LeoPika short stories and one shots!

Art Homework

{artist au idk Kurapika's an illustration major in college}

Kurapika finished hauling his art supplies to the living room. He set up his sketch pad, pulled up the project criteria on his laptop, and readied his palette.

He popped a bang energy, tied up his hair, and put in his wireless earbuds. He took a sip, then another. Then he busted out his sketching pencils.

His sketch took an hour to get right. Even then he wasn't quite satisfied. He needed a switch up. He moved his art supplies to lean against the couch. He drew and drew and drew. Another hour had passed, and he had just begun outlining in pen.

His ears hurt so the earbuds had to go. He'd been switching between earbuds and headphones, but now he opted for a small wireless speaker.

He was deep in concentration as epic instrumental music guided him through the artistic journey. Every color, every paint stroke. Every curve and every edge. It was beautiful. It was enchanting. It was... due at 9am.

Kurapika took a swig of his energy drink and turned off his phone. No more distractions. His time was already running out. He only had five hours left. That would hardly be enough time to pull off what he had planned.

Time passed in a blur. Kurapika wasn't even consciously painting. He felt like he'd been possessed.

Leorio came in at some point, sipping his morning coffee and watching in amusement as Kurapika worked. The med student checked his watch. It was eight past 7 am.

"Kurapika?" Leorio said, startling the artist out of his trance.

"Leorio!" He snapped angrily. "How long have you been lurking there?"

"Lurking is a strong word." Leorio laughed. "It's 7 am, please tell me you didn't stay up all night."

"And? What if I did?" Kurapika crossed his arms.

"I'd send you straight to bed and finish your project for you." Leorio said seriously.

Kurapika lifted an eyebrow. "An artist's best work comes out when under intense physical or mental stress. This-" he gestured to the chaos and mess of the living room "- is stress."

Leorio groaned. "You might be right, but this-" he gestured to the room. "-is  not healthy."

"This is the process." Kurapika took a sip of his drink. "It's never pretty."

"What time is your class at?"

"9am."

Leorio pressed his lips into a line. "You really have no other choice than to finish it right now."

"Bingo." Kurapika set down his drink then picked up the palette. "Now, if you could please leave, I have an assignment to complete."

"I have class soon, but when I come home, you'd better be asleep." Leorio said, then left to make coffee.

Kurapika did not sleep. He finished his painting, presented it via Zoom Call to his class, and gave thoughtful review on others' pieces as well.

As soon as Kurapika pressed the hang up button after class, he closed his laptop, then collapsed on the couch. He only had time to take a deep breath before he was completely unconscious.

It was noon when Leorio got back. He immediately regretted jangling the apartment door so loudly when he saw Kurapika's blond hair draped dramatically over the arm of the couch. Fucking artist, his hair is bewitched with Fine Arts Magic.

Leorio closed the curtains, plugged in the laptop, put a blanket over Kurapika, then went to the kitchen to quietly prepare him something to eat when he woke up. It's not that I care, he just- is like, stupid Starving Artist agenda. Doesn't he know how bad that is for him?

Leorio finished with the snacks, then left to his own room to get freshened up before his next class.

When Kurapika woke up, it was well past 4. He ate the snacks Leorio left for him, then cleaned up his mess.

Was the grade worth staying up for 29 hours straight? He checked his phone where an email waited with his score. 86%? Fuuuuck yes. Does that mean he would learn his lesson? Fuuuuck no.

That was evident because not even two weeks later, the process repeated itself. So is the life of a college artist.

-
A/N: I did that once.