Chapter 9: The Artist’s Workflow

A couple days have passed since Anne arrived in Daniel's life as his declared new mother. In such a short time, she's developed quickly.

Schlick slick!

In more ways than one too.

"Hehe, does it feel good?"

So quickly, in fact, that she's already speaking clearly. Further, her assimilation of Amy's life and memories appears to be more or less complete. That became the most evident when Daniel saw her choke up yesterday as she looked up the first image of the black hole, Sagittarius A* — an advancement that Amy would've never seen otherwise.

Except Anne isn't completely Amy. She is undoubtedly influenced by the astronomer's passion for science, the universe, and cooking; however, her personality and love for her son are beyond what a mother should have.

This much is clear to Daniel as he groans, feeling her entire chest and core ripple across his submerged cock. Even though he's enjoying this, he's troubled by how easily he's slid into her rhythm since he gave into her feelings. With each act, he feels less remorseful every day.

Speaking of which...

"H-how did we get here again?" he asks, exhaling sharply.

Anne narrows her eyes and harrumphs, shaking her chest faster. "You're really asking that? Honestly, how can you start working when you're hard like this? Mama is here for you, so there's no need to hide it!"

"S-sorry."

Truthfully, he doesn't want to make a habit of expecting anything from the slime. Trying to explain that would make his slime mother more upset, so he doesn't say anymore.

With a huff, Anne pushes forward, burying his cock deeper and enveloping his balls. "Mama will make it a little tighter, okay?"

Daniel grunts in response. Despite mentally preparing himself, it's all lost as he feels her mass squeeze and wiggle below his sack.

"O-oh fuck...nngh!"

Anne breathes out lovingly, wrapping her arms around his waist and nuzzling her gel head against his stomach.

"That's it, my baby. Just let it all out for mama."

"Fuck! Mooom!" Daniel groans, panting as he releases white streams into her body. As he does, the attached slime coos.

"Good boy! My sweet baby~"

Like a potter molding clay, Daniel feels his cock massaged to ensure all of his cum is out of his system. By the end of this process, he wobbles in his seat, but luckily Anne keeps him steady. Once his cock is limp, she slowly removes herself, then stands up. All of his ejaculations are nowhere to be found in her body, having already dissolved.

With a giggle, Anne leans forward and locks lips with her sweet artist, humming into his mouth before breaking apart with a warm gaze. "Was that good, sweetie?"

Daniel exhales, lightly blushing at her soft voice before clearing his throat and trying to calm his beating heart. "U-um...y-yeah. T-thanks."

"Of course!" Anne chirps, hopping to the seat beside him. She clasps her hands together while her eyes sparkle, ready to move forward. "So, are you going to start painting?"

The artist slumps exasperatedly, pulling up his pants before readjusting himself on his chair. It's odd to continue immediately after her envelopment, but when she's this excited to see him working, he can't decline.

As such, he stares at the canvas in front of him meant to celebrate a client's twin daughters. Right now, it's an underpainting of two girls pressing hands and heads together with their eyes closed. A rather unique picture than his usual portraits meant to portray their sisterly bond.

Taking his time to see if there's any adjustments needed for the underpainting, he then picks up his brush. "Even though you're not the same as Amy, I didn't think you'd be interested in this."

When it comes to his paintings, Amy didn't have the time nor patience to watch through his process, but ultimately, she would always see the finished product with a proud smile. She wasn't afraid to be critical either, giving her opinion on anything that looked off to her.

"Ah, well..." Anne begins, fidgeting. "Amy regretted not trying to understand your passion enough, so I want to be better."

The artist raises his brows for a moment before snorting. "I don't think that's something to regret. She has her interest and I have mine. Just having her support until she died was enough."

Anne frowns. "But that's no good! Mama wants to understand you better! I refuse to become a workaholic like Amy was!"

Daniel chuckles, finding it funny that she's criticizing part of herself.

"Huh? W-why are you laughing!?"

The artist stops himself, coughing. "Mom, of course it's easy to say that when you don't have a job...or rather, I'm not sure if that'll be possible."

The slime stares blankly before gasping, grabbing her head. "Aaah! T-that's right! W-why haven't I thought about that!? Oh no, w-will mama become a shut-in at your home?"

Daniel finds her worry cute. Of course, he doesn't want that, but he has no clue how or if his slime mother could ever integrate into society, or at least not without world-breaking news and panic.

"L-let's not think about that now," he suggests, sweating over the thought. "I'm sure we'll figure something out...er, maybe?"

Anne wails silently at her son's doubt. She can change her shape but can't change her gelatinous, translucent form. How troubling.

