it's been almost an hour since he and maxy started painting. daniel found a box of paints in the store that are supposedly very easy to wash, so he's letting maxy be as messy as he wants

his baby doesn't always like mess. he absolutely despises it when it comes to food - daniel quickly learned that if they have something with sauce or oil in their meals, he has to be a pack of wet wipes on the table too, in case the table or maxy's hands get dirty

but if daniel tells maxy in advance that he can be as messy as he wants - the little is always happy to play. daniel originally planned to just paint on paper, but when maxy moved on to trying to color in some of daniel's tattoos - he couldn't say no to him

he watches as maxy plops his fingers into the little jar of purple paint then presses them onto daniel's left arm. the shape looks familiar to him - a small oval for the head, a bigger one for the body, four legs and a blob for a tail - it's maxy's hippo plushie, the one daniel got him when they first met each other

"are you drawing coco, sweetheart?" daniel asks, petting max's head

maxy leans into the touch. "mhm, coco tattoo for daddy."

"that's very nice baby, daddy loves his new tattoo."

the real coco is sitting on max's lap, her lilac fur miraculously untouched by any paint. she's the only one who doesn't even have a smudge on her. maxy's hands are covered in paint, and so is daniel's arms and legs - dozens of little colorful fingerprints littering his skin. they'll both need a bath after this, but for now, daniel lets his baby paint, babbling something quietly under his breath

another 10 minutes passes in relative calmness, until maxy grows quiet, no longer touching the paint or even moving

"baby? are you okay?" daniel asks, worried.

maxy nods, then reaches for a wet wipe. daniel relaxes; the paint is probably itchy now that it's dry

but instead of wiping his own hands, maxy brings the wipe down to coco on his lap, and its now that daniel notices she has a big blob of red paint on her fur. maxy goes to wipe it off, but the napkin smudges it even more, staining the soft fur

maxy sniffles, and his eyes well up with tears. "daddy," he starts, voice low and trembling, "maxy got coco dirty."

daniel takes a deep breath. it's very important how he reacts now. this is a huge step for them - in the past, when maxy did something he thought of as 'bad' he would hide it and try fixing it himself, but it would always stress him out even more, and daniel would end up finding him hidden somewhere in the corner, silently crying

this - maxy trying to fix it then telling daniel about it - makes daniel's heart swell. even despite the sadness and worry in maxy's voice

"it's okay, darling. daddy said we could be messy while painting, remember? coco just wanted to be as colorful as maxy, and daddy" he says gently, pointing at the paint on both of them

"but..." maxy sniffles, wiping his cheek; it leaves a smudge of blue under his eye. "but she's ruined now," the little stresses, hovering his hands over coco like he's afraid to touch her

"she isn't ruined, baby," daniel replies, wiping a tear from max's flushed face. "she'll just need a little bath after we're done painting. and maxy and daddy will too."

maxy nods, then looks away shyly. "can we baf now?" he asks, "maxy done painting."

daniel smiles fondly, "of course we can, sweetheart. will you help daddy clean the table?"

"maxy help," the little nods again

they work quickly on cleaning the table and putting away the paints. daniel sets aside the drawings he and maxy did to put up on the fridge later, then follows his baby to the bathroom

while he readss the washing instructions on coco's tag, maxy looks at himself in the mirror

"wow!" he exclaims, looking at his reflection, "lots of color."

daniel hums, "yes, maxy looks like a rainbow leopard."

"rainbow leopard?" maxy repeats, looking up at him with big eyes. "what's that?"

"you know," daniel says, fighting a smile, "like a normal leopard, but their spots are different colors, instead of black. a rainbow leopard."

maxy pouts. "dont tink those are real, daddy."

daniel chuckles, "yes they are! they are very rare though, just like the rainbow."

humming, maxy nods. "maxy likes rainbows."

-

daniel ends up putting coco on the gentlest cycle his washing machine has. it says it will take an hour, so daniel makes the bath a little hotter so it will last longer, and brings max's favorite toys to distract him from worrying about his plushie

he doesn't need it, in the end. maxy is completely taken over the idea of rainbow leopards, and ends up bombarding daniel with questions about them: where do they live, what do they eat, can they talk, can they fly?

they finish the bath with twenty minutes on the timer. maxy agrees to have a snack, but only if he can watch coco, so they have a little picnic by the washing machine

when the cycle is finally done, coco's fur is clean, but wet. maxy asks if they can put her in a towel, just like daddy does after their baths, so they bundle her in a little hand towel. she spends the rest of the day like that, but by the time it's time to go to bed, coco is finally dry