Sweet as Sugar

"Well, we better get going," said Melly, picking up her bag. "To the artist alley!"

"lead the way" Mu grinned

The artist alley was just as its name described: a narrow space filled with artistic graffiti on the walls and artists either selling or working on their craft. Melly smiled. She practically made this place and many of these people herself, with a little help from friendship and heart-sharing.

Mu was more interested in the colorful graffiti on the walls. "Pretty" he commented.

"This is where we practice," said Melly with a grin. She took with some paint and a brush. "Wanna try?"

"Nah. I scribble like a four year old." Mu smiled. "I don't wanna ruin anything"

"C'mon! This wall is all about scribbling!" Melly replied, tickling his nose with the brush. "C'mon, try it!"

"mmnmmmmn" Mu replied. "Don't wanna. Can barely do stick figures."

"Oh okay," said Melly, though she sounded disappointed. She turned to the wall and began to paint some simple flowers with her blue paint.

Mu watched her paint. "You're much better than I am anyway" he complimented.

"Thanks," Melly answered cheerfully. "But it's not all about being good, you know. Painting and other arts help relieve tension and let you express yourself. It makes people happy."

"That's why I perform." Mu replied. "It calms me down."

"Really? I've heard a lot of people get the jitters from it, good or bad," Melly answered. "Oh well, different things for different people I guess."

"Mmhmm" Mu replied. He leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Melly's shoulders from behind as she painted.

Melly suddenly found it much harder to paint as her face flushed.

"Um, what's up?'

"Nuthin. You smell sweet is all" Mu purred, nuzzling her hair.

"Um, thanks?" answered Melly. She wasn't used to people cuddling her like this. "Though I...didn't really take a bath yesterday...I meant to, but the stuff in the water kept wanting to eat me..."

"Its okay~ You still smell nice" Mu purred

"Um...okay..." Melly answered, not sure what else to say. She tried to focus on painting again. It wasn't going too well.

Mu noticed her stiffness. "Is something the matter?" he asked

"Um..." Melly began, trying to think of the most polite way to answer. "I'm just not used to people leaning on me when I paint. It's usually a solo thing."

"Oh" Mu replied softly. He let go and took a step away. "Better?" he asked

"...Yeah," she replied. "Sorry, didn't mean to be rude. It's just kinda hard to paint like that. I mean, if I leaned on you while you were doing tricks that would make it harder, right?"

"That's how Edwin made us train for the highwire" Mu stated. "But I wouldn't mind if it was you"

"...Oh," Melly replied. That hadn't been the response she had expected. "Well, that sounds like tough training for highwire. A lot of people have trouble just doing it by themselves, much less with someone else leaning on them."