Patches

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

-Crispin-

When I told Tatum that I couldn't paint to save my life, I meant it. The only thing I was somewhat decent at painting were landscapes. It was very easy to find beautiful spots in Sweden to paint, when it wasn't raining that is. In the summer, you could go out in the middle of the night and still have enough light to see your canvas. It was something my mother and I had done a couple of times. I liked to paint in a space where I wasn't afraid of getting things messy. Tatum's room wasn't like that, despite the paint splatters on nearly every surface.

"Well, you proved me wrong," Tatum commented as they tried to hold back their snickers. "You really can't paint people."

I pointed the newly-dried paintbrush at them. "You shouldn't disagree with me about my own abilities." I playfully glared at them. "I know what I'm not able to do."

"Okay, okay." They shook their head. "Have you ever seen a face with those proportions?"

I tilted my head and placed a hand on my hip. I rubbed my chin with the hand which once held the paintbrush. "Not since two summers ago, there were these visitors in town, and we went to visit. They had a room full of people who looked just like me..." I trailed off, watching Tatum to see when they understood the joke.

They didn't get the joke apparently, as their face scrunched up with confusion and they scratched the back of their head. "Okay."

"I was talking about a room of mirrors," I explained.

Their mouth dropped open after a moment and then their head dropped. "I knew that," they stated. "I understood what you meant, I was just seeing if you'd explain it."

I shook my head and checked my phone. "How much sleep did you get last night?" I tried to hide my surprise at how late it had gotten. I received a text from Aida a few minutes ago explaining that she had to stay back for a while due to a mishap with some of the guests.

"Three hours and eight minutes," Tatum answered. "According to my watch. It's better than no sleep, I suppose?"

I bit my lip, and my eyes scanned the mess that we had created together. "Do you want me to clean this up?" I asked, already grabbing the water cups and pieces of kitchen roll that we had used.

"It's fine, just leave it there." Tatum waved their hand dismissively. "I'll probably be using them again tomorrow."

I raised my eyebrow at them.

"Or I'll clean it up later," they continued. "You don't have to clean up after me." They looked down and fiddled with their fingers.

"I'm not," I stated. "I'm cleaning up after us. Besides, I did use up one of your canvases." I pointed towards the painting.

"Oh, I can still use it." They hopped up and half-pranced over to me. "It's not a total waste."

"Thanks," I remarked and took the cups into the bathroom and poured the water down the sink. I rubbed at the inside of the cups with the kitchen roll and returned to their room. "I guess you leave it for the next day rather often?" I gestured to the colour which still remained in the cup.

"Maybe."

I had to sneak out of Tatum's room that night as they had fallen asleep whilst watching Netflix. I wasn't very successful as Billa caught me just as I was leaving, but at least I knew that the door would be locked behind me. Adia explained that the bride and groom had a bit of a fight at the wedding reception, so much so that the police had to be involved. It wasn't pretty, but none of the catering staff were hurt.