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I splotted the yellow around some more, blending it into the dull pink upon the white hole of the canvas. The sunset painting was turning out quite brilliantly, all the colours almost exactly matching the ones on the skyline yesterday. I was running out of paint. I'd have to buy some in the village soon.

"Hello?"

Sasuke's voice called out from the other room. "Please come in!" I called back, setting my brush down and wiping my hands on my old T-shirt. As Sasuke entered the room, I stood and ran to get drinks and a snack from the small kitchen. When I entered the minuscule living room, I found him staring at the unfinished painting with a hard, grim stare. I blushed, speaking quickly, "It's not done yet, but it's the sunset from yesterday in the tree. I know it's not very good-"

"I think it's perfect," he said in a low, thoughtful voice. "It's perfect."

Blushing, I sat next to him and handed him a drink. "Thank you. Um..." I glanced nervously at him. "What did you want to do?"

He lay back on the floor beside the chair supporting my canvas. "I want to watch you paint," he said, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I want to absorb your relaxation, shall we say."

I blushed some more, scooting behind the canvas. "If you say so. But if you want to do anything else, let me know."

He nodded, and I began to paint again. Bringing the image of the sunset back to mind, I chose the wildest colours to decorate the white with. The darkest green for the shadowy forest, the brightest for the sunlit leaves, a near-black brown for the twisted bark lined with dark rivets. The small room slowly disappeared, being filled with the image in my mind, surrounding me with the sounds it held. The sky was a river of golden red, flowing onto the trees and dominating the world for those few seconds. The painting was holding hostage those seconds, so that they could be remembered in detail or shared with those unfortunate enough not to have witnessed the strength and power of the moment.

Only when I finished an hour later did I realize that Sasuke had been kneeling over my shoulder to examine my work, his chin almost touching my neck. I blushed and set my brush down as he murmured into my ear, "It's perfect."

I stood and walked to the kitchen to rinse my brushes and keep Sasuke from seeing my blush. "If you like it that much, you can have it," I said loudly for him to hear through the walls. But I turned from the sink and bumped into his chest, as he had crept up behind me silently. "I'm sorry, I didn't hear-"

"Do you really mean I can keep it?" he asked, staring with emotionless black eyes into what was probably the core of my soul. I nodded nervously, competing in the staring contest with the floor.

I suddenly felt his lips on my forehead, kissing me softly. "Thank you," he whispered. "Will you paint more for me?"

Imagining the uncontrollable red on my cheeks, I nodded at the floor. "Anything you want." I blabbered on, trying to fill the silence. "I need to get more paint though, so it might take a while to paint the next one-"

And so it was that we had started what I nicknamed in my mind "The Painting Session", which can be defined either as The Daily Painting Class (during which I taught Sasuke how to paint) or The Hours of Awkward and yet Comfortable Silence (during which I would paint and he would stare).