The first time he'd held a leaved quill in his hand, Kyle had been nothing short of overwhelmed. His father had taught him how to script before fateri lessons were set to begin for the season, goaded on by the kiantri to make sure that Kyle was always on top of his game, that he'd always be at least a single step ahead of his peers to prepare for the life that had been designated for him. For days upon days, his ritani sat with him at their kitchen table, leading the young fateri through the motions, advising him on proper amount of ink to dip into, guiding Kyle's tiny hand along to master all forty-seven characters of script. Kyle had realized with a start after a particularly clumsily slip of his left hand skewing across the page, the line running from a broad, vibrant stroke to no more than a thinning hair from his movement, just how much potential he held in his slim fingers.

The notion was astounding, the young boy making it habitual practice to always have a quill and a small inkwell with him tied to his belt, something that pleased his parents and the kiantri alike. But rather than his mere studious notes pouring upon the pages of his blank leather-bound tomes, he found himself enthralled with using his newfound opportunity to make all things come to life on his page. From the tender age of his immediate post-toddling years, before his wings could support him and he learned to fly with Stan, he would walk with his mother around their village as she shopped, a blank parchment in his hand. He would dart his head around, wide pools of jade searching until he would find something that fully grasped his attention, making it his mission to put it down, to take it home with him in lines of ink. For many a season he would draw, finding various plants and items around his burrow home that he would deem worthy of projecting onto his page.

And, as he entered the outside world, he realized with a start that there were so many more potential pieces yet left to be copied for his personal gain.

Before he knew it, book upon book was filled with sketches and notes of his aikopian findings, knowing that he couldn't take them home with him, just needing something to remind himself that yes, this item he'd found had been real. The humans were out there, wandering beyond his forest home, just waiting for him to be their discoverer. For so long he'd spent time perfecting his craft, handling Stan laughing at his drawings and asking him why he was 'dreaming up' such creations when his brother was the inventor, after all. Stan, Tweek, and Becca were the only ones who knew of his habits; they were the only ones who could know. After all, his artistic passions were supposed to be nothing more than a hobby from his time as a fateri, long since outgrown and left behind as his focus was supposed to hone in on his purpose and that alone. He'd learned early on that should his books be found, he'd need to lie. He'd need to insist he merely took a concept from one of his tomes to one of the tribe's actual artists, claim that his keen mind was merely unable to rest until he could visualize it outside of text.

However, staring at the strange wooden bulb in front of him with the dirtied twine wrapped so precisely around the grooved middle, he knew that he'd not seen anything in his books such as this. He hummed to himself, dipping back into his ink and dragging his quill across the page, relishing in the soft scrape of bone to parchment and taking a cleansing breath. He'd needed this after dealing with Stan's inquiries. Himself and his secrets, that's all he needed, nothing but him and a page speaking a language that no other faterian or aikopia alike could translate.

Quick crosshatched shadowing made way as his wrist flickered about seemingly on its own, his mind lost in its observation as he detailed the rounded curve of the top of the toy. He'd snagged it from deep within the woods on his earlier excursions that day for his plants, just happening upon it lying hidden from the element in a thicket. As far as his unfamiliar eye could tell, it was in perfect condition after he had spent time cleaning it off, more than grateful to not have another mystery fragment of a treasure yet again. A part of him was more than glad this is had been what he'd found, so simple and yet so intriguing, wondering just what it was used for. Kyle glanced between his subject and interpretation, taking care to make note of the fact that it was indeed twine wound within it. An important detail, he was more than sure of that. He pursed his lips in thought, gently setting his quill off to the side as he completed his delicately scratched contouring, reaching in front of him and snaring the tiny device.

Both hands raised to cup it in his fingers, twisting it in wonder and gently snaring the end of the string to bring out in front of him. He narrowed his eyes at a small loop tied around the end, speculating at once what its purpose was. 'Maybe to get out of the groove easier,' he guessed. The wooden end dropped, the fairy flinching as it unraveled and rolled away as his fingers kept taut around the twine, blinking in confusion as what momentarily seemed to be an infinite amount of string unfurled before coming to a stop at the edge of a mulberry bush and the item collapsing down to its side. Narrowing his eyes, he tugged the strand, bringing the end back towards himself, grasping it once more to peer down into the groove, seeing the carved middle post holding the entire device together and letting out a soft 'huh'. He grabbed his quill again, rapidly making note of possibilities the humans could have for something like this. 'Maybe it's a weight,' he thought. 'Or a weapon.'

