bakerstreet | picture prompt meme.

He shouldn't stay, probably. Ritsuka has school tomorrow, but it's difficult to imagine walking from his house to school in this kind of snow. Already, it'd be a struggle to make it home, and it shows no signs of slowing. If his mom is going to understand him staying away for the night, it'd be because he got snowed in while visiting a friend.

His eyes drift back to the window. It looks really cold, and it's warm inside. If not for school, it wouldn't even be a difficult decision, but school will be difficult either way.

Finally, Ritsuka nods.

"I'll call my mom after dinner."

Maybe it isn't the wisest idea, but Soubi is pleased none the less. He smiles as he eats, enjoying the meal a bit more now that it isn't a prelude to the end of Ritsuka's visit.

When they're both finished, Soubi gets up to clear the table and put away anything that's left over. If nothing else, it gives Ritsuka the appearance of privacy while he calls his mother. Soubi is listening, though. He's heard her before. He doesn't like the way she talks to Ritsuka.

Thankful for the privacy, Ritsuka makes the call.

"Mom? It's Ritsuka. I know. Yeah, it's snowing really hard. I know. Sorry. I should have called sooner. Yeah. I'm with a friend."

Ritsuka doesn't like lies so he doesn't say 'from school'.

"Is it okay if I spend the night? I know, but the snow's still coming down really hard. Yeah. I had dinner. Yeah. Sorry. I will. Okay, thanks. Yeah. I will."

With a sigh, he ends the call and sits back down. That could have gone worse. It could have gone better, but it also could have gone worse.

"Soubi? She said I could stay, but I have to come home as soon as it's safe enough."

"Then I'll take you home in the morning," he says as he leans against the counter. Whenever Ritsuka wakes, Soubi will take him. The storm will hopefully have passed by then and, if they're lucky, sidewalks will be clear enough to walk.

Soubi can't be disappointed that Ritsuka is staying. It's what he wants. He can't decide if he appreciates the snow for contriving an excuse or if he resents it for forcing Ritsuka to make a decision he might not otherwise. But Ritsuka is also headstrong. If he wanted to go home, truly wanted to, he'd have his coat on by now and Soubi would be following him out the door.

A little smile flickers across his face.

"I'm at your disposal."

Maybe he'll get yelled at, but sometimes Ritsuka is cute when he's annoyed.

Ritsuka doesn't mind staying with Soubi though he dreads telling his mother since it's not always easy to know how she'll react. Aside from outside circumstances and some missteps, he's grown quite close to the older man. In spite of how little Soubi values himself, Ritsuka finds there's actually a lot to learn from him if you can get past his self-hatred.

"Soubi."

As predicted, Ritsuka isn't fond of anything that makes it seem like Soubi's his slave. One day, Ritsuka will get him to see himself as a person instead of a thing to be commanded.

"I'll walk home in the snow before that."

"We can't have that."

Soubi smiles and pushes away from the counter. He ruffles Ritsuka's hair and leans down to kiss the top of his head.

"Are you going to keep working, or have you finished for the night?"

"I should finish my homework. Do you think you'll finish the painting tonight?"

Soubi's weird. He does weird things. It's something that Ritsuka has to walk a line between accepting and fighting depending on how harmful it can be. Small physical displays of affections have become a bit more acceptable even if it sometimes makes him feel awkward. Affection is oddly difficult for him to accept overall. An innocent hug from someone his own age would garner the same reaction. Possibly a stronger one.

"I want to see what it looks like when it's finished."

"If you want to see it, then I'll finish."

It will ensure he finishes before the deadline. This is the kind of motivation he prefers. Soubi slides his apron back on and kneels in front of the piece he's been working on. Assuming he stays focused, it won't be difficult to finish before the end of the night. Possibly even before Ritsuka goes to bed.

"If it's not almost finished, you shouldn't rush it."

He should have realized what his words would cause, but Ritsuka really doesn't want to make it seem like Soubi has to finish it while he's here. It's too easy to forget how careful he needs to be with his wording at times.

"Shouldn't an artist say something like 'Art can't be rushed'? Even if it's not finished tonight, I can stop by when you're done."

Soubi gives Ritsuka a sly look after he selects his brush.

"Do your homework," he says warmly.

He doesn't think it's rushing: it's doing something he is perfectly capable of doing given the right motivation. Deadlines are neither here nor there, but a desire voiced by Ritsuka? That is enough.

Though Ritsuka longs to speak again, he remembers how easily his words might be taken as an order, and he sincerely doesn't want that to be their relationship. How can Soubi see his own agency if Ritsuka accidentally takes it away.

Looking at his book and remembering his own assignments, he finally nods and returns to his own homework.

"But it's okay if you don't finish."

Especially since it's likely for school. It shouldn't be done badly on Ritsuka's account.

Soubi makes a quiet sound to acknowledge Ritsuka's caveat. Unless something happens to distract them both in the next couple of hours, he doubts that will be an issue. He is good at focusing when he's in the right place to do it.

So he works while Ritsuka does his homework. Now and then Soubi glances Ritsuka's way, just to watch him, to see if there's anything he needs, to see if his ears are starting to droop the way they do when he gets tired. But, for the most part, he works diligently on the painting spread out in front of him.

Ritsuka's told he was once bad at school, but he was popular. Probably, he spent too much time wanting to talk and not enough time being willing to study. Now, it's the opposite, and he works diligently on his studies. The assignments keep his focus a majority of the time, the sound of pencil on paper cutting into the silence.

That doesn't mean Ritsuka never looks up. When he does, his eyes go back to the paper quickly, as if embarrassed to be caught, but he doesn't speak until he places the paper back into his bag and yawns. It's not too terribly late yet, but homework can be exhausting.

