Just relax a little (Limbuko x Khuluma)

[MoonKitsune]

Speaking from someone who also liked being adored, Khuluma looked at his own wings, judging them more harshly now that he was aside a more lovely set of wings than his own. He tried picturing Limbuko’s wings upon his own and decided that his matched better. That and he liked how white and gold they were, just like him. Sure, they got their cramps here and there, but they were soft and he didn’t think he could hate them. He was however envious of Limbuko, who did have a very lovely set of wings, and they spread out to show their brilliant markings. He was sure lots of other gods liked looking at him. He sure did.

Smiling, he looked ahead. “That sounds nice. Not being sad. I’d like to live that way too. ” Limbuko must be a very happy person, and he must have a very fun time to not be sad that often. That or maybe he just avoided all the bad things. He wasn’t sure, but the way he said it made it feel true. The thought was a charming one. A life of little sadness. Anyone would want that.

Trotting along, he turned when given the new destination, and Khuluma spotted some parting clouds. A knot of nervousness was working in his gut now that he was going to face all of this, but he breathed deeply to push off his hesitation. Talking also helped. “I don’t land well either. I fall a lot. I think I have a handle on gliding, but stopping…..is something hard to figure out.” Stopping softly was more of the problem. He could stop. The ground made sure of that. It was not stopping too quickly or on tender spots of his anatomy that was the real trick. One that he hadn’t mastered as of yet.
 

[Iris_virus]

"Mhmmmm. I was more people could be happy as often as I am. It'd make my job alot easier.. though I suppose.. possibly a little more boring if I wasn't needed so much." -His voice rattled in a purr as he spoke, tail swishing happily. He liked to talk about himself, his domain. And who knew... if Sheba saw that he'd helped sway a young godling to be dutiful to their domain as well, maybe he'd just end up with some bonus points. That thought alone made the smile on his maw crack wider.-

"Well then, perhaps for this trip, since we're going SO far down, we can let you glide and fly, but you can land on my back and I'll land on the ground for us?" -It was a good plan he thought. His back was soft, and he could move about a bit to help if the cub seemed to be struggling with the motion, and most importantly, he wouldn't end up with a bruised and broken little godling in tow. For as much as Lim liked others and children, he very much did not want to feel guilty and have to tote around the little guy for months while bones healed. Yessss.. it was a very good plan.- "If we were practicing from the ground I'd suggest landing yourself, but since we're much higher, I think better safe than sorry, yes?"

-He paused when finally they reached the break in the clouds, a hole.. about three times the size of the Pleasure god, and he peered gently at the mortal realm below. They were far too high to see creatures, but the mountains and the grasses.. a completely different landscape swept across the world below.-  

[MoonKitsune]

Khuluma approached the opening, nearing the edge with tender steps before he crouched to look down. From other points, he would watch the clouds move and shift to give him glimmers of the world below. Before, it looked beautiful and far off, like watching the stars or moon, but now he had that rolling sensation at the bottom of his stomach when his cub mind tried to deduce the sheer distance from here to the mortal lands, all of which he would have to take on in one go.

The game plan that Limbuko set up sounded well enough. This would be a trip he hoped he would only have to do once, unless he decided for some insane and unforeseen reason he wanted to return to God Haven, which he hoped he would be a strong and good enough flyer by then to make it up and back down on his own. For now, the main goal was getting down, and he had no problems with accepting the help. This was not his area of expertise after all.

“That sounds good.” He said, agreeing as he looked down. It really was far away. It felt as if he started, he might just get tired halfway through and wind up in a very dangerous situation. What if he went head over tail and wound up plummeting, injured and alone before he saw the next season? If anything, Limbuko could get help. Oh! Why was he thinking the worst?! It was a pain that he had to see all angles of this. He should just focus on the good. This was going to be his first REAL flight, and the reward at the end of this was a whole, wide, world. He even had a god, someone who taught other gods to fly, here with him to share it with. What more could he ask for – Aside from a very soft landing?

Shaking himself, he stood up, knowing he had to have the right attitude for this. He could do this. He could do this. He could do this. “So how do I start? Should I just take off?” The godling was already turning about and making himself ready to just leap, backend wagging as he prepared his energies for that first jump.
 

[Iris_virus]

-Plan set, place arrived, Lim glanced downward gently with anticipation, his ears twitching gently at the question.-

"It is up to you really. We are up high enough that even if you simply jumped straight down, you could probably catch an air current and be swept into flight. But it doesn't hurt to practice the beginning steps for when you next want to fly up from the ground. So a regular take off should work as well. You can guide yourself well enough, yes?"

