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Labyrinthum Inbox.
BLACK CAT
[un: gatto]
(note: cat is unfamiliar with this level of technology/accessible communication, and icly takes a bit of time to respond.)
(for action, he lives in a smaller than
average hill house.)
. action | text | voice | video .
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Bringing up that previous gift, though, seems like it might be promising, so Li Lianhua does lift his eyes to the boy again. But seeing the thing he made, at least in part with his own hands, being held like it's junk Cat can barely bring himself to touch, feels like anything but. It feels like not knowing what he'd done wrong, but knowing without a doubt whatsoever that he had ruined it. Without meaning to, but that's unimportant.
But the moment passes and Cat relents for now. Li Lianhua swallows down the tension holding his own body still like the press of coffin walls, and Huli Jing, sensing the fraught atmosphere but unsure what to do about it, hops off the bench to stand in front of Cat, tail wagging slowly and hesitantly. Li Lianhua pulls his hand back into his lap, gaze dropping to the work of plucking at his sleeve with the ghost of a smile.
"She seems worth admiring, from what I recall," he says and takes care not to let his voice sound as brittle as he feels. "Do you know how to fly it?"
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It's hard not to scoff at the question, but the fox on the kite weighs heavily on his mind, and seems to shake its head with the idle twiddling he's doing. 'Now, Brother, he's given you a gift. And that's clearly a good head on his shoulders,' it seems to chide. He wants to bite back that the shoulders in question are weak, as little as that has to do with anything. 'Your friend is going think you don't appreciate these things.'
It is so rare for the clever to be kind. Cat clears his throat, wishing that was enough to drown it out.
"Never had the opportunity to use one," he admits, failing to come off as casual and uncaring. After another moment of hesitating, the boy slowly takes a knee and reaches out to rest a hand on Huli Jing's head. No pets, pats, scritches, or rubs. Sorry, pup. "My mother wasn't real concerned with fun, when she was around, and there was no such thing as friends." The brief wonder of whether Fox ever did crosses his mind. It doesn't fit the image of the Volfe family he made up for himself, or what she'd told him when they got to sharing. "Heh, doubt any of them would have had kites either, if they did exist..."
Only a sucker would take their eyes off their pockets long enough to watch it soar. The slums couldn't accommodate that kind of person for long.
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Even so, only when Cat reaches out to greet Huli Jing does the erratic beating of his weak heart become bearable once more. The dog seems relieved by the friendly gesture as well, squinting happily, only to turn a confused snout up at the lack of pats a moment later. He shoves his nose into Cat's hand, gives the glove a sniff and even a lick, but finds the taste of it not nearly as satisfying as that of skin, so he takes a hopeful step forward, stretching his neck to nose at Cat's mask. Surely somewhere here there must be a treat or some affection to be found.
The boy's answer fits neatly into the bleak image in Li Lianhua's mind of his former circumstances. When meeting even basic needs for survival is a daily struggle, there's no room for things that don't fill your belly or keep you warm. But something had attracted Cat to the notion of the kite anyway, some desire to rise above mere existing, to reach for the simple joys and beauty life can offer beyond the mud. Some hope not yet crushed by where he came from, kept safe, most likely, by the one whose face looks back at him from the kite. Li Lianhua remembers well the effort it takes to grow into a new life from nothing, had only meant to offer a little encouragement on that path, is all.
"I see... Well listen, I've never actually built one of these before, I don't even know if it'll fly...," he admits, the shaking of his voice masked by a soft self-conscious chuckle. All this over a kite that might not even work, isn't that a little funny? "Ah but if you help me try it out, and if it's any good, it's yours. Of course there's also some steamed buns and fruit for your hard work," he adds like an afterthought, half raising a hand and his gaze towards the basket at his side. The bottle of wine he had hoped to finally share goes unmentioned for now. "Sound good?"
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Paying attention to Li Lianhua is more of a trial, especially with his words having no will behind them. The story is as flimsy as the kite -- actually, maybe flimsier, since it seems to be solid for what it is, despite what the man says about this being his first time making a kite -- which is why Cat pushes himself to standing with a scoff and a roll of his eyes that can't be seen. "And if it doesn't, I wouldn't get the kite you made up after my sister? For someone out to do thoughtful things, you didn't really think that one through, did you?"
