Under One Umbrella

Kathinja

Kathinja

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So at some point while they were walking, Lydia realized she was still holding Wong’s hand—but it seemed kind of awkward to just suddenly let go after having held it for the amount of time she had. Now they were both locked in that awkward hand-holding that neither felt they could let go of.

She giggled a little as Wong babbled his apology. “You don’t have to apologize for a gosh darn thing, Wong. I was the one running before thinking.” She tapped her head with a finger and stuck her tongue out playfully.

The rain beat down on the umbrella as they headed toward the stables. Lydia winced a bit once more when a crack of thunder rumbled in the distance.

“Rgh…well, besides not liking this thunder and lightning—I’ve been doing alright!” she replied as they stepped into the stable. Finally, it seemed less awkward to let go of his hand—so she did.

“I’m hoping to start up a horseback riding club! So that should be fun,” she explained as she headed over to a nearby chest and pulled out a towel.

“And how have you been? Besides, you know, wet and muddy at the moment,” she said with a sheepish grin as she handed him the towel.
 
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Wong Ha Jung

He took the towel that Lydia offered him with a quiet thanks and an embarrassed, shallow bow. Scrubbing off the leftover mud from his face, Wong Ha Jung felt absurdly grateful that the action gave him an excuse to simply be quiet and figure out how to not act like a nervous wreck in the woman's presence. The feeling of being back in elementary school was an uncomfortable familiarity that he couldn't quite shake. It was a little like having an old skin that wouldn't shed properly.

The counselor scrubbed at his face harder before using his hands to try and comb some of the clumps of mud out of his hair. "Ah, things have been a little slow," he said, smiling softly. "Not too many people have been coming by. I guess I should be kind of happy because it might mean that people are doing fine without me. But I worry a little that it just shows that people are uncomfortable with scheduling appointments." Actually, that was kind of an understatement. He worried about that a lot.

"It'll get better," Wong Ha Jung said with a small, helpless shrug. He folded up the now muddied towel a few times and made a second attempt at cleaning up his clothes. It was hardly effective and now that he was somewhere dry, the muck on everything was starting to feel cold and slimy on his skin. "I guess I just need to give it more time."
 
Kathinja

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Once Wong was able to slush some of that mud off, Lydia started tending to the horses. Each one needed a blanket, as well as some hay to feed on. Despite putting herself to work though, she was very attentive to Wong as he spoke.

“That’s a toughie—cause some people get afraid to even admit they need counseling, y’know?” Lydia said as she climbed into one of the stalls to get a blanket on a large, black horse. “I s’pose it’s scary to admit you have a problem in general.”

If Lydia were to be perfectly honest with herself, she’d be able to admit that she had that very problem. She never really dealt with the death of her parents years back, she just…decided to become someone else. And then two someone elses…

But she wasn’t about to bring any of that up.

“Have you thought about putting some posters up?” Lydia asked as she hopped out of the stall, grabbed another blanket, and moved onto the next horse. “Just to make your presence more know, y’know? Put down that’s it’s completely confidential and all that kinda stuff that would help people feel more reassured!”

As she got into the next stall she noticed the horse, a little pinto, was acting rather nervous about the thunder and lightning.

“Aww, I know you don’t like storms,” Lydia said to the little pinto as she nuzzled her face against his to calm him down.

“I should really put up posters for the horseback riding club, come to think of it…” she added as an aside.
 
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Wong Ha Jung

"Truth be told, the thought never really crossed my mind. I suppose it should have," he said sheepishly, following Lydia a little while keeping a fair distance away from the stalls. He didn't know a lot about animals so he was reluctant to come any closer. He just didn't want to be a bother, and going on what had already happened that day, the man thought that there was a fair chance he'd go and embarrass himself all over again. The thought of it made him blush again, so it was probably a good thing that Lydia was facing away from him.

"Ah, it's a little odd, actually," Wong Ha Jung said with a soft laugh. "Getting used to the differences between schools, I mean." Was there anything he could do besides just stand there awkwardly? He wondered. It seemed wrong to be doing nothing while Lydia was doing work. "I'm not too used to seeing students so infrequently. Back at the other school, I was mainly a psychology teacher so I'd see the same people every other day."

"But, no, posters are a good idea." Even though it honestly made him feel a little nervous, too. It was probably just from being new. He'd get over it soon enough. Catching the woman's aside, he asked, "Ah, if you do that, would you like any help with putting up yours after you're done?"
 