His quandaries came to a halt as he heard rustling from beyond his patch, head shooting around and eyes widening, hand slowly dropping his quill and inching towards his resting bow off to his side. Kyle gulped, waiting anxiously until all worries dissipated at once with the appearance of an eager blonde head wearing a happy grin. "Hey! You're actually here!" Kenny greeted excitedly.

Kyle's tensed stance dropped and he gave a returning smile. "Of course," he answered, watching as Kenny cursed under his breath as he tried to break his way through the bushes concealing the redhead. He brushed fallen leaves off his tunic, plopping down onto the ground next to him and looking at his hand, giving a small smirk.

"Why do you have a yo-yo? You don't seem the type to do tricks."

He blinked. "Yo… yo?" he repeated. "What is it for?"

Ken shrugged, "It's a toy." Kyle looked between the item and him, narrowing his eyes in disbelief and he snorted, holding out his hand. "Here, lemme show ya." Kyle nodded eagerly, passing off the item and pivoting around to sit facing him, watching intensively as he wound the string within the groove once more. Kenny smirked, "Don't expect too much. I ain't played with one since I was pretty damn young, I lost mine when I was a kid." He moved up onto his knees, Kyle watching in befuddlement as he slipped the knotted ring over his index finger. His head followed along with the toy as it fell along the string, giving a harsh bounce as it reached the end of its twine, snapping back up and rewinding itself as it flew into Kenny's hand. Kyle continued his bewildered stare until he slowly broke into a smile, Kenny continuing to let the toy fall and rise time and again, amusedly watching the fairy's fascination.

"Lanei," he murmured, snatching up his pen and scratching out his guesses, writing down Kenny's process as he glanced between his book and the blonde's demonstration.

Kenny chuckled, "You guys seriously don't have yo-yo's? Whaddya do for fun when you're kids?"

Kyle looked up at him and cleared his throat, giving a small shrug. "We have a few toys that the fateri all share… but mostly we are learning to use our magic."

The blonde hummed, catching the yo-yo once again and twisting his lips. "Doesn't sound like a very good childhood. Sounds like all ya did was work."

The fairy sheepishly tucked stray curls behind his ear, "Well… magic is very important to us, even for fateri. So we must learn it young. We still played, just… mostly with… rocks…" he sank down embarrassedly.

Kenny laughed softly, letting out a sympathetic coo. "Aw man, that sucks. I'm sorry." Kyle shrugged again, scratching through his hair and glancing up as the yo-yo began to pick up motion yet again. Kenny's wrist flicked upwards, the toy flying out in front of him to ricochet back into his palm. "Apparently ya don't forget once ya put it down," he commented, smirking at Kyle falling right back into his mesmerized stare. "I was better than all my friends. Well. 'Cept Token. Man, he could spin these around for hours without even lookin', the bastard."

"Bastard?" he echoed.

"Uh…" he squinted, trying to think of a way to rephrase it. "It… it's a… mean thing to call someone. But he's my bud, so ya know… I don't really mean it to be… mean."

Kyle nodded with a grin, "Myself and my naichi are the same way."

"Naichi?" he took his turn to repeat, glancing down and missing as the yo-yo came flying back, nailing him in the forehead. He yelped and fell back onto his ass, bringing up both hands to press over the impact point and groaning in pain.

Kyle's face fell, moving his book off his lap and scrambling closer towards the clumsy man. He leaned around in front of him, watching Kenny hissing through his teeth and squirming as he waited for the pain to calm down. "Are you all right?!" he asked worriedly. Kenny gave a brisk nod, dropping the toy off his finger and wincing at the redhead's distraught face.

"I'm fine, I'm just stupid," he assured him with a snort, the sharp bite of the hit finally fading into a throb, leaving one hand up to rub against the wound. "Don't look away from 'em," he advised. "They'll get the better of ya and kill ya."

"Bastards," he smirked, getting a laugh out of the blonde and an agreeing nod.

Kenny used his free hand to roll in front of him, "So anyway. Naichi is?"