His free hand settles on his hip as he gestures towards Li Lianhua with the kite. "You're not going to just sit there. Come on, now! I didn't step that hard, don't act like I've kicked you down." ...It's still a little bit of punishment for him, but the idea of running around like an idiot while Li Lianhua gets comfortable watching would be an embarrassment cherry on top of all the other messy feelings. Up!!
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It seems a shame to be addressed again, when those two could enjoy each other's company just fine without him. But Li Lianhua will take the scolding for his thoughtless words with a small smile and a chastised nod. Alright, alright, so maybe the kite would still be worthwhile even if it failed to fulfill its purpose. His fault for suggesting otherwise. But crucially, not a no to his question.
The return to Cat making
charmingunashamed demands for Li Lianhua to join him finally relieves the last of the tension, making it seem like nothing had been on a knife's edge at all. A narrow-eyed look and moue of amused annoyance at the boy is easily done, shaking his head. "No, not too hard," he retorts wryly and braces against the bench to push to his feet. So much abuse really had been uncalled for. Picking up the basket, he gestures out to the path. "Well then, lead the way, young man. Someone's going to have to get that kite into the wind, and I'm afraid my knees are a little achy today." So strange how that is.no subject
If he didn't have the mask, he might've needed to wipe his face again to hide the smirk at the words -- both said and unsaid. Or maybe he wouldn't bother, seeing as he chuckles, either cruel or amused by Li Lianhua's insistence at playing around. If only he were just a little older, he could counter that 'young man' with an 'old timer'... Alas, for as close to death as Li Lianhua looks sometimes, he's pretty young, himself, as far as Cat can tell. And yet the maniac was ready to go.
Cat doesn't need to dwell even more on the dumbass's idiot decisions, so he looks to the kite again, testing its weight. What does he do... Just toss it up? It can't be hard -- kids do it. (And it isn't like it's the real Fox he's letting go of. Never.) Feeling foolish and none too happy about it, he starts a weak jog and tries to shoot the kite into the air like a paper airplane. It jostles in the breeze for a moment before diving back towards the ground, unimpressed with the lack of effort he put in and refusing to catch the wind in retaliation. The boy winces a little at the sound, harmless as it is to both his ears and the integrity of the kite.
"Huh. That was no good." He has no right to feel offended, but he's going to, anyway. "Try that one more time..." With a little more feeling!! The kite is as hard to appease as his sister, however, and takes another tumble after the briefest time flitting behind him. "Don't you think this is a little ridiculous? A kite may be visible, but it's a child's toy."
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This does seem a little trickier than Li Lianhua had imagined, but Cat is also awfully quick to give up. So much petulance! Where's his perseverance? Denouncing a child's toy that's currently getting the best of him with all the wounded pride a teenage boy can muster really is too funny and Li Lianhua raises a hand to his mouth to cover a smile as well as a cough. It wouldn't do to appear to be on the kite's side on this one.
"Ah, ridiculous? I didn't expect that Friend Cat is so worried about what other people think of him. Or do you think you're too old to have fun?" But he really doesn't want Cat to lose interest before he's even begun, and this may indeed be a job for two people who don't know what they're doing, rather than one. Restraining his amusement, Li Lianhua holds out a hand. "Here, let me try anchoring the line while you throw it into the wind. Properly! That might be easier than doing both yourself."
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"Suddenly the point is to have fun?" Or was that Li Lianhua's game all along? In that case, the dedication in crafting the kite the way he had is even more bizarre -- and crafting it at all. The sort of fun that Cat has doesn't need a prop like that unless it's to be pawned off for far more than it's worth, and there was no letting someone waltz off with something made up after his sister like that. Is it...possible to have fun with something so...normal? And what did Li Lianhua care about that? There's no reason for it at all.
Cat clears his throat, but turns the sound into a sigh and retrieves the kite once more. "I'm...pretty sure Huli Jing's odds are better." That willingness to run... It would get things going, certainly. Ugh. "Fine, fine. Stand a bit over there, then."
Passing the line off after unloosing another round of it for good measure -- it exists for a reason, so it must be able to get high up there -- Cat looks about a moment before marching up onto the bench he'd interrupted Li Lianhua's nap on, holds the kite aloft higher into the air, and sends it.