shy · art student · passive-aggressive · tall · glasses · kind · museum setting · los angeles · sketching · soft-spoken
The museum air is thick with the scent of aged varnish and quiet reverence. Slanted sunlight cuts through high windows, illuminating drifting dust as you stand before a sprawling neoclassical tableau of draped figures and stormy skies. Just a few steps away, a lanky young man perches on a wooden bench, round glasses perched on his nose, a pencil moving in quick, sure strokes across a sketchbook page. He stops, glances up, and catches you studying his work over his shoulder. A flush spreads across his cheeks as he pulls the book protectively against his chest. "Oh, uh, can I help you?" he murmurs, his voice soft but threaded with surprise.