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 Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2010 7:38 pm
Black smoke puffed up the dirty window of a house far isolated out in the wood and overgrowth, it billowed like a curtain and hid whatever was on the other side. Two hands smacked against the glass, the only thing visible from within the smog, and clamored to get it open. The minute it rose the black from inside came spilling out, followed by a figure hanging half of their body out the window in an attempt to get fresh air. It coughed and waved it's arms until most of the smoke had risen into the sky above, relaxing with a deep sigh once it seemed like the disaster had gone.
"Oh dear. That wasn't what I had in mind at all..." the man- Fu, hanging out the window limply, muttered to himself.
He pouted quietly and helped himself back up into his home, turning to see the pot that had caused the mess still boiling, even after the flames had been put out; a substance that looked black and tar-like bubbled within it and slowly died. Fu dipped his finger into the disgusting mess and put it into his mouth, a hand on one hip as he stared intently with shut eyes into the giant black pot before him.
This is normally how his days went, however the smoke and fire that had happened was an unusual occurrence for a typical day, and to be honest- if he were asked- Fu got bored of it quite fast.
"It's still so bitter, and it tastes burnt..." Fu frowned, flicking his finger, "Why do you have to be like that you stubborn thing."
Seeming to give up Fu turned his back to the 'stubborn' pot of bubbly death and looked out the window he'd opened, arms crossed as he bit his lip to think. He had a job to do, but he also wanted to go out and do something that didn't involve the forest and plants for a while. That's what ran through his head as he stood, weight occasionally shifting from one foot to the next. His entire body seemed to itch for something different, and it's possible somewhere in the back of his mind he expected today to be that 'different' day he wanted so badly.
But, he walked away from the window and back to the pot, grabbing the lip of it with both hands and giving it's inside a terribly upset look, as if to threaten the tar inside.
"Don't worry, dear, we'll keep at this until I get it right! I-I've got all day just to spend with you!" somehow a colorful array of emotions managed to jam-pack itself into that one sentence, all of them screaming 'boy, do I wish I didn't have to, because you're breaking my back'.
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Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2010 8:36 pm
With a drawn-out yawn, Lemon rolled over in bed and tugged the sheets over his head. The sun was reasonably bright, and he had probably already missed breakfast. He groaned into his pillow. His mouth still tasted funny from the concoction Fu had fed him the other day, but somehow the headache he usually experienced in the morning was simply not there. Lemon stretched, grinning already, and rolled over to put his feet on the floor.
Normally, Lemon would begin his day by fixing some of the assorted junk he had piled in his storage room and all around his kitchen, but he was preoccupied by the thought of trying to steal a kiss from Fu. It seemed like a nice day outside; perfect for a little bit of harmless mischief. Lemon ruffled his hair with both hands while he dug through piles of clothing with his foot, singing something about a teapot and a frog. He was probably making it up, since he seemed to keep forgetting the words, and changing the melody on a whim.
Eventually, after the tenuous last verse, "See the teapot on the lawn, see it frolic with the frog. Have you ever seen a sight so fine? Never in the land of...umm... laaaaa," Lemon finally found his favourite pants, buried under a pinwheel, a nest of string, and a sweater with one sleeve missing. The shirt, as always, was draped on his bed. He tugged everything on, hopping around his trinkets and baubles.
A plan for the day was beginning to form in his head. He picked a couple more things up and stuffed them into the leather bag he normally used for collecting treasures, and popped a piece of bread in his mouth, slinging the bag over his shoulder. One look in a smudged, cracked mirror, and Lemon was out the door.
He forgot his shoes and socks, and had to go back in to put them on. "Today is just going to be that kind of day, isn't it?" Lemon was talking around the hunk of bread in his mouth, to a bird in one of his many lawn fountains. In effect, it sounded a little more like he was choking rather than talking, but seeing as the bird was made of stone, it wasn't a big deal for either of the parties involved. Lemon thought he sounded just fine, anyway. "Yes... that kind of day. A wonderful day!" Lemon laughed and set out towards Fu's place, which he sincerely hoped he remembered how to get to.
