[Kindness] To Make You Smile [Bokeh + Kintsugi]

[Chrystali]

"I'm sorry," he'd told both of his children separately, regret heavy in Zen's golden eyes, "both of the projects broke in the kiln. It happens, sometimes. I know you both put a lot of work into them, but you can always make more. I'll get you more clay, okay? You sit tight with your sibling and I'll be right back!"


Kintsugi had been disappointed, but not upset for her loss. If anything, she'd been more upset that Bokeh had lost the piece he'd put so much thought into - her sweet, quiet brother and all his unshakable focus, poured into a piece that was now in...well, pieces.

"I wonder how bad it is," she'd mused to herself, wondering if maybe...just maybe, there was something she could do about it. She'd barely let herself into the hallway to take a look at what remained of their projects before she spotted Bokeh, brightening as she often did when getting to interact with her family. It only steeled her resolve to try and fix what was broken.

"Too bad about our stuff, huh?" she said with a small smile, bumping her shoulder up against his. "Yours looked so nice, too. I'm really sorry about it."

Not for long, though. She had a scheme and she was prepared to follow through.

Tristam Lockhart

IT BEGINS

 

[Tristam Lockhart]

If Bokeh was honest with himself, he really wasn't that upset about losing his piece. Clay was hard to work with, it didn't always did what one wanted, and had very odd rules. The Clay Gods were merciless. No, to hear that his project had come apart didn't faze him, What upset him was that he was quiet sure his badly constructed project had destroy his sister's. And that just won't do.

He had to fix this. If he could get the pieces from his dad, he was sure he would puzzle them back together, since he knew he wouldn't be able to recreate his sister's work.

Smiling tentatively at her as he nodded. "I'm sorry about your piece, you did a lot of pretty work on it.."

He needed to get to dad, to the pieces, and to glue...without Kintsugi seeing him....

Chrystali

 

[Chrystali]

"Oh, it's okay. It was just fun to spend some time with you without your camera." Kintsugi gently teased her brother, sharing a grin to make sure he knew she wasn't being cruel about it. She so rarely got to spend time with her family, it was the small moments she treasured. "So," she started, thoughtful on how she could get where she needed to go without alerting her brother, "I was thinking, maybe we could do another project! Like...draw art or something. In secret!"

"What's a secret now?" As if on cue, Zen popped around the corner, tilting his head curiously to the side.

Kintsugi nearly jumped out of her mane. "O-oh, um! I - " she glanced to Bokeh, and then back to their dad, "w-was just saying we should do another project! Draw for each other, or something!"

Zen practically glowed. "That's nice, darling. The art supplies are in the room, but be careful - the shards are still in there, I haven't cleaned up yet."

Oh, perfect! "Thanks dad! We'll be careful!" She looked excitedly to her brother. "What do you think, Bokeh?" If he agreed, she could slide in and use her magic to sweep his project to the side...and then work on it in secret! It was fool-proof!

Tristam Lockhart

 

[Tristam Lockhart]

Well that solve the glue and get the pieces part. He just needed to sneak his sister's project away. "I think that would be great...like, maybe something on those big canvases we got last week!"

Those were big enough to hide behind, at least if you were a foal. He smiled up at his dad. "Yeah! We'll be careful! Can you help use set up the big canvases?" He'll make his move after he had an effective barrier between his sister and him.

Chrystali

 

[Chrystali]

"Can I? You bet!" Zen looked only too pleased to be included in these kind overtures, trotting into the room ahead of his children. As they entered, he used his magic to pull out the giant canvases from the closet, both floating midair for a moment. Turning, he pulled out two easels at the same time, setting them up and placing the canvas on them carefully. "What're you artists gonna use?" he asked each of his children, looking to Kintsugi first, unwittingly giving Bokeh the opportunity he needed.

She'd been looking for the piles as discretely as she could, spotting them just as the canvases settled. When spoken to, Kintsugi pursed her lips in thought. "Crayons," she finally settled on, nodding to herself.

Zen procured one of their sets from the closet and set it next to one of the easels, turning then to Bokeh. "What's your fancy, son?"

And with Zen's attention turned - and Bokeh's too, hopefully - she slunk low and used her significantly smaller amount of power to gather up the shards of Bokeh's project, tugging them under a side table and behind the crayons. Glee made her practically vibrate with excitement, beaming as she regarded the other two.

Tristam Lockhart

 

[Tristam Lockhart]

And Bokeh did take the opportunity, using his magic to gather the pieces of his sister's project and tucking them away under a cleaning cloth under a stool.

He tried to think of what would be best to use here. "Um....The watercolors and some glue. I am going to try that masking thing you were talking about."

Once the supplies were deliver to his station, he grinned happily. "Thank you!" He chirpped happily, and waited for his dad to leave before he uncovered the pieces. Oh dear, this look worse then he thought!

Grabbing a stool, he tried to figure out what part of this was the base. "....So what are you going to make?" He called out, hoping to mask the sound of clay clanking against each other as he tried to pick up the foot of the piece.

Chrystali

 

[Chrystali]

She had already started to slowly shift some of the pieces around by the time Zen had retrieved Bokeh's requested items, the filly trying her best to piece together the larger ones before puzzling the small. Kintsugi kept them hidden as their dad beamed at them, leaving the two to their art project; only once the parental unit was gone did she again start to paw through the remnants. This...was going to take some creative finagling...

Jarred with surprise at her brother's voice, she hid her embarrassment at almost getting caught with a small giggle, picking up some crayons and throwing some random shapes on the paper in front of her, using her hooves to carefully continue her work. "Oh, you know...I was thinking...a rainbow!" A playful little grin tugged at her mouth as her plan began to make itself clear. "We had a destruction of our stuff, but rainbows only show up when it's raining."

Oh, if she could pat herself on the back, she would. This was gonna be great.

"What about you?" she quipped back in a chipper tone, peering around her canvas as if trying to sneak a peek at what he was doing. Kintsugi wasn't really looking, of course, but used the gesture to pull the mess of pieces in front of her and hide them better. There! Now she could really concentrate, and -- !

...this little piece went on the lip, right? ...or maybe the base...

Tristam Lockhart

500 years and tears later...