#just trust me...

It takes a while for their gazes to meet, but it doesn't mean they weren't always looking.

My giftee was @dodgerkedavra! It was very serendipitous, because dodger had written a fic earlier in the year based off of my prompt for the HD Hurt/Comfort fest. It felt like a good way that I could get her back, so... I tried my very best to!

She asked for: "kissing, intimate times, gorgeous light, when they’re looking at each other and so in love" and "intensity? of color" and "manbun", all of which I tried to deliver on. So yes, everyone thank her for the manbun.

A bit about it

I wanted to see if I could do the equivalent of a pining/slow-burn longfic with just a sequence of illustrations--and not even big, flashy ones with varying compositions--just relatively consistent shots that focus on them and the gradual shift in feelings towards one another.

The main concept was, as the title suggests, that they keep looking at each other when the other is not looking back. Visual yearning! In each illustration, the observer and observed swap. They seem to keep missing each other's glances, until the very last illustration, where they are gazing domestically at each other hahaha.

For each illustration I also tried to work with different color schemes, lighting, and moods, depending on what was happening. Draco's hair also goes on a bit of a journey, which was fun! It was my first time giving him long hair! My favorite length is just right before the manbun, when it's probably long enough to be annoying but not long enough to be put up.

The fest/exchange was all the right things for me - fun, inspiring, and challenging. Thanks to the lovely mods for all their hard work, and for making everything run so smoothly. And thanks to everyone who already left me really nice comments.

@lunarscaled asked: "Do you have a proprioception but for people sticking their hands in your circuits?"

-> They're fidgeting with a pocket watch and some small set of screwdrivers, carefully taking it apart to clean and replace the gears, the mechanisms.

"Not like can you feel pain, but do you have an awareness of it?"

A fucking what? He waits a moment for the translation to come through and explain to him what they meant:

Loading... Loading... Proprioception... otherwise known as kinesthesia, is the body's ability to sense movement, action, and location. It's present in every muscle movement you have. Without proprioception, you wouldn't be able to move without thinking about your next step.

Why can't people just say what they mean? Though understanding it now, it made the question strike him as... pretty odd. Can he feel when people are? Sticking their hands in him? His attention is drawn to the watch in their hands for a moment, single eye narrowing at their meticulous care. " If yer meanin' when I'm put up fer some thorough maintenance- nah. I'm out cold for that Sh%t. " if he was awake it'd likely do something to his mind. There's something pretty horrifying about seeing your body taken apart and adjusted or repaired. Shit...

" I don't know much 'bout the details of it. But I can feel when anythin's wrong up in here. " gesturing to his torso, from the waist to his chest. " Not that anyone's gonna have the chance to stick their damn hands in me without my say so- but yeah. I can feel it, just ain't the same kind of feeling as when I had my old body. " brow furrows, as if he's trying to recall a memory. " Like it's... far away or somethin. Further ya get from my head, like my arms n legs, the harder it is.. I only feel em when somethin's f&%ked up. " and boy does it hurt when anything's off or out of place. " But I got eyes haha- I know where I am. Where I'm goin... what I'm doin'... I guess."

Ugh. He really doesn't like this conversation...

cyborg deeplore from the cyborg himself

...oh there’s this one soundtrack... ...it’s kind of a spoiler

someone that doesn't have that function: Okay, but I display similar traits? Like...