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Once the pinto calmed down, Lydia gave the pony a hug and then stepped out of the stable and into the next. The next horse was a big black stallion whose coat seemed to shine despite the sun not being out.

“Oh gosh, I didn’t know you were a teacher before! Seems like that would be a big difference,” Lydia said as she swung the blanket onto the stallion’s back. The horse was so tall that she practically had to jump to get it on him. “Jus’ getting random students comin’ and goin’ rather than a set class…”

She gave the stallion a pat on the neck and moved to the next stall. She obviously had a routine she was used to and would be done pretty quickly. She got into the next stall with a horse with the coat of a Dalmatian and started adjusting the blanket onto her.

“And it’s not like you can set attendance! Kids are just gonna go or stop going as they please—and kids tend to think they got everything all figured out, even when they don’t, y’know? They don’t like being told that they, in fact, don’t.”

When Wong mentioned helping her out with the posters, she went and leaned over the stall door.

“How thoughtful of you to ask~” Lydia said with a big smile. “I’d love help with the posters! And if you decide to put up some posters yourself—I’d be more than happy to help!”

Wong was so polite—he was kind of a breath of fresh air for her. Not that the guys she met working at the club were all impolite or anything! They were just not quite like Wong.

“You ever ridden a horse before, Wong?” she asked curiously, continuing to lean over the stable door.
 
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Wong Ha Jung

"Ah, yes, that's exactly it," he said with a quiet sigh. He liked people, he really did, but he always worried about how to interact with them. Now with the number of total strangers that were infrequently dropping in, it took some time to sort out how to go about it all. As Lydia pointed out, he couldn't force anybody to make an appointment. So it felt a lot like if he didn't get it right the first time, he wouldn't get a second shot. Ah, no pressure at all or anything, right?

But the counselor smiled to himself, saying loud enough for the woman to hear, "I do like this job, though." There shouldn't be any misunderstanding about that, even if he was starting to miss teaching. Teaching was just a more definite area; it was okay to have certain expectations there. The parameters were clear enough that they could easily be made to fit. I guess that kind of makes me a coward then, huh? Well, at least he was trying something a little different? People were always telling him to and at least this one wasn't bad at all.

Still would like to get back to teaching some time, he thought wistfully. Comfort zone aside, there was just something about it that he really enjoyed. Maybe he could get back to that in the future...

As Lydia went up to the door of the stall, Wong Ha Jung came to stand directly in front of it, so there was maybe a foot of space between the two of them. When she asked him if he had ever ridden a horse, he blinked at the question for a moment.

"No, I'm certain that I haven't. Actually, this is probably the closest I've ever been to a horse in my life," Wong Ha Jung added after a bit of thought. He laughed sheepishly. "I'm not too much of an outdoors person. I kind of just, ah, walk around a lot?" Which sounded really lame. Really lame. He shouldn't have even said it, actually. It was just... embarrassing.
 
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“Heh, I like my job too…we’re real lucky to work at such a nice school, huh?” Lydia said as she nuzzled her cheek against the Dalmatian-spotted horse’s neck. In her case, she was especially lucky that Starlight Academy took horseback riding seriously enough to hire her. She couldn’t really fathom teaching anything else…especially since she didn’t even have a high school degree. That kind of put a damper on any other job opportunities within the school, so she was grateful for what she could get.

When Wong mentioned that he had never ridden a horse before, Lydia leaned over the stall toward him with a big grin on her face.

“You know what that means? At some point, I’m gonna git you on a horse!” she said with a laugh before swinging her body over the stall door and hopping down.

“Anyone who knows me gets on a horse eventually, I assure ya,” she said with a wink. Before Wong could possibly protest, Lydia was already hopping into the next horse’s stall. She soon realized that she was on the last horse and swung the heavy blanket over its back.

“Alrighty! Looks like I am done here,” Lydia said as she got out of the stall and quickly glanced around—double-checking to ensure that every horse was taken care of. Satisfied, she went over and grabbed Wong’s umbrella for him.

“Thank you again for helpin’ me git over here! I really appreciate it!” she said as she handed the umbrella over to him. “Ready t’ brave the storm again?”
 
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Wong Ha Jung

He looked once at that grin on Lydia's face, actually close enough to see it with clarity this time, and immediately felt strange. Oh, Wong Ha Jung thought dumbly. Oh, that's nice. He didn't think he was having anxiety or anything, but the sensations in his chest and his head were similar to that in many aspects. Oh. He almost didn't even hear her words, and just stood there blinking at how clear things were in that one moment, and how they made him feel so small.

