#soz if this is garbage my brain is a little mushy lately

[halorocks1214]

art comes in many forms

whattup, its ya boi, snatching another #irrelief from @gumnut-logic​‘s challenge because i literally cant write anything else it seems. @eirabach​‘s prompts graced my dash and i was quite fond of “Virgil + Eos + art“ so this is for chu <3

Summary: Virgil wasn’t expecting to give EOS a lesson in human behavior. That’s usually John’s forte, though, he wouldn’t put it past the ginger to sic her on him for this one, the prick.

Virgil was not immune to someone watching him create his works of art.

If he was to be honest with himself, he actually preferred someone in the background as he did so. It gave him a sense of grounding, and it spoke to that inner part that wanted to impress the nearest human like a child would their parent. Look! Look at what I made guys!

Though, he never thought about how he would react to a literal robot being the one to watch him.

Does she even have the same standards as a human?

“Virgil... may I ask a question?”

Oh boy, “Sure?”

She cleared her nonexistent throat (which John definitely taught her that, Virgil betted his new set of brushes on it), “Why do you humans make... art?”

Huh, that wasn’t what he was expecting. It was a fair question, though, since there were a million reasons why humans gravitated toward art as a hobby, and if EOS only looked at examples people haphazardly gave on the internet she probably got overwhelmed.

Setting down his brush, Virgil placed his now-free hand on his hip, “Well, I know I personally, at least, make art as a form of stress relief. Sort of like how Gordon swims laps and John calculates problems over and over again. It gets our minds off the bad things in life that won’t leave us alone.”

The A.I. blinked her lens in contemplation, “Hmm.”

Virgil shrugged as he started painting again. If what she asked was a fair question, then that was a fair response, both from him and her. He gave his answer, and there was nothing else either of them really needed to add to it.

What she said next was also technically a fair response, even if it nearly made him snap his brush in half from shock alone.

“Can you show me how to make art?”

John, I’m going to kill you when you come down next time, just an FYI, “Um, sure, there are some digital art programs I can get John to download for you.”

That got a unique reaction out of the A.I., “There’s more than one kind?”

This was going to be a long conversation.

But a part of him was looking forward to it.

He was still going to chuck the first hard thing he could get his hands on the next time he saw his astronaut brother, however.

---

That rescue sucked ass.

Of course, they did their best and they probably prevented a lot of unnecessary deaths in the long run, but it was one of those rescues where it made them think did they really help at all? Are they actually needed when there’s practically nothing they can do?

Limping into his room, Virgil was stretching his arms over his head when he felt a shiver travel down his spine.

With his arms still in that position, Virgil slowly turned around like a cartoon scene with wide eyes to spy a familiar camera in the corner of his room.

Hopefully, she didn’t pick up on the way he nearly jumped three feet out of his pajama pants.

If she did, John taught her enough manners to not bring it up, “Welcome back. I was hoping to show you something before you went to sleep.”

Breathing heavier than he would have liked, Virgil gulped down his shock, “Oh? What would you like to show me?”

She looked around the room with her singular eye, reminding Virgil of how Gordon or Alan got when they were doing something that made them nervous, which Virgil never expected her to be of all things. Nervous. Anxious.

Eventually, she bit the bullet, “Since John did not need me as much for that last rescue, I was able to play around with that app you showed me the day before.”

Blinking once, Virgil was starting to get at what she wanted, “You wanna show me a picture you made, is that it?”

She flashed yellow for a moment, “... Yes, I would like to. If I am allowed.”

Jeez, she sounded like a kicked puppy sometimes, “Alright, then show me.”

It was another few moments of nothing before a hologram blinked into view. Once his eyes got over the brightness, Virgil looked more closely at the piece of art he was being presented.

It was, ah... it was something.

It was definitely human, that at least Virgil could tell. The lines weren’t clean at all, and while Virgil may not dabble in the digital circles of art society, he knew when someone forgot to delete a layer. Or maybe two. The eyes were noticeably two different sizes, with no whites in them at all, only filled with a weird aqua color with two black dots in the middle. Also, for some reason, this person was growing curved carrots on the top of their head--

Oh. Oh.

Rubbing his hand over his chin with a grin, Virgil gave his final opinion, “Well... your shading could use some work,” a blink of red, “But you got his face shape down okay. A little more practice and I could see you making some real masterpieces.”

She must not have been expecting that because, after a few more moments, her voice was uncharacteristically quiet, “... Really?”

How old was she programmed to be again? “Yeah, EOS, I can see you being a really good artist.”

The A.I.’s lens adjusted as she accepted the answer, “Thank you, Virgil. That really means a lot,” Virgil let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding before abruptly choking on it due to her next words, “I was hoping it was good. I wanted to give it to him as a gift.”

Wait-- “Ah, maybe not that, though.”

EOS froze, “Why not?”

Shit, “Well, I’m just saying, maybe we can work on something that is more, er, ‘refined’? John isn’t a vain person, so maybe we should give him a portrait of, like, stars or something, I don’t know.”

This A.I. really liked silence for some reason, which was probably why she liked following it up by abrupt words even more, “We?”

Whoops.

Well, there was no going back now, “Yeah, like I said, I may not work with digital, like, at all, but I do know art. I’m not saying they’re interchangeable interfaces, but maybe I can give you some points on how to create a piece while you simultaneously look up how to use the different types of brushes in that app?”

Virgil wasn't even aware of the fact that his voice was ever so slightly getting higher and higher pitched as he reached the end of his sentence. Apparently, neither did EOS, “Hmm, well, if anyone knows what John would be looking for, it would be you. Interchangeable interfaces, I thought I was talking to him for a second you know.

Wa-how, okay. She really was John’s creation holy fuck. Christ.

And yet, he found himself chuckling despite it, “Yeah, well, it’s not our fault TIME Magazine keeps getting our names switched around.”

Then she laughed. It was very small and short but it was genuine laughter and Virgil wondered if his helmet actually and truly absorbed everything that blow to the head he got earlier gave him.

Rubbing the back of his neck coyly, he finally meandered over to the bed and flopped down on top of it very gracefully, as in, not gracefully at all. He barely registered EOS speaking once more, “Thank you again, Virgil, for being willing to do this for me.”

The last thing Virgil could do was give a measly thumbs up before that familiar gentle blackness fully consumed him.

EOS could only watch the black-haired Tracy with one last thought. Huh, the internet was right. Artists are weird.

“Goodnight, Virgil.”

She was met by plentiful snores. Goodnight, EOS.