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After the very boring movie viewing, everyone on the New Pinkers team was sent to go and roam since they won the recent challenge. Knowing that it'd be a while before any eliminated contestant was announced, Silver Spoon decided to go and strike up a bit of light chatter with his fellow teammates. He didn't know who to talk to first, though. He saw Test Tube sitting by herself and he went over to her on a whim.
"My my, how is our director doing, hm?" Silver Spoon chuckled, trying to start a bit of light-hearted banter.
"Oh- Hey, Silver Spoon. I, uh, I don't want to talk to anyone right now, sorry. A bunch has happened so far and I am trying my hardest to understand Bowbot and her needs now... I-I'll talk to you later though..!" Test Tube chuckled nervously. Before Silver Spoon could reply, though, she had walked away.
"Hmm. What a royal pain. I'll go talk to someone else." Silver Spoon walked to all of his teammates, but none of them wanted to talk. Bow (or Bowbot or TBD... he forgot what she is going by now) was too busy trying to figure out what she likes and dislikes, and trying to find out who she was in general. Balloon was too angry at everyone to have a normal conversation with. He kept on yelling at Silver Spoon about how he should've just given up the writing job to Paintbrush and gone to help him get money. It wasn't his fault that Paintbrush wanted to do a job he already did.
Speaking of Paintbrush, he still hasn't spoken to them. But he was a bit peeved at them still because of him remembering their shenanigans. But with Test Tube's ingenious idea of both of them being co-writers, they were able to write something that both liked (even if most of the script was cut from the movie due to budget costs. Hmm...), and they didn't fight after that. Oho, they were a pleasure to write with. Silver wondered how they were doing right now.
Silver went to where he thought Paintbrush would be: their cabin room. They both shared said room, where the bunk bed was at the back and the room was mostly split in two from their interests: Paintbrush’s side was full of canvases and art supplies, while Silver Spoon's side had a typewriter (which wasn't the one used for the challenge) and piano (that he totally knew how to play) with a wall full of ellegant plants and different types of tea.
Silver Spoon went to the main cabin hallway to go to his room. He walked by the different rooms with the customized names on the doors. Even the eliminated contestants (except for sad, little Blueberry) had their names customized to the door. Fan and Test Tube had a room, and their names were displayed on Test Tube's door, for example. He didn't bother looking at the other doors until he saw his.
Paintbrush’s name was written in a cream color with different pastel colors modeled to look like small paint blotches. Silver Spoon's, however, was written in cursive in a gold and silver color. He liked how they contrasted each other.
He grabbed the doorknob and opened the door. Sure enough, Paintbrush was there, drawing something. When Silver Spoon opened the door, Paintbrush jumped a bit and looked up at Silver Spoon.
"Oh. It's just you," Paintbrush said, looking back at their painting, noticing the stroke that they made them jump. They grumbled for a bit as their bristles started to burn.
Silver Spoon started panicking a bit, seeing the smoke starting to form on their bristles. Normally, Silver Spoon would not care about other objects' well-being, but something about Paintbrush made him... care. The way they talked, the way they usually were able to carry themselves after they made a mistake. Their attitude was just... perfect.
Silver Spoon acted quickly to try and calm down Paintbrush. "My, my! What a lovely painting you're painting there, dear!" Silver Spoon said as he walked toward them. He gazed at the painting. The painting was of a beach full of palm trees and coconuts scattered on the ground with the ocean in view. The sun was sinking into the ocean, making the sun colorful hues of red and orange. He noticed the wrong stroke immediately. There was a dark brown brush stroke from the palm tree's shadow onto the sunset. He could see why Paintbrush was upset.
"Really? Even with the big mistake right in the middle of the canvas? Is it really still 'lovely?'" Paintbrush replied harshly. They were obviously mad that their masterpiece was ruined.
"It's still pretty, you just have to..." Silver Spoon paused. He didn't know what he could say to make Paintbrush feel happier. Think, Silver. What would they say? Ooh.
"You just need to look at it from a different angle! Oho, yes!" Silver Spoon exclaimed. Paintbrush looked at him with confused eyes. "You see.. this could be someone peeking over from the side of the tree! Maybe a crab, a snake, or even another object! Oho! See?"
