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Rushing to Balder's side, you dropped down to your knees and placed your hand on his back. Yet again, you'd witnessed him tripping over an invisible obstacle and landing directly on his face. No matter how many times you saw him fall, you couldn't stop yourself from worrying for his safety. Afraid this fall might have been the one that did him in, you leaned down and in a concerned voice checked to make sure he was still alive. “B-Balder, are you okay? That's the third or fourth time I've seen you fall today.”

“Oh, I'm just fine. Don't worry about me.” Still laying face down on the ground, Balder lifted his head from the grass and smiled up at you. He was so used to falling, that this sort of thing no longer fazed him at all. “I've fallen far more than that in a single day before. I'll be alright.”

“If you say so.” Offering him your hand, you helped him back to his feet and hoped he wouldn't trip again now that he was standing upright. “You've got to be the most accident prone person I've ever met in my life, though.” Wincing at how harsh your words had sounded, you quickly apologized. “Sorry if that sounded mean, I didn't mean for it to come out that way.”

Brushing off his dirty, grass-stained clothes, Balder shook his head and waved off your apology. “There's no reason for you to be sorry. You were only being honest. My clumsiness isn't exactly a secret, after all.” Not at all upset with you, he placed his hand on your shoulder and offered a warm, friendly smile. This smile, while only a kind gesture, meant to calm your worries, was more than enough to turn your cheeks pink. Completely oblivious to the fact that you were flustered, he wrapped his arm around your shoulders and began walking with you. “Where are you headed? I'll walk you there.”

Trying your very best not to let your awkwardness show through, you focused all your energy into speaking clearly. “To the gardening club. Master Thoth said I needed to find an after-school activity, and I thought this one might be fun.”

Due to his own hatred of anything green, Balder felt it his duty to talk you out of that particular club. “Are you sure you want to join that club? There are other clubs that would be a lot more fun.” Still walking with his arm around you, he lifted his finger to his lips and pretended to think. “What about the tennis club?”

“I had thought about that, but the problem with that is that I'm not very good at sports. I'd probably just end up hurting myself and making everyone else mad if I joined anything competitive like that.” Sighing at your own perceived ineptitude, you dropped your head down to your chest and sulked. “The gardening club may not be the most exciting one out there, but I thought this one would be safe, and easy.”

“Gardening can be just as dangerous as playing a sport. There are insects that could sting you and plants that could prick you. Not to mention all the sharp tools you would have to use to garden.” Stopping dead in his tracks, Balder stepped in front of you and took your hands in his. “Think about it, you could snip your finger right off while trying to prune a grape vine.”

The image that flashed through your head when he'd said that made you feel a bit dizzy and sick. You knew the chances of something like that ever happening to you, or anyone else were slim to none, but now you couldn't help but be concerned. “No, I couldn't.” Tightly closing your eyes in an attempt to get the disturbing image out of your mind, you firmly shook your head. “Y-you're just trying to scare me into joining another club.”

Releasing your hands from his, Balder nodded, then began to laugh. “You're right, I am.”

Though you'd known this all along, hearing him say as much was a big relief. Even so, you were a little bit hurt that he would tease you like that. “That was really mean, you know. I was actually pretty worried that something like that could happen.”

“Well, I suppose it could.” He nodded. “But I don't think it will. I hope not anyway.” Making no apology for scaring you, simply because doing so hadn't crossed his mind, Balder laced his fingers with yours and continued on towards the garden. As he walked with you, he lifted your hand to his lips and gently kissed your knuckles. “After all, it would be a shame if you so much as nicked such delicate fingers.”

At this point, you honestly weren't sure what to make of his actions. You couldn't tell if he was flirting with you, still trying to scare you out of the club, or just being nice. The fact that he was so forward, yet naive at the same time, made figuring this out even more difficult. Blushing and at a loss for what to do, you simply nodded and agreed. “That's true. I have grown rather fond of them over the years.”

“Are you alright?” Straying from your path, Balder pulled you under the shade of a large tree and stared directly into your eyes. “You're all red.”

“Am I?” Embarrassed that your blush was so noticeable, you placed your palms over your cheeks and tried to hide the obvious. Needless to say, this method didn't work. If anything, it only made the fact that you were blushing that much more apparent. “Maybe I'm just warm from being outside so long. I'm sure it's nothing to worry about.”

The weather outside was perfectly mild, and even a bit breezy, making your claim completely unbelievable. Sure that you were simply making up excuses so you wouldn't have to tell him the truth, Balder began to chuckle. “I really don't think the weather has anything to do with it.” Grinning in a mischievous way that reminded you a bit of Loki, he gently moved your hands away from your flushed face, only to replace them with his own. “You're blushing, and badly. I just wanted to know the reason.”

Unable to look at him due to your terrible awkwardness, you closed your eyes and sighed. “I'm not really sure myself. I don't think you've really done anything to make me blush. I must just be easily embarrassed.”

“Hmm, is that so?” Dropping his hands from your face, Balder turned away from you, and went silent as he took a moment to think. About five seconds later, he turned to face you. Still silent, he took a single, large step towards you, effectively removing almost all of the space between your bodies. “If you don't know why you're so embarrassed, then maybe I should give you a reason to be embarrassed.”

It took a second for what he was saying to finally hit you, but when it did, you found yourself frozen in place. Unsure what to do or say, and unable to move, you could only muster up the strength to speak a single word. “W-what?”

Without even attempting to explain himself to you, Balder took your chin in his fingertips and tilted your head back just slightly. Placing his free hand on the thick tree trunk behind you for support, he slowly lowered his lips to yours and kissed you. As he held you there, you could feel your blush begin to spread over your entire torso. The more you blushed, however, the deeper he kissed you. His kiss never evolved into anything inappropriate or perverted, but this fact didn't keep your heart from racing. Just when you thought your heart might start beating right out of your chest, Balder finally brought the kiss to an end. Smiling down at you, he brushed your hair behind your ear and kissed the tip of your nose. “There, that's better. Don't you think?”

“Sure, if you say so.” Too flustered to stand there with him staring at you any longer, you awkwardly sidestepped away from him and cleared your throat. “N-now, I really should get going. If I don't sign up for a club today, Master Thoth is going to be upset with me.” Eager to escape the situation, you had failed to notice that your legs had gone totally numb. This meant, that when you tried to walk away, your knees gave way, landing you face down on the ground. “Or I could just lay here in the grass for a while.” Refusing to lift your head from the grass, you went limp and mumbled to yourself. “At least until I get feeling back in my legs.”

Laughing playfully at your little mishap, Balder knelt down beside you and sympathetically rubbed your back. “This isn't good at all, is it? I think my clumsiness is rubbing off on you.”