she call me dracula & i vacuum her |gryphon|

[leon ryan james]

I GOTTA TASTE FOR YOU---*

[/i][/size]
now whatcha wanna do[/font][/font][/center]

God, but it was hot out today. Who would have thought, that the southern boy from America would be thinking it was hot, in freakin' Ireland. Yeah, definitely not him. He'd been so pissed when his mother had sent in an application and done everything to get him to this school, saying she wanted him to have the chances she hadn't had, and once he got a full scholarship thanks to his grades, there was no talking her out of it. So he'd gotten shipped out of the nice, loving south, to a bitter and cold country that he could barely stand to think of. But it was hot today, even if the air still held a damp hint to it, and he had decided to utilize it and go swimming, although the thought of swimming made him miss the old beaches at home, where he'd gotten to swim in almost every day. Leon never would have thought he'd be missing home, but here he was, yearning to get back to the semi-decent life he'd had at home. That wasn't going to happen though, not anytime soon. He had to graduate from here first, but at least while he was here he got to mess around in photography, something he'd always loved to do, and had a natural knack for.

Leon got to the pool, sending up a silent prayer to whoever was up there that it was empty, and stripped off his shirt, kicked his shoes off, and put his towel on a bench. This was what he liked, being around the water with no one else to stare at him--that was something the southern boys had picked up on doing once they'd found out he was gay, like it was a disease that left marks on his skin so they could gawk at it. He rolled his eyes at the memories, that was the one thing he didn't miss, people staring at him because he wasn't attracted to women. Big frickin' deal, it's not like he could change that about himself, not that he really wanted to anyways, he liked guys, and he liked kissing guys, and he was not all that interested in finding out what kissing girls was like. Seriously, why would you want to kiss something that had two airbags poppin off her chest? He didn't, that was for sure.

Putting aside thoughts of the south, Leon walked to the deep side of the pool and dove in, closing his eyes as the water engulfed him, spreading across his skin and flattening his hair to his head. He'd always adored swimming, not only did it give him a chance to check out guys with their shirts off, but it let him forget who he was, where he was, what situations were going on, and just live. He had to focus when he swam, focus on the breaths he sucked into his body, focus on the powerful strokes of his arms, focus on keeping himself under water for specified amounts of time. He didn't have time to think about all the worries of life and what was going on and how much of an outcast he'd made himself into, he just was. There wasn't anything to worry about underwater, nothing at all. Well, other than something slamming you to the bottom and forcing you to drown, but that wasn't likely to happen in a pool way up here in Ireland where the gangs that had threatened his friends and family were nonexistent. That was a good thing about Ireland, the gangs here didn't know him, and the gangs back home didn't care about hurting anyone anymore, because he wasn't there.

Kicking his legs more, Leon continued to swim down until he touched the bottom, twelve feet under. And so, with his lungs burning and his ears pounding, he kicked off the bottom and propelled himself to the top, dragging in ragged breath after ragged breath, allowing his lungs to greedily expand and take in air as if they'd never had it before. A roguish grin settled on his lips as he slicked his hair back and treaded water, enjoying the ability to breath in air, which he hadn't had only a moment ago. Another thing he liked about swimming, it made you appreciate little things when you forced yourself to stay down for too long. He'd gone down once, and hadn't come up conscious. It had been a bad day for his mom, when he'd been fighting all his demons and wanting to the love of life that swimming gave him, so he'd gone down, and down, and down, and down. He hadn't come up, wanting to stay longer, the lesson to be reinforced. His vision had faded down there, lungs shrieking for air, spots of color bursting over his eyes as his brain was starved for air. Someone had had to drag him out, and he'd woken up in a hospital with his mom sobbing over him. He'd had to promise her that day that he would never go down that deep again, never stay under for too long. And still, whenever he said he was going to the beach, she'd always gotten that semi-worried but hidden look on her face, wondering if it had been a suicide attempt and this time he was really going to do it. Leon hated himself for making his mother think that.

He rolled over onto his back, letting his eyes drift to semi-closed, breathing and relaxing as he floated on his back. He was so out of it all that he didn't even notice the sound of someone else coming to the pool, when he was previously always listening for the sound of another human.

TAGS--* gryphon!
OUTFIT--* boo, it's a swimsuit
WORDS--* 957
LYRICS--* pussy monster--lil wayne
CREDIT--* MEELA! at CAUTION 2.0 ?!
NOTES--* sorry it took a while, i got distracted.[/size][/font]

[gryphon othello vanbelle]

STRAIGHTEN UP YOUR TIE ,
and take the microphone !

Growing up in New York City, Gryphon was used to warmer temperatures. The bristling heat of a humid day in summer while you went gallavanting around the streets with your friends, dodging taxis and other pedestrians. He had fond memories of growing up in New York, despite the pollution and the stifling atmosphere. But you could always find some way to be creative, especially when you had a knack for art like he did. You could turn the radiating heat waves that danced in front of your windows into intricate patterns in a watercolor painting. People nowadays ate up the contemporary garbage that littered young minds. Gryphon was not a fan of contemporary artwork and saw no meaning behind the lines and whorls. He went in a more classical fashion with his artwork--landscape paintings, sometimes portraits, and whatever else his mind decided to scribble out into his sketchbook.

