Summary: Leo has some explaining to do.
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"Leo, what is that?"
Well, the evening had been going well up until then. They were several months past the android revolution; Leo had made amends with Carl and Markus for what he'd done. He had managed to find a job through the connections that his father had, helping keep his mind off of the weakening but still present pangings of red ice addiction that he'd been treated for.
"What's what?" Leo asked sheepishly, trying to move his arms naturally in a way that draped his hands into his sleeves more.
"Don't beat around the bush with me, Leo," Carl said calmly. It wasn't unusual for Leo to keep his hands shrugged in his pockets; Detroit winters in his home could get uncomfortable when the wind was especially drafty, as it was that night. But the moment he saw a flash of deep blue, doubt trickled into his mind. Leo had gone into a rehab center with Carl's support, and had come back clean. Or so he thought.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Leo stood up suddenly, as if he wanted to leave. Markus's eyes tracked him, a look of concern morphing onto his face. Leo felt increasingly uncomfortable under his gaze, knowing now that maybe these robots could feel something. Leo never did handle the scrutiny of judgment well.
Carl cut straight to the chase, "Are you using again?"
Leo couldn't help it when his facial features scrunched up in offense. "Of course not!" He sometimes wished that people would stop automatically making assumptions based on his past history. His own father was a drug user but Leo didn't automatically make assumptions about him when he saw certain things… Some of Carl's recent paintings dove into the past of his drug history, a contemplative look on it. Leo didn't make assumptions that Carl was suddenly doing drugs again.
Blue on his hands. It's always connected back to androids, isn't it?
"Then did you get into a fight with an android?" Carl had a healthy dose of skepticism in his voice. A fight with an android in the past would end up with blue, bloody knuckles and no affliction to one's own person. A fight with an android nowadays would end up with the human in the hospital. While it was unlikely that Leo would've gotten into a physical altercation with an android, every day was filled with uncertainty.
"Like I said, it's nothing. I think I'm going to go," Leo said a little too quickly, jostling his keys out of his pocket, giving enough time for Markus to quickly scan the contents covering one of his hands.
"It's not thirium, Carl," Markus said, tilting his head inquisitively. "It's anhydrous sodium sulfate with sulfur mixed with some sort of oil. It is commonly known as PB 29, or Ultramarine Blue."
Carl's eyes widened in shock and remained that way even as he came to an understanding. "You're painting now?"
Leo turned his head away, scratching his head—revealing a hand mottled with the deep hues of ultramarine blue oil paint—before slowly turning his body toward them with a reddening face. "Uh, yeah. I, uh…" he was the face of embarrassment. "I, you know. You do the painting stuff, I'm your son. I… wanted to try it. You like it. Maybe I could, I dunno, learn to appreciate it by doin' it myself?"
Leo had never much shown an interest in Carl's major profession outside of trying to sell Carl's paintings to fuel his red ice addiction. Music was something they shared, but their preferred genre of musics differed too much for them to engage in much conversation with. The only thing they shared commonality on was celebrities, the people that Carl was forced to go out and see. Leo had knowledge of them because they were covered in magazines and talk shows. Both Carl and Leo could lament about the pompousness of the elites (despite Carl being in the same tax bracket as them).
"I would love to see it when you're done," Carl said, wheeling over to Leo with a smile.
Leo looked confused. "You sure? It's not anywhere near as good as what you do."
"Anything made from my son is worth looking at and appreciating."
Carl now had two artistic sons.
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Carl was shocked that the painting was more skilled than he'd anticipated. For a man who he had never known for most of his life, and had never seen pick up a pencil, he had exceptional skill. Markus was shocked that Leo had painted an android.
"What made you pick the subject material?" Markus inquired, analyzing the image to try to identify the facial structure of the android painted, but it didn't match any of the mass-made robots that had been released when Cyberlife was still selling them. It was only recently that some bots took it upon themselves to have different faces sculpted on by people who had previously custom-modded their own androids. It was a new thing, but it was an underground industry that had potential for becoming a booming market.
"She's my girlfriend," Leo said.
They gaped at him. Leo couldn't remember ever seeing Carl with his mouth so wide open, it made him feel giddy. Giddy that he could finally talk about who he'd been spending his life with for the past month after getting out of rehab.
"I couldn't figure out any other way to express how much I loved her, inside and out, so I drew her. For who she really is, you know?"
Carl moved to Leo's side and patted him on the arm. "I'm proud of you, son. Not only are you healing yourself, but you're investing yourself into others and finding beauty in them through creation." He looked up wistfully at the painting on the wall. "Sometimes humans feel powerless in this ever changing world, but one thing that can never be taken away is our ability to create something new, something wonderful, in this hellscape. We must never forget that."
Leo scratched the back of his head. "I'm not all into that whole deeper meaning thing that you do with your art. I just painted her cuz I love her."
Carl chuckled. "And that's alright, too. Art doesn't have to have deeper meaning in order to be appreciated." He stared up at Leo. "So, when are we going to meet this girlfriend of yours?
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AN: Short and to the point. I have been painting a lot of androids and getting colours on my hands. Every time I get blue on my hands, I think of androids' blood.