Skin Out Of Stone

Skin Out of Stone

He frees you from the confines of the Earth you were born, yet your feet grace the same ground that his does. He pays you an homage, and doesn't expect your reaction to be so... grateful.

a/n: so erm... this was supposed to come out a long long time ago but i couldnt find my rb of @chesue00 's art (middle image in header) in my fic ideas tag and thats bc i never rbed it.

kmsing rn. but erm YES SCULPTOR LEON HAS ME THINK A WHOLE WHOLE LOT BC UR BRAIN IS SO SCRUMPDIDLYUMPTIOUS SO YES THIS IS SOMEWHAT LIKE TO KEEP AN ANGEL I THINK ITS SET IN THE SAME TONE? idfk take this and gn 🫡🫡

tw: mentions of sex, nsfw, nun too bad i think, ig implied stalking but its all in good faith trust 🙏🙏

wc: 1.3k

All he’s ever wanted to do is capture you, a moment in time, in that block of concrete delivered to him the moment you had appeared into his life, a sequence of events he knew he was tumbling far too fast towards, yet unable to stop it anyway. The curve of your hip, where he braces his palm, flattens it against the clay that so easily succumbs to his touch, unable to think on its own. It serves his purpose to adapt to his thoughts, molding to his vision.

The vision of you, standing in the golden afterglow of mysterious sunlight, dappling you in unthinkable shadows, how you would be melting honey dripping between his fingers if you would just give him a chance. But your worlds, however you might begin to appear in the stone in front of him, will never collide.

Secretly, one part of him hopes that you might see it one day, appear at his doorstep, perched over his shoulder like a songbird waiting to serenade his work, his devotion to you. But your eyes will only ever be directed at him through the vivid ink in magazines, or the pixelated photos posted of you.

He feels disgusted with the people who breach your privacy for their shameful desires, for their aching heart, but he knows that he is doing the exact same thing. But how can he help himself, when your lips are the identity of his statue, days and days of work uncovering the perfect angle.

The chisel breaks off chunks of your body, carving you from the rough edges, smoothing you like unblemished paper, the divine goddess you are. In a way, he feels just like that; a worshiper to a deity who will never know of his existence. But he reluctantly accepts his fate, in his quiet, cozy studio, and he brings you to life.

Under his fingers, under his guidance, you emerge from the stone with each tap, each chink, revealing yourself draped in shadows, ones he has never seen. He plays a torturous game with himself, itching to get back to his work when the sun rises, the furrow in his brow deepening every day he is away from his idea of you.

He grasps your chin, wishing there was living, moving flesh underneath him, but alas there is no movement. Only the tilt of your eyes glancing downwards, destined to never drag your gaze over his body, raking him with unseen flames.

Without another moment of hesitation, he inches closer, thinking if he squeezes his eyes hard enough, you’ll materialize in an ethereal manner, bringing his fantasies to life. But his nose only brushes the rough peak of yours, smooth yet never in the way skin would be.

And under the lamplight, he envisions that he is still uncovering parts of you, secret to the world, save for you and him. An empathy felt only for him, only his fingers prying away your barriers.

Your blood runs gray and stony, cold to the touch, where he runs his fingers down what he assumes to be the shape of your body, hidden in the pictures he uses as references. He thinks, a time ago, he disdained the people who did the very thing he’s guilty of at this moment.

Strange, though, his frenzy only grows with every new discovery he creates, mapping your body with the landmarks, the dips of your crescent shaped thighs, admiring how beautiful you look when you’re just… simply his.

But there comes a time when his work must end, when his brush and tools must be swept aside, so he can marvel in your glory. And where he expects to feel immense pride, he only feels guilt.

Disgust that churns his stomach, turning him inside out, skin green with envy. His references were all locally sourced, but how could he have foreseen any of this? It was a simple thing, the sweet girl who lived next door, too innocent to know the power her beauty held over him.

So his only choice of action is to come clean, to hand over the hammer that could easily destroy weeks, even months of hard, untainted work. A single blow would be all it takes, and when the hammer falls limp in your hands, he is more than confused.

He watches your lips separate, the same way he had imagined all your fluid motions, your eyebrows raised, knocking against one another as you turn to him, setting his skin on fire. And unlike you, his skin is not of stone.

“You… did this?” you ask, skeptically, as if you are doubting him. The only reason that leads him to further reveal his mishaps.

“You were too beautiful to resist,” he admits, lowering his gaze in shame. Anger thrums with his heartbeat, if only he had just asked for your permission!

But to his surprise, you turn back to yourself, a mirror image of you set in one singular moment, with your gaze pondering the floor, barraging it with your thoughtful questions, and the corner of your lip quirks upward, he hopes.

“This is a strange way to ask someone out,” you murmur, voice as soft as he had imagined those words leaving your lips. Exactly how he had envisioned it, although in his dreams, you were saying more than just that.

“Sorry?” He’s blanked out on other excuses, words to fill in the silence he wishes wouldn’t be so awkward. Majoring in art left no room for any friends, unless you counted the ones online, only known in their identity overseas.

“It’s lovely,” you settle for after a second of readjusting your thoughts. He can almost see them clicking together like a jigsaw puzzle before your silky hair casts a protective sheen around it.

He wants nothing more than to pry them back apart, inspect how your mind works, to finally see the inside of your morals, how far you’d be willing to traverse with him by your side.

“Lovely?” he asks, tentatively.

<><><><>

Truthfully, in all aspects, the conversation had seemed drawn out, bland if he might venture to share his true opinion. But when you're gliding down his skin, all his rationality buries itself into an impenetrable box and refuses to come back.

