Mind in the Sky
Swinging the hammer over his head, he brought it down onto the top of the board. Sweat trickled down his back as he paused a moment to glance at his work. He kept hitting the sun-bleached wood too hard, pushing it too far into the ground. And when he would try and pull it back up, even just a little, it would make the hole around the board bigger – creating even more problems.
Izark sighed, brushing damp bangs from his forehead. The sun's heat was adding to his frustration. He hadn't expected building a fence would prove so difficult.
Cupping his hands over his eyes, Izark smiled. Noriko was walking towards him. He felt his heart quicken at the sight of the Sun glinting off her hair.
Noriko surveyed Izark's fence as she stepped towards him. She plastered a fake smile on her face – it looked truly awful. The boards were uneven, and several looked ready to topple over at any moment. A swordsman he was, a carpenter he was not.
Eyes fixated on the mess up wood, Noriko stumbled on a patch of uneven ground. On cue, Izark caught her.
Face flushed, Noriko babbled a quick word of gratitude.
"So... How's my first fence?" Izark arched his brow, mentally begging for a word of congratulations.
"Oh! It's great!" She nodded quickly, grinning "It's looking really great so far!"
Leaning back on splintery board, Izark tilted his head back. Though his lack of energy was mostly due to the emotional blow of his horrid job, he still felt worn out. The corner of his mouth turned up as Noriko leaned against the fence beside him.
"Horse." Izark muttered, eyes concentrated on a puffy cloud.
"Hm?"
He leaned in close to her face, and pointed to a cloud, "A horse, see?"
Noriko scanned the section of sky, "Where? I can't find it..."
"See? Their's its legs and its tail..."
He trailed off, and turned to meet her eyes. Noriko fought back a blush, as his presence overwhelmed her. Sliding her eyes closed, she felt a shiver run down her spine as his rough hand cupped her chin. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end in anticipation. He moved closer to her lips at a tauntingly slow pace.
Hearing a loud crack, Noriko's eyes snapped open, and she clung to Izark's arm as they fell on top of the collapsed fence-section.
Noriko winced slightly at a forming bruise. Face-to-face with Izark she smiled with a sigh. Turning over on her back to face the sky, her smile grew wider.
She pointed to an oddly shaped cloud, "There's your horse, Izark."
Just a little Izark/Noriko drabble for my goal of 30 stories on 30kisses on LiveJournal. From Far Away/Kanata Kara is a wonderful, unfortunately under-read, 14 volume manga.
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