#kai rambles

It was just another peaceful night in the Garden of View, the toon rooms were quiet, the hallways empty, the night theirs for the taking.

It was just supposed to be her and Tisha that night, it was just supposed to be a very calm and relaxing painting session together, then-

"Knock knock."

... No that's not a typo ...

Brusha lifted her head up from her comfortable spot against Tisha's shoulder as they cuddled up in bed, her eyes squinted as she blinked away the fuzziness of sleep. She turned to the pajama theif beside her- the light blue tissue box now wearing one of her own sweaters as a dress again as she flipped the page in the magazine, the focus on what was supposed to be said previously mentioned painting session was looooong gone by now. It went from painting, to organizing, to yawning- now cuddling. And now some freak was at their door-

"Knock knock, jerks. I know you're in there you literally told me what you two were doing. Answer the door."

Literally saying knock knock instead of knocking on it.

Brusha blinked away the sleep some more, then she slowly shifted out of bed and tiredly opened the door, seeing a very similarly tired out Shelly in her usual dino onesie next to a bouncing, hyperactive Vee with a NASA shirt on and matching navy blue pajama pants with glow in the dark stars on them.

"How the fuck did you two even get down here-?"

"I hacked the elevator." Vee stated simply with a grin, getting a slow blink from Brusha.

"And the security cameras?"

"Hacked those too."

"And the program that keeps you in your room?"

"Hacked me too."

"You... Hacked... Yourself-?"

"No time to explain!" Vee proclaimed boldly as she struck a pose, making the exhausted fossil let out a soft giggle as she leaned against the doorway, her tail wagging as she started to fall asleep again. Brusha quickly stepped in and carefully picked her up, getting a quiet "thank you" in reply from the very very exhausted fossil. Brusha, gay and unashamed, gave her a loving kiss on the cheek and replied with a soft "you're welcome hon", then she looked back at Vee. Vee just stared at her with her big green eyes, her tail wagging behind her as she went from smiling somewhat normally to a huge, very much not sane looking smile.

"What do you want, Version Gay?"

"First of all you're not wrong, second of all I want to paint something I think would look really nice in your art gallery and would represent all of us in our own special ways because we're all gay and... Well let's be real, we're all so different right? But I think we're also pretty similar in a lot of ways and, I think having a painting that looks normal to- everyone else- that means a lot to us as a group would be really cool and, honestly really comforting. Not just for me- but for all of us on our bad days, as a reminder that we're not just toons living in some gayass world, we're thriving, we're finding love and we're living! We're also gay as hell and I have no idea how I'm saying half of this stuff, but does that even matter when we all have each other right here? Does it really matter what other people say about us as long as we're actually happy and... Feeling good around each other?" Vee questioned as she simply strolled into the paintbrush's bedroom without even asking, getting a glare from her love-nemy as she watched her from the comfort of not her bed. Vee didn't even care, she just gently started picking up paints and smiling as she turned back to Brusha, who was actually really interested in whatever nonsense idea Vee was talking about this time.

"I think we should paint a galaxy together, one with different hues of purples and blues and maybe some pinks to spice it up, and we should make the stars we paint show up in constellations that represent us as little like Easter eggs or something. Space is really beautiful, yet very conflicting. Like... There's stars that we see that probably were alive when the dinosaurs went extinct, but died off afterwards and we just don't know it because of how far the light travels to be visible, ya know? There's some that are newer and we just can't see them yet, there's even some that are from ancient constellations- and... I'm... Rambling again, aren't I?"

"You are, nerd." Brusha softly teased, gently pretending to ruffle Vee's non-existant hair in a lovingly teasing way, getting a raspberry blown at her in reply from the robot as she crossed her arms.

"I am not a nerd!"

"Nah, you are, it's quite adorable though. However I am quite curious about your color theory for this art project of yours, and wondering why the hell you broke into my room and started touching my paints."

"I'm glllllad you asked!" Vee proudly announced as she struck another pose, holding up the stolen paints like they were glass objects that should be handled with the utmost care- despite being coated in dry paint and the most abused paints you'll ever see in your entire life. Brusha and Shelly immediately were laughing at it, while Tisha just sassily rolled her eyes at the shenanigans.

