Sole Memorial

Prelude to Truth

Time to bring this story here up to speed. :3

On the sand, well out of reach of the waves and well away from the grass, a campfire crackled and warmed the two bodies sitting by it. Under the crescent moon, with the crickets chirping and fireflies glowing around them, this seemed like the perfect setting for a romantic date. However, the couple wasn't quite a couple and they were using the fire for work rather than for mere warmth and atmosphere.

Pausing in his work, Flik breathed in the crisp forest air, cool and refreshing after being by the fire for so long. He and Princess Atta must have been working on the music box for about an hour or two, and they did have plenty of night left. Tonight was the first night of work, and he had decided that they would begin painting the box. If there was time left, they could reattach the lid. As for the flowers, he had an idea; but he needed the Princess' consent, because it involved modifying the lilies (which he learned were made of stone). Whatever the decision, he at least had everything they needed in his tool chest.

In his hands, he held the bottom part of the music box and a brush with some lavender paint. The box itself was resting on his palm so his fingers would not get in the way of nor mess up the new coat of color. He gave it a few swipes with the brush before carefully setting it down on a metal plate to dry, as he just finished repainting. "How're you holding up, Princess?" he asked his temporary helper, who was working on the lid.

"Almost... there!" The lid soon joined its partner on the plate. "How long do we need to wait? Will we be able to finish this today?"

He had to refrain from chuckling, but it was funny to see the normally graceful Princess so impatient. "We just started. I can probably reattach the lilies to the lid tonight, but I might have to modify them a bit."

"What do you mean?"

"I have some ideas on how to better keep them on the box," he began to explain. "I may have to cut and sand off some of the bottom portions of the lilies. The problem before was that they had very little surface area glued on the lid."

"I-I see." Princess Atta stared at the fire, her eyes seeming faraway.

Flik understood her hesitance. He could tell the flowers were personally sculpted, and by her special person. "I could just glue them back as is, but they could still easily fall off, and putting a bunch of glue on them for better grip wouldn't look good." He looked at her apologetically. "I'm sorry. I can't think of much else right now."

"No, it's fine. Do what you have to," she told him. "It's just... I already told you it's the last thing he—my friend, that is—made for me. I don't want to change it, but I guess it's too late if it's broken." She let out a little laugh, but it wasn't very cheerful. "You'll make it look good, right?"

"Of course!" he assured eagerly. "I won't remove too much. They're a bit too long and too close together, anyway." Reaching into his tool chest, he pulled a sculpting knife and some sand paper.

"Should I work on one, too?"

"I'll do it all. I don't want you to end up blaming yourself if you slip." Grabbing a lily, he began scraping the bottom little by little. He felt his heart beat along with every scritch-scratch, and he used this to time his strokes. "You can watch, though. Wanna sit closer?"

"I-I can see just fine from here."

He sent a playful pout her way. "Aw, okay." His attention soon returned to the lily. "Now, for sculpting, patience is of utmost key..." The lily shortened more and more with every instructional sentence, until it became a much more natural size and shape. "Done! Here, paint this while I get started on another."