Chereads / The Wrong Vassal / Chapter 8 - Colors

Chapter 8 - Colors

The days went by, William finished organizing the house and they just needed to buy small stuff like toys. He checked the money they still had and decided to maintain that money for emergencies and go look for a new job now. Caleb and Blair still didn't like each other, but now they were more competing for William's attention.

- Caleb, can I see your arm? -

- Sure, I guess. -

William partially unwrapped Caleb's right arm. Looks like a long and deep wound dividing the boy's arm in the middle. William applies some small pressure on the wound.

- Does it still hurt? -

- Nah. -

- Do you want to take the bandages off? -

Caleb stays in silence. "What kind of idiot would still be with the bandages after healing?" He thinks, not knowing that kind of idiot is in front of him.

- I'm taking it off. -

The boy finally answers. William unwrapped all his arm and they did the same thing with the left arm.

- These look weird. -

Caleb says while checking his arms and his long vertical scars.

- You can cover up if you want to. -

- Nah, I'm fine. -

- Ok than. -

William stands up and starts preparing lunch for the kids. Blair approaches Caleb

showing off her arms without any scars.

- At least I have eyes! -

Caleb complains while Blair is basically rubbing her forearm on his face. She gets angry with the comment and slaps him, then he slaps her back and they start slapping each other until William stops them. Caleb still is not used to the amount of food Blair eats, but doesn't talk about it because William always sits with them to eat, even if William himself very rarely eats anything. After they are done eating, while William is taking their dirty plates and says:

- So, now we're over, right? -

- Yeah. -

- I'm pretty sure. -

- So… I guess we will have to commemorate! -

William says with some discomfort, but the kids cheer anyway.

- Can we have a second lunch at a restaurant? -

- NO! I want to watch a movie here! -

- I CAME FIRST! I CHOOSE! -

- THERE ARE TWO MEN VERSUS YOU! YOU LOST! -

- You two! Stop! -

William lets the plates on the sink and separates them before they start to get bigger and rip their clothes again.

- If you can't choose, then I will! -

William finishes doing the dishes, dry his hands, pick a paper, some leftover paint, a pot with water and a paint-brush. He asks for the kids to sit down again and uses the paint-brush to paint the palm of his hand with gray paint and stamps on the paper.

- Who wants to be the next? -

William askes while cleaning the paint-brush. Caleb is just confused.

- Oh! Me! Me! Me! -

Blair jumps of her chair and William paints her hand with the light pink paint they used to paint her room and helps her to use her hand as a stamp.

- Don't touch anything, ok? -

- Okay! -

- Caleb? -

William asks for Caleb's hand, the boy still quite confused but accepts it. William again cleans the paint-brush and uses the pastel orange paint they used to paint Caleb's room to paint Caleb's palm and also uses his hand as a stamp. After that, William grabs Caleb and Blair by their dirty hands and goes to wash the paint off. William leaves the paper with the hand-stamps on the table while contemplating whether he should go out now or not, while Blair is bored laying on the floor and Caleb is staring at the paper confused.

- Why did we do that? -

- The paper? We are a family now, and I thought it would be cool if we do some preschooler activities too. I made one of them when I was your age. -

- Really? Them everything! How did you paint it without any colors? -

Blair rolls herself closer to William and sits down with a smile. 

- Colors already existed back then! -

- But the pictures of your time are all gray! -

- They are not from my time, they are even older than me! -

- But that's too old! -

- No it 's not! -

Caleb continues to stare at the paper while William and Blair discuss what existed or not back in their dad's childhood. "We are a family now" is quite a confusing phrase for him, it's heartwarming and makes him happy, but at the same time it feels wrong. Unlike William, Caleb has a very expressive face that shows absolutely everything he's feeling, that's how William notices something is wrong and gets closer to him.

- Caleb, are you ok? -

- I'm fine! -

- Are your arms hurting again? Or is something bothering you? -

- It 's nothing! -

- Are you sure? -

- How did you know when to cross the street when the colors weren't invented?

Caleb stops making a serious face and smirks to William and they started to talk about colors and how they weren't invented.