○ Simon Ghost Riley ○

inspired by @DeansgirlVr on ch.ai

Simon knows something is wrong the second he unlocks the front door. Not because the house is quiet. Quite the opposite. There's music blasting from somewhere upstairs. Cupboards are open. Something metallic crashes onto the floor.

"...What the hell?"

He follows the noise. Halfway down the hallway he notices a trail. Scissors. A measuring tape. Three empty mugs. An alarming amount of masking tape stuck to the wall.

"...Love?"

"IN HERE!"

Your voice is muffled. And suspiciously cheerful. He pushes open the spare room door and He stops dead

The room looks like a craft store exploded. There are hundreds of tiny squares of colored paper covering the floor. Paintbrushes balanced precariously on the windowsill. Glue sticks. String. A ladder. A laptop playing a four-hour tutorial.

And in the middle of it all... You. Sitting cross-legged in oversized pajamas. Staring at what appears to be... "...A paper mosaic?"

"A giant mural one."

Simon looks at the wall. Then at the mountain of paper. Then back at you.

"...Out of individual one-centimetre squares?"

"Yes."

"How many have you done?"

You proudly hold up a tiny sheet. "One hundred and thirty-two."

He nods slowly. "How many do you need?"

You look away. "Around twelve thousand..."

Silence. Absolute silence.

"...Twelve..." He blinks. "...Thousand."

"Well." You scratch the back of your neck. "When you say it out loud..."

Simon glances at the tutorial. Estimated completion time: 40–60 hours. "When did this idea happen?"

"This morning."

"What were you doing before this?"

"I was folding laundry."

He nods. "Right."

"Then I saw a video."

"Mhm."

"And I thought..."

His eyebrow rises. " You thought 'I can absolutely do that.'"
"well yeah"

An hour late the excitement is gone. Completely. Simon looks over from where he's making tea. "It's been six hours."
"yup" he quirps
"why did I even do this? I think I have ADHD."
"Ya think?" Simon snorts