A piece of art (Ohba)

[lilly0]

Title: A piece of art
Pairing: Ohba (mentions of the other Arashi guys and Ishihara Satomi)
Rating: PG-13
Genre: AU, romance, a bit fantasy-ish
Plot: Ohno has a recurring dream of his muse. A dream of a young man with a pure smile and open eyes. But how to catch his muse if one day he might go away?
Note: This is dedicated to jorian1108. I changed the prompt a bit, I hope you don't mind (honestly, I mixed things up a bit and only realised when it was too late ^^)


Sometimes Ohno has a dream. A dream about a young man, sitting in a field of flowers with a smile like the sun and eyes so clear like the cloudless sky. He has never seen a more beautiful smile before, a more beautiful face. Or maybe, beautiful wasn’t the right word, because his friend Nino has a pretty face too, and his new friend Jun a stunning one and his co-worker Satomi is beyond beautiful. But there is something about this guy’s face Ohno hasn’t seen before. The guy’s smile is pure, it makes him feel at ease, peaceful and weirdly content with everything he achieved and has, although it’s not much.

He lives in a small apartment, teaches art in the close-by Middle School and sometimes sells a sculpture or a painting. It’s not much and not exactly what he imagined for himself when he was a young student.

But when he has this dream, everything is different. He feels like he would never be happy again, if he could see this guy of his dreams again.


~~~


“Eat something!”

Ohno smiles slightly when he sees the note sticking to his fridge. He has been out with his colleagues yesterday night and went to his favourite bar. The owner, Jun, is a friend, someone he knows since two years now. When Ohno met him for the first time he thought he was a host, hitting on him and pissing him off immediately. Ohno apologized once he realized that Jun wasn’t a host, told him that from his artistic viewpoint he just has the face, which apparently did please Jun’s ego. Then they had a few drinks together. Since then they are friends.

When Ohno drinks too much it’s mostly Jun who drags him home afterwards. Or Nino, but Nino has a new sex buddy at the moment, and hardly leaves his apartment. Sho on the other side is his colleague at work, and though they go for lunch and dinner sometimes, Ohno would never get drunk in front of him. Sho’s behaviour is so correct that Ohno doesn’t even mention he drinks anything at all. He is sure Sho sleeps with his textbook under his pillow.

Ohno opens the cupboard to grab a package with instant noodles. He blinks when he sees a note sticking to it. Not this garbage! Look into the fridge.

Inside the fridge there is a box with delicious looking vegetable soup and gyoza. Ohno smiles slightly. “Thank you, Jun-san.”

He heats the soup up, taking a few spoons full of it and sighing happily. Yes, good. Better than instant food, definitely. Taking the plate with him to his little atelier – actually his living room slash atelier slash dining room slash place where he lays random one-night stands  – he decides to work on something new.

He has the whole day free, time to get productive. Sometimes he just feels like forming and building something beneath his fingers – like his hands are itching, until he starts to work. It’s been a while since he made a sculpture. Most of the time he settles for making images, but today his fingertips itch more than usual and he wants to build and form.

It takes a while to prepare everything, spread the plastic on the floor, get the clay ready. He hasn’t thought of anything in advance, he hardly does, normally never has a plan. When he sits down and starts his work, it just comes naturally. Like his mind is on autopilot and his hands work on their own.

Sometimes he will look at his creation afterwards, stunned about how he did it and why he chose such a motive.

Also this time he works for hours, not even realizing how the daytime changes until he hears his stomach grumble. Ah, he is hungry. He yawns, rubbing his throbbing neck, which hurts from keeping the same position for hours.

When he takes a sip from his water, the bottle slightly dusty from his work, he looks at his creation for the first time. What did he actually make? It’s the figure of a man. His body isn’t finished yet, he needs to work on his limbs and his chest, the hair needs work too, but his face is finished. His face…

Ohno stares into the same deep and open eyes he knows from his dreams. He sees this pure smile that draws him in every time.

He just built the man out of his dreams.


~~~

Nino takes a break from fucking whoever he is laying right now and joins Ohno and his friends for dinner, beer and movies at Ohno’s place.

“Awesome,” he snorts when he sees the man-sized sculpture right in front of the TV.

Jun grins. “Will be an interesting movies night,” he muses.

“Guess we are one person more,” Sho adds.

“It’s creepy though how real he looks,” Satomi points out. “Although his body isn’t finished. And there is no colour on him yet.”

Ohno ignores their banter, secretly relieved that they all seem to get along. It’s the first time he has invited Satomi and Sho along too. He thought that the combination between serious Sho with snarky Nino and teasing Jun would be too much, but apparently Jun’s fierce attitude immediately intimidated Sho, and in combination with Nino’s snark those two were unbeatable anyways.

“I’ll be fixing us drinks,” Jun states.

“Tomorrow is a work day though,” Sho points out.

Jun ignores him.

“Do you know how to do that?” Satomi wants to know in interest.

Jun smirks. “My job. I own a bar.”

Her eyes light up. “I haven’t had a good Pina Colada in forever.”