-Lim stepped forward gently as he awaited a reply, stepping until there were no cloud beneath him, veteran that he was in floating. His feathers pressed forward once more, fidgeting a bit in the minute air currents, before he slowly began to let himself sink through the air, making room for the young god to follow after. He was close enough to here any cries that Khuluma might make, but far enough down to snag and correct the path of the cub should the excitement be too much for him. Come on little one, just jump right on in.-  

[MoonKitsune]

Jumping seemed like a simple approach to all of this, but he supposed that if Limbuko knew what he was doing, he should take his word for it. Looking down, he watched Limbuko floated up and away from him, hovering over the open hole left for Khuluma to dive into. For a glimmer of a moment, he felt the older god was abandoning him, leaving him on his own, but he calmed himself when he noticed he was simply waiting on him. Back in the spotlight, Khuluma breathed deep. If this came down to a performance, he wasn’t about to fail.

Rising up, he gave a nod that that was exactly what he would do, before stretching out his wings. His idea of take off was the same as just leaping and wishing for the best. Start, and sort out everything as you went. Well, there were only two options anyways. Stay here, a coward, alone in God Haven without the possibly of help coming again, or flying down to the mortal world with help from a handsome fellow. Cleary the latter was the only way to go. He also wanted to make Limbuko proud, even for a moment. The last thing he wanted was for this to be one of the few sad times Limbuko had.

“Here I go.” He announced, and stepping back a few steps, pushed off and into the open expanse.

While back in the Haven, flying there was been scary at first, but at least he had sight of the ground. This time around, the ground was far, far, far, far, FAR away. There was also a great deal of wind, and Khuluma had the tightfisted grip of panic race through him as he was overwhelmed with wind sweeping at all sides as he dropped like a rock. A very pretty rock mind you, but a rock nonetheless.

It was a blessing that in his brief moment of ungraceful plummeting that his wings shot open and cupped the wind, sending him slowing down and lifting up. Tilting back and forth, he tried to find his balance, but the wind managed to catch him and he felt a rush against his underbelly and combing his hair. It took a few moments for his panic to subside, but as it did, it was washed over with a sense of calming awe. He was moving, through the air, without dropping quickly and without control. It was more like a soft, overpowering rush that electrified his entire being! Cold air currents from the mountain brushing through him, combing against every part of him, and nothing but air all around you. He would have laughed if the wind didn’t take his breath away from him.

His eyes searched for the lilac god. “I did it. I’m not dead!!!” He called out, but then unbalanced a few moments in the air, body tilting back and forth before he righted himself out. Luckily there was enough force from the wind to hold him in place.
 

[Iris_virus]

-He waited silently, silver eyes watching the hole in the sky as he waited for the young god to follow. He didn't have to wait long for the proclimation to sound and the ball of yellow and white to shoot out into the wide sky.

He felt his heart flutter for the brief moment that Khuluma struggled with the new sensations, watching like an eagle eyed mother just in case he needed to get involved. But the worry quickly passed as the young one righted himself, becoming visably more steady.-

"Excellent!" -He called out, hopefully loud enough to be heard between the distance and wind.- "With these air currents you can glide without much work or trouble if you'd like. But when we get lower you'll have to do a little flapping."

"If the winds try to push you around too much as well, flapping or shifting the position of your wings can help keep you balanced."

-He hung back, not wanting to get too close unless the other god beckoned him or his assistance seemed necessary. Achievements were much more brillant when one did them themself.-  

[MoonKitsune]

Flying was both a sensation of just pure adrenaline that coursed through the body, and a heart-pounding sensation that any misstep could cause you to tumble and wind up hurting yourself. Great risk of harm and yet the best pulsing feeling the cub had ever experienced! He couldn’t figure out if he should be laughing from the giddy bubble in his stomach or praying to the Gods that he didn’t mess up.

The flight down was more or less gliding, which Limbuko had already said. With each tilt, he found his body would either nicely move or, if he leaned in too greatly, threaten to throw him for a loop, and a few times he actually did this. After a few mishaps of being tousled about before catching another current, he felt he was safe enough in a glide he managed to keep, though he was a mixture of on edge and very excited all at once throughout the entire experience. Flapping was still hard for him, and he wondered if he would make it if he had to flap the entire way. Already halfway through and his wings were starting to feel tight.

