"Hey! You here for me or the cat?"
"The cat."
Andi looks up from the ground and smiles as Karlos stops beside him. Andi then puts on a face and starts to pout after the man bends down to retrieve his cat from off Andi's stomach.
"Okay, okay. Just kidding! I'm totally here for you... but little Rue here is really starting to grow on me." Andi stands and makes kissy faces at the adorable feline, receiving cute little meows in response. He looks back at Karlos and smirks. "I think she just found her new favorite person."
"Never. I'm her one and only." Karlos chuckles, nuzzling Rue a bit before placing her down and shooing her away.
She does this every time. No matter Karlos' company, she always manages to steal the heart of everyone she meets; some of them not even being cat lovers in the first place. Rue definitely has super powers.
"Whatever. She'll recognize me as Daddy #2 in no time. I'm sure of it."
"Daddy... number two?"
"That's what I said." Andi pauses, looks at Karlos with a straight face and then the both of them bust out laughing. "I swear I'm only at this level of a hot mess when I'm with you."
Karlos continues laughing as they finally make their way towards his in-home art studio. "And why is that?"
"Because you make me nervous, obviously..." Andi confesses with a shy smile. "Everything about you causes my brain to stop working and my mouth to take off running, saying whatever the fuck it wants. How you don't find me annoying yet is beyond me."
Karlos grabs Andi by the hand, pulling him in close. "Annoying is nowhere on the list of things that I feel when thinking about you."
"Why do you always have to be so goddamn poetic? Like do you seriously not know how sexy you sound when you talk all sweet like that?" Andi asks, being genuine as a deep blush settles on his cheeks.
"Do I?" Karlos chuckles again, furrowing his brows as he thinks about it. "I'm honestly not trying to be. I just say how I feel. That's how I've always been."
"Well, I'm not asking you to stop. I was just pointing it out... holy shit." Andi immediately loses his train of thought after they stop at the entrance of a beautifully decorated room fit perfect for an introverted artist.
"Welcome to my safe haven."
Andi steps inside, wanting to touch everything that his eyes land on. "This is so fucking amazing... and when I make it big I'm most definitely hiring you to make an exact replica of this in my house."
Karlos laughs. "You'll have to hire my friends too. I can't take all the credit."
Karlos walks over to a piece that he'd been working on for the last few days, stuck on being able to finish it for reasons unknown to him. But with Andi by his side now, he feels a sudden spark of creativity hit, and without even thinking about it, he takes a seat in front of the canvas and picks up a brush.
•
•
"I don't normally talk and paint at the same time since I'm usually here by myself, but I'll try my best to answer any questions you have along the way."
Andi goes and stands by Karlos' side, looking like an attentive student; one ready and eager to learn.
"It can wait until the end. For now, I just want to watch you do you. Pretend I'm not even here."
Karlos smiles. "Not possible."
~