who could ask for anything more

OLIVER

Within the eye, mysteries of the soul burn deeply beneath the fiery chasms of love

and patiently wait for an awakening

The way Oliver felt towards Bastien was...complicated, to say the least. He wanted to be around him. The man had such a radiant personality that just drew the young blonde towards him. He had been so welcoming and opening to different ideas. It made Oliver want to befriend him. desire to get to know more about Bastien. He still had that desire, but it was shaded by what had happened before. He worried that Bastien wouldn't continue to show him the same respect, the same kindness.

Luckily, Bastien seemed quick to continue on with life, almost ignoring everything that happened between the two. It felt...somewhat nice. Oliver did want to talk about what happened eventually, but it was always a good sign that the other didn't hold any grudges. It gave Oliver hope for their possible future.

What happened to Rexanna didn't sound good. Oliver knew better than to push for more information, especially when he hardly knew either of them. So instead, he gave the other man a sympathetic look and spoke in a calm voice. "If there's anything you need me to do...anything at all to help you two out, please let me know." He was genuine in his offer, maybe a bit eager to help the two out. Oliver wanted to show that he was a good person, despite the door incident.

Bastien moved on to asking him questions about the sketchpad. Looking down at his drawing his face darkened. Of course Bastien had to see that drawing. Not even one of the ones he actually put effort into! Looking back up at the other man, he nodded before speaking up. "Yeah, it's kind of helping." Oliver was unsure of himself, and it reflected in his tone and facial expressions. He seemed like he wasn't entirely sure what he was saying, nor if he believed it.

"It's....weird. I have so much energy, I feel like I could run forever," He paused and fiddled with his pencil a small bit. "But I also feel tired." Oliver couldn't tel, but his emotions had been drained. It was such an unfamiliar way of being, Oliver had no idea how to explain it or what it even meant.

"Drawing is fun though. It gives me a way to, you know, do stuff? I don't know. I've been trying to practice drawing different things...like I tried to draw people, but I didn't exactly do super great." He let out a nervous laugh. Then again, he had also been super distracted and maybe that's why he hadn't been able to draw as well as he would've hoped. "I...I like drawing stuff though. Art feels relaxing. I wish I had things to draw, really."

Then he remembered that Bastien may have his own tips. Maybe he had a nice LongNight before everything went to shit. "What do you normally do during LongNight? If you want to draw, you can borrow my book." Hopefully the other man wouldn't ask to see his figure drawing because...ouch. That'd be something Oliver wasn't ready to explain in full detail. Hopefully he'd be able to practice drawing humans a bit more, that way he'd have other examples.