It had been ages since Azen had worn this gown. It wasn't traditionally Chinese as he would have preferred, but it fit his needs for today more than the changsan he owned would have. "-And flow down." he recited, his voice airy, his eyes closed as he narrated his actions, guiding the fan in his claws downward to an elegant finish. From the echoed swish through the air, he could tell Blitz had not quite been so graceful. Azen opened his eyes and casually glanced over to his partner, seeing a look of defeat and frustration in him. Blitz had seen pictures of the phoenix dancing for a court of dragons; a traditional watercolor drawn by someone who was clearly a master artist. Azen, knowing his hawk's curiosity, asked if he wanted to learn. Now, three hours later, the phoenix had felt closer to his old history than he had in ages, but he could tell Blitz was frustrated with the exercise. "You know it took me over a dozen years to learn this level of precision, yes?" He asked, stowing the fans away in the cloth belt of his robe.

"Yeah, I know..." Blitz responded, though a dozen years was very hard to visualize when the phoenix made the motions to simple looking. They flowed in a manner that Blitz was simply unable to keep up with. He even asked if they could change locations several times, and change into the traditional dress, hoping it would spark some level of understanding within himself. Blitz wanted so badly to be able to share in his phoenix's heritage, wanted terribly to understand him a little more. The valley of time that lay between them felt so hard to bridge at times, and it didn't help when the hawk felt so clumsy and graceless by comparison. He was just about to sign again in defeat when he felt a pair of claws on his arms, guiding - forcing, rather - then into the proper starting alignment. He saw the phoenix step back several feet and gave a wave of his claw in a 'go on' sort of gesture.

Looking at his handiwork, watching the hawk try to perform the dance again, Azen nodded in understanding. "You enter into each form and stance properly, your only issue is that you work to follow instructions too closely. You don't feel the rhythm of the dance as you move. You go from one position to the next without considering why those movements must flow. But... I'll save you the anthropology lecture. Let us go slower, move with me." He said, striding to his position next to Blitz and taking up the stance almost instantaneously. They began again, arms moving like stalks of rice in a breeze, like the tumble of a cloud over the horizon. "Flow like fire, breathe like water." He said, his eyes catching the way his beloved moved as he spoke. Worlds better, now that he tried to flow instead of follow orders.

With the dance only half done, Blitz let out another sigh. He could tell he'd improved, but he was still worlds away from Azen's skill. "I'm starting to think I won't ever be so graceful." He said, looking at how easily his phoenix flowed for their dance.

"Nonsense. I think you're the most graceful thing I have ever seen." Azen replied. And Blitz knew, as he smiled awkwardly and chuckled, that the phoenix was telling him the truth.

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Long time coming, I've finally decided to upload this amazing piece of artwork. Much thanks to  Xeirla for this piece. And thank you to  Its_Blitz for being the best fiancé I could ever ask for~