Paintbrush kept on looking into his eyes, seemingly mesmerized by his words. Suddenly, they snapped out of it. "Huh. You're right. It isn't ruined, it just needs a little fixing! Thanks, Silver." Silver Spoon was surprised by their sudden kindness, but quickly got back into his royal mindset. Paintbrush put down their painting supplies and held up the frame, putting them away for now.
Silver Spoon was looking at the picture where Paintbrush put it when, suddenly, Paintbrush spoke. "Hey... Silver? May I ask you a question?" Paintbrush exclaimed, seemingly nervous. These words caught Silver Spoon off guard. He wasn't expecting them to ask him a question.
"O-Oh, but of course! Go right ahead, dearie! Oho!" he said, looking up from the painting and staring at Paintbrush’s eyes. He noticed whenever he said "dear" or "dearie," their face would start to turn the slightest hint of red, and that's what happened this time. But it was probably the anger from me saying that word that was building up inside them, not being able to escape. Maybe...
"I-I was wondering if you'd like to... go and sit at the beach alone? Not the beachside where the eliminations happen, but the one on the opposite side of the island. How does... that sound?" Paintbrush seemed to be... nervous? For what? To talk to royalty privately, maybe. Oho!
"Fine, fine. But don't expect me to do any work there, d—," he started, and then bit his tongue on the last word. He didn't want Paintbrush to burn down the room from anger if he said that word.
"I take that as a yes. I'll see you in... 2 hours?" Paintbrush said, walking towards the front door.
"Sure, sure. That works royally well with me." Silver Spoon said, looking at Paintbrush as they walked.
Paintbrush grabbed the doorknob and started walking out, then hesitated. They turned to Silver Spoon and spoke lightly. "You better not bail on me, Silver."
"Why would I bail on such a request from a fellow teammate?" Silver Spoon replied, as smug as ever. Paintbrush just rolled their eyes and closed the door. Silver Spoon waited 5 seconds before sitting down on his bunk bed— the bottom one, since he's the taller one— and taking a deep breath.
...And then promptly screamed into his pillow for a good 30 seconds.
Why, oh why did I agree to this? He has never told a soul, and even his own soul is trying to ignore it, but... he was in love with Paintbrush. Everything Paintbrush did seemed to be like it was all planned and rehearsed to perfection. Everything Paintbrush said, he took to the upmost heartfelt consideration. But Paintbrush hates his guts. They always got pissed and rolled their eyes whenever he talked like he normally does.
He sighed, took his head off of the pillow, and made himself some tea. He then sat down at the desk with his typewriter. He decided to write down silly little poems as he wondered what this meeting would be all about.
He couldn't stop wondering what this would be about. Would they be kicking me off of the team, would they be kicking me from my dorm room? Would they try and remedy this relationship we have now? Or... maybe... No.
He knew the thought that popped into his head was absurd. Paintbrush won't ever like him back. From what he'd heard from the short time Fan was around and when he looked at Cabby's files when Test Tube handed them out, he saw that they were already close to many other individuals. Fan, Test Tube, someone named Lightbulb... but not him. He had no chance.
He groaned and looked at what his hands had typed while he was busy contemplating everything:
"Whenever they look at me, the sun turns slower.
The world seems to pause just for their gorgeous stare.
But when I look at them, the sun turns faster.
The world seems to hate my stare."
He took one quick sip from his tea, grumbled, and crumbled the paper to throw it away. "It's getting quite late, isn't it?" he spoke to himself. "Oh, I best be getting along to... whatever Paintbrush wants to do." He sighed as he got up. As soon as he was done fixing himself up for this, he'd go straight to meet up with Paintbrush.
"This better be worth it."
...
Silver Spoon started to go to the place where Paintbrush said they'd meet up. He put on his nicest bow tie for the occasion, he didn't want to look like a mess when Paintbrush was talking to him. His heart was beating rapidly, as if he had just run a marathon. He was so nervous, his head hurt from all the different scenarios that popped into his head. What if this happens? What if that happens?
"Get yourself together!" Silver Spoon whispered to himself, furious that he was panicking over such a small thing. "We are going to walk over there right now and show how regal we are. Royalty does not get nervous. We can do this." He walked over to the beach, and...
It was empty.
