You Ruined It. Not

[Nico Martell]

Bag it first? Nico looked back at the bloody sock, considering. he supposed that could work. What also might work was just flinging it into Jack's room, which was really starting to sound like a good idea. For now, he just set the sock to dry: he wasn't going to do anything with it right away regardless.

Nico heard the hey and turned to look at Quinn again. His face remained impassive as Quinn continued, asking him to model for him in a roundabout way. Nico kept that same blank expression as Quinn stumbled through it, only arching his brows slightly at the mention of human being, not to mention the last bit that made it sound as though this were certainly optional.

"Are you hitting on me?" Nico had to ask though, actually half-smiling slightly. Wasn't "you look like a model" one of the oldest pick up lines in the book? Nico didn't know his roommate's sexuality or anything; he didn't mind the flirting, but in this case, he was mostly joking, just testing to see how the other guy reacted.

[Quinn Wiley]

Quinn had some difficulty being concerned over the boy’s sock because, in the end, he could not care less what he chose to do with it. It really was not his problem. It was Nico’s, and probably the school a little bit. But mostly Nico’s. It might be partially Quinn’s fault but what little guilt he may have about it would only push him to buy the guy some new socks, or toss some of his. Nothing more.

If Quinn asked him for the pictures, it was only because people were more interesting to photograph than objects. They could be more annoying too, when they didn’t know how to position themselves but Quinn was so ashamed of being reduced to snapping shots of his school supply that he was ready to endure a headache because his roommate was not doing exactly what he wanted.

Except that it was apparently very gay to ask someone if they wanted to be your model. Quinn flinched at his question. He had absolutely no doubt in his mind as to his orientation but being suggested he might be gay affected him. “What, no!” he exclaimed. Maybe it had not been that good of an idea to ask after all. “I just wanted to get used to my new camera,” he argued. His desire to use Nico as a test model however had now dropped to the point he’d be mostly happy if he declined. Did he really look gay?

[Nico Martell]

Just wanted to try out the new camera? Nico kept staring at Quinn for a few more seconds, considering. It did make sense: the guy had taken pictures of the socks and all. Still, the whole model line... did it matter? Part of Nico wanted to say it didn't, and another part was remembering all the "queers" and "homos" they'd beaten up back home. He'd never had a stomach for violence, but he definitely had a knack for reading a crowd and surviving, and it was always better to be one of the shouting voices and raised fists than the ones on the other end.

"Sure then," Nico offered, shrugging. Couldn't afford to tick off the roommate either. He moved slightly, shifting into a slightly different position before looking up at Quinn. Nico's brows went up, the question evident on his face: how the hell do we do this thing?

[Quinn Wiley]

What about him seriously made him look gay? It seemed to be the opinion of everyone meeting him or so. Quinn didn’t understand. Yes, he asked Nico if he could model for him but it was because he was the only other human being here and he’d rather drill his head than ask Jack. It was not like he would ask the guy to drop some clothes or be sexy. It was annoying him though. Would it be how he’ll be perceived now? Either the creep or the gay boy? He was not sure which one he liked less.

To his surprise, Nico agreed. He didn’t look like he entirely believed Quinn when he argued about not being gay so part of him thought the boy agreed only so he would not piss the gay boy. Though wouldn’t a pissed gay boy be really bitchy? Ok, now he was only playing with stereotypes and the stupid ones. He preferred not to think about it at all.

His roommates did not phrase it but his whole behaviour showed he wanted to know how they should do that. “Right, hm...” At first, Quinn was going for the windows in the boy’s room to play with the light but he had barely gotten out of his bathroom that he figured doing so would only convince him further that it was just an attempt to flirt with him so he walked out of his room and into the common areas. He looked around for a moment, judging the space before he would start moving some of the lights he gathered near their kitchen table. He was guessing where they should go if he was taking Nico’s pictures. He thought he had it right. He even stepped back to judge his work. “Can you just... move over there? I want to play with the light. I’m sorry in advance if I’m blinding you,” Quinn said as he pointed at the spot between all the lights. He would then more and remove some until he got an effect he was satisfied with.

[Nico Martell]

If asked, Nico could have elaborated, explained his reasoning to Quinn, at least on some level. The gay had been a reflex: where Nico came from, if you engaged in hobbies like art, like photography, you were called out on it, usually with harsher words than that. Sure, it had never sat well with Nico, but, well, it sank in just a little. But that was more beating a dead horse, especially as they'd continued.

Nico watched, waited as Quinn moved. The Hispanic watched his roommate with that same nearly dour expression, waiting patiently while Quinn moved about, looking very gay to Nico's mind, though he didn't let the thought drop out of his lips.

A nod though, he offered that at the question and then headed over to the spot between the lights. Nico squinted at the lights, trying to let himself adjust, and eventually bringing a hand up. "You do this to everyone?" he had to ask, his gaze shifting to make out the Quinn shape as the orbs kept adjusting.

[Quinn Wiley]

Quinn tried to ignore how ‘gay’ this was but something told him his roommate already made an opinion of him. He shouldn’t care what Nico thought of him. It meant nothing, really. If he wanted to believe he was gay, why should he care? But he did. Because he was not. He had nothing against homosexuals, he just didn’t want people to think he was one when he was not. He almost wished Erin would show up right now but she was lesbian and that would cancel the whole point of bringing a girl around to prove he was straight.

Focusing on the light and getting the best place in the room for the pictures helped but he knew those photos would be pretty useless to him. He doubted he’d keep them. Maybe he should have said he’ll manage with his school supplies and stuff. But he would then appear both gay and unable to make up his mind. One wrong judgement about him was quite enough.