"I'm finished with my homework."

It's enough time that Soubi makes good progress on his piece. He would call it finished, but he wants to see how he feels after it's had some time to dry. He might change his mind after he's spent some time not looking at it.

He sits back on his heels when Ritsuka announces that he's finished with his work. Soubi doesn't respond immediately, though he does start cleaning his brushes in a sort of silent signal that he, too, is done. For now. He finally looks over at the boy and a smile flickers across his face. He likes having Ritsuka in his space, and he's pleased that it's worked out this way.

"I think I'm finished," he says as he reaches out a hand to Ritsuka, inviting him over to see it.

While Ritsuka doesn't accept the hand, he does move closer. It's admittedly true that he hasn't really appreciated good art in the past, but he can recognize the talent behind Soubi's creations. Does he sell them? Will he ever make this a career? It's a bit hard to imagine Soubi being sociable enough to make a lot of connections, but he's chosen art for a reason.

Standing in front of the painting, Ritsuka becomes curious about something else.

"What do you think about when you paint?"

Soubi tips his head as he considers the piece laid out before them.

"Nothing," he says after a moment. "I think of the brush strokes."

His feelings influence the subject matter, but when he paints, Soubi feels blissfully detached from them. He can focus on surface-level things like poise and pressure and gestures.

It isn’t the answer Ritsuka expected to hear. Somehow, it seems like an artist needed to at least imagine the subject of the art in order to create a realistic, final product. Really, a part of him expected to hear that Soubi can feel the focus of his work.

"Just the brush strokes?"

It isn't wrong nor is it right. It just is. Ritsuka isn't an artist so he can't criticize, and he supposes asking questions can come with surprising answers.

"You don't think of the festivals or the times you saw the flower?"

Soubi shakes his head.

"No, just the lines, the shapes. The way the light hits it, the shadows it makes. Colors."

Maybe it would be nice if he remembered pleasant things as he painted, but Soubi finds more peace in thinking of nothing at all. Well, almost nothing. If he's ever thinking during painting, he ends up with butterflies and his classmates accuse him of looking scary or being in a mood. Kio always asks him if something is wrong when he paints like that.

Soubi reaches for Ritsuka to gently pull him closer.

Ritsuka doesn't pull away. Soubi may just want him closer to show him something about the painting. Really, it's a toss-up when it comes to the older man.

"I guess it's different when you're good at it. When I paint for school, it's easier if I can remember a time when I saw what I'm painting."

Soubi probably knows how important memories are to Ritsuka, after all. Admittedly, it may make him a little bias.

"They have us paint sunsets, mountains, or sakura trees. So, I think of real ones."

But he doesn't point anything out. Instead, Soubi wraps his arm around Ritsuka and lightly leans against him. He stays on his knees and rests his head against Ritsuka's side.

"I think a lot of people do that," he says as Ritsuka describes his own process. "It sounds nice."

And if Ritsuka can think of real sunsets and mountains and flowers, and feel good enough to paint them, Soubi is grateful for it.

"I"m not very good at it, but I'm not really bad either. I would be worse if I couldn't picture them."

And yet Soubi is actually good in spite of not picturing his subject. Is Ritsuka wrong? Should he try that as well? It's a quickly discarded thought; Soubi has talent in the arts, but Ritsuka doesn't. It's fine. Ritsuka knows he's good in other areas.

"Maybe it would work better if you painted something you wanted to remember like I do with my camera."

"All it takes is practice," he says, sounding certain of that. For a moment he closes his eyes, not picturing anything and instead focusing on sensations. Rituska warm against him, the floor beneath his knees, the faint, not unpleasant smell of his paints.

"Maybe," he concedes. Soubi opens his eyes again and makes himself straighten his back. His hands return to his lap as he seems to consider that. But then he says, "I don't think there is a lot I want to remember."

"I'd probably be a little better if I practiced, but it's different. It's just something some people are better at."

Ritsuka shrugs his thin shoulders. It doesn't really overly matter. Art isn't something he wishes he had more skill in, but he can recognize Soubi does.

Ah. Not a lot of things he wants to remember. Ritsuka knows better than to push differently on that. For one, of course, Soubi would know. For another, while there's a lot Ritsuka doesn't know, there's a general idea of negativity surrounding Soubi's history.

"Then you can make new memories."

There's a difference between having no memories and starting fresh and having bad memories and starting anew; even this young, Ritsuka knows. Still, isn't better than just never having good memories.

"You should think of things you like to do."

A small smile flickers across Soubi's mouth when Ritsuka says he can make new memories. And he knows how important that is to Ritsuka.

"I'll try to think of things." He doesn't know that he will, but he'll try. No one has ever really asked him what he likes to do, other than maybe Kio. And Kio doesn't really ask. It's never mattered before and it's new to think that it might. Soubi moves so that he's no longer kneeling, sitting cross-legged instead. Then he reaches to tug Ritsuka down into his lap.

It's odd; Soubi is so standoffish to the rest of the world, but he's so physically open with Ritsuka. Mentally, it's often hard to tell what Soubi's thinking, and it's just as hard to tell if he's lying. However, Ritsuka, someone who can be honest to a fault when not trying to placate the adults, is more embarrassed by the physical affection. Flushing at the attempt, he dodges the lap and ends up sitting beside Soubi instead.

"Don't do weird things."

It's almost an automatic saying, now. 'Hi. How are you? Did you have a good day? Don't do weird things.'

"Do you want to show me? How to paint?"

Since they're trapped inside, and it isn't like they're often indulging in Soubi's hobbies.

picture prompt meme.

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i made it before a month was up; go me

<3 <3

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