"...ke.. -p"

A faint voice was heard. He couldn't tell what it was saying, but it must've been nothing important. Even if it was, whatever it was could wait another five minutes. Or hours. 

"Up, ak- up!"

The voice had gotten louder, yet it could hardly cut through the haze of slumber that had its firm grasp on his mind, and frankly he was all too willing to oblige. Maybe, if he kept really reallllly quite and kept ignoring it, it would take the hint and leave him alone? Sound as good a plan as any and so he did.

And for a while, it seemed to work too! Ah, the bliss of peace and quiet. Yet the thought hadn't managed to stay even a minute as soon his entire world was turned upside down, quite literally too.

"Wake up, you ass! I know you're just pretending!" A now clearly enraged and awfully familiar female voice graced up abrupt awakening. At least he thought it was familiar, hard to tell when you're tangled upside down on a hammock and most probably sporting a concussion from your head hitting the ground, ya know?

A hiss of pain escaped his lips as he slumped to the ground and rubbed his aching head. He sent a pointed glare at the figure standing above him, a young girl with brown hair. Although how much of that was from the dirt they spent everyday plowing and how much was her natural coloring was a mystery lost upon him.

"What the hell was that for, Ling!"

The angry outburst clearly didn't faze the girl. He might've been a head shorter than him, but her attitude was easily of someone twice his size. She only pointed a slender finger towards his left as an answer. A quick glance showed him nothing unusual.

"Yes, the sun, wow amazing~ Please don't tell me you woke me up to admire how pretty it was?"

A pair of groans were heard from the small hill they were both on. One of exasperation and the other of pain from getting kicked in the ribs. For such a dainty little girl she sure didn't hesitate in resorting to violence, and sadly for Tai, she packed quite a punch.

"You dummy, its way past noon! Because you were hiding here and sleeping, I. Had. To. Do. Your. Chores! Again!"

"Sorry, sorry! Ack- Ouch! I said sorry, please stop."

The abuse didn't. Not for another five minutes and a good stomp to his behind for good measure. He slowly got up while carefully watching the other girl as if she was a viper, readying himself for another bout of violence at any moment. Thankfully it never came.

"I'll make it up too you, ok?"

She gave a huff while pretending to not be interested, but he could see the hidden sparkle within her eyes because they both knew what he meant. It was how he always got out of trouble with her whenever he "forgot" to do his chores.

"How..?"

He motioned to her to get closer whiling cupping his mouth with his hands in a secretive gesture. Hook, line, and sinker. The little girl threw away all pretenses and trotted over obediently with excitement.

"Why, with my new super ultra-secret magic trick that I just learned, of course!" he whispered with a large grin.

"Really? Really really? What is it? Show me, show me, show, show me!" She started clinging to him, practically hanging off of his arm in anticipation. Large doe eyes stared up at him, bright and innocent despite the mud and grime smeared on her cheeks.

"Well~! Hmm I don't know~" He said in a sing-song voice while acting as nonchalant as he could. "do you promise to forgive me if I show you?"

"Yeah!" 

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Without further prompt, he lifted her up in a piggyback and started treading towards a clearing into the nearby forest. His little... "Magic trick" wasn't quite as appreciated by the other villagers as they were by little Ling. Oh, sure, they enjoyed what his gift could do for the village, just not the power itself nor its user. Hypocrisy at its finest.

A slight giggle as he hopped over a fallen log dragged him out of his thoughts. It wouldn't do to spoil the mood so he made sure to focus on their path.

Normally people tended to avoid the forest. Not only were there wild animals, but also rumors of dangerous Spirits inhibiting its depths. Of course, he wasn't like normal people, and even a platypus bear was hardly a danger to him. Soon enough the pair managed to reach a small clearing and he let the girl down. The trees in a 20 meter radius had been cleared by him already, it was his home away from home so to speak.

He appreciated Ling's mom taking him in when he had nobody, but he could never feel comfortable in that village, nor with the burden he was placing the family.

