an eye for color

Zane Dae e i g h t e e n artist extraordinaire probably cooler than you

[zanedae]

@notacarousel @spikedsophie-blog @lizleerothjd-blog @hungry-hyena @minstoppable-blog @bryantskippins @lizlrjd-blog 

Ray-Ban Sunglasses

[lizleerothjd-blog]

It’s true that Liz wanted to hear the words tumbling from his mouth.  She got a form of sick satisfaction from knowing that she had successfully gotten under someone’s skin; had planted herself in between their veins and could make them bleed whenever she saw fit.  If she hadn’t been so used to it, she was certain that her actions would be sickening.  But now that he had admitted it, his tone angry and reasonably upset, she felt the need to defend herself.  Why?  Because she was Liz LRJD, and she always came out on top.  “Don’t you dare act like your jealousy is in any way justifiable.  I’m having lunch with you, not writing my vows,” her tone was sharp, words coated in irritation.  “If I recall correctly, we’ve gone on a single date, and aside from your usual stalking, you’ve made no real effort to pursue me any further.  Excuse me for opening the door when a new opportunity arises.”

[zanedae]

The offense that Liz seemed to take only served to annoy Zane further. It appeared that, even after all of this time, she was still hanging on to the “stalking” excuse. At this point, he considered it to be at least somewhat friendly. No such luck, apparently. Was everything for her still the same as it was when they first met? “Pardon me. I forgot that you have to actually be in a romantic relationship with someone before you can get jealous.” He spoke through gritted teeth. He liked her. A lot. The idea of her flirting with a guy that wasn’t himself made his head spin, and not in a good way. He didn’t have to be dating her for the emotion to surface. 

“You know how I feel about you, despite the fact that you like to pretend you don’t for the sole purpose of getting me to say it out loud so that you get your satisfaction for the day. I like you, and I have since the moment I met you. I’m sorry if the so-called ‘stalking’, otherwise known as me coming to have conversations with you isn’t enough to showcase the fact that I am, and always have been, very interested in ‘pursuing’ something ‘further’.” He stopped, letting out another deep breath. He was ranting, but why stop now?

“But just because I’m not throwing myself at you like a stranger, and respecting any boundaries that you might have because you yourself have not pursued anything, nor have you shown that you might be even the slightest bit interested in anything besides teasing me for your enjoyment, suddenly I’m at fault. Sorry, Liz. I’ll be sure to try to jump right on the creep behavior next time.”

“If you want to open doors, far be it from me to even attempt to stand in your way. If you’re still bothered by my presence so much, I’ll be courteous enough to get out of the door way, and ask for you to excuse me for taking up so much of your time.” He rubbed a hand down his face before placing both hands, palms down, onto the table. “Too long, didn’t read... I like you. A lot. Always have. Can’t see that stopping in the near future. So, of course, I’m jealous if you’re smiling at some other guy because, imagine the idea, I want you to smile like that because of me. Sorry. I’ll tone down the shades of green next time.”

[lizleerothjd-blog]

She watched as he shifted his gaze from the stranger back to her, a small shock shooting throughout her body at the look he directed her way.  It was almost thrilling, making someone jealous, and Zane had to be her favorite victim by far.  “If you aren’t going to barf, then you might as well act like a normal human being.  I’d be more than happy to spend the remainder of my break with tall, dark, and impolite over there,” she pointed a thumb in the direction of the man, not sparing him a second glace now that he was gone.  “If you have a problem with something, then say it.”

[zanedae]

“Oddly enough, having emotions is, in fact, a normal human being action.” At that point, he honestly considering getting up from the table and leaving, but he knew doing that wouldn’t make the jealousy any less expressive than it was right now, and he knew he’d have to slap himself later for walking away. “If you wanted to go over there, I wouldn’t be able to stop you, Liz.” He paused, taking in a deep breath to calm himself. “I do have a problem, and you know what it is. But, of course, you want to hear everything out loud, so fine. I’m jealous. I’m jealous, and you know that, and now you’ve heard it. You’re welcome. Have fun with that creep.”

[lizleerothjd-blog]

It seemed as though even the universe was on her side, just as most things were, dealing the perfect cards into her hand.  She had to hold in a snort at the look that Zane wore, and she briefly wondered if he was going to get up and storm off.  But he remained in place, almost to her surprise, glaring at her and the stranger in silence.  After programming a familiar number into his phone (the one she always used for random men, the number that belonged to a certain Felicity Duck), she watched the man finally realize that someone else was actually at the table.  With the quick promise to get in touch with him soon (her friend was going to have a fun time with this one, she could tell), she bid the stranger a flirtatious farewell.  Running her hands casually through her hair, she turned back to Zane with a look of faux confusion, “Are you not feeling well?  You look like you’re going to get sick, and I’m not cleaning it up.”

[zanedae]

Zane was glaring daggers at the other man all the time he was walking away from the table. Sure, Liz was entitled to do whatever she wanted, but that didn’t mean that he wasn’t going to get jealous over it. Liz’s voice snapped him out of his murderous stupor. He gave her another tired look, cocking his head to the side and putting on a sardonic grin. “Oh, no, I’m perfectly fine. Why would you think that I look sick? I’m one hundred percent okay.” He knew she knew what the problem was, and he was too annoyed to play along right now.