Lemon had wandered in the general direction of Fu's residence for quite some time before the black smoke wafted up. That doesn't look promising... Lemon thought to himself, shaking his head. All the same, he walked with a kind of happy spring in his step, humming the frog song, making a bee line to the black smoke. Admittedly, it might not have been Fu, but Lemon didn't think much about that; it reminded him very strongly of the black liquid he'd had yesterday, and besides, it was in the same general direction. What could it hurt?
Lemon finally found Fu's place, buried as it was in the wood and overgrowth. He should strap a wagon to a Susikoira and make them pull him out here, next time; this was far too much work. But it's worth it, he thought, for a kiss. Lemon was always the optimist. Or idealist. Or perhaps, if there was a word for someone chronically positive and delusional, that would be more accurate. Lemon, however, did not know what it might be.
He was too occupied with Fu's home. He wandered around it a couple times until he thought he was ready, and knocked on the door, calling out, "Well hey, gorgeous; I hope you're still alive in there, that smoke was pretty thick... and I was thinking I'd take you out today. You know, have some fun?" A wide grin stretched across Lemon's face and he leaned against the door frame. A little look of confusion flitted over his face as he suddenly caught a whiff of whatever probably caused the smoke, and he kind of hoped that whatever smell had died up his nose would dissipate before Fu opened the door.
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Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2010 10:20 pm
It could have been heard outside, in fact, it could have been heard four countries over if they made the effort, but as his door was knocked on the easily startled Fu yelped and leaned his full weight onto the pot. It was too late to stop once he had realized what was going to happen, and the pot was too heavy in the first place to get back in place, though let it be known Fu did try- for about ten seconds.
"No, no, no, no!"
A loud crash, the sound of something splash, and then a low rolling sound as something came to a steady stop across his floor. There was a long moment of silence to anyone on the other side of the door, something that didn't bode well.
Fu, having held utterly still from the point the pot crashed to the ground to the point it stopped rolling across the floor, opened an eye to glance down at the goopy mess around his feet. He couldn't deal with it now, someone was at his door, he'd just have to clean it up later. Taking delicate steps over the black mixture now carefully coating his floor, he crept like a cat and answered the door slowly and- quite obviously- worried.
"Oh, my, it's you! Um, oh dear... One moment. Fu shut the door quickly and leaned against it, his normally shut eyes open wide in a panic as they scanned the mess. A hand ran through his hair, pushing back his bangs as his thoughts raced.
Again, he opened the door, but only enough to slip out and shut it straight behind him. Fu turned around with eyes still wide opened and blinked at Lemon.
"So!" the calm expression returned, cloaking any trace of what was on his mind, "You were saying something? What was it again? I was a tad busy when you yelled..."
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Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2010 9:25 am
What on earth was that terrible sound? When it went silent all of a sudden inside Fu's place, Lemon bit his lip; he hoped Fu wasn't dead or something. That would kind of put a damper on his plans. Finally, when Fu opened the door, Lemon tried to see into the room behind him but he was so careful to shut the door as soon as he slipped out that Lemon couldn't see a thing. He quirked one eyebrow, clearly puzzled. It only lasted for a moment, before his familiar grin returned. "Well, you look absolutely radiant," Lemon winked, brushing the side of Fu's cheek with one tender hand. Although Lemon made a living crafting and repairing, often with metals, he always wore leather gloves to keep his hands soft.
Ever curious, Lemon couldn't help but ask, "By the way, babe, is everything okay in there?... For a second, I was worried you were dead..." Lemon grinned and winked at Fu, sticking just the tip of his tongue out. He really wondered what had gone on, and if this was a bad time. Lemon didn't mind waiting outside, or helping Fu. He might look like he cared a lot about his appearance, but his hobbies needed to share space in his life; he was so clean because stealing kisses was generally easier if he was in good shape, but he wasn't exactly afraid of getting messy. How could he build a teapot out of clay shards, or craft a bird out of discarded jewelry?
