay agreed with a grin, following Devon's gaze upward. It was still too light, of course, to see any, but it was exciting to think about nonetheless. "Ooh, that's a great idea. Maybe you should get away from all the lights around the fair to see them better - that's what I'm hoping to do With Zacky- er, Zack." His pet name for his roommate stumbled out without Jay thinking, and he clamped his lips together, feeling a flush of embarrassment cross his face.

He tried to shrug it off as though he hadn't slipped, and was glad for the distraction to watch Devon draw. "I stopped drawing when I was like, ten," he admitted sheepishly. "I can still do a pretty mad stick figure though!" Jay was, however, quite creative with pasta - that was easy, though. Natural. The pen Devon was using seemed like magic. "Yeah, being a trainer has its ups and downs too," he mumbled, looking up at the sky once again. He chuckled at Devon's statement. "Right? I'm ready to die happy in a zombie breakout right now." Well, obviously not really - Jay was definitely not the zombie-fighting sort. There was only so much he could do with his abilities before he was overrun, and guns weren't his thing. He'd likely trip over his own feet within a few minutes of any sort of attack.

He returned Devon's smirk, chuckling a bit before looking down at the ground. "I'm sure someone woulda been happy to come with you," he assured the art teacher. "D'you have anyone you're interested in at Hammel?" He waggled his eyebrows teasingly, his smirk breaking into a wide grin at the question.

[Devon Wentsworth]

With some (well, most) things Devon was still a teenager at heart. He didn't know all that much about astronomy save what he'd been able to pick up watching TV, and that had only come about because Professor Brian Cox had been hosting an ever increasing number of programmes on the subject. However he still had a boyish love for anything out of the ordinary and to him a meteor shower was definitely new and exciting. Devon fought back a quiet laugh but gave a knowing grin as Jay mentioned 'Zacky', the art teacher having enough common sense to be able to put the pieces together. “I might just do that. I'm sure you and Zacky will have a mighty fine time under the stars.”

Devon was all for gentle teasing but he could clearly see the other man wanted to change the subject so he went with it, but did mentally file the note for future reference. He gave a small shrug of his shoulders. “There's quite a few artists that do stick figures. Edward Monkton's stuff isn't any more advanced than stick figures, and I've got one of his books at home.” Devon gave a soft laugh at the mention of a zombie apocalypse and nodded in agreement. “I know, right? Especially if they looked like Julie from Return of the Living Dead. I certainly wouldn't mind her eating me.” He gave a childish snicker at the unintentional double entendre.

The art teacher capped the blender pen and stuck it back into his bag, giving a vague shrug before making a bit of a show about pondering over his answer. “I dunno, actually... I think Doctor Neville's got a thing for me, though. It's the skinny English charm. But mostly the hair.” Devon gave a dramatic ruffle of his black shaggy hair, tossing his head like a supermodel in a shampoo advert, masking the truth behind a bold laugh and bright smile.

[Jayden "Jay" Hersch]

Stars had always fascinated Jay, although he knew very little about the subject matter. He only knew two or three constellations, which he was proud of nonetheless. He had meant to talk to Orion about it a bit, since he taught astronomy and physics and led the Astronomy Club; being an ex-employee of NASA, he was sure to know loads. He was distracted from his thoughts, though, as he heard Zack's pet name coming out of Devon's mouth; he cringed visibly. "Er... Thanks. But you didn't hear that," he replied with a nervous grin.

He sucked in a silent breath as the subject changed. "An artist that draws like that?" he asked curiously. "I'll have to look him up!" He was curious now; he always imagined all the famous artists going though hours and hours of sweat and tears and blood to create their masterpieces. Jay gave a crooked grin. "That sounds like a lovely way to die," he agreed, although personally, he could think of other people he wouldn't mind getting eaten by... But, that was against the point.

Jay leaned in as he waited for the artist's answer. Once Devon spoke, he paused for a moment, then, unable to think of anything witty to say, just burst into laughter. "Ooh, he does, does he?" he giggled. "I totally should have seen that coming. I can't believe how obvious it is." He held a hand against his mouth until his laughter was under control. "Hey, I can dig it," he added with a double thumbs-up, laughing again at Devon's hair antics. He ran a hand through his own shorter, very blonde hair.

[Devon Wentsworth]

Devon noticed the cringe out of the corner of his eye and quirked an eyebrow in curiosity. He had obviously hit a nerve in other man and mentally back-stepped a touch. Clearly this was a rather touchy subject for the trainer and Devon didn't want to risk upsetting or unsettling Jay. He was always first in the queue to offer teasing banter but was always careful to never tread over that line, and it was obvious that the line was currently still very close to home. He gave a brief nod of his head and a reassuring smile. “Hear what, mate? All I heard was us nattering on about the stars.”

Giving a soft laugh Devon nodded. “Yeah, not everyone paints like Caravaggio. Which is great, because everything would be hella boring if everything was the same style.” Shuffling the sketchbook to one side, Devon fished out his mobile phone and flicked through the pictures before showing one of them to Jay. “That's Edward Monkton's style. You gonna tell me you can't even manage that?”

The truth was that Devon had indeed met several people who had caught his eye, but he knew himself far too well to ever give even a passing thought to roads like that. His attitudes towards relationships were hardly noble and good, and it just wasn't acceptable to bring that into his work space. The joke and ensuing laughter thankfully seemed to derail the potential seriousness of the questioning, and Devon's bright smile didn't diminish as he shrugged playfully, tone full of boyish teasing. “Of course he does. He tried one of my cupcakes at the night out and he's been smitten since.” He gave a bold nod, tucking the sketchbook back into his bag.

[Jayden "Jay" Hersch]

Jay was more worried about rumor getting around and Zack finding out about his feelings that way. He didn't realize that pretty much everyone at Hammel probably knew anyway; he was ridiculously obvious. Still, he appreciated when Devon spoke, and a wide, affectionate grin lit up his face. "Sorry, I must've been thinking aloud or something." He was liking this art teacher more and more; sweet, cute, and considerate. Definitely someone he wouldn't mind being better friends with.

"Caraf... Right," Jay laughed. He shifted over and looked curiously at the picture Devon was offering, his eyebrows raised curiously. "And this guy is famous?" he replied incredulously. He rubbed his chin. "I really like it, actually. Simple and creative. I could totally do that." Well, maybe not the creative bit, but the simple part, definitely. "Gonna have to look up some more of his stuff. Thanks for sharing, man." He grinned brightly.

If only Jay had similar self-control that Devon did. He wanted Zack, badly, even if they were coworkers now; and if he knew his roommate felt the same way, well, a shared job was not going to stop him in the least. Nothing noble and good there, just.... Need. "Ahhh," he breathed playfully, nodding several times. "Makes sense. Remind me not to eat any of those seductive cupcakes, then, lest I fall into the same trap," he joked with a wide smile. It wasn't like he would ever feel anything nearly as strong for anyone else as he felt for Zack, but it didn't hurt to play around for laughs.