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 Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2016 8:36 pm
Toby looked at the critter through the corners of his eyes, frowning worriedly. "Oh. Hello, there."
Dari nodded. "Yes, I'm positive. Some of them are human. It would be difficult for a human to live in the woods. Besides, I like my work. I want to keep helping people like you."
"Hey!" The bobcat had jumped up onto Lori's shoulders a bit of a way in the distance. "You're making this very difficult."
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Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2016 8:54 pm
The squirrel chittered before moving onto Toby's head. It peered down at him.
Reese frowned slightly. "I guess so," he muttered. He wrapped his arms around Dari. "You can call me, too?" he asked.
Maia was laughing at Lori's problems with the bobcat. She reached up, trying and failing to reach Lori's shoulder. "He really likes you, Lori," she grinned at him.
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Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2016 8:59 pm
Toby was beginning to think that this squirrel wasn't particularly dangerous, regardless of how its teeth looked. Hell, animals usually avoided him. Why not try to make friends with this one? He smiled up at it the best he could and tried to pet its back, safe away from its bitey face. "Hey, you."
"Yes, we can call you too," Dari replied, returning Reese's hug. "I'll put in a request that your case remain with Maia and Toby and I."
Lori crouched so Maia could pet the animal, if it'd let her. As of the moment it was just looking the selkie over curiously. "He either really likes me, or really enjoys hampering my reclamation efforts."
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Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2016 9:23 pm
The squirrel reacted positively to the pet and chittered at him once more. It nuzzled it's face against Toby's hair.
"Good! I'm gonna miss you."
"Probably both. Peaches likes to try and distract me whenever I'm not paying attention."
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Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2016 9:27 pm
Toby grinned and couldn't help the almost childlike chuckle that fell from his lips. This wasn't the first time an animal had taken a liking to him in an enchanted forest under the care of a guardian, but it usually left him feeling less like a Disney princess and more like he wanted to hide. A squirrel wasn't so bad, though, right? He continued to pet the squirrel. "I guess you're not so bad."
"I'll miss you too," Dari said with a nod. He paused a moment before continuing: "I meant to talk to you about something, actually. Now is as good a time as ever. Forests protected by guardians are few and far between, and they're the perfect place for misplaced entities. Do you think you'd be interested in harboring entities that need a new home? It can just be for a little while while we find them somewhere we protect ourselves or it can be forever, whatever you're comfortable with. I understand if you don't want to be involved at all, of course." Even saying that, he smiled. Poor Reese seemed lonely.
The bobcat reached out and pawed at Maia's arm sans-claws. It looked at her sideways.
"I think he likes you." Somehow it was like Reese's approval of them had come through to the animals.
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Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2016 9:41 pm
The squirrel nuzzled Toby happily again. Yes. This person was good.
Reese listened to Dari's words with no interruption--but his eyes had grown wide. He started to smile. "Really?" he asked. "They can stay forever, if they'd like! It'd be nice to have people to talk to."
Maia smiled brightly. "Hello," she greeted the bobcat. She looked to Lori. "I think he likes keeping you from working even better."
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Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2016 9:44 pm
Toby gave the squirrel a good skritching, trying his best to not seem like he was trying to grab it. Anyone would panic at being grabbed.
Dari nodded and smiled. "Okay. That'll be some more paperwork on our end. Do you know how to read and write? Any language. If not, we can do it verbally." He acted like it was no big deal to do so, and it wasn't. They met a great deal of entities that were unable to read or write, and it said nothing of their mental capacities.
The bobcat thumped his head against Maia and rubbed it, marking her as his. "He likes you-- Alright, buddy. Come on." Lori picked the bobcat off of his back, and it yowled in annoyance and tried to grab on a little too late. Lori placed it down and went back to work.
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Posted: Wed Jun 22, 2016 11:06 am
The squirrel turned and nuzzled Toby's hand. It pressed its head against his hand and chirped.
"I can read," Reese said, making a face. He didn't like to. Humans used chopped up trees to write on. "Oh, English. Some other stuff, but mostly English..." He hesitated. "Do you need me to do paperwork?" he asked.
Maia smirked and shook her head at Lori. "Now you've made him angry." She reached to pet the bobcat.
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Posted: Wed Jun 22, 2016 11:17 am
Oh good. Dari nodded.
"Sure. We can do it later, though. I'd like to get this place at least mostly planted before they send in the actual crews. Mostly I'll just need you signature."
"I'm sure he'll live," Lori remarked and continued about his work. The bobcat jumped up to bonk its head against Maia's hand and then casually fell back to the earth.
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Posted: Wed Jun 22, 2016 11:32 am
Reese nodded. "Plenty of little trees," he observed, looking to the seeds Dari had gotten. "Do you think one of them might be a nymph?"
Maia vent and stroked the cat with a smile. "Toby's got a friend, too," she said, looking over at her fiancee.
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Posted: Wed Jun 22, 2016 11:38 am
"I don't know. It could be, I suppose," Dari said, pushing the pods around with a finger. They had come from a magical tree, after all.
"Hm?" Lori asked, and turned to see the werewolf perched on a beam with a squirrel on his head. Huh! This place sure was Disney-like at times. "Well, good. Everyone deserves a squirrel? There." He stood back from the shelter he'd created. The bobcat seemed to have forgotten about it entirely and was now enjoying being pet.
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Posted: Wed Jun 22, 2016 11:50 am
"Can we not plant that one until later? My nymph doesn't even have a name yet." She needed one. Maybe Toby could help him find a good name. The werewolf had seemed especially close to her.
Maia smiled and scratched the bobcat behind the ears. "Do you have a squirrel, Lori?"
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Posted: Wed Jun 22, 2016 12:21 pm
Dari laughed. It would have been an absurd request asked of anyone else, but the fourth dimension held views of potentiality. If a seed felt different, he would hold off on planting it. "I can try," he agreed.
"What, like at home? No," Lori said. He began to walk back toward the rest of the group, "If you mean at this moment, ah, no. Toby's got me beat." The bobcat padded on after Maia for a few steps, then wandered back into the forest. "Reese? What do you think about leaving that one standing?" he asked the guardian, pointing to a structure that already had a few walls and a bit of a ceiling. It'd make a good home for wildlife, and it would simply crumble and decay with time like anything else. The foundation hadn't been particularly damaged in Reese's attempts to scare the developers away.
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Posted: Wed Jun 22, 2016 12:37 pm
"Great," Reese smiled at Dari gratefully. Trying was better than not, and the alien was clever.
Maia followed Lori, slightly disappointed When the bobcat left. "I think he'll make good use of the home you made for him," she said.
Reese blinked at the elf's suggestion, then nodded. "It can help them when winter comes, especially," he said. "It won't last long."
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Posted: Wed Jun 22, 2016 12:39 pm
"Oh, it's his now, is it?" Lori asked with a laugh. So much for the other fuzzies, then. There was still a good amount of wood left, though. There'd be more. Then he spoke to Reese again. "You're right, it won't. If you want the debris cleaned up at some point you can call us and we'll send out another crew."
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