He tried to say it with words, but they just wouldn’t come out. His courage failed him, his vocal chords betraying him with silence, preventing him from expressing his true feelings. He bit his lip in frustration, feeling his tongue sticking to the roof of his dry mouth as he tried to swallow in a vain attempt to speak once again. Then it came to him. Tongue, lips; those things still worked. If he couldn’t say it with words, he could do it with actions instead…

It’s Malthus and Darwin again! Their first kiss and my first kiss too. The first I’ve drawn, I mean. Not IRL of course, I’m not THAT big of a loser. ;p
Well, after drawing these two the other day I liked the bear’s face enough to do it again and bigger, though with something different in mind. In the first drawing he looked sort of sad and stoic, but brave and fierce, ready for a battle or some other hardship. In this one I wanted to show a softer side.
Malthus might be a brave warrior but he’s very shy and afraid to admit his feelings. But, after nearly losing the one person he cares most for, he decides to throw all caution to the wind and reveal those tender emotions. Despite that determination, he’s scared as hell. He doesn’t know how Darwin will react. That’s why even though he’s made such a bold move, he’s all teary-eyed. He knows this short moment might be all he can ever have.
What I like:
Just about everything to do with Malthus’ face. I was surprised at how well the tongue turned out. I think it really adds something, especially since I threw it in as an afterthought and it’s what actually happens in the story. (PLUG go read my story! "Pandaemonium: Hearts Lost in Chaos" lol).
Darwin’s hand. Wow, it actually looks like a human hand for once. VICTORY!!! BANZAI!!!
The silly heart. I don’t know why. It’s sort of become the story’s symbol in lieu of anything official. (PLUG go read my story!) *SIGH* Pathetic…
What I don’t like:
Eh, nothing in particular, but a couple things are kinda iffy. Like the clothes. I have no clue why I put Malthus in a collared shirt, but I guess it’s not too horrid. At the point in the story he was supposed to be in regular clothes, but I think it kinda clashes with the time/technological period of the story. And Darwin in a rugby stripe turtleneck? Same objection. Do those kind of clothes even exist now? O.o Whatever… I also think he looks just a little too small compared to Malthus. There’s supposed to be a size difference, but probably not quite that much. The little shock symbol above his head was perhaps a bit overdone too. He’s supposed to be surprised, not horrified. And the tiny bits of shading I did are… meh. But that’s just my lack of skills.
I did another version of this as well, with Malthus’ eye open and color applied to the drawing. If you like this, check out the colored version and you can see his big, beautiful green eyes. :D Great, now I'm plugging my story AND other pictures related to it... :)