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Aquila was a mess.
Like usual.
But more than usual.
Her hair tied in a bun pinned with a bunch of pencils, her (not fashionably) ripped shorts were falling from her waist — the made-up belt was too loose, her crop top was falling from her shoulder leaving the bra strap showing. But to complement the whole look she had paint stains in her knees, from her hands to elbows and a couple across her face, especially her nose and forehead.
The A4 sized canvas had blotches of dramatic colors. Red, orange, green and blue. She stepped away from the easel and pointed to it with both hands.
“Tcharam!” She exclaimed to her younger classmate. “What do you think?”
“Your shorts.” Sophia pointed out, Aquila took off her hand and saw the stain her palm left.
“Oopsie. Guess I'll spend the weekend on the laundry.”
“Hot water helps remove dried oil paint.” Sophia helpfully supplied. “I think it’s a wonderful abstraction of nature. See, it can be a sunset.” She pointed around the reds and oranges. “Or it could mean a turmoil of emotions. Anger, jealousy, sadness… You could name it ‘Breakup’ or something.”
“Humpf...” Aquila put a hand on her chin, thinking. Then she snapped her fingers when the idea hit. “The circle of life!” She approached to thank Sophia but promptly stopped. “Uh...” She gestured to her face. “Am I too dirty?”
“You’re a mess.” She said with a smile. “But the colors look good on you.”
Aquila gave a smug smirk. “But I'll never compare to a masterpiece like you.” She quickly kissed Sophia's cheek. “Gotta wash.”
Sophia rolled her eyes, smiling wider. “And I bet you say that to all the girls, you flirt.”
Aquila let out an offended gasp without looking back, opened the tap and began washing her arms. “How dare thee doubt my honor?” She asked but her grin was so wide it didn't fit her face. “I only make artsy flirts for my muse.”
"Mm-hmm, 'cause if it wasn't for me you'd be failing art class, you nerd. I would complain if it didn't get me to look at your pretty face every day."
Aquila breathed slowly to make a poker face, as she shook her hands to take out the excess water. “Good thing to know my beauty is appreciated.” She took a couple of paper towels and poured a bit of water on them, squeezing off the excess she went to the teal haired girl. “Can you help me clean?”
It would have been so perfect if she hadn't slipped in a puddle of oil paint and clumsily fallen to the floor. The ginger sighed, staring at the ceiling, as Sophia had let out a contained laugh.
“You can laugh at me, I would too.” Aquila got up and cleaned her face, throwing the crumpled paper away as if it was basketball.
And failed.
Sophia laughed and went over to the sink to get more paper towels. She approached Aquila, gently dabbing at the spots of paint on her face and shoulders she had missed.
“You know, if you took things more calmly, you wouldn't get so dirty all the time. Jesus, how did you get paint behind your ear? Shh. Don’t answer that.” She admonished while cleaning up to where she could see. When she was done, she threw the paper somewhere out of sight, and leaned her arms on Aquila’s shoulders.
“There you go. Less messy.”
“Thanks, muse.” Aquila leaned and kissed her cheek.
“Oh, my God.” Sophia rolled her eyes and kissed Aquila on the lips, taking satisfaction with the way her breath caught and how, at first, she froze, before melting into the kiss.
“ My muse. ”
"You can help me out in Bio as exchange for being your muse." Sophia whispered in her ear with a teasing smirk.
“ Obviously .” Aquila rolled her eyes and kissed the girl's neck. “C'mon, we have the history club in ten minutes.”