Gravity Shmavity (Lixue)

[Volinir Orchid]

Volinir snorted. "Dangerous? They're fine!" he insisted as they went upright again, albeit with a bit of warning this time. "Besides, isn't this more exciting than walking?" The Symenestra grimaced when she mentioned her heart failing. "Oh. All right, then." he said apologetically, the wind causing them to sway slightly. On hearing her affirmation of his offer to teach her, he nodded happily, before adding jokingly, "Can I get a kiss, too?" He didn't know what was wrong with him. It was just too much fun to mess with this girl. Regardless of her reaction, he'd continue with the lesson. "First up, we'll need to get in a position where you can grab onto something..." 'There really isn't much walking involved. It's kind of like how a sloth climbs, I guess. You just grab on with your hands, cross your legs, and start inching! For us, we can grab hold with our feet without any problems, but you're not a Symenestra. Of course, I'll catch you if you fall the first time. After that, it's just practice. You go from hanging to crawling on top, and then the very daring and very well-balanced walk, or even run!"

[Lixue]

"Only if you are good," she cooed at him teasingly. Just for effect, Lixue tauntingly ran one of her hands in a circle over his chest. And then Lixue could not stop the giggles that burst from her between her lips. The laughing fit drew tears to her eyes and made her stomach hurt. She was laughing for more than just the mock sexuality. Lixue was giggling at the preposterous idea that they could be dangling from a thin "street" hundreds of feet up in the air over the Spires. Lixue was exhaling in delight at the adrenaline that sought to flood her veins and cloud her thinking. And, of course, at the concept that she could somehow manage to handle one of these threads. "A... Sim-men-east-stra?" Lixue sounded the word out before searching for an explanation of what a Symenestra was. Lixue resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at Volinir. "You make it sound so easy." But, Lixue gingerly let go of Volinir, one hand first. The hand reached out and curled around one of the threads. She tested the thread's strength by cautiously letting her weight push on it. Even though she let the other hand clasp the wire as well, Lixue kept both legs around Volinir's waist. Oh, what a compromising position. Lixue did not even notice, her attention fixated on the task at hand. Lixue wasted no thought or time before she eased off of Volinir's lap and, hooking one leg around the wire, swung upside down. Her grip tightened and she swayed awkwardly for several minutes before pulling her other leg up to lock in with her ankle. "Yeah... easy..." she muttered to the air.

[Volinir Orchid]

Lixue's teasing elicited a similar response from Volinir, who slid a hand beneath her lace top to explore the soft curve of her waist. "Mmm... Fine." he pouted. In response to her confusion about what a Symenestra was, Volinir flashed another grin and said "It's what I am!" After that, he was too busy watching with merriment, and a trace of pride, as she disengaged herself from him and slowly clung onto the road with her own hands and feet to elaborate. Crawling over so he was above her again, Volinir let himself rest on the string, his arms and legs dangling freely. "See! That wasn't so bad, now was it?" he asked wryly. "Bet if you wanted, we could switch places and you won't be any worse off." It felt nice to relax for once. To be away from oppressive Ravok. From the Ebonstryfe, from the constant menace of the Nitrozians, from murder and thieving for survival, from bad food and worse living conditions, from nothing but his own mind for company. It felt nice to be himself again. And it felt nice to share it with someone. A bright yellow butterfly chose that moment to land on Lixue's nose, folding and unfolding its wings for a moment before lapping idly at the sweat that had collected from all the panic.

[Lixue]

Lixue did not find the activity relaxing. Her fingers were cramping from trying to hold on so tightly and her legs were slowly being cut off circulation-wise from being twisted around one another. Readjusting her sweaty grip, Lixue huffed up at Volinir. “It is, was, worse than what you said it would be!” But the tone was only half serious. Lixue enjoyed being the thrill of being above the ground so far and being able to keep her balance. Dancing upon the line of life and death she was. “Oh, I would much rather be on top.” The question was: how would she manage to flip around? Lixue did not have the agility and acrobatic skill Volinir apparently had. Nor was her body somehow able to cling to the thread. Even if the thread did want to stay in contact with her, if the way it clung to her skin and attempted to wrap around her fingers. The next moment, a butterfly the size of her face decided to perch upon Lixue’s nose. Going cross-eyed to look at the beast, Lixue realized it was bright yellow with green polka dots and its body was fluorescent blue. The wings alone hid Lixue’s face, allowing only her eyes to show. A light breeze tickled her skin at the wings’ movement. However, Lixue was startled when the creature began to lap at the driblets of sweat that had collected from her panic. So startled, in fact, she let go of the wire. Completely.

