Work Text:
“Alright, kiddo!” Kai grinned as he set the small bowls of paint on the floor, “I think we have quite some options to choose from.”
Damon looked at the bowls of paint. If you named a color, Kai definitely had it. It was like he had it all in every aspect of his life.
There were reds, yellows, blues, pinks, purples, blacks, whites, grays, greens, and absolutely any color under the sun. There were light and dark shades of each color, as well.
“Woah...” Damon uttered as Kai placed his hands on his hips.
“You’re welcome!” He said proudly, “I guess we can start painting now.”
Damon furrowed his eyebrows, frowning.
“Paper?” He questioned.
“Psshh...” Kai waved a hand, “Who needs paper? We’re going to paint on the walls, obviously!”
Kai saw the way Damon’s eyes lit up with excitement. His gaze flickered to the bowls of paint.
“Can I?” He asked, a wide smile forming on his face as he expectantly met Kai’s eyes, “Can I, really?”
“Obviously!” Kai chuckled, “It’ll just wash off anyways. Why not give these walls some color?”
Damon giggled as soon as he was given permission, kneeling down to dip his finger in some orange paint. He stuck the other finger in white paint, before turning to the wall and getting to work.
Kai figured it couldn’t hurt to follow his lead. He got some yellow and green paint on his fingers, stepping away from Damon and beginning to paint the walls with some flowers.
The regular cream colored walls were now getting covered in pinks, yellows, blues, reds, and so many more that it was almost unrecognizable. Paint was splattered all over the walls— some drawings really good and some... considerably silly.
“Whatcha painting over there?” Kai asked, pulling his eyes away from his own painting and going to look at Damon’s current one.
“A cat,” He said, and the yellow, oranges, and whites on his right hand definitely indicated that.
“Hmm...” Kai looked at his own hand to see the yellow and black paint he had on his finger, “Do you think I could add a little something above the cat?”
Damon blinked, nodding and pulling his hands away from the wall.
“ ‘Kay, If you wanna...” He said hesitantly, “Be careful!”
Kai would never forgive himself if he ruined the painting.
So he kept a steady hand, pressing his thumb above the cat to make a small yellow oval. He then used the small amount of nails that he had to draw black lines across the oval. Finally, he pressed his finger against the wall to make wings on the now visible bee.
“See?” Kai gestured to his finished work, “The cat has a friend!”
Damon nodded approvingly, his eyes glimmering with excitement as he reached out to draw a light blue squiggly line to indicate that the bee was flying.
“There!” He exclaimed contentedly, “Perfect!”
Kai laughed.
“It looks wonderful!” He told him, taking one of the damp paper towels they had to clean his hands off. He pulled his phone out (or a phone out... their phones were taken away).
Kai snapped a photo of all their artwork, causing Damon to cheer.
“It’s so pre—”
“What is going on here?”
Kai froze, and it looked as if Damon reacted similarly.
Quickly turning his head over to where the voice came from, he noticed a familiar face standing in the hallway.
It was none other than Wolfgang Akire, a surprised expression on his normally composed face.
Kai swallowed nervously, feeling as if they were children who got caught with a broken vase. He wasn’t anxious for his sake, rather, for Damon’s.
Damon would not want anyone to find out he was a regressor. He was typically so cold, confident, and set in his ways, being sure that his voice was assertive when he spoke. He always remained stone-faced and serious. Kai was sure it would embarrass him to no end if someone found out he regressed.
It was a miracle he hadn’t completely ignored Kai when he found out. He could imagine he wouldn’t want Wolfgang to know, someone who actively spoke against him at the end of the mock trial.
Wolfgang raised an eyebrow as if he was still expecting a response, and Kai felt obligated to do something.
“We were just painting on the walls,” Kai rushed as he explained.
“I see that,” Wolfgang straightened his posture, scanning over the painted walls. He soon cleared his throat. “This may count as damaging school property, though.”
“It washes off—” Kai tried to say, but he was soon interrupted by Damon.
“We were just paintin’,” Damon frowned, and Kai grimaced at the way his words had begun to slur, “Drew a cat... And a bee!”
Wolfgang blinked in confusion, exchanging a glance with Kai, who did not feel as if he had the right to tell him why Damon was acting the way he was.
“Is that so?” Wolfgang returned his gaze back to Damon, a smile quickly forming on his previously surprised face. Kai had to give him credit for how good he was at composing himself. “Well, it looks very nice. It washes off, correct?”
“ ‘Ank you,” Damon giggled, “Uh huh. Washes off easy.”
“That’s good,” He said, “Are you finished painting?”
Damon thought for a moment, chewing on his lower lip before giving a nod.
“‘M done,” He told him, and Wolfgang hummed.
“In that case, you should start cleaning up. Kai can take all of the paint back where he found it while you wash the walls off. Does that sound good?”
“Uh huh,” Damon murmured, “I’ll clean it up right now!”
He turned away from Kai and Wolfgang, picking up a damp paper towel and beginning to wipe down the walls they had painted on. The paint was still relatively wet, so it wasn’t hard to get off with just water.
Meanwhile, Kai swallowed, glancing over to Wolfgang. He appeared to have some sort of idea what was going on.
Damon was going to kill him for allowing someone else to find out he was a regressor.
When he was older, of course.
“Uh... Wolfgang? Do you know?” Kai whispered, which was unquestionably not a good way to hide something.
Wolfgang kept his demeanor calm, meeting Kai’s eyes and offering him a small smile.
“I have an idea.”
Kai groaned. Leave it to the lawyer to figure everything out immediately.
It wasn’t like Damon was doing an excellent job of hiding it, though.
“Don’t worry,” Wolfgang’s voice suddenly had a serious hint to it, “I won’t tell anyone. I swear on it.”
Kai narrowed his eyes. There was no guarantee he was telling the truth. But... he supposed if he trusted anyone to keep their word, it was the Ultimate Lawyer.
“You better not,” Kai sighed, “I have quite the large following. It would be a shame if they were to hear the Ultimate Lawyer did something horrible.”
Wolfgang smiled once more, as if he was not at all bothered by the threat from the influencer.
“I will not tell a soul,” He promised, before glancing at the small bowls of paint, “Now... If you would like to put those back where they came from, I can help Damon clean up, if that’s alright.”
Kai felt a bit hesitant to leave Damon, but the sincere tone of Wolfgang led him to kneel down, picking up some bowls of paint to put up.
Even when he turned to ‘leave’, he stayed close around the hallway corner for a few moments. He had to make sure that Damon would be okay.
And when he heard quiet murmuring and excited rambles from Damon about how much he painted, he couldn’t help but feel a smile form on his face.
At the very least, Wolfgang was taking care of him while he was gone. Damon seemed to be fine being regressed around him.
Wolfgang was kind to him while he regressed and Damon was comfortable and safe.
And as Kai contentedly walked to the kitchen to clean the bowls of paint off, he felt a pang of happiness.
That was all he could ever want for him.