@held-heart for bellamy bridgerton bc i can
Steve had been at it for hours. Callouses on his hands from a lifetime of hard labour being the only thing stopping them from bleeding. But his hands were black from the charcoal. And if it weren't the charcoal from today, it would be paint tomorrow. Spending much more time in the atelier than the other men at the academy. Most of them getting their place because of a rich relative. It kind of was his situation. But unlike them, he wasn't born with a silver spoon in the mouth. And he wouldn't let this opportunity pass him by. This was his one chance to a future other than dying on the field or being a servant for the rest of his life.
He had been lucky in life, despite how he was born. Son of a drunk who fit the stereotype of an Irishman. Son of a wetnurse turned housemaid. The Barnes had been good to him and his mother. Especially to him, because of the first son. They had done everything together. An education his mother could never paid for but Bucky would riot if Steve did not attend. Even got an art tutor for Steve's sake, because Bucky had absolutely no talent. But after his mother died and Steve was of age, he joined the British Army, even if other people in Ireland would look at him like a traitor. Bucky joining as well, even if he didn't need to. Years of service. But Bucky died. And in his death, gave Steve enough money to buy for retirement and enroll to the Royal Academy.
So it was Bucky's face he was drawing from memory when he noticed the other man in the room. One of the two Bridgerton twins. Definitely was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. One of the families he could paint for with what he learned at the Academy. If he managed to make a trade as a painter.
"Left the party early? I know it's not over because they never end until sunrise."
