"So... Now can you tell me exactly what you're doing here?" Daria crossed her hands under her chest at the same time she tapped her foot on the hardwood floor waiting for Blake's response.
"About that, I was coming from the letter you sent me." Blake had put his thoughts aside when he heard Daria's words and tone of voice, and he didn't take long to respond.
"Oh, I expected no less from my best assistant, I guess your efficiency will show itself once again, right?" The seriousness previously shown by Daria had vanished once more as Blake's words seemed to be a melody to her, which made him think that she changed her mood very easily.
"You could say that…" Then Blake took the sack that he didn't use much, but now he had brought with him to store the herbs that he cut from the fields. He was looking for a place to put the contents, and Daria told him to use the bed since she noticed his small concern.
Daria was now quite happy as Blake was a great help right now, many times she would get excited and get caught up in her works without feeling the passage of time, so her art supplies would disappear without her noticing, interrupting many times her inspiration.
She was in charge of collecting or buying the materials she needed to make more paintings or other things, sometimes she would place an order anticipating that she would need it in the future or she was planning to do a very large work, but now that Blake was her assistant, she was quite pleased with his efficiency and help… But once she saw what was on her bed, her eyes shone instinctively.
Simply put, Daria's colorful bed had been filled with more colors, so much so that a rainbow would be good for comparison. All the herbs Blake had collected poured out of the sack continuously until a small mountain of them had formed, but it was still big enough to obstruct Blake and Daria's vision.
"Will they be enough?" Blake was seeing Daria's excited expression, so his question wasn't entirely necessary, plus the words that came out of her were even more convincing.
"Enough?! This is the best gift I've received in a long time!" Once she said that Daria jumped into the clump of weeds like a pile of autumn leaves, colors flooding the air and Blake just laughing a little at the way she was enjoying the gift.
"I guess that's the end of the little request, I thought it would be a nice gift for you too." Daria stood up once more after that, some of the herbs that had been crushed stained her bed a bit, but it didn't affect its overall view too much.
"It's more than enough! I even think I'll need your help to turn everything into the paint since you're my assistant, you should know some techniques that are part of my job… Of course I'll pay you for it, I wouldn't feel good if I force you to do all that without anything in return since it is a long and rigorous process." Daria had started with her usual flamboyant attitude, but she became more serious when she got to the part where she really wanted to ask Blake for help.
"I don't think it's necessary…" Blake was about to tell Daria that he had no problem helping her for nothing in return. For one thing, he didn't have anything important to do, and he was somewhat interested in what he could learn with Daria's help, but she wanted to push a little harder.
"No, Blake. We both know that there are times when I abuse your kindness… I am aware of all that. You didn't even complain that I took you as my assistant even though I dragged you into this… And I wanted to apologize for it now that I have the chance…" To Blake's surprise, the joyful atmosphere that could be felt in the room had now turned into a complicated one due to the way Daria was acting.
He glanced at her figure before simply ignoring her.
"Blake…" Daria imagined that Blake had been upset with what she had just told him, she also thought that she deserved it after taking advantage of him… But Daria was exaggerating with all of that.
A rhythmic sound began to fill the room a few seconds later. Blake's figure was standing not far from Daria's bed. He had taken a couple of red-colored herbs and used a bowl to put all of them in it and started to smash them with a small piece of wood continuously.
Those very sounds had drawn Daria's attention back to Blake, and the words that came from him reached her ears rather quickly.
"The price of this work I will decide later, now, am I doing it right? I only saw you do it once…" Blake had made up his mind, he intended to help Daria even if there was no reward involved… But if she was set on it, he supposed there was no point in resisting.
"..." Blake had left her speechless for a couple of seconds, but Daria also wanted to tell herself that she was acting silly right now. "I'm glad my assistant is such a big fan! But still, you'll need this teacher's guide to reach a professional level."
Daria had also taken enough to start her work as well as serve as an example to Blake. She seemed to be creating paint as if she had been doing it all her life, her movements were fast and precise, and she urged Blake to keep up with her… It was a good time, they even started joking among themselves with the painting they were getting, so there was no opportunity for boredom as the hours passed…
…
…
"Rainbow! I can start painting one more time! I owe you my life, Blake!" Daria had let out that victory cry once her gaze zeroed in on all the bins of fresh paint she now had.
"Haha... You don't need to go that far." A small drop of sweat fell on Blake's forehead at the sight of Daria's newfound happiness.
"Yeah, maybe I exaggerated a little." And like her usual attitude changes, Daria thought a little more about what she just said, which made Blake look at her confused, but that didn't last too long either since Daria was about to call his attention once again.