Author's Notes: Thanks for those that have read, favorited and left feedback. Here's an early Valentine's Day gift update.

Translations:
Wabi-sabi - accepting imperfections and seeing their beauty.
Text in Italitcs=Thoughts
Bold text=Emphasis on words

"So how do we do this again?" Shinsuke asked, just having finished mixing all the colors he had chosen to use.

They were seated on Shinsuke's quaint back patio, surrounded by an assortment of paint brushes, palettes, palette knives, and all the bottles of acrylic paint she could carry from his studio room. An 18x14 inch blank canvas sat between them on top of a few layers of newspaper.

The deeper it went into Shinsuke's recovery, the harder it became to keep him entertained.

All he wanted to do ever since he was able to transition from two crutches to one was to go surfing, but he still had to take it easy on his left leg; Doctor's orders.

Though his entertainment system was quite nice, he only had one gaming system and one game. He preferred Candy Crush on his phone.

Normally he spent his time on the road playing the game religiously when he wasn't wrestling, surfing, exploring, or giving her his time.

However, during his recovery, he could only play any video game in short bursts before he got full of them. Even his well-loved Candy Crush had quickly become dull.

Asuka surmised that Shinsuke's easy boredom had to do with his lack of surfing and the limit on his physical activity. Unfortunately, a Shinsuke that was stuck on land could be an unbearable Shinsuke indeed.

Fortunately for both of them, Asuka was a resourceful woman.

He seemed to take better to activities that thoroughly engaged his mind, and especially those that either pitted his brain against hers or required them to tackle a task together. Therefore the board games she had previously purchased saw far greater use.

Today Asuka chose to try out a new, creative tactic with him that she had read about.

"First take out your phone and bring up your playlist. Set it to shuffle," she said. She placed her palette of colors down beside his where it was easy for both of them to reach.

He blinked at her in mild confusion but nonetheless did as she told, sitting the device down beside him.

"Okay!" she clapped her hands once. "We start by turning on the playlist. Each person begins painting on their half of the canvas for the duration of the first song," she sliced the canvas down the middle with her hand. "Once a new song begins, the fun part begins."

"What is the fun part?" She could see she had Shinsuke's interest by the way he subtly leaned in closer.

Asuka smiled. "When the song changes, we flip the canvas over and begin adding on to the other person's work. Every time a new song comes on we repeat the process until we're both satisfied with the work, or get sick of painting."

"Ah," his eyes widened in realization then he matched her smile. "What a clever collaboration idea."

"So you're not afraid of me messing up your work?" she challenged.

"Ha." he brought his hands down to his waist and gestured in his signature taunt, "Come on!"

Shinsuke started up his playlist – a mix of J-Pop/Rock, American '70s and 80's Pop/Rock, Salsa, and Western Classical music to name a few – and they set their paintbrushes into motion.

By the time they agreed they had a finished product, four hours had easily passed them by.

"What do you think, Kitsune? She asked.

Shinsuke bent over the painting, examining it when a keen eye. Every now and then he would rotate the canvas and study the same area from a different angle. A smile would often tug at his lips and he'd point out something recognizable amongst the abstractness that they had both created."

"Look at this!" he exclaimed excitedly. "It's a creature riding a rainbow wave! Though," he paused to squint at said creature then chuckled. "It looks a little like a dolphin and a squid had a baby."

"Don't laugh, that's our baby," she joked.

"Are you saying we would make monster babies?" He tilted his head to the side and she wasn't quite sure if he was humoring her or being serious.

And suddenly she was picturing what their babies would look like – not that this was the first time.

Would they be tall or short? Tan skinned or light? Would they have his broad nose or her button one? Would their hair be straight like hers or wavy like his? The possible outcomes were endless. However, she ultimately came to one conclusion.

"Maybe," she replied saucily. "But I would still love them anyway."

Shinsuke smiled at her, a tender fondness touching his eyes. That look alone sent her heart into a rapid pitter-patter rhythm.

"Me too," he said softly, then picked up their painting. "What a beautiful monster we've made already. I think it will go nicely on the wall behind the couch."

"You're joking, right?" she asked between giggles.

He handed the canvas over to her so he could stand with the aid of his crutch. "It's going where it will be one of the first things people see when they come in. C'mon, help me hang it up."

Asuka took a moment to stare at their collaborative work. Even if it appeared like chaotic nonsense to everyone else, at least she and Shinsuke thought it was lovely. That was all that mattered.

"Are you coming, Asuka?" he called from the frame of his back door.

She snapped out of her reverie. "Yes!" she cried as she scrambling to her feet.

Together they found a pleasing frame yet to be used from Shinsuke's collection. It fit the canvas without difficulty, as though it had been made for their painting. Next, they constructed a hanger out of wire and attached it to the frame so that it would be invisible when hung.

Before they went about putting in a nail, Shinsuke had her hold the painting against the wall to find the right placement.

"Just a bit higher. A little to the right. Perfect."

He then hobbled up, and with a shrewd eye, hammered in the nail with such precision that the picture hung in just the spot he had decided on.

"Whoa, you're really good at that," she commended, knowing how hard it was to hang pictures with hand-made hangers.

"After making a lot of mistakes," he admitted humbly. He then took out his phone and carefully snapped a photo while balancing on his good leg and the crutch.

Asuka became mildly suspicious then and asked, "What are you doing?"

"Sending a picture to my mother," he answered with his eyes still trained on his phone; thumb tapping away.

"Oh okay." Relief washed over her. She wasn't sure if she was ready for it to be all over Instagram or something.

Then he added, "I told her we made a baby."

"Ehh?!"

Author's Notes: I did this painting exercise with a friend and with interesting results, so I wanted to have Asuka and Shinsuke try it. Any comments on this are appreciated~