Distraction (Sal x Travis)

Chapter 2

TW: Implied Abuse
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"Hey."

"Dude, Sally Face, hey."

Sal snapped his attention back to Larry, who was sitting in a crappy stool right in front of an easel with fresh paint on it.

"Oh, s-sorry...What were you saying?"

Larry gave him a sigh.

"Do you like my painting or not, dude? What's up with you today?" He twisted his body on the stool to face Sal, who had been sitting on the edge of Larry's bed.

"What do you mean? I'm fine." Sal's voice had a level of uncertainty in it, and Larry could tell, so he raised his eyebrow in a judging manner.

"If this is about the bologna-"

"No, really, I mean it. There's nothing to worry about."

"Okay, but...if there's something on your mind, just..let me know," He hesitantly twisted himself back to paint again.

"Thanks, Larry, I will...Oh, and the painting looks great, man." Sal smiled softly under his prosthetic.

Although Larry couldn't physically see Sal's smile, his brotherly senses have come to a point where he just knew. And he smiled back.

"Much appreciated, bro."

Sal let himself fall back onto the bed, dragging out a long, deep sigh. He looked up at the ceiling, letting himself zone out for a few minutes, and really process what had happened today.

Larry was definitely right, the bologna incident had been on his mind, but it wasn't quite bothering him the same way some other things did.

Some other person did.

But he didn't want to get too lost in anything.

He forced himself to snap back from his daily zone out, and twisted his head to Larry's painting to check on his progress.

"Hey, wait, is that...Megan?" Sal's lip upturned slightly, happy to see Larry painting their little friend.

"Was it really that hard to figure out?" He'd reply, sort of disappointed. It was clear that the painting was something he was working pretty hard on.

"No, no, It's just- you weren't finished, and the painting was sort of unclear, and I guess I...couldn't tell..?" Sal tried his best to make up for the disappointment he had caused on his big bro.

"It's whatever, man," Larry replied with a laugh, "I know I'm not the best at painting people..but, I thought maybe we could give her a gift, y'know? Hang it up in her bathroom or something," he stroked the brush on the canvas to add another detail on her face and continued.

"Being a lil' ghost squirt in the apartments, n' all..no toys to play with.."

Sal, laughing softly, said, "Yeah, I feel you.."

"And maybe it'll just show some appreciation for our friendship that we made with her, since she seems to have it so rough."

"Now that you mention that..I do feel really sorry for her. She never seems to be treated the right way.."

"See? Now you're gettin' it."

Sal was glad there was something to keep his mind of the bologna, now. Fortunately, a positive distraction.

"..That's pretty cool of you to do that, Larry. I think she's gonna like it a lot."

"Yeah, I hope so, dude."