However, Gryphon couldn't complain about art either way. He loved it, he lived it, he breathed it. He liked to go out and sketch things--people, flowers, animals. The seventeen year-old was a boy with a mission today, come to think of it. Already he had played about town, sketching various people dealing with their every day lives. There had been a woman sitting in front of a cafe wearing a sultry red sun-dress, her long legs crossed and spiked stiletto heels adorning her feet. Gryphon noticed many things about people that others wouldn't, because he was an artist--little details didn't go unnoticed. She had no rings on her slender fingers, but various bracelets on either wrist, and she had a single necklace. It was that which had caught the male's eye as it dipped down into her v-necked dress. Though it wasn't as if Gryphon had noticed her breasts, simply because he wasn't interested in women.

Regardless, he had sketched her as she apparently waited for her male companion. Imagine his surprise when she was only greeted by another woman...or well, she was a woman, though she didn't really look like one. Gryphon had found the entire situation amusing, because it wasn't everyday that you saw lesbians out on the street in Ireland--even if homosexuality wasn't as spit upon here. Mostly everyone did whatever they wanted here, it wasn't as if anyone had to hide, but a lot of people minded their own business. Gryphon liked it. He hadn't ever been alienated in New York because of his sexuality, but he didn't like feeling uncomfortable around people that weren't comfortable with his being gay.

Gryphon had sketched the couple because of their dynamics and how pretty they looked together. Like a hetero couple, only with more boobs. The boy snickered at himself for thinking such a thing as his near-silent steps took him towards the indoor pool. Sometimes he caught people by the pool--lounging and swimming alike. His fervent need to sketch was fueled by one of his drawing classes. The workload was always overwhelming, but at least Gryphon was doing something he enjoyed. If he went into something like his parents wanted--medicine or law--he wouldn't be happy to do all this work. It wasn't because he was lazy, because Gryphon was a very good, very diligent student, which was why he got a scholarship to come here...but sometimes you just wanted to relax. And relaxing was just what he had in mind when he staggered towards the indoor pool; sketchpad in hand and pencil tucked behind his ear.

Stepping into the area, Gryphon took a deep breath, smelling the pungent tang of chlorine and listening to the silence around him. Blue eyes scanned his surroundings and quickly found he wasn't alone--which was a bummer, by the way. Frowning slightly, the artist was about to turn around and leave but, instead, found his eyes lingering--perhaps much too long--on the other male drifting in the pool. Realizing that he had almost stopped breathing, Gryphon shut his eyes tightly and shook his head. For a moment, he considered alerting the other to his presence, but decided against it on the end. Subjects were better to sketch when they didn't know they were being sketched.

With a soft smile, Gryphon pulled the pencil from behind his ear and carefully sat on the ground where he was. With deft movements, he made the basic shapes of the boy in the pool and then slowly filled in details. Licking his suddenly dry lips, Gryphon furrowed his brows and continued to watch, even while his pencil remained motionless on the paper. The boy had to admit, if only to himself, that whoever this other person was, he was definitely eye-catching.

TAGGED leon !
WORDS 810
OUTFIT -points to picture- <3
NOTES i lost the post TWICE while i was working on it...so sorry it took HELLA long D:

[leon ryan james]

I GOTTA TASTE FOR YOU---*

[/i][/size]
now whatcha wanna do[/font][/font][/center]

Leon was feeling deliciously lazy, laid out on top of the surface of the water, his eyes closed and all he listened to was the sound of the water lapping at his body, due to the movements he had to make to remain afloat. Of course, if he'd tuned in to the rest of the noises all around him, he would have realized he wasn't alone, and in which case he wouldn't feel all that comfortable just laying out like this. He only relaxed around people that he knew very well, the rest of the people he was always on his guard around, ready to turn whatever was around him into a weapon if he had to, he'd learned how to do that. Anything and everything, he could defend himself with if the need arose, and possibly the people around him. Not that he should be thinking like that in frickin' Ireland, where he was least likely to get jumped. Sometimes he figured his mom had sent him here not for opportunities, but because she knew more than she let on, and didn't want him getting killed in a gang fight. Whatever, the peaceful atmosphere in Ireland was enough for him, he knew he didn't have to worry about a fight, but he was ready just in case.

After a while of just sitting there, Leon became aware of the sound of graphite scratching against paper, meaning someone was in here and they were either writing a hell of a lot, or drawing something. Or someone. Frowning, Leon flicked his eyes open carefully, not letting them open too much in case someone was watching him, and looked around his surroundings without moving his body. On dry land there was a little emo lookin' boy just chillin there, drawing...and staring at Leon. That was annoying, he didn't like to be stared at, one of the reasons he was glad he'd been forced to come here was because he didn't like to be stared at. And look where he was now, floatin' on his back and getting stared at. Perfect, this was just perfect.

