☆☆☆

kyungsoo snickers in amusement as he teeters precariously on the edge of a cloud. the cloud is cool but soft under his gentle touch and dips slightly with each shift the doe-eyed spirit makes. kyungsoo pushes himself up on his elbows, and springs up onto his toes, bouncing slightly. with critical eyes he assesses how the water droplets start to meld - how joonmyun starts gathering his droplets into a bigger, heavier body. he'll have to jump soon.

with a weary little sigh he flops back onto the cloud, ignoring the protesting 'oof!' as the cloud is pressed under his weight. soon is not now. he has time to spare before he needs to leave.

"it's not very easy being an elemental." kyungsoo muses out loud.

"you're thunder, stupid," yifan - the cloud - tells him, "that, is most certainly not an element."

"and that, is most certainly not any of your business, fluff-face." kyungsoo retorts, adding an extra sneer to that last jab. all for good measure.

"!!!" yifan squeaks - a peculiar sound for his deep voice - and the affronted cloud ruffles with indignation, attempting to throw the laughing thunder spirit off, out into the air, anywhere away from yifan. hell, he would throw the little brat away into the mists of time, if tao would let him. of course, the sweet time guardian would never do such a thing, never.

"are you two done yet? or do i need to wake up minseok to deal with your miserable faces...?" an irritated voice sounds out from inside yifan's massive body.

"j-j-joonmyun!" yifan stutters, "uh, no need for that! kyungsoo and i are doing just fine, aren't we, kyungsoo?"

kyungsoo floats down from his perch on top of the cloud to peer into yifan's interior, smirking as the cloud shifts nervously. he sees joonmyun's tired face as his water babies gather around him. kyungsoo lifts a hand and waves at the little droplets, grinning when they giggle and wave back.

idly doing a back flip, kyungsoo taps a finger on his chin, pretending to think, "yes, the marshmallow and i are really good friends! best of friends even! i love my baby squishy marshmallow." as he speaks, kyungsoo floats closer and grabs handfuls of the cloud, all the while cooing in the most irritating way possible, "oh who's a cute little marshmallow, oh that's right, it's you my sweet darling-"

"enough!" yifan shrieks, "i am a cumulonimbus cloud, a thunder cloud! i'm your maker! i demand respect!"

"yifan, you know you're not really his maker, do you?" a second voice drawls from inside the cloud, cutting off the cloud's babbling. the temperature drops at this new arrival but none of the spirits really pay the cold any heed.

"minseok?" yifan gulps.

"i tried to warn you." joonmyun hisses, before turning back to his droplets.

"yifan you dolt, kyungsoo only listens to one, his master - jongdae." minseok does not miss the way kyungsoo stiffens at these words. "oh, wait, kyungsoo, i - you've never met jongdae, have you?"

kyungsoo says nothing and floats back to the top of the cloud. he sits down in a huff, crossing his arms.

minseok sighs, eases himself out of the cloud, and floats up to join the thunder spirit. settling down next to kyungsoo, he conjures a single snowflake, and plays idly with it as he speaks.

"kyungsoo, you know you can never meet him..."

kyungsoo leans back onto his elbows, smiling as the little snowflake floats up and starts to dance around his head. he smiles weakly. "i know that, but i can hope, can i?" minseok swears his heart cracks just a fraction at the hidden despair laced in the thunder spirit's voice.

"oh, there he goes!" yifan suddenly bursts out, gesturing at the lightning bolt hurtling towards the ground. the spirits perched on the cloud can just make out the silhouette of the lightning prince guiding the charge through the atmosphere to safety. wasting no time, kyungsoo takes a running leap and throws himself off the cloud, chasing after his prince.

joonmyun pokes his head out of the cloud, watching the two spirits descending until they are lost to sight under the other clouds. "i'll have to be off too... yifan?" the cloud nods and lets joonmyun fall to earth as a shower of silvery raindrops.

it's just minseok and yifan left up in the air.

"minseok, why...?" yifan questions his wise friend.

the ice spirit sighs, dropping elegantly onto yifan's comfortable body. "ever since he was born, he's always wanted to meet his prince. it is cruel but it is fate. thunder is always doomed to chase after lightning."

yifan levels a steady gaze at minseok. "is there nothing that can be done for him?"

"that is not a question i have an answer for, yifan."

☆☆☆