"My soul brother." Kenny cocked his brow and he chuckled awkwardly. "Um, my closest friend. We have been since we were tiny."

He nodded, "So, your best friend." Kyle shrugged, opting to just agree with him. He would know the terminology much better than he would, anyway. "Well, that's good, Man. My best friend is a sack of shit."

"Is… is that another well-meaning mean phrase?" he squinted.

Kenny rolled his eyes and shook his head. "No. He's literally a sack of shit, like, an actual bastard. I'm just kind of stuck with him. His name is Cartman and lemme tell ya, Kyle, you'd hate him and he'd hate you."

The redhead pouted, "What? I have not even met him. How can you know this already?"

"Because you're smart and because he hates everyone that's different," he said dryly. "Just trust me, he's awful."

Kyle backed up a bit confusedly and cleared his throat, "Then um… why do you continue to be his friend?"

He shrugged, "At this point it's too late to back out. 'Sides, he sells me my fabrics, so if I piss him off too much he'll overcharge me more than he already does."

"Fab… rics?" he repeated slowly, both of them settling to sit staring at one another.

Kenny smiled and nodded, reaching forward and lightly gripping the front of Kyle's vibrant tunic, shaking it a tad. "Fabric," he confirmed. "I make clothes as my job."

His eyes brightened, smiling back. "So that is why you had your… needles?" he tried, beaming as Kenny nodded affirmatively. "So… you are an artist of your people then?" he queried.

"Uhhhh…" he dropped his hand from his forehead, tilting it a bit in front of him. "Yes n' no. Depends on who you ask I guess. I don't think so, I think artists are more like… well…" his eyes drifted down to the open book beside Kyle's legs, tilting his head and smirking. "Like you," he said with a small laugh, reaching over and picking up the journal before Kyle could grab it back. The blonde smiled, staring at the detailed sketch in front of him, eyes swimming with the swirling calligraphy of Kyle's language littering around the subject. "Wow, you draw better than some of our actual artists, Kyle."

Kyle blushed, reaching forward and snatching his book back, snapping it shut and pulling it against his chest. "I… I only do so I remember what it is I have seen," he mumbled, staring at the dirt in embarrassment.

Kenny quirked his brow and let out a quiet chuckle, "Dude, I mean it. It's really good! Why are you so shy over it?"

Green eyes raised to meet his gaze, Ken cocking his head at the sadness lingering within algae pools. "I am not supposed to be able to do much else but what I have been assigned," he explained quietly. "I have to keep these hidden from my people or they may tell the kiantri."

"That's your leader, right?" he questioned, getting a small nod and twisting his lips. "Why would that be so bad? He'd get jealous because he can't even draw a straight line?"

"He may become angry… I am to do as he said at my birth. Stepping from his path is not wise," his shoulders sank, fingers tracing over his book with soft scrapes from his nails.

Kenny scooted a bit closer towards him, tilting his head down to catch his downward gaze. "What are you supposed to do?"

Kyle let out a long breath and gave a half-assed shrug. "I spent much of last night and today yelling about it… I-I…

"Don't wanna talk about it?" he guessed, getting a guilty nod and shrugging back at him. "Dude, you don't have to say anything you don't wanna. I ain't here t' make you do anything." Kyle gave him a small, grateful smile and he grinned back. "Subject change," he declared, looking up in thought. "Honestly probably shoulda asked ya this before anything else," he snorted. "How old are you?" Kyle cocked his head and he hummed in thought. "Um… how many years have you been alive?"

The redhead blinked, setting down his book beside him and thinking. The stories he'd found didn't exactly teach him the humans' numbering system, the furthest he knew was up to goddamn one from an offhand line in a story he'd come across. "Um… Brel alei ko palt," he said awkwardly, getting a bewildered blink from the human and biting his lip. He scrunched his nose in thought before raising his hands. Slowly he held up two fingers, closing and reopening to ten, before repeating the motion to open with four.

Kenny's eyes lightened in realization, "Twenty-four?" he guessed. Kyle shrugged, still looking beyond lost and Ken let out a soft laugh. "Okay, okay," he smirked. He held up his hands between them, "This many is ten," he informed him, Kyle making quick work to grab his notebook and open to a fresh page, dipping into his ink and writing as he talked.

