Raised by Lions

Chapter 44

Building and painting a stage, dinosaur and meteor was more work than Dom had made it out to be.

Legosi and Toby were thankfully left to paint the dinosaur while the rest of the stage crew went to put the stage together. The actors were still on campus today, so Louis wasn't around the festival grounds, but that also meant that Juno was very far away from him, which Legosi was immensely thankful for.

"Hey, uh, we need more water," Toby mentioned, throwing a glance at Legosi, who nodded and got up. "Will one bucket be enough?" Legosi asked as he stretched his back enough for it to pop. Toby nodded and Legosi grabbed the bucket to go fill it by the communal taps.

Haru popped up beside him to get some water for her watering can. "How's preparation going?" She asked, getting a shrug in return. "Kinda boring, but Dom put me and Toby on painting duty, so at least we get some peace while working," Legosi grumbled, making Haru laugh.

"Well, it's a lot easier for me than last year, what with the new members," Haru smiles proudly. Legosi closed the tap and looked in the direction of the gardening club stall. "Who's who?" He asked. He was kind of just buying time to slack a little bit. The late afternoon sun was making him way too lazy for his own good.

Haru's ears perked up as she happily named the three underclassmen by the stall. "The doe is Asui, she's a first year and very helpful. The male goat is Steven, he's in second year. I have to stop him from chewing on the tulips every few minutes, but it's worth it since he is so driven to help out. And finally, that female alligator is Jessie, she's a first year and rather timid and gentle."

Legosi nods along as she speaks, unintentionally sizing up her new club members. He apologised after realising he's been there for a while and returned to where Toby was still busy painting.

They shared a laugh when they bumped into each other while trying to paint above their heads and ended up leaning back against each other while they worked instead.

"He's very calm to be that near to a dangerous creature," Someone commented and their friends agreed, unfortunately within earshot. Legosi threw them a glare, but noticed how Toby shrunk into himself. Legosi sighed and patted his shoulder, "Hey, ignore them."

Toby nodded, his eyes telling Legosi everything over the edge of his mask. "I'm used to it, but it still hurts, you know?" Legosi nods, "I understand, though, as long as I'm here, no one is going to hurt you." Then he got an idea.

Legosi reached into his shirt and pulled out a small glass ball from in there. Usually, they used these for small bombs, but it wasn't always loaded with explosives. Legosi grabs a tube of paint and fills up the little ball, closing the mechanism with an audible click.

He held it up so Toby could see, the kid frowning in confusion. "Watch this, kid," Legosi said with a grin on his face. A moment later, he pushes the button to activate the mechanism and throws it towards the group that made the nasty comment.

Confusion sounded, until the paint bomb went off and splashed the group full of orange paint. Legosi started laughing and soon Toby joined in, leaning against each other to stay upright.

Dom gave them a disappointed face as the group ran off, bitching, but Legosi caught a hint of a smile as the peafowl turned away to focus on the stage building again.

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It's been a couple days since the paint bomb prank and Legosi and Toby were almost done painting the entire dinosaur, they just had the top part left.

"Is this safe?" Toby asks, clinging to an intersection of scaffolding as they climbed up to the top. They'd brought said scaffolding from the school to help them finish the job. Legosi shrugged, pulling himself up another level, "Doesn't really matter to them, it's the two of us climbing this thing and I doubt they think we'll get hurt if we fall."