Deciding he needed a moment to think, he pulled himself under the water, more or less collapsing into himself, and rolled over to swim near the bottom so that he had enough time to contemplate how he was supposed to react to this. No one had ever mentioned what to do when you were lazing about and found out someone was staring at you. From what he saw, a cute someone, yes, but staring all the same. Making up his mind in a matter of minutes, Leon swam back to the surface, but at the edge of the pool, pretty much right in front of where the kid was drawing. When he surfaced, he flicked his hair back and looked the boy over. Cute, most definitely, he had that black haircut that everyone was getting these days, it seemed to have a window for one eye and then more or less fell over the other one. The piercings intrigued him, and he couldn't help but to wonder, what would it be like to kiss someone with piercings like that, or to do stuff other than kissing. Feeling the sudden southern rush of his blood at the thought, Leon forced a calm expression to his face and focused on what he was doing. Which was chewing out a cute boy for staring at him and possibly drawing him.

Narrowing his eyes, he flicked his gaze to the notepad, seeing the outline of someone floating on their back, he was pretty sure he was right in his assumption that he had been about to add details to a drawing of Leon, but he was more pissed at himself for not hearing the sound of the boy's entrance. His reflexes were dulling. "What, pray tell, do you think you're doing?" He asked, a smirk on his lips as he arched one eyebrow high. He wanted to hear the excuse, wanted to find out what the hell this little kid had been thinking when he'd decided it was a good idea to sit down and draw him. Him of all the people in the school. He was definitely not the only guy in school, and he was pretty sure that it was considered rude here too to draw someone without letting them know that you were drawing them. Wasn't that somewhere near stalking? Yeah, he was pretty sure his granddad had made him read something about that, when he'd gone through a phase where he'd wanted Leon to go into law. And stalking was just plain creepy, he didn't want the kid stalking him, not sure why he would, and he was more than prepared to tell the little emo boy to go stalk someone else, because he wasn't interested in having someone draw him while he was relaxing for once.

TAGS--* gryphie!
OUTFIT--* again, it's a bathing suit
WORDS--* 819
LYRICS--* pussy mosnter--lil wayne
CREDIT--* MEELA! at CAUTION 2.0 ?!
NOTES--* it's fine, don't worry. try doing your posts in word first.[/size][/font]

[gryphon othello vanbelle]

STRAIGHTEN UP YOUR TIE ,
and take the microphone !

Carefully flicking hair from his eyes, Gryphon smiled softly to himself and held the sketchpad a little higher. He already had a few different people sketched out on this page, including that dazzling couple he had seen earlier. They took up most of his page, while a few friends littered the corners and then this other boy who was down in the bottom right. Gryphon tilted his head, focusing now on his drawing and less on the good-looking male floating in the pool. Frowning, the artist shook his head again and chastised himself for thinking that. Not that it was unusual, Gryphon liked pretty things--both male and female. Chewing on his lower lip, he laid the book back into his lap, and continued to fill in general details first.

Pausing for a moment, the boy glanced back over at the figure in the pool, continuing to watch him for a lazy moment. Crossing his legs and sitting indian-style, Gryphon set his pencil back behind his ear. He wouldn't touch water nowadays, the fact remained he was somewhat afraid of it. When he was ten he had been with a friend when they went to the local pool while he was visiting them in Montana. It had been a nice trip but the summer out there was even hotter than the summer in New York. So what to do for that? Head out to the pool. It was at said pool that Gryphon had nearly drowned. He flashed back on it sometimes, feeling the water and pressure constricting him and feeling his lungs burning with the need to take in air. The boy knew now, that the struggling he did underwater wasn't a good idea, since it drained him of energy faster, but really...what was he supposed to do? A ten year-old didn't have the brains to think about how to diffuse the situation. Thinking back on it now, Gryphon would have definitely done things differently.

Shaken from his reverie by the sound of water swishing, Gryphon's eyes came back into focus, only to notice his subject was missing. Crap. Clucking his tongue, the boy unlinked his legs and made ready to stand up--so he could promptly leave--when the other male resurfaced much too close to where he was sitting. Blue eyes blinked in slight alarm while color rose to his face out of embarrassment over being caught. For a moment, Gryphon was like the deer caught in the headlights--frozen in place and almost barely breathing. But he caught the direction of the other's gaze and, self-consciously, pulled the sketchpad to his chest, careful not to press too hard into himself for fear of smudging the graphite. And then the other male spoke, almost making Gryphon jump out of his skin.

"Uh, well...you see...uhm..." he murmured softly, stumbling over his words. Worrying his lower lip between his teeth for a second, Gryphon let out a quiet sigh and figured that the best option would be honesty, right? Of course. "Life drawings. I need to draw like...ten people for my life drawing class and they can't know I'm drawing them. It's so I capture people in natural positions and stuff..."

Trying to keep his eyes from wandering too much, Gryphon swallowed thickly and frowned...though it looked more like a pout. He set the sketchpad back into his lap and bowed his shoulders in defeat, giving a look that closely resembled the 'kicked puppy' expression, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you. You just looked really peaceful...really natural..."

TAGGED leonbby !
WORDS 590
OUTFIT -points to picture- <3
NOTES short post, i suck xD

[leon ryan james]

I GOTTA TASTE FOR YOU---*

[/i][/size]
now whatcha wanna do[/font][/font][/center]

Leon had to hold back a bit of laughter when the boy just froze in place, obviously about to get up and walk away, the other boy's chest barely rose and fell to give away that he was breathing. Interesting, he was obviously shy if he froze up like that, Leon had never really encountered someone that did that when he surprised them. Not that he surprised people that often, it just happened now and again, but they were all generally loud when they figured out what was going on. No one froze. But, it turned out that the freezing thing was only temporary, because as soon as the other boy saw what he was looking at, he held the sketch pad close to his chest. That reminded Leon what he was doing, not analyizing the boy's reaction to his sudden pop up, but figuring out what to do with him because he'd tried to draw Leon.

