♡ Caboose didn't really mind being a dog, honestly. He was probably handling himself better in this form than he was as a human, at any rate. He knew how to swim now!! He always used to sink. But he liked swimming!! It was fun!! And!! And!! .. And, um. What was he thinking again? Oh right! Dog! Why dog? .. Caboose's only concern with this form was his lack of hands, honestly. And only for trivial reasons. He used to really like to draw! He still liked to!! It was fun and it was one of the only things he could focus on by himself for more than a few minutes at a time. But he didn't have hands and the crayon he'd found kept rolling out of his paws. It was getting .. very frustrating. Frustrating in Caboose's terms, I mean. Which was barely any frustration at all, though he was getting upset. The Retriever lets out a wordless woof, pawing aggressively at the poor, broken crayon. He couldn't pick it up now!! He didn't like broken crayons. But he had another one! He had a box!! It had all sorts of colors! Caboose doesn't remember where he found it, though. But he had it now! Wasn't that fun!
Caboose's next attempt goes .. better. Selectively better. He his this crayon inbetween his teeth(the rest of the crayon box was knocked over and spilled in Caboose's attempt to grab the new one) and he has his head tilted just a little to press it into the paper. And yes, shockingly, Caboose had grabbed a paper instead of just drawing all over the walls or something. But mostly by sheer luck of finding a blank paper and knowing that it was even better to draw on!! But he couldn't control the lines. The currently helmet-less Caboose, after a minute, drops the crayon, looking distinctly disappointed for possibly .. the first time in his life, honestly. Did Caboose even know what disappointment was? Well, he was feeling it, if only subtly. He wasn't good at negative emotions of any sorts. But you couldn't blame him -- if there was one, singular thing Caboose could manage to do pretty well, by his standards, it was drawing. Even if they were crayon drawings. "Aww," Caboose whines, kind of quietly by his standards, but still pretty loud. The crayon drops to the ground(the common room ground, thanks) with a clatter. Caboose, having most definitely forgotten he was holding it, blinks a few times, startled, before looking at said purple crayon accusingly. And then he bats at it a few times with his paws, mumbling under his breath pretty distinctly.
//catch me doing anything but posting in actual open threads. also this is rushed haa
also i really liked that 'caboose is a good artist' headcanon i read ages ago can you tell. i dedicated an entire thread to it see. he's doing his Best.

SUITE
HEART

In terms of drawing, sketching, and painting, Suiteheart was a terrible artist. Well, she wasn't God-awful, but she needed a ton of work. However, she preferred music. She liked guitars instead of pencils, music instead of art mediums, and sheet music in place of blank sheets of paper. She drew with her children from time to time, whenever they asked of her, but other than that, she strayed from the task. She wished she practiced more, but she never could seem to find the time. Besides, she would leave that to the experts: Little, Hazel, and -

Caboose?

Curiosity speckled Suiteheart's baby blue eyes as the watched the poor canine try to draw with crayons. It didn't seem to be working, and the slight disappointment in his voice caused a tiny frown to form on her lips. She padded forward, looking at the materials set out before him. "Hey, don't look so down, buddy," the white feline greeted, coming to sit beside him. "Why don't you just try again? I'm sure you'll get it this time! And if you don't, I've got a friend I can ask to help you."

She reached over to grab a green crayon and offered it to Caboose with a smile. She hoped he would give it another go. Suite really wanted to see his creativity. He was an interesting creature, so she didn't doubt there was some crazy cool talent hidden within him. Maybe it was drawing.

© [color=black]MADI

♡ Holding stuff like this was kinda sorta difficult like this. That was Caboose's literal only complaint about being a dog. If you could count it as a complaint -- it was more of a concern than anything. Did Caboose have concerns? Questionable.
Caboose is quickly dragged from his annoyed grumbling by Suiteheart. The Retriever looks up, tail instantly beginning to wag as he registers who it is. He likes her! He .. doesn't remember her name, Sweet or something, but that's okay! He nearly forgets about his dilemma until she starts talking about it, in which he tilts his head curiously. "I can't hold stuff without hands," Caboose offers a little blankly, pawing at the broken crayon again. He has broken .. two crayons. That crayon he'd broken with his teeth. Caboose didn't know how to hold things gently, unfortunately. However, his dilemma is quickly forgotten when Suiteheart hands him a crayon. Caboose, once again, takes it in his jaws. And then he looks at his paper a little blankly. It was kind of .. messy .. to draw on. It'd clash  with his lines!! Caboose paws at it until the paper kind of sort of flips over, claws catching on the edge. The paper is .. a little crumpled and torn, but it's over, and Caboose is unconcerned about whatever he's done. He's about to put the crayon back to paper when Church appears, and wow, there goes Caboose's tail again. Caboose opens his mouth to reply, and there goes another crayon, but that's okay 'cause he can just pick it up in another minute. Even if it has teeth marks in it.  "Dunno!!" He yips. He was just drawing whatever came to mind, but he doesn't know what that thing was. He liked drawing flowers and people and friends but there weren't any flowers. But!! There were friends here!! He could draw one of them!! It wouldn't be different than drawing a different friend, would it? Even though they didn't stand the same way. Very different!
"Uh-huh!! It used to be easier, though!!" Caboose smacks his paw again. He appears to be kind of .. pouting. He liked drawing -- he was as good at it as somebody like him could be. It wasn't as fun right now, though. That was sad. He barely manages to hang onto Hazel's words on practicing, head tilted. It's hard for him to focus on things people say if they're more than a few words long. He is very good at blankly listening and not understanding, though. Caboose doesn't know what to say, though, so he just nods kind of furiously. He .. probably would have tossed off his helmet like that, if he were wearing it. But he wasn't. That was good.
With all of this done, Caboose just sort of .. sits there for a minute, blinking. He isn't very good at moving back into action, but he eventually does remember and picks the crayon back up.  He doesn't quite know where to go from here, but, determined, he goes back to trying to draw. It .. looks very awkward. At least he's .. trying.