A stomp of his feet and a simple chair made of dirt quickly formed for Ling to sit down. A flick of his wrist a large hole opened up nearby. Inside were a few jars he had hidden filled with fruits and snacks, cooled and preserved in the earth. After all, what is a show without some snacks?

Finally, he gathered an armful of rocks. There was nothing special about them, just dull grey rocks you could find anywhere literally the side of roads. He poured them into a pile at her feet as she stared puzzled about his actions while biting into an apple.

"What's your favorite flower?" He asked seemingly out of the blue. He was carefully weighing the stones and arranging them in some unknown order.

"Huh? Why?"

"It's a surprise, just tell me."

"Hmm... I don't know...? I like them all!"

His grin stiffened slightly, because this was going to be a tall order.

"I-i see... Hold on, stay here and don't move!"

He dashed away in a hurry, eyes roaming for some wildflowers. Thankfully the area they were in had a bit of variety. He carefully picked a bunch of them and etched it into his memories before returning to the makeshift camp. Without a word, he hovered his hands before the assembly of rocks. At first, nothing happened besides Tai's face gaining a red hue and looking as if he was constipated, however as he clasped one hand over the other and slowly closed his fist, a "Miracle" occurred before Ling's eyes.

The rocks were... moving! At first, the only vibrated, but soon they started shifting, changing shape and form as if an invisible hand was carefully molding them. Jagged edges soon smoothed over and fragments soon broke off and then rejoined the mass. Slowly, but surely, they were transformed into flowers!

Well... At least she thought they were flowers? They were kind of ugly, and the petals often too fat or unsymmetrical with each other, but the overall shape was kind of the same?

Still, the magic was incredible to her and she felt delighted all the same. Her pearls of laughter only drove Tai's determination all the more intensely as he started focusing on the individual flowers rather than carving the overall shape. Sweat dripped down his brows at the delicate task, but it seems all the late-night practice this past week was worth it.

Soon, blocky petals slimmed down, stems grew, and even engraved patterns were seen. It took almost an hour, and yet Ling never seemed to have been bored for a single moment. Finally, 6 adequate stone flowers laid at their feet. He carefully picked them up, judging them to not be too heavy and not brittle enough to break, he handed them to her.

"Happy birthday, Ling."

The girl's head whipped up so fast he almost feared she gave herself whiplash.

"W-what? You're giving it to me? I can have it?"

"Who else would I give flowers too?"

----------------------------------------

"Man, this sucks!" 

Tai had managed to get himself out of hot water with Ling, but apparently not with her mom, Ms. Leila. Which was exactly how he found himself plowing the field. Which, normally, wouldn't have been much of an issue or even punishment. That was if it wasn't like a thousand degrees out and he was banned from using his Magic to just do it in five minutes. Nope, he was stuck with a shoddy plow and had to do it manually.

By himself.

Did he mention that the field was full of rocks? His wrist ached something fierce every time he swung down only to have his blow rebound off a hidden stone. So, suffice to say, he was having a downright miserable time. Usually, he had no problem lying and would've just secretly used his powers anyways, he couldn't do that to the mother-daughter duo, especially with how much he owed them.

Which was why he was out here cursing every sun-related spirit and their mother he could think of. And quite a couple he was sure he made up.

Maybe he wouldn't have minded as much if all this land belonged to the family, he would loved to be able to repaid them even a little bit, however, most of this was "Village property". He was basically volunteered to do community services for the lazy jerks! He wanted to be lazy too, damnit!

That's it! Once Ling was older he would leave the village and travel. He'll get rich, buy the family a nice house with a large yard, hire lots of maids and servants and spend the rest of his life in leisurely retirement. Surely, with his unique magic, he would have more opportunities for him out there!

Tai's daydream and get rich quick fantasies were suddenly cut off by a commotion near the entrance of the village. There were half a dozen men heaving something with long cords of rope. He placed down his tool and sneaked closer for a better look.