The Painter's Nose (M)

[pepperbreeze]

I lay under the warm glow of 3 powerful lights. My long hair and flowing dress fall freely around me, but as effortless as it looks my pose is carefully planned. Across the room the artist is lost in concentration, darting his eyes between his canvas and me. The only sound is the occasional scratching of paintbrush against canvas. This is the third time he has painted me, but we have never spoken more than a few words. When he works, the artist wants no distractions.

As I pose I don't have much to do other than take in the artist's handsome features. Some strands of his parted hairstyle have fallen rebelliously across his long, clean shaven face. He wears a simple dark jumper and faintly paint stained jeans over his lean frame. In one hand he holds a pallette smeared with shades of blue and ocher, and with the other he calmly waves a paintbrush across his canvas. I imagine the shadowy figure he is creating as he begins to capture my most basic shapes.

We haven't been here long, but the studio was already uncomfortably warm from the heat of the lights. I watched him carefully for a break in his concentration before I said something, but he was clearly thinking hard about something. The artist stood with his knuckle pressed under his nose. He would stand like this for what felt like hours, slowly playing with the tip of his strong roman nose while he contemplated his next artistic decision.

"Sorry, can we open a window? It's warm under these lights."

The artist looks dazed for a moment while he reacquainted himself with the physical world. He apologized to me, smiling, and moved gracefully to the window behind him. As he drew the curtains back I saw a glimpse of a vivid spring afternoon. Birds, bees, trees and flowers danced in front of me for a moment before being shut away again behind the heavy studio curtains. While the artist resumed his careful work, the curtains swayed in a refreshing spring breeze. As I breathed deeply, I could smell lavandar and grass.

I posed, enjoying the idea of a beautiful day outside, and the artist painted. Occasionally he would stop and press his knuckle under his nose again to think. A few times I heard him sniffle, and once he crinkled his nose adorably. As the session continued more colors entered the artist's palette. It felt strange, but I could smell the passage of time. Before the air was bright and fresh, but now it was heavier. I noticed sweet floral scents like jasmine as I suspected the sun was starting to set.

The artist stopped and put down his brush. At first I thought he was finished painting, but I could tell from his frown that something was bothering him. I watched as he brought his knuckle to his nose yet again, rubbing the tip of his nose in a circle. Usually this was a thoughtful motion, but now it had urgency. I watched the artist remove his hand, and was briefly mesmerized as his nose moved with a life of its own. It wrinkled, it shifted from side to side, and his nostrils twitched. He closed his eyes, and buried his finger under his nose. Now his nostrils flared wide. He took a small, quiet breath in:

ngxxt

He made a noise that must have been a sneeze, but without the quiet of the studio it would have been easy to miss. His body hardly moved as he expertly stifled the force building from his irritated nose. I considered blessing him, but I wasn't sure about bringing attention to his discrete sneeze.

ngxxshh ... h'nxxt

He turned to the side with two more barely audible noises. His shoulders hunched with the force of the last one, but the rest of his body was perfectly still. He brought his hand down from his face, sighing and blinking as he looked sheepishly in my direction.

"Bless you?" I offered cautiously. He moved his mouth to start to answer when he suddenly gasped. For a moment I saw the perfect image of a pre-sneeze face: mouth half-open, eyes half-shut, but nostrils fully flared. He covered his nose and mouth with a flat hand, turning back to the side

...

Nothing, he was frozen.

...

...

ngxxt ... ngxxt'choo

He still stayed perfectly vertical while he sneezed.

"Bless you again, that one actually sounded like a sneeze." I smiled, and he turned and smiled in return.

"Thanks. Someti- ehh... "

He suddenly stops, and before he can fully turn away

h'tchhhhh

This time he bends forward as he scrambles to find the elbow of his jumper to cover his sneeze. He looks back towards me with glassy eyes, and as I start to bless him again he holds up a finger to let me know he isn't done. He holds his fist under his nose as he walks across the room, facing away from me.

nx't ... ngxx'shh .... t'cHHEWW ... nxx'tshhew

He takes a tissue from the table near the window and holds it to his nose.

"Sorry, allergy attack. I'm going to go to the bathroom for a bit."

He was gone for minutes, and I heard the occasional soft "shh" or "chhew" of a half-stifled sneeze through the wall. When he appeared in the doorway, his nostrils were pink and his eyes looked irritated.

"Bless you, bless you, et cetera. Are you ok?"

"I'm fine, just something bothering my nose. That was pretty impressive though, I haven't sneezed that much in a long time." He laughed.

Walking back into the studio, he closed the window, and went back to painting.

[MidnightCatK]

As an artist myself, I find this especially lovely! Well done!

[pepperbreeze]

 Thank you ❤️

 

[Akahana]

Wonderful, subtle and sweet.  I've done my share of life drawing, and this is just such a warm take on the scene I love it ❤️

[Hajo]

Very nice story! Thank you! 

[pepperbreeze]

4 hours ago, Akahana said:

Wonderful, subtle and sweet.  I've done my share of life drawing, and this is just such a warm take on the scene I love it ❤️

This is better feedback than I could have hoped for <3

Thanks for the kind words.

[AllyKabbet]

Ahh this is wonderful. I am an artist and the way of narrating the atmosphere seems so accurate to me. The artist couldn't be more attractive. 😍

Please more!!!

[Guest]

My goodness, this is lovely. So beautifully written, thanks for sharing! 

[Elysnzz]

This was so thoughtful! The way he tried hiding it as It gradually became intense and the way she studied him too and new something was wrong with him. Loved it 

[pepperbreeze]

Thank you all ❤️ I was nervous about sharing this, but I'm glad I did.

[elements]

Wow! Haven't felt this way from a story in a while. Love the descriptions of his features, the way he covers, the sound of the sneezes, the variation, and not too many that it's unbelievable. The strong masculine presence with the hint of shyness at the sneezing.  Amazing!

[Cedar]

This was so good!!!

[MiraKarat]

Thank you for sharing with uoved this story!

[Kaitlynne]

This is great! I love it!

[thesneezyowl]

This. This was soooo good! Perfect stifles!

[BunnSnz]

Soo good 

[plantqueen]

This is great!!