In The Dog House - KirinLying

Chapter 4 - Artist

Lying had managed to take the easel up to the bedroom by himself, and then returned to get the paint and canvases. He set himself up to look out the window, and then paused as he was about to start. What was Ridge's goal by giving him an easel anyway?

He reluctantly put the paint down, and turned to leave the bedroom again to find where Kirin had disappeared to. The house itself still confused him, but at least it started to lead him more when he allowed himself to tap into the house's energy.

He found Kirin in the library, looking through the selection of books they had been given. He silently moved to the storm sage's side, frightening the demi-god who dropped the book he had just picked up. "Lying!"

Lying ignored Kirin as he bent down, picking up the book and gave it back to the sage, who had seemed shocked at Lying's kindness. Lying himself was shocked with his kindness, and decided it was just repayment for getting breakfast that didn't suck, and pushing him off a chair.

"You know, I'm not even that surprised to find you in a library." Lying said, and Kirin shuffled in annoyance. Lying knew very well that Kirin has been too busy to be in a library for awhile, the crows doing their work well, but the idea that Kirin was in the library still was familular for him.

"Well, I was wondering what stories Ridge had left us. I figured he's the kind who would hold a whole bunch of sci-fi stories-" Kirin paused to gesture at the shelf next to him, and then the next ten or so. "And I was right, but he's also got a whole bunch of fantasy and romance as well."

"Romance?" Lying questioned, unable to picture Ridge with a romance book.

"By romance I mean erotic."

That fixed the image in Lying's head, and Lying rolled his eyes at that. He looked over at the books, surprised to find a lack of colour on the binder, and he looked for the fantasy books that Kirin had mentioned. He heard Kirin's steps behind him, and Lying found many books that he had read a long time ago. He chose one, and saw the title of an old tale.

"I remember that one." Kirin said and Lying nodded, quickly putting it on the shelf again. His face heated up at the shock of pulling that particular one out in chance. "I used to read it to you."

"Y... Yeah." Lying murmured and he glanced back at Kirin, who was smiling as he looked where the book had been place. Lying noticed how close Kirin had been to him to look at the book and promptly moved away. "I'm going to go searching some more. Maybe Ridge has some secret magic section and I can get us out of here."

"Yeah, sure." Kirin replied and Lying quickly retreated out the library and returned to the bedroom and his easel. He picked up the brush and started to paint, quickly getting the idea of what he had wanted. A landscape, not the one that was in front of him.

Lying was fierce in his work, not letting any detail in his work go unnoticed. As he painted, the story of this particular landscape floated into his mind. The colours of the flowers on the hill, the way the dragon was when he flew over head, the two children that sat on the hill.

He didn't notice when Kirin had sat on the bed and was watching him, but when he paused to mix together a new colour he noticed him and froze. He pretended the Kirin wasn't there as he mixed the paint, and then completely forgot him as he went back to the colours of the trees that edged the forest.

He took a step back, noting that the only thing in the picture that wasn't in detail was the two kids themselves, and he bit his lip as he stepped forwards again and continued painting.

Kirin clapped for him, as if he too knew the picture was finished even before Lying did. But as Lying stepped back he felt it in him. He turned to Kirin and coughed annoyed. "You do realize that you shouldn't watch an artist while they're painting?"

"Yeah." Kirin said and Lying glared at him. He spun on his heels and Kirin gave him a look that Lying recognized, the look that Kirin knew he wasn't going to kill him. It was a terribly smug look, and Lying wished he could tear his heart out, but he decided against it, as he did want to go home to his magic. "I thought you were looking for magic, not drawing scenes from home."

"And I thought you were mapping out the place, not loosing yourself in the library." Lying retorted and Kirin's look darkened, and he got up from the bed. Lying bit his lip as the man, who was only the tiniest bit taller then himself, somehow managed to feel so much taller.

"And I thought you wanted to get out of here, or has Ridge won your heart over with the easel already."

"Of course I want to get out of here!" Lying snapped back. "But I'm sure Ridge doesn't do his magic here. There isn't enough of an aura here."

"But there is a magical aura here." Kirin fired back and Lying tried his hardest not to shrink away from his glare. Kirin stumbled slightly over his next words, and then he shrunk back to normal size and left the room, leaving Lying to himself.

Lying shivered ever so slightly alone, and he turned back to the painting. He picked up the paintbrush again and signed his name in the top corner, where if he were still a child the sun would be. He washed the brush and pallet clean, made sure the paint was all closed again, and then left the painting to dry.

He left the bedroom and went to the kitchen, looking through the fridge to find a whole bunch of food that could be used for dinner. He bit his lip and looked at the time, four pm. If Ridge was going to continue restocking the fridge, then there was no harm in making a feast.

He pulled out a mixture of foods to make dinner with, humming quietly to himself while he cooked dinner for himself and Kirin, though it will look like he's made food for ten. And sure, they don't HAVE to eat it all, but he was sure Ridge wouldn't mind having what was left. And if he didn't, he might leave it there for a quick snack later.

By the time it was dinner time, Lying had manage to fill the kitchen with food, and had warned Kirin multiple times that if started eating before he had finished he will get stuck in Ridge's mansion, and was delighted with the wide arrange of food there was.

"Kirin! Dinner's ready!" Lying called out and he noted with glee that Kirin rushed to the room. Even as a demi-god, he knew that Kirin was ready to eat, and it must have been tempting watching Lying cook all these things that he couldn't eat just yet.

"You know there's only two people in the house?" Kirin asked but happily served himself anyway, always finding more room on the plate to fit more food in. When Lying was sure he was going to find food all other the floor when Kirin moved, Kirin managed his way into the dining room and sat down.

Lying soon followed with Kirin's answer, "Yeah, but it means more work for Ridge. After all, if he's trapping us here he might as well suffer as much as we can. He's lucky I haven't torn up all his pictures and carpet."

"That's an idea. Do you realize just how many pictures I found when looking around the house?" Kirin asked and he pulled out a crumbled piece of paper that showed a map, and Lying saw with amusement that there were many marks in the halls with a skull. "Just look at all those skulls! Those are all places I found his picture. This place needs renovating.

"Maybe if I paint more we can replace the frames." Lying said and Kirin laughed. The two looked over the map more, before Lying managed to finish his food. He yawned, but waited for Kirin to finish before the two went up to the bedrooms.

Once again, out of paranoia, Lying waited for Kirin to fall asleep and he heard his snores before letting himself rest as well.