Warning: Some slash-if-you-squint. Mostly Nathan/Charles. You'd have to strain your eyes more to see Skwisgaar/Toki in this one. Sorry shippers.
Word Count:
306
Disclaimer:
I own nothing. Brutal.
Author Notes:
This was another case of, I wrote the first half of it with a very vague idea for an end in mind, let it sit for a few weeks, and then came back and wrapped it up with something completely different from what I'd originally planned. The first three sentences came out very Douglas Adams for some reason, thus the Hitchhikers Guide references.

Always know where your towel is, jerk-offs.


All In a Day's Work


There was a short, uneasy silence.

There was a quick splat-thud.

There was a long, uneasy silence.

"Whats ams going on?" Toki asked, entering the room after Charles. "Hey butlers guy, you gots red alls over you…"

Skwisgaar crossed his arms irritably and looked away with an annoyed pfft.

"Yes, Toki. I'm aware." Charles just counted himself lucky that the bucket had fallen to the side, rather than straight down on his head. He took off his glasses and pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket, careful not to get paint on it.

Considering the band's sense of humor, he was lucky paint was all it was.

He could feel them all watching him as he carefully wiped the paint from around his eyes as best he could and put his glasses back on. Everything was red-tinged and a bit smeared, but at least he could see.

"Well," Charles said.

Nathan walked up to him and handed him something fuzzy. "Here. I, uh, just watched this thing. It wasn't very metal, but it said it's important to have towels. So, I guess… that's true."

"Thank you," Charles told the front man. He was trying hard to retain some semblance of his dignity, in spite of a very large portion of his rational mind reminding him that as far as the band was concerned it probably didn't matter much at this stage.

"No problem," Nathan rumbled, watching him intently for a moment. Then, abruptly, he wandered off.

Charles sighed and headed back to his office. He had a change of clothes there, and an adjoining bathroom with a shower in case of any accidents. Usually it was ink spills or bloodstains – but paint wasn't that much different. All in a day's work.

There were towels there too, but Charles held onto the one Nathan had given him.