Would you prefer the ending be swapped out for something fluffier? Some PDA or something?
Sam wasn't a malicious guy by nature. A little tough, maybe, if you squinted and looked at him sideways, but not *mean*.
But sitting there, staring at his desk, he really, *really* wished he was.
Oh sure, go ahead, Paladin! Go off and have fun with your girlfriend! No, no, it's fine-- there's only a *little* paperwork left to do, I'll be out of here in no time! Wouldn't want you to miss your date or anything, *would* we?
Which was all well and good until he looked half an inch to the left, and saw the *rest* of it. And in that moment, he missed the days when Paladin was just a tool, because he wouldn't have felt bad for making a *tool* stay late and do the s**t he didn't feel like doing.
He tried glaring at the stack of paper as he stalked past, from one end of the office to the other, but it didn't have much effect. At any rate, no little pixies jumped up to scuttle about and do the *tedious* work of filling in neat little letters in neat little boxes, so any effect it did have was irrelevant. He tossed a twisted chunk of metal up and down as he moved, brooding over *that* problem as well, and pretending he wasn't just procrastinating.
Except he really was.
Which was fine, because he *was* the boss, and he hired other people to do the boring s**t.
Sam sighed to himself and thumped down into the chair, twisting it to face the desk. He put The Problem down with a thunk of metal against metal with one hand, picked up a pen with the other, and squinted at the topmost sheet.
Yeah, this was easy enough. Just get through it as quickly as possible, and he could go back to doing the *really* important thing.
And yet, no matter how hard he stared at the paper, his hand just wouldn't go down. He sat there, *poised* to get into it, but not actually doing anything at all.
He really should, though. He should just,
*do it*
"Heyy." Chris' voice interrupted his thoughts and he dropped his pen, catching it before it hit the desk and frowning over his shoulder. He had a split second to consider if he should look *busy* and realize it was too late, before the interruption continued. He looked amused, though god alone knew at what. "You good in here?"
"Yeah," Sam answered, like he hadn't been caught doing something shameful. "I'm almost done."
"I'm off then -- so don't work *too* hard," came the retort, sounding downright *hysterical* now, and it occurred to Sam that either he was *really* good at noticing when he was slacking off, or that was a joke about something entirely different. Good thing it didn't matter.
"You're done?" he found himself asking, surprised despite himself. Last he remembered, there had been an excessive amount of work. Oh, right-- he was probably just leaving because he was bored. Chris wasn't offended -- his grin only kicked up a notch and he sighed theatrically.
"I *know*," he agreed, grandly. "I'm cursed with being a *hella* fast worker, *and* a pretty face. Some of us have *all* the bad luck."
Sam didn't disagree. He didn't *agree*, either. It took some effort.
"Hang about," he said instead, shoving his chair back from the desk and discarding his pen. Alas, another day when he didn't manage to finish any paperwork-- where *did* the time go? Chris raised a brow at this and stepped back, out of the doorway, allowing him to escape and leave the other behind as he wandered off. The lack of explanation wasn't much of a deterrent.
He wasn't gone long, but it was still too long to expect the other to wait patiently, and when he reappeared, Chris was poking around the office, inspecting the schematics scattered about intently. He looked confused by what he was seeing which was to be expected-- they were pure gibberish, and flawed in so many ways Sam wasn't even sure where to begin.
He didn't say this, though, and was privately amused.
His footsteps caught Chris' attention and he turned, glancing over his shoulder at Sam's approach, and easily caught the can tossed towards him. (In retrospect *that* was a dumb move-- what if he'd been too slow? The mess would have been *ridiculous*.) He shot another glance towards the schematics, then turned to squint at the name on the can.
It was in Russian. He was pretty sure Sam did this just to ******** with him. He wouldn't have been entirely wrong, had he voiced that opinion.
