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Co-Post with Harmodious

Byrne murmurred slightly, rolling over in the tree limb as he tried to get more comfortable. To be sure...it had gotten much more crowded up here of late.

His Fob egg had hatched, now a tailed bit of fluff. And his two emice, one still an egg nestled against him as well. Buttercup whirred near his ear in contentment, and his fish lay near his stomache in their bowl.

When he moved, the bowl rocked, and tumbled from the tree even as his eyes snapped open. "oh no!"

He caught the bowl half into it's flight, getting splashed with a fourth of its water. Flattening his ears, his free hand pulled at the damp clothe clinging to his chest, harmodius held the bowl aloft towards the bright tail feathers that hung down from the boughs.

"You really should be more caustious with your fish, dear flame. And here'd I'd though to find you in a nest on a dais somewhere."

"Im sorry." he said, crestfallen even as his hands snaked forward eagerly to take the bowl back. Holding it above his head, he craned his neck and watched the fish within. "You okay in there?"

He frowned. "They could use a bigger bowl...but then I can't carry them with me. Beryl was going to think about that for a bit. Where have you been Harmodious? It's been a while since I saw you last."

He wiggled his toes. "I like the tree. But the nest is scratchy."


"The mortals sell tree hammocks and tree tents set up with crossbows. It works for scientists in the rainforests?"

"Mortals are funny." he answered. "Did you come to sleep here too?"


He chuckled, smilng, "No, I have a dais of my own to sleep upon. I came to check on you, as you observed, it has been some time. I would be grieved if you'd come to harm and none had been the wiser."

With one loft of his wings he was perched on a impossibly small branch near to Byrne's set up, but not intruding. The branch was not bent by any apparent weight.

"Harm?" he shook his head. "Just the god-killer, but he's gone now. Buttercup's too little to eat me, so it's fine now." Tilting his head he asked "Were you really worried?"

He crouched, wings pulled tight in to avoid disturbing the canopy. "Of course, Byrne. Precious rebirth, you are a close brother to me. You take what is old and tired and destroy it, and then give it new, young life. Destruction and creation. We are brothers. How could I not worry after you?"

The smile faded to an expression of a teacher explaining the proof of some logic puzzle.

He smiled sunnily, sparkling grin that wiggled in to all corners of his self. "Then it's allright then." He didn't catch the significance of the glance, lifting his eyebrows loftily. "Did you need me to do something for you?"

"Only just that, for now. Seeing you happy." He looked around the tree, "Though perhaps I should ask that you try to find a lodging more suited to protecting your menagerie. Your poor fish were not meant for arborial dwelling, I'm afraid. "

"hm." Byrne considered. "I guess." Hopping out of the tree, he fell only slightly before the wind caught him and he balanced there, mice, fish, and fridge. "But is there going to be a tree there anyway? I'd like to sit there, even if I have to sleep on the floor."


He puzzled, then jumped down. "There? In your new dwelling? I don't know, you haven't picked one out, so I couldn't tell you if what you want has a tree or not."

One ear was cocked up and the other down, much like his brows.

"Then can I pick one?" he asked. "Or can you?" The idea of a new place to explore suddenly had him interested. He wondered if there would be things that "lurked" there as well. That would make sleeping hard though...unless he had a tree.


He blinked, and laughed, "Yes, Byrne, yes you may pick any dwelling you like. I shall fashion a place for you that you mTrees, fish ponds, great sprawling fronds, tree frogs, miniature blenders...anything you wish to form your habitat will for for you there to explore."

He frowned suddenly. "Im not really sure what I want." he thought for a few moments. "Um...can I tell you in a bit? I'd like to think about it." he looked up. "You're not mad, are you?"


Stranger and stranger the day waned. He shook his head, furrowing his brow lightly in bewilderment, "No, byrne, I am not angry. You may reach your space through the gardens, there will be a brass wrought gate there that is fashioned in teh image of yourself rising from brimstone. When you have decided, you may fashion the space by will. It will be there waiting for as long as you need."

"Allright." he answered. And then threw his arms around the other in a hug. Fish, water, mice and all. "You'll come visit, right?"

He startled, wings jerking up at the hug.

His lips parted in grin again at the youth's question, "Of course, little flame. "

1-1 Byrne settling down to think

Co-post with Ea

He had ascertained that a change of perspective might be needed. He changed his own by simply standing on his head and staring at the doors still. They certainly looked different that way...

The Hunt trudged towards the main building, chewing thoughtfully on a rabbit. He really needed to talk to Beryl, and hopefully she would be in. He pushed through the front door, nodding to the firery god standing on his head.

"Byrne."

Halfway up the stairs, the oddness hit him, and he returned to the main room.

"Byrne... what are you doing?"

Byrne wiggled his toes in approximation of a hello. He was still rather miffed at Ea for some reason or other that he couldn't remember at the time, but he also couldn't remember he WAS rather miffed, so his greeting was as friendly as a pair of toes could be.

"My 'possum Flynn can hang upside