(no subject)

[itwillbeokay]

Clementine had taken over the kitchen table.

She had gotten all the supplies she needed earlier that day to start working on the biome project her class was doing. The entire thing had been randomized, and she had actually found herself feeling lucky she got the ocean. She knew how to draw lots of ocean animals, and being near an actual beach meant she could even get real sand for it.

Which is exactly what she did. Bought supplies, got a jar of sand and a few sea shells in case she needed them for decoration. She had spent some part of the afternoon drawing outlines of animals she would color in eventually - a dolphin, some fish, a crab to name a few, all decently drawn for someone her age. But she had that all in a pile off to the side, because she was currently working on the box portion of it - and it was a decently sized box, because a shoebox was just too small - carefully beginning to decorate the inside with actual paint. Glitter would eventually get involved because she found some and it was pretty, but she knew it would have to wait until what she was doing dried.

She was starting to work on the back of the box when she heard the door open. Bailey reacted with a whole lot of happy whining, so Clementine knew it had to be either Andrea or Spike. Bailey saved that kind of greeting only for the three of them.

"Hi," she said, not looking up from what she was doing just yet.

Comments

[bloodyanimal]

Spike had a mug of blood in hand, and a peanut butter cookie -- those little peanut shaped ones with the cream in the middle -- shoved half in his mouth. He'd been told, in known uncertain terms, how disgusting the combination was, but he was over a century old and he'd eat what he bloody well pleased.

Taking a moment to chew and swallow, he said, "What's all this, then?"

[itwillbeokay]

Clementine smiled when she looked up and saw Spike. He didn't seem to mind her taking up the whole table - which was good, because she wasn't sure where she'd move it if it was needed.

"A diorama," she replied, looking pleased with what she'd done so far. She liked crafts - the assignment was right up her alley. "Have you ever made one before?"

[bloodyanimal]

"Not that I can remember," he said, picking up a little tube of glitter glue and claiming the seat at her side. Setting his mug down, he unscrewed the cap on the tube and gave it a little squeeze, frowning thoughtfully at the bead of glitter pooling at the tip.

"But it has been about a century and a half since I was your age, pet."

[itwillbeokay]

"You better wash that real good or that's gonna stick to your finger and make it sparkly," Clementine said with a small giggle, watching him. She could imagine he might not know a whole lot about supplies like glitter, either. "Do you want to help? It's actually pretty fun.'

[bloodyanimal]

"You think I'm not man enough to pull off a bit of sparkle, now and then?" he smirked, closing the glue and putting it aside.

"Fun, eh? Well, then, I can't say no to that, can I?"

[itwillbeokay]

"I think you would look very pretty with glitter," she offered, smiling. Clementine wasn't sure if he was going to be interested, but she was happy he was. After glancing around at what she would have to do, she slid the two pages worth of pictures of animals she drew, along with the scissors she had.

"Um, I need to cut these out so I can use them to decorate later. You can cut them out," she offered. They wouldn't be able to decorate all of it yet, since some were going to go on the paint that had to dry still, but there were things they could set up ahead of time. In case he wanted to know, she added, "They're all sea animals."

[bloodyanimal]

"That they are," he said, taking the supplies from her with a teasing sort of smirk, "Lucky for you, I'm excellent with a pair of scissors."

She didn't need to know, of course, what he had the most experience taking a blade to.

[itwillbeokay]

She was already back to painting the inside. It made the area smell of the stuff, but she knew it would clear eventually. She made sure to get the really fast drying stuff, too.

"My teacher's going to display the best ones," she explained, though she was concentrating real hard on what she was doing. "I really hope she likes mine."

[bloodyanimal]

"We'll have to make sure she does, won't we?"

He realized he was committing himself to seeing this through, but in all honesty, he didn't mind. While she was much younger, being with Clem reminded him, a bit, of those months when he'd looked after Dawn. Had been the undead nanny, out of necessity. The only difference, of course, was that Andrea didn't resort to him simply because she had no other choice.

He was wanted. Even he could admit that it was a good feeling.