[Volinir Orchid]

Lixue's comment wasn't lost on the Sym, who was on the path to returning to his original color. Was. Volinir would have moved to give Lixue room to flip over... Except that the butterfly had surprised him as much as it had surprised her. Even more surprising was when she let go of the wire again. It was very fortunate for her that Volinir's arms and legs were simply hanging in the air at the moment, and he could seize hold of her arms at a moment's notice. It was very unfortunate for Volinir that it also meant that her weight dragged him off with her. Evidently, Symenestra could panic, as Volinir's face immediately went from childish excitement to utter terror in a matter of ticks. They had, unfortunately, expended their supply of extra wires, and there was little Volinir could do but pull Lixue toward him and maneuver himself underneath her to absorb most of the impact of the ground. About twenty ticks later, they hit a mushroom. Curiously, instead of going straight through it and becoming one with the terrain, they bounced off of the mushroom like a gigantic trampoline, soaring twenty feet into the air before bouncing off another mushroom again. In the end, they rebounded three times before landing on a wide, flat toadstool the size of a plaza with a texture not unlike a pillow. In accordance to her wishes, Lixue was on top of him.

[Lixue]

Once again, Lixue screamed. This one was filled with panic and, when Volinir wrapped his arms around her, she clung. Her hands scraped at his skin in an attempt to better hold, but found his shirt was flipping away from her grasp. Lixue panicked further, certain she was going to be dropped if she could not hold onto something. In her panic, Lixue scrabbled after his shirt. But the wind from their fall fought Lixue. Lixue lost. The shirt blinded Volinir for only a moment before slipping over his head and dancing upon the horizon. This only caused Lixue to scream more and her nails scraped at his skin in an effort to hold on. When they hit the mushroom, Lixue jolted. Her head whipped forwards and smacked solidly against Volinir’s shoulder. Before Lixue could fully react or comprehend the injury, they were flying through the air. Her legs flailed and her hands sought something to grab. The air pulled at her hair, inviting her to relax and enjoy the moment. Nearby, Lixue could see Volinir flying as well. They reconnected on the next mushroom top and Lixue barely had time to breathe before they were flying again, this time lower. Lixue had her eyes squeezed shut when she landed the third time. Only, this time the mushroom felt different. Instead of soft and cuddly, it was bony and warm. Her legs touched the soft and cuddly, but she was… Was she sitting on something? One eye slowly opened, cautiously trying to see what she was straddling. Imagine her surprise when she found herself sitting upon Volinir. Red flushed her pale skin and she stumbled upon her words, “Oh, jeez…. Um… Hi?”

[Volinir Orchid]

As it was now clear to see, Volinir wasn't that bony. Well, in life he was, but who on earth chose to stay emaciated in a happy dream? While he was still dazed slightly by their unexpected flight, it didn't take long for him to process where he was and who was on him. While red was a color that wasn't in a Symenestra's range, Volinir's face certainly did its best. it was almost a brighter pink than the toadstool they were on. "H-hi..." he finally managed to choke out. Moving was more or less out of the question: If there was any way to make an awkward situation worse, that was it. Kindly requesting Lixue to stop sitting on him would just draw more attention to the fact, and he didn't think his cheeks could contain any more blood. As such, the only path available to him was to lie there in frozen horror. After a couple ticks, Volinir chuckled nervously. "Well, erm... That was exciting, wasn't it? Maybe best to leave the thread climbing to me, though..."