Back at home his entrance was lined with mirrors which he had salvaged, the frames repainted and touched up. Some of them nestled in frames that he had carved himself. He had cut himself to ribbons, repairing all those mirrors, but a balm from a local spirit had healed the wounds without scarring. He was great with detail work, but he also had to get messy assembling larger things. As such, he was also very good at mending clothing.
"Oh, I was just stopping by to take you out," Lemon stated, as though the idea it should have been a request was an entirely alien notion to him. "You know, have some fun. Get some sun! Some fresh air," Lemon winked again, and squeezed Fu on the shoulder. In his head, he was rearranging Fu's hurried greeting in a more pleasant order, until it was "Oh,it's you, my dear!" and the part where Lemon was told to wait: completely erased. It was a dashing scene of affection and desire. Lemon's eyes glazed over a little and he stopped himself just short of drooling, before laughing and shaking his head. "But if there's...something you need us to take care of first?..." Lemon said, looking over Fu's shoulder at the door, using it as an excuse to lean a little closer to Fu. He couldn't tell if Fu was upset, or what had happened; Fu's expression was calm, as though he had erased any emotional reaction to whatever had happened behind the door. Of course, Lemon couldn't be sure. As he leaned in, he brushed Fu's arm with his idly. Lemon smelled sweet, with a little lemony tang drifting above notes of oak and honey.
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Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2010 11:19 pm
”Take care of? Oh! Oh, you mean- hmm.” Fu bit his nail, ”That was nothing, just a tiny little slip! Oh ho ho.” a gentle laugh left him like an escape of air. ”Don’t worry about a thing, I can handle it later.”
Slightly grimacing over the obvious lie, Fu side-stepped from Lemon and carefully clasped onto his forearms, leading him away from the door along with himself in one swift motion and making sure that the other's back was to it now; a casually quick glance was cast over his shoulder before dismissing for good the problem he had on his mind. His attention was stolen when Lemon's words reached his ears, making the priest tilt his head at his suggestion, mulling over it for an unusually long time. ‘Take him out’? Well, Fu did want to go do something today. Finally, he smiled and took Lemon’s hands in both his own, holding them up,
”We’re going to go out? Oh, that sounds so exciting!” a wide smile spread over his face, and he took the time now to note that something smelled faintly of honey- it must have been the mood, ”That would be lovely, how kind of you to offer! It’s quite funny, you know, I was just thinking about how I’d like to go out for a bit.”
Fu patted his companion’s hands and let them go, clasping his own together in front of his chest, as if he’d seen something whimsical and had to awe at it. That beautiful feeling of excitement had built up in his stomach and felt like it was about to pop; Lemon really was a wonderful friend, taking the time to do something like this with him.
"I wouldn't know where to go, though, I hope you hadn't counted on me to decide... Of course, anywhere is fine to me, if that's enough." the look on his face indicated that his mind had began to wander. A natural airiness he couldn't help sometimes.
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Posted: Thu Apr 08, 2010 9:26 pm
((If anything here is inappropriate, just let me know and I can edit it before we continue! I wasn't sure which forest Fu's home is in.. but there's a river that runs by almost all of them, I think? So I hoped it was a safe bet))
"Well... if you're sure, then." Lemon sighed and smiled, shaking his head as Fu turned him away from the door, "...but if you change your mind later, I'm here to help, okay? Can't be a coincidence I showed up all of a sudden!" Lemon was completely oblivious to the thought that he might have startled Fu and caused the problem in the first place. He was distracted by Fu holding his hands up.
"I thought you might like to go out, you seem like you work too much. Too diligent! It's such a nice day out, so we're going to enjoy it together!" Lemon grinned from ear to ear, but it had almost a predatory quality of it. Almost a wolfish quality. Lemon squeezed his hands before he let go of them, and he felt a little light inside, watching Fu's expression. He sounded so excited. Lemon felt odd and had to look away for a second, up at the trees, into what sky he could see, even though he was still smiling. He took a deep breath.
