I went to the bathroom, changed as quickly as I could, and then came out to see Amethyst setting up the paint buckets on the platform.
“I’m almost ready, hold up,” he said as I approached him. After he was done, he put his hand out for me to take and helped me up on the platform. “Alright, so I opened the skyline.” He pointed up, and I noticed that the roof had been retracted, and the night sky was twinkling down at us. “If at any point you feel like you’re lightheaded or anything, let me know so I can get you out of here.”
“I thought you said this was safe,” I said as I walked around looking at the different colors. I loved painting. I wasn’t good at it, but that didn’t take away from my enjoyment.
“It is, but I’m taking precautions,” he answered, and I smirked. “For real, Sunshine, if you don’t feel right, let me know.”
“I will,” I said, waving him off. The more color options I noticed, the more excited I got. I wanted to paint. “Now, where are the canvases?”
“You’re standing on it,” he answered, and I looked up at him, confused. “This whole platform is for you to paint, anyway you want.” He walked around the platform in a pair of ball shortsand tall socks. He looked good as hell without trying. “Now what do you want to paint?”
“I don’t know,” I said, shaking my head. I was prepared to paint something small, not this big ass space. “I don’t even know what I could do.”
“That’s the magic of it all, Sunshine. We can paint whatever we want, and no one can tell us it’s wrong,” he said, smiling. “Now I do have an idea, and you can tell me no if you want.”
“Tell me what you want to do,” I said, looking around.
“I want to paint your belly,” he answered.
“We have this entire platform, and you want to paint my belly?” I asked, and he nodded. I looked at the paint and thought about it. “I get to paint the platform if I let you paint my belly?”
“Yeah,” he answered. “I got this shit for you to do anyway. I only want to paint your belly.”
“Okay,” I replied, and he looked surprised. “What color do you want to paint it? And what are you painting?”
“That’s the other stipulation,” he said as he approached me. “I get to blindfold you while I do it.”
“Then, when you’re done, I can see?”
“Nope.” He shook his head.
“No?” I repeated. “What are you going to paint on me?”
“That’s for me to know.” He put his hand out for me to shake. “Now, do we have a deal or what?” I hesitated for a moment, then shook his hand. “Sit in the middle of the platform and relax.” He helped me sit down, then blindfolded me with a towel he had in his pocket. After checking to make sure it wasn’t too tight, he kissed my cheek. “I’ll let you know when I’m finished.”
“Okay,” I said, nodding. The first time the paint touched my skin, I jumped. “Shit, that’s cold.”
“My fault,” he chuckled. A few seconds later, I felt more paint being added to my stomach, and I sat there waiting. “Eventhough your stomach isn’t the biggest, it’s going to get bigger. I swear it feels like every day it gets bigger.”
“It feels like it does,” I said, nodding. Every few seconds, I heard a clicking sound, which confused me. “Amethyst, what’s that sound?”
“The camera taking pictures,” he answered. My hand went to the towel covering my eyes. “Nah, what are you doing?”
“You’re taking pictures of me?” I asked. I tried to move the towel, but he stopped me.
“Not me personally,” he said, moving my hand from the towel. “It’s a part of the package I paid for. It’s for memories and shit. You know, it allows people to live in the moment without worrying about taking pictures. It’s done for us.”
“So, I will be able to see what you paint on my stomach then, huh?”
“Nah,” he denied. “I won’t show you; these are my memories.”
“But I want to see,” I fake-pouted.
“Suck that lip in, girl,” he laughed, which made me smile. “You’re spoiled as fuck for no reason. Let me have my memories, you’ll get yours.”
“Fine.” I crossed my arms and didn’t pull in my bottom lip.
Amethyst leaned forward and kissed me, making sure to bite into my bottom lip and pull at it before pulling away. “You’re spoiled. I’ll show your ass one day.”
