[Action]

[ledbythewind]

[Anyone who happens to walk by on the road beside House 28 this evening will be treated to a rather unusual sight: a cloud of fireflies hovering around the front lawn, greenish-yellow lights flickering as they fly back and forth, following the movement of a tiny orb of light.

Closer inspection reveals the source of said orb of light as Richard, who is seated in the grass-- he's using a tiny bit of Hyt's power to combine with his own magic (the base for a Holy Lance, not that he's going to cast the entire thing), creating a soft white glowing sphere that hovers a couple of inches above his finger. As he moves his hand to trace mindless patterns in the night air, the orb follows it, and the fireflies follow that in a parade of blinking lights. Richard can't quite hide his amusement at this, reflected in the slight smile on his face. It may be an odd way to spend one's birthday, but to Richard, it's more than fine-- not that he doesn't appreciate what Asbel and the others have done for him. He just needs a little time to himself to unwind after all of that.

But if anyone wanders by, he'll be happy to converse with them. He wouldn't be in a public place if he didn't feel like talking to anyone, after all.]

Comments

[musubi]

[Taking a moment to roll up his pant legs and remove his footwear, Isamu then kneels down in the wet sand.]

Kids like to use buckets and such to form shapes, but we'll have to do without. It's just like a real crumbly clay, and you can only form it when it's wet. Otherwise the sand won't form at all.

Basically, don't form things that are too thin or stick out too far in either direction without support. It's too heavy and not stable enough for that.

[ledbythewind]

[Richard will just follow Isamu's lead, watching intently to see what he does. He is going to be a good student! And possibly ask a million questions, but it's just because he wants to learn.]

Do you think we could sculpt a replica of Barona Castle this way?

[As if his intentions hadn't already been mostly obvious.]

[musubi]

You might be able to make a simple version... I mean something like that is a little too detailed for sand to properly deal with.

[ledbythewind]

A simple version would probably be easier for me to start with. I can save the elaborate sculptures for once I have more experience

[musubi]

Yep. I'm sure you'll be making castles bigger than me before too long.

[ledbythewind]

[Let's see... he'll try scooping some into a mound and then working from there to form a square shape to approximate the main portion of the castle. Hmm, but now he needs to add the towers.

... except that he builds them a little too close to the edge of the base and they crumble just as Isamu had said it could. Whoops.]

[musubi]

[Isamu will just sit here and try not to be too amused.]

You'll figure it out. Just takes some getting used to.

[ledbythewind]

And I don't suppose I could ask you for some help until I do.

[His castle. ;_;]

[musubi]

[Isamu sighs and scoots a bit closer.]

Alright. What do you want help with?

[ledbythewind]

Would you mind helping me make the towers? I don't think I've figured out the trick to that part just yet.

[As if that part weren't obvious judging by the sad pile of crumbled sand that was his initial attempt.]

[musubi]

Hm... Why don't we just start with an easier part of the castle?

[He doesn't know how to make the delicate stuff stick well either.]

[ledbythewind]

We could try finishing the main hall first.

[He's already moving to fix the parts that were damaged when the towers crumbled.]

Perhaps we could even make a replica of the valkines cryas as well.

[musubi]

Start small. I don't know if we could replicate those well, but we can try.

[ledbythewind]

I'm not sure how much smaller I can start than something that's essentially the shape of a banana.

[AND JUST TO PROVE IT, he's going to try. Okay, so it's a little shorter and squatter than the real thing and it lacks the winglike protrusions on the top, but it's passable!]

[musubi]

Looks kinda phallic.

[Ever the kind one.]

[ledbythewind]

[... Isamu what. Did you really just say that? Richard stares for a long moment, not quite sure how to respond. At last, though, he starts laughing, because it's so gloriously immature that it strikes him as absolutely hilarious. (Not to mention TRUE, he can't deny that part either.)]

You really... have a way with words, you know.

[musubi]

What? Like you weren't thinking it.

[He snickers a little bit himself.]

[ledbythewind]

There's a difference between thinking and saying.

[And actually, he wasn't really thinking it at all. BUT NOW CANNOT UNSEE.]

Perhaps I should remake it...

[musubi]

Just embellish it a little to take away from the general shape.

[ledbythewind]

[Maybe if he sticks some pieces of seaweed on the top to mimic the winglike protrusions on the cryas... nope now it just looks like a penis with wings in his mind ISAMU WHY DID YOU HAVE TO PLANT THAT IMAGE IN HIS HEAD, now he can't see it as anything else and he can't keep a straight face either.]

[musubi]

Oh knock that off. Maybe if you redo it you'll do a better job.

The actual thing doesn't look that bad.

[ledbythewind]

I'm placing all of the blame on you for this, you know. How does it feel to know that you have sullied the national symbol of your new country with your filthy mind?

[Nope, still having trouble not grinning.]

[musubi]

I didn't design the symbol, did I?

And anyway, I was poking fun more at your construction of it than the design itself.

[ledbythewind]

In other words, I need to work on my technique.

[musubi]

You are a newbie to the art of sand sculpting.