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 Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2011 12:05 pm
It was an almost unconscious action, holding his breath as the other buck approached his face. His breath probably still smelled of the fish he'd caught for his day-meal, the water beetle that Owl had found on him when he had finished his unintentional morning dip. And he didn't want to end up overpowering the kind, rather attractive buck that was carefully arranging his mane around stylistically-twisted flowers. If he'd only known he would run into this stranger, he would have found some wild mint to chew beforehand! Like his mother had told him was a good way of keeping himself attractive... but why did he care about what a buck thought? It was a dilemma... but he had another, more pressing, issue to deal with.
The problem with holding his breath, though, was that eventually, he ran out of breath to hold, and it distracted him from his train of thought. Burning lungs only complemented distressing thoughts for a short while before they disrupted them completely. He would have gasped, but it would have seemed so rude, or insulting, possibly implicating that he had to hold his breath around the other buck. And he didn't want to do that, he was sure the other buck smelled fine. He took in as silent a deep breath as he could after a last stab of protest from his burning chest, and attempted to breathe quietly, shallowly, from that point. The smell of flowers, different ones from the subtle-smelling poppies, seemed to inhabit the fur of the purple buck. Underneath that... a subtle, intoxicating something. Unnameable, but enticing. He was now trying to keep from drawing attention to the fact that he had been perfectly still for the last few moments and only now was he letting his breath ease slowly in and out, and if it weren't for the fact that his ear and hair were being gently tugged about, he might have had to resist the sudden, strange urge to run his nose across the other kimeti's hide.
Right as soon as he'd started relaxing again, though, the other buck skipped away, apologizing. Bright's face fell slightly, wanting to ask if he'd done something wrong, even though he was pretty sure what he'd done. "I... thank you." He half-twisted in vain, wishing he could see the cluster of flowers that weighed ever-so-slightly against his ear. "There's a stream nearby that falls into a pond. If we could go over there, I'd like to see the flowers?" And I can drink, and hopefully get rid of my bug-and-fish-breath? Goodness, the other buck seemed to be blushing! It must be terrible. He attempted to smile reassuringly at the other buck, coming off as slightly uncertain.
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Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2011 3:36 pm
He watched the buck out of the corner of his eye, to make sure he wasn't uncomfortable with how close Clem had gotten. He looked like he was trying to see the flowers in his hair, and, yup, he wanted to see them. He even grinned. Clem's heart relaxed, and a huge grin spread across his face.
"Yeah, you'll like the way it looks, it's kind of my job to make it look good." Clem set off towards the stream, excited to see the buck's reaction. He paused to make sure Bright was following, and then paused several more times when he spotted flowers that he couldn't pass up, occasionally looking back to grin at the handsome Bright.
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Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2011 9:15 pm
Bright followed, pausing on occasion when the buck found an irresistible flower, and occasionally finding one or two of his own. Myth followed with the occasional flap of morning-mist colored wings, watching from afar as her charge walked along with the other buck. Owl was someplace or another, probably amusing herself. But, other than a vague awareness that his girls were off, safe and well, he didn't pay much attention to them. They were independent, and anyways, the buck seemed to be showing him enthusiastically, and he wanted to make sure he kept up, no matter how much stopping it involved.
The gray buck walked a little quicker once they actually came to the water, staying close to the other buck as he led them down the stream, following it towards the quiet pond that was it's source, and hoping it would still be reflective enough to see in.
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Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2011 1:05 pm
Clem reached the pond first, tossing an anxious glance back at the gray buck, before taking a few mouthfuls of the cold water, hoping it would help his nervousness. It didn't.
Why was he so nervous? He'd never had a customer that was unsatisfied with his arrangements, so why was he worried that Bright wouldn't like it?
Because Bright is special.
He started to shove the thought down out of habit, but stopped himself. If he was going to start liking boys, he wasn't going to find a much cuter boy than Bright. He just needed to figure out if Bright liked boys too, but how?
Clem would start with subtle hints, get really close to him and such, and if Bright said he didn't like that, then Clem would stop. But if he didn't? Well, Clem would figure out where to go from there.
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Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2011 7:41 pm
The water was pristine, cool, and glass-smooth. Perfect to stare into, and get a reflection from. Bright watched as the other buck leaned over and took a drink of water, sending the perfect surface into a network of ripples. He smiled as he came to settle near the edge, looking at the surface through the ripples, and then leaned over to take a few gulps of his own from the clear, cold water. This was one of the few places that the water was both cold and still, and the slightly earthy flavor only added to the enjoyment. A few mouthfuls, and he straightened, finally looking down into his own creased reflection, and turning his head to try to see the flowers that had been so carefully arranged into his hair.
