𝓛𝓸𝓴𝓲 𝓧 𝓡𝓮𝓪𝓭𝓮𝓻 𝓞𝓷𝓮𝓼𝓱𝓸𝓽𝓼

The Artist

Discarded behind his chair was the jacket, he now stood in just a dress shirt and tie. I quickly wetted my lips as I watched him go on about what we'd be working on today, but I could barely concentrate. But maybe if I had, I'd understand the reasoning for him rolling up his sleeves, but all I seemed to comprehend was the ever-expanding reach of his skin.

His forearms, like his thighs, were marvellously sculpted. The muscles there look as if they'd been crafted by gods. But as his eyes flick my way, I attempt to rein in my unfettered infatuation before I lose all concentration.. And besides, the last thing I need is for him to realize I was ogling him.

"As I mentioned before, this medium is going to take some getting used to, barred for those of you that have already had experience with clay of course," He said with a smile, to which a light murmur hums among some students turning to their friends. Most likely recounting their own experiences for a moment.

Taking the moment in between eyes on him, Mr. Laufeyson said nothing as he finished tucking the last bit of his sleeve up by his elbow, then turned to a rolling cart with a large slab of clay on it.

He stood there for a moment, watching the class as their attention on him seemed to have dissolved entirely. But, as if knowing my attention never would've diverted, he turned to look at me and roll his eyes, causing me to giggle lightly.

"Alright," He said, his voice echoing through the class with a deep reverberation, before chasing the echo with a sharp clap that made everyone jump except for me.

He eyed everyone up for a moment, ensuring he had control and there were no more little conversations being had during his lesson, he continued. "When getting your clay, depending on your project of course, you're not going to need a lot," He said methodically as he took the wire cutter and slid it down the length of the block with ease.

"So you may get something like this.." He said holding up the slab "But you won't be able to work with it like this, no.. You'll have to knead it until it's good and malleable.." He said, before kicking down a lock for the rolling cart.

"Now it's going to take far longer to knead your clay, but just to refresh you on how to.." he says before quickly throwing the clay down on the surface, making me jump slightly, to which I shook my head at myself. "You're going to use the heel of your hand to work out the air-pockets, all until it's nice and smooth.." His voice seemed to lower as his sentence trailed off, making me swallow as I watched the muscles in his forearms flex with every push.

"And the goal with clay in every scenario is to never let it dry out or you might as well kiss your piece goodbye," He emphasized, waving around his now grey hands. "So in-between kneading.. You'll have to wet it here and here.. Just to keep it moist, not quite soaked." He said as he dipped the tips of his fingers into a bowl and let the water drip onto the mound.

"This will also help soften everything up.." He murmured as he watched the mound get increasingly wet.. "But as I mentioned before, this will take you a little bit longer, which is why I prepared some clay ahead of time," He said, to which I felt a slight sigh escape my chest.

I hoped that it didn't sound as disappointed as I felt for the display to be over. I hadn't even realized that I was watching so intently. I'm pretty sure someone could've tipped me over right then..

But my eyes followed greedily as he walked from the rack to the table as he finished unwrapping his new blob of clay. This one was evidently softer than it's fresher counterpart, Mr. Laufeyson's hands kneading it as he adjusted a stool before sitting down in front of a low table.

"Now, this is the tricky part.." He began, eyeing up everyone around before switching on a button to cause the top of the table to spin. "Whilst the table is mid spin, you will have to time a well placed throw.." He said, eyeing up the centre.