******** it, though. Beer was beer. He popped the tab and took a long slug, eyes closed as the cold sluiced down his throat. He wasn't quite sure if that was a pleasant sensation or not, but he took it for what it was worth.
"How did the--" Chris hesitated, indicating vaguely towards the schematics. Sam glanced at him, popping open his own can-- with his left hand, he noted absently-- and flicked his eyes towards the desk. His top lip pulled back slightly in a sneer. "The *thing*. How did it go?"
"It *didn't*," Sam snapped, gulping from his own beer. He didn't seem to particularly enjoy that, either, but he didn't complain, on account of being the one to suggest it. By unspoken agreement-- Chris *was* still leaving, after all-- they began walking towards the garage door, Sam lugging the rest of the pack of beer along.
"Figure out why?" Chris asked, innocently.
Sam's face told him all he needed to know, just in case he hadn't already guessed. He laughed, unashamed at how amused he was by this, and raised his can in a silent toast.
"Tomorrow is another day," he declared, grandly. "I have *complete* faith you'll figure it out."
"Like I have a *choice*," grumbled Sam. He reached the door first and kicked it open, rather than juggling the handle and the beers and potentially looking like an idiot when he dropped everything.
He paused just outside, frowning.
It was dark out. The street light nearest the garage had blown, but the rest were shining plenty bright enough to show just how deserted it was. He glanced over his shoulder, confirmed his suspicions *that* was empty too, and looked back at the street.
He hadn't even *noticed*.
"Time flies when you're having fun, huh?" Chris joked, following him outside-- but there was an undertone of concern, which Sam wasn't sure what to do with. He shrugged, dismissing it.
"That why you were late this morning?" he sniped, even though it was a little petty. Chris wasn't concerned, and only grinned.
"You know how things are," he agreed-- and there was a full can in his hand now, so he took a long gulp from that, too. Wouldn't want to be *rude* after all. "Not enough hours in the night-- the ladies just wouldn't let me leave. 'Chris, oh Chris, stay with us!' and all that."
Sam grunted, well aware of where Chris had been the night before-- but how, when he woke up, the other was gone, and *still* showed up late to work.
"As long as that's all," he agreed sarcastically, nursing his beer. They walked across the car park, footsteps quiet thuds against the concrete. There was only two vehicles left-- it wasn't a large one, but it was usually much fuller when Chris left.
Sam wondered, absently, why he *hadn't* left. Maybe he would have asked, if the silence hadn't been filled.
"Alas," agreed Chris, sadly. "You give me *far* too much credit, m'love. I'm too *pretty* to have problems."
He batted his eyelashes, just to get the point across. Sam failed to hide his amusement completely-- even though he wasn't *completely* convinced of the authenticity of the claim-- which was close enough to a victory to end the topic. Chris grinned, and Sam dumped the rest of the beer on the bonnet of his truck.
It was a hideous thing, he thought, absently. Why he continued to allow Chris to drive such a piece of s**t and bring down the quality name of his business was *truly* a mystery.
"I know what you're thinking," uttered Chris, reading his mind, tiling his can towards his employer to catch his attention-- and thinking it was very empty. Maybe it had a hole. "You're thinking-- 'How *dare* he drive that piece of crap! He's giving us all a bad name!'"
"No," argued Sam, straight faced-- but at this point, his participation in the conversation was more or less unnecessary. He watched Chris' hand carefully, though.
"But the problem with *that*," Chris continued, the humour seeping from his tone slightly. "Is that it will fall *apart* if I clean her up. All that's keeping her together is rust and dirt and a bit of chewing gum under the back bumper."
He slapped his hand on the roof, hard, and Sam tensed despite himself, half-expecting it to have a sense of irony and fall apart-- but it didn't. It barely even rocked. It was old, yeah, but it wasn't *that* old. He let out a breath.
"And you couldn't *possibly* fix her up," Sam remarked, feeling like he should say *something*. Chris snorted.
"And take away her *soul*?" he demanded.