“I think I’m getting it.” He called out, trying to blow some hair out of his face. It seemed his curly mane didn’t like the wind and was jumping into his vision. He kept trying to shake his head, but it just tickled his nose and went into his eyes. This was becoming a progressive problem, and it went to the point that he couldn’t even see anymore. Shaking his head almost caused him to do another tumble, and he righted himself with a great deal more difficulty than he had when he could see.

Finally irked, Khuluma reached up and pawed at his face, pushing his hair back, but the sudden lack of front paws out had reared his body up, and the wind caught his stomach. With that, tail over paws, he was doing airborne summersaults and his hair was the least of his problems.
 

[Iris_virus]

-Lim followed along, just a little below, like a proud mama watching the godling with a smile. He felt his heart raise and fall now and again, and as Khuluma began to tumble his breath caught in his throat.

Up he soared, paws reaching out to grasp at the cub, while also trying not to get kicked and bowled into a waver himself.-  

[MoonKitsune]

Khuluma landed in Limbuko’s arms in a awkward heap, and for a moment, Khuluma was still thinking he should be falling and was twitching to right himself. When he noticed warm paws on his back, he opened his eyes and saw through one eye, as the other was blocked by his mane. Reaching up, he pulled his hair out of his face at last and noticed he was being cupped, held by the lilac god. Breathing out, he let out a long sigh. Thank the gods Limbuko was here.

“Tha-Thank you.” He panted, breathing out as he tried to collect himself. “I messed up. ” First flyers and he was expected to take on the highest mountain in one go. Did all the gods have to do this, and if so, how many had gotten hurt this way? Didn’t this place have a nice slope going down anywhere?!!!  

[Iris_virus]

-When he was finally sure his grip was firm and Khuluma was alright, a relieved grin stretched across his maw, trying to make light of the cub's problem. After all, up until then he'd been doing a VERY good job. It wasn't his fault he'd been blessed with lovely locks.- "That's part of why my hair is tied back. Perhaps you should do something similar when you fly high?"

-As they spoke, Lim slowly made his way downward, cutting the distance to the ground in a straight, but slow enough line. If the cub felt he wanted to try again, there would be time for that, but even if not, Lim was happy to carrying him the rest of the way.- "When you're flying lower to the ground or on very nice days it shouldn't be so much of a problem."

-To his words however Lim could only shake his head, offering comfortingly.- "One only learns through mistakes and trials. You did a very good job and were very brave! Everyone else that I've seen practicing flying has always been in the mortal realm and near the ground."  

[MoonKitsune]

Khuluma studied Limbuko’s hair and slowly reached back and tried to imitate a ponytail, but when he released, it went undone. He didn’t have anything to tie it back with, and decided he’d have to learn how to style his hair like Limbuko’s later down the road. Maybe he would ask the god how later down on.

Nodding, he remained being held as he let his heart calm down, before taking a big breath and looking over Limbuko’s legs. Below, the ground was much closer than it had been when Khuluma faced his tumble, and he looked up at him again. He’d have to do something about his hair if he was going to try or Limbuko would have to catch him again. Not that that wasn’t nice. Something about being held made him smile. Limbuko was pretty after all.

Looking, he noticed his tail and reached down to take off one of his golden tail-rings. Taking it, he reached back and pulled his hair through, trying to get most of the massively thick locks into the loop before he pulled. It held some, but he still had his bangs. He just wished he didn’t look uglier because of it. He sure having his hair tied back made him less attractive. Turning, he held his paws over Limbuko’s arms and wiggled his way back to his stomach. He wiggled his end to try and get himself back into his previous mindset. “I think I can try again. I’ll try not to fall this time. ” While falling was still something he was afraid of, being carried the entire way made him feel like a failure. He had to at least give it one last go. He just hoped he could land without killing himself.  

[Iris_virus]

-As Khuluma began to shift and reorientate himself Lim did the same, finally shifting his paws and forearms far enough down that instead of holding the little god up they acted as a platform, waiting for him to make his move.

He stopped in his descent, keeping his body (and make shift platform of forearms) still and balanced as possible before he nodded encouragingly.- "Alright, go for it Khuluma!"  

[MoonKitsune]

It was nice to have a lanchpad, and Khuluma tried not to hit Limbuko in the face with his tail, tucking it and deciding he would jump gracefully this time to impress the other. Holding his head high, he opened his wings and set out, springing off this time and catching the wind. The gliding was much better without his hair all around him, but these wind currents were started to get different. Closer to the ground, which now he could see the ground far below, trees that clustered around the mountain with various shrubbery like dark smudges on the landscape.