"So have you guys ever heard of the Aurora Borealis? Northern Lights?? I was thinking we use your-" Vee then pointed at Brusha like she just won a game show "abstract artstyle to make the background, using shades of purples like your hair and blues like her-" Vee paused just to point at Tisha, which made her pause and look at the TV host in pure confusion. "Her... Uh... Everything. And greens like my body for the background!! Then we use her-" Vee paused yet again to turn and point at Shelly "Knowledge of dinosaurs to make the main constellation shaped like a dinosaur we all like to make her the center of attention since she's the reason we even got together! Then we use the spaces around the corners to make smaller ones to represent us, and we use a tanner shade of yellow to match her shell! And after all that, we use your glow in the dark top coat to cover the painting so we-"

"We'd have to use several of those, Vee. However, I do see how I could make such an ambitious artwork work, but it'll take time and patience."

"And all of us working together, right?" Vee pipped up excitedly, making Brusha and Tisha both sigh in unison, neither of them expecting to ever see this side of the gameshow host in front of them before. They never thought they'd see the happy go lucky, absolute space nerd and dorky side of Vee that they've heard Shelly ramble about countless times before. They never thought this was even a real thing... Yet here she was- Vee version one, the usually bland and stoic and blunt gameshow host was being a big, excitable baby as she posed like the world was hers.

It... Honestly probably was hers at this point.

"Yes... Yes we will work together, we all will have a part in this, but tonight, I think me and you should. Shelly and Tisha should get their rest, but you and me? We're energized, aren't we nerd?"

"I'm still not a nerd."

"Nothin' wrong with being one, I actually admire that about you, I just think its funny when you get mad at me for it. Now..." Brusha went silent for a good minute as she walked across the room, going right over to her comfortably purple bed and gently laying the fast asleep fossil onto it. She then gently covered her up in her softest blanket, treating the very soft and delicate fossil like she was the world's most precious item. Because to the three of them- she was. Tisha soon just silently handed the paintbrush the book she was reading before she carefully rolled onto her side and cuddled with the fossil, who just silently and carefully cuddled back in her sleep, her tail soon found wagging under the blankets.

Adorable.

Brusha would've stopped to admire her if it wasn't for the feeling of Vee's intense staring burning into the back of her head, so she just gave the two quick kisses on the tops of their heads and a whispered goodnight, then she walked back over to Vee. Vee just bounced in her spot, comparing shades of purples together as her mic tail wagged into a green motion blur behind her, so Brusha just chuckled and grabbed a clean canvas (HAH) before putting it onto her biggest easel, adjusting everything so it was perfect. Well, as perfect as perfect could be, she knew Tisha would appreciate it being slightly neat after all.

"I think blending this purple and this purple and then using this purple to fade it into this blue would make it look really really cool!" Vee spoke up after a good few minutes of looking at the various paints Brusha had in her painting corner in her bedroom, turning to face the now focused toon and soon watching her as she set out every paintbrush they'd possibly need in a neat order- the paint water cups already in their designated spots and their real cups set out where they won't drink paint water on accident. It stunned Vee to see Brusha so tidy... Then she remembered why that was happening and no longer was as impressed, as she knew all too well Tisha had made all three of them start being more orderly even if order wasn't what made her feel better.

It just was one of those things they've picked up from her, they supposed.

"I believe you're accurate on those color choices, Vee."

"I also think we should use this tan!"

"That is yellow, but I agree, that is a very nice star color, especially if we-"

"ADD GOLDEN GLITTERR!!!" Vee finished for Brusha as she excitedly held up the tube of golden glitter paint, which made Brusha burst out laughing as she nodded in agreement. She never knew two things until that moment - that Vee could genuinely be this excitable and sweet, and that she absolutely wanted to kiss her to death from accidentally giving her similar energy right now as it was absolutely humiliating to the usually very calm and sarcastic paintbrush to be so giddy and excitable too.

Wait a second - she's her girlfriend, she could kiss her right now and make her blue screen to death.

Nah, that's for later, as she was currently watching the little robot set out all the paints she thought would fit the painting the best, fighting off the urge to either mock her playfully for being such a cutie pie or trap her in a tight hug and kiss all over her face while nobody was looking. She definitely was blushing as she watched her though, watching Vee as she bounced between the paints and the workspace like a little bunny. Vee soon was done with her overly excited paint transferring mission, but instead of immediately asking to get started- she immediately started sorting them out by color, which was yet another thing Tisha had accidentally rubbed off on them despite it not being her main focus either, but this actually had a reason.

"We do the first layer tonight of purples, right? Then tomorrow, Tisha and you can do these, then when that is dry- we let Shelly take over and do the main constellation, then we all four take turns painting ours and signing it. That way, everyone has a role in it too, and it won't look muddy from too many layers either!" Vee explained as she pointed to every set as she spoke, making it extremely clear what she had in mind. Brusha blinked a few times at that.

