Work Text:
Another Kind Of Canvas
“Will, of all the ideas you’ve ever had, this might just be the weirdest,” Mike said, lying on his stomach on Will’s bed with his shirt off, resting his head on his arms. He was pinned down by Will, who was sitting on his lower back, surrounded by his painting materials.
“Shush, Mike, I think it’ll be cool,” Will chastised him, tapping the top of Mike’s head and making him laugh. “Don’t move so much or you’re gonna ruin it.” He had a paintbrush in his hand, already dipped in dark blue paint, and carefully swiped it across Mike’s pale skin, testing to see how it would look. Mike immediately shivered.
“You mean don’t move… like this?”
Will jumped as somehow, Mike flipped over so he was lying on his back and Will was now sitting on his stomach. He grinned up at Will, putting his hand behind his head and pulling Will down for an intense kiss that set off a million fireworks in Will’s body.
“We can get to your painting in a bit,” Mike said as they pulled back for air. “Right now, I just wanna kiss the hell out of you.” Will grinned, wrapping his arms over Mike’s shoulders and fully leaning into him as they kissed hard again, the painting completely forgotten.
“Alright, now lie still, Mike, I don’t wanna mess up a lot,” Will said sternly, sitting on Mike’s lower back again as he brandished a paintbrush with dark blue on it. “I promise it’s going to look great, ok?”
Mike breathed in, his back rising and falling. “Fine. But can you at least tell me what is?”
“No! I want it to be a surprise!” Will said, carefully tucking Mike’s hair off to the side so it wasn’t in the way. “I promise you’ll like it, ok?”
Mike very carefully peeked over his shoulder, one of his large brown eyes that Will loved looking as best as it could at Will from the angle he was lying. “Fine, but I’m only letting this go cause I love you and your insane artistic ability.”
Will blushed at the comment, placing his hand on top of Mike’s head and forcefully turning it. “Just let me work, Mike!”
“Can you at least turn your tape deck on?” Mike asked, yet again stopping Will before he could start. “I’m gonna be stuck here a while and you won’t even let me read a book!”
Rolling his eyes, Will leaned over to his bedside table and switched on the tape deck, one of Jonathan’s mixtapes playing. He sat back, comfortable, and leaned over, finally beginning the painting. Occasionally the muscles in Mike’s back twitched from the coolness of the paint and the feeling of the brush against his skin.
They talked occasionally about random things. Mike would threaten to roll over just for Will to grab his shoulders and beg him not to, earning a laugh from Mike. All in all, it became quite relaxing for Mike, and Will could tell he was starting to doze off when Mike’s breathing levelled out, his head on his arms. Will could see his eyes were closed, and he had a tiny smile.
Will was so absorbed in his work that he didn’t hear his bedroom door open, and only looked up when he heard Dustin say, “Alright… what’s going on in here?”
It would’ve been a strange sight; Mike lying stomach-down on Will’s bed shirtless, almost fast asleep, Will sitting on his back wearing a flannel covered in paint with a few smears on his face, his painting materials gathered on one side. Dustin raised an eyebrow when Will looked up.
“Dustin, hey! Come look!” Will waved his paintbrush for Dustin to come over, and he did. He hopped onto the bed, sitting cross-legged and setting his bag of shopping down, and leaned over to see Will’s creation. His eyes widened.
“Geez, Will, this is amazing!”
“What, what?!” Mike said, his head desperately turning from side to side. “What is he painting? Tell me, Dustin, he won’t tell me!”
But Dustin just sat back, calmly unpacking his shopping bag as Will leaned over again, a small thin brush in his hand with white paint on the end and started adding some smaller details. When Mike stopped moving his head, Will had to push his hair out of the way again.
“Lucas is on his way,” Dustin told them, handing Will his bag of red vines. “Said that El and Max are gonna be late tonight.” Will nodded, sticking his tongue out slightly in concentration.
“Did you bring my iced tea?” Mike piped up.
“Got it,” Dustin responded, pulling the bottle out of the bag. “Though… hang on.” He got up, Will quickly taking the brush away as the bed jostled slightly, and Dustin left the room.
“Can you grab me a hair-tie too?” Mike shouted after him. “Might be easier on Will if my hair’s tied up!”
Dustin yelled back a confirmation, and Mike rested his head down again, closing his eyes. Will smiled softly, stopping momentarily to just gaze at Mike’s face for a few moments, marveling at how lucky he was. He reached out, gently stroking Mike’s cheek, and the smile he was rewarded with nearly made Will’s heart burst out of his chest.
He heard Dustin’s footsteps returning and went back to the little dots he was placing here and there. Dustin came back, a straw and hair-tie in one hand and one of Joyce’s smaller glasses in the other. He gave the hair-tie to Will, who put the brush down and started gently brushing Mike’s hair back with his fingers to tie it up.
Dustin sat again, tearing the straw in half and bending it slightly at the end. He filled with glass half with iced tea the carefully set it in front of Mike’s face. Mike very carefully moved his arms as Will twisted the band into his hair, keeping it well off his neck and back, as Mike took a sip of the tea. He grinned.
“Thanks Dustin. Wasn’t sure I’d ever eat again,” he joked, and Will lightly smacked his shoulder.
“Shush, you, or I’m going to paint something inappropriate.”
Mike’s eyes widened in horror. “You wouldn’t.”
Will smiled teasingly, spinning the paintbrush between his fingers. “Wouldn’t I?”
