hatejakku | ximilia: IC Contact

[Blue holds out his hand to take the finished piece from Jim in order to inspect it by hand, folding it back up so he can see the initially-cut shapes again.]

Is that...part of the point of the practice? Tying back to how...snowflakes are not uniform, either?

[ brb Finn's busy trying to fold a piece of paper as precisely as he can. ]

That sounds nice. [ Said absently, folding it again and one more time and maybe one more. ]

[ Jim hands his snowflake back to Blue, watching with amusement at how focused Finn is. ]

Sure, I think you can look at it that way. Whatever way you cut it, they'll always come out different.

[ He folds another sheet, this time for Blue, handing it over to him with a pair of scissors. ]

Wanna give it a try?

[Blue hesitates, his attention split between the offer and Finn's drive for perfection for a beat. he'll exchange the finished piece for the folded page Jim holds out, closing his hand around the shut scissors and hanging onto them like that for a bit longer as his attention drifts again.]

...Finn, I...I think...it's a fine fold. [it's the creases that are heinous now.]

[ shhhhhh His creases are perfect. Which is why he runs his finger over them several times, patting them down nice and tight and obviously heinous.

But he brightens from Blue's... compliment? ]

You think so? This is all new for me.

[ They know, Finn. ]

[ They're not that heinous! Either way they can straighten the sheet again once they unfold it so it's fine. ]

You can use a pencil to draw what you want to cut first, or just take the scissors and be more spontaneous about it.

[Blue passes Finn the scissors; he can always get himself a pair for himself, but Finn's already well ahead of him and Blue's keener to watch than act first.]

Try, Finn.

[ Finn is just about to argue that Blue keep the scissors when he's asked to try. So now he has to, of course. And he spares a second to consider the whole drawing them out thing first. But... he has no idea what he's doing so-... ]

I'll try drawing on the next one. [ He's too eager to see what happens! So he snips and snips and snips, all of them big triangle-shaped chunks, until he's... satisfied? Then he unfolds it.

It's... not as good as Jim's but he didn't really expect that. ] Not bad. [ A beat. He looks to Jim. ] Is it bad?

[ Jim nods, not criticizing either way. Like he said, he can do it either way, and he can understand the excitement to see a result all too well.

He waits until Finn unfolds his first attempt, smiling fondly. ]

It looks great, boo. [ Sorry for the grossness, Blue. He'll refrain from kissing Finn, at least. ] I'm keeping it.

['boo'...? that's a new one to Blue's ears. his head's already tilted curiously regardless, but he'll leave the mysterious terms of endearment aside for now.]

I think so, too. [but Jim's assessment is the real decider here, in terms of expertise.

he holds out his hand and takes the scissors back, trying to imagine what cuts and holes would look like unfolded before making any commitments on the folded sheet Jim gave him. his cuts are slow and more careful than what's preceded him - gives the other two a chance to chat a bit in the interim.]

[ Aaah, Finn basks in the praise. James saying as much with the endearment tacked on and claiming he'll keep it makes Finn melt with a huge, dopey smile. Blue agreeing makes him melt more, which is more than he thought he could.

So he's a happy, gross, warm mess when he hands the scissors back over. ]

Thanks. [ To both of them... Also, he doesn't know what "boo" means either, Blue, but he likes the way Jim says it.

Anyway, he watches Blue go at this with more intent, prepared to learn something, even while he speaks to James. ] How did you learn how to make these?

[ It's not perfect, but that's hardly the point here. It's hand-crafted, made with care and attention, and Jim loves that it's something made by Finn. He'll most likely hang it up in his corner of the bedroom for the duration of the holiday season.

He smiles at Finn, and while Blue starts working on his snowflake, Jim gets another sheet to make a second snowflake. ]

Don't know. In school, it must have been? We didn't do a lot of crafts like this then, but I haven't done anything like it in forever. They're pretty easy to make, though, not the kind of thing you need to keep practicing to know how to do it.

[the table beneath Blue's scissors is soon littered with lots of tiny scraps of snipped paper; a lot of the cuts are pretty similar as he just gets a feel for cutting in the first place. something done just for the delight of it...it makes him nostalgic for the children of the Shangri-la, thinking about them dogpiling Hillman and the other elders to entertain them. they'd enjoy something like this, he guesses. there'd be heaps of questions about snow to go along with it, too. it'd be nice.

his expression is distant and thoughtful as he sets the scissors down and carefully unfolds and untangles some of the stuck-together fringes of his piece, hesitant to smooth the whole thing out entirely lest something crinkle or tear. old dogs and new tricks, huh...]

[ Jim's going to hang it up! This will be Finn's proudest achievement. ]

I bet they come out really well done after a lot of practice, though.

[ That said, this is Blue's first time at this and look at him go. Finn's left momentarily speechless when he sees the final product, absolutely shocked by how intricate it is. ]

Blue, that looks amazing.

