prismatica | text | un: konoha

Straw sandals? Aren't those cold--ah, be sure it's tight enough to stay on, but be careful of cutting off circulation too--

[He finishes the tie off with a bow and sits back, watching her work on the shoe.]

I always wore big heavy boots in the snow. Did you know, humans can become so cold they lose toes?

Well, snow is cold... but my hooves don't really feel the temperature like human feet do...

[Though straw sandals and layers of socks or hides were all the humans had in her village, too...]

One of the hunters in my village got frostbite pretty bad last year... I know lots of stuff like that. My parents were human, and there were no other jinba in my village but me.

[So honestly... She felt like she knew more about humans than her own kind most days. It's why she's so annoyed at herself for being so bad at walking- hadn't she seen humans walking all the time? Why was it so different when it was her own feet?]

Your parents...

[He says it slowly, before--] Ah! [Oh, adopted, right? It's common, sure, but it's not something that he thinks of immediately.]

yes...when we went to cold places, there was always at least one or two who lost a toe, or even a finger...

[He shifts to sit next to her, done with the left shoe, leaning over and watching her.]

How are you managing?

[There's a moment when he trails off that Konoha gives him a look that definitely says... she's very used to people either weirdly or intentionally misinterpreting that sort of statement from her to then ask her very awkward questions (and sometimes very rude ones, like if her mother had fucked a horse), and she's very prepared to answer in kind...

But. Phew. He didn't. So he had a brain, that was good!!

Which means she can finish the shoe, sticking out her legs and propping her heels on the dirt to examine them. They looked basically the same...]

Is this right?

[She wriggles her feet a little, testing out how they felt enclosed in the leather. Huh... Another new feeling.]

It looks good! Let me just...

[He starts working on his own boots, much faster, even with the larger volume of clasps.]

They fit right, yes? They don't hurt? No pinching anywhere?

[That's a professional for you... ! So fast... At the question, she wriggles her feet a bit more, practicing flexing them.]

Hmm... I don't think they hurt?

[They feel tight, but... Konoha has the presence of mind to think that's probably just because she's not used to... leather tied to her hooves. Feet. Ends of her limbs.]

You'll know better once you stand up and get their weight on them. Now...

[He moves to her front, reaching for her hands.]

Let's have you put them about shoulder width apart, ah? Then you can brace on me as you shift your weight to them.

Shoulder-width apart...

[That sounded right... Even though she’d figured she’d be able to master this easily based just off growing up among humans, she hadn’t spent as much time as she’d thought really observing how they walked.

She grips his hands strongly to brace herself, blushing momentarily as she recalls some other times their skin had touched, but she does manage to focus enough to stutter up into a stand, wobbling a moment as she puts her weight too far forward on her toes, then too far back on the heel, then- okay, that’s good.]

Okay... I’m up... and the shoes feel...

[Weird! So weird!!]

Not painful?

Oop!

[He lets her hold his hands, but he shifts a little to help her balance on her feet rather than leaning entirely on him.]

Not painful is a good start. Really, shoes are such a fussy thing! It must be nice for cen--jinba to have them built in in a way, ah? [Nothing about how he finds them creepy and how horses could at least have the sense to have cloven hooves rather than those fused monstrosities! Though that's far from his mind thankfully as he assesses her.]

Okay. Now try practicing getting up on the balls of your feet and then down again. Like this...

[He demonstrates, looking down as he lifts himself up slightly, then brings his heels back down.]

I guess... ?

[She likes her hooves precisely because they were hers, more than actually thinking them better or worse than human feet... (Though if she had to say which was better...)

Still holding him tight for fear she might fall and crack her head (again) on the wood floor behind her or the packed earth in front of her... actually maybe front is fine, he’d catch her, Konoha mimics his weird movements, making a bit of a face as she does so and the stretching of the sole of her food just feels so strange when you aren’t used to having muscles down there.]

Like this?

[She’s doing it right, at least, even if her face looks a bit scrunched up.]

Like that!

[He hardly has any sense of shame, so even if it's awkward to her...he's not going to let up! She has to get around, right?]

And now... try taking a step. I'll keep holding your hand, but...like this.

[And he sticks his foot out in a mirror image, as if he's teaching her to dance more than walk.] Heel first. Dig in, get a good plant, and then...roll it forward 'til it's flat. Press your toes down and dig them in if you need balance, ah?

Okay...

[To his credit, his instruction isn’t flawed. She mimics the movement of his feet pretty well, she might have done it decently... except just like a lot of the last times she’s messed this, Konoha accidentally fills in the gaps of her knowledge with her usual instincts... that don’t really match up well with this body.

Like how far forward a single step should carry you.