“If you two keep this shit up,” Dustin interrupted, helping himself to some potato chips, “Then get a fucking room because this is annoying.”
Will and Mike both laughed at that, and Will went back to painting as Mike sipped his iced tea and chatted with Dustin about some new show that was coming out. Will was consistently changing colours, mainly using dark blue, but occasionally putting in purples and lighter blues, as well as using white and yellow with the smaller details.
Occasionally, when Will was leaning particularly close and his breath fanned over Mike’s skin, Mike would give an involuntary shiver, and Dustin would have to force himself to not roll his eyes. Will could see the relief in Dustin’s face to no longer be the third wheel when they heard the front door open and shut, and Lucas’ familiar foot fall came toward Will’s bedroom.
“Hey, guys, I grabbed that new cartoon we wanted to watch, and whaaaaaat…”
Lucas froze in the doorway, holding a container of chili cheese fries in one hand and a can of new coke in the other, staring at the sight in front of him; Mike shirtless lying on his stomach, Will sitting on his back painting, and Dustin sitting cross-legged near them.
Mike turned his head to look at Lucas, smiling. “Hey, man, come on in!”
Lucas shuffled across the room, at a complete loss for words. He climbed onto the bed next to Dustin, shaking his head as he asked, “What on earth are you guys doing?”
Will leaned back, wiping his forehead and getting a smear of paint on his skin. “Check it out! I’m painting! El and Max heard about it somewhere and suggested I try it sometime.”
Lucas leaned over to look, and like Dustin, his eyes went wide. “Wow, Will, that’s amazing! Can’t believe you’re sacrificing a great piece like this on Mike’s body!”
“Hey!” Mike said, offended. “What’s wrong with me? And what is it? What is he painting?”
Lucas was about to answer when he noticed the glares on Will and Dustin’s faces. He got it, and simply shook his head, grinning mischievously.
“You’ll have to wait, dear Michael,” he said, opening his container and popping a fry in his mouth. “I know you’re gonna like it though.”
Mike pouted, putting his head back in his arms. Will, Lucas, and Dustin shared a conspiratorial grin, and Will went back to painting as Dustin asked Lucas about how El and Max were.
It was late when Will finally finished the painting. Mike had fallen asleep about an hour earlier, and Dustin and Lucas had gone home. Will leaned back, admiring his work with a small smile. It was gonna take a bit to dry, and with Mike fast asleep, Will carefully climbed off him, gathering his painting supplies and putting them back on his desk.
As he wiped his hands off with a rag, he went back to look down at his creation. It was… it was perfect. Probably a large part of it was because it was on Mike, the love of his life. Mike’s face was buried in his arms, his hair over his forehead, and Will sat beside him, reaching out to gently brush the hair out of Mike’s eyes.
Mike stirred at the contact. He blinked blearily at Will, and a tired, soft smile came over his face. “Hey, you,” he whispered, gently taking Will’s hand and kissing his knuckles. “Are you done yet?”
Will nodded. “Yep. I’ll just get my camera so I can give you a photo of it. Be careful getting up.”
Rubbing his eyes, Mike carefully got up, trying not to bed too much as Will went to his desk and fished about in the bottom drawer for the polaroid camera he rarely used. He found it quickly, taking it out and making sure it was all set up.
Since he rarely used it, everything was still in place, and he turned back to Mike. Mike was sitting on the edge of his bed, hair messy, blinking as he slowly woke up. Even like this, he looked so… Will really could have just looked at Mike forever.
He stood. “Ready?”
Mike nodded. He stood, turning and showing off the artwork painted over his skin. Standing up, bathed in the light from Will’s bedside lamp, Will’s breath hitched in his throat. Hands shaking, he swallowed and snapped a picture. Mike just waited as the photo came out, and Will grasped it, shaking it in the air.
One minute… Two… Finally, the picture developed, and Will had to take another one so they both had one. It really was one of his nicest pieces, and it had taken him a matter of hours with the concentration he put in.
“Can I look now?” Mike asked. Will put the camera down on his desk, crossing the room to stretch up and kiss Mike gently. He felt Mike’s hand on his hip, pulling him closer, his other hand going up to cup Will’s face.
The fire licked along Will’s veins, setting him alight. He breathed in sharply, smelling paint and Mike’s cologne, and they pulled away to briefly touch foreheads. Then he handed Mike one of the photos.
Mike took his, his long slender fingers brushing Will’s briefly, and he sat back on Will’s bed. Will sat beside him anxiously as Mike studied the picture, and the artwork that currently covered his back.
Will had painted, essentially, a galaxy. The background was the dark blue; the dots of stars as well as streaks from shooting stars, ranged between white and yellow. The planets were different shades of purple and blue, and there were so many. The detail was insane for just a few hours of Will acting on an idea Mike had originally called weird.
“Is it… ok?” Will asked in a shaky voice.
Mike put his finger under Will’s chin, pulling him for a soft, tender kiss. Will relaxed underneath him as Mike slowly pulled back, putting his forehead against Will’s.
“I’m sorry for making fun of you,” he whispered. “It’s amazing, Will. It’s perfect, actually.” He smiled. “You remembered how much I like space.”
Will breathed a laugh. “Of course I remembered.” He grabbed Mike’s hand, intertwining their fingers. “Thanks for this little experiment, essentially being a canvas of sorts.”
Now Mike laughed, shaking his head. “I love you, Will.”
“I love you too, Mike.”