Lemon always had plans. He was seldom at a loss, and he had figured everything out already. As such, he patted the leather bag slung over one shoulder and said, "I have a surprise for you, because you're just so wonderful. There's even food involved, a little later!" Lemon took Fu's hand, carefully, and tugged on it a little. He felt a kind of tense excitement that felt like it wanted to escape as laughter. Maybe eventually he would let it, but now, he just grinned as hard as he could and tugged, oblivious to Fu's distant expression. "Come on!" Lemon started off down the path, tugging Fu behind at a very reasonable, but brisk, pace. He held Fu's hand lightly enough that Fu could take it back at any time.
Lemon just liked knowing that Fu was there, really. He liked feeling Fu's hand in his, and having the excuse to hold it, because there was only so much metal one could handle without wanting to feel something alive.
Lemon led Fu a little way out, until they cleared the trees, and he tried to be as patient as he could; there was a hill and field little way off, where the view was quite lovely, and there was a soft, fragrant grass with small purple flowers. That was where he had planned to take Fu first. He hoped Fu would like it, and once they were there, he would open the bag at his hip and take out the surprise he had planned.
The hill looked over a river. It was too small a hill to be included on any map, but it was kind of nice. Just a little place to sit and look around. When they reached the field, Lemon let go of Fu's hand, walked forwards a little, and turned to face him, his arms stretched wide, turning his head up to the sky. "We're here!" Lemon said, stretching and grinning. He bent down in one quick movement, grabbed one of the pretty purple flowers, and offered it to Fu with a bow.
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Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2010 7:58 pm
The look of shock on Fu's face when Lemon presented the flower to him wasn't necessarily that of being flattered, but of just what it was- shock. With Fu, it was hard to tell the difference given the limited range of emotion his face could reach, and this might have been a good thing. He didn't want to upset Lemon; Fu knew this gesture was meant to be sweet, but he wasn't going to like it. Lemon just killed a flower, and to Fu those were his children, so for all intents and purposes Lemon was now a murderer. Of course, he was overreacting by anyone else's standards.
Choking back on this mild upset Fu took the flower and smiled lightly, deciding that it would get a proper burial later and things would be fine. 'He's not trying to be offending, Lemon is your friend!' Thinking that seemed to help wipe the injustice away.
"Oh my, this is all so nice!" he breathed, taking a few steps to look over the hill at the river below.
Fu shielded his eyes, even though they weren't open to be bothered, from the sun. A gentler smile than usual spread over his face. He didn't know many people outside of the other Priests, so he didn't have much of an opportunity to just go out and enjoy nature rather than work with it. You'd think he'd get sick of looking at it, but something about the friendly atmosphere that Lemon brought made it all a magnificent wonder. That warm feeling filled Fu from head to toe yet again.
The hand covering his eyes moved up and pushed his bangs away, fingers entwining and lingering in the green strands. He turned his head back to Lemon,
"It's a lovely view, but where are we going from here? What's next? I'm so eager..!" a delighted smile lit on his face, followed by a small gleeful squeal that probably hadn't meant to be made, "With you it feels like an adventure!"
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Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2010 9:15 pm
Fu's expression was almost indiscernible when Lemon offered him the flower. Lemon could not really tell what he was feeling, but at the same time, he felt somehow uneasy. Fu was usually so open with him that the silence spoke enough for itself. Ashamed again, Lemon drew back with the flower and cradled it in one hand. He couldn't really put two and two together, since he didn't know how strongly Fu felt about the flower, but it was pretty much a guarantee that Lemon wouldn't repeat any similar gesture.
In the long run, that would work better for Lemon. He was not good with living things; he worked with inanimate, discarded treasure. It was so much easier to shape a wire around a gem than to grow a flower and coax it to bloom. He fixed things that were broken, he didn't fix people. Mostly, he was unsure what to do when he upset someone. This best friends thing was new, and he didn't really know how to navigate through it; he really didn't want to fumble every friendship-pass that came his way.