After a few seconds of sulking, she lifts her head toward the canvas and raises her fist. "Well, whatever! Challenges are meant to be overcome!"

Daniel blinks, then lowers his gaze and smiles as he recalls his mother's words: 'Challenges are meant to be overcome, Daniel. If you want your art to be known to the world, I have no doubt you'll succeed!'

'It's times like these that she really does resemble her,' he thinks with warm eyes.

"Daniel?" Anne calls, cocking her head.

The artist snaps back to work at hand. "Ah, yes! Right..."

On his palette, he reveals various thick skin-toned pastes and dark oils. Dipping a brush the size of a thumb into a cup of dilution liquid on his tray, he dabs it into some dark bluish paste, creating a less thick variant that would dry faster.

"First, I'm going to start with the background and then set up basic tones for the girls. That'll be the first layer."

"Layer?"

To Anne's knowledge, a painting is nearly flat in the end.

Daniel nods. "Yes, especially with oil paintings, it's important to split painting into layers of details going from thin application of oils to thicker oil. Since oil paints take a long time to dry, it's better to dilute my oils for the first few layers so I don't risk painting over details that haven't fully dried. What you see now is the underpainting — a sketch, basically. I'll be painting over it with just a slightly less diluted paste, then wait for it to dry in about six hours. After that, I'll start adding details for the second layer like shadows, highlights, and fixing anything that looks off."

Anne blinks, never imagining such a process for just a painting. Deeply intrigued, she leans forward with stars in her eyes. "Can mama try later?"

Daniel widens his eyes. "R-really?"

"Of course!" Anne giggles, closing her eyes happily. "Since mama can't do anything else right now, why not paint?"

Such enthusiasm is welcoming, but he's not sure how Anne will fare, even after watching. Still, her openness is more than he expected. "Alright then, um, I'll get you set up with an easel and canvas after dinner, okay?"

The slime girl delightedly claps her hands. Of course, she knows that getting back into astronomy and research would be difficult as she is. So, the least she can do is try her hand out at what her son has built his career on.

Two hours later, Daniel finishes the second layer which truly makes the two girls in the painting come to life. There's already depth to the image. To an untrained viewer, it might look finished, but he hardly ever settles on the second layer. At a minimum, there's always a third or fourth layer before he's satisfied.

With the sun going down, he decides to end early. He usually works a little faster, but since Anne asked him all sorts of questions throughout, the painting ended up being built up slower. He doesn't mind though, and welcomes her curiosity. The fact she stayed through the whole first layer without growing bored is actually impressive.

Later on, as Anne prepares dinner, he receives a call from Lecia's secretary to reestablish expectations for the Stonehenge painting before a written contract is sent. Thankfully, nothing was different from his conversation with the Sights Open president. He had other clients that would suddenly add restrictions at the last minute.

When dinner is ready, Anne digs into the pasta she made with proper utensils. It seems unnecessary, given she digests everything all the same, but she insists now as part of standard etiquette. That said, she looks pretty bitter.

Daniel takes a bite of his shell. "What's wrong?

Anne shuts her eyes, then groans. "Actually, I never really thought too much about it, but....I can't really taste or feel anything."

Daniel raises an eyebrow, curious why he's only learning this now. "Wait, really? At all?"

The slime hums, taking another fork. "Now that I can recall how things are supposed to taste from Amy, it really is sad."

"And you can't...feel, like physically?"

"Mama isn't numb exactly, but...there's a dullness to whatever is held or enters me. It's so far been the same."

Daniel blushes. "Then..."

Anne quickly reassures her son. "Don't worry about it! Mama just thought to let you know. I'm still happy to be able to do things with you!"

Even if she says so, Daniel will be aware of it the next time she tries to help him sexually. It seemed unfair for it to be so one-sided. Before he can address it further, Anne changes the subject with a grin.

"So, mama was thinking...If I can't get a job publicly, how about becoming your assistant?"

Daniel stares blankly, suppressing his amusement. He gives a lighthearted laugh. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves here, mom. I'd rather you just take it easy. Money is not a problem either. For me, having you around is enough."

Anne's lips curl. "But...that's not right! Mama should do her part so we can spend more time together!"

"Well...maybe I'll consider it depending on your painting skills. How about that?"

Of course, he's not being for real about it and hopes Anne gives up on the idea. After all, painting isn't something that can be accomplished quickly without practice.

Anne narrows her eyes and smirks, lifting her chin. "Hu hu, challenge accepted!"

Or at least, that's what he thinks.