[Lixue]

Lixue wondered if her own face matched the man's rich shade of pink. She was certain it did, if only judging from how warm her face was and how awkward she felt. In fact, if Lixue felt this awkward normally, she would have squirmed. But... doing so now would only cause problems. Awkward, unexpected problems. So, Lixue kept still. In fact, she was so still her body shook with each beat of her heart. With a twist of her lips, Lixue murmurred, "I would rather be on top. The last thing I need is for your fat body," here she poked at his belly with a smirk, "to squash," Lixue pointed at herself, "me... Besides, the more talented person is always on top." When Volinir attempted a joke, Lixue burst into giggles. "I would do it again." A pause. "Yes... thread climbing is not my forte, if you could not tell!" Now, here on the ground was another story. Lixue cautiously placed her hands on Volinir's chest as she leaned forward and pushed herself off to one side, landing on her bum next to the man. Instead of focusing on him, she stared around them. The forest was full of mushrooms! Tiny cracks and joints lying between the touching caps. The cracks, appearingly, fell into nothingness. The mushrooms themselves looked hard. A shiny gloss reflected the sunlight and caused the tops to twinkle. More than one creature bounced happily from mushroom to mushroom and a young squirrel was jumping in place, trying to see how high he could get. Lixue, upon seeing this behavior, grew curious. She shoved to her feet and, hesitantly, took a step forwards with the leg that did not have a limp. The cap sunk beneath her weight before pushing her upwards. Going with the flow, Lixue jumped forward and landed with her feet together. The ground kicked her upwards nearly a foot. "Vol-ee-ner!" Lixue squealed, bouncing back over to the man. Reaching down, she tugged on his hand to pull him to stand next to her. "Come bounce with me!" Apparently, Lixue had bounced (no pun intended) back from the awkward situation they had accidentally been placed in.

[Volinir Orchid]

Lixue making levity of the situation was, as it turned out, exactly what Volinir needed to cool down. His laughter was a great deal less strained, and he seemed to forget (partially) how uncomfortable a position they were in. "And how would you know you're more talented, hm?" he quipped suggestively. Once she was off of him, he was able to relax further. It was curious that he should lose the cloth covering his arms and torso, but he didn't pay too much mind to it. Soon his attention was brought back outside him by Lixue's tugging. A childlike grin spread across Volinir's features, and he cried "Okay!" before rocketing himself a good three feet into the air and doing a flip. After a few ticks of bouncing, however, the act itself got boring. If there was a way to make things exciting again... His smile taking on a more mischievous tone, Volinir tried to pinch Lixue's sides in an attempt to get her to chase him. If that wasn't enough, he'd try to sneak another kiss before bounding away from her inevitable wrath. Immature? Maybe. Fun? Definitely.

[Lixue]

Lixue was jealous of the Sym's acrobatic skills. Here she was, barely bouncing a foot off the mushroom and he was doing flips and launching around. How was it he could do such a thing? Lixue estimated he weighed more than her, but did not have a good estimate of how much more. Given his height and body type, Lixue guessed nearly thirty pounds or more. But perhaps she was wrong and the wind simply liked him better. Lixue tested her jumps, making sure her kene would not buckle. And, surprisingly, it did not. How long had it been since Lixue was able to jump, without her cane? Too long, if you asked her! The prospect of not being hindered by her knee, although Lixue would not call it hindering her, was wonderful and caused a smile to bloom on her face. Suddenly, there was a pinch at her side! "'Ey!" she yelled, whirling to swat at whatever had grabbed her. Lixue spotted Volinir bouncing away and her eyes narrowed in paranoia and mirth. So, he wanted to play that game, huh? Acting casual, Lixue continued her small bouncing until the next pinch came. This time, Lixue grabbed at his wrist, barely catching hold. Twirling until she faced him, Lixue was going to say something in retaliation, but a kiss was feathered upon her lips and the man was struggling to get away. Though her hold tightened, the Symenestra got away and bounced in the opposite direction. Shaking her head in exasperation, Lixue slowly bounced after him, still unsteady on her mushroom legs. But, the mushrooms had other ideas and, as if sensing her growing confidence, encouraged her to jump higher and longer. And Lixue did, laughing gleefully at the fun. Too late, Lixue noticed she had caught up to Volinir and was aiming straight for him with her next landing. Though she tried to change direction in flight, Lixue failed. They landed in a tangle of legs and arms.