When he spoke, the boy seemed to jump just a little bit, making Leon lift an eyebrow, not voicing the question that came to mind. How shy do you have to be, that someone's voice makes you panic? He thought to himself, although he spared the boy the embarrassment of having to answer that question by keeping it to himself. He waited, instead, to hear whatever excuse the kid had, and hopefully it was a good one. Leon didn't really feel like wasting his time on sifting through a bunch of lies. But the kid didn't seem to get off to a good start on explaining himself, because he just said a few unintelligible words and 'ummed' his way through the first sentence. If you could call that a sentence, anyways. But Leon couldn't help but notice that he had a beautiful voice, soft and sweet....Gah, he shoved the thoughts out of his head and focused in on whatever the kid was about to say next.

He watched as the boy chewed on his lower lip, a nervous action that most people used when they were thinking about what to say. Don't lie to me, I'll know if you do. He thought to himself. He abhorred liars, they were so annoying and pathetic that it really just grated on his nerves whenever he had to be around one. But the truth turned out to be just as annoying, the kid's teacher had actually told him to not let anyone know he was drawing them. Leon frowned when he heard that, it sounded like an eccentric teacher that would probably go to many length to get to their goal. Not what he liked to hear. "Well, if you sit there and draw someone when they're the only person in the pool and stare at them, they're probably going to figure it out." He told him, wondering why that hadn't been obvious to the boy in the first place.

Still watching his face and eyes, determined not to let him make up a lie to get out of it, the other boy's little pout made him freeze for a moment. Imagine, he'd just been thinking about how absurd it was to freeze up around someone, and here he was, almost unable to move, not breathing....just because the boy had slipped into a pout, probably not realizing what it had done to Leon. Blinking a few times, Leon forced himself to look up at the kids eyes, away from his lips, keeping his mind away from whatever thoughts he might want to focus on. "I don't like to be drawn, I don't like to be stared at. I don't like people being around me when I'm relaxing, it's...disconcerting. Do you understand?" He asked, knowing that he sounded like he was reprimanding a child. Whatever, if the kid wanted to draw him and act like a child, than he would treat him like one. Not that treating him like a child was what that boy's pout made him think of....but all the same, he had rules about his own personal space and his body. And he didn't like to be watched, it made him think too much of his old life.

TAGS--* is a gryphon !
OUTFIT--* again, it's a bathing suit
WORDS--* 694
LYRICS--* pussy mosnter--lil wayne
CREDIT--* MEELA! at CAUTION 2.0 ?!
NOTES--* god, fail post.[/size][/font]

[gryphon othello vanbelle]

STRAIGHTEN UP YOUR TIE ,
and take the microphone !

Gryphon always had such a terrible case of wandering eye. He may have been shy, may have been pretty quiet, but that definitely didn't stop him from noticing every good-looking guy that came his way. And he stared, he knew he did it, but when he was doing it he didn't notice. He'd been that way ever since he was born--though it was a more general problem then, before physical attraction to other people set in. Back then he was like a bird, a magpie, who saw anything shiny, or pretty, and just needed to touch it. Or anything cute, because Gryphon loved cute. Baby animals, stuffed toys, even young children. To this day he still loved little kids, because they were cute, and also had great temperaments--always ready to play and make friends. Gryphon had some trouble making friends his own age, and right now his crowd of friends mostly extended to his younger peers. But as far as the staring thing went, yeah ok, he was seriously guilty of that. Eh, but really...could he be blamed?

It wasn't every day that Gryphon came across someone--alone--that piqued his interest. Well, maybe that was a lie, but he was often trying hard to calm his wandering eye, and hormones in tow. Then he had stumbled in here and a fine specimen of the male gender was floating around in a pool. Please, it would be a sin for Gryphon not to sketch and keep this in his head for a while. However, his former subject had a point, of course, it was sort of rude. Ah, but his teacher told him to do it! And that's what had Gryphon torn on the matter. He didn't want to turn around and be all, yeah well screw you. But he also didn't want to disrespect the fact this person wanted to be left alone. He was a nice kid, really, and being a dick wasn't in his nature. Unless he was angry, because the normally shy, reserved boy he was disappeared. Gryphon had a bad temper when it all came down to it.

Gryphon made all attempts to stop color from filling his cheeks once more out of embarrassment...but being caught staring was cause for a facial flush to most people. Pulling an eraser from his pants pocket, Gryphon held it between his fingers, "I don't...really realize when I stare. It's sort of a...bad habit."

Even though it pained him to do so, the boy idly played with his snakebites while dragging the white eraser across the paper. All the lines he had made quickly disappeared, leaving behind simple shavings of rubber behind, which Gryphon quickly--even if forlornly--flicked to the side and onto the ground. He pushed the eraser back into his pants and let out a quiet sigh. Well, back to only having five figures drawn. Still, he wasn't completely ready to give up on the perfect specimen that was currently chastising him. Oh wow, did he really just think that? Bad sign.

