The modest bedroom of their shared apartment was a wreck.
Crumbled up papers were strewed all over the floor, and the pile was only growing.
Benjamin sat on the bed, a sketchbook in his lap, and his pencil in his hand.
He growls a bit, tearing out another page from his already teared up sketchbook, grumbling as he crumpled it up, and then tossed it at the floor as if the floor had insulted him, with a huff.
You see, it was almost Valentines Day, and Benjamin wanted to do something special.
It had been about 2 months after that fateful day his parents got exposed and were essentially canceled by the public, and ever since that, he and Pico could finally live their lives out in peace. They didn't need to be afraid anymore, of what others might say of them, they never needed to worry anymore, never worry of being hunted again. He never had to get hurt anymore. He could finally focus on his own future and dreams.
And with all this, they could finally have the life they both promised each other they'd have.
Pico had stayed with him through out the entirety of all this, and Benjamin only seen it fitting for him to give his boyfriend a proper thank you, and gift, for this special occasion.
This was the first valentines day where they could be together properly, and not spend it in some gross alleyway, so of course this gift had to be special. Just as lovely and great as his universe named Pico was.
Benjamin wanted to paint a beautiful portrait for his lover, a portrait that expressed the sheer beauty that was his Toughie, but, as of lately, he had been feeling rather.. uninspired.
He was unmotivated, and this frustrated him.
He had no idea what to even paint, so he had been sitting on this bed for what felt like the last few hours, sketching out ideas in his sketchbook, trying to figure out what would be the best.
None of the things he came up felt worthy in his eyes, and so he had scraped many, many, of these ideas.
Benjamin was easy to get frustrated, and the fact he was unable to come up with anything, made him wanna toss the book across the room.
And he was actually about to do this, gripping on the book, and raising it ever so slightly, but stopped, snapping out of his thoughts when he heard a knock at the door.
He had already known who was behind that door, since, well, there was only one person that lived here besides him.
He puts his sketchbook and pencil aside, before stammering out a response to the knocking, his voice cracking a little.
"C-Come in,"
Upon being granted access, the door gently opens, and Pico steps inside the room, a soft smile on his face as he greeted the other,
"Hey Baby, whoa-"
Pico cut himself off, taking a gander at all the papers that were thrown all over the floor, most of them being near Benjamin's side of the bed.
Pico chuckled, looking back at Benjamin.
"The trees are crying right now,"
Pico stated jokingly, his smile growing a little more into a grin.
Benjamin rolls his eyes, trying to force his facial muscles to stop from stretching into a little smile.
This attempt was unsuccessful though, because the mere sight of the other's smile was enough to fill him with happiness, no matter what.
"The trees can't feel anything, they're already dead."
Benjamin retorted, making a small snicker, with Pico making a quiet snort in return.
His eyes follow Pico as the other stepped further into the room, walking closer towards all the crumbled up pages on the floor.
"Pf, true. So, what's with all these papers?"
Pico asked as he knelt down, picking up one of these paper balls, standing up straight and beginning to unfold it.
Benjamin's gaze shifted away, a hand instinctively reaching to rub the back of his neck, as he hesitated a little to answer.
"..I-I've been trying to sketch out ideas for my latest painting, but I haven't been able to come up with anything good. All my ideas are trash."
He lowered his hand, tilting his head a little when he seen Pico give a mildly surprised expression.
Pico had been looking at some of Benji's 'failed ideas', several pieces of unfolded pieces of paper in his hands, looking through all of them.
Pico looked back at Benji,
"Trash? Softie, these are great,"
Pico gave his lover another grin, his eyes lit up after seeing the pages. Even though they were all concepts, Pico was still impressed.
"What? No they're not-"
Benjamin retorts, giving the other a skeptical look.
Pico only shakes his head, walking closer towards the bed, avoiding all the papers on the ground.
He sits near Benji, placing the papers in his hands beside him.
"Babe, you really need to stop being so hard on yourself. You're a amazing artist, and all these things you got so far look great."
Benjamin can't help but smile more at his boyfriend's supportiveness, his gaze shifting away as his cheeks dusted a light red from bashfulness,
"Nnoo.. stop.."
Pico giggled, his hand reaching over to ruffle his Softie's hair, making his beret fall off.
"No, Babe... your drawings look like heaven to me!~"
Pico's voice had a playful chime at the end of his sentence, starting to laugh more when Benjamin swatted his hand away, Benji giggling as he snagged his beret, fixing his fluffy cerulean hair before placing the beret back on.
"Pico.. stop!"
Benji's pleas weren't enough for Pico to stop being so supportive, leaning in to give his Softie a peck on the cheek, his Softie's cute little face starting to light up more.
"Mm.. nah. I don't think so."
He only grinned more as Benjamin puffed his cheeks slightly, pouting.
"You're so talented, Baby Blue, I know you can come up with something. You're too creative not to."
Pico reached again, this time to cup Benji's face, his thumb rubbing soft circles into the other's cheek.
Benjamin's expression softened, his pout turning into a smile. God, why did Pico have to be so sweet with him?
"..Thank you."
"It's no problem, Baby Blue. Now, why don't you 'n' me grab something to eat? Maybe some food will help you think. Plus, I'm just hungry."
Pico chuckled, to which Benji laughed along, before nodding.
"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea."
Pico nods, before standing up.
"Great, so, what are you in the mood for?"
Benjamin shrugs, not quite sure.
"I don't really know. I'm not really in the mood for anything in certain,"
"That's alright, we can figure somethin' out together."
Pico, still grinning, turned the other way, beginning to walk out of the room.
