by Hex
Wufei threw the back door open then cursed as it bounced back from the wall and tried to close on him. He limped carefully up the stairs and threw his jacket haphazardly over a chair. He made his way into his bedroom and changed as quickly as he could out of his work clothes. Maybe the change of clothes would make his day better, somehow. The morning had gone deceptively well, then lunch time had crawled in like an omen of the hell about to be unleashed upon him.
Completely blocking out the coming and goings of his coworkers as he poured over his latest assignment he missed the first ten minutes of lunch. Realizing that he had not brought any food he had reached for his wallet only to realize it wasn't there. He was sure he could have asked a coworker for the money for at least something but almost everyone had torn out of the office as soon as lunch time rolled around because it was Friday and generally no one stayed in the office unless it was absolutely necessary.
So hungry and exasperated with himself, Wufei had trudged through the rest of the day. He ended up getting stuck with the latest problem case. No small surprise there. He usually ended up with anything no one else wanted to deal with. What was exasperating was having it thrown on his desk at the last minute and finding out it needed to be in on Monday. As if he didn't have a life he wanted to lead on the weekend.
Now frustrated and hungry he had left work. He had been driving some what fast, that he knew, but he hadn't expected the cop with the bug up his ass to descend upon him like as if Wufei was in actuality the Antichrist. Complete with grossly over priced speeding ticket Wufei had finally made it to his home, a bungalow in the suburbs. He parked the car in front of the house so that he could water the lawn and not end up with a spotty car. He had been stepping out said car when he found the skateboard.
When he slipped he managed to grab the door and the car for support and remain upright, although that was not without its consequences. His shoulder fell back into the door frame and he whacked the back of his head on the roof of the car. What hurt the most, however, was when he rolled his ankle as his foot slid off the skateboard.
To add insult to injury the neighbor’s ever so sweet child, who was the owner of the skate board, pointed and laughed at him as he hobbled up the driveway to his house. If his ankle hadn't hurt so badly he would have been sorely tempted to reintroduce the child to his skateboard via the little darling's backside.
Wufei, now in ratty sweats and a T-shirt, went down into the basement and to what could have been a bedroom. The room was one that Wufei had always taught his guests was off limits. It was a space that he did not want people intruding on. A smart ass friend had once remarked it was because Wufei did not want the Feng-shui of the room ruined by gailo vibes. That was as far from the truth, as one could guess, but Wufei had merely smirked and let his friends believe as they wished.
The room was special and he did not want it disturbed. It was his hobby room. Any project he used to unwind was held in that room. All the things that helped Wufei strip away days like this were carefully preserved in that room. The prospect of someone disturbing that peace was almost enough to make Wufei want to choke them.
Wufei plopped himself down on the carpet then scrambled on hands and knees to grab a plastic bucket. He arranged himself on the floor by the wall and popped open the lid of the bucket. He stared for a moment at the colored contents and then selected the right color. He brushed it on the wall in streak then smeared it so it would blend appropriately with the other colors. The distorted image of the sunset reflected in the water of the lake was slowly looking the way Wufei wanted it to.
The sunset, framed by tall dark blue, snow peaked mountains, a forest of evergreens and a dark blue lake was the only incomplete wall in the basement room. The other three were covered in Wufei's other creations. The largest wall was a scene out of the sea. Brightly colored fish, seaweed that seemed to sway, and coral and other colorful creations decorated the wall. Sections were blurred others clear giving the effect of being under water. Juxtaposed to the colorful creation was a picture done entirely in dark blue and white. A set of rugged mountains whose peaks, groves and jagged edges were done in the dark blue. The original white of the walls being the snow. The picture appeared simple but gentle shading and harsh lines made it a complicated work. The most recently completed piece was on the smallest wall in the room, the one next to the closet. A large tree whose roots dug into the ground at the base of the wall and who stretched beyond the height of the ceiling. The tree's trunk was done in fine detail two different shades of brown, yellow and green highlights giving it definition and depth. Leaves were crafted with care to give the illusion of fluttering in the wind.
Wufei paused for a moment to survey his creations.
"If I let anyone in here they'd certainly end up brushing against the wall and end up ruining all my hard work." Wufei muttered in a mulish voice.
Wufei looked down at his hand and contemplated its contents.
"Yeah, yeah, blah, blah Chang. The real issue is: you don't want your friends to know you play with sidewalk chalk when you get upset." Wufei muttered as he brushed a stray hair away from his face. The action left a pale pink streak across his cheek. "One day I'll grow up. Just not today."
With that, Wufei continued to gently blend the colors together, his tongue poking out the side of his mouth as he worked.
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