Kavi One Shots

The Artist & The Art Critic

Kirstie Maldonado's POV

The amount of paint palettes I have is big.

The amount of paintbrushes I have is bigger.

The amount of social activity I do is small. Like, really small.

And so when my best friend Mitch forced me to go to a bar in the middle of the night - or 10 at night, but that's still really late - I was finishing (or rather, trying to finish) a piece and he was clearly mad.

"Mitchell," I groaned. "I'm not social, I need to finish this painting, and I'm running out of inspiration, so if you could please just leave me alone that'd be great," I said, not even looking at him as I continued the soft strokes with my brush.

"No," he said, gently but forcefully taking my brush out of my hand so he doesn't fuck up my painting, but I hit his arm in mere anger. "Mitch, stop!"

"I'm sorry, but Kirstin Taylor, you are so anti-social and it needs to stop. Maybe we'll meet cute boys!"

I sighed, running a hand through my hair. "This one time?"

"Yes," he nodded. "Just this once."

"Alright," I nodded slowly. "But after this, you are to never touch my paintbrushes, pieces, any of my palettes — or anything involving what I do for a living. Are we clear?" [a/n: or should I say... aRT we cLEAR aHahaag]

"Crystal," he grinned.

***

I wanted to just stare at all the paintings on the person's wall - I didn't know whose house this was. Mitch said it was some hot guy's, but if I knew Mitch, it's probably Scott's, his biggest crush's.

"At least this person has a really nice taste in art," I sighed. "Cheer up, Kit. Look around. There's a cute guy eyeing you from your left," he winked.

Now I was curious. "Cute guy, huh?" I chuckled. "What does he look like?"

"Tall, shorter than Scott, dark hair, beard," he explained vaguely, but there was only one person that came to mind once he explained. Avi Kaplan – the most cruel and most known art critic in the entirety of Los Angeles. I felt myself suddenly fume. He judged one of my pieces when I was about 21, when I wasn't really good at what I did, but I've improved. So I looked to my left and did indeed see Avriel, but he also improved in the looks factor, damn.

I didn't even spare him another glance, looking back at Mitch, only to see him staring at another person somewhere in the club. Scott, probably. I followed his gaze, and sure enough, it was Scott that was talking to someone but looked slightly uncomfortable. The guy he was talking to was taller than him and had darkish hair. Not as dark as Avi's, but darker than mine. "Mitch?"

"Hm?" He looked to me. "Go talk to him," I smiled. He simply stated at me. "You do not get how much I cannot do that," he said.

"And why not? You're in love with the guy, go ahead."

"I—" and before he could finish his sentence, I was pushing him toward the blond. Scott noticed instantaneously, staring at us with an amused smile as the guy by him had awkwardly walked away. Mitch opened and closed his mouth like a fish, and I found the entire thing entertaining. "H-hi," Mitch barely said. He simply smiled back, and I figured I should've left them alone, so I did. I walked away from them, occasionally glancing to see what was happening, but that was obviously a bad idea since I ran into somebody. "Fuck," I yelped.

I looked up at the person and frowned immediately. "Sorry," I muttered, trying to get around him. "It's fine, Kirstin."

"Kirstin? You know my name?" I asked.

"Well, yeah. Don't you remember mine?" He smiled.

"How could I not forget the man that gave my poorly made painting a terrible review?" I rolled my eyes sarcastically. "Hey, it's my job. Don't be so butt hurt," Avi joked.

"Are you twelve? Ugh. Let me get through," I demanded harshly, glaring at the taller man. "Why? I just want to talk to you. After all, I hadn't seen you for three years. Your hair's blond now, huh?"

"Yes," I confirmed, "I thought it would be nice."

"It sure is," he smiled a cheeky smile, like he just made some sly joke or pun. What a douche. "Anyways," I said, "let me through now."

"Alright, fine, but I would like to continue talking to you, Kirstin. Perhaps I could judge another one of your paintings sometime," he winked, then the guy started walking away. "There," I said before he got too far. "What?" He looked behind himself to me.

"There," I pointed to a painting on Scott's wall. Scott never knew it was mine, hell, I don't even think he knows I exist. It was a simple painting of a tower - the Eiffel Tower, and a bunch of people on the ground obviously, but one particular couple that I decided to add was Scott and Mitch. Not their faces, but the backs of them, holding hands while Mitch laid his head on Scott's shoulder. It was a bit weird, sure, but he never knew so it didn't matter. Avi observed it for awhile, then started to laugh. "Is that Scott in the photo with your friend?" He asked me. I forced myself not to smile, "What are you talking about? I don't see that."

"I sure as hell do, and I'm sure Scott did, too. Where is he, anyways?" Avi grinned.

I slightly widened my eyes, then looked around immediately. Not Scott, not Scott, not Mitch, not Mitch.

I then finally found them. Scott seemed to be staring at Mitch with a big smile as Mitch was scrolling on his phone, excited and giddy, probably attempting to find a photo for him to see. Mitch jumped in his seat then shoved the phone at Scott, pointing at it and talking very fast about something.

Scott smiled at the picture but kept glancing at Mitch. It seemed he was love struck as well. "How cute," I grinned at the both of them while Avi chuckled. "So the painting was of the two. No wonder Scott's family bought it. Or should I say, no wonder Scott bought it."

I rolled my eyes. "Is that it?" I asked, and he simply smiled, "How about we talk some other time?" He suggested, and then grabbed something out of his pocket, handing it to me - a card. He walked away, then I looked at the card in my hand. Avi Kaplan. 213-922-6662. [a/n:: that is not his number I googled la area code and typed random numbers haha]

***

a/n: short but kind of cute!!

p.s. this may turn into a book and idk if it will be kavi or scömìche but it probably won't be out for awhile. vote if it should be kavi or scömìche here? haha ❤️