"Vee, how long have you been plotting this-?"

"A week."

"Alright... So we do the galaxy background together tonight?" Brusha softly asked as she got the palette prepped, making Vee just nod excitedly as she grabbed the waterproof set of clothes she always wore over her usual ones so she didn't get wet from paint.

"Yup!!!"

"And you're sure you want to do all this while you're being such a gremlin?" Brusha teasingly asked, watching Vee as she nodded again and stretched.

"I am so certain."

And she was... Actually certain.

The night was spent with Brusha working on the top of the canvas and Vee taking the bottom, the two making some of the prettiest abstract versions of space they've possibly could've made together, Vee going from hyperactive goblin to quiet and focused the moment her paintbrush touched the paint. By the time they were done, Shelly was up and watching them sleepily, looking very at ease with just being a witness to this. Vee however- as Vee is- pushed her to her spot after noticing she was awake an watching.

"Shells, make it pretty, I gotta grab something."

"Oh- uh, okay, stay safe Vee!! I love you!!" Shelly called out once she was forced into Vee's old spot, then she turned to Brusha, who just smiled and gave her a quick kiss on the top of her head.

"We're working on the aurora right now, grab one of the greens and join in wherever you see fit, darling. Once this is done we're going to let it dry for a bit, so the stars don't blur into the background." Brusha softly explained, making Shelly give a singular determined nod before she picked up where Vee left off. Brusha soon just nodded again and gently set her paintbrush down into the water cup, stretching before she gave Shelly another kiss on the cheek.

"I'm gonna take a break, if that's alright, I am starting to not feel my wrist."

"I'll get it, Brusha. I know what you guys are doing and I could use a break from cleaning, go take a nap." Tisha softly spoke up as she walked over, making Brusha warmly smile and nod.

"I'll go slip into a coma for you, Tissues."

"Hope you never wake up."

"I love you, Tish."

"Hate your guts too, Brush."

The trio all knew that was a lie, they didn't comment on it though. The two now focused on the painting together, Shelly taking every stroke as seriously as she would when she would dust off fossils, while Tisha finally let herself just relax and take it easy, not at all focusing on how great she was doing and instead just letting herself be free with it. They both were at ease together, and Brusha silently just watched them with a comfortable smile, just resting in bed and enjoying the peaceful silence and the comforting show of the two just- painting together.

More time passed and the background of their shared work was now done and died, Vee was now sitting on the edge of Brusha's bed with her guitar in hands, playing some relaxing music for the group with it despite looking like she was rocking the hell out on it at the moment. Tisha was beside her now, gently cleaning her mic for her after she had untangled her cord, humming along with the soft and steady acoustic guitar playing right now. Shelly was still at the painting, gently painting every star in her dinosaur constellation now- which they all agreed to make a stegosaurus. "In honor of Limeade" they all cheered earlier that morning, the plush that was now being honored in said painting just sitting on the bed between Tisha and Vee. Brusha was now gently organizing the paints again, making sure they were all in Shelly's reach as they all silently just chillaxed together.

"I have been curious Shells." Tisha quietly spoke up after a minute, flicking the last little bit of dirt out from between the grills of Vee's mic as she spoke, getting a little twitch and slight giggle out of the robot. "Why did you make her a stegosaurus plush? Would've thought you'd go with something lesser known, it seems like something you'd do a lot of research on and thinking-"

"Oh! Simple! They're really iconic, and Vee is, and when I made the little guy, Vee didn't know much besides the information she was programmed with. So she'd have an easier time recognizing what species it was, too! Oh and on the dinosaur themed trivia show she hosted, she was a stegosaurus, and so was the winning answer! They just seem to come up a lot, and I think there's something lovely about that." Shelly explained sweetly as she painted, tapping her feet to the music Vee was making as she turned and looked at the two. Tisha just returned the sweet smile as she gently got up, though she just went and started helping Brusha out with the organizing.

"Shelly you should totally make us all stegosaurus plushies and name them all after drinks, it would be so fun to have one named Grape Juice." Brusha suggested playfully, flicking her bangs out of her face as she pulled Tisha into a side hug, who just pretended to hate it as she huddled close. Vee paused for a minute, then smiled huge.

"AND WE SHOULD MAKE THEM ALL KISS TOO!!"

"Plush stegosaurus wedding next month." Tisha chimed in, making the group all start laughing at the idea. Though knowing Vee- she'd probably make it happen. Shelly rolled her eyes as a laugh escaped her mouth, her tail wagging a little faster.