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SUITE
HEART

Suiteheart nodded a quick hello to Church, Hazel, Bastilleprisoner, and Playerone. She then returned her attention to Caboose, and she was dismayed at his disappointment in himself. She was glad he was trying! That was always the first step toward anything, wasn't it?

A smile traipsed her lips as she watched him go back to drawing. She loved watching others draw. It was weirdly soothing and therapeutic. The white feline tucked her paws underneath her as baby blue eyes settled on the drawing Caboose was attempting. Whatever this was, she knew it was going to be better than any of her works; her paws were meant for guitars and picture-taking not crayons and sketching, unfortunately.

"Somebody outta start an artist's club or somethin'," Suite idled as she watched. That would be cool. She'd love to see all the creations. "Like I wanna hang the drawings up... around the Observatory and stuff... That'd be so neat." Her words were slow, and it was clear she was enthralled with Caboose's actions.

© [color=black]MADI

♡ Honestly, drawing was the only thing he ever had tended to have any standards on for himself. The one, singular thing. Fairly low standards, but the fact they existed at all was a miracle. Because he entirely forgot to have standards on literally everything else. He'd be content with the most molded room in existence to sleep in, honestly. But, y'know, he grew up with pretty constant praises on his ability to draw by his sisters, so that's what he took pride in. .. To the possible extent. Caboose .. wasn't .. very good at feeling his own emotions. Also they were pretty dull to begin with. Certain ones, at least. But! His sisters encouraged him a lot, and they encouraged him for a lot of things he managed to do at all, but that'd been special. Different. So Caboose had started to draw a lot more for his sisters, and it was fun! He did it less when he didn't go to college though 'cause he was training. But now! He had a lot of time! Because people didn't tell him what to do. .. Except Washingtub. Washingtub told him to do a lot of things. But Caboose was pretty much entirely unconcerned with that. As he was with a lot of things.
Caboose doesn't mind the people gathering around him. He likes being around people!! Even if it's just a little, little bit distracting, Caboose doesn't really notice nor care. Even though he nods pretty furiously, though sometimes .. absently .. at the same time, at Bastille's mention of humans and something something. He didn't have hands. That's all Caboose really cared about. In another moment, Caboose has once again dropped his poor, chewed up crayon. "Tastes funny," Is all Caboose says, intelligently. His drawing is .. a mess, honestly. He's gone off the paper once again, but it's .. semi-recognizable as some sort of animal. Caboose hasn't drawn kitty-kitty-s before. But that's okay! He hasn't drawn a lot of things before! Like! Um! .. Tables? No, he hasn't drawn a table before. Luckily, Caboose has not picked up his crayon again when Playerone(not that Caboose knows her name) approaches, and the Retriever's tail wags furiously as he looks up at her. His tail is ... sweeping at crayons. He has spilled crayons .. everywhere and has certainly not noticed this. He .. makes some sort of blubbers sound that sounds like the beginning of a 'i am good enough i do not need help' sort of argument, because Caboose has a very strange sort of ego. But he, while talking, appears to have decided against it. Somewhat. Decided against it in his typical Caboose fashion. He'd like to spend time with this .. also white kitty! A somewhat strange looking kitty, but Caboose doesn't even notice the difference. "Yes!!! I would love to color with you!" Caboose smacks a paw against the ground again. Whatever flicker of insult is already gone with the wind and long forgotten in an instant, because of course. He seems genuinely excited. He loved spending time with people!! And people besides his sisters usually weren't interested in drawing with him. Or doing anything with him at all. But. Y'know. Caboose .. probably doesn't realize that. Whoops. He blinks a few times, then resumes his task of messy, messy lines. He does seem encouraged and excited enough. Not to the point of bouncing around the room, solely because of his task. He thrives off of attention and all that, and being the center of attention was exciting.  He half-hears whatever Suiteheart is saying. Hang up drawings? Like on a fridge? Like his family did? Caboose very nearly bursts out and drops the crayon again, the poor abused thing, but ultimately kind of .. doesn't. Expression unguarded, he seems to agree, though.