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1. Nepeta’s first box of crayons
Equius was unsure how he felt about his moiral’s new hobby. On the one hand, art was a noble pursuit for a young lady, and thus suitable for who he hoped to help Nepeta grow to be. On the other hand, her subject matter was a bit too…silly. She made no great attempt at realism and only drew rough landscapes as background to her pictures. He was quite certain she did not own even half of the outfits she drew herself wearing. Where would she have gotten a gown of that nature? And the picture of her as a princess made him a little uneasy—some highbloods might see it as a sign of rebellion.
But, when he expressed these concerns Nepeta simply admonished him ‘fur taking the fun out of a purrfectly innocent craft.’ He let himself be coerced into joining her. After a little bit, he found it to be quite an enjoyable venture. He was about halfway finished with an acceptable depiction of his own hive when the crayon in his hand snapped in half.
“Fiddlesticks.”
2. Wood is stronger than wax
“Okay, now hold it like this—carefully!”
Nepeta had not been bothered that Equius had broken one of her crayons, but it had upset him enough to make him swear off drawing for a while. He didn’t like breaking things in general, but breaking something precious to someone else was especially disturbing. Sometimes he hated his strength.
But, Nepeta had invited him to try again and had thrown a fit when he tried refusing. Crayons were easy to break, she explained—she had even broken some of them after using them for as long as she did. Her new colored pencils were sturdier, and she was certain he could manage to use them without incident.
Equius felt the strength of the wood in his hand, and smiled crookedly. Maybe it would work out after all. He started drawing a picture of the two of them together. He’d decided to draw something Nepeta would like and give it to her as a show of gratitude.
The two of them colored happily for quite some time, and Equius became excited hone he realized he had nearly completed his drawing without incident. In hindsight he realized that was his mistake. He gripped the pencil too hard and it snapped between him fingers.
3. Dabbling in paint, part 1
Nepeta had tried valiantly to calm his fretting after the pencil had snapped, but in the end he had simply left to return to his hive. Whenever they spent time together, he refused to go near the colored pencils, though he did notice she had crudely repaired the one he had broken using a bit of tape.
He also noticed she had completed the drawing he had abandoned, and it now hung on the wall near her recooperacoon. She smiled knowingly whenever she caught him looking at it.
“You know, Equius, I thought about something else we could try!”
“Nepeta, I believe I am simply not made for artistic pursuits.”
“Nonsense! Now, look at this. I got some paints. Paintbrushes are even thicker than wood. It’s nearly impawsible to snap them!”
Equius looked, and considered, and determined she might have a point after she explained that painting also didn’t require using force and pushing the tool to paper. The lighter touch might just make painting possible for him.
It didn’t.
4. Dabbling in painting, part 2
“But Equius!”
“Don’t raise your voice, young lady. I’ve already made my opinion clear.”
“But these paintbrushes are metal. That’s way stronger than wood!”
Nepeta had, over the sweeps of their moirallegiance, developed a certain look that could sway his opinion in almost any situation. She was using it on him now.
“Drat. Alright, I shall give it a try. But I make no promises.”
As they painted, Nepeta continuously looked up to check him progress. He felt relieved. Surely she would be able to tell him he were starting to grip the brush too tightly.
With her attentiveness and careful guidance, Equius actually managed to complete his painting. He carefully set the paintbrush down and picked up the paper.
“Oh dear,” he said, a bit awed that he hadn’t broken anything.
Next to him, Nepeta cheered. “You did it! See? I knew you could!”
Equius found himself smiling widely. He hands shook a bit and he felt a warmth swelling in his chest.
He would later curse himself (in the harshest language he could manage to utter) for picking up the painting at all. His hands jerked slightly, and he was left staring dejectedly at the two halves of his painting. “Oh dear.”
5. Nepeta presents a solution
Quite some time later, Equius still became glum whenever Nepeta tried to bring up painting again. She’d even tried making the face at him, but it hadn’t worked.
It was so frustrating! Nepeta knew Equius was good with his hands—he make all those really complicated robots! Plus, that meant he was fine working with metal. If only there were something other than paper to draw on, them maybe she could persuade Equius to paint with her again. Looking around her hive, she got an idea.
“Nepeta, why have you dipped my finger into a jar of red…goop?”
“Because, silly, we’re going to try fingerpainting!”
“Painting? Nepeta, I really don’t—”
“No way are you getting out of this. There’s nothing for you to break this time. Look!”
She dipped her own finger into the jar and started using it to draw on the wall. Now that he looked, Equius saw several more jars of paint of various colors sitting on the floor near the wall.
He looked between him paint-covered finger and the wall. Well, as long as he wasn’t gripping anything, nothing would be crushed. Even if he pressed too hard, the stone wall would probably hold up pretty well. He tentatively walked over and started painting.
He looked over and saw Nepeta had started what looked like a grid. “What are you drawing?”
Nepeta giggled. “Well, you know the shipping chart I showed you? Now I’m making a shipping wall.”