When Fu finally spoke, Lemon's shoulders sagged in relief, and he let out a breath he had been holding for a while. It's not like Fu had yelled, or stormed off, or even shown much... but Lemon still worried. The worry, however, was fleeting; if Fu seemed happy, Lemon was happy. Simple.
Right now, with the flower incident behind them, Lemon could breathe easy. He walked up behind Fu, opening his bag and holding something behind his back. Surely this would not upset Fu. He hoped, anyway. For a little while, just in case, Lemon basked in Fu's presence. It was as if his heart could bask in the sun with him. He watched Fu carefully, watched him push his bangs away. When Fu turned around unexpectedly, Lemon blushed. He was hesitant to get close, for some reason. It was ridiculous! Lemon laughed to ease his apprehension and smiled awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.
"I hope it will be an adventure, Fu! I want to take you with me today, to see all kinds of things and go all kinds of places! Here's the second part of your surprise..." Lemon, shy, revealed what he'd been carrying with him all this time: a dragon kite, and a phoenix kite, ones he had made himself. He had taken the careful time to shape them both out of assorted wind-friendly fabrics, and attach them to wood. "If you don't want to... I understand, though." It kind of escaped from his mouth. It was a very un-Lemon thing to say. Usually, he did things, and people either enjoyed them, or he found other people who would.
Somehow though, standing there on the hill with the kites, and the echo of Fu's squeal, made him feel like it would be okay. Even if it wasn't, Lemon had other things planned for Fu, if this branch of the adventure wasn't very appealing. Lemon still had a lot to learn about Fu, and as slowly and stupidly as Lemon would inevitably blunder through it, may it never be said he was not sincere. For once.
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Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 11:13 pm
The Priest had seen a lot of things in his time, things that glowed and flown that shouldn't have done either, yet he couldn't say he'd seen whatever it was that Lemon was holding. It was fascinating and colorful, and looked like it was so delicately crafted. Somehow Fu knew that Lemon had made them himself, and it sent a warm feeling running through his whole body which let itself out in a small smile. Carefully he extended his hands and took one of the kites to examine it closer, holding it up so that the sunlight would shine through the fabric and create an orange pattern across his face. It made him laugh as he brought it back down, what an amazing contraption, he thought.
"My, what is this? It's so pretty! Oh dear, I don't know if I'll know how to use one of these..." the words sighed from Fu's lips as he turned it over, brushing his fingers over the material and admiring the craftsmanship and design, he held it out again at full arms-length, up in the air, "Oh my, I'm so excited, you have to show me what it does!" his smile was bright across his face as his eagerness overcame him. Lemon was such a magnificent friend, he though, doing these kinds of things. At the end of the day Fu had to make sure he did something in return...
"Dear, did you make these just for us, for today?" Fu tilted his head away from the kite and opened his eyes to look at Lemon with a placid expression, one that suggested the gesture to be sweet if he had intended it that way, and that he recognized that and appreciated it.
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Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 4:45 pm
Lemon could hardly believe himself when Fu opened his eyes. They were a perfect shade. Had he seen the colour before? Had he seen Fu with his eyes open before? If he had, he certainly didn't remember, and he couldn't see himself forgetting that. He felt a little flutter, and in his confusion his face turned bright red. He coughed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah," Lemon finally answered, "I made these for us. Well, specifically, for you; I wanted something just for you, a new kite that you can make all your own. I wasn't sure which one you'd want, though!" Lemon shook his head, his grin spreading even wider.
Fu would be flying the phoenix kite, then? Lemon grinned. To Lemon, the phoenix represented hope, a kind of buoyant feeling that could carry him away at times. He was glad that Fu was enjoying the kite; seeing him smile made Lemon smile right back. Not that he wouldn't be smiling anyway. His face was predisposed to smiling. "I'm glad you think it's pretty..." Lemon rubbed the back of his neck and held his dragon kite in the other hand. It had soft blue scales, almost white in their palor. He held it gently, afraid his ribbing work would break. Its tail was wound around its chest, and he unwrapped it, gently beginning to unwrap the tail from around Fu's kite as well once he was done. "Whichever... whichever one you like best is yours at the end of the day, okay? I really hope you'll enjoy flying them! It's simple, I'd love to show you if you're not sure how to."
