Day 2: Paintings and Fresh Tears
Summary: The aspiring artist called Kuroko Tetsuya plans to surprise Akashi with a birthday present. The present of which is a beautiful, highly detailed portrait of Akashi's beloved deceased mother, Akashi Shiori.
A swipe of crimson.
Gentle strokes of pastel lavender.
A dab more bronze to create perfection.
With only a touch of malachite left and….perfection.
Gently placing aside the used paintbrush, the gifted artist named Kuroko Tetsuya leaned back, allowing his exhausted hands and arms to relax and admired his completed painting.
The first thing that caught his baby blue eyes were the fiery crimson waves of hair of the woman in the foreground. No…fiery seems too possessive, too exhilarating. More like the waves of crimson fall like a soothing river of red. Not red of blood but more like red of rubies. Observing eyes caught her matching ruby ones, painted as if you replaced a dull iris with a ruby gem that glowed with such sheen and light that it could make even the numbest soul smile. Those ruby orbs were surrounded by her eyelashes, each of them a delicate, careful stroke of obsidian black which perfectly framed her eyelid. A petite, blush nose followed by a gentle and kind smile, giving the woman a look of utter peace and contentment.
Kuroko moved his attention from the woman's face to her body where she sat in a maroon, velvet chair. She wore a light lavender dress. Its fabric fell lose all over her body in a comfortable style. Her petite arms painted the color of fair skin, and adorned in light freckles, were holding a bouquet of white roses, the stems long and painted malachite with the flower's centers painted with the slightest dab of cream and its folds showcased in a level equivalent of a professional artist.
Kuroko moved his gaze to the background, bronze wooden walls painted with black strokes to give the wood a more rustic and realistic look, and in the far right of the background, lay the faintest evidence of an open window, lavender curtains that matched the woman's dress flowed freely as if there were a breeze entering the room and the glow of the morning sunlight entered the room, casting over the woman's face, making her face and the hair that caught its light shine.
It had taken him weeks, months of planning, sketching, shading and painting to finally create this masterpiece. His hands weakened with exhaustion, body aching from countless hours without rest, but after witnessing and reveling in the work that he had accomplished, the artist can finally say that his painting is ready.
No. His gift his ready. This painting is ready to be given to his one and only significant other, Akashi Seijūrō. The painting that he created, wasn't just an insignificant woman. It was of a woman truly significant to Akashi, and someone that he forever holds dear in his heart.
That painting, is of his beloved deceased mother, Akashi Shiori.
With his admiration complete, Kuroko sighed wearily, though with a hint of pride. Akashi's birthday is in a couple of days, so he would give him this painting as a present then. With that notion, Kuroko gathered up the rest of his painting tools, cleaned himself up, and left his workplace, allowing for the fresh paint to dry.
"Happy Birthday, Akashi-kun!"
That was the first thing he spoke to his significant other as he entered their home after a long day of work. All but racing towards his lover in an uncommon amount of enthusiasm and excitement, Kuroko caught Akashi in a tight embrace, planting kisses all over his face and neck.
"Thank you, Kuroko," dropping his suitcase without a care, he quickly returned the embrace, laughing softly at the obvious joy and passion in Kuroko's actions.
"May I ask what the excitement is all about? I understand it's my birthday and all but this is rather uncharacteristic of you," Akashi asked, though not in a condescending tone but rather one of pure curiosity.
"Akashi-kun, I've been waiting for you to come home so I could give you your birthday present," Kuroko responded, eyes shining in happiness and excitement. He had been working on the painting of Akashi's mother for so long and he's so proud of the finished result that he couldn't help but feel impatient and excited to see his lover's response to it.
"Oh my beloved Kuroko, you know that you don't need to get me a present. You're everything that I could ever want," he smiled so genuinely and lovingly that if it weren't for the fact that Kuroko had spent hours upon hours making this present for him, he would've just forgotten about it easily. But this was something that he knew that Akashi needed to see.
"It makes me very glad to hear that, Akashi-kun. Though I have to insist that I allow you to see this gift I made for you."
Akashi blinked, a little stunned from this exclamation. "Kuroko, did you say that you made me a present?"
Kuroko nodded, a smile filled with pride escaping his lips, to which made Akashi smile in return.
"Well why didn't you say so? I would be delighted to see and accept your handmade gift to me," Akashi replied, quickly pecking Kuroko's lips in delight.
"Thank you, Akashi-kun. I know that you'll love it. Please follow me," with that statement, Kuroko lightly pinched Akashi's sleeve, motioning him to follow him up to his workplace.
At the arrival of Kuroko's workplace, he opened the workplace's door, revealing what would be an empty room, if it weren't for the endless amounts of painting and other artist's supplies stuffed near one end of the room. Within the far left side of the room, was a painting stand covered in a white sheet, which Kuroko knew since he checked this morning, was hiding the painting of Akashi Shiori.