"I said I was sorry, I'm not twelve you know," he mentioned, realizing perhaps too late that his retort sounded a little snippy. Clearing his throat, he smiled--if somewhat nervously--to make up for his former comment. That wasn't really like him, he always tried to be nice, because it had gotten him this far. Instead of commenting on that further, he simply laughed softly, "I suppose that means you wouldn't be willing to have me sketch you even with your knowledge?"

TAGGED leonbby !
WORDS 591
OUTFIT -points to picture- <3
NOTES lmfao wtf...one word longer than my last post. automatic fail.

[leon ryan james]

I GOTTA TASTE FOR YOU---*

[/i][/size]
now whatcha wanna do[/font][/font][/center]

Leon watched as color filled the other boy's cheeks, the contrast of red on white looking quite adorable in his perspective. He was having to resist the urge to reach one hand out and touch his cheek, he was surprised at the impulse, he generally didn't want to touch other people unless it was a boy he wanted to take to bed, but found that the small blush made him want to touch him. That was just odd, and he didn't want to contemplate it any longer, so he pushed the thought out of his head and watched as the boy--who's name he didn't really know yet--pulled an eraser out of his pocket. It was the kind of eraser that only artists carried around, the kind that was on its own, white and small. He smiled when he saw it, as it was further evidence that he'd been right when he'd thought the kid was in some kind of psychotic art class. Artists were overly emotional, he'd long ago decided this, but the boy was doing a good job at keeping any emotions in check, his blush the only clue that he was embarrassed.

He lifted an eyebrow when the boy claimed he didn't realize he was staring at people when he did it. Now that was just weird. How could you not realize that you were looking at something when you were looking right at it. He'd never heard of that before. "You didn't know you were staring? How's that possible?" Leon asked, frowning slightly as he thought about it. He always knew when he was staring at other guys, as it was generally because he was looking at someone that was gorgeous and he wouldn't mind having to himself. All the same, though, Leon always knew when he was looking at something, so someone claiming that they didn't know when they were watching someone was a bit odd to him, and he would have thought that the boy was lying, except that the plaintive look on the kid's face told him there was no way he was lying right then. He was too caught up in mourning over the loss of his drawing.

The way he was erasing it was a little humorous to Leon, like he was destroying something that was completely wonderful and he'd never get back. That was a little odd, there hadn't been much of a drawing in the first place, he couldn't really be all that upset that he wasn't going to get the rest of it. And then to top off all that little 'mourning' over the sketch, when he brushed away the little eraser shavings, he sighed in such a forlorn way that it made Leon feel like quite the dick. Ok, so maybe he could understand where this was all coming from, it wasn't like he always asked peoples permission before he took their picture. And just because they didn't know that didn't make it any better, he supposed. And yes, a lot of the time he did go to all levels just to get the perfect picture. This was starting to make him see himself as a hypocrite, and he was feeling worse and worse for the way he'd treated the other boy, and the expression on his face was just making him feel worse. He'd give him this, he was certainly very good at earning the sympathy vote.

Sighing, Leon swam to the side a bit and turned around, placing his hands on the concrete side to pull himself up and out of the pool. Out of the pool now, a strong waft of cold air hit him, most likely because he was wet now, and a shiver went down his spine as a result. He ran a hand through his hair and then smoothed it back, aware that it often looked odd when it was wet and had finger tracks in it. Smirking, he laughed when the boy took a small offense to being lectured. "I'm obviously older than you, though, so I get to tell you what to do." He told him without missing a beat, though he noticed that the boy tried to cover up his brief moment of having his own set of balls. Leon laughed when he asked in a roundabout kind of way if he could sketch him. "Wouldn't that defeat the purpose of you lesson? I thought your drawings were supposed to be of people acting naturally, not posed. And no matter how you spin it, once you've told a person, they always pose." He said, frowning a bit when he thought about it. It sucked when you asked permission to take a picture and the person automatically slipped into a pose, because then the serenity and normality of the scene was gone, and all you had was a wanna-be model trying to look good.

TAGS--* gryphie love!
OUTFIT--* again, it's a bathing suit
WORDS--* 814
LYRICS--* pussy mosnter--lil wayne
CREDIT--* MEELA! at CAUTION 2.0 ?!
NOTES--* y'know, you posting one word more than your last....that's just weird.[/size][/font]

[gryphon othello vanbelle]

STRAIGHTEN UP YOUR TIE ,
and take the microphone !

Hm, where to begin on explaining that he never realized that he was staring at people? Or things in general, for that matter. Gryphon wasn't sure if there was an accurate way to explain it without rambling--which he was known to do from time to time. He was sure that everyone's done it at one point in their lives, it was just a natural reaction. And it wasn't even really staring, per se. It was like focusing on something intently while your brain ran two hundred miles a minute on any subject related to what you were looking at. Like say you were observing a flower, a nice pretty bleeding heart. Well, you cross the line from 'looking' to 'staring' when your eyes lock onto said flower and you begin thinking about what a nice painting the plant would make. Or how the image would be accentuated if a bee, or some other fashionable bug landed on it. Same thing with people--you get lost in thought and start 'staring' when you think about what they're like, what kind of person they are, other little things like that. And, if you were a little more perverted, various other things came to mind as well.