Sam shrugged, watching as another can appeared in Chris' hand. It was almost like magic. He popped it open and downed half of it.
"It wouldn't be hard," Sam insisted, gesturing towards the truck. "All it would take to fix her up is--"
"I'm *not* trading her in for a newer model," Chris snapped; not as suddenly as it should have been. He caught the way Sam was looking at him. "Something you want to say?"
Sam thought about it-- it showed on his face, how deeply he was considering pointing out there was only one beer left, and he was still nursing his first. And it *had* been his idea, and it probably wasn't anything *serious*, but--
But maybe he should *mention* it.
Mention it when Chris was half-drunk?
Christ, he wasn't an *idiot*.
"No," he said flatly, looking away for a second, then back again. Chris stared at him hard, for just a second, then shrugged and threw his can towards the bin. It missed and thunked against the wall, lying there, lonely and discarded.
"Bugger," Chris remarked, unsurprised. "But I guess *that's* a sign I should piss off."
"Already?" Sam asked, automatically. Chris shot him another look, then snorted.
"Yeah," he shot back. "You didn't think I was waiting for *you*, did you?"
"Weren't you?"
"Not anymore," came the dismissive response, accompanied by a barking laugh. He turned, digging in his pocket for keys.
Evidently, he was *serious* about leaving.
"You can't leave now," Sam frowned.
"That so, Mom?" Chris snapped, twisting to look at him. He gestured with his half empty can of beer. "And why not?"
"You're *already* drunk," Sam snapped back, forgetting he was meant to be the rational one.
"Not *yet* I'm not."
"Don't be *stupid." He dug into his own pocket, yanking out his own keys. "I'm leaving, anyway. I'll give you a ride."
"Leaving with the door open and the lights on?" Chris snarked. "*That's* believable."
"You want the ride anyway?" Sam demanded.
Chris glowered at him, then grunted.
"If you *insist*," he muttered.
"It's a necessity," Sam agreed, moving back to shut the door to the garage-- it was one thing to come right back after making sure your boyfriend wasn't going to crash himself into a tree or throw up halfway home, but it was quite another to assume everyone else would be patient and not go poking around inside, after all. "If *you* get hurt, then who will I have to show me the virtues of not being so responsible all the time?"
If looks could kill, he would have been pretty badly hurt, all things considered.
Agh, sorry for disappearing on you. I wanted to hold out until I had at least one of your pieces done, and then my computer decided to die a second time and I had to take it in again. I do have a wip though. I'll probably rough up the jeans a little, and maybe add something silver in the final on top of touch ups (especially the pants and arms which are bothering me like crazy). Let me know if I'm heading in the right direction.
The first piece you sent me was fabulous. The interactions between characters were really fun to read and I'm kind of glad it had a melancholy ending. It just seemed fitting. I also have to admit I love the way you write Chris, I guess you're just better at the jokes than I am. :'D I'm also a little curious what you visualize Paladin as looking like.
Yes, much much better, I really can't thank you enough. It's probably the best piece I've gotten of those two so far, and the characters are both spot on. I was also really happy with the subtlety, it was a very nice change from what I usually end up with. I wouldn't mind a little PDA, but I'm not sure if it's worth going back and editing it in, so I'll leave it up to you. At the end of the day, I still love it to death.
I'm glad I got there in the end c: But like I said, you can still request small changes, in case there's something off.
UHHH yeah that would be okay n__n I would be very grateful!! So long as you realize you don't
have to
lmao
I'm not being passive aggressive or dropping hints or anything
no no they're actually really in character and I don't have any requests for change * v*;;
kadsjfkle ; A;'' ahh i'm going to give you something i'm sorry. otz
Excellent! c: Puck was a blast to write.
OH GOSH that's a huge tip thank you so much why are you apologising ; ____ ; <3333 Oh man I'm so flattered.
