The Paws-some Anthology (Book 1 1/2)

10. Family Fun

"Oh, that is so good." Virgil lulled softly as he nudged Nyxie making her chuckle. She was currently painting a flower and honestly, Virgil was very impressed. They were all in Roman's studio at the moment, each painting their own picture. Roman thought it would be nice to do some art together so every once in a while for family night they'll draw, paint, or color. Of course, as Virgil glanced over to see Roman completely focused on his own canvas, he had to laugh. No one could ever hold a candle to the prince when he was creating. At least none of them could. The man literally colored The Mona Lisa in a coloring book before.

Virgil knew he wasn't all that good at painting but it made Roman happy to see them all creating together. Right now Virgil was trying to paint a river. Nothing too over the top, just basic blues and greens. It was more than he was able to do before all this, thanks to Roman's tips, but still... Roman was the best out of all of them. Roman was over there painting a full landscape. He had been working on it for a while now and at the moment was trying to do the sky all stormy. Virgil couldn't stop himself from laughing.

"Show off." Virgil teased making Nyxie giggle again as she paused to look over at her Papa's painting. Roman didn't even hear him. He just kept painting, adding purple to the grey sky. 

"Papa's really good." Nyxie whispered as she held up her own painting, eyes darting between the two before lighting up. "Maybe I'll add a background to my painting." Nyxie quickly started to work out a nice backdrop adding more and more colors to mud up a messy sky behind her flower. 

"Well, I know where you got your artistic talent from." Virgil lulled playfully, this time managing to catch Roman's attention who shot him a confused look. "Nyxie, dear..." 

"What about her?" Virgil gestured to her painting making Roman's eyes widen in awe. "Oh wow. You're doing such a good job, sweetheart."

"Thank you, Papa." Nyxie blushed proudly as Roman ruffled her hair.

"Show off." Virgil teased again making Roman hesitate. 

"What?" Virgil gestured back to Roman's painting making the other's eyes darken as his grip on his brush tightened. 

"You're a show-off." Roman could tell his tone was playful. He knew his love was just messing with him. Even still, as he looked up at his painting he couldn't help but feel his heart drop. He supposed he didn't have to go all out for a simple painting with his family. He just... couldn't help it. Besides-...

"It's not that good." Roman laughed tensely as he waved Virgil off.

"Not that... Roman." Virgil sighed as gave the other a silly look. "You're painting looks amazing. Then again what would you expect from Creativity himself." Roman eyes flashed bad at that. 

"I'm not King."

"What was that?" Roman choked a bit before trying to play it off as a joke.

"I said it's not like I'm King Creativity. Oh, the things I made back then..." Roman let himself relax hearing the way Virgil burst out into laughter.

"Like I said... You're a show-off." Virgil pressed a kiss to Roman's cheek making the other purr deeply into him. "It's a good thing I love you and how passionate you can be."

"There is a lot to be passionate about, My Love." Roman's purr got louder as he melted against Virgil who just rolled his eyes fondly. "Especially when I have such a man to hold my heart."

"Papa's being mushy again." Roman's face went red as Nyxie giggled loudly. Virgil laughed as he went back to his own painting, giving his daughter a small look.

"He's good at that, isn't he." Nyxie just nodded as Roman grumbled quietly to himself a tad embarrassed. "There's a lot your Papa is good at... but I know one thing I'm better at than him."

"What? Being sarcastic?" Roman shot back teasingly making Virgil gasp playfully, mocking him a bit. "Hey, that's my line!" Roman yelled making everyone laugh at that. "I'm the dramatic one here. You're the sassy stormcloud!"

"Oh, you silly silly prince." Virgil chuckled as he shook his head seeing the sparkle in his fiance's eyes. "No, I didn't mean my sarcasm. There's one artistic thing I know for a fact I can beat you at." Roman raised his brow at the other clearly confused as Virgil just smirked. "You get all your clothes from Fairy Godmother."

"Yes... and you get yours from Hot Topic. What's your point?" Virgil chuckled only making Roman's confusion grow. "Virgil?"

"Sure... it's all... Hot Topic." Roman's face was priceless as he sat there still just trying to work through what Virgil could have possibly meant. That was until an alarm went off and Roman sighed. He put his brush down and glance back to see Nyxie already pouting.

"Time for bed, Little one."

"No!" Nyxie whined as she gripped her painting tightly. "I wanna stay up with you!"

"I'm sorry, Hun." Roman whispered as he started to put everything away. "You know the drill. 7 o-clock bedtime... You have class tomorrow with Uncle Logan."

"Why is Mr. Logic teaching me, when you know so much more than him?" Roman paled as Virgil just shot the two a confused look. Roman quickly tried to stammer out an answer but Nyxie wasn't having it. "Papa, I don't get it. You said I was getting the best schooling I could because I was being taught by the smartest... but I'm not. I'm being taught by Mr. Logic instead."

"Honey, Logan is literally logic. There's no way I'm smarter than him. That's why he's teaching you." Roman laughed as he quickly picked Nyxie up, seeing the pout she was giving him, as he carried her off to her room.

"But you are..." She whined as Roman pushed her bedroom door open with a sigh. "My Papa is super smart."

"I know a lot... that doesn't make me smart." Roman set her down in bed before gently giving her a small kiss on her forehead. "Nice try, Sweetie. I know what you're trying to do."

"I just want people to know how awesome my Papa is. ESPECIALLY my Papa himself." Roman frowned as he sat down on the bed, watching as Nyxie put herself under the blankets. "My Papa is smart and cool and funny and..."

"I'm happy you think so highly of me, Baby girl, but I'm not." Nyxie's pout only got worse as Roman gently tucked the blanket around her. "What I am is a father, however, so as long as you are happy and healthy then I am doing my job right. And right now... my job is to make sure you get to sleep."

"Goodnight, Papa." Roman could feel his heart drop hearing the sad tone Nyxie spoke with. He let out a sad breath as he nodded and started for the door.

"Goodnight, Nyx."