“After Laughter” w/ ANTHONY•M
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“Oh wow!”
He holds the canvas up with a surprised laugh and for a second you can pretend the bags under his eyes aren’t there.
You watch with a tiny smile, trying to hold on to your excitement, as he examines your gift. He doesn’t play about it either, looking at it with a sharp eye.
“Water based paint. Pretty cohesive touch up on the lining,” he tilts his head and the canvas. “So what’s the name of this piece?”
“Um….Honey and spice.”
You half roll your eyes as you say the words but all your boyfriend does is glance up at you with a wide smile. It makes you feel like you’re flying even with the mild embarrassment you feel.
“And the inspiration?”
You giggle with a shrug.
���To make you smile I guess.”
Anthony pauses, rubbing the pad of his thumb over the ridges from your body in the yellow and gold paint you’d used. His smile gets smaller and your own drops completely in response until he puts the canvas down and beckons you over.
Your feet drag some as you walk but you move to him regardless, slipping your hand into his outstretched one.
“Is something wrong?”
He shakes his head as he guides you to sit down on his lap with that same soft grin. When you move to sit across his legs he redirects you to straddle them. You settle easily with his soft hands guiding you where he wants. You trace the laughter lines on his face when he speaks again.
“Nothing’s wrong baby, I love it. Thank you,” he pulls you into him and wraps his arms around your middle, you hug him back with a relieved chuckle.
All of this. All the sleepless nights slaving away at his art so it’d be ready in time for the show only for his pieces to be rejected because white people found honest depictions of blackness boring now. Feasibly you know he’ll bounce back from this, get back up with more ideas and new styles, but for now he was mourning a chance that had seemed plausible not three days earlier. So, you’d give him time but you wouldn’t let him go through this alone if you could help it.
He kisses at the line of your shoulder. It brings you back to the way one of his hands is trembling, spread wide on your back to keep you in place. The way Anthony instinctively quiets.
“Just- thank you,” he sighs.
At the tightness in his voice your heart clenches and you press a resounding kiss into his hairline from where your arms are thrown around his shoulders. He kisses you again on the dark skin of your clavicle and you rub at his back.
“Of course, Tee,” you whisper into his hair.
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NOTES: I know by all means that Anthony doesn’t become real broken up until he’s already started turning into Candyman but my need for angst & comfort won out.
If you’re curious about what the painting looks like look up ‘tik tok body paint trend’ on google. Hope you enjoyed! Also, here’s a link to the song the title is from.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN BITCHES!!!!
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I'll never forget watching Candyman (2021) for the first time and everybody yelling at Anthony to put some damn Neosporin on the sting.
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I started watching the Candyman 2021 movie, and now I'm wondering if the Candyman/Daniel (I know there's a literal hive mind thing happening, but you know what I mean) was watching Anthony his whole life, or if it only started when he went to the old abandoned house to take photos.
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