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Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2011 2:05 pm
Clem was impatient to hear Bright's opinion. He wanted to hear the buck's praise; not because he was egotistical, but because he wanted to hear that the buck liked his gift. And he wanted to shower Bright with praise himself, to tell the buck how perfect he looked, with or without the flowers in his hair.
"Well?" he blurted out noisily.
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Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2011 2:31 pm
Bright was glad of the clarity of the mirror, and that the day wasn't particularly windy, as he stard at his own reflection, and the delicate arrangement he now had propped in his hair. He was startled out of his reverie of admiration of the simple beauty of the flowers, and how they complemented eachother, when Clem spoke up. His face warmed as he realized what his silent appreciation must have seemed to be to the other male - far less appreciative, to say the very least.
"W-well, uhmm, it's beautiful. Thankyousomuch." He twisted his tail around his leg in an almost nervous gesture as he turned to face the other male. "I like it very much. It's simple, and very elegant, and meshes well with my hair, and doesn't weigh my head down like the times Owl decided I was to wear her as a hair ornament..." ...And I would very much enjoy repaying you for this somehow... he wanted to add. He also wanted to ask just how one crafted knots in those fragile plant stems... And how he managed to fasten it into his mane.
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Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2011 3:18 pm
Clematis beamed. His work had always made other kin happy, but he had never been this happy that something he had made for someone got this reaction.
And how Bright went on and on was just too adorable.
"Um, if you wouldn't mind coming back to my workfield, I wouldn't mind making you some other things. It's not very far from the clearing we met in. I think I have enough flowers now anyway, and I should get back and hang them to dry. I, I'd really like it if you came back with me, so, we could," spend some more time together, get to know each other better, so I could tell you I like you, "hang out some more."
How LAME. Couldn't he have come up with something better? He hoped Bright wouldn't turn it down. He probably wouldn't, but Clem really didn't know him well at all yet. That needed to change.
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Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2011 3:43 pm
Bright's heart thumped a couple times, particularly louder than usual. A strange buck was asking him to follow him somewhere. This should have set off all the warning signals his mother had made sure to ingrain into him from a very young age, but even the mistrust she had given him seemed to pale in comparison to his sheer fascination.
"Well... it is getting later in the day..." he stalled, so as to have more time to think. This buck... he was downright attractive, in the way that certain stones seemed to call the pieces that had shorn off of them back towards them. He felt this pull just watching him. He wanted to follow him, learn everything about him, and paint everything he'd seen, all over the dirt board he often used for such paintings. To practice his features, time and time again, until he had a painting that told the colors and scents and story of the place, and the buck, to anyone who stumbled upon the place... at least until the next rain.
And this was... well, the first time a buck had interested him like that. If he had been a doe, he might have called it... how had his mother phrased it?
...a spark of interest.
...but, the strong lines underneath his lavenders-and-lilacs pelt strongly indicated that the other buck wasn't. There was no denying it, no deluding himself to the fact. And there was still the other fact that he might possibly have some sort of strange designs to keep him, or drown him, or something unsavory. As little as he believed it, his mother's lessons forced him to recognize it. As a possibility. A very, very slim one. But, if he had Owlcat and Myth with him, he couldn't do that badly, could he?
The buck smiled gently as he nodded his head. "Lead the way," he said. I'll follow.
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Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2011 6:50 pm
Clem grinned. So this was what it was like, to have a crush on someone. He was happy, for the first time in his life. How could he have ever thought this was wrong? This was so right, it, it was just right.
"Well come on, it's not that far." He took off at a gallop, perhaps a bit too fast, but he was eager. To, show him where he lived? What he did? No, just to spend time with him. He was rushing into this, but he didn't realize it. The happiness that he had for the first time in his life was like a high.
He made sure that Bright was keeping up, and they soon passed the flower clearing that they first met in, and about the same distance (but a little further away) was his home/work clearing. It was a fairly big clearing, but not huge. When you stood at one end you could see the other. Clem was pretty sure he could fit at least fifteen kimeti from one end to the other. Maybe twenty if you measured it right, it was shaped more like an egg than a perfect circle. It was littered with what appeared to be debris, but every last bit was all Clem's material for his various commissions. Rocks at one end of the "egg," with a neat and orderly stack of sticks near that. The middle of the clearing was more chaotic, with rocks haphazardly thrown together, and a few whippy tree branches near them. A half-made shoulder drape made out of dried grass was laying on one of the rocks. Several of the trees were hollowed out, and you could see the leaves and flowers hung up to dry inside them. On the end opposite the pile of rocks was a bunch of sticks leaned against a particularly large tree in the shape of a shelter.
