Caretaker Kankri: Kankri X Female!Reader

Part 11

(EPILOGUE)

You really want to paint.

The only problem? You are currently perfectly comfortable where you are, wrapped in the arms of your sleeping matesprit. Well, that, and the fact it is the middle of the day, when all sensible trolls should be asleep. But who ever said you were sensible? You gently extract yourself from Kankri's embrace and crawl out of your recuperacoon. After a quick shower—and a written note telling Kankri you are still in the house, in case he wakes up—you throw on a robe and head down to your office, already planning a portrait of Tarqin dozing on one of your bookshelves.

"Meeeeoooooww." Ah, speak of the beast. You grin down at the pawbeast circling your ankles, seeking attention. You bend down to retrieve him, returning his purr of greeting. You quickly make your way over to the room, setting Tarqin on a chair once there so you can gather your supplies. Turning back you expect to find the languid animal where you left him, but are surprised to see he has disappeared. You look around, spotting him near the back corner of the room and call him over.

"Come on, Qin. Don't you want to be in a picture? We both know how photogenic you are for my paintings." He blinks lazily at you, releasing a small mew of contentment and rubbing against the easel he was sitting next to. You head over, amused by his indolent antics and intending to drag him back to the chair—which, conveniently, had a bookcase right next to it you could use for reference. But when you get close the stubborn pawbeast walks away from you, hiding behind the easel you are kneeling by. Frustrated, you stand up to chase him down—

—but you pause as you glimpse just what painting it is you are facing. Kankri's eyes glare longingly out into your own, and you feel your heart clench in painful sorrow for the depicted troll. You had been avoiding this painting since before you and Kankri had declared your matespritship, unable to bring yourself to paint him objectively with the depth of sympathy and flushed emotion you felt for him. Of course, the painting is no longer so accurate. Maybe a touchup here would help. Or perhaps a bit of a curve there might reduce the loneliness of his expression...

Warily you pick up the unfinished piece and bring it over to your usual workspace, setting it carefully down on the stand over the protective flooring sheet. With a focused expression and a dip of the paintbrush you get to work, intending only to fix the small details you find inaccurate for his current state of being and to make the picture more palatable to your sight. Then you could work on that picture of Tarqin...

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Kankri walks into your studio later that night, the note you had written for him hours ago clutched in his fingers. You are completely oblivious to his entrance, absorbed in the strokes of your artwork. He lets out a sigh of relief, his eyes drinking in the shape of your face while you work on a painting he cannot see, due to it facing away from the door. Tarqin blinks at him from his spot on the bookshelf, giving a small mew of recognition but otherwise unmoving from his post. Kankri sighs, crossing his arms over his chest as he strides toward his wayward matesprit.

"[Name]." You jump at the sound of your name, suddenly becoming aware that you are no longer alone with your thoughts. You look up guiltily at Kankri, as you had been expecting to finish a little bit of your painting and then return to him before he awoke. "H9w l9ng have y9u 6een in here, painting away? Y9ur n9te implies that y9u have 6een up since ar9und midday, 6ut I sincerely h9pe that is n9t the case, c9nsidering the sun has 6een d9wn f9r at least tw9 h9urs 6y n9w. Y9u kn9w h9w it triggers me t9 learn y9u are n9t caring f9r y9urself pr9perly, and if I must I will n9t hesitate in tying y9u t9 me at night t9 make sure y9u get the rest y9ur 69dy requires. H9nestly, it is as if y9u listen t9 everything I say EXCEPT anything relating t9 y9ur health and well-6eing." He sighs. "Furtherm9re, I... well, I d9n't like it, waking up t9 find y9u've disappeared 9n me again. Y9u scared me f9r a m9ment, [Name]. As much as I appreciate the n9te y9u left f9r me," which he holds up between two fingers to show he had it, "I w9uld much rather wake up next t9 y9u than endure the m9mentary panic the 9ccurance 6r9ught 9n." You stand up and go over to hug him in regret. He kisses the top of your head, acknowledging that he knows you had not hurt him on purpose, and hugs you back, breathing in the sweet scent of your hair.

"Sorry, Kri. I really did only mean to be a few minutes, but I seriously lost track of time."

He chuckles good-humoredly. "I kn9w, [Name]. 6ut y9u really sh9uld take 6etter care 9f y9urself. As much as I enj9y caring f9r y9u instead, I'm n9t always here, y9u kn9w." With a gentle squeeze he releases you and takes you back over to your chair, sitting you down. "What have y9u 6een w9rking 9n that has s9 distracted y9u, anyway?"

"Oh, um..." You suddenly realize you had never gotten around to that painting of Tarqin—and had, in fact, only just finished the one of Kankri before he had interrupted you. You feel him pause as he sees the portrait, and you immediately worry about whether it would offend him or not.

"Hmm..." Kankri places his hands on your shoulders, studying the fresh paint of your creation. The first thing he noticed was the loneliness was significantly reduced, and, while not gone, there was a dramatic reduction in the influence of the emotion. Instead, his figure seemed to stand strongly in the foreground—a figure of purpose, confidence, and compassion, almost like his post-scratch self, the Signless, had been.

He could feel you nervously shifting in your seat, and decided to have pity on you. He remembered how you had told him once before that your paintings often made their subjects uncomfortable, hitting too deeply into the core of them for comfort.

"[Name], y9u never cease t9 amaze me." He bends down to graze your forehead with his mouth, showing you his approval of your creation and the gratitude he feels for the changes you have inspired in him, which are represented within the artwork.

"N9w c9me 9n, we need t9 get y9u fed, as y9u have n9t had adequate sleep f9r my tastes and y9u are just g9ing t9 refuse t9 g9 6ack t9 6ed." He leads you from the room, shutting the door softly behind him as he exits.