* RUFFIAN

        𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌  𝐓𝐇𝐄  𝐒𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐍  𝐎𝐅   his  phone  did  Axl’s  attention  depart  ,    looking  up    *&    over  to  Ozzy  from  his  seat  on  the  bed  ,    back  resting  against  the  wall.      it  was  silent  moments  earlier  ,    for  the  most  part —— - save  for  the  faint  sound  of  paint    *&    brushes  against  a  canvas    *&    the  two  of  them  gnawing  on  some  candy - —— so  then  sudden  breakage  of  the  quiet  was  a  tad  surprising.      but  Axl  was  more  than  happy  to  pay  attention  to  his  closest  friend  ,      *&     he  didn’t  regret  it  either.

     𝐁𝐑𝐎𝐖𝐒  𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐒𝐄  𝐀𝐓  𝐓𝐇𝐄   sight  of  the  painting  ,    slightly  amazed  at  the  sheer  skill  it  must’ve  taken.      it  was  ,    by  no  means  ,    PERFECT —— - but  it  was  a  decent  painting  nevertheless  !      he  admired  for  as  long  as  Ozzy  presented  the  piece  ,      *&    when  he  put  it    *&    himself  back  in  place  ,    Axl  didn’t  hesitate  to  crawl  towards  the  edge  of  the  bed  to  get  a  better  look  at  it.

        ❛    𝐈  𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘  𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄  𝐈𝐓  ,    dude.    ❜        Axl  finally  spoke  ,    leaning  closer  to  the  canvas.          ❛    the  colors  are  pretty.      i  think  it’s  cool  how  you  did  this  yourself  ,    ‘s  not  dumb.    ❜        he  offered  an  encouraging  smile  ,    sitting  criss - cross    *&    nudging  his  shoulder.

And to think that he was worried! He felt such warmth at Axl’s encouragement, his fake aggression peeling away to reveal just how happy he was. He smiled, a hand rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment. ❝Uh... Thanks, Axl, that means a whole lot.❞ He smiled but was quick to see just how vulnerable he must have looked. Ozzy had to change the topic, turning away to look back at his canvas, mind racing for a topic change. 

That’s when it hit him. He moved away from the bed, back to his art and carefully tore away at the paper until it was completely off. He gently set it against the nearby shelves, letting it dry as he turned back towards Axl,  paintbrush in hand a fresh new canvas just waiting for art to be on it.

     Paintbrush glided gently against his canvas, tongue lopsided out his mouth as he tried to concentrate on his work. Usually, he didn’t put so much thought in his work, but with his newest guest, Ozzy felt he just had to impress. Chestnut eyes glanced over at the form of Axl, who was chilling back in his seat. He was so cool, Ozzy almost felt like he shouldn’t interrupt, that he would ruin the mood. That thought didn’t last too long though.

     ❝Hey, dude! What do you think about this?❞ He moved so the other can get a good look at his work. It was a landscape, the sun rising over the horizon of Whoville, even adding the curve of the mountain, as best as possible. Ozzy was no Picasso, but he was actually proud of how this was turning out! Then again, embarrassment quickly replaced his misplaced pride, swallowing it down and returning it with faux nonchalance.