He only took the class because he needed the credit.
Note: Written for and in answer to a prompt from
mcalex22, which was to have either Rodney or John as a nude model and the other taking the art class they were posing for.
He took the class because he needed the credit, but whenever the teacher came to check his work he would find illegible scribbling written sideways over his entire sketchpad, filled with countless complex equations and maybe some of his personal feelings towards the more idiotic of the college staff, instead of pictures of any kind.
He'd been almost kicked out three times, but every time he noticed he was pushing too far he'd sketch something out as quick as he could; keeping the lines all precise and perfect. Rodney was not a modest person, he knew he was the best in the class, and this wasn't even his field.
If one could call art a field, that was, which personally, Rodney didn't.
"I'm telling you, we're getting him!" Rodney glanced up at the words. Laura Cadman was putting her hair up into a ponytail while she grinned widely at the girl next to her. "We're getting John. I saw him out in the hallway wearing a robe."
Katie Brown smiled shyly. "I don't know if I can...you know, draw it."
"What, his penis?" Cadman asked. The majority of the class fell silent and turned to stare at her, but she didn't seem to notice. "Look, it's easy, okay? Just pretend you're drawing a sock puppet or something."
"A sock puppet?" Rodney said dubiously, leaning forward.
Cadman glanced at him. "It was the first thing that came to mind."
"I find that disturbing on so many levels," he said.
Cadman grinned at him, and winked, then turned back to Katie. "You'll be fine, okay? This isn't even sexual, this is about art--well, mostly, but we are human."
"He's going to be naked," Katie said.
"Isn't it great?" Cadman said. "We get to ogle a gorgeous guy, and we don't even have to stick any ones down his g-string, because there won't be one. And I heard from Ford, who heard it from Elizabeth, that Miko fainted when he took off his robe he was so hot."
"This isn't helping," Katie said weakly.
Rodney rolled his eyes at their antics and got back to his equations. As far as he was concerned, this was just going to be another hour and half of sheer torture with Mr. Corrigan going on and on about shadows and color and charcoal.
Rodney didn't look up as a strange hush took hold of the room, and he didn't look up when Mr. Corrigan announced they'd be doing a nude sketch today in his annoying nasal tones. He didn't look up until someone said, "Hey, so it's nice to meet you," in a slow husky drawl, and he heard the sound of rustling clothing sliding to the floor.
Rodney's pencil snapped in his hand the moment his eyes focused on the man across the room, and Cadman shot him a knowing glance; Katie kept her eyes on the floor. Rodney's mouth went dry as John arranged himself on the stool, one leg was placed on a higher rung than the other, and his thighs were spread slightly apart, he had his right elbow resting on his knee, and his chin in hand. Rodney kind of thought he looked like a classical painting already.
The model managed to stay absolutely still for nearly an hour, and even Rodney was focused for once, following the contours by sight instead of by memory three minutes before it'll be due. He could have sworn they made eye contact for a second, that John had almost smiled at him, but Rodney couldn't convince himself he had really moved because from this distance, he looked like he was made of marble.
Cadman leaned over him in that annoying way she had, completely oblivious to the concept of personal space. She'd probably crawl right into his head, if she could. "Wow," she said. "Rodney, that's really good."
"Of course it is," he snapped, and it was said a little louder than he'd meant, and this time John did look up at him. He was definitely smiling, but in a flash it was gone, and John was back in place again like he hadn't moved at all.
John left after an hour. Mr. Corrigan thanked him and told the class to do the same, and John just slipped into his robe with a wry little smile and a nod of his head, then drifted out the back.
Mr. Corrigan came to check all of their work after he was gone. He told Cadman her sketch looked good, but that she might want to try and keep certain body parts in some kind of perspective, and he'd asked Katie why she had drawn the model holding a sock puppet.
When he made it to Rodney's, he frowned down at it, but didn't say anything.
Rodney snapped his fingers impatiently. "Well? What?" he asked.
"It's perfect," Mr. Corrigan said grudgingly. He hated admitting that Rodney was brilliant at everything, and quickly moved along to avoid further embarrassment.
Mr. Corrigan let them out early after he finished his tour of the class. Rodney started heading back to his dorm room, but he saw John the nude model lying full out on the bench right outside the building, wearing sunglasses and clothes. Rodney didn't even realize he was staring until John pushed his sunglasses up on his head and raised an eyebrow at him. "You waiting for a repeat performance?" he asked wryly.
