Waterfall Art (Continued)

[Layton "Chu" Lewis]

Wearily, Chu struggled to keep up with the girl. His left knee ached with every ounce of pressure he put on it. Still, he was persistent to get as far away as physically possible from Fisher, without this girls merciful help he probably would have died in that forest.

He was both relieved and distressed when he saw the stairway into the girls dormitory. The thought of climbing stairs made him want to cry, but if he was inside and the door was lock he could escape Fisher's persecution. The girl didn't seem to give his bad knee much thought when she took the dreaded stairs by two, forcing Chu to plant his left knee to give them shaky support. All the way to the top he winced and groaned.

In the distance he could hear the frantic and angry cries of Fisher,
"I'll get you, you sick son of a bitch!"

Fishers angry voice faded as the door closed. Chu could breathe a sigh of relief. The kind girl lowered him to the marble floor as he gasped and groaned in pain.

He panted hard, trying to catch it breath resting his head against the wall.

I'm alive. He thought to himself. He checked himself over a bit, he looked down the collar of his shirt and saw no blood or broken bones just some large bruises. The only thing that was truly busted was his wonky knee cap. He decided that it was be okay to leave it alone for a bit and he would fix it later.

Chu rested on the floor quietly, watching the strange, but beautiful, black haired girl laugh. He said nothing, he simply watched her as shyness over took him.

He bowed his head and quietly fiddled with his thumbs until she was done and then began to pose questions.

Still, he was silent.

He fiddled with his thumbs and glanced around the marble floor, trying to not make eye contact.
After some dreaded long moments of silence he finally spoke,
"M-my..." Was all he could manage to croak out.

"M-my... n-name is... is...." He was quite again, "C-Chu." he whispered.

Chu, was indeed a very timid fellow. He was gentle and shy like a doe. He didn't want to cause trouble, but it always seemed to be attracted to him.

"F-fisher...he..." he stopped again, "He... doesn't l-like me..."

He wiped some sweat from his brow, finally able to muster up the courage to look up at the black haired girl,
"Thank you." He said calmly, quietly.

Chu had some striking features, gentle dark brown eyes, plump pink lips, and a sort of "pureness" that enveloped his perfect face.

"Thank you for saving me... M-Miss Liirasai." He cleared his throat and tried to adjust his weak body, "I-I know it's n-none of my business... and... and I know... I sh-shouldn't pry... but... but why were you so deep the woods... all by yourself?"

[Liirasai Deneueve]

Leaning her head back upon her propped up elbow, Liira looked at the kid, who looked like he would rather take another couple of blows before he relaxed some. He was very pretty, in a soft, easily bruised way. Like a ripe pear that had fallen to the ground, and without anyone to pick it up, had started bruising. His eyes were hidden, by the thick lashes that laid crescent shaped shadows upon his smooth cheeks. It was obvious why the great big brute had picked him. He was beautiful, in an innocent way that would make bullies line up to get a chance at him. And from the names called, and the alacrity with which he paled, that was probably just one more crapload onto the camel's back. As the silence progressed she continued to study him, noting the way he curled inward to shield himself from blows that he still apparently expected. His demeanor was so quiet like a mouse. All big eyes and no speaking.

As he started to visibly relax, by fractions of inches, the shades covering his eyes rose, and she noticed they were a gentle shade of honeyed brown. Like the pale amber ales Rene used to drink... The memory washed over her, and whether it was the influence of this sweet little boy, or the presence of time making it's appearance , but it hurt less this time, thinking of him. The memories brought a small smile to her face and she looked at him as he started to speak in a tentative, small voice. Chu. The name fit him well. It was small and sweet, and rolled off the tongue easily. As he started to stutter the bully's name, her smile left rather suddenly. It just reminded her how much she wanted to hang him by his toenails. There was no single thing she hated more than bullies. She watched him sweat as he tried to stay calm and continue to speak. She nodded at his thanks, brushing it off as no big thing.

As he asked about why she was out, she smiled, the surprise lighting up her face at his opening up enough to ask her what she was doing. "Oh, I go out there every couple of days. I like it there, with the water and the trees. I take my sketchbook out and just let go of whatever's bothering me. It's a great place to relax and unwind. And generally, people don't come that close to the wall. " Her eyes lit up as she mentioned the sketchbook, just thinking about it made her happy and more relaxed than she had been. She cocked her head at him as she thought about it. "Why do you ask?"

