Mal frowned, crossing his arms in thought and placed his chin on a hand.
"What are you doing?"
He held up a hand in greeting to Sonia, but didn't face her, concentrating on what was in front of him.
"Painting," he answered her distractedly.
She came closer to him, wrinkling her nose at his so-called painting.
"You call that painting?" she raised an eyebrow at him, even though he was still staring thoughtfully at the painting.
"Yes. I've taken it up."
"But that doesn't look like anything," Sonia insisted.
"Hm? It's abstract."
Sonia twitched. But then she got closer, and Mal idly tapped his paint-covered brush onto her nose. Indignant (but mostly bewildered, because Mal was being so weird right now), she lifted one of the paint cups and upended it over Mal's head.
Without blinking, Mal hmmed and swiped his brush against the paint dripping from his head and made another mark on his canvas, giving a satisfied nod.
Throwing up her arms in exasperation, Sonia left him behind. Still focusing on his painting, in the background Su Lin and Teddi rolled around on the paint and made a mess of themselves.
When Lune and Sola, and then Zorua joined in, a paint fight occurred behind Mal's back.
Not that he noticed of course.