"Ten," he repeated. "Alei."

"Okay, alei," he grinned, wishing he'd brought his own damn notebook at this rate. He held up two fingers, "This is two."

"Brel. Two."

"Two tens," he demonstrated, "is twenty."

Kyle blinked. "H-how?" he squinted. "Where does that come from?"

Kenny shrugged, "Dude, I don't know. I just learned it, I didn't invent it." He leaned over and glanced at Kyle's notes, shaking his head. "Okay, the two is spelled t-w-o, not two o's. Then twenty starts with the t-w." The redhead nodded slowly, making his adjustments and blushing at making such a mistake. Kenny caught the hue of his cheeks and laughed, "Don't be embarrassed, Man. Everyone fucks that up the first few times. It's a dumb word." Kyle chuckled, looking back at him as he sat back in front of him, holding up his fingers yet again. "This is four," he explained.

"Palt," he replied before licking over his lips. "Um… how do you-"

"F-o-u-r," he finished, getting another grateful smile as he scribbled down his answer.

Kyle looked up as he finished and nodded. "Then yes. I am twenty-four. Though in a few weeks I will not be."

The blonde smirked, "Well then you'll catch up to me, I'm twenty-five," he held up a hand, Kyle making a hasty mark. "Well, now you gotta tell me in your language, it's the pattern, Man."

He grinned back, "Brel alei ko ton'na."

Ken tongued over his lips. "Brel alei ke ton'na?"

He chuckled, "Ko ton'na. But yes." Kenny beamed, moving over to sit beside him and look down at his notes, leaning his chin into his palm.

"I'll make you a list of numbers for next time," he promised.

Kyle blushed lightly, "You do not need to do that."

Ken waved him off with a wink, "Nah, happy to. All I do is sew, eat, and sleep. It'll be nice to have somethin' besides hemmin' pants to focus on, ya know?" Kyle couldn't fully pick up all his words, but nodded nonetheless. "Just gotta keep it outta sight of my brother and sister, but if I work on it once they fall asleep it won't be so bad."

"You have a brother and a sister?" he questioned.

He nodded. "Yep. Kevin is older than me, he's twenty-eight," he demonstrated on his fingers, Kyle nodding along as he wrote. "Karen is my little sister, she's twenty-two. Too old in my opinion. She's always gonna be a little kid to me," he murmured sadly, looking off towards the bushes and heaving a deep sigh. Saying his baby sister was in her twenties just didn't sit right with him, still seeing her as that little six-year-old fumbling around recklessly swinging her firefly jar around and laughing into the night.

Kyle's lips turned up slightly at the contentedness falling upon his face, "Are you and she close?"

"Super close," he looked down at him with a fond smile. "Always have been. Kev, I love him, but he and I just didn't always get along, ya know? But it's the three of us against our parents. Well… at least my dad," he corrected, running his fingers up through his hair, content smile dripping off his face. He wondered just what the drunkard would say if he knew what Ken was up to, if he'd claim it as proof that he was in cahoots with his 'sacrificial cult' theory and would drag him off to the nalian to 'set him straight'. Ken glanced down to see Kyle watching him worriedly, giving him a small, one-shouldered shrug, "Mom just kind of… doesn't know which side to go with."

The fairy nodded sympathetically. "At least your brother and sister are on your side. Myself and my erichi do nothing but argue," he scoffed.

He cocked his brow, "And erichi is…?"

Kyle blushed, "I am sorry. My little brother. His name is Ikkerian, but we call him Ike. He is uh…" he rolled his eyes, holding up his fingers once again as Kenny watched.

"Eighteen," he answered with a smirk.

"Eighteen," he repeated, beginning to write it down and pausing, looking at Kenny in confusion. Ken snorted, gripping his quill and briskly writing down the spelling for him, Kyle cocking his head at the thick, unleveled penmanship of the man. He hummed in thanks as he was given back his pen, meeting Kenny's expectant gaze and shrugging, "Alei ko hem." Kenny nodded in understanding and he proceeded on, making the change in spelling needed for his notes of twenty-eight. "We and my parents are never all on the same side. Though, myself, Ike, and my father are very careful around my mother. She is… difficult," he said carefully.

Ken nodded with a sad smile, "I know that feeling. That's so weird, though. I can't imagine not lovin' Kare like I do."