[Layton "Chu" Lewis]

Chu felt slightly uncomfortable as Miss Liirasai analyzed him. He could feel her eyes observing his every aspect, his hair, his eyes, his skin. He felt disgusting begin stared at like he was a wild animal. Chu was so nervous that he felt like his chest was tightening up, with shaky arms he pushed himself away from her. When a few inches were finally put between them he breathed a little easier.

"Sketchbook?" He said quitely to himself. Behind his bangs his eyes began to scan over the floor, looking for a book. Out of the bag she swung at the bully, he saw a book peeking out of the very top of it.

His beautiful eyes lit up at the sight of it, "Umm... Miss Liirasai, is... that your book?" He pointed at it.

"May I see your pictures?" He reached forward ever so slight and emitted a very sharp gasp and quickly retracted his arm.

"My... my knee..." he winced as he looked down at it. His knee cap seemed to be sticking out in an odd fashion.

He looked up at Miss Liirasai, then down to his knee, he went back and fourth between the two before saying, "Excuse me, this will only take a second."

He turned his body slightly, there was a crack, followed by a snap, the sound of metal grinding against metal, and then a pop.

Chu swiveled his body around,"I'm sorry... umm... well..." he anxiously rubbed the back of his neck, "W-when I was 15 I broke my knee-cap, it's fake now and now it pops out of joint from time to time... that's what happened when I was running away from Fisher. That's how I fell..."

Some more silence fell between them, and he continued, "I like being out there too... I... go there to think..." his thoughts wavered a bit as he looked down sadly at a silver ring around his finger. His long fingers reached down and touched the ring carefully, looking at the ring made him smile. A bright, loving, wonderful, million dollar smile came on to his gentle face.

I love you... he quitely thought to himself.

Chu's face rose from looking down at the ring, and he appeared to be much more comfortable. That gentle, beautiful, small smile still lighting up his perfect face.

He looked back at her bag, "Miss Liirasai, may I please look at your sketches now?"

He leaned against the wall again, his body still rattled with pain. But he was obviously more relaxed now that he has been able to catch his breath and get to know to Miss Liirasai.

[Liirasai Deneueve]

Liira noticed his discomfort, and especially noted the space he pushed between them; he breathed much easier with distance between them. It seemed like he was physically uncomfortable around people, at the very least people he didn't know well enough, a problem she'd been struggling with herself. Something she was determined to change. She needed to be around people, to learn to be comfortable with them around her without assuming they had an angle.

When he asked about the sketchbook, she watched his eyes travel with a ironic look in her eyes. Her drawing was going to be the catalyst? How...silly. Her manic etchings with graphite were nothing but scribbles. Little to no artistic value represented at all. Her eyebrow ring caught the light as it slanted in through openings in her bangs, light reflecting off the silver hoop as she quirked an eyebrow ironically.
He grimaced as he realized his knee was out of whack, and quickly turned around to put it back into place, turning around so that she couldn't exactly see what it was he had to do.

The disturbing sounds as he worked to quickly put his leg back together were wet, and more unpleasant that she cared to admit. Almost as quickly as he had turned around to put it back together, he turned back around, and she was once again looking into the puppy soft eyes of the young kid. She watched, her interest growing, as he apologized again, and being obviously thoroughly embarrassed, proceeded to twist a small silver ring upon his finger.

Liira's attention was even more drawn when she first saw the change the smile made to his face. The haunted look of fear and relentless pursuit seemed to disappear; like the morning dew once the sun came up, the sunshine in that smile drove away all the sorrow and hurt that crowded his heart. It was a beautiful thing, that smile. It made her feel optimistic about what love could do to heal scars both old and new. Because that smile was so full of love, it almost broke her heart. It made her remember how it felt to truly believe that love could save the world, could fix anything. Love could mend a broken heart, rebuild old broken down bridges, even lives spent worlds apart.

As he looked up at her with that smile, she decided to put aside her cynical, world weary view for a bit. When he called her Miss again, she smiled. "Don't bother with formalities, just call me Liira. As for my sketches, you can look. They're not much." She shrugged, very Gallic in nature as she slid her sketchpad across the smooth marble floor.