Lemon looked down at his work. He was extremely good with his hands, but these kites weren't magic. They didn't fly for real, they didn't breathe fire or heal wounds. The kites had no real purpose. A flicker of regret passed over his face, but he shrugged it off. There wasn't much use regretting what he couldn't do. He had worked hard to be skilled in crafting almost anything. Maybe one day he'd learn how to imbue things he made with magic, but for now, he'd have to settle with beautiful orange fabric which made Fu look ever more like the Priest of Spring. He looked so alive in the field. Lemon hoped he wasn't keeping him from anything. He also wished, suddenly, that he was any good at gardening. Which he wasn't, really.
None of that had anything to do with kites, in effect, and he had almost forgotten what he was going to say. "They work by such simple principles," he said, as he pushed the wooden ribs into their locked positions, so that the dragon would fly. "Basically, holding tight to the kite string means it has nowhere to go but up. The air wants so badly to take it along for the ride, you know? And that makes a sort of pressure along the top of it, as well as underneath. The pressure of the air below the kite is stronger, so it forces the kite up, up, up. If you stop holding on tightly to the string, and let a little more out... sometimes it will drift, sometimes it will fall, and sometimes it will just keep on climbing." As Lemon continued to speak, he set his kite down gently and began to help Fu assemble his, as it had a similar system of wooden ribs. He'd had to pull them apart a little to fold them into his bag. Lemon blew upwards at a stray strand of his pink hair and blinked sluggishly. He hadn't realized he was going off on a tangent about kites, one which probably made very little sense to Fu, "That was a lot of talking in one go," Lemon laughed. If there was one other thing he was good at, it was probably talking. "There! All set. All you have to do is... well, with one hand you hold on tight to the spool of string here, and then we're going to have to run with the kite until the wind catches it, and then we let them soar! Hopefully, sometimes there's a bit of crashing before that happens."
Lemon's honey eyes glimmered in the sun. He doubted it could be any clearer how excited he was, and even Lemon couldn't possibly be aware of how happy he looked, his dragon kite cradled in one hand, the spool of thread in the other. "Any questions?" Lemon asked.
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Posted: Tue Sep 14, 2010 7:15 pm
It fascinated Fu that, at the end of the day, he was going to be able to keep this magnificent creation, it even looked exactly like a phoenix. It was beautiful. He wasn’t sure how to thank Lemon, but he knew he would have to in some way that would, somehow, outdo such a magnificent favor. He watched every movement Lemon made carefully with the kites, not being able to help taking in their fine craftsmanship every little glance he could steal, and soaked in every word he had to say like a sponge. He was engrossed in how many little parts there were to what seemed like such a simple object, and all the care that was taken into making it. Lemon was a very special person to be able to do something like this, one day Fu would have to tell him that, if he hadn’t already.
It wasn’t long into the explanation that Fu got confused, the words his friend spoke became garbles in his head. Biting his lip gently in the corner of his mouth while his face scrunched in confusion, he eyed the kite as if trying to unlock a hidden mystery in its fabric.
“W- wait, wait. I’m so sorry, it seems so confusing…” his voice cracked quietly once Lemon had finished his long Kite Lesson Speech. With careful hands he held the kite up to his face and examined it, his hand trailing down the string attached to it “I have to take the string and I... then I run? It’ll be able to get into the air that way? I don’t understand how that…” the sentence trailed off and dropped there.
He felt particularly bad, not being able to wrap his mind around such a careful breakdown of how this contraption worked. Fu was, after all, a simple man. He never thought about how things really worked, most of the time he just accepted that, well, that’s just how it worked. Most of the words Lemon had said flew right over his head no matter how desperately Fu tried to grasp at them, and it made his face feel hot. The bubbling feeling of embarrassment mixed with bad feelings started to well up in his stomach, and quickly he looked at Lemon.