He shrugged, "You are not so… crowded as we are. Maybe that is the reason it is easier for you."

Kenny looked up, letting the notion settle on him in consideration and he shrugged. "Well, to an extent we're not. We do all work in my store together, though, so we don't have much time apart."

Kyle narrowed his eyes, "Together? You were all given the same nederi?"

"Nederi?" he repeated, "Is that what you call jobs?" Kyle shied down a bit, clearing his throat.

"Oh. Um, not exactly. I… How do humans… decide on what job they are to do?"

He raised his brow, "Well… you take what you can get. I just lucked out. The guy who trained me just needed someone to train. So I stepped in and when he died, he gave me the store. So I brought in the family to help me work."

Kyle nodded slowly, allowing such a strange concept to linger between them, settle in on his baffled mind. "So… you are not… told from birth what you will do?"

Kenny shook his head. "Nah. Sometimes you get super lucky and you can make your hobby into your job. But most of the time you just go around town askin' who needs a hand and you just settle on in wherever you're needed." He paused, looking as Kyle's stance seemed to sink even more, the fairy placing his book back to his side and folding his knees up, hugging around them as green eyes dropped sadly towards the forest floor. Ken bit his lip, the question Kyle had posed raising too many queries of his own. "What does the rest of your family do exactly? If you don't mind my asking," he added gently.

Kyle blushed, "Well… My brother is an inventor. My father is part of our tribe's council. And my mother keeps our home. We do not see each other until our daily work is done, as most families do not."

He shrugged, reminding himself staunchly that Kyle wasn't willing to get into his own job and to not press the issue. "That happens. My family is kind of an exception, a lot of 'em around my village all work in different places, too. Like I said, my job was pure luck."

"I believe there must be more than that," he said softly. "Not just anyone can make clothing."

Ken smirked, elbowing him lightly. "Stop flattering me. It's really not that hard. Just gotta be good with your hands," he wriggled his fingers teasingly.

"You do not give yourself enough credit," he said dryly. "Better to have an actual talent as opposed to… just knowing how to read," his shoulders sank again, chin pressing down onto his knees and letting out a long breath. "I would much prefer to be benefitting my people with things, not just ideas."

Kenny chewed lightly on the inside of his cheek, moving to stretch his legs out and prop himself back on his hands, watching the redhead closely. "Like your brother?"

Kyle shook his head. "No, he is allowed to do both. Ike not only thinks, he is trained to create as well. He and the many others like himself…" he sighed, uncurling and moving to the side of his legs, looking up into the sky dripping into pastel hues and biting his lip. "There is only myself and one other in my nederi… and he is content with who we are."

He cleared his throat and shifted a bit, watching him carefully and trying to find the best way to approach the subject without finding himself being a jackass to both species he'd interacted with up to this point. "How come you ain't?"

"Because I do not like being told my purpose is to merely read and speak of what I read," he said grimly. He glanced over towards Kenny's sympathetic gaze and sighed, "I am a scholar," he finally elaborated. "I am to… spend my time learning how to benefit my people. But, I am not to apply what I learn, only pass it on to one who is allowed to do so."

Blue eyes narrowed, lengthy blonde lashes fluttering in confusion at such a concept. "How does that work?"

He shrugged, "Well, for example, I 'work' for my friends, Tweek and Becca," he explained. "Tweek makes our potions, and Becca grows the plants we need. They need help uh…" he rolled his hand in front of him as he struggled for the term. "Putting them… i-into place?" he winced.

"Like… cataloguing?" he guessed. Kyle blinked and he clicked his tongue. "Like, with my fabrics, I catalogue all of 'em by color and what type of material and stuff. I'll write it down and that's how we sort my stuff."

His lips formed into a small 'oh' before he nodded briskly. "Then yes, that. And no one better to help them than someone who is willing to come out here," he gestured around before his arms curled back towards himself and he slumped again. "But, just because I am the one cataloguing and I am allowed to assist my friends… I am not allowed to use their methods myself. Not in view of any of my people at least."

Kenny narrowed his eyes, "Or what?"

"Or I am ignoring the kiantri's chosen nederi for me," he shrugged. "I do not know what would happen, as faterian so rarely stray from his word. But I have been told time and again by my parents that I would be punished somehow, and I am not willing to find what that means. So I do everything I can out here, to lessen my chance of being caught and brought to him."

