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Chapter 20 - ADHD Buds (+ Declan Not Understanding it)

- Chapter 20 - A Bunch of Facts and Fun -
Warnings: Mentions of slight overstimulation, but it's a pretty fluffy chapter lol
A/N, thank you again to VaquitaLibra
Third Person POV

Emilio walked into the room Declan and Andrew were in, feeling calmer and less annoyed by his clothes.

Declan looked up when Emilio walked in. He smiled. "Hey, Lio."

"Hi." Emilio waved as he walked over to them. "What are you two doing?" he asked.

Declan chuckled, looking at Andrew. "Well, I'm not sure what Gabriel said we were doing together, but Drew is currently finger painting," he informed him.

Andrew grinned, looking up. "It's so much fun!" he exclaimed, using his finger to finish the letter "k" in "strike". "And did you know that finger painting was invented in 1931, by Ruth Faison Shaw. She was trying to introduce finger painting as an art medium to the USA, and she started doing it in Italy - Rome, I think - when trying to make a non-toxic paint," he explained as he started the last letter.

Declan blinked. "Where did you learn thi-" he started.

"She died in 1969 in North Carolina," Andrew added, looking intensely at his strike sign.

Declan blinked. "Why do you-"

"Like finger painting with frosting!" Emilio connected, beaming.

Declan rolled his eyes. Are people just going to keep cutting me off? he thought to himself.

Andrew nodded excitedly. "Like that!" he agreed. "Frosting is delicious."

"Cake frosting first started popping up in 1655," Emilio informed Andrew. "And buttercream, which is an extremely common kind nowadays, didn't pop up until- around the 1930s- no, no, it was the... the... uh... I know this!- The 1950s!- I think..." he explained. He shrugged. "And yeah, it tastes really good," he agreed.

"Remind me to never give you two sugar," Declan muttered to himself as he picked up a paintbrush.

Andrew looked up at Emilio. "You know what also was invented in 1655?" he asked him.

"The first self-controlled/I think the word they used was propelled wheelchair?" Emilio answered.

Andrew blinked. "Was it really?" he asked.

Emilio nodded. "By Stephan Farffler," he answered.

Andrew nodded, impressed. "Not what I was going for, but that's pretty cool," he commented.

Declan looked at the two of them. "How in the world did we get to this topic?" he questioned.

Andrew and Emilio exchanged a look. They shrugged in unison.

"Did you know that the first strike ever was on November 14th in the year 1152 B.C., in Egypt?" Emilio asked them as he sat down across from them.

Declan sighed deeply. "God help me for sitting in a room, alone, with two boys with ADHD," he muttered.

Andrew and Emilio grinned.

Andrew nudged Declan's arm. "You love us."

Declan sighed again. "Sadly."

Emilio laughed softly.

Declan passed him a strike sign, a paint brush, and some paint.

"You can use your hands like I am," Andrew offered. "Though, I'm not sure if you like the texture of paint. I do," he informed Emilio.

(A/N, I first typed 'texture of pain' lol.)

Emilio shrugged. "I've never finger painted before," he informed Andrew.

"Wanna try it?"

Emilio thought for a moment, before nodding.

Andrew gently took his hand and dipped his pointer finger in the paint.

Emilio watched. The paint was cold, which he liked, and he sort of liked the feeling of the liquid paint.

Andrew brought Emilio's hand to his sign and started writing the letter "s".

Emilio watched.

"You like it?" Andrew asked Emilio.

Emilio nodded. He dipped his finger into the paint and continued the letter.

Andrew smirked. "And then, you can do this to Declan." He poked Declan's nose, getting paint on it.

"Andrew!" Declan complained, grabbing a wipe to try to wipe it off. "This is the third time!"

Andrew laughed. "Because it's fun!"

Declan glared at him as he wiped the paint off of his nose. "Do it to yourself," he grumbled.

Andrew grinned smugly at him. "I did. See?" He pointed to his nose.

Emilio looked up. He laughed. "I love it. It's a great touch, Drew," he told him.

Andrew laughed. "Thanks, Lio."

Emilio looked down at his letter and the space around them. He giggled softly. "We're gonna make a mess," he pointed out.

Declan shrugged. "That's why Mr. Miller had us all wear black clothes and clothes that are worn-out and old," he responded.

Emilio nodded. He looked at Declan's shirt. "I like your shirt."

Declan was wearing a Jesus Christ Superstar shirt. He smiled. "Thanks."

"Did you know that Andrew Lloyd Webber wrote the main theme for Jesus Christ Superstar down on a napkin because it suddenly came to him as he was passing a restaurant of which he knew the owner and so he went in and asked for a napkin because he feared he would lose the melody/lyrics or something and he was given a napkin instead, so he wrote down the main theme on it?"

Emilio took a moment to process this information as Declan stared at his adoptive brother. "How-"

"That's really cool!" Emilio responded as he continued to write "strike" with his finger.

Declan stared at Andrew. "How do you two- I swear- I don't-" he shook his head and decided not to ask because he'd never understand it.

"It was a really interesting fact that I learned," Andrew explained as he started making his writing of the word "strike" messier so that it didn't look so neat.

"Napkins have a horrible texture," Emilio commented.

"Oh my gosh! I thought it was just me who felt that way!" Andrew exclaimed, grinning because Emilio understood him.

Chuckling, Declan shook his head. "I don't get that, but I understand that you two are more sensitive to certain textures," he stated.

Emilio nodded. "Napkins are just one of those terrible textures," he responded. He cringed as he thought about it.

"I'd risk forgetting my main theme so that I didn't have to touch a napkin," Andrew voiced.

Emilio nodded in agreement.

Declan chuckled. "That is something I don't understand," he responded, dipping his paintbrush into the paint. "It would bug me too much if I forgot it."

Emilio shrugged. "I forget loads of things all of the time. I'm used to it," he said.

Andrew agreed.

Declan chuckled. "That's a fair point."

1138 Words
I've been listening to "One Song Glory" from Rent and "The Temple" and "Trial Before Pilate (Including the 39 Lashes)" from Jesus Christ Superstar on repeat (with some other songs) because I like the beats.
Idk, the songs that I like to listen to on repeat/the parts of songs is really hard to explain. It's mainly the background if it's a catchy beat. I've been listening to these for a while now haha, especially on the bus on Wednesday lol