Closing up his sketchpad, Gryphon pondered his response for a second or two. With a slight nod of his head, he spoke...as if he really knew what he was talking about, "Well, it's sort of more like...focusing in on something. When I see something pretty, something shiny, something that just generally catches my eye, I tend to cross the line from 'looking and admiring' into...staring I guess. But it's not staring in the way most people think...I dunno, I commit things to memory for further use...?"

He clucked his tongue and waved his hand dismissively, "I'm an artist, I thought eccentric behavior was expected of us."

Watching with a mild curiosity, Gryphon's eyes followed the other male as he got out of the pool. But, you know, it was hard not to watch. Gryphon realized that sort of made him sound creepy, stalker-ish even, but like he said, when something generally caught his interest it was hard for him to look away. Especially when said something was coming out of a pool, dripping wet and--alright, Gryphon, enough now, thanks. Clearing his throat, the boy shuffled to his feet, not really wanting to feel like he was shorter than he already was. Imagine, a seventeen year-old only reaching five foot four? Terrible. It was bad genes really, even though he never knew his real parents to begin with. The boy just assumed that's where his small stature came from. That didn't mean he had to like it, because he didn't. It was just another reason for people to pick on him...as if he didn't have enough of those to begin with.

Huffing in an indignant manner--like the petulant child he swore he wasn't, "It's not really hard to tell me what to do to begin with, but don't use the age-card, that's so not fair."

But he could let that slide for the next set of words that came from the other's lips. He grinned, like the cat that ate the canary. Didn't he realize? That was Gryphon's entire point. The boy flicked his head, uncovering both of his bright blue eyes as he rose his finger in an 'ah-ha!' gesture. Tucking the sketchpad against his chest he nodded his head, as if he just exposed some giant secret, "Exactly the point! But I didn't say you had to know I was sketching you at the time I was doing it...just that you knew I was going to eventually. Try that one on for size."

TAGGED leonbby !
WORDS 621
OUTFIT -points to picture- <3
NOTES yeah, that is kinda weird. but anyway, gryphon's a dork xD

[leon ryan james]

I GOTTA TASTE FOR YOU---*

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now whatcha wanna do[/font][/font][/center]

The explanation to why he didn't know when he was staring was actually interesting, Leon found that listening to it was pretty easy. And he believed him, that was something new for him, he generally didn't believe people until he grilled them on it for a good few hours. 'Cause really, it's pretty easy to tell a lie, so who's to say someone couldn't lie to you about a bunch of things? But something about the boy just made him want to believe him. For one thing, he was nowhere near the kind of guy that Leon normally hung out with, he generally rolled with people that were like him. Minus the gay part, 'cause there weren't a lot of open gay's in the south. But this kid was really different from them, he seemed to be shy, he had quite a few cute quirks, and then there was the way he looked. He was short, at least he looked like it while he was sitting, he had that emo hair cut, and he had the hottest piercings Leon had ever seen. Leon's friends were generally muscle men, guys that ended up in gangs. Nothing like this boy.

Focusing back on his words, Leon was a little surprised by what he heard. "So wait, what category do I fall under? Do you think I'm pretty?" He couldn't help himself when he heard what the boy was saying, about how shiny and pretty stuff caught his eye and he couldn't look away. Plus, as he seemed shy, Leon figured it might make him blush--although that might have to do with the way he'd practically sung the word pretty--and his blush was really cute. "Bah, being eccentric isn't an excuse. It's how you are, you're not allowed to claim it when you're trying to get out of the possibility of being in trouble. Plus, I'm an artist in a way, but I'm not all that eccentric. I'm a photographer, I paint with light, I don't claim it as an excuse when I get caught, though." Leon claimed a sober expression as he told the other what was what. He liked his title though, photography was something that he loved. And when people claimed he was destroying the old ways of conventional art, well then he pulled the painting with light card--which really was how he saw photography--and told them it was just an extension of what once was.

When he got out of the pool, he could feel the boy's eyes on him, watching kind of like he had been before. That was curious, he didn't have any reason to watch him now. Leon was polite though, and didn't call him out on his staring this time, deciding that one big confrontation about it was enough for the kid. But he wished he knew why he was staring. A part of him--the part that thought the boy was cute and seemed to want him--shouted that perhaps he thought he looked good. But another part of him--the sensible part--told him that the boy was an artist, and was probably just moping over the lost chance to draw him. Leon looked back at him when the boy cleared his throat and began to stand up. "Y'know, I don't bite. Or do you just have a power thing where you have to be above everyone?" He asked, his eyes betraying that he was teasing the kid, although his tone pretty much gave it away as well.

And then the kid went and huffed and puffed about Leon calling him on the age thing, which he couldn't help but to find as cute. "But I am older than you. So it stands to reason that I can pull the age-card." Amusement tinged his features as he spoke, and he knew that he was probably provoking him just because he liked how cute the boy got when he got just a little mad. But all jokes aside, Leon always reserved the right to boss people around, because that was just how he was. He had to be in control of the situation, he had to know what was going on, and he had to take control if everyone else was running around like headless chickens. He'd always been bossy, he'd always been controlling, and he didn't really see any reason to change any of that.