Slowly, Ken pivoted to face him directly, folding his legs atop one another and leaning his chin down into his palm, completely entranced by the life Kyle was apparently handed, not the one he'd forged. The concept was beyond baffling, thinking of that runaway chicken that had been taken back to its coop to do nothing but lay eggs until its time was up. "How does the kiantri choose what you do?" he queried.

Kyle cleared his throat, turning to return the attentive gaze and biting his lip. "He is there for all births," he said softly. "He will most often decide within a few… you call them months, yes?" he looked for Kenny's confirmatory nod before pressing on, "Within that time, he will decide what you are to be, what nederi you are to follow. It depends on what you do in your first season."

"And… you did what?" he winced.

He sighed, scratching behind his ear, "I was decided the moment I was born," he muttered. "I came into the world with open eyes and not crying, so he decided that meant my nederi was to quietly observe and to learn. I am one of the few whose was chosen so immediately. He marked me, assured my ritavi of my health and her own, and that was it."

"Marked you?" he cocked his brow. Kyle nodded, reaching up behind his neck and undoing the knot resting at the nape, drawing the front of his tunic down. Kenny blinked at a thick, green tattoo etched onto his chest, slightly off-center towards the left overlying Kyle's heart. The blond tilted his head, eyes sweeping down two hooked shapes facing opposite one another, a stark line separating the two. A pair of alternating curving lines lingered above through the barrier and another striking through the middle of the shapes, floating waved figures hovering above the top mark's ends. "What… what is that?"

Kyle shrugged, "I do not know. No one knows what the kiantri marks us with. We believe it may be of a sacred text of Belsin, left for only the kiantri's eyes to know."

Kenny nodded slowly as Kyle sighed at his mark before moving to retie his tunic. "What's a Belsin?"

"He is the brother of Tav'nokana's lover. All kiantris are said to be from Him," he shrugged, finishing tying off his clothing and brushing his hair back, watching the bewilderment riding over Kenny's face with gusto. "Tav'nokana is who made all things," he continued on awkwardly.

His eyes sparked, "Ohhh they're your Tavin."

"Our what?"

"Tavin is who we think made everything," he smirked. "He's our big guy in the sky watchin' us be naughty little kiddos."

"He," Kyle repeated, blinking rapidly. "You believe it was a… He. Not… a woman. When they create life even in a mortal form."

Kenny shrugged, "Dude, I don't know. I go to andell once a week and listen to stories and whatever but it's not a big part of my life." Kyle's face contorted further and he cleared his throat embarrassedly. "Um, what?"

"I am just… confused," he said slowly. "You are so curious as to me and who I am, but not your… Tavin," he drawled, cringing and feeling Tav'nokana looking down on him, warning him to tread very carefully with how he phrased himself.

"Well… you're right in front of me," he said point blank. "I know you're here. And Tavin don't answer back when I ask Him shit, but you do. And I know more about Him than I can ever really use, but I barely know anything about you."

He blushed, smiling meekly, "I have told you much today. Probably too much. I told you my ways are not very interesting."

Kenny snorted, shaking his head a bit, blonde hair flopping with the dramatic movement. "Now you're the one not giving yourself much credit, Kyle. I tell people when they're borin' me, trust me. I don't think a damn thing you could tell me would be boring."

Kyle laughed softly and shook his head back, eyes dropping back shyly towards the ground. "Trust me, I will find a way to make you hate seeing me. My naichi tells me I talk far too much."

"Nahh," he winked, "Don't listen t' him. Listen t' me, I'm obviously much more reliable."

"You would be surprised how true that is," he shrugged. "Stan does not get why I do what I do… But, then again, none of my people would," he said with a melancholy smile.

He gave him a return shrug, "Well, maybe they don't. And I really don't either, but I'm sure not gonna rat you out for doin' what you do. If it makes you happy lookin' up our dumb human stuff, then you should just keep on goin' with it. If you don't have much else choice in shit, hold on to the few you do make, ya know?"

Kyle smirked, looking up at him bashfully, "I have been since I was a fateri. I do not plan on stopping unless forced to do so. And even then… the kiantri cannot always be watching me."

