°•°•°•|LYRA|°•°•°•
The ball came too fast. Lyra barely had time to register it before it slammed into her head with a dull thud.
"Ah-" she yelped, stumbling back a step with her hand on her head.
"Oh my God. Are you okay? That literally just hit you! Are you hurt? Say something!"
"I'm fine," Lyra said, wincing slightly. "Sienna, I'm okay."
"Okay? You just got hit by a ball thrown by people who clearly don't know how to aim!" Sienna snapped, already turning towards the court. "Hello?! Do you people not have eyes? Who threw that?!"
"Are you okay?" a voice shouted.
Lyra's head snapped up. Xavier was already moving toward her with his long strides. Lyra froze for half a second, staring at him like her brain had short-circuited.
"Are you okay?" He asked again. Up close, he looked even more taller, and handsome. He looked like a Greek god, so good-looking.
"I'm fine."
"Doesn't look fine," he said, scanning her face, his brow furrowed. "That could have hurt."
"Seriously, I'm okay."
"Just checking. Those balls aren't exactly soft." He studied her for a moment longer, then tilted his head slightly.
"Yea, noted." she could feel Sienna squealing beside her like she wasn't even breathing properly.
"Practice gets messy sometimes. I'll tell them to aim away from the stands, but you might want to stand a little farther back. "
She nodded, still a little stunned. "Yeah."
And then, he jogged back to the court like nothing had happened.
"Lyra!" Sienna squealed.
"Please don't."
Sienna pressed her lips together dramatically, clearly wanting to tease her.
Kieran was leaning against the railing near the steps with his arms crossed. His face was blank and unreadable, but his eyes were fixed on the court.
"Why is he even here?" she asked, trying to sound normal.
"Because the universe enjoys chaos," Sienna said. "Also because Xavier is."
"They really hate each other that much?"
"Hate is mild. You don't just wake up and decide to feud with Kieran unless something serious happened."
"What happened?" Lyra asked.
"Despite knowing all the juicy gossips in this academy, I don't really know the full story," Sienna said. "Just that they were friends once, long time ago. Then something happened and now it's like this."
"Can we go?" she asked softly after a while.
Sienna blinked. "Huh? Oh yeah. Yeah, of course."
They slipped away before practice ended, the farther they walked, the quieter everything became.
Lyra rubbed the side of her head absentmindedly.
"Hey. Still hurts?"
"A little," Lyra sighed. "But it's fine. Just surprised me."
"You sure you don't want to go to the infirmary?" Sienna asked.
Lyra shook her head. "No. I just want somewhere quiet."
Sienna smiled gently. "Library?"
"Yea." Lyra nodded.
The library was almost empty when they got there, Lyra felt her shoulders relax the moment she sat down.
Sienna dropped into the chair opposite her. "Okay. No drama zone, so boring. How do you manage to stay away from the gossips."
They sat in silence for a while. Lyra stared at the table, tracing invisible lines with her finger.
After a moment, she reached into her bag and pulled out her notebook.
"What are you writing again?" Sienna asked.
"Just some ideas that comes to mind."
"So thoughts you don't want lost in your head forever."
"Something like that."
Sienna grinned, she leaned closer and whispered, "Be honest. On a scale of one to ten… how embarrassing was that hit?"
"Sienna."
"I'm asking for research purposes."
"It did hurt. I almost cried, but I had to save my face."
"Wow. And you didn't even do it dramatically? No fainting? No slow fall?"
"Shut up."
"I'm just saying," Sienna went on, "if a ball hits me in public, I'm milking it. Ice pack, tears. It would be a whole package."
"You're so annoying."
"Ah." Sienna nodded dramatically. "You know what's funny?"
Lyra didn't look up. "Sienna, if it's about the ball again-"
"Fine, I'll save it."
^~^
°•°•°•|KIERAN|°•°•°•
Kieran sat alone in his room. The curtains were half drawn, just enough light slipping in to fall across the room and the board against the wall.
He stood in front of the board, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows with a paintbrush hanging loosely between his fingers, the sketch on the canvas was already clear.
It was Lyra. He hadn't planned it, it wasn't something he'd decided consciously. His hands had just… done it.
He started with her hair. His hand moving with small strokes, he remembered how it usually fell around her face, always a little messy.
Kieran stepped back, looked, then leaned in again. He adjusted her jaw slightly, it was too sharp. He painted them just the way he remembered.
Her eyes were the hardest part. He stopped there for a moment, staring at her unfinished face.
Kieran stepped back, assessing, then moved closer again. He remembered the way she'd rubbed the side of her head after the ball hit her. The way she'd brushed it off like it didn't happen.
Just because he didn't move, didn't mean he hadn't noticed. He then added shadow beneath her cheekbones, and along her hairline.
"She doesn't belong here," he muttered, not to anyone in particular, he was the only one in the room.
The academy was loud and full of people like Xavier. People like Lyra faded into the background unless someone forced them out into the spotlight.
He cleaned the brush, switched to a thinner one, and worked on her hands.
"This changes nothing," he said quietly.
He traced the painting with his fingers, trailing them along her jawline. Her eyes, nose and lips were missing, it was like she didn't have a face.
But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't find the perfect expression for her, he wanted to paint all the expressions she had. All of them.
One canvas wasn't enough, the painting was unfinished, but it was enough for tonight.
"This is stupid." He turned off the light and left the room, the painting standing there in the dark.