I was inspired by a sketch by fonbella on tumblr, and just had to write something. Kinda liking this ship...
Training with Dezel
"Swing it." Dezel's commanding tone caught Sorey off guard and he jumped, turning to look at where Dezel was still leaning against a tree.
A few minutes had passed since Dezel had handed over his pendulums. Considering how grumpy the wind seraph usually was, Sorey supposed he ought to count himself lucky that Dezel hadn't already taken back his offer. He flashed a wide smile at the seraph before looking back at the pendulum in his left hand. It couldn't be too hard to use them. The worry that he'd hurt himself lingered in his mind; maybe that's why he was hesitating. Checking his grip and the weight, he gave the pendulum an experimental swing. It didn't go far, falling back down to almost hit him in the leg.
"You need to be bolder than that. Put more force behind it."
Sorey's back warmed as Dezel came up behind him, placing a hand on Sorey's forearm and the other on his elbow. The hand out in front guided his arm in a wider swing than the one he'd done on his own. This time, the pendulum moved through the air, arcing around before coming down to fall at his side.
"Like that." Dezel's voice was low next to his ear, the wind he used to see tugging at Sorey's clothes and pushing against his legs. "I found that bending your legs helps keep you balanced."
Under Dezel's guiding touch, Sorey bent down in more of a mimicry of Dezel's stance. The nervous excitement he felt was pushed to the side as he focused on the way Dezel situated his legs. Now wasn't the time for any of that. Gripping the pendulums with a little more force than necessary and focusing on what he was going to do, Sorey swung his left arm out and over. The pendulum followed his motion, swinging around in the same way it had when Dezel was guiding his arm. Pride swelled in Sorey's chest and he looked at Dezel with a smile, the feeling increasing when he noticed the twitch of a smile on Dezel's lips.
"Now do it again, but try bringing the other over as well."
Sorey nodded as Dezel moved back to observe again, crossing his arms as he leaned against the tree from earlier. Executing the action went worse than Dezel had likely anticipated. The pedulums hit each other, managing to tangle rather than coming apart when Sorey tried pulling them back. Sorey laughed nervously as Dezel sighed and walked over.
"Sorry about that Dezel."
"At least you didn't injure yourself. That would have been a pain to explain to the others."
The pendulums easily untangled in Dezel's hands as Sorey laughed. Eventually, he'd get the wind seraph to say what he meant without taking it back in the next breath. Until then, he was content with this.