No one was there. No one was to be seen for miles, it seemed like. Goddammit. "Great. I walked over here just to be—"
"Hey, Silver! Glad to see you showed up." Paintbrush suddenly said from behind him. Silver Spoon yelped quietly, as he was spooked for a split second. "You look nice!" Paintbrush complimented him.
Silver Spoon blushed, but got himself under control quickly. "Of course I'd show up, Lesser Tall One. One can't just leave teammates on a metaphorical cliff and not rescue them. Oho!"
"Yeah, I guess, haha." Paintbrush went to sit down on the sand. The sun was starting to sink down into the ocean in front of them. It was almost like their painting. "You can sit next to me, if you'd like," Paintbrush said, patting the sand next to them.
"Hm. I'd rather not, but since you asked so nicely..." Silver Spoon walked over to where Paintbrush was, and sat down next to him. They both watched the waves break against the shore for what felt like forever. Silver Spoon's mind was racing with anticipation. He had no idea what Paintbrush was going to ask him, and when. His mind raced so quickly, he got a headache. Will they say that they didn't want to be friends, or anything anymore? He couldn't take the pressure anymore.
"I was going to ask you a question, Sil—"
"I CAN'T TAKE THE PRESSURE ANYMORE." Silver Spoon interrupted. "Painty! I can't get you out of my head. You manifest in my mind like a parasite and I really can't take it anymore!" Silver Spoon let the words rush out of him like a waterfall. Paintbrush just watched him. Their face was starting to turn the slightest bit red.
"You make my days here bearable with these peasants on our team and the other team. It's absolutely flabbergastingly bearable being with you." Silver Spoon continued. Paintbrush’s face was turning from a startled, mildly annoyed, expression to one of pure happiness. Their hands wouldn't stop trying to grab onto the loose sand grains on the beach.
Is he going to do the thing I was going to do? thought Paintbrush.
"Ugh." Silver Spoon scolded himself, "Get to the point." He cleared his throat, visibly extremely embarrassed about what he was going to say next. "Painty. I—"
Now it was Paintbrush’s turn to interrupt. "Silver. Are you... trying to say that you love me?" Silver Spoon's face felt hot in an instant. He was sure his entire face was red.
"I, uh. Well... I—If you put it like that...."
"Silver, that's exactly what I was going to talk to you about." Paintbrush said in a calming voice.
What?
"I love the way you take all my words into consideration, even if you do act like a pain in my ass sometimes." Paintbrush explained. "Your personality makes me feel like I can express myself in a way where I don't have to hide it from others. You make me feel... happy. That's what I'm trying to say basically." Silver Spoon's worries started to go away with every word they said. "The way that hearing anyone say your name fills me with butterflies is insane. I was just wondering if maybe we could... be a thing?"
Silver Spoon felt ecstatic. Sure, many others have asked him out before, but none of them felt so great as this one. This time, he actually felt excited. He felt as though several heavy weights were lifted off of him. His hands could barely contain themselves as they immediately began to shake in excitement. He could barely contain himself.
"You're serious? This isn't a sick prank that you and Floory are in on? Is this real?" Silver Spoon said, flustered. Paintbrush nodded, and then smiled shyly. "Yes! Yes, yes, yes, then! If everything you've just said is true, then, yes! We can be together as boyfriend and partner! Ohohoho!!" Silver Spoon could barely get under control from everything that had just happened.
Silver Spoon looked at Paintbrush (their partner now... still so surreal to think that they had mutual feelings! Oho!), and scooted closer to them. He went to put his hand on their bristles, and then stopped halfway there. He didn't know if they'd be fine with it.
"You can lay your hands on my bristles, I don't mind if it's you." Paintbrush replied, knowing what he was going to ask. They really must love me if they allow me to lay my hand on their bristles. No one else has been able to do this, thought Silver Spoon.
Silver Spoon put his hand on their bristles and they sat there like that for a while. He didn't know what he was supposed to do. Paintbrush leaned on him a bit, and then Silver moved his hands down to their shoulders into a bit of a hug.
They both watched the waves crash into the sand more, as the sun illuminated the ocean. The ocean turned shades of dark purple as the sun made the sky a vibrant orange.
"I have an idea about what to add to the painting now." Paintbrush spoke softly.
"You do, Painty?" Silver replied, matching their volume.
'Yeah. I do."