"What are you doing?" Ysalone asked, peering over Roamer's shoulder as he rummaged through her bag.
Ever since she'd found that single strap black bag during Oleander's scavenger hunt, Ysalone had been working hard to fill in, picking up one interesting little fragment from the Ruins every day that they'd gone out to explore. Together, she and Roamer had created a nice collection and brought it back to the Homewood, where those mementos could be stored and studied in detail during a long rest. Ysalone had woken up to the sound of her friend shifting through all the little knick-knacks, apparently keen on finding something.
"I'm looking for something fun," Roamer said, head half buried in the bag, nudging more trinkets out of it and onto the ground. He was making a mess and he knew it. This was quite uncharacteristic of him, and he'd work himself into a tizzy later on when he had to sort it all out and put it all back into the bag, but his apparent desire to heed every Ascended's request seemed to supersede any personal habits at the moment.
"Oh, do explain, Roamer," Ysalone said, parking herself nearby and watching him out of the corner of her eye, nibbling at a bit of grass here and there. She knew by now that Roamer was quite the driven creature. He felt every impulse so strongly that nobody could talk him out of doing something once he'd made up his mind. The doe saw a bit of herself in him, so she never tried. Rather, she tried to help him along whenever she could.
"Did you hear? Scoria is handing out Youth Stones to any who bring her a toy," he said, barely looking up. He was nudging the trinkets a little more forcefully now, separating them so he could see them more clearly. "I thought we might have something here that would work. We've picked up so many things in the Ruins."
There was a pause as Ysalone chewed and thought about what he had just said. She fixed her blue eyes on him curiously, ripping another mouthful of grass out of the ground.
"Hmmm..." She mused as Roamer shoved a silver cup aside with a clang. "Have you... Well, you do realize that a Youth Stone attracts... youths." It was a statement. Surely, he understood that.
"Yes," Roamer answered, barely listening.
"And you're prepared for the potential of stumbling across one such abandoned youth?" Ysalone continued. "You do understand that they need to be taken care of, right? You can't go wandering and traveling about with a foal tagging along."
Roamer glanced up. "It only helps attract them. It doens't guarantee it. Don't worry, it'll be alright." The buck went back to sifting, looking slowly as if he was becoming more irritated by his yet-unfruitful search.
"Ah," Ysalone answered. She went back to chewing for a moment, and then finally moved herself over to join him in front of the pile of goods he'd assembled. "Well, what are you looking for? What do you think a foal would like to play with?" She had an idea, but she wanted it to be his.
"Something... something soft, maybe," Roamer said after a moment's consideration. "Something to keep it warm and lay its head on. Like a friend. Like..." he trailed off as his eyes landed on a dirty but fuzzy little thing, shaped weirdly like a predator but friendly, in a way. Soft. The buck grabbed it and pulled it over.
"This?" Ysalone asked, curious. "But that's a predator. Wouldn't that scare a foal?"
Roamer shook his head. "Quite the opposite. It'd teach the foal not to be afraid and be braver in the fact of this creatures. It's perfect." He found a piece of string and worked it around the toy's two front arms. "And now, a foal could carry it around." The buck smiled, half proud, half smug, as he lifted the toy up by the string and headed off to present it to Scoria.
Ysalone fell in step behind him as he walked. Now finished with his earlier task, Roamer turned his full attention onto her. "You think this is a bad idea?" He asked, brow cocked at her uncharacteristic silence.
"I'm just trying to imagine you taking care of a child, that's all," the doe answered nonchalantly. "It'd be a disaster. About as great an arrangement as me taking care of one!"
Roamer chuckled. "Well," he said. "Between you and me, I'm sure we could make one halfway decent parent. And just imagine, teaching a little one to embrace adventure. You would love doing that as much as I would."
Ysalone shrugged. "Yea. You're probably right. I guess I'd have to help, wouldn't I?"
And they both laughed once again at the prospect of the two of them attempting to be parents.
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