Leon leaned back on the ground, folding his arms beneath his head so that they served as a pillow of sorts against the concrete. He watched the boy from this new position, a smile touching his lips when he got all excited because Leon had just proved his point about the whole damn thing. It really sucked when you agreed with the person you were fighting with. "Hm. That depends on a few things. A, don't sketch me when I'm alone and relaxing, those are like private moments to me. It might seem weird, but to prove my point, I'd much rather get sketched having sex than when I was relaxing." He said, not bothering to beat around the bush with any of it. It was all the truth, sex wasn't as intimate and private to him as him relaxing was. "And B, I want to see it when you finish it." He added, flicking his gaze up at the boy to see if he'd shocked him with his first condition. Some people weren't as open about sex as he was, and it really freaked some people out to hear about it, but Leon had never really cared. Sex was just another part of life, if you didn't hide the rest of it, why hide that?

TAGS--* gryphie love!
OUTFIT--* again, it's a bathing suit
WORDS--* 944
LYRICS--* pussy mosnter--lil wayne
CREDIT--* MEELA! at CAUTION 2.0 ?!
NOTES--* but a cute dork. he's so adorable, i wanna hug him.[/size][/font]

[gryphon othello vanbelle]

STRAIGHTEN UP YOUR TIE ,
and take the microphone !

When he started his explanation, Gryphon hadn't meant much by it. It had been obvious that the other male caught his eye and kept it, piqued his interest I should say. Many things did. But he hadn't been expecting to be called on it this time around. Mostly people just let Gryphon be when he got into one of those 'staring' fits he was prone to having, though there were those jerks that chose the moment he got really deep in thought to snap him out of it--often in a mean way. But this time, to say Gryphon was taken aback by the question would be an understatement. So his answer was a long moment of silence, wherein he flushed again, feeling awkward now. Maybe he had been staring a little too long, maybe his former subject had noticed. Aw crap. Chewing on his lower lip, Gryphon looked towards the few patio chairs some ways behind him, as if they were suddenly interesting. He didn't answer the question, didn't really have the nerve to say that, sure...he had found a certain interest in the way the older male had been floating there. And he wasn't going to say he thought the other looked pretty, because most men didn't like to be called pretty, especially if they weren't gay. Gryphon didn't mind being called pretty, but he also didn't think it true anyway.

Clearing his throat, he brought his gaze back to his companion, still feeling that his face was on fire, and moved the conversation along. He wrinkled his nose and clucked his tongue, "I didn't use it as an excuse. I was just joking anyway."

Gryphon couldn't help the innocently curious expression that lit up his face. It wasn't as if that information was particularly surprising, but Gryphon didn't really think someone like this male--who looked more like he should be here on a football scholarship--could do something so artistic as photography. With that little bit of information, the smaller male became just a little more interested than he had been before. But Gryphon wasn't completely sure in what sense he was interested. It had started out innocent enough, but the more he watched the other, the more Gryphon wanted to hang around. He had been ready to leave when he stood up, but after a few seconds--and the other's teasing comment, which Gryphon had to give a small smile over, because he certainly wasn't used to having any power when it came to anything--he slowly eased himself back onto the ground.

He even went so far as to overlook the addition onto the age-card thing. Gryphon didn't really care, though he did get annoyed when people pulled that on him. Just because he was young didn't mean he could be bossed around because of it. Hell, he knew a few upperclassmen that weren't nearly as smart as he was. And that was saying a lot, because the boy wasn't egotistical. Or well, he wasn't very egotistical at least. Regardless, Gryphon kept a smile on his face as he set the sketchbook on the ground while he brought his knees up into his chest, wrapping his arms around them loosely. The boy nodded at the first condition, even if he faltered at the thought of sketching someone having sex.

Now, Gryphon wasn't totally shy on that subject, despite his inexperience with it as a whole. He wasn't a prude, he just didn't feel he had time for dating and all that. Besides, no one had ever really given him a second-glance. But he was a human male, a seventeen year-old human male, so the thought of it made his stomach flip-flop. Especially considering the fact he had just been appreciating the boy in the pool on perhaps a deeper level than just artistic fascination. Clucking his tongue, to himself, because he hadn't realized he did it out loud, Gryphon shook his head.

"I'd...rather not...sketch that. Even if the posing would be...more intricate than most of what I draw..." he commented, unconsciously twisting the bracelet on his wrist--a gift from his mother. "But if I can't sketch you when you're relaxing, how can I ever get a natural pose from you?"

Without missing a beat, Gryphon laughed a bit nervously and shifted his legs a little, realizing that they hadn't even been introduced, "My name's Gryphon, by the way."

TAGGED leonbby !
WORDS 735
OUTFIT -points to picture- <3
NOTES he likes hugs xD

[leon ryan james]

I GOTTA TASTE FOR YOU---*

[/i][/size]
now whatcha wanna do[/font][/font][/center]

Leon watched the play of emotions on the younger boy's face carefully, loving how easily he showed his emotions. It was refreshing, not having to decipher every little thing. So simple, so easy, it was a little odd, and it almost unbalanced him for a minute there, because his instincts wanted to take him into the deciphering mode, figuring everything out with hidden clues....But he didn't think that he actually had to, there was no reason for this boy to hide anything, so there was no reason for him to dig for things that weren't there. He'd always liked the saying 'it isn't paranoia if they're actually out to get you'...but when does it start turning to actual paranoia? Probably when you look for hidden things everywhere, listening for the tell tale hitch that would betray a lie.

