Author: Wallwalker
Title: Portraits
Fandom: Star Ocean 2
Characters: Rena/Noel
Challenge: Self-portrait
Rating: SFW, no warnings apply
Word Count: 540
Summary: Noel watches Rena paint a self-portrait, something he's never done before.

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Rena was sitting very still in front of the mirror in their little hotel room, sketching on a piece of paper with a stick of graphite without even looking at the lines she drew. She was nearly done with her self-portrait, and Noel had to say, she was pretty good at it.

Noel had never drawn a picture of himself before. He preferred drawing or painting the animals and plants of the preserves he oversaw, and would spend an entire afternoon on the smallest details; they were his neighbors and his responsibility, and even though he was not always succeeding in saving them from extinction, he could at least preserve their images for the future, and drawings were better than photographs in his opinion. That was why he was always carried his sketchbook with him.

He could draw other people from time to time; he’d taken an art class or two at Princebridge, and he’d done a few figure drawings, mostly from models. They weren’t any harder than other animals, but they weren’t as much fun, either. But he’d begged out of any self-portrait assignments. He had just never cared for looking at himself for that long, keeping himself still, staring at the ears and the half-closed eyes that made him different from the rest of Nede.

Rena pulled away, putting down her pencil. “There,” she said. “I think that came out all right, don’t you?”

“It looks good,” Noel agreed, smiling. “You’ve practiced a lot, haven’t you?”

“Since I was a kid. I’d draw my neighbors, my mother, the plants in the forest.” She frowned slightly. “I didn’t draw myself until I was older, though.”

“Really? Why not?”

She shrugged. “I know it sounds silly. But other kids used to make fun of me - mostly my ears, you know? I was afraid drawing myself would draw too much attention to them, so I just didn’t. Not until I was older and people started treating me differently.” She held out her hand, called up a little ball of light that twinkled like a star. “Finding out I could heal helped that, of course. I mean, I know my real friends were the ones who didn’t change their minds about me, but I still felt weird about it before then.”

“It’s not silly at all. I know how you feel.” His ears were burning at the thought; he tried to ignore them, but that always made it worse.

She looked up at him.”You do, don’t you?” she asked, and he watched her smile again as she closed her fist and put the light out. “You’re blushing.”

“A little, I guess,” he said, looking away. He couldn’t help but smile, even though it made it worse. “But that’s why I never drew myself. I still haven’t, in fact. I guess I haven’t really... gotten used to it, or something.”

“Well, if you want, I’ll draw a portrait of you first. You know, just to get you used to the idea.”

“Thanks, Rena,” he said, looking back up at her. “I’d like that. But... maybe tone down the blush, a little bit?”

She laughed. “Don’t worry!” she answered. “I’ll draw it when you’re more comfortable. Maybe while you’re reading or something.”

“Hm. Yes, that would be better. Thanks.”