"Well they're not exactly mutually exclusive." He laughed quietly. "But yeah, this was my backup. I rented it out to get a little extra cash, but… well… you've seen the neighborhood. Not like I had much use for it other than to move in once my other place was gone. And judging by your surprise, I expect your little house in the woods is the only one you've got?" It seemed silly not to keep a backup. His houses always fell through eventually, owning as many as possible was just a good survival tactic.
"Yeah. I rented a small place while it was being built but, it was never a permanent thing," He shrugged, "I never had the need for a second home. Unless I got a ranch somewhere out in the middle of the country for a while but I don't think I'd last too long on one of those." He'd never been one for the country, never liked the dry grass and heat that the areas always had. Besides, no clubs up that way, anyway.
Cyprus' laugh was a bit more genuine this time. "Yeah, you'd fry in five seconds flat. It's all sun out there, with one tiny little house in the middle to protect you from it." He'd been a ranch hand back in the 40's, when the business was starting to get big down in Texas. It was dusty, gritty work, but he'd needed it. Kept his mind off all the shit happening to him. "And I think you'd die if you had to deal with cows 24/7. They look sweet but they're fucking nasty."
Bryce tilted his head, an amused smile gracing his lips, "I take it you've worked on a ranch before, then?" Before he was turned, before he was forced to live wholly at night, he'd visit his grandfather out in the middle of batshit nowhere on his farm. Sure, he hadn't enjoyed much of the manual labor, but he had enjoyed spending time with him. Bryce was closer with him then anyone else.. or he had been, until he was turned and couldn't see him anymore.
"Back in the day." Cyprus smiled back at him, all easy and amused. "It was nice, but I've always been a fan of hard labor so I'm not exactly an unbiased source." It had been easier for him than it was for most people—all the animals could smell the death on him and only a few dared to venture near him. Disheartening, but it meant he could herd better than anyone. "You got any interesting jobs on your resume?"
"Back in the day? No you really sound old," He joked, bringing a knee up to his chest, "As for interesting jobs?" He'd never done anything interesting before, not really. It was all Saturday jobs at the book store when he was a teenager and then going to collage for art and history. Nothing riveting, "I mean there's only really one that I found interesting, but to most it would seem just boring history art stuff."
Cyprus rolled his eyes and didn't even manage to keep from smiling. "Well how else am I supposed to talk about it, smartass? It's not like saying 'oh yeah, that job I had a couple decades ago' is going to make me sound any younger. And don't generalize." He nudged his shoulder against Bryce's, playful. "I'm not most people, spill all the art history nerd shit you want, I'd be happy to hear about it."
Bryce laughed, the sound light as he looked from Cyprus down to his lap, "Fine fine, I won't generalize," He smiled, "I had a job at a- an art gallery. Had everything from Greek to Roman to Italian and English. It was amazing. Like seriously, I mean, not the type of art that I'd do, oil pointing sucks but you know, it was still great to be surrounded by it all nearly everyday."
Cyprus paid rapt attention, nodding along with a faint smile. "Yeah, sounds pretty amazing. What sort of art do you do, then? You seem like the type who'd be all over oils, they're so expensive." And vibrant too. He'd never had the patience for paint of any sort, oils especially, but that sort of classic art shit seemed right up the Toreador alley. "But I suppose you'd be more interested in something vibrant, wouldn't you?"
"More of a water colour guy." He shrugged. It sounded silly now that he was saying it out loud. Extremely so and Bryce went the faintest shade of pink because of it, "Sure, oil is more expensive, but water colour always turns out better in the end. It takes time and patience to make something beautiful out of those types of paints. Gives me something to pass the time, I suppose." The most beautiful pieces he'd ever seen had been water colour. Not oil or acrylic. Water colour. And he'd been drawn in ever since.
(We have to have a scene where they like… paint/draw each other.)
Cyprus gave him another playful nudge but his smile was all soft this time. Encouraging. There was something sort of sweet about how embarrassed Bryce got talking about it. Something that made Cyprus almost desperate to hear more. "Watercolors are never precise enough for me, but I'd love to see your work some time. Sounds like you have a lot of love for the craft." He was a bit impressed, honestly. Watercolor was so easy to fuck up and he'd never been very good at rolling with his mistakes. "What do you like painting?"
(Yesss)
"The trick is to take your time with it," Bryce bit his lip, if only to prevent the smile that graced his lips, drawing patterns on the spare bit of couch beneath his fingers, "Gentle movements like… like a butterfly, I dunno," Now he really sounded crazy and that blushed darkened, "I prefer landscapes over portraits, one of the reasons why I live up in the forest, the view is incredible. Portraits are harder, but they always look good in the end."
"See, I don't have anywhere near that level of patience. It's always been pencil on paper for me, maybe a bit of charcoal if I want to give it some depth." Cyprus decided that he liked Bryce best like this, embarrassed and excited and talking about things he liked. He scooted closer, letting their shoulders press together. "But I think I can agree with you on portraits. They're hard, but it's always so rewarding when one turns out right."