I'm being an idiot now the man thought -it was nothing new- and smiled as Lydia turned away. "Ah, if you think so," he answered, laughing lightly. "I'm clumsy, though, if that's okay. Sometimes I have this tendency to fall down things. It might cause you a bit of trouble. But if you don't mind, I suppose I could try when you have the time."

When she was done with everything, Wong Ha Jung took his umbrella back from her. "I like being useful," he told her with a cheerful shrug. "And, ah, all things considered, I am a little fond of storms, actually." He tilted his head in a self conscious way, blushing because it was getting cold in his soaked clothes and that was probably obvious.

Still, he opened the umbrella and took a step out of the cover of the stables. "Shall we, then?"
 
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Lydia let out a little ‘yay’ and clapped her hands together when Wong agreed to trying riding a horse sometime. Which of course meant ‘as soon as humanly possible’ as far as Lydia was concerned.

“Don’t you worry—we’ll start with smaller and calmer horses. I won’t put you on a big lug like Lightnin’ here,” she said, gesturing to the massive black stallion. “I only let real experienced riders get anywhere near him. Isn’t that right~?”

She went over and gave the big stallion a kiss on the nose. The stallion shook its head and snorted in response. Lydia giggled at the reaction and then joined Wong under the umbrella.

“Alright, let’s go!” she said. As they headed outside, she reached out a hand to feel the raindrops.

“I think it let up a little! Still pretty bad though.” As Lydia finished her sentence, a crack of lightning suddenly burst through the sky and caused Lydia to jump a little—not to mention make a sort of adorable ‘squeak’ sound from the surprise.

“You really don’t mind this kinda weather? I don’t do real well with it,” she admitted—as if Wong hadn’t already noticed that before. “One time, I was ridin’ on a nature trail when it suddenly started stormin’. It spooked the poor horse and he nearly kicked me off! Guess I’ve always been a little on edge ever since then.”
 
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Wong Ha Jung

He kept glancing in Lydia's direction for some reason, feeling terribly embarrassed as he did so, like he was intruding on something that he didn't have any right to. It wasn't like he was being overtly obvious about it; she was talking to him after all. It was perfectly natural and appropriate and everything. He just. He liked being around Lydia. Wong Ha Jung liked being around people in general but he was starting to find increasingly that he liked being around Lydia specifically. She was nice and energetic. And cute. Isn't that just a little shallow of me? he fretted. I think it maybe is. I should stop.

When a crack of lightning caused Lydia to jump, the man instinctively put a hand on her shoulder. The touch was light and only lasted for a couple of seconds before Wong Ha Jung remembered himself and let go. The hand went over his mouth instead, to help hide his blush a little. He had already had one to start with but that sound she had made was ridiculously cute, which made him think that there was something wrong with him. Not that he didn't understand what it was like to have a crush or anything; he actually got them quite often but most of them were quite minor and never got off the ground. For the most part, he was worrying over the fact that he might be simply latching onto the first person in his age group to actually have a conversation with him.

"O-oh, I'm glad you're okay!" he said, gesturing slightly with his hand out of anxiousness. "It sounds like that would have been pretty painful." Which was a completely obvious fact and he was already mentally kicking himself for saying it. "I've always liked summer storms for some reason. I guess that's kind of strange since Hong Kong's a harbor but I think that they're beautiful during the afternoons when the sun's still out." The man shrugged with a sheepish smile. "They're not for everybody, I know, and sometimes they can be awful but I still like watching them. It's kind of nice being out in them when the rain's warm, too, but ah. I guess the students wouldn't take me seriously if I did that anymore."

Which was a shame but Wong Ha Jung supposed that he could go back his apartment and stand out in front of it whenever he wanted to. Although, he wondered what people think of him now with all the mud on him. Oh dear. It really was kind of uncomfortable and it was unfortunate that he hadn't thought to keep a change of clothes in his office. But well, hindsight was twenty-twenty after all.

He didn't embarrass himself any more as they got back to the school, and neither did he say any more uselessly obvious things. But he also couldn't stop touching his face, just constantly checking to see if the blush gone away yet. The counselor didn't really think he could tell either way but it was a decent placebo. He thought that he could feel the start of butterflies, too.

I'm such a loser.

But that was life, he supposed.