Turning on the lights, Kuroko entered his room, his lover following suit in curiosity.
"I've hardly ever been in your workplace before, Kuroko, has it always been this messy?" he questioned.
"Akashi-kun, I know it's your birthday, but this isn't the time for that," Kuroko deadpanned, kind of disappointed that the tidiness or lack thereof in this room was what was on his lover's mind instead of what could be hidden under that white sheet.
"Akashi-kun, your present is under that white sheet," Kuroko proclaimed, pointing to the hidden painting stand. "I've worked very hard on your gift so I hope that you enjoy it."
"Ah, well I'm sure that it will be perfect, seeing as it was made by you," Akashi replied with a kind smile, similar to the one that Akashi Shiori adorns in the painting. Kuroko smiled at the response, excited though he couldn't help the butterflies in his stomach regarding his lover's reaction. He hoped that Akashi would enjoy it, and he was almost certain that he would like it, he just couldn't help the little thread of paranoia from growing in the pits of his stomach.
With that thought, Akashi walked calmly towards his present, and with two gentle hands, carefully, as if he were holding a delicate jewel, removed the white sheet to reveal the painting.
Kuroko refused to look at his painting, both from modesty and in order to witness Akashi's reaction firsthand.
He watched, as Akashi-kun's eyes gazed deeply into the painting at first from curiosity but then realization must have hit him, as his smile faded and his eyes widened with shock.
Akashi was silent. The crimson orbs stared directly into the matching, painted crimson pair of his painted mother, his hands shook as he moved them closer towards the painting, as if he were to stroke his mother's cheeks but they pulled back, seemingly refusing to taint the image painted on that once blank canvas. Two minutes must have passed by before Kuroko couldn't handle the silence anymore, he needed a verbal response and the butterflies in his stomach weren't going to cease until he got some form of response.
"Akashi-kun…do you like it?" he muttered, watching his lover's face for any sign of reaction. At first there was little reaction, but suddenly, Akashi removed his gaze from the painting, his face cast down so that Kuroko was unable to clearly see it. Akashi walked toward where Kuroko was standing, firmly grasping the artist in a tight embrace, arms clinging onto his lover like it was a lifeline, his head buried into Kuroko's shoulder.
"Akashi-kun?" he murmured into his ear, and that was when he felt them. Warm droplets hitting his shoulder, wetting the fabric that covered them. Shudders coursed his lover's body, and the embrace tightened. It was then that Kuroko realized that the absolute Akashi Seijūrō was crying.
Kuroko rocked his body in response, stroking his lover's back with one hand and soothingly petting his crimson locks with the other in an attempt to ease his tears.
"K-Kuroko," Akashi sniffed, nuzzling his head into the crook in Kuroko's shoulder. "Thank you."
Now it was Kuroko's turn for his eyes to widen. At first he wasn't sure how to respond to Akashi's tears but now he realized that they were tears of joy. He smiled at the realization.
Akashi removed his head from the crevice of Kuroko's shoulder and adjusted himself so that his forehead and Kuroko's forehead were touching. His tears were still streaming although not as quickly as before. The smile he adorned was one not from peaceful contentment like his mother bore in the painting, but of sheer joy, euphoria and adoration. His eyes confirmed that message, sharing that same sheen of bliss.
"I love it. It's beautiful, it's just as I remember her," his voice choked with emotion, Akashi moved closer, placing his lips on Kuroko's for a passionate kiss. Their lips moving in sync, Kuroko couldn't help the sheer happiness that he felt with Akashi's reaction to his present. Kuroko knew very well just how much Akashi Shiori meant to Akashi. He loved his mother so much and even in death, Akashi continued to talk about the good times that he spent with his mother and about his mother as a person. How she was such a kind hearted person, always wore a gentle smile on her face, and how much she adored white roses. Kuroko realized just how much she meant to him that he thought of the idea of painting a portrait of her to give to Akashi as a gift. So that whenever he missed her, he could always just take a look at that painting and be reminded of all of the good things about his mother and maybe it would make him happy when Kuroko wasn't available to do that.
So with that, he found an old photo album that Akashi had shown him in the past and gathered up photos of Shiori as a reference so that he could paint the best portrait of her to give to Akashi for his birthday. And with this response, the fresh tears, the tight embrace, his vocal praise filled with love for the painting, he knew that it was worth the exhausting, long months of planning, sketching, shading and painting. Knowing that Akashi was more than happy with his present, it made the butterflies fly away and Kuroko share in the euphoria, melt into the pride that he had made his lover cry tears of happiness.
The two of them pulled away from the kiss, locking eyes and exchanging matching smiles.
"Thank you for the present, Kuroko. I love you so much."
"I'm glad you love it, Akashi-kun. I love you too."