PAINT CANS. [II AU]

2: worry cope

"Can we come in?"

A familiar voice spoke, Paintbrush could barely hear them; their senses were fuzzed up due to their mental breakdown. They opened the door to their surprise, it was Yin-Yang out of all people. Their reaction turned from sorrow to confusion. Yin-Yang looked up at the artist, noticing that their face had tear stains and their eyes were sunken and glossy, taking a mental note knowing that something was wrong and upsetting them. Yin spoke in a polite approach "Hi Paintbrush." He put his hand up as a quick but quiet hello and shyly smiled.

"Hi..." Paintbrush's voice was unusually coarse; they looked down at the smaller figure with half lidded eyes, "Is everything okay? we heard some noise." Paintbrush didn't know what to say to Yin-Yang. They struggled to find the right words. "I'm..." Paintbrush stopped mid sentence. "Fine." Paintbrush finished as they made a very obvious forced smile. "You're not convincing me with that, something is clearly upsetting you." Yang's gruff voice spoke, and Paintbrushes eyes widened. not only did they know, but they picked up on Yang showing some care. It was a first to them, though it could just be Yin pulling him in to also be nice to them, but they were unsure.

"Why do you care." Paintbrush's raspy tone muttered as they returned their look back to half lidded, Yin-Yang walked past them into the room and closed the door, completely throwing Paintbrush off as it startled them a little. "You were crying bloody murder. It doesn't happen for no reason." Yang stated his observation, side eyeing Paintbrush. "You're only checking up on me because Yin told you to." Paintbrush remarked as they scoffed, "Actually..." Yin paused, "I didn't tell him to check up on you at first." Yin continued as he tapped the side of their face with his fingers.

Paintbrush was puzzled as to why Yang out of all people wanted to check up on them. He was an embodiment of chaos and mind clutter, something that Paintbrush disliked and wasn't too fond of. Yang was unapologetically a dick to everyone around him; Paintbrush never knew why though, but trying to figure out his mind was the least of their concerns. They both never had the best of interactions on the show, but they tolerated each other somewhat. The only positive interactions they had with him was a week ago when they started talking about anger, which Yang did open up a little bit about himself, but getting to know Yang was like trying to open a live clam as it tightly shut in, it was like he was hiding something.

"I'm... going through something tough right now." Paintbrush's voice softly croaked. "I just... don't see why you out of everyone would care about it." Paintbrush added, They walked over to their dresser and pulled out a hair brush, trying to calm themself down by brushing themself as they took off their headband they started brushing their slightly strawberry blonde hair. "Do you wanna talk about it?" Yang responded, and Paintbrush whipped their head to Yin-Yang, staring at him with their brows raised. Paintbrush didn't know how to react to this situation. it was unusual and off putting at the same time that Yang was showing concern for them.

"Ok, mr. "turning a new leaf", how do you all of a sudden care about me?" Paintbrush interrogated Yang as they put down the hair brush and started rummaging through their drawers. Yang fell silent, and so did Yin. As Yin was about to speak, Yang quickly covered their mouth, and the conversation became more personal to Yang. "Save it for later." Yang quietly hissed to his other counterpart. Paintbrush raised an eyebrow to that commutation. "That doesn't concern you, I just wanted to know why you were upset, just a simple question." Yang finally resumed.

Yang took a liking to the painter, something about them was charming to Yang in his eyes. Paintbrush and Yang are not too different; they had anger issues and being seen as threats to other people at times in common. Other than that, their only difference was that Yang is chaotic and Paintbrush is more organized. Yang liked their last conversation; it felt meaningful and connecting to him. He just couldn't bring himself to open up more, because he wanted to protect his pride, something Yin almost blew up in front of the artist.

"Fine." Paintbrush said in an irritated tone. They pulled out a flask from their drawer, opening it up and taking a swig of what could only be presumably alcohol, then taking their antidepressants. "Paintbrush, you probably shouldn't be drinking while taking medication." Yin expressed his concern "I don't fucking care." Paintbrush's tone was sour. They were clearly getting aggravated. "Anyways, I just got news from my step mother that my dad just fucking died in an accident." Paintbrush's tone was a mix between being agitated and deadening. They sat on their bed and took another swig from the flask. Yin-Yang mentally conversed for a bit until Yang broke the silence.

"I- understand how you feel. I'm sorry for your loss." Paintbrush looked back at the two. They were still confused as to why Yang out of all people was acting this way, but seeing him turn a leaf felt special to them in a way; something in them liked to see this from Yang. It was interesting to say the least. "I don't know how I'm going to get through this shit honestly." Paintbrush admitted. "Me and Yin went through something similar, I didn't know what to do after our mom died. It honestly broke me forever. We loved each other, but after that things weren't the same. It happens, and I've accepted that myself." Yang uttered.

Paintbrush lightly smiled at the monochrome haired boy "Is that why you have mommy issues?" Paintbrush teased with a lighthearted tone. "Shut up!" Yang jokingly and softly punched Paintbrush's arm as they both laughed. "Sorry, I had to." Paintbrush apologized. "I love my dad, he was a great guy and the only person in my family I had a deep connection to. I'm gonna miss him." Paintbrush teared up a little and looked at Yin-Yang. "Thanks for making me feel at least a little better Yang." Paintbrush smiled a little.

Yang slightly smiled back a little too. "I hope you truck through this, you can do it." Yang comforted paintbrush "Hey, before you go," Paintbrush replied, Yang gave them a "Hm?" Paintbrush took another sip from their flask "As an eye for an eye, don't be afraid to open up more." Paintbrush finished their statement, and Yang quietly nodded in agreement. it was only fair for them to open up and for him to open up.

The terms have changed.