Closing the door on all of those annoying thoughts, Leon turned his attention back to the other boy. Just in time, too, it seemed, because the boy had a pretty little blush spreading on his face. But he was staying silent, which made Leon even more curious. 'Cause seriously, if he wasn't answering, and he was blushing, than that meant that whatever Leon wanted to know was going to be pretty dank. He waited, wondering if the other male was just stalling, but it appeared that he was going to be stubborn about not answering Leon. Well, Leon could play that game. He was pretty damn good at it too. "Are you just pretending I didn't say anything, then?" He asked, his eyes dancing with mischief as he spoke. He was truly interested though, what exactly had made him stay in the pool and decide to sketch Leon? He knew he had a good physique, that's what happened when you didn't have electronics other than a radio and had to actually play outside when you were a kid, but he also knew that he wasn't exactly good looking. Yes, technically he had had a lot of boyfriends in the past, and he'd had to discourage a lot of girls when they tried to hit on him...But all the same. He wasn't gorgeous or anything.

Ok...Who in the world wrinkled their nose like that? Somehow, it just reminded him of a little lost puppy, because they always scrunched up their noses like that. It was so cute and adorable, and obviously the boy didn't realize just how amazingly cute he looked right then, or he wouldn't have been blushing so hard a moment ago. Then again, maybe he'd been blushing hard because he thought Leon had been hitting on him, in which case he was uncomfortable being around him...He'd had friends like that once, who got really odd around him once they'd found out he was gay. He'd shrugged that off, they obviously weren't real friends if they actually thought that them having knowledge of his sexuality--which hadn't just changed out of nowhere--would suddenly make them prime targets for butt sex. Yeah, he wasn't in anyway attracted to his friends, but they hadn't understood that. He'd eventually gotten better friends, after he'd proved to the neighborhood that just because he liked guys, didn't mean he wasn't willing to beat someone to a pulp for stepping to him.

A grin easily claimed his lips when the boy found his seat on the ground again, although he didn't know why he felt slightly relieved. Maybe it was because when he'd been standing, the boy had continued to look half ready to bolt out of the pool house thing, and now he was sitting down, seemingly at ease again. Leon decided to chalk his relief at the other boy staying to him being a tad lonely in the new place, because he was still used to the streets and raucous life of the south, and Ireland...It was odd. So it made sense then, that when a cute boy came in and actually stayed after a bit so that he had someone to talk to, he'd be relieved. He was lonely, of course that was it, and this was just it's way of it manifesting himself. He'd have to make an effort to talk to some of the people in his classes, or meet a few people and get a few friends. Otherwise he might attack everyone that came across him when he wasn't paying attention to his surroundings, because this whole thing was really his fault. If he'd been paying attention, he would have heard the boy come in, and so he wouldn't have been relaxing, and then the boy wouldn't have gotten an opportunity to sketch him. So yes, this was his subconscious telling him to make a few friends. Nothing else. Certainly not an attraction to a random boy.

His eyebrows shot up at the other male's obvious discomfort at discussing sex in the context of him sketching it. "You've never done that? Hm. I've done plenty of shoots were the theme behind it was sex, of course it wasn't like a porno or anything, everything but the boobs weren't in the shot, 'cause that'd make me a porn photographer, and I just don't roll like that." Okay, so, Leon was openly teasing him, trying to see how far he could go before the boy panicked. "But no, seriously, I wasn't offering to have you draw me having sex. I don't do audiences, to see it, you'd have to be my partner. I was just making a point." He told him with a light shrug of his shoulders. It was true, he didn't like the idea of someone watching him while he had sex. That was just creepy and stalker-ish. Not something that he would encourage. "Natural doesn't always mean relaxing. All I want is for you to not sketch me when I'm relaxing, find something else. I don't really care what it is, but I don't relax around people I don't know very well, personal rule." He added, closing the door on that possibility. Leon had never even completely relaxed with his sexual partners, because he disliked the idea of anything other than physical intimacy, when he'd slept with them after, he'd always been half-alert, half-ready to be attacked. His mother was the only one who had ever seen him completely relaxed, and she had once told him he looked so much nicer and his face wasn't as....set in stone, harsh he supposed, as it was normally. She had also said the same thing about what he looked like when he was asleep, so he had the vague feeling she checked on him whenever he slept at the house.

Now he had a name to put with the boy's face, because he'd just introduced himself. Gryphon. An odd name, to tell the truth, but Leon couldn't claim that he disliked it, because he actually did like it. It was interesting, and it compelled you to think about it, making the boy himself all the more intriguing. "I'm Leon. You've got a nice name." He said, a small grin resting on his lips when he spoke.

TAGS--* gryphie love!
OUTFIT--* again, it's a bathing suit
WORDS--* 1118
LYRICS--* pussy mosnter--lil wayne
CREDIT--* MEELA! at CAUTION 2.0 ?!
NOTES--* d'awww. -snuggles gryphie-[/size][/font]