awfully morbid, ain't we.

There's a hint of frustration in his huff. They don't flinch -- it's not the dangerous kind. The sound, instead, is light, soft and gentle, a tenderness hidden beneath the bruised arms and black eyes.

"What is it?" they ask, holding back a laugh at the sight of his frown towards their camera.

For a moment, he doesn't respond, only cicadas chirping in rhythm with the clumsy clicks of him looking through the gallery.

"I've been scammed." He glares at them, and the laughter breaks free.

"I gave you a day to take whatever photos you wanted, didn't I?"

"And you're looking away in all of them!" The anger in his voice is a lie -- they can hear the smile that he's masking away.

"What's so wrong with that?"

He sighs, a theatrical sound. "How can I make a scene at your funeral if I don't even have a proper photo to cry over?"

"Oh, that is a problem, isn't it?" They make a show of humming to themselves. With a confidence that belongs to him, they smile. "I suppose I just won't die, then."

- - -

Yay it's Lee's birthday!! Mentally kicking myself for making my OCs have birthdays in consecutive months ajsjsjd I can't keep up
The writing doesn't really match the art shsjsjd my concepts get somewhat fever-dreamy when Apollo's Flower is involved. Consider the dialogue as non-canon but in-character if you shift the world a little to the left.

I didn't have a proper vision when I was sketching this out, but I'm imagining Lee and Vince came straight from school (hence their uniforms) to the community garden to wheel out some plants using a shopping trolley they found in a ditch :D Cute slice-of-life shenanigans for the party kids hehe