Good luck getting lots more writing!!
j uj okay good i'm glad it's enough idk i'm not good with pricing things anymore on here
thank you so much! c:
Now it's my turn to apologise because what the ******** is internet when all I do is work and sleep and errands I have no idea where the last two days have gone. It's ******** horrendous.
BUT HI I'M HERE NOW and ready to respond /cracks knuckles
Yeah man, it's cool -- I tend to lag on responding until I've got something to show, too. I've had my laptop go down in the middle of comms, so you have my complete sympathy and bucket loads of patience -- I figured it was computer or school, but either way, you'd get back to me when you could c: Just keep doing your thang ok don't even worry.
But yes you're pretty much in the perfect direction holy s**t I love your art. I'm totally digging the way his dreads look, too. And you're so great with showing personality ugh I just
love it
yes fantastic
The skin tone is perfect and I wouldn't have picked green for his shirt, but I'm loving the way it looks tbh.
I mean I don't even know what else I can say just let me sit here and stroke the screen gently ok
And I will trust your judgement 100% on touchups but I see nothing wrong with it and you could have just
not mentioned it
and I would have been totally oblivious and delighted forever
(Silver is definitely his thing and I would not oppose roughed up jeans and silver accessories)
skdjhfsf Okay yes I'm glad you liked the first piece. I looked at it and cringed because it was just so long and it probably would have worked fine as a chaptered novel the way I was going lmao I felt so bad for giving you so many words
so I'm glad it was good!!
(You have discovered my secret I have a habit of doing not-happy endings oops)
KHDSKF THANK YOU I was really worried about Chris tbh. I love the joker types but then I always remember I have no sense of humour when I go to write them.
One day I will definitely give a hefty description of what I imagine Paladin looking like -- I think I saw a piece of him on your blog? But uhm yeah you would be correct in assuming that's not entirely how I imagine him. If I've messed up something really obvious I have no issues correcting it tho, yo, just let me know??
Yesss I liked the second attempt at Sam and Chris a lot more, too. (It's not perfect or anything, but I felt like it was going in a better direction overall.) You flatter me with your praise though omg I have no idea what I'm doing they're two guys who are gay but the gayness is not central their personalities do you realize
how rare
that is never in my gaia life have I come across that
I just can't even
sjkdhfsj but yeah I'm glad you liked the subtlety! Obviously I am always willing to make it more overt, but Sam didn't seem the type to go mooning and lovey-dovey??
I'll definitely add something in at the start, though. (Secretly wanted to; wasn't sure if would fit.)
My only real concern is that ?? Chris got moody very quickly. Is that okay? Is he more of a slow burn?
Otherwise yes I am glad you are happy with it I had a lot of fun with them too ; w ; I will get onto editing it in the next few days but oops I should finish the one that
I said I would
do
first
/stares @ wall because ngl was more interested in Chris and Sam
; w ; yes it is a pleasure for me, too!! You're so nice though omg you're going to fluff up my ego way too much.
First of all, thanks a million for being so understanding. ;__;
Second, what color would you prefer the shirt to be? I can change it in literally thirty seconds so it's really no problem at all. Good to hear I got the personality right, it's always a little tricky giving personality to someone just standing in grey space.
You can never write to much with me, never.
I wouldn't bother with editing for Paladin's description, it works for the story and that's all that really matters. His design is subject to change anyways, I'm actually thinking about doing another one soon.
Thanks! It's nice having more elements to play with, plus realism ftw.
I'd always imagined Chris had a decent tolerance level, just because he drank so often, but I think what you have works well. I tend to change things every few months anyways, so nothing is really set in stone.
Happy to hear you like them, I always think those two are overshadowed by Paladin and Monika. They almost seem standard in comparison. But anyways, no pressure, feel free to edit it whenever you feel like it. You've been really fast getting them to me, all things considered so you're more than welcome to take all the time you want.
Phhhhttt, well you're a great writer and you deserve it so there.
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