"Only if you guys let me make you two dinosaur onesies to match mine and Vee's."

"Deal!" Tisha and Brusha stated in unison, just for them to immediately glare at each other as Brusha shoved Tisha away playfully. Vee laughed as they kissed two seconds later, going back to her guitar as Shelly just went back to putting the finishing details on the constellation- making it as accurate as possible, just to ease her dinosaur loving mind.

The four of them soon were on all four concerns of the painting, adding their own little designs and lots of little stars around and inside of the main constellation to sell the galaxy aesthetic of the artwork, all four of them painting some of the stars as little hearts- none of them stopping the others from doing so. Before they knew it- somehow within a week- it was done.

A masterpiece of a space themed painting was completed, with every single one of their names written on the bottom of it in the most sparkly golden paint they've ever seen. It was Vee's idea, of course. It wasn't perfect, there were smudges here and obvious differences between paint stroke styles from the four of them switching to give each other a break- but it was a perfect representation of their whacky relationship.

A beautiful clash of colors, styles and interests all merged into one beautiful bond that the four of them swore up and down they could never break.

They all stared at it in awe when it was done for a good while, especially Vee, who was more than obviously happy that her glitter fest ideas were actually really good for this.

"It's... Actually a lot better than I expected. Much like this relationship... It's nice. I really like it." Tisha softly spoke up after a bit of silent admiration between the four of them, getting nods from the trio as they all looked at each other, then back at the painting again.

"Question is, where do we even put it?" Vee blurted out, making Brusha squint, then put her hand to her chin in thought. Tisha soon copied her exact pose, while Shelly just kinda walked over to the painting and looked over it before gasping.

"I think I know a spot!" She called out, making the trio look up at her. Shelly just nodded once, motioned them to come over before she grabbed one end of the painting to move it. Brusha quickly walked over and grabbed the other side, smiling as they lifted it up together.

"Lead the way, Shells."

"Will do!! Lets go!!!"

After a surprisingly very uneventful elevator ride and a few gay mishaps (and an argument between Tisha and Brusha before Vee shut them both up with kisses), the group found themselves in Shelly's museum, staring at the now framed and hung painting. It was right between two fossil exhibits, right under a light that shone down onto an ammonite display, which often made the toons question if Shelly had any say in what fossils were in there as they noticed she always gave it an uncomfortable glance. Though now, she stared at the now feeling finished display with pride, even if she knew there was supposed to be a dinosaur information poster where they had put the painting. That didn't matter, a cool ass painting was much more appealing to kids than a boring facts sheet anyways.

"You were right Shelly, it does actually fit there perfectly. How did you know it would?" Brusha asked after another long weird moment of them all silently admiring it, which made the fossil just smile sweetly, shrug, then skip away from the group to greet her handler. Vee just blinked, Tisha shrugged, and Brusha just chuckled.

"It was all part of her master plan to get more attention to the museum, eh? She's so evil sick and twisted for using us." Brusha joked, making Tisha burst out laughing.

"More like you are, you blamed the wrong toon for the idea, airhead."

"I know I know, it makes the joke funnier though jerk."

"I will never paint with you again, I hate you!"

"Will you both shut up and just kiss already? Jeez, I have a game show to host in an hour, I gotta go soon." Vee interrupted the two's "fight" with, making them just look at her, then at each other. The two just went on either side of their girlfriend and kissed either side of her monitor sweetly, making her screen go from the normal brightness to quite an intense one as her face now was mostly lime green.

"Aha... Ha... Thanks... I needed that..."

"Go cool off nerd, we'll see you after the show. Love you." Brusha stated as she gently pushed Vee to go to her job, but Vee just paused. She then looked back at the two, smiled, nodded once.

"See you nerds later, I hate both of you too. Toodles." The robot casually said, then she threw them a peace sign with her fingers as she turned back around and walked off. The two just chuckled at it together, gently taking each other's hands as they turned back to the painting they were standing in front of together.

"Brusha?"

"Wassup Tish?"

"We should paint together again sometime, uh, hopefully without Vee barging in that time. I think doing a simple painting would be nice after a long day of cleaning..." Tisha softly suggested with a slight shrug, getting a nod from Brusha as she put her arm around her again.

"Next week?"

"Yeah, I should be free next Tuesday afternoon-"

"I'll see you Tuesday afternoon in the studio then, wear something you don't mind ruining." Brusha stated, but neither of them moved. Tisha just leaned against her a little more, Brusha's grip tightened.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

Tisha just smiled at that, proud of herself for not immediately going to insult Brusha, even if all her insults were full of love.