Work Text:
Patton groaned underneath the mound of stuffed animals on his bed. When he flopped face down on his mattress, he somehow ended up half buried from the sheer number of plushies that he owned. It gentle pressure would be nice, if he wasn't so mind numbingly bored.
Thomas was researching for a new video, so everyone must be too busy for Patton to interrupt them. He tried to fill his time productively (which involved Patton cleaning up dinner dishes, folding all of the laundry before depositing it into the appropriate room, and vacuuming all of the carpet in the house).
All those tasks seemed more boring than usual. Patton typically found them fun, but today they felt like the chores they were. To add to his reasons for being bored, anytime Patton had tried to talk to one of the others, they would quickly exit the conversation to help Thomas with something related to his video planning and research.
Everyone seemed to be busy except for him.
Patton contemplated falling asleep within his stuffed animal mountain, but after all was said and done, it was only 6pm. And after 30 minutes of failing to fall asleep that early, Patton resigned himself to his fate of slowly suffocating from the deadly combination of far too many plushies and abject boredom.
Thankfully, Patton wasn't allowed to stew in his boredom forever. Soon, Princy found himself equally as bored with the task's he had been assigned, and he had no qualms about interrupting others solitude. He may have also felt a little guilty for blowing Patton off earlier that day when Thomas tried to summon the creative side to ask for his opinion mid conversation. Roman swung Patton's door open with nary a knock, proclaiming, "Fret not, dearest padre! Your knight in shining armor hath arrived, and I have paint."
Patton lifted his head, dislodging a stuffed unicorn from its resting place so that it fell on the floor with a muted thump. "Huh?" Patton eloquently replied.
"You know how I've talked about creating a children's book? Thomas has finally given me permission to begin it! I have already written the majority of the script, but it will take some time for me to finish creating the final product alone. This book is going to be the most spectacularly special space story to ever be sold!"
Patton sat up and titled his head, holding a stuffed dog in his arms now. "That's great kiddo…? But um. Why did you bring paint into my room?"
Roman sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "Well… sorry for bursting in so suddenly, but I was just wondering… wouldyouliketohelpmemakeit?"
Patton squinted at Roman. "Help you make it?" Patton parroted, amusement glinting in his eye.
Roman grinned, slightly mischievous. "You did say that you like to paint, right?"
The fatherly figure knew what that look meant. If Patton accepted the offer, either trouble was going to be created or Patton would soon have a mountain of things to do. But Patton was just feeling bored, wasn't he? Its not like he had anything to lose.
Patton's internal debate lasted only a fraction of a second, and Patton broke his blank stare to nod in acceptance of the offer. "I hope you're fine with finger painting," Patton warned with a sheepish smile. Roman's face immediately lit up out of pure unfiltered joy.
And that's how Patton got roped into making artwork for Roman's children book.
Despite Roman claiming to have "finished the script" for the book, there was still much planning to be done. The story was set, but Roman and Patton discussed art styles, formatting, and colors.
Patton was worried about overstepping by shutting down one of Roman's ideas or offering a suggestion of his own, but Roman listened intently to all of Patton's input and constantly stopped to check for Patton's opinion if it seemed like the fatherly side was holding back.
Thomas finished researching for his upcoming video at 9pm. Logan promptly came into Patton's room after three short rapts on the door immediately. Logan proceeded to matter of factly complimented everything Roman and Patton had already planned (with citations), but mostly he was content to simply listen in. He didn't interrupt Patton's and Roman's brainstorming, but he did act as a tie breaker occasionally when the other two couldn't settle on an idea.
They traded concepts and ideas well until midnight, despite the fact that Roman already had a vague idea of what most of the illustrations would be.
When it was time to start actually painting the next morning, Patton was excited. He poured out the colors he would need on a pallet and immediately dove in. Thick paint squished underneath Patton's fingers. His hands became stained by layers of purple, blue, silver, and gold paint. His fingers glid smoothly across the canvas satisfyingly.
The colors were swirling together to create a breathtaking galaxy when Logan entered the room. "Do you need something?" Patton asked, pausing his painting.
Logan shook his head no before hesitantly asking, "Is it alright if I watch your creative process? This seems rather soothing for some reason."
Patton beamed up at the logical side. "Of course your welcome to stay!" Logan's shoulders relaxed , a tension that Patton didn't realize was there already disappearing. Patton continued adding colors to the nebula, once again engrossed in his task.
Patton occasionally paused before adding another smattering of silver stars. He'd dip his finger tips in silver before flicking his fingers out quickly, effectively flinging the paint was to create the illusion of stars.
Eventually, Patton paused his finger painting to examine the canvas. He was so proud of his work. Would he ruin it by adding the final part of the painting? Did Roman make a mistake by asking for his help?
Patton was broken from his worry when Janus set down a sandwich, cookies, and milk next to him. Janus turned to sneak out, but Patton grabbed his sleeve to send him a thankful smile.
"Thank you Janus!" Patton said cheerily, "What do you think so far?"
Janus' cheeks burned red, but he suavely responded, "It is the absolutely worst space scene I've ever seen. Stars? In space? How dreadful." Then he turned tail and fled the room. Patton giggled at the sight, knowing that Janus thought his painting was actually spectacular. Patton could hear Virgil's muffled voice telling Janus good job outside his room. There was some hard to make out teasing back and forth, but eventually the corridor fell silent once again.
Patton ate his delicious snack, ready to move on to the next step of the process. Using a small paint brush, he added a young boy sitting on a hill, gazing up at the night sky in wonder. Each of Patton's stroke rendered a boy that was inquisitive and oh so small compared to the colorful night sky above and the dark hill below. Patton carefully dotted each small star in the reflection of the boy's eyes.
Stepping back from his work, Patton gently smiled. Being the painter that Roman chose to help bring a children's book to life wasn't that bad after all.