“Oh, fuck, yes, just like that,” he stammers into your ear, attempting for praise but sounding weaker than he had planned.

There's an astonished look on your face, curving your lips and sweeping the lilt of your cheekbones to the side as you pant into his neck, thighs trembling around him.

And your reluctance speaks volumes to him, so he presses back for once, speaks up to keep the one thing that's grounded him to art, keeping you sane in his presence. Or somewhat the other way around.

This time, he finds what he's looking for. With every gentle stroke, every deep thrust, he breaks you even further, exposing you to his hungry eyes. He drinks up every last bit of your vulnerable form, savoring the sounds that tear themselves from your tired throat.

He cradles you, long after you've drifted off. He knows there is no use in dreaming when he's living it right now, experiencing what it feels like to be content with just rubbing your skin, soothing the reddening patches with his cool touch.

You shift to face him, and the moonlight filters through the window to illuminate your radiating, peaceful expression, as serene as it was the day he caught you sleeping in the library. He's always wanted to see that face in his bed, facing him, with your skin pressed tightly together, slick and smooth, miles of what feels like one being.

He finally reaches out, and for a moment, he fears you will turn to stone under his touch. So he squeezes his eyes shut and waits for it to happen, for the inevitable to crash down onto him.

But it never does. In fact, all that meets him is warmth, rigid from the chill that creeps in through the walls. And he realizes something.

Your skin is not of stone, it never was.

📝💻🥇!!!!!

📝 What is one growth area you have for your writing?

definitely focusing on the quality of them over just getting them out, yk? i'd rather have something to look forward to reading again than something that i wish i would've spent more time on, which is why my two week long hiatus was really really helpful on letting me reflect on that sooooo

💻 Do you do research for your fics? What’s the deepest dive you’ve done?

think another one of my deepest dives was for "reap what you sow" because i had to reread the entirety of thg and it was HORRIBLE. dont get me wrong i love the books to death but i had a teacher who was, quite sincerely, the most TRAUMATIC TEACHER IVE EVER HAD. seriously you had to memorize the book to pass her class but thanks to her i finished lit with straight a's!!

🏅 What is something you recently felt proud of in regard to your writing (finished a fic, actually planned for once, etc).

recently im really proud of setting boundaries for myself. i promised myself that i would write ahead of time instead of rushing and i actually managed to do that! everything's queued so i really dont have that stress on me to deliver at any given moment! idk that might seem lame but it feels really nice to know that <3

waits patiently for november IT WILL COME (just like me when you drop the fic <3)

the way you write is so interactive so i will have many thoughts... but i will be sitting in my corner until the notif from you arrives <3 love u lots !!

claudia i need to know about "tastes like the fourth of july" what do you have so far ml <33

AHHHHH ok ok i actually haven’t written anything for it in like a fucking month but I have like two paragraphs and am hopefully gonna post it in november <3

what I’ve written under the cut yikes 😖

hii jj :33 💭 and 💻 for ask game!

OMGOMG HI EVA HOW R U POOKIE??? SO SO GLAD TO SEE YOU IN THE INBOX AND I HOPE U HAVE A LOVELY REST OF UR DAY

💭 What is a headcanon you have about your own work?

quantity over quality!! as you can see ive only been on this app for like a month atp and i've published wayyy too many fics and all of them are rushed. i cant stop and say im proud of every single one of them, and that's not okay for me. so i guess its a hc but also something to approve upon?

💻 Do you do research for your fics? What’s the deepest dive you’ve done?

answered this one alr but i also thought of another one, in the essence that yes i do research for my fics but i did do a deep dive into my calvin klein fic. i did some reference sketches of models that have actually modeled ck and tried to paint that image into my writing... if u get that... prob dont my mind is a strange weird blob.

OK BYEYEYEYEYYEYEYEYEYEYE TYSM FOR DROPPING BY!! HAVE AN AWESOME DAY!!! <333 LOVE U LAWTS

jj I think I read your reblog on American Wedding a million times by now and I've had big fat tears running down my face.

the analogy you mentioned with holy land is making my heart swell and I adore how it ties in so firmly with readers development. to go from nothing to having everything and despite it, her realisation that all she needs is Leon at the end of it.

jj you are such a lovely soul and I hope you know that you are enough. you deserve everything and so much more.

thank you so so much for reading and your kind words. I'll be thinking about them fondly for a long time🫂

-✒️

INKKKKKKKK

well thats how it was personally connected to me! in the sense that i felt adored by this character that comes to life with the way you rearrange letters into words, words into sentences, and sentences into a story.

you're too sweet 😭😍 ilysm ink i hope ur days are long and happy!! ill always be a happy reader of yours!!!

HIIII OH MY GOSHHHH THANK U FOR UR SWEET REPLIES TO MY SILLY KPOP LEON!!!! i was like. hey i should just draw leon in the style of a poster i would want of my bias AND THAT HAPPENEDDDD!!! <333 if u ever come up w kpop leon ideas lmk I WILL CHEER SO LOUDDD!!!

OMGOGMOGMGOMG HIIII??? your thought process is so real i can imagine doing that AND UR ART COOKED SO HARDDDDD

seriously he looks like a bubbly cheery baby boy who drinks ice on his breaks and sings his heart out so your message was VERY CLEARLY CONVEYED... a message that will forever stand the test of time in my head because i recently just got back into kpop (especially skz) AND YES I HAVE KPOP LEON FLITTING AROUND MY HEAD SOOOOO

WILL LET YOU KNOW OMGMGMGMGMG if i write a fic... will u let me use ur art in the header pretty please it would really tie the whole thing together <333