Chapter Text
A painted picture is worth a thousand words. At least, that’s what Mr. Cricket had told him. He sat in front of the canvas, looking at the demented image of… well, he wasn’t quite sure what it was meant to be anymore. It was supposed to be a tribute to his childhood cat, Figaro. Somewhere along the line, it started to more closely resemble a blob with a face.
“Yeah, that’s a true masterpiece,” came a teasing voice at his shoulder. Carlo narrowed his eyes and flicked paint at the other boy who yelped in surprise and laughed.
“Don’t remember asking your two cents.”
“You didn’t need to, I’m always glad to give it anyway,” Romeo said, wiping his face with the sleeve of his smock.
Carlo’s pursed lips turned into a smirk, “Well let’s see yours then.” He leaned to look over at Romeo’s canvas.
“Oh, it’s not finished yet,” Romeo assured him, moving to stand in the way. Carlo’s smirk became more mischievous as he hopped up from his seat.
“Come now, you’ve seen mine,” he said, trying to sneak a peek around the blonde. Romeo mirrored his movements, blocking each attempt to see around him.
“I-I’ll show you, just not now,” Romeo claimed. Carlo feinted to the left and when Romeo moved to block him, he quickly slipped around him on the right. “Hey!”
Carlo felt victorious, if only for a moment. His smirk all but faded when his eyes fell upon the image on Romeo’s canvas. It was a very rough work, Romeo wasn’t lying when he said it wasn’t finished… but even at the stage it was at, it was easy to see what Romeo had been painting… It was a portrait of Carlo. He looked almost angelic the way Romeo had painted him with the light shining on his hair like a halo. Carlo’s gaze flicked to the blonde who seemed to have much less to say now as he stared at his shoes. Carlo could see the red burning in his cheeks and he couldn’t help smiling.
“It’s nice,” he commented softly, watching Romeo raise his eyes to him again. “Although, you could’ve chosen a prettier subject.”
Romeo shook his head, “The only way I could’ve done that is if there was anyone prettier.”
“I can think of one such person…” Carlo said slyly, his hand coming up to gently touch Romeo’s elbow. The two leaned in closer to one another, looking into each other’s faces…
“Boys, how is it coming along?” Mr. Cricket asked as he stepped into the doorway. The two of them quickly turned away from each other as though nothing had occurred.
“Not so good, sir. My painting looks like a rotted cabbage with eyes,” huffed Carlo, throwing his paintbrush down across the palette. Mr. Cricket swept across the room to take a gander at the painting…
“Oh… Well, it isn’t the worst I’ve ever seen,” the teacher said, which didn’t do anything to ease Carlo’s frustrations. “It might be salvageable.”
He pushed his glasses up and moved to look over Romeo’s painting. “That’s coming along wonderfully, Romeo!” He spoke in awe. Romeo grinned and stood a little straighter, raising his chin proudly.
“Of course, it’s not finished yet,” he assured.
“Of course,” Mr. Cricket agreed. “I’m excited to see what the final work will look like.”