Smiling, he took a current of air and did a small spiral as he turned and turned around and around and around down on a light current. It felt like he was getting dizzy, but it tickled his face which took away his worried. Flying was nice, but it really strained his back and wings. He guessed floating was better.

He flapped his wings, trying to push himself up to try and go down more slowly, but not too far from Limbuko. He wanted the god to be able to hear him, as he called up. Stopping in midair was hard to do, so he went in slow circles down, head up to look up at the god as he did circles. “The grounds getting closer! What if I go too fast when landing? I can’t land so well. ” He was both excited by the fact the ground was now in sight for him to land, but knew that this landing was different than that little jumps he had been doing back at the Haven. This was farther down.
 

[Iris_virus]

-He was even more cautious this time. Though they'd gotten down far enough that the fall was unlikely to KILL an 'immortal' it didn't mean the little one couldn't get hurt. Things seemed to be going better though. He was focused, the hair out of his face, and he'd obviously picked up the little trick of a gliding swirl to help cut down the distance with the least amount of effort.-

"You can try to land on my back, or the softest place you can find on the ground, whichever you prefer!"

"But reguardless, once you're low enough for gravity to really start pulling flap your wings as if trying to fly directly up. There are so few currents that low it shouldn't REALLY pull you up, but it should definately slow you and allow you to hover over the ground until your feet can land softly."

-He left out the part of how tiring such an action was... no need to add extra worries to the little god.-  

[MoonKitsune]

While Khuluma didn’t have too many problems with landing on Limbuko, who had already proven he was soft, Khuluma did have the desire to land on his own. His mind had already created the image of his first landing, and it had been him setting his feet firmly on the ground as a an announcement to the world that he had arrived. This did not involve a buffered landing on another god, which seemed rather silly. If he was going to have a god help him, he would have rather just had Limbuko hold him the entire time down.

Gliding, he nodded. “I’m going to try and fly down on my own! ” He called up, hoping that the plan to land softly would be just that. Turning his head back down, he decided to glide slowly until he felt this air change that Limbuko mentioned. It was a gentle decline down, with a bit more wobbling in the air, but at least it was warmer. Already he could feel a warmth from the air wash over him that was different to the elevated climate he had left. No ice. No snowy mountains. No nothing to do. The mortal world would be there to offer its excitements, it’s wonders, and all the other gods and goddesses who seemed to all be at a celebration that he had yet to arrive to. Well he was coming now!

Again excited, he looked down. He didn’t exactly know what a soft landing area looked like, so he went for a place that just looked clear. Declining, he finally felt that gradual change in the air. It felt heavy around him, and those air currents that had felt like a helping hand dto hold him up were suddenly gone or just very faint. It was like having the floor drop from under your.

This is where things got tricky, and for Khuluma, he had thought the first half of the ride was already a task. The flapping started. His wings started to beat, but he felt a degree of panic that he wouldn’t be able to flap hard enough to keep himself from just dropping like a stone. This left him beating aggressively, his wings pulling more than ever and his body feeling warmer and warmer from overworking. Ugh! This was hhhaaarrrddd!!!

He wanted to call up and keep talking, as he liked talking with Limbuko, but he was too out of breath to talk and fly at the same time. As he went down and down and down, the world went up and up and up towards his feet. More detail came to his eyes; Grass, trees, small herds of animals. Wow. It was PRETTY!

This awe was taken over by stain, as Khuluma continued to flap more and more. His back was getting tight, and his wings pulled. Flying was a serious endeavor, and he wished he could just stop everything for a moment to take a nap before picking back from where he left off.

Flapping hard became frantic as the ground went closer and closer and faster and faster. Even despite this, Khuluma stopped himself from calling up to Limbuko. He didn’t want his only chance to touch down on his first time here to be assited or just a gentle hop. If all gods had to go through this, he wanted to do the same.

While it was a nice thought, the landing was anything but, and he did mean that literally. The impact was a flomp that had Khuluma hitting the ground on his deriar and it was not a soft landing. Maybe he picked the wrong piece of dirt, because he winced and mewed out. He landed as a bundle of wings, legs, and falling hair, piled on the ground and on his back, his eyes closed and his teeth clenched. “Ah-owwwwie. That hurt”

So much for graceful.