[ It's cute! And it's Finn's first attempt, he likes it especially because of that. He's probably keeping a few more, from both him and Blue. ]

The more you get the hang of it, the easier it is to visualize more intricate patterns.

[ He turns his attention to Blue once he starts unfolding his own snowflake, beaming with absolute delight. ]

That is really good, wow. How did you manage that much detail?

[the focus pivoting back to him makes Blue lift his head, bewildered for a beat, looking owlishly from one man to the other before the fascination and delight hits him.

his face colors as he looks back down at it.]

I only...just cut. Until there was no more room, is all...

[ Blue is ridiculously adorable when he blushes, that's just a fact. Finn gives him a soft smile. ]

That's a good idea, actually. I think I tried to make my cuts too big, too. You did a great job.

[ And first time, too! Also, Finn's already getting another piece of paper to try out Blue's strat. ]

[ Sorry Blue, but it looks like we've reached the point of this session where attention's turned on you. Jim also thinks Blue looks absolutely adorable with that blush, and he smiles while watching him, elbow on the table and chin resting on his own hand. ]

Oh, yeah. Go ahead and make more, if you guys want. I also have some paints and glitter if you feel like sprucing them up a little.

[while the attention isn’t terrible - by no means! - Blue does feel a little bubbling of hesitation, of some unfulfilled expectation he’s not certain how to address.

that won’t do. no…better to nip that in the bud and ask the sources.

so, still pink-faced:] This would be easier if you told me what you prefer. [pointed glance at the Jim teacher:] Since I don’t know much about these things.

[ Sorry, guys. Sorry, sorry. Finn's already folded and started cutting on his second one, the scissors sneakily stolen back from Blue. He won't be long. He'll give them back.

There's no unfulfilled expectation, at least, not from Finn. And if he knows him any at all, he's pretty sure James is of the same mind. This is something to have fun with, not really a set procedure. But since he isn't the Jim teacher and is also in the same starting point as Blue, he doesn't offer his two cents.

But he does pause on his snip-snipping to pull a few things closer to Blue. Markers, glitter, pencils, glue, paper, etc. ]

[ Finn, buddy, there's another pair of scissors in that box. No need to take Blue's.

Anyway, Jim leaves him to his new snowflake, while he turns to Blue and shows him some of the things inside the box. ]

What I prefer doesn't matter. What matters is what you like. You can paint it, color it, put glitter on it... just choose colors that you like, or any of these supplies in here that grabs your attention.

[it's fine, Finn can gank any supplies Blue might have on-hand with no harm done. and here in arts and crafts town, the Mu gets to experience a bit of decision paralysis now that a bunch of various embellishments are laid out before him. he stares quietly at the array with a rather blank expression while he does his bit of woman-with-math gif internally for a bit.

preference? what preference? how fast can he get a preference...

fine: he closes his eyes, hovering his hands over the array. whatever levitates into his hand first is the one he's going to go with...

...and it's going to to be glitter. once he has something in hand, he looks back over at Jim.]

Can you at least...show me how this works? [lest he makes a mess.

...more of one. there's still paper clippings everywhere, and Finn's only adding to the pile.]

[ Finn is absolutely still shamelessly adding to the pile, yep. He's not brave enough to make it as intricate as Blue's, though, which is why he's quick to give the scissors back.

See, Jim? It was just a second.

Anyway, excuse him as he super carefully begins to unfold it. ]

I'm not sure there's a clean way to do it, really.

[ That stuff looks really fine to the point that it'll get everywhere. He's willing to make that sacrifice. Anyway, his snowflake is half unfolded now! ]

[ Jim's just gonna gather those cutouts real quick, bringing them to the edge of the table and tipping them into a bin he brought with him as well. ]

Ah. I thought of that, actually.

[ He lifts the box to pull out the tray where it was set down, moving it towards Blue. Then he gives him glue and a paintbrush. ]

So— here's how you do it. You water down the glue, then brush it onto the snowflake. You don't need a lot of it, by the way. Then you carefully apply the glitter on top. You can use a dry brush for that, just to keep it a little more under control.

Most of it should land inside the tray, so it should be easy to clean up, but if some of it escapes...

[ He pulls out a lint roller from inside the box. What, you didn't think Mr. Neat Freak over here didn't come prepared to handle the mess, did you? ]

[thank goodness the captain's got everything accounted for here in these uncharted waters his understudies are wading in, for Jim may speak with an easy breezy confidence, Blue takes the brush with hesitance.

with Jim's encouragement, he paints a few trails of glue along the broader lengths of paper left on his creation, leaving brush and glue between himself and Finn for later while sprinkling glitter over it.

glitter that...gets all over his fingers, of course. because glitter.

while pinching his finger and thumb together, observing it thoughtfully:] This sort of...creative process...the mess is a feature, isn't it.

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