Author's note: Enjoy!
Disclaimer: The following characters belong to J.K. Rowling, and this story derives from her original works, storylines, and world. Please do not sue me, I can barely pay tuition.
Hogwarts: Assignment #10, Muggle Cultures, Task #1 Write about an artist, be it visual art, literary art or performing art.
Warnings: NA
This Magic Brought to You By Crayola
When Seamus came home with his bag slung over his shoulder, a pizza in hand, and very little patience left after a day of budgetary meetings, he was not expecting to see his husband sitting on the couch shirtless, their little girl attacking him with markers.
"Dada!" she said when she saw Seamus.
"Hey, Rubes," he said. He had just enough time to put down the pizza and drop his bag way less carefully before she tackle-hugged his legs. He kissed the top of her head and scooped her up, propping her on his hip. Her familiar weight in his arms nearly made him forget about the boring day he was hauling himself home from. "How was school, darlin'?"
"It was good," Ruby said. She had a sticker on her dress, which was the tell-tale sign of a good Friday. "Look at what I did to Daddy!"
"Yes, I can see that," Seamus said, turning his attention back to Dean. Dean grinned and crossed the space between them slowly enough for Seamus to admire all the doodles on his chest—an upside-down house, clouds lining Dean's collarbone, a rainbow arching over his shoulder, flowers blooming up and down his arm, a tree dotted with apples sprouting over his stomach, a butterfly on his cheek…
"See that?" Ruby said, pointing to a four-legged agglomeration of circles dead in the middle of Dean's chest. "I drew Fergus!"
"You did," Seamus said. "He looks just like our kitty cat, darlin', well done."
Ruby grinned, which was even more adorable nowadays because of the big gap between her front teeth. She also happened to have her hair up in a twisted-up bun, which was his favourite hairstyle (though Ruby naturally looked cute as a button at any given time). Her socks didn't match, her skirt clashed with her dress, and she looked as colourful as a rainbow. It was a good change after a day spent looking at purple Ministry stationary and wishing he was anywhere else doing anything else. Thank Merlin it was Friday.
"Can I go wash my hands so we can have pizza now?" she asked.
"Please do," Seamus said, lowering her back down. "Make sure to use soap."
"Thanks sweet pea," Dean said as their daughter made a break for the kitchen. He turned back to Seamus and smiled.
"What happened to you?" Seamus asked looking his husband up and down.
Dean leaned in for a kiss before answering.
"She said she wanted to grow up and be an artist like me," he grinned. "She wanted to start practising now so that she could make a mural, like the one I was commissioned to make to commemorate the Battle of Hogwarts. She was quite set on drawing on the walls, and the only other canvas interesting enough to satisfy her was… well, me."
"I'm thankful for that intervention," Seamus grinned. Those markers? Not nearly as washable as they looked—no matter what everyone said about easy cleaning spells and whatnot.
"Oh and before I forget," Dean said, turning around to show off his equally adorned back. "She drew you too."
The patterns and lines and blobs on Dean's back might have been challenging to decipher to someone who wasn't exposed to Ruby's artwork on the daily—to someone whose desk wasn't overflowing with crayon-based gifts and who hadn't painted one of her bedroom walls in chalkboard paint to make her canvas last forever. But since Seamus was that person, he recognized the collection of circles with the triangles arching out of it as a dragon. He also happened to recognize that the stick figure on its back was wearing the green sweater she liked to draw her Dada in, and the hat topping its head was the hat he wore to work when the weather turned.
He was gobsmacked. Even before he noticed the sword that the character was wielding.
"Is that..?"
"It's you," Dean informed him. He craned his neck to look over his shoulder and smiled. "Your daughter thinks you ride dragons for a living."
Seamus felt himself blushing. As he tried to splutter out an explanation, his heart swelled with fondness for this little girl of theirs and her ability to put more love and joy and faith in her assortment of colours than most people would manage in their entire lives.
"That's not—well, you tried to explain to her that I'm not that cool, I work in dragon poaching legislation and prevention and really all I do is read and write reports and pretend I know how to make spreadsheets and…"
"No I did not," Dean said. He grinned and placed his hands on the back of Seamus' neck, bringing him in closer. "Because your daughter thinks that you're a badass who works very hard even when it gets tough, and she's right. Who am I to disagree?"
Seamus wasn't sure what to answer, which made Dean smile.
He was here to correct his statement: he was grateful for both of his artists, who always knew how to highlight the good in the world and make it a better place. He leaned in for a kiss.
"Don't be gross, come eat pizza," Ruby called to them.
"Of course," Dean said. "I am starving. How many pieces are you going to eat, Ruby?"
"Twelve!"
"Twelve? I'll beat you by eating twenty," Dean said, picking up the pizza and making his way to the kitchen.
Seamus spent some time looking at his colourful back before following them in.
Stacked with: Hogwarts; Shipping Wars; MC4A
Individual Challenge(s): Black Ribbon; Black Ribbon Redux; Rainbow Focus; More Than England; Gryffindor MC (x2); Seeds; Brush; Unaccompanied Minors; Times Go On; Old Shoes; Themes & Things A (Family); Themes & Things B (Alienation); Themes & Things C (Painting/Drawing); Themes & Things E (Marker); Ethnic & Present (Y); Tiny Terror; Rian-Russo Inversion (Y); Click Bait It; In a Flash; Yellow Ribbon; Yellow Ribbon Redux
Word Count: 917
Shipping Wars
Ship (Team): Dean Thomas/Seamus Finnegan (Boom Boys)
List (Prompt): Fall Medium 1 (Takeout/Takeaway)