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The seelie behind him goes up and down again, letting out more soft bubbling noises. He sighs from where he’s sitting, toying with the tools in his hand briefly as he thinks of his next steps.
He’s still learning, still getting used to this, but the feeling of being able to create soothes every part of his mind that insists he's only capable of destruction. He turns the piece of wood around in his hand, before looking up and watching as a hydro eidolon approaches the spot he’s at.
It’s not far from his house. He’s sitting at the side of a river in the Silver Bottle Courtyard, close enough to the waterfall that he can listen to it, but not too close that he’ll end up getting soaked in the process. He watches the hydro eidolon approach the waterfall and disguise itself by turning into a barrel.
He chuckles. It’s not the first time it's done that. In fact, this is the exact hiding spot it picks every time. The other hydro eidolons must pretend not to find it out of kindness, he thinks.
At that, he puts his tools back at the ready, deciding to carve a hydro eidolon. Hopefully, he’d do it well enough that Bubbles would put it on a shelf at the entrance of their home, and maybe Kaveh would compliment it the next time he comes to visit.
He smiles. Yes, that’s a good choice.
He started bringing the chisel down on it, leaving a bit more wood at the front so he’d be able to carve their “hands”. He carefully carved the curves, making a steady round shape with two smaller rounds at the front. He briefly considered adding the signs of their emotions, like the little flower shapes that would appear when they showed happiness, but he scrapped that idea.
Grabbing a small semicircle knife, he started “drawing” their… Faces? Smaller, slightly squiggly circles, slowly took shape on the wood as his hands worked. He puts the tools away and grabs the sandpaper, working on smoothing the figure perfectly. He looks up again, seeing the barrel still waiting in the water for someone to investigate it.
Decidedly, he takes off his boots, pokes his seelie friend and gets in the water, slowly making his way to the barrel. He smiles before patting it, making the eidolon pop back into its original form. He holds up the wood carving, comparing it to the creature in front of him and giving it a small smile (one he's still practicing on making more natural).
“Do you think he’ll like it?” He shows it to the hydro eidolon, and it responds by making the small flower shapes appear. The seelie behind him moves in bubbly noises frantically, getting the attention of both Red and the eidolon.
As Bubbles runs towards them, the eidolon waves at him. Red doesn’t know how to admit it, but he thinks the sound they make when moving is also very nice. Not that he needs to admit it, since Bubbles has already figured it out and made it one of their “weekly date programs” to go around playing hide and seek with them.
He remembers the first time he got to hide. The eidolons have a unique ability to shapeshift into different things, and as one of them, so does Bubbles (though he rarely makes use of it, rather enjoying the shape he’s currently in), so he’s usually the one doing the seeking. He wanted to try hiding for once, too, so Bubbles did the searching in his place. He hid between a pile of boxes and a wall, the boxes obscuring his frame from view, but he still curled into himself.
As he watched Bubbles run around, tapping suspiciously placed objects, he held back a chuckle. His friend was so invested in the game, climbing on chairs and tables to reach the eidolons hidden in higher places. Holding it back got harder when he saw an eidolon get found and immediately turn into an arrow to point at its friend right next to it. Hearing Bubbles laugh at their antics made his stomach turn. He knew that feeling. He had felt it many times when he was still sharing a body with Al Haitham.
He had fallen in love. With his roommate. The same way his counterpart had.
When Bubbles reaches them, Red is just finished reminiscing, and doesn’t get enough time to compose himself when Bubbles points out the carving in his hand.
“It’s so nice! You’re getting so good at this, Red!” He cheers.
“I…” He looks at the seelie and then at the eidolon. “I was thinking… Maybe you could paint this? We probably still have some paint from when Kaveh visited.”
Bubbles smiles, “Of course!” and grabs him by the arm. “You don’t have to be so careful asking these questions. I’d love to paint some of your things, you know? Turning our home decorations into a collaboration project feels right.”
(He smiles at that comment. In their counterparts, Al Haitham is Kaveh’s landlord. In this bottle, Bubbles had a home here before him, but Red’s arrival made it complete. Small differences like this one made him feel like his own person.)
A small water bubble coming from his partner takes the shape of an exclamation point, and his face lights up. “You should carve Brilliance next!”
The seelie beside him bubbles up at the mention of its name. “That was the plan, actually. Do you wanna paint that too when I’m done?” Bubbles nods, and Red places the carving in his hand. “Take it back to our home, then. I’m gonna pick up my things and join you soon.”
His partner leans in and kisses his cheek, making the taller man flush slightly as he walks away. Red pats the hydro eidolon’s round body and points in the direction his friends were playing earlier, making it go away as well.
He looks at Brilliance as they walk back to the side, and analyzes his small friend as he puts the carving tools back in his pack. A lighter wood would do. Makes it easier for the painting process, and he’s interested in watching Bubbles do it.
“We still have lime wood at home.” he comments, knowing his friend doesn’t understand the context. It still bounces in the air at the attention, bringing an easy smile out of him. He knows it’s an unexpected hobby for his looks, but being able to create things and give them so much thought and detail is a soothing ability he'd never give up on.