Usually Bryce wouldn't have liked being in such a close proximity with someone like this, when he was actually being open with someone. Sex was different, hook ups were different. It was sex and that was it. Being with someone like this was different but Bryce found himself liking it, "Yeah. I've never had the best muse when it comes to portraits. It used to be just someone on the street when I could actually go out during the day. Now it's just… photos I have of friends or just someone random that I've come up with."
"I'm not really one for people watching. I usually do… y'know, friends. Family." He shrugged. Cyprus had always been one for physical contact. He liked the reassurance of it, the fact that someone was there and they weren't going to move for a while. "People who are too important to forget. And… sunrises too. Every since I realized I could still… y'know, still see them, they've gotten a lot more special." He remembered crying the first time he'd watched the sun rise after what was done to him. Remembered collapsing to his knees with relief and sketching the shakiest, shittiest little doodle of a the sun over rooftops.
He couldn't remember the last time he watched the sunrise. Couldn't remember watching the sun lift over the horizon and paint the sky in purples, oranges, pinks and golds. His heart ached for it, Bryce knew it wasn't possible, "Yeah, I'm not close with my family so, that isn't an option. One of the reasons why I prefer painting landscapes. The stars, the moon, finding reference photos of cities online.. I dunno, it's stupid. I just find comfort in places and not people." He'd never had one person he could really find comfort in to draw from that.
Cyprus laughed quietly. "Yeah. I used to say that my family was my whole world, but…" He tugged on the sleeve of his jacket, even though his tattoos were well hidden already. "… kind of a world made of tissue paper, y'know? It all tore itself apart pretty quick, even before… this." He seemed to realize that he'd driven the mood into the ground because he laughed quietly. "Maybe I'll give you one of my sunset sketches though, since you're so good at watercolor. I bet you could turn it into something I couldn't even imagine, and… well, I dunno. Might be comforting to see the sky again, yeah?"
Bryce blinked, drawing his gaze from where he was doodling on the couch up to Cyprus, eyes slightly wide and well, excited, "Really? You'd.. give me one of your sketches so I could paint it?" Maybe he'd do two. Maybe he'd paint it twice and give one back to Cyprus as a thank you for giving him the opportunity and saving his life earlier. He couldn't help but feel soft butterflies because of it, however he pushed that feeling away. There was no time for that right now.
"Sure, I must have hundreds of them laying around by now." And it might give him a reason to drop by, if he was feeling any less paranoid. Always nice to have a pretense, so he could pretend like he didn't want to hang out with Bryce like some kind of loser with nothing better to do. He didn't know why, but it was suddenly very important that Bryce think he was decently cool. "I did two yesterday, just remind me and I'll give you the page. That way you can have a trial run and stuff. Or… maybe give me one, if you're feeling generous."
Bryce chuckled, nudging Cyprus gently, "If you're luckily. As long as you give me the sketch with the most detail then maybe you'll get a painting in return." He would be certain to take his time on it, he would make it the best painting he had ever done. He didn't know why it felt so important to make it look that good for Cyprus, but it did, it mattered, more then Bryce wanted it to, "And I dunno, it'll be nice not painting the same thing again. And.. I wanna see your sketches so.."
"Well they're pretty good, if I do say so myself." He liked putting lots of detail into his sunrises, when he had the time. Something about it felt important, and he'd never quite been able to shake the idea that it was his duty to record them. "I'll show you later. I'm almost done with this sketch book so there's gotta be something decent in there. You've got to show me your stuff some day, I haven't looked at a piece that was actually colorful in ages."
"Of course, as long as you don't judge them too harshly then of course you can see them." The worst thing was having someone over who didn't appreciate the art. Who thought they were too up themselves and the art sucked. It hurt more then Bryce ever let on when it happened, but he prayed Cyprus wouldn't do the same. It didn't seem like he would, but you could never be too cautious when showing someone a part of yourself on paper.
Cyprus rolled her eyes. "I think I've proven that I'm not a total dick, kid. And anyways I wouldn't do that to you." The distinction shouldn't have mattered. "I'm sure whatever you paint is fucking brilliant, and if it isn't then I'm no one to judge because I can't watercolor for shit. Remind me to show you some of my early stuff some time." He still had all his sketchbooks from the early days, terrible though they were. There was a sort of nostalgia to them that he liked to indulge in occasionally.
Bryce didn't think on the phrasing of his words, even though it lingered in the back of his mind. The praise, even though he knew he was unworthy of, had him going pink again. He ignored it, though, smiling at Cyprus then back down at the couch, "Ah well, you don't get good if you don't practice, and I've had years. Every skill requires time, and with people like us we might have a little too much," He sighed, "But, I guess it leaves more opportunity to hone our craft, you know? To truly find the beauty in what we do and appreciate it more."
Cryprus met his smile with a look that was soft and more than a bit pleased. He hadn't expected Bryce to be so easy to embarrass, but it was very flattering that he could just give a few compliments and get such a sweet smile in return. "Yeah, I guess I've never been very big on branching out either. You've got a very nice way of looking at it, though. We've got an eternity, may as well capture a few moments of it on paper every now and again. Especially the important ones."