Benjamin, however, stayed on the bed, thinking a little.
"His smile always makes everything better, huh?"
And that's, when it hit him. He was finally struck with the inspiration he had been looking for this entire time, and now, he finally knew what to do.
He snaps out of his thought process as he heard Pico calling out.
"-You coming, Babe?"
Benjamin stammered a little, scrambling off the bed to exit the bedroom.
"C-Coming!"
He knew as soon as he was done with this, he was gonna set his plan into action.
~Time Skip to next day~
It was now Valentines Day, and Benjamin looked into his art room, where a canvas on a easel, covered by a sheet, sat.
He had spent HOURS upon HOURS painting this portrait, and now, he was finally about to give it to Pico. He just hoped that the other liked it.
He was about to take the sheet off the canvas, when he heard Pico call his name.
"Benji! Could you come here?"
Benjamin flinched, looking between the canvas and door.
He decides to just take the canvas off the easel, with the sheet still covering it, carrying it as he walked out of the art room and into the living room to where he seen Pico standing at the front door.
"Come with me, I got a surprise for you."
Pico opens the door to the apartment, beginning to step out. Benjamin had squinted at him,
"What's with this surprise you have to take me outside for?"
Pico reassures,
"Just trust me, Babe,"
Benjamin sighed, he really wanted to give his gift right away, but that could wait.
"Fine."
And with that, he began following Pico, closing the door to the apartment and locking it.
Walking down a few flights of stairs, the two boys exited their apartment complex, were now outside. Pico walked, leading Benjamin into a secluded area, an alleyway.
Benji gave Pico a confused look, wondering why would a Valentines Day surprise would be in a lone alley.
All Pico did, was shrug his shoulder at a wall, gesturing for Benjamin to look there.
Benji did as asked, glancing over at the wall Pico was referring to, and his eyes widened, gasping a little as his free hand that wasn't holding the canvas went up to cover his mouth.
"I.."
On the wall, was a rather professional looking portrait done in spray paint of Benjamin, with flowers surrounding him in the background.
The color palette was soft, gentle.
Just like Benjamin.
Pico grins a little underneath his mask, chuckling,
"I hope y'like it, it took me a while just to get it right."
Benjamin blinks a bit, before turning to Pico with the biggest smile he's had in weeks.
"Like it? Pico, I love it! This is amazing!"
Pico could've sworn he seen the other's eyes glimmering, as he pulls his mask down,
"I actually had no idea what to make at first, but when I seen you smilin' and laughin' yesterday, I just knew what I wanted to do."
Pico's sentence ended with a little 'heh', his expression turning curious when he spotted the hidden canvas Benjamin was holding.
Benjamin holds up the canvas,
"It's funny you say that, because I had absolutely no ideas what to paint, either. But when I looked at you yesterday, that's what inspired me,"
Benjamin finally removes the sheet from the canvas, to reveal a detailed portrait of Pico, with paint splatters along a dark grey wall as it's background. The colors were bold, and bright, but not hard on the eyes. Benjamin was good with mixing colors.
"Pico, you've stuck with me for as long as I can remember. You encouraged me to leave my shitty home life and reach for my dreams. Because of you, I'm standing here, better than I've ever been. There's just so many things to list and we'd be here all day if I talked about them all,"
Benjamin chuckled a bit, before continuing,
"The point is, there's just.. so much you've done for me, and I wanted to give you this as a thank you."
He could see Pico's eyes just.. light up as he hands the other the painting. That only made him smile more.
"I- holy shit, Babe, you made me look hot??"
After hearing Pico's statement, Benjamin snorted, bursting out into laughter,
"I-IS IT REALLY THAT GOOD??"
Pico doesn't hesitate to answer, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend and pulling him closer, laughing along with Benjamin.
"YeSS.. you're so talented, Baby Blue, you did such a good job with it. Like, it's so.. detailed,"
Hearing Pico's words made him wanna tear up from joy, but he refrained from doing so. He didn't wanna ruin the moment with him crying, even though he was overjoyed.
"I- I'm so glad you like it.. yours is way better, though."
Benjamin hugged Pico back, with the taller placing a hand on the top of his beret to ruffle his hair.
"Don't put yourself down, Baby Blue, yours is beautiful. I'm so happy you like mines, though."
Benjamin physically melted a little, looking up at the taller.
"You're too sweet.."
Pico boops the smaller's nose, grinning.
"Nah, you."
"Picoo..."
Benjamin whined a little, shoving his face in the other's chest.
Pico, lifts the smaller's chin up gently, for them to look up at him.
"Thank you again for the painting, I love it."
Pico then leaned in, pressing his lips softly against Benjamin's in a tender kiss, to which the other returned it, his face getting red.
After a little bit, the two break apart from the kiss, both grinning at each other, as dorky they can be.
Benjamin was the first to speak, beginning to nuzzle his face into Pico's chest.
"..I love you, Toughie."
Pico melts a little at the usage of the iconic nickname, pecking the top of the smaller's head.
"I love you too, Softie. Happy Valentines Day."
"Happy Valentines day!"
Benjamin moved his face out of the other's chest, to give them a peck on the cheek.
After that, they continued to talk, discussing how funny they thought it was that they managed to get inspired off of each other and end up painting one another.
They honestly thought this was probably their best valentines day yet.
END.
Author's Note:
Ew this was so rushed and bad 😭
Im surprised i managed to make this over 2000 words though, i wasnt really planning on that.
I REALLY enjoyed writing this, and i hope you liked reading it as much as i did making it!
I may be aro ace, but happy valentines day to yall!!