Rodney snorted. "You are full of yourself, aren't you?"
John grinned. "We both know you were totally checking me out. It's okay. I don't mind."
"I suppose not," Rodney said, "what with the work you do."
John shrugged, still grinning. "I have a limited scholarship, I get the money where I can."
"I'm sure your parents are very proud," Rodney said.
"What they don't know doesn't hurt them," John told him guilelessly.
Rodney rolled his eyes. "Well, whatever."
John pushed himself up on the bench, and threw one arm over the back to hold himself up. "Are you an art major?"
"Oh, please," Rodney said. "I'm studying for a real job. I'm going to be an astrophysicist. What are you studying to be, a porn star?"
John just smiled at him, completely unruffled. "You really don't get art, do you...?"
"Rodney," Rodney supplied. "Rodney McKay, soon to be Ph.D. And no, I really don't. I've been in museums that held pictures with all the sophistication of an ink blot. I can appreciate the aesthetic value of a realistic and carefully drawn portrait, but that's as far as it goes."
"Hmm," John said. "Can I see it?"
"See what?" Rodney asked. John nodded to Rodney's sketch pad, and he frowned. "Why? Are you some kind of narcissist, or something?"
John grinned at him. "Maybe I just want to see how you see me."
Rodney reluctantly handed the sketch pad over, and John leaned forward to take it. He flipped it open, and laughed. "Wow," he said. "That's kind of creepy."
"What?" Rodney asked, anxiously.
"It looks just like me," John said. He grabbed a small pencil out of his pocket and scribbled something down onto the page.
"Hey," Rodney protested, but John was already flipping it closed again, and handing it back.
"I've got a Physics class to get to," John told him, and Rodney's estimation of him skyrocketed into embarrassing schoolboy crush proportions. "See you around, McKay."
John put his sunglasses back on, grinned, and then stuck his hands in his pockets. He walked off radiating coolness and Rodney would never guess, looking at him, what he'd been doing just a few minutes earlier. He sighed as John disappeared into a crowd of students, fairly certain that whatever John had said, they wouldn't be seeing each other again.
Then he flipped open his sketch pad, and saw the phone number that had been written right on the corner of the page.
Note: Written for and in answer to a prompt from
mcalex22, which was to have either Rodney or John as a nude model and the other taking the art class they were posing for. He took the class because he needed the credit, but whenever the teacher came to check his work he would find illegible scribbling written sideways over his entire sketchpad, filled with countless complex equations and maybe some of his personal feelings towards the more idiotic of the college staff, instead of pictures of any kind.
He'd been almost kicked out three times, but every time he noticed he was pushing too far he'd sketch something out as quick as he could; keeping the lines all precise and perfect. Rodney was not a modest person, he knew he was the best in the class, and this wasn't even his field.
If one could call art a field, that was, which personally, Rodney didn't.
"I'm telling you, we're getting him!" Rodney glanced up at the words. Laura Cadman was putting her hair up into a ponytail while she grinned widely at the girl next to her. "We're getting John. I saw him out in the hallway wearing a robe."
Katie Brown smiled shyly. "I don't know if I can...you know, draw it."
"What, his penis?" Cadman asked. The majority of the class fell silent and turned to stare at her, but she didn't seem to notice. "Look, it's easy, okay? Just pretend you're drawing a sock puppet or something."
"A sock puppet?" Rodney said dubiously, leaning forward.
Cadman glanced at him. "It was the first thing that came to mind."
"I find that disturbing on so many levels," he said.
Cadman grinned at him, and winked, then turned back to Katie. "You'll be fine, okay? This isn't even sexual, this is about art--well, mostly, but we are human."
"He's going to be naked," Katie said.
"Isn't it great?" Cadman said. "We get to ogle a gorgeous guy, and we don't even have to stick any ones down his g-string, because there won't be one. And I heard from Ford, who heard it from Elizabeth, that Miko fainted when he took off his robe he was so hot."
"This isn't helping," Katie said weakly.
Rodney rolled his eyes at their antics and got back to his equations. As far as he was concerned, this was just going to be another hour and half of sheer torture with Mr. Corrigan going on and on about shadows and color and charcoal.
Rodney didn't look up as a strange hush took hold of the room, and he didn't look up when Mr. Corrigan announced they'd be doing a nude sketch today in his annoying nasal tones. He didn't look up until someone said, "Hey, so it's nice to meet you," in a slow husky drawl, and he heard the sound of rustling clothing sliding to the floor.
