The Perils of Paint, Part 2
Disclaimer: Familiar characters, settings, events, and concepts all belong to Takeshi Konomi.
Thank you to everyone who reviewed and pointed out mistakes! I appreciate the time you take to do that!
They decided to work on Eiji's hair in the upstairs bathroom, where it was unlikely anyone would bother them. Yumiko had left and Fuji's mother was downstairs watching television and knitting. It took a little while to gather everything they would need, but Fuji seemed to know where everything was stored.
Oishi looked critically at the items Fuji had arranged on the bathroom countertop. They seemed to be lined up from least dangerous to most dangerous, starting with cooking and baby oil and leading up to paint thinner and bleach. Hairspray, nail polish remover, and peanut butter all fell somewhere in the middle.
"Okay, Oishi." Fuji hoisted himself up onto the bathroom countertop to sit, grabbing the bottle of cooking oil, "This first."
"Don't get it in my eyes, Oishi," Eiji instructed from the chair where he was sitting. "Maybe I should have a washcloth for my eyes, Fuji. It's going to feel all slimy. Maybe I should lean over the tub, huh? So we don't get this stuff all over your mom's towels and stuff, Fuji."
"It's okay," Fuji said calmly from his place on the counter.
"Well, hopefully this stuff works." Oishi poured a liberal amount of oil on Eiji's head, gingerly rubbing it into globs of paint.
"Eww, it's all slimy, Oishi." Eiji reached up to rub at his head as well. "Is this going to come out?"
"With shampoo," Oishi replied and picked at a chunk of paint that had started to soften. It wasn't long before he became absorbed in freeing chips of paint from Eiji's hair, flicking them into the waste paper basket. Eiji tried to work as well, but it wasn't as though he could see what he was doing. He gave up after awhile, and after that he grew restless.
"How much longer, Oishi? I can't sit still very much longer." Eiji peered up into the mirror to watch Oishi still picking at his head. That was a disappointment. His hair was not only still coated in globs of white paint, but it was now heavy and dark with cooking oil. Eiji let out a disgusted sigh, "Hurry up, Oishi! I need to wash it! And I'm getting hungry."
"It's harder than it looks, Eiji," Oishi responded with only a hint of irritation. He flicked another scrap of paint into the garbage, intent on removing the paint. "It's going to take awhile."
"We could try something else," Fuji said from the counter, where he was now sitting cross-legged, his chin resting on his hands. Oishi noticed that he had their literature textbook next to him, as well as a notebook and several index cards. When had Fuji left the room to get his homework?
"I'm so hungry." Eiji leaned forward, covering his face with his hands. He instantly regretted the move because his fingers still had traces of oil on them. "It doesn't help that my head smells like kitchen. Let's take a break for a snack, okay? What kinds of snacks do you have, Fuji?"
Oishi sighed, taking the bottle of hairspray Fuji held out to him. "Do you really think this is going to work? Maybe we should skip right to something stronger."
Fuji silently reached for the bottle of paint thinner. "This should work."
"We should turn on the fan and open the window if we're going to use that," Oishi reasoned, wiping off his fingers before walking over to open the window on the other side of the room. "Or maybe we should go outside."
"What are you guys using now?" Eiji sat up straighter, suddenly forgetting his stomach.
"Paint thinner," Fuji announced, picking up his literature book. "It might bleach your hair though, Eiji."
"We can dye it back," Eiji shrugged. He glanced at the bottle of paint thinner, deciding it would probably be best not to read the warning label. "That stuff won't hurt, will it?"
"It just smells bad, Eiji. Don't worry." Fuji smiled before flipping through the pages of the book. He paused long enough to reach down to the cupboard beneath him with one hand, finding an old hand towel, which he handed to Oishi. "You could use this so that we don't have to pour it right on his head."
Oishi accepted the cloth, then picked up the bottle tentatively. "You, um, don't have any latex gloves around here, do you, Fuji?"