Jun shows her his best professional, luring smile. “Pina Colada for the beautiful woman it is then,” he says with a wink.

Satomi giggles slightly, rolling her eyes when Sho throws her a reproachful glance. “Bring him a drink too, Jun-san,” she says.

Jun smirks. “She is right, Sakurai-san, I’ll bring you the perfect drink.”

The perfect drink, as Ohno knows, is probably a drink with triple the amount of vodka or rum and will leave Sho with a headache the next day. But well, he needs to loosen up anyways.

Nino points at the half-finished figure. “Does he have a name?” he asks, no teasing in his voice as he knows how attached Ohno gets to his creations.

“Yes, Masaki,” Ohno says, once more on autopilot. He is surprised himself when he hears this name leaving his lips. Where did this come from? He smiles slightly when the realisation hits him. Jun has given him a book with old poems, Masaki, the old term for Asian jasmine trees. The young man of his dreams, who sits in the middle of a flowers and under a jasmine tree.


~~~

The next day at work Satomi wears the same clothes as the day before, but Ohno generously ignores it. Sho seems like he wants to ask something but shuts up – wise decision. He complains about a headache though, wondering if he indeed drank too much.

Ohno grins, he is in a good mood today. He has dreamed of Masaki again, and as always the dream soothed him down. “You can accomplish everything you want,” Masaki said with a smile.

“And you?” Ohno asked.

“I’m here because you want me to be here,” Masaki explains, with a chuckle. “Silly. What else?”

Ohno blinks. “You are here for me?”

Masaki nods. “Because you need me.”

Ohno looks down at the script in front of him, his teaching plan for today. “I need you,” he mumbles to himself.

Satomi looks up and blinks. “Huh?”

“Nothing.” Ohno shakes his head. “I was just thinking about dinner.”

“We could go together,” Sho suggests, yawning slightly. “In case I survive today’s math lesson. During this weather the kids are always lacking in concentration.”

Yes, and maths isn’t particularly a favourite subject, Ohno thinks, but doesn’t say it out loud. “We could go to Jun-kun’s bar later on and eat something there.”

Satomi’s head perks up. “Yes,” she chirps.

Sho blinks in surprise. “He can cook too?”

“Best food ever,” Ohno grins.

“Why?” Sho whines. “Why does he have this gigolo look and can mix cocktails and cook. Too much cliché.”

“He owns the bar,” Ohno says with a grin. “It gives off quite some money, which is why he can live pretty-“

“No, I don’t want to hear it,” Sho complains.

Satomi however grins. “I want to hear it,” she says with a wink towards Ohno, making him chuckle.


~~~


“I’m back, Masaki-kun.” Ohno takes his shoes off and closes the door. He smiles slightly when he peeks into the living room, seeing the half-finished statue of Masaki. “Don’t worry,” he says softly. “I’ll not leave you hanging.”

He switches into his comfortable clothes, takes a can with beer and proceeds to work. His dream-man is not someone with the perfect body, he thinks, while his hands work on Masaki’s chest. It doesn’t matter if he is small or bigger or toned or not. His soul is the most important.

The sound of his phone pulls him out of his thoughts, making him turn around with a curse. His fingernail brushes over Masaki’s chest while he does so. It’s just a spam mail he received, and Ohno switches his phone off, turning his attention back to Masaki. To his shock there is a thin line on his chest now, a trace of Ohno’s fingernails. It goes from his collarbones down towards his bellybutton. Ohno tries to retouch it, but he just succeeds slightly, the material is too dry already. He frowns for a moment, checking the guy’s chest. Then he chuckles. “No, you don’t need to have the perfect body. It’s not the way you are build that makes you perfect. Just like a scar on a person’s body won’t make them ugly.”

~~~


“Fucking shit,” Nino curses when he visits Ohno the next day. “You finished the statue.”

“Not really,” Ohno answers. “The colour is still missing.”

“He is wearing clothes though,” Nino points out.

“Just a tunic,” Ohno laughs. “Don’t overanalyse.”

“It’s just…” Nino frowns. “You always put effort into your work, but this here… it’s different. It’s like it’s real. The eyes of it are almost like a real person’s. Like you had a model for it. Did you have a model?”

Ohno blinks. Technically yes, but… “I was inspired, I guess.”

Nino hums, apparently it’s enough of an answer for him. He is probably used to Ohno being weird anyways. He fetches the leftovers from the fridge and joins Ohno in his living room. While he watches the new baseball game, Ohno continues his work. They do that often… Nino watching something and just being there, without really talking or doing something, and Ohno painting. This time he works on his statue, carefully colouring it.

He closes his eyes, trying to recall every detail about Masaki. The moles, the shadows on his face, the colour of his hair. It’s all there in his memory. At one point Nino looks up, blinking in surprise. “You are making a birthmark?” Nino shakes his head. “And such a big one on top of that? Why? Doesn’t it ruin the perfection of it?”

Ohno smiles. “Having a flawless body is not perfection,” he states simply. The Masaki of his dreams is perfect enough because he has edges and flaws and is not a mere retouched picture.

“You know you are nuts,” Nino points out. “Anyone else would come off like a complete creep.”

“I know.”