Which, now that she’s as petite a human as she is... is a confident leap of faith stride... smack into Ianchus’s chest with her face.]

[Which, lucky for her, is nice and soft!]
Oop!

[He catches her easily enough, and then, in a flight of fancy...wraps his arms around her waist and sets her up straight again.]

Now then...what did you do wrong there, ah?

[Thank goodness for big titties...

Oh. At least he catches her... ! And. Wraps his arms around her. Which definitely takes her into a very lewd flashback if the color of her cheeks and the shiver is any indication, but.

Focus, Konoha... ! She grabs onto his forearms for balance as he sets her back straight again, stuttering into an answer.]

S- Stepped too... far?

Stepped too far! [It's an agreement, an affirmation.]

Now. Try to step a little shorter. Perhaps only a foot-length of a pace. And try not to keep them too close together--you've got much less of a stable base to work with.

[He takes a step back, and holds his hands out again]

Now, try one more time.

Hnngh-

[Okay, so she's made her usual mistake of accidentally trying to move like she did as a jinba... but this has now set her up for the over-compensatory opposite... thinking too much about moving like a human.

This at least keeps her from colliding with his chest, but. It's a very awkward duck walk as she caaaaarefully lifts her knee, puts her heel down, comically over-exaggerates the slide onto the ball of her foot...

Well, it's getting her there, arms outstretched for a wobbly balance as she stares straight downward.]

Okay... okay... at least this feels... more protected on the bottom...

[Thanks, boots.]

Right, right! I know you may not be used to them, but they'll keep your ankles from rolling...I assume the ankles are different too, I read somewhere that hor--that hooves are actually different bones than what one might think, and so...!!

[THEY WALK ON THEIR TOENAILS, IT'S WEIRD BUT HE'S NOT GONNA SAY THAT]

And the soles are thick enough...I know some people think it's preferable to be able to feel what's underneath, but I didn't want you to get hurt, ah?

You're doing good! Come, a little closer.

[He takes another step back, arms still out. This is a little like teaching a child how to walk, isn't it...]

[As long as he keeps correcting himself, she will forgive the almost "horse" comparisons... Suddenly, she realizes... is this what Sha Gozen had felt about the word "short" or "small"? Oh, no... She feels bad not for any time she even thought it- !]

No, it's... It's good I think... every time I tried before it always felt so weird and squishy down there...

[Which had ended up making her mince about as if any step might have been onto a needle... But actually, he's not the only one thinking what he is in this moment, and Konoha finds herself still blushing ruddy-cheeked, if not for a less lewd reason, as she continues awkwardly stepping towards him.]

I feel like a filly...

[Wobbling towards... daddy? Nope, nope, nope.]

[Oh, absolutely not, thank the gods and the seas. He utters a little laugh anyway and do they really use filly for their young? that's...that's cute....]

Well, we'll make a lady out of you yet...perhaps I can have you ballroom dancing by the end of the day, ah?

[He can't help but grin at his own joke, even as he steps back again. She's doing good!]

I think that's probably not... That's really complicated...

[Still, she pursues him through the entranceway with her halting, awkward steps. At least she seems to be getting vaguely better?]

How about... planting and harvest dances? I could maybe do that...

[She did the ones in planting and harvest season with the other village women, she thought she could handle the steps...

Even if she takes his suggestion way too seriously for what is surely a joke.]

Harvest dances?

[His eyes light up immediately, his hands squeezing hers slightly. Some of the Cephean islands have their own folk dances, and he's always loved them]

Oh...you must show me one! That'll be your payment for my help, ah?

[He's teasing a little but...he absolutely is excited.]

[She... hadn't expected him to be excited for that. And like every emotion she feels, it shows up plainly on her face, even as she reflexively squeezes his hands back.]

A- Ah, really? That's it?

[She... is pretty sure she can do the steps in a human body... she practiced with human women to learn it, so...]

Did you forget I drank your blood, or... ?

Oh? Is it a blood harvest, then...? Is that why you're warning me?

[She's so lovely and honest. He so loves honest types. They're so uncomplicated, even when they are.]

Wh- No, it's for rice harvests- !

[Even though she knows he's joking (he's joking, right?), Konoha still trips over her own feet in her haste to correct him... Though thankfully, she does have a tight grip on his hands, so she doesn't fully fall down, just stumbles.]

Oop!

[It's not hard for him to help right her the rest of the way, putting a hand on her waist to further steady her.]

Not a blood harvest, then! In that case--you certainly wouldn't plan to bite me during the rice dance, would you? [Okay even if she would, he wouldn't half mind.]

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lumberlady - 2020-12-30 18:00 (UTC) - Expand