[Fic] This May Shock and Amaze You
Apr. 6th, 2021 06:49 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chirurgiqueTitle: This May Shock and Amaze You
Fandom: Kingdom Hearts
Relationship: Elrena & Strelitzia
Rating: G
Words: 1,395
Summary: Making plans to celebrate a birthday can be a little difficult when you know as few people as Strelitzia does. Well, regardless of what Strelitzia expects, Elrena has some plans of her own.
Strelitzia inhaled deeply, and took the plunge. “So, today is my birthday.”
Elrena turned and looked at her like she had grown a second head. She knew she shouldn’t have brought it—
“Uh, duh? Hello? Why do you think we’re even here?”
Strelitzia blinked owlishly. After cleaning up the day’s Heartless target, she and Elrena were hiking up a hill on the outskirts of Daybreak Town, taking high strides to navigate the long grass. Elrena had insisted they do this instead of going home.
“I was, uh, just tagging along.”
“Hmph. Well, for your information, there’s a calendar in the party clubhouse with everyone’s birthdays on it. I can read, you know.”
“Ah... o-of course!” Strelitzia dearly wished that she could stop the blood from rushing to her face like this whenever she so much as misspoke. “But, wait, what does that have to do with this hill?”
“It’s as good a spot as any for me to give you your present.” Elrena shrugged.
The girls had reached the hill’s crest. Evening was beginning to fall, and a breeze was ruffling the grasses and the patches of clover flowers, finally chasing out the heat of the summer day. Elrena found a spot on the hilltop where the grass was suitably flat and laid down matter-of-factly, heaving a noisy sigh and closing her eyes.
“I... I was happy enough just to get to say it to someone,” Strelitzia dithered, smoothing out one pigtail with her fingers as she trailed after Elrena. “You really don’t have to give me a present.”
“And waste all the trouble I went to?” Not even opening her eyes, Elrena patted the ground next to her expectantly.
Strelitzia sat down cross-legged, watching Elrena to make sure she had correctly guessed her wishes. When Elrena didn’t protest, Strelitzia stretched out too, a starfish of limbs in the cool, sweet-smelling grass.
Once she was horizontal, Strelitzia couldn’t help sighing as well. She hadn’t realized until getting off her feet just how much the summer sun had run her down.
“Lying here is so nice, what a good idea. Is this my present?”
Elrena smiled, eyes still closed. “I’m full of good ideas.” Then she opened her eyes, and Strelitzia looked away quickly so as not to get caught as a softness spectator. “But no, your present is way better. We have to wait until it gets a little darker first, though.”
“Oh...” Strelitzia joined Elrena in looking straight ahead, up into the heavens. The glimmering stars beneath the clouds seemed uncertain as to whether they were retreating under the eternal dawn or coming out in earnest. “Nightfall should be... soon, I think?”
“Ugh, who even knows.” Elrena blew out a breath, annoyed. “The sky here is so weird. Does the sun even go all the way across like it does in other worlds?”
“I think so... it just sits low, right?”
“How should I know?” Elrena rolled her eyes. “I don’t exactly walk around looking up at the sky all the time like some sort of ingenue.”
“Ah... I mean...”
“I know you do, ingenue.”
“I-is that bad?” Strelitzia glanced fretfully to Elrena.
“No, no, it’s— you ever meet one of those princesses or whoever in the worlds conjured by the Book that Chirithy always yammers on about being ‘this world’s precious light’?”
“I don’t... think so?”
“Oh. Well, that’s you.”
“And that’s good?”
“If you like princesses, I guess,” Elrena huffed.
Strelitzia looked back at the sky, and tried not to read too much into her memories of Elrena’s annotated list of which princesses of Arendelle were the coolest and why.
Little by little it was getting darker, and the stars were asserting their intentions a little more clearly. Strelitzia could see the beginnings of some familiar late summer constellations, ones she hadn’t seen since the very first time she had looked up at Daybreak’s odd sky.