~~~

Masaki stretches. He is sitting on a blanket, waving at Ohno when he approaches him. “Ohno-kun!”

“Masaki-kun…” Ohno smiles, sitting down next to him.

“Oh.” Masaki’s head perks up. “You gave me a name?”

“Of course,” Ohno smiles. “You are important for me.”

Masaki smiles slightly but something about his smile is sad. It makes Ohno frown. “Is something wrong?”

“Ohno-kun, I can’t stay with you. Not in this form.”

“Why not?” Ohno asks, appalled. “Why can’t you remain part of my dream? You can’t just leave.”

“I will always remain part of you,” Masaki points out. “I’m your inspiration after all. Built from your mind. But I cannot remain in this manifestation.”

No, Ohno wants to scream but before he can do so the world around him fades and his eyes snap open, blinking into the darkness of the night. His heart races. “Masaki?” He shifts around, closing his eyes and trying to fall asleep again, to find Masaki. But although he drifts to sleep, he doesn’t meet him.

He also doesn’t meet him during the next days. Masaki is gone.


~~~

Jun takes the whisky out of his hands. “Don’t get any more drunk, especially not in my bar,” he scolds. “Why are you so down anyways? This is the fifth night you are getting drunk!”

“I lost something,” Ohno mumbles. “And I don’t even know why and how…”

“What did you lose?” Jun wants to know, placing a cup with water in front of Ohno.

“My muse,” Ohno whines.

Jun sighs. He probably thinks it’s just artistic gibberish Ohno blabs along, and maybe it’s better that way. However, he is kind enough to keep Ohno in his bar until he closes it before he drags him to Ohno’s apartment. He makes Ohno stretch on his sofa before preparing some tea for him and putting something to eat into his fridge. “Thanks, Jun-kun,” Ohno mumbles.

“Do you need anything else?” Jun asks.

“No, I’ll be fine,” he sighs. “I’ll call you tomorrow, I promise.”

Jun frowns, but nods. “Okay, don’t do anything dumb.”

Ohno sighs when he hears the door falling shut behind Jun. His head is throbbing like crazy. He really drank too much the last day. How pathetic. It’s just a dream! Masaki isn’t even real. He seemed real, but it’s a manifestation of his imagination. Nothing more.

Ohno sits up a bit, trying to fight his dizziness before he gets up to catch himself a wet cloth to cool his head. He smiles slightly when his eyes fall on the figure he made of Masaki. “I wish you were here,” he sighs.

He will later blame it on the alcohol because why else would he do it? But in his sudden silly mood it seemed like the perfectly normal idea to press his lips against Masaki’s stony ones.

Five minutes later Ohno drops down on his sofa, drifting into a dark sleep.

He wakes up to the smell of omelette. He blinks slightly, groaning when he sits up. Is Jun here? Was he so worried that he came back this morning to cook for him? “Jun-kun?” Ohno mumbles, wavering slightly when he gets up.

A loud noise comes from the kitchen and a frustrated yell. Ohno freezes. That’s not Jun’s voice… and… He shakes his head, hurrying to the kitchen to see what’s going on. In the middle of the kitchen, covered in flour and pancakes, he sees a miserable figure with auburn hair, long limbs and this pair of warm eyes that are so special.

Ohno spins around, ignoring the throbbing pain in his head while he eyes his living room. The statue… is gone.

“This is not how it was planned,” Masaki pouts. “I wanted to make pancakes for you. You looked miserable in your sleep.”

“Masaki-kun…” Ohno whispers, carefully coming closer. He reaches out this hand to touch Masaki’s shoulder. It’s soft and… “You are real.”

Masaki laughs. “Of course I’m real!”

“But you were in my dreams and a statue,” Ohno mumbles, hoping he isn’t losing his mind.

Masaki smiles brightly. “Was I?” He tilts his head. “I don’t know, I just remember waking up here.” He pouts, looking down his body, still clad in the white tunic Ohno dressed him with. “I just have this weird scar on my chest and this huge birthmark.”

“It’s beautiful,” Ohno states firmly. “It makes you so unique.”

“Hm,” Masaki seems unimpressed. He reaches out his hand, signalling Ohno to help him up. He wavers slightly when he is up, clinging to Ohno’s arm. “Still feels weird,” he muses. “My body is heavy.”

Ohno smiles slightly. Well, he was a dream before, getting a body out of flesh now, it needs some adaption. “Don’t you find this weird?” Ohno wants to know, wondering how the hell he should explain this to his friends.

“Not at all,” Masaki chuckles. “I told you, didn’t I? I couldn’t stay with you in this bodiless form, but now… I have a body. And now I’m here.”

“You are my muse,” Ohno chuckles, taking the pan out of Masaki’s hands and deciding to get into action. He could figure everything else out later. “Scrambled eggs or fried eggs?” he asks.

Masaki sneaks closer, clinging to his arm. He feels so warm. “I don’t know what scrambled eggs are, but… the name sounds cute. So scrambled eggs,” he demands. “Sounds fun.”