As he approach the edge of the clearing, he heard the familiar barking followed by buzzing that greeted him every time he returned. The female eaglehound crawled out from the shelter and sniffed curiously at what was assumed to be another customer, while the giant wasp flew out from one of the hollow trees and hovered in the middle of the clearing, angry buzzing sounding loud in the tree-less space, before flying to the higher branches to watch for intruders.
"Well, Bright, this is where I live and work. What do you think?"
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Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2011 6:11 pm
The most remarkable thing about the wide, egg-shaped clearing were the smells. The late afternoon breeze drifted lazily across the length of it, drawing along enticing scents of various flora to Bright's nose as he stayed at the edge of the clearing so he could take in the sights and smells of the work-site. He was able to recognize the most of them, even name a couple. Lavender, for one. Even if Clem hadn't told him what it was, it would have been obvious that it was one. How many other places were so neat, and had branches stacked so neatly and regularly in so many spots, as well as stones moved from other locations off to one side? After he looked and smelled, he listened. The barking made him suspect, but looking revealed that sure enough, there was a purple-and-blue eaglehound loping up from the other side of the clearing. "I figured you for a hound sort," he said, and padded into the edge of the clearing, looking around for the most interesting things he could.
Turning around rewarded him with a glimpse of one of the trees, hollowed out so they could hold all manner of flower and herb and plant. It was an ingenious idea, though he was unsure about how he had managed it. Maybe if he stuck around, Clem might tell him how he'd managed to do it. Because if he could only find a way to hollow out the trees around his dirt board, he'd have the place to put his painting and sculpting things. The potential is great.
He froze dead when he heard the buzzing. "W-what is that?"
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Posted: Sat Dec 31, 2011 5:55 am
"Hound sort? How so?" Clem understood that some kin liked some pets, he knew a guy that was obsessed with turtles. He only had Pusher so he didn't break his back moving the stones, he didn't think he came across as a hound type.
His thoughts were interrupted by Bright's reaction to his guardian. Clem chuckled.
"Never seen a giant wasp before? That's Stinger, he keeps people from stealing my things while I'm away. He just moved into one of the trees one day. It was a bit of a pain dealing with him until I got him familiar with me, then it was pretty easy to train him. He's really useful."
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Posted: Sat Dec 31, 2011 2:10 pm
"I've seen them," he responded. "They're big, awful, buzzing, horrid things in groups. And scouts bring more of them, and they take down prey like nothing else." His eyes were slightly wide, his breath almost catching as he stared at the horridly overlarge insect. He watched it's abdomen tremble from afar once it landed, and he didn't let his glance fall away from the creature as he considered it.
It... he... is... rather pretty... he mentally remarked, watching it as it crawled around.
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Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 3:26 pm
"And they're really good at keeping people from stealing my things." Clem chuckled. "I take it you don't like them, then? He won't harm you while I'm here, promise."
He began nosing at the sticks and stones at the middle of his clearing, quickly loosing interest in showing Bright his current orders. His eyes glanced around the trees that held his dried flowers and leaves, thinking of all his colors and what leaves would look good draped around Bright's pale gray shoulders.
He was eager to do something, anything. He felt nervous again, like he had when he was waiting for Bright's opinion on his hairpiece. He wanted to do something for the buck, something that would.... well, he didn't quite know what he wanted. It was all so new, Clem was at a loss at what to do.
"See anything other than my pets that interests you?"
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Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 3:45 pm
The gray buck nodded, chuckling as he considered the value of having a wasp to keep potential thieves away. "I can definitely see that," he agreed, "But. My mother has one and we've come to a sort of agreement that she doesn't come to see me when she has him. Or her. Whichever." He shrugged a shoulder to resist the urge to shudder, flipping his hair slightly to disguise the nervous gesture.
He watched the other as he started arranging some rocks and sticks that seemed to be in the middle of the clearing for a distinct reason or another, as much as their potential purpose escaped the long-haired buck. He stayed quiet as he tried to puzzle it out, focusing so intently that he almost didn't catch what his host said.
He barely kept himself from shaking his head to clear it - he didn't want the other to take it as a refusal. That was the last thing he wanted; this buck was fascinating, and as much as he felt like the other knew something he didn't - maybe even because of that - he wanted to stick about... and standing about like an idiot would give the other no better an impression of him than shaking himself to reorient his mind.
The buck nodded quickly. "Yes, he said, hesitantly, and looked around at the glade at the caches, torn with what to ask about first. "Let's start with... hmm." He stopped, turning to fix the other with his brightest smile.
"Why don't you tell me everything?"
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