Rodney's pencil snapped in his hand the moment his eyes focused on the man across the room, and Cadman shot him a knowing glance; Katie kept her eyes on the floor. Rodney's mouth went dry as John arranged himself on the stool, one leg was placed on a higher rung than the other, and his thighs were spread slightly apart, he had his right elbow resting on his knee, and his chin in hand. Rodney kind of thought he looked like a classical painting already.
The model managed to stay absolutely still for nearly an hour, and even Rodney was focused for once, following the contours by sight instead of by memory three minutes before it'll be due. He could have sworn they made eye contact for a second, that John had almost smiled at him, but Rodney couldn't convince himself he had really moved because from this distance, he looked like he was made of marble.
Cadman leaned over him in that annoying way she had, completely oblivious to the concept of personal space. She'd probably crawl right into his head, if she could. "Wow," she said. "Rodney, that's really good."
"Of course it is," he snapped, and it was said a little louder than he'd meant, and this time John did look up at him. He was definitely smiling, but in a flash it was gone, and John was back in place again like he hadn't moved at all.
John left after an hour. Mr. Corrigan thanked him and told the class to do the same, and John just slipped into his robe with a wry little smile and a nod of his head, then drifted out the back.
Mr. Corrigan came to check all of their work after he was gone. He told Cadman her sketch looked good, but that she might want to try and keep certain body parts in some kind of perspective, and he'd asked Katie why she had drawn the model holding a sock puppet.
When he made it to Rodney's, he frowned down at it, but didn't say anything.
Rodney snapped his fingers impatiently. "Well? What?" he asked.
"It's perfect," Mr. Corrigan said grudgingly. He hated admitting that Rodney was brilliant at everything, and quickly moved along to avoid further embarrassment.
Mr. Corrigan let them out early after he finished his tour of the class. Rodney started heading back to his dorm room, but he saw John the nude model lying full out on the bench right outside the building, wearing sunglasses and clothes. Rodney didn't even realize he was staring until John pushed his sunglasses up on his head and raised an eyebrow at him. "You waiting for a repeat performance?" he asked wryly.
Rodney snorted. "You are full of yourself, aren't you?"
John grinned. "We both know you were totally checking me out. It's okay. I don't mind."
"I suppose not," Rodney said, "what with the work you do."
John shrugged, still grinning. "I have a limited scholarship, I get the money where I can."
"I'm sure your parents are very proud," Rodney said.
"What they don't know doesn't hurt them," John told him guilelessly.
Rodney rolled his eyes. "Well, whatever."
John pushed himself up on the bench, and threw one arm over the back to hold himself up. "Are you an art major?"
"Oh, please," Rodney said. "I'm studying for a real job. I'm going to be an astrophysicist. What are you studying to be, a porn star?"
John just smiled at him, completely unruffled. "You really don't get art, do you...?"
"Rodney," Rodney supplied. "Rodney McKay, soon to be Ph.D. And no, I really don't. I've been in museums that held pictures with all the sophistication of an ink blot. I can appreciate the aesthetic value of a realistic and carefully drawn portrait, but that's as far as it goes."
"Hmm," John said. "Can I see it?"
"See what?" Rodney asked. John nodded to Rodney's sketch pad, and he frowned. "Why? Are you some kind of narcissist, or something?"
John grinned at him. "Maybe I just want to see how you see me."
Rodney reluctantly handed the sketch pad over, and John leaned forward to take it. He flipped it open, and laughed. "Wow," he said. "That's kind of creepy."
"What?" Rodney asked, anxiously.
"It looks just like me," John said. He grabbed a small pencil out of his pocket and scribbled something down onto the page.
"Hey," Rodney protested, but John was already flipping it closed again, and handing it back.
"I've got a Physics class to get to," John told him, and Rodney's estimation of him skyrocketed into embarrassing schoolboy crush proportions. "See you around, McKay."
John put his sunglasses back on, grinned, and then stuck his hands in his pockets. He walked off radiating coolness and Rodney would never guess, looking at him, what he'd been doing just a few minutes earlier. He sighed as John disappeared into a crowd of students, fairly certain that whatever John had said, they wouldn't be seeing each other again.
Then he flipped open his sketch pad, and saw the phone number that had been written right on the corner of the page.
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