"That's the spirit," he winked again, flinching at a cool drop hitting his head and looking up, seeing periwinkle clouds beginning to quickly move over towards the darkness stretching up into the far West. "Shit," he sighed irritably. "It rained like, most of the day. It can stop anytime now," he pouted.

"Did you also see the rainbow?" Kyle straightened up, smiling at him.

Kenny glanced down and nodded with a smile, "Me and Kare snuck out and watched it for a little while when her thread was setting to dry. It was pretty neat…" he paused, seeing the jealousy and the wonder painting itself onto Kyle's profile and he grinned. "Was that your first one?"

Kyle nodded excitedly, "I did not think they were real. But… there it was," he said dreamily, looking up into the sky and humming under his breath. "It was the most wonderful thing I have ever seen. More than I could imagine from stories."

Ken watched him, lips curling up wider as Kyle's depressive state seemed to melt away at the memory. He gnawed on his lip a bit, "You've never seen anything close to it?"

He shook his head, "No. We can will light pieces of nimikal'e…" he paused, correcting himself, "glass. And we will put colors within them, but it does not… stretch," he held his arms up a bit against the sky, mental picture plastering across his mind before he as well gave a bit of a flinch, a droplet of rain splashing onto his nose.

The blonde got to his feet, snatching Kyle's notebook and hiding it in his shirt as the water began to patter down around them. "C'mon, we should both get home," he said, sadness lingering in his tone. Kyle nodded, recorking his inkwell and hopping up onto his feet. He grabbed his satchel from the ground, taking his book from Kenny with a grateful smile as he began to pack up his belongings. He bent down and grasped the yo-yo, looking between the item and the blonde and holding it out towards him.

"Would you like this?" he asked. "Since you lost yours?"

He chuckled quietly, "Kyle, if you took that from someone-"

He pouted, "I did not. I found it far into the trees," he gestured backwards. "Very far from here while finding a flower. Please, have it," he insisted.

Kenny smiled and nodded, taking the toy from his hand and tossing it a bit, "Thank you."

He nodded, "Thank you. For not getting angry at me."

He cocked his brow, "Why would I have gotten angry at you?"

Kyle tongued over his lips, reaching down and snagging his bow and quiver, staring at them for a moment. "I am often yelled at for not wanting to tell someone something right away. Thank you for not… forcing me. And for waiting for me to get there," he said slowly.

Ken frowned sympathetically, "Look, I've been in that situation, too. Especially with my dad. I know how shit it is for someone to push you when you're not there yet. You don't have to tell me jackshit that you don't want to, all right? Just like I hope you're cool if I'm quiet about something. Given, you'd be hard-pressed to find something I'll keep my fat mouth shut on, but it could happen," he grinned dopily. "Go home and sleep it off, Dude. You look exhausted."

He smiled softly, "I am. It has been a long day. Tomorrow?"

Kenny nodded eagerly. "Same time. I'll have somethin' for ya, and your numbers," he winked. Kyle cocked his head and he wagged his finger in front of him. "Nope, you gotta wait. Don't worry. I think you'll like it," he promised.

"You do not have to-"

"I know," he cut him off, leaning down towards his face a bit and smirking. "But I want to. So I'll see ya then."

Kyle let out a small huff of a laugh and nodded, "See you then," he agreed, watching Kenny struggle to get out of the mulberries and walk off, the blonde turning to wave goodbye a final time, Kyle returning the gesture as he faded into the trees back towards his village. The fairy smiled, looking up into the sky, face getting pelted with raindrops and he let out a relieved sigh, shedding the day and night prior and their irritating circumstance. His wings began to unfurl before he stopped himself, the refreshing droplets rolling down his face, soothing him down further with the foundation Kenny had laid out so kindly for him. His lips quirked as he held his satchel to his chest to protect it as much as he could manage, hopping over the bushes in the opposite direction of his counterpart.

New purpose seemed to rise within him, a reaffirmation from the human giving him permission to continue exploring his heritage only strengthened his determination to do just that. With his sight set in the direction of home, he held fast to Kenny's words, wanting to understand the kind aikopia and his ways as much as he possible could. So, in true humanistic fashion, the fairy set off in the direction of the mountains, walking home leisurely as the rain continued to fall.