“Not really,” he answered him as he worked on the light. Oh wait, that would not help him, right? “It’s not all that easy to get people to pose for me,” he added. That was just worse! Could there be a way for him to do that without further digging his grave? “I just want to work with the light, see how it affects and all. Nothing more.” Maybe it would be better if he just shut up.

[Nico Martell]

This guy probably hid in the closet or something. Not that Nico blamed him: even with the way things were going, it had to be hard to come out and say you fancied the same sex or something along those lines, especially hard if you were the artistic type. Some part of Nico did wonder if it wasn't more that latter bit: that maybe Quinn was simply someone who was really into art. They sometimes came off as fruiter than they actually were.

Hard to get people to pose, yeah, that made sense. Nico said nothing but nodded again. "I bet," he offered, figuring that a few words would help. He could feel some of the awkwardness, but if Quinn wasn't going to say or do anything about it, then Nico didn't see any reason he should either. He adjusted himself, getting in the light, figuring out the best stance to take.

"Just tell me what you want me to do,' he offered, looking at Quinn and nodding. "All I've done is take school pictures and stuff." Nico finished that statement with a shrug, figuring that offering a bit more of conversation was the least he could do (literally the least). Quinn hadn't made a big deal of the sock after all, and it only made sense to make sure that you were on decent terms with your roommate.

[Quinn Wiley]

It was best to ignore him. What was his opinion mattered for anyway? Nothing. Except that Quinn was living with him... sort of... and he didn’t want him to get all sorts of ideas. Had Jack been the one there... no, he never would have asked Jack. Because, if he had done that, he’d still be struggling to make him not move and shut up for a minute. And he probably would have looked for a gun to shoot himself with.

Quinn was no professional. He might not be the best to know about the light, even if he worked on it a little with the photography club. It was probably why he wanted to try things now, see what worked. He could go back to objects if Nico was tired at some point. Quinn was not even sure if he wanted to pose in the first place. Sure, he agreed to it, but his roommate was a man of very little words. Quinn even wondered if he agreed to flirt with him. Did he say if he was gay or not? Quinn already forgot, too shaken about the idea this boy had that he was the gay one here.

“Yeah, I just... well, it’s kind of long to move objects to see the effect when the light hits it from a different angle but you can turn on your own. That’s pretty much all I want. No need to make any special face or anything,” he explained. He did try to sound as if he knew exactly what he was doing when it was all just one big experiment. “When you’re tired, you just have to say it. I might not get a proper idea of the time,” he added.

Once he was pretty sure the light was good, moving around to see if he liked it or not, changing it just a bit and looking at the view again, he pulled his camera and started taking pictures. And he would ask Nico to move sometimes, exposing different part of his face or body to the light. When the result was not really good, he would then move the light, see how he could get the best of every pose. As he told him, he didn’t pay too much attention at the time so he probably was the best placed to know when it was enough.

[Nico Martell]

So he didn't have to pose. Good, because Nico didn't really fancy even trying that. He simply nodded as Quinn explained and then held still. Nico supposed he might even have a fact that was fairly good to take pictures of or something. Sounded like something someone might have mentioned to him at some point in time, though Nico couldn't really tell you who or why.

there was a lot of moving, most of it on Quinn's part. Nico continued to be pliable, at the least, if not the most talkative of models. He wasn't entirely sure what Quinn saw with the light or whatever but hey, wasn't like he was a photographer or anything along those lines. Nico was... not really sure what he wanted to do, when it came down to it. Keep moving forward and survive long enough to actually make decisions about that, he supposed.

It took his phone buzzing for him to ask to stop, and even that he did with gestures. He walked over to it, flipping through things and looking at the screen. 'Training," he said, frowning at it and looking toward the sink where he'd dealt with his socks however long ago that was. Yeah, he definitely needed that. The training, that is.

[Quinn Wiley]

It was best not to ask Nico to pose for him. One, because Quinn was not really a fashion model and wouldn’t really know what pose was good and what looked... well, too posed. Secondly, because Nico didn't look the type able to pose to begin with. It was kind of a shame because Quinn figured some people might love to see him model. But he would likely give them dead eyes. He didn't look like he wanted to give him any expression through them. Since this was mostly a test, Quinn did not care. His first option was objects, it wasn’t like he expected to have more expressions with those.

Yeah, Nico had a face people might like to see in magazines. As for the body, Quinn was not interested in finding out. With someone else, in different circumstances where he had not been called gay, perhaps he would have tried to know. But Quinn was far too afraid to come out as what he was not to go there. Besides, he was not really interested in seeing what this guy looked like shirtless. He probably looked better than he did and that alone was enough for him not to be interested. He was relatively thin though so Quinn could at least tell himself that. He was not a fat dude.

He actually like that Nico didn't ask him a thousand questions as he worked. He was not all that interested in talking either. Quinn was not so good at talking, even if he did it more than his roommate. They were interrupted when he heard a phone and Nico asked for them to stop. He said only one word, but Quinn nodded, understanding. “Okay. Well... thanks,” he told him. He was already losing interest in Nico, checking his pictures instead and the effect the light created.

[Nico Martell]

They were done here. Nico nodded in response to the thanks, raising a hand to further indicate that he heard, understood, and accepted. Then he lowered it, already noticing that Quinn had moved along. Nico supposed this was the part where someone who was more social or talkative or something would attempt to bond, to point out their similarities or something along those lines. Never really struck him as something he wanted to do. Instead he simply stood for a few more seconds, just to confirm that Quinn was done with him for the time being.

Then Nico nodded and quietly headed back into his room. He too had things to do, things that didn't involve talking to someone or aimlessly chatting or something along those lines. Still, he had a feeling that he and Quinn were going to get on just fine. There was certainly nothing wrong with being the two rocks of sanity in this sea of craziness.

Now, if only he could say the same about his other roommate...