Portrait of Him | Wilbur Soot ✔️

Discovery I.

From that night on the band pulled themselves together. They started to meet up more regularly to work on new music. Motivation had been restored. It felt like their friendship bloomed like a flower that was thought to be doomed dead.

And the day came, that when they were just on the door to their studio flat, Valerie was leaving her house. She came over to introduce herself to the others. Wil stood next to them, not engaging in the conversation too much. He knew her already and wanted to give the others a chance to get to know her too. She and him had been texting back and forth, most of the time about lighthearted fun things. He'd told her all of the insider places around and she helped him with his boredom and inner emptiness. The four of them were chitchatting for a few minutes before her hobbies came up.

"What do you do in your free time?" Mark asked out of pure curiosity.

"I'm an artist. I like traditional painting, drawing and crafting. Calms me down and it's a great way to pass time and express myself at the same time." Ash started grinning first. Then Joe. Then Mark.

Wilbur didn't seem to pick up on their discovery.

After a few more sentences, Val went back to her original business.

The three of the boys starred at Wil. Confusing formed on his face. "What?"

"She's an artist, paints across my chest." Joe quoted a line from the song Wilbur had presented them just a few days ago. "She IS an artist. Is there a way she was the inspiration for it? You met this girl and really just wrote an entire song about her, huh?"

A deep redness spread across Wilbur's face. Shit. He himself hadn't noticed how heavily inspired the song was. Thinking about it, it really was obvious.
Our tall lanky boy opened his mouth and shut it a moment later. There was nothing to say. He couldn't agree nor disagree. He was simply speechless.

"Our boy's got a crush."

"Shut it. " Wil mumbled quietly and made his way into the studio.

...

It was afternoon, when Valerie had put together the easel in her bedroom. Next to it, there was a small table with all the art supplies she needed. The past few weeks the blank canvas stood leaned against the wall in her living room and every day she's thought about what to use it for. What motive, what paint, which colors, what atmosphere she wanted for it.

She had an extremely annoying art block. Then when she went to get groceries, she saw the band on the other side of the street. The boys that she had yet to meet were really sweet. Wil had stood on the side shyly, not saying much. He could be a good listener. Then something strange happened she had told them about her liking art and the three others turned all smily as if they knew something that was so obvious that she felt irritated for not realizing it herself. She went on with her day, but when she turned around once more, she saw that talking. Wilbur was all red and embarrassed. Something about it scratched her brain just the right way. He looked cute standing there next to his friends. He wore a smile, that he could, even with all his will, not suppress. The light shone on him so perfectly. She wanted to capture this view. She wished, she could take a screenshot in her mind.

When Val got home later that day, the canvas on the easel caught her eye again. Was she really gonna try? Fuck it. She put on some music and got to work. First the priming of the back ground. When she was younger, her grandparents would show her all the important things to know when painting. You needed to be careful when using oil paint. Just when you think it's dry, wipe that thought off your mind. It will most likely still need a few days. Or take care of your brushes. Or never EVER touch the painting to see if it is dry.

Then the outlines. Then the local colors, the colors that a body had, when outer influences like light were not taken into account. Those would be included when she started with shading. The process stretched over days, a week or two.

At this point, Valerie started to work shifts. She didn't have as much time as before anymore, but the time she had to paint, she used and enjoyed a lot.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you think the title if this fanfic changed, no it didn't. No, it wasn't because I've decided to change the upcoming plot.
And NO, I'm definitely not gaslighting you. While you're at it, leave a vote and/or a comment ^^

~Claire