A/N Haru and Rin, making some of their signature jewelry together. I just realized that the chapter headings for these chapters have been extremely varied. Sometimes they're bolded, sometimes all-caps, sometimes they don't exist at all... well, from now on, they will look like they do here.
Thanks to... Chiruno-Chan
Disclaimer I don't own Fruits Basket or any associated characters, events, etc.
VII. LIMES & LEMONS
"Here." Haru carefully poked a wire through the tiny loop at the end of an abstractly shaped pewter charm. "See, the string isn't strong enough to get through there alone. So you have to do it with wire, instead. And then you line the wire up with the string—here, like this—and it just slips down onto the string." As he spoke, he moved Rin's hands through the motions, successfully transferring the charm from the wire to the string. "See? Easy."
Her skin tingled where his touched it, but she tried not to let it show, instead intently repeating the moves with empty hands. "Like this?"
"You got it. Then again, it's a bit difficult to do wrong."
She scowled, not meeting his eyes. "Then maybe I should just stop trying, since apparently it'll work anyways."
"I don't mean things like that, Rin."
Huffing, she dropped the bracelet she was trying to make onto the bed they sat on. "My hands aren't made for this kind of stuff. You can just do it."
"Rin," he scolded gently.
"It's just not fun for me, okay?"
He cupped her chin in a hand and raised it up to his face, so that she had no choice to look into his eyes, the color of bittersweet chocolate. "What do you mean, it's not fun for you?" Haru murmured. She felt her eyes widen as his minty breath whooshed through her slightly parted lips. "Are you saying that time with me isn't…" He moved yet closer, so that their faces were only millimeters apart. "…Fun?"
"No," she squeaked, instantly humiliated by how easily he'd gotten her.
"Excellent." He smirked. "Now, are you ready to continue?"
Damn it. "You're not being very fair with me here," she stuttered as he dropped her chin and returned to methodically threading beads onto the chain.
"Yeah? Since when do I play by the rules?"
"Since never," she admitted grudgingly, and picked up another charm and wire.
