The night of the Rhino attack, Takuya found himself painting inside his room using a large canvas he was able to buy with some of the money he'd been earning being a waiter. Though most of his pay went towards repairing the broken restaurant, he did earn some spending money for himself.
On his canvas was a beautiful portrait of a blonde woman, though it was far too incomplete to tell who it was to the uninitiated. However, there was one detail that was unmistakable: Gwen's headband.
The woman in the picture not only had the American's famous blonde hair but the headband she wore in her hair. No Japanese woman would wear such a thing. In fact, Takuya found it silly looking at first, but after some time, he found it rather cute.
Everything about Gwen was growing on him, there was a reason why he was painting her and not the beautiful sunset outside. Painting people was something Takuya rarely did, he preferred painting landscapes and the beautiful world around him. After meeting Gwen, however, he couldn't help but attempt to paint every last beautiful detail of her face on his canvas.
As Takuya painted, he could hear footsteps approaching the door, causing his eyes to widen. Using a cloth, he swiftly covered his canvas and flipped over to the other side of the room, landing next to his bed just as Gwen knocked. "Come in." Takuya told her, prompting her to open the door, finding him leaning awkwardly against his bedpost.
"Hey..." Gwen greeted him sort of awkwardly. Ever since their little moment, for lack of a better term, she felt a little bit awkward around him. It kept replaying in her mind constantly and she couldn't figure out when would be a good time to talk about it.
"Hello." Takuya greeted her just as awkwardly, thinking of the same thing while also not wanting her to see his painting of her. "Did you need something?"
"Oh, I just wanted to say goodnight. Since it's gettin' late... You know?" Gwen acted as if that was the whole reason for her visit, but that was further from the truth.
"Oh, that's odd of you. You usually just head straight to bed... Not that I keep tabs on you or anything." Takuya facepalmed internally as he spoke. 'Why would anyone say that?' he thought to himself.
Gwen was too busy thinking of what she was going to say next to notice his awkward tone. Her eyes then locked onto the painting and the supplies next to it, giving her the perfect thing to say next. "I didn't know you were a painter." she said, approaching the canvas.
'NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!' Takuya's voice reverberated off of the infinite void of his mind as he watched Gwen approach his canvas, compelling him to dash over and stand in front of it. "I am, but I'm not very good." he told her, looking over quickly at a cherry blossom painting he'd done a few days prior before looking back at Gwen.
Gwen, noticing his gaze, looked over to see the painting of the cherry blossom, which was absolutely beautiful. It was almost photo-realistic. "That one looks rather pretty. C'mon, I bet this one ain't too bad." she said, reaching for the cloth.
"Oh, it's bad." Takuya told her, placing his hand on the cloth.
"Oh... I get it. You're one of those artists..." Gwen teased, holding her mouth so as to not let out a laugh.
"Those?" Takuya repeated, not understanding what she was getting at.
"You know... drawing naked women and such." as Gwen said this, Takuya's face turned red. "No! I don't draw that stuff, it's a portrait of a fully clothed woman!" Takuya, wanting to defend himself, realized he dug himself into an even deeper hole, revealing that it was a portrait of a lady, which interested Gwen in seeing it even more than before.
"A portrait, huh? You got a lady friend back home?" Gwen asked, pulling the unmoving tarp. Though it seemed like she was teasing him, she really wanted to know. She needed to know.
"That seems like a personal question, Ms. Stacy." Takuya deflected, which only made Gwen even more curious. Gwen pulled even harder on the tarp, forcing Takuya to use even more strength. "Don't be embarrassed, I won't judge!" Gwen teased, pulling with everything she had.
"I'm not embarrassed!" as Takuya spoke, Gwen released the tarp, causing Takuya to pull it off of his painting himself. Seeing that he would be the one to reveal his painting, Takuya's eyes widened, as did Gwen's as she immediately recognized herself on the canvas.
The face hadn't been drawn in yet due to Takuya struggling to remember the finer details of it, but the rest of it was exactly her. "Wow..." Gwen whispered. "It's amazing."
Takuya, knowing the jig was up, explained himself. "I uh... Wanted to try something new. I usually do landscapes. It was hard doing the face from memory, so I was saving that for last."
"Do you need help? Reference or whatever it's called?" Gwen asked shyly, blushing at the thought of being his model for the painting.
"Sure." Takuya was shocked at Gwen's offer. People didn't typically find his art interesting, especially girls. Takuya swiftly pulled over a stool and sat it next to the canvas and gestured toward it.
Gwen sat down and posed while Takuya started to paint her portrait. "Do I just... sit like this?" Gwen asked, sitting with her hands on her lap while looking directly at Takuya. "Perfect..." Takuya muttered breathlessly, referring to not only her pose but her beauty.
Though the two of them were feet apart, they could feel the intimacy between the two of them filling the room. For the first time, their gazes were locked onto each other's, having no reason to look away upon their glances meeting.
With each stroke, Takuya perfectly replicated Gwen's beauty, looking between her and the canvas with eyes of admiration. As Gwen sat, allowing herself to be studied by Takuya, she could feel her heart pounding against the inside of her chest. It was embarrassing, she could feel the heat on her face, but at the same time, she felt as if she was being vulnerable and open to him.
After a while, the painting was finished and Takuya flipped it over to show the finished product. Gwen was even more astonished, looking at it with wide eyes. It was as if she was looking into the mirror as every single one of her features was transferred onto the canvas perfectly.
"This is beautiful." Gwen said breathlessly.
"Well, it is an exact copy of you, so it should be." Takuya told her nonchalantly, looking at her with a soft smile.
Gwen blushed, looking to the side as she brushed her hair behind her head. "You probably say that to every girl you paint."
"You're the only girl I've ever wanted to paint." Takuya said plainly. It was the honest truth. No woman had ever driven him to want to paint them. Only Gwen. "Is that strange?" he asked, looking over at Gwen with an embarrassed expression.
"If that makes you strange, then I guess I like strange." Gwen told him, causing his heart to stop for a moment. Gwen then stood up and approached Takuya, stopping in front of him. "I can't paint, but you're the only guy I've ever wanted to do this to." Gwen then leaned over and placed both hands on Takuya's face before interlocking her lips with his.
Takuya was surprised, though he relaxed his body and kissed her back. Passionately, the two of them locked lips and swapped tongues, the moment becoming hotter every second. Gwen soon found herself on Takuya's lap, grabbing his face and neck even tighter as the two continued to passionately kiss.
Gwen could tell by the way that Takuya touched her that he was afraid to do so. "It's okay to touch me, Takuya. I don't bite." she told him, placing his hand on her lower body. As the two kissed, Gwen bit his bottom lip softly before adding on to her previous sentence. "...Much."
Before long, the two of them wound up in bed together, doing anything other than sleeping for most of the night...