“My birthday... This means I’ve been a Keyblade wielder for a whole year already.”
Elrena raised her arms and folded them behind her head. “Time flies, I guess. And now you’re another year older.”
“My brother said the same thing this morning. He said, ‘another year older, but not wiser’.”
Elrena snorted. “Huh! Okay, wise guy. How old is your brother?”
“He’s two years older than me.”
“... What month was he born in?”
“August as well, his birthday’s in two weeks.”
Elrena shifted unhappily. Strelitzia laughed.
“Were you going to say something else if you were older than him?”
“Let’s move on,” Elrena muttered sulkily.
Strelitzia giggled. But she was magnanimous, and cooperatively changed the subject.
“You know, it’s getting pretty dark.”
“Oh!” Elrena sat bolt upright. “Alright, enough preamble. It’s time to get down to real business.” She reached into her jacket as she clambered to her feet, and pulled out a handful of what looked like cardboard tubes.
She hit two of the tubes together like drumsticks, and grinned. “Fireworks. Don’t tell anyone.” She turned and began sticking the tubes into the ground, fanning them out in a semicircle. “Last time I got caught with these, the snake lady make me sweep the whole fountain square. I’m not even in her Union.” She gesticulated wildly with the last firework before finding it its place in the mud. “So I better not hear that you blabbed. This is exclusive birthday contraband.”
Strelitzia simply nodded as she sat up slowly, eyes huge as saucers. Elrena smiled wickedly, then took a few steps back from her fireworks fan, and summoned her Keyblade, taking a showman’s stance.
“Ladies and ingenues! Prepare to be amazed!”
She swiped her Keyblade in a wide arc, and with a staccato, staggered rhythm, the rockets began to fire. They weren’t particularly propulsive fireworks, and their sparkles and scintillations seemed mostly confined to the air next to the hill. A show for just Strelitzia. She smiled and clapped.
“Don’t be impressed yet, anybody can do that part!” complained Elrena. “Save your applause for this!”
Teeth clenched in a wild grin, she stabbed her Keyblade forward, and sent a bolt of lightning arcing towards one of the firework bursts. When the lightning connected, the firework exploded anew, fresh colours and shapes sprouting from its centre, and the image of a glittering flower blossomed in its place. Strelitzia gasped.
“Tada!” smirked Elrena as she sent out lightning bolt after lightning bolt, blooming a garden across the darkening night. Strelitzia cheered and fawned as instructed.
The tricks Elrena had in her bag took several minutes to perform, and eventually, nominally bored of being a presenter and definitely not feeling the effects of working hard all day, she came back to sit on the grass next to Strelitzia. Now she was lazily sending out bolts from where she was sprawled, and Strelitzia sat marvelling at her handiwork, elbows on her knees, hands folded under her chin, warmth in her heart.
She mumbled to herself, “This time next year...”
“What was that?” Strelitzia wasn’t sure whether she had wanted Elrena to hear her, but she had heard her nonetheless.
So she spoke up a little louder. “This time next year...” She watched petals of golden and pink light shimmer and fade and burst into life again. “I want to have as many friends as there are flowers in the sky.”
Elrena barked a laugh. “Not as many as there are stars? Setting humbler goals to start, huh?”
Strelitzia smiled, and nodded.
“Sounds miserable to me, honestly. Knowing that many people would totally cramp my style,” Elrena murmured dispassionately, not moving her attention from the aiming of her lightning towards its targets. “Good luck anyway, though, I guess.”
Part of Strelitzia wanted to ask, here under the beauty and brightness that Elrena had conjured just for her, if she could start her count of friends now, with Elrena as ‘one’.
The rest of her was still recovering from all the mistakes and awkward comments she had made today. And yesterday, and every day before. The road to her dream wasn’t going to be easy.
But there was a whole new year ahead of her. And if the lights in her eyes and the lightness in her chest were any indication, then maybe, maybe next time she was in a position to ask to call someone her friend, she would be brave enough after all.
