Checkmate ⚢

Chapter 40 AFAIC

Althea headed towards the corner in her art room where all her yet unfinished self-indulgent works rested, covered by rags, to not allow Hana to even get a glimpse of them. She sat on her chair and unraveled one of the paintings, hoping to get some inspiration and finish it by nightfall. She picked up her brushes, dipped one of them into the muddy liquid of blue, and started dyeing the night sky that surrounded Hana on a broom.

She heard a knock on the door and with a quick movement, Althea covered the painting and allowed whom she knew to be Hana, inside.

"Hey," she said upon noticing her entering. Hana leaned over to her side and kissed Althea while arduously clutching some files.

"What are you painting this time?" Hana asked as she sat on the couch, her bare feet dangling.

"The one with you, which is still a secret," Althea replied and then lifted to join her. "How's the color on print?"

"Beautifully vibrant," Hana said, showing her the printed examples. "Do you think your acrylic paint can hold onto the canvas's surface?"

"If it's matte instead of glossy, yes," Althea said. "My acrylic paint can hold onto the printed canvas."

"Thank goodness then! Hildegard will have the acrylic prints done by tomorrow. Samantha's group will personally deliver the canvases here."

"How awfully generous of them, I will be sure to thank them then."

The scheduled delivery came with Althea repeatedly thanking Samantha and the company. After that, it's all brushes and the smell of acrylic paints upon the print, sunlight streaming in through the blinds, five-minute breaks which Hana insisted for Althea to take, consisting of eating leftover cake, turkey, and pies from the photoshoot that Natalya insisted they should bring, and stretching. Hours that melted into each other almost lazily, as if they have all the time in the world and not just a week and a half.

The colors come together but don't really blend, and under Althea's delicate brushwork, she calculated everything, always aware of how her next move fits into the greater picture. Her focus was almost scary, but every once in a while her whole face changed. She paused, looked back on what she has done, and lets herself smile for a couple of seconds before going back to her usual self.

The contrasts come to life. Althea lost herself in the colors and the shapes.

Hana fell asleep in the middle of the afternoon, right on the spare couch, and Althea let her. It brought a smile to Althea's face that Hana hasn't even bothered to clean up her fingers caked with crumbs or the streaks of paint on her face, too tired to do so.

Althea used the solitude to work on the painting, cleaning up the small errors they have made in their haste, going over places with a second coat of paint, refining shapes, and making sure that what they have so far matches up with the expectations.

Her eyes start to droop, and Althea puts her paintbrush down, can't afford to lose her focus at such a pivotal point in the competition. She lay on the other side of the couch, next to Hana, wrapping her arms around the smaller girl. Hana sunk into her embrace and they both fell asleep and dreamed of colors.

When they woke up, all their energy's been put into that painting, spending the entire day and night to finish, adding finishing touches, and fixing up mistakes.

"Finished," Althea whispered before Hana can say anything like she can't believe it.

"Holy, we're actually finished!" Hana echoed in disbelief, staring at all seven artworks that surrounded them