“But you’ll- well obviously you’re going to show me how, right? I work better by visual example!” he tried to cover his embarrassment with the statement, giving him a smile, “I know I’ll catch on if you show me! If that’s alright, that is…”
That anxiousness and excitement at flying the kites was still there, but now a new fear of doing it- doing it wrong of all things, especially in front of Lemon who seemed to know so much about what he was doing- mixed itself in with the others. It was hard to notice outwardly, from his usual disposition, that anything was wrong, and he didn’t plan to let Lemon notice anything was bothering him out of the fear it would ruin their day out. Lemon, though, was so good at picking up on his emotions; actually, he was good about bringing those emotions out. It was much too complicated for Fu to wrap his mind around now, and wasn’t his main concern, but that passing thought would be glued to the back of his mind all day, coupled with a pastie note that asked ‘can Lemon tell this about me, too?’
A deep part of him felt it was going to be a very long day.
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Posted: Thu Sep 16, 2010 9:46 am
Lemon had been so distracted, explaining the principles behind the way that the kite rose, that he hadn't really seen the different emotions and then confusion on Fu's face. Now, however, Lemon's bubble of overwhelming excitement had subsided enough that he could tell his tangent hadn't helped Fu very much. At the same time, seeing Fu hold something he had made for him made Lemon deeply content, in a way he couldn't fully understand. Lemon smiled as tenderly as he could manage, which was a feat, considering he hardly needed to employ that particular expression. He said, "I explained too much, and too fast, didn't I? A bad habit of mine. I get carried away," Lemon said, his smile turning wry. "Maybe...if you think about it like... supporting the kite, holding its string and running, until the kite can remember what it's made to do, which is... catch the air, and rise." Lemon rubbed the back of his neck, "That wasn't much better either, was it?"
Fu looked so upset that Lemon couldn't help but feel remorse, again. It seemed that no matter what he did, or tried to do, he couldn't keep from upsetting Fu. Regardless of how many errors he made with Fu, he just kept wanting to try, over and over again. Lemon reached out and brushed Fu's shoulder lightly with his free hand, clasping it reassuringly before letting go. He had restrained himself to do that little, when all he really wanted was to be close. Lemon blushed again and looked away, before looking back once he had calmed down a little.
"Of course I'll show you! That's ... probably a much better idea than me trying to explain again," Lemon said. "I'm not very good with words, in case you haven't noticed." Lemon rubbed the back of his neck, looked up at the sky. Fu's expression, when he looked back down, was complex. From his speaking, Lemon had felt some of his insecurity, but... Was Fu upset, still? It was hard for Lemon not to feel like something was out of place. He prepared to take the kite and fly it, but before he started to run with it, he looked at Fu and said, "The most important thing you have to know about this, and this is really important, so listen carefully, okay?" Lemon paused, and smiled, "It doesn't matter how many times you, or I, mess up. It happens, and it's just us, so nobody's going to even know how many tries it takes us. So just try not to worry too much, alright!" Lemon said the last part with his usual enthusiasm, and a wink. His grin had returned. He was trying hard to bring back the cheer he normally felt, especially around Fu, however worried he was that Fu might not enjoy their day out.
Lemon took the kite in hand and made sure its tail was free and untangled, holding the string spool in one hand. He took a deep breath, and called out, "Here I go!" and, with a burst of laughter, ran with the kite. He tried to get the wind to catch it, but was unsuccessful at first. It sort of flopped to the ground, and Lemon laughed anyway. He was a little too far away from Fu to make out Fu's expression, but Lemon smiled anyway, and held the kite up again. Good, it had survived its first semi-crash. Although they were beautiful, he had also worked towards making them functional. This time, the kite took to the air. It didn't rise very high at first; Lemon kept it on a tight line, until the air pressure had it tugging violently, and he eased it out a little by a little until it was flying. Lemon had run back towards Fu, this time, so that he could talk to him.
"Looks pretty simple, right?" Lemon said, smiling reassuringly.
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