Written for the prompt “Friendship” for Day 2 of KHUx Week. Thank you for reading!
Fandom: Kingdom Hearts
Relationship: Elrena & Strelitzia
Rating: G
Words: 1,395
Summary: Making plans to celebrate a birthday can be a little difficult when you know as few people as Strelitzia does. Well, regardless of what Strelitzia expects, Elrena has some plans of her own.
Strelitzia inhaled deeply, and took the plunge. “So, today is my birthday.”
Elrena turned and looked at her like she had grown a second head. She knew she shouldn’t have brought it—
“Uh, duh? Hello? Why do you think we’re even here?”
Strelitzia blinked owlishly. After cleaning up the day’s Heartless target, she and Elrena were hiking up a hill on the outskirts of Daybreak Town, taking high strides to navigate the long grass. Elrena had insisted they do this instead of going home.
“I was, uh, just tagging along.”
“Hmph. Well, for your information, there’s a calendar in the party clubhouse with everyone’s birthdays on it. I can read, you know.”
“Ah... o-of course!” Strelitzia dearly wished that she could stop the blood from rushing to her face like this whenever she so much as misspoke. “But, wait, what does that have to do with this hill?”
“It’s as good a spot as any for me to give you your present.” Elrena shrugged.
The girls had reached the hill’s crest. Evening was beginning to fall, and a breeze was ruffling the grasses and the patches of clover flowers, finally chasing out the heat of the summer day. Elrena found a spot on the hilltop where the grass was suitably flat and laid down matter-of-factly, heaving a noisy sigh and closing her eyes.
“I... I was happy enough just to get to say it to someone,” Strelitzia dithered, smoothing out one pigtail with her fingers as she trailed after Elrena. “You really don’t have to give me a present.”
“And waste all the trouble I went to?” Not even opening her eyes, Elrena patted the ground next to her expectantly.
Strelitzia sat down cross-legged, watching Elrena to make sure she had correctly guessed her wishes. When Elrena didn’t protest, Strelitzia stretched out too, a starfish of limbs in the cool, sweet-smelling grass.
Once she was horizontal, Strelitzia couldn’t help sighing as well. She hadn’t realized until getting off her feet just how much the summer sun had run her down.
“Lying here is so nice, what a good idea. Is this my present?”
Elrena smiled, eyes still closed. “I’m full of good ideas.” Then she opened her eyes, and Strelitzia looked away quickly so as not to get caught as a softness spectator. “But no, your present is way better. We have to wait until it gets a little darker first, though.”
“Oh...” Strelitzia joined Elrena in looking straight ahead, up into the heavens. The glimmering stars beneath the clouds seemed uncertain as to whether they were retreating under the eternal dawn or coming out in earnest. “Nightfall should be... soon, I think?”
“Ugh, who even knows.” Elrena blew out a breath, annoyed. “The sky here is so weird. Does the sun even go all the way across like it does in other worlds?”
“I think so... it just sits low, right?”
“How should I know?” Elrena rolled her eyes. “I don’t exactly walk around looking up at the sky all the time like some sort of ingenue.”
“Ah... I mean...”
“I know you do, ingenue.”
“I-is that bad?” Strelitzia glanced fretfully to Elrena.
“No, no, it’s— you ever meet one of those princesses or whoever in the worlds conjured by the Book that Chirithy always yammers on about being ‘this world’s precious light’?”
“I don’t... think so?”
“Oh. Well, that’s you.”
“And that’s good?”
“If you like princesses, I guess,” Elrena huffed.
Strelitzia looked back at the sky, and tried not to read too much into her memories of Elrena’s annotated list of which princesses of Arendelle were the coolest and why.
Little by little it was getting darker, and the stars were asserting their intentions a little more clearly. Strelitzia could see the beginnings of some familiar late summer constellations, ones she hadn’t seen since the very first time she had looked up at Daybreak’s odd sky.
“My birthday... This means I’ve been a Keyblade wielder for a whole year already.”
Elrena raised her arms and folded them behind her head. “Time flies, I guess. And now you’re another year older.”
“My brother said the same thing this morning. He said, ‘another year older, but not wiser’.”
Elrena snorted. “Huh! Okay, wise guy. How old is your brother?”
“He’s two years older than me.”
“... What month was he born in?”
“August as well, his birthday’s in two weeks.”
Elrena shifted unhappily. Strelitzia laughed.
“Were you going to say something else if you were older than him?”
“Let’s move on,” Elrena muttered sulkily.
Strelitzia giggled. But she was magnanimous, and cooperatively changed the subject.
“You know, it’s getting pretty dark.”
“Oh!” Elrena sat bolt upright. “Alright, enough preamble. It’s time to get down to real business.” She reached into her jacket as she clambered to her feet, and pulled out a handful of what looked like cardboard tubes.
She hit two of the tubes together like drumsticks, and grinned. “Fireworks. Don’t tell anyone.” She turned and began sticking the tubes into the ground, fanning them out in a semicircle. “Last time I got caught with these, the snake lady make me sweep the whole fountain square. I’m not even in her Union.” She gesticulated wildly with the last firework before finding it its place in the mud. “So I better not hear that you blabbed. This is exclusive birthday contraband.”
Strelitzia simply nodded as she sat up slowly, eyes huge as saucers. Elrena smiled wickedly, then took a few steps back from her fireworks fan, and summoned her Keyblade, taking a showman’s stance.
“Ladies and ingenues! Prepare to be amazed!”
She swiped her Keyblade in a wide arc, and with a staccato, staggered rhythm, the rockets began to fire. They weren’t particularly propulsive fireworks, and their sparkles and scintillations seemed mostly confined to the air next to the hill. A show for just Strelitzia. She smiled and clapped.
“Don’t be impressed yet, anybody can do that part!” complained Elrena. “Save your applause for this!”
Teeth clenched in a wild grin, she stabbed her Keyblade forward, and sent a bolt of lightning arcing towards one of the firework bursts. When the lightning connected, the firework exploded anew, fresh colours and shapes sprouting from its centre, and the image of a glittering flower blossomed in its place. Strelitzia gasped.
“Tada!” smirked Elrena as she sent out lightning bolt after lightning bolt, blooming a garden across the darkening night. Strelitzia cheered and fawned as instructed.
The tricks Elrena had in her bag took several minutes to perform, and eventually, nominally bored of being a presenter and definitely not feeling the effects of working hard all day, she came back to sit on the grass next to Strelitzia. Now she was lazily sending out bolts from where she was sprawled, and Strelitzia sat marvelling at her handiwork, elbows on her knees, hands folded under her chin, warmth in her heart.
She mumbled to herself, “This time next year...”
“What was that?” Strelitzia wasn’t sure whether she had wanted Elrena to hear her, but she had heard her nonetheless.
So she spoke up a little louder. “This time next year...” She watched petals of golden and pink light shimmer and fade and burst into life again. “I want to have as many friends as there are flowers in the sky.”
Elrena barked a laugh. “Not as many as there are stars? Setting humbler goals to start, huh?”
Strelitzia smiled, and nodded.
“Sounds miserable to me, honestly. Knowing that many people would totally cramp my style,” Elrena murmured dispassionately, not moving her attention from the aiming of her lightning towards its targets. “Good luck anyway, though, I guess.”
Part of Strelitzia wanted to ask, here under the beauty and brightness that Elrena had conjured just for her, if she could start her count of friends now, with Elrena as ‘one’.
The rest of her was still recovering from all the mistakes and awkward comments she had made today. And yesterday, and every day before. The road to her dream wasn’t going to be easy.
But there was a whole new year ahead of her. And if the lights in her eyes and the lightness in her chest were any indication, then maybe, maybe next time she was in a position to ask to call someone her friend, she would be brave enough after all.
Written for the prompt “Friendship” for Day 2 of KHUx Week. Thank you for reading!