[lizleerothjd-blog]

It was utterly impossible to ignore the hostile tone that slipped out of her companion, and it took everything that Liz had in her not to laugh out loud.  The man didn’t spare Zane a single glance while answering that, yes, he did need something, and that something happened to be her number.  His boldness this time did elicit a laugh from her, and she briefly glanced over to the other across the table to catch his reaction.  This was the perfect situation in her mind, appearing just five minutes after she had made that off-handed comment about suitors.  She honestly couldn’t believe her luck. “With an introduction like that, it would be hard to say no.”

[zanedae]

If Zane could be looking in a mirror, he was sure that smoke would be coming from his ears. What sort of right did this man have to come up to a complete strangers table, while she’s sitting with another man, and ask for a woman’s number? He couldn’t know if they were a couple, or not. He clearly didn’t care. Zane could feel his face heating up. His head snapped to Liz when she agreed to give her number, his face furrowing in anger. They weren’t dating, sure, but she could have given him her number in private, and not right in front of him. He clenched his fist around the empty coffee mug and grit his teeth. This was ridiculous. He just wanted him to walk away. “If that’s all, you can go now, right?” He spoke up, his tone even rougher with annoyance.

[lizleerothjd-blog]

“You should know better by now, Zane,” a small laugh passed through her lips, the tiniest shake of her head accompanying it.  “Don’t let her hear that.  She’ll start crying into the coffee.”  Her gaze traveled over to the strange girl behind the counter, who just so happened to be staring directly at them.  Who exactly her eyes were glued to was a mystery, but Liz would bet money on it being her company.  She opened her mouth to make yet another sarcastic comment, but was distracted as a stranger – a very attractive one at that –, approached their table.  She looked up at the man with one of her most charming smiles, waiting for him to explain his appearance.

[zanedae]

“One day I’ll learn.” He shrugged, a small grin spreading across his lips. An expression that quickly twisted into one of distaste as he followed Liz’s gaze to the other girl behind the counter. He noticed that she was staring over at them and grimaced, turning his eyes away from her. “That would probably be entertaining.” He huffed, waiting for Liz’s inevitable comment about how they’d be cute together, or something of the sort. Though, the comment didn’t come, as another male approached their table. He looked back to Liz, noticing a wide smile had appeared on her face. When he looked back to the man, Zane’s expression shifted to what could only be described as a snarl. “Did you need something?” He asked harshly, not caring about his so-called “manners” at this point.

[lizleerothjd-blog]

“My talents section is ten pages long, sweetie,” she couldn’t help that shit-eating smirk that formed at her own words.  It wasn’t a complete lie; she was a very talented individual.  Leaning in slightly, she moved to pick at the remainder of her snack.  Suddenly, she felt as though she couldn’t finish it.  For whatever reason, her stomach seemed… light.  “You’re very welcome.  I can only imagine the devastation you would have experienced if I left you.”

[zanedae]

“Oh, my mistake.” He bowed his head at her in apology, smirking back now. Their interactions always seemed to jump back and forth between Zane rolling his eyes and acting like he’d wouldn’t rather be anywhere else, and sure, that was kind of whiplash-inducing, but it also drove him crazy, in a good way. “It’d be pretty earth-shattering. I mean, I’m not sharing a muffin with Laura anytime soon, so I’d be pretty lonely.”

[lizleerothjd-blog]

She let out another hum, watching him push the muffin in her direction.  If it wasn’t so damn delicious, she would have felt unreasonably offended that he was rejecting the snack she had brought to him.  Having the chocolate treat to herself hardly gave her reason to complain.  “I’ll add that to my resume,” Liz replied with a small smirk settled on her features.  Of course, she had been teasing him.  She had no real intent to get up and leave him, but she liked having the verbal confirmation of him wanting her around.  That, however, didn’t explain the small tug of her chest at his plea for her to stay.  “Fine, but only because you asked so nicely.”

[zanedae]

Zane snorted, the corner of his mouth managing to twitch up despite his annoyance with her teasing. “Your resume has to be at least ten pages at this point.” He doubted she would leave any small thing off of any resume, real or metaphorical. He wouldn’t be shocked if she actually put something to the effect of “exceedingly exasperating” as one of her strengths. His smile returned somewhat when she said she would stay. Another point for the manners, it seemed. “Thank you.”

[lizleerothjd-blog]

“What can I say?  I’m a bit of a philanthropist,” she replied with a bat of her eyelashes.  Taking another piece of the muffin, she chewed thoughtfully as she took in his words.  The sarcasm had returned, and as fun as it could be, she wasn’t a big fan of it.  At least, not right now.  She would much rather if he just admitted out loud that he was jealous.  “If you’re going to continue with your sour attitude, I can leave you to your sketching.  I’m sure there are plenty of other people here – charity cases, if you will – who would enjoy my company more.”

[zanedae]

“I can tell.” He nodded at her, eyebrow raising. One day, he’d be able to keep up with her, and, oh, how he longed for that day. He pushed the rest of the muffin towards her, not having an appetite for it anymore, as he was already full of her snarkiness. However, when she threatened to get up from the table, he let out a drawn-out, dramatic sigh. “You’re exasperating.” He rubbed a hand down his face. Unfortunately for him, that was one of the things he liked about her. The-- headstrongness, as it were. He looked her directly in the eyes, another shorter, quieter sigh came from him. “Stay. Please.”

[lizleerothjd-blog]

“It’s okay, I’m used to hanging around loners,” she let out a dramatic sigh.  “I spend time with my brother, don’t I?  Ah, I’m so generous.”  The last sentence was muttered under her breath, but had been loud enough for him to catch.  Teasing others happened to be a way of life for Liz.  She just couldn’t help herself when the opportunity would arise.  “Then maybe you should act a little more grateful.  After all, I got you a free drink and I’m spending my lunch break sitting with you.”

[zanedae]

“Someone give you an award, already.” He grumbled out, furrowing his eyebrows as he quickly downed the rest of his coffee. “Me and Bryant? You’re so charitable.” He was falling back into his defense of sarcasm, but that was something he couldn’t help if he tried. What other defense could he have against her merciless teasing? Nothing. “I’m eternally grateful, of course. Who else would sit with a charity case such as myself?”

[lizleerothjd-blog]

“You can’t use a plural to describe Rosie and her brother.  They count as one person,” she gave the other a smirk, watching him chew on the snack she had brought.  There was a very obvious shift in his expression, the air suddenly feeling a bit more tense.  But she loved it.  In fact, she thrived knowing that someone was jealous because of her.  It was sick, but she blamed the women in her family for it.  She couldn’t help but press him on it.  “You look like someone pissed in your drink.  And I know that they didn’t because I made it.”

[zanedae]

“I have-- other friends too.” He shrugged, grimacing again into his mug which was already half-empty. “Sort of.” He finished, quietly to himself more than anything. Zane couldn’t help but give Liz a tired expression at her notation of his mood shift. He knew what she was playing at, and he knew she liked when he got jealous, but he couldn’t help but give her the satisfaction, because it was just the way he felt. “My drink is fine.”

[lizleerothjd-blog]

She watched as he took a sip from his drink, reaching out to pull off a piece of the muffin she had brought over to him.  Popping it into her mouth, she let out a small hum in response.  “You say that like I don’t have other people to spend my time with.  I don’t know if you remember, but unlike you, I have plenty of friends.  And suitors.”

[zanedae]

After she took some of the muffin, he followed right after her, get his own piece and eating it before responding. “I have friends.” He said quietly, but matter-of-factly. Though, he didn’t comment on the part about ‘suitors’, settling instead for sneering into his mug, and feeling his mood deteriorating just slightly.

[lizleerothjd-blog]

She was glad that their relationship – friendship?  flirtationship?  whatever it was – had gotten to this point.  It was nice to have him smile at her actions, his guard almost completely down.  They really had come a long way since their first conversation.  “You’re right,” she teased, a small laugh bubbling out of her, “I’d have my fingers crossed the entire time, just hoping that it’s true.”

[zanedae]

Oddly enough, at this point, he knew when she was joking. Or, he hoped he knew. She was still kind of hard to read sometimes. He laughed along nonetheless, shaking his head and clutching at his heart. “Ouch. That one hurt deep.” He paused to take sip of the coffee; peppermint mocha. He did come here a lot, didn’t he? “If I died, who would save you from spending your lunch breaks staring at Laura?”

[lizleerothjd-blog]

She couldn’t help the smirk that formed naturally at his words, almost constantly amused by what he had to say.  Without asking for an invitation, she took the vacant seat before him, placing the muffin in between the two of them.  Her eyes briefly darted toward his sketch book before returning to his face. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?  At least thirty-six hours.”

[zanedae]

His smile only got wider when Liz sat down across from him without him asking her to. The fact that his manners had managed to get him this far still astounded him. He briefly eyed the muffin placed between them, but left it untouched, keeping his focus on Liz instead. “If I spent any more time away, you would probably think I was dead.”

[lizleerothjd-blog]

Liz’s break was rapidly approaching, and despite having her attention placed on the customer before her, she spotted a familiar figure hunched over a sketch book at a corner table.  With a smile plastered on her face, she quickly finished up the current order before announcing to Laura that she was taking her lunch break.  Before exiting from behind the counter, she filled up a mug with a familiar peppermint mocha drink and grabbed a chocolate muffin from behind the glass.  Making her way across the cafe, she placed the drink in front of the male.  “Fancy meeting you here.”

[zanedae]

When Zane came into the coffee shop, he didn’t want to alert his presence to those who knew who he was (Laura especially), so he sat in a table that was further from all the others, opening up his sketch book, and making himself, what he hoped, was invisible. At least until Liz was free. His wait didn’t seem to be long, as he’d started to time his visits even better than normal recently, and when she appeared before him, placing a cup of coffee in front of him, he offered her a smile. “An uncommon occurrence, if I do say so myself.” 

[kimwoobinseyebrows]

[zanedae]

CHUGGA CHUGGA CHOO CHOO