Fourth Floor Common Room; Wednesday Evening.

[by137.livejournal.com]

Slumped comfortably on the couch, A.J. sat sketching, with a very untouched sandwich sitting on a plate on the nearby endtable. He was working on a new piece of abstract art and ended up getting rather engrossed in it. To a point where he not only forgot about the sandwich, but he was also forgetting about where he was, what he was doing, what it was about. Entirely caught up in the moment. He loved when the art took on a force of its own and simply seemed to be using him and his pencils as a channel for giving them life....


[[ open, of course, as common rooms are, yay! ]]

Comments

[misshargrove.livejournal.com]

Annette got tired of playing her Wii. And there was no one in the common room on her floor so she went down a floor. Padding in barefoot she saw A.J. but was not going to interrupt him since he was so tuned into what he was doing. Hopefully he would show her later.

Instead, she sat down on the floor in front of the TV, crossed her legs, and started flipping through channels. And yes, the sound was muted.

[oncourtandstage.livejournal.com]

Troy came in and sat beside A.J. in the couch; he didn't say anything, or make any move to capture A.J.'s attention, instead just watching the image take form. After a few moments, he curled up, pulling his legs up and crossing his arms over his knees; his chin came to rest on his arms, and his eyes never left A.J.'s hands.

[by137.livejournal.com]

Eventually, though, the flipping channels was messing up A.J.'s lighting. Well, not messing it up, really, but changing it, enough that he noticed. He didn't look up from his sketchpad, though, and kept his pencils moving. "Anything good on?" he asked idly.

[by137.livejournal.com]

Just as A.J.'s eyes never really left the paper as he slowly started adding some dark red around the edges of the picture, almost framing it, with sketchy, uncertain lines. He hadn't really noticed Troy at all; he was almost completely zoned in on his work.

[repeterpetrelli.livejournal.com]

Peter came in and took a seat. "Hey."

[misshargrove.livejournal.com]

"No," she answered back quietly without turning around. Annette eventually left the channel on Food Network. They were showing how Peeps were made and it made for pretty interesting watching.

[oncourtandstage.livejournal.com]

Troy was happy to sit there; his conversation (http://community.livejournal.com/fandomtownies/1884593.html?thread=86585521#t86585521) with River had helped him come to terms with what had happened between them, and to realise that it was maybe something he'd want to pursue after all.

He just hoped A.J. felt the same way.

But yes, he was content to sit and watch, enjoying the way the images were taking shape under A.J.'s hand, even if he couldn't quite understand it.

[by137.livejournal.com]

"Huh?" A.J. blinked up, pulled away for a second. He was really into the drawing, and heard just sounds and not actual words.

[repeterpetrelli.livejournal.com]

Peter grinned. "Sorry. Didn't mean to interrupt you."

[by137.livejournal.com]

A.J.'s eyes drifted over for a second; it seemed weird that Annette was being so quiet. "Everything okay?" he asked, just in case, still with his focus mostly on the sketchbook.

[by137.livejournal.com]

A.J. paused a moment, frowning at the work in front of him, chewing thoughtfully on the end of his pencil. It still didn't quite seem to have what he wanted it to...it wasn't making his private little statement clear enough to him, and if it wasn't clear to him, it wouldn't be clear to anyone else. His eyes drifted up, blinking, adjusting to the shift in scenery after staring at a paper for so long, and it was then that he noticed Troy.

He blinked, mouth hanging slightly open as if he'd been caught doing something foolish.

How long had he been sitting there?

"Hey..."

[by137.livejournal.com]

"Huh?" A.J. said again, then blinked hard, shaking his head. "Aw, no, it's cool." He let out a soft laugh. "Probably a good thing you did; I got kinda lost there..."

[misshargrove.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, I'm good. Just didn't feel like being alone in my room with my Wii. But I'll be quiet, promise. And I'll only look at what you're doing when your ready to show me. If you want, that is."

[repeterpetrelli.livejournal.com]

"You an artist?" Peter asked, gesturing towards his work.

[oncourtandstage.livejournal.com]

"Hey," Troy repeated, smiling. "That looks really cool," he continued, nodding towards the picture. "I'd ask what it means, but I probably wouldn't understand it anyway."

[by137.livejournal.com]

"Your what?" A.J. asked with a laugh and then tilted his head at her a little. "And I don't mind. Breaks are good to re-charge the creativity, you know? And I'd love to show you, if...if you want to see. It isn't much, really, just a doodle..."

[by137.livejournal.com]

"Kinda, yeah," A.J. smiled a little shyly as he moved the sketchbook in case Peter wanted to get a better work. "Not much, just...I like it, you know. Keeps me going."

[misshargrove.livejournal.com]

She looked over her shoulder at him, "My Wii. Oh yeah, that's right, 1995." Grinning she scrambled up and walked on her knees back to the couch, kneeling by him. "It's like a way advanced version of Nintendo, or something like that." Leaning slightly, she peered down at his doodle. "Oh. Wow. That is...great, A.J."

[by137.livejournal.com]

A.J. pressed his lips together nervously as he looked over the drawing, too. "Yeah," he said. "It's....complicated." And mostly about Troy, too, so A.J. was definitely going that route instead of trying to explain. For now. A shy smile surfaced, head still down. "It isn't very good, either, really..."

[repeterpetrelli.livejournal.com]

"Looks good," Peter said, with approval. "I wish I had half your talent. Best I can do is stick figures."

[by137.livejournal.com]

"...Nintendo is good," A.J. definitely got a grin on his face, leaning in and lowering his voice as he said, "Maybe you should show me your Wii sometime," because he knew it sounded a little dirty. He drew back and shook his head at the sketchbook. "It's definitely not my best, but...I...I kinda like it..."

[by137.livejournal.com]

"Some of the best art is done with stick figures," A.J. told him with a slight grin, and let out a small laugh. "I don't know if it's talent, though, so much as it is luck."

[oncourtandstage.livejournal.com]

Complicated. Troy knew complicated... and thought he might know exactly what complicated thing A.J. was dealing with. "Sometimes things aren't as complicated as you think," he said, reflecting on the conversation with River. "You just have to ask yourself what you actually want."

Looking at the picture, Troy added, "I think all you need is another line across here."

[repeterpetrelli.livejournal.com]

"You're lucky to be talented?" Peter replied.

[misshargrove.livejournal.com]

"I can definitely do that, A.J.," Annette said with a grin. "You'll like it, it's fun to play even though I get killed all the time." She was staring at his artwork. "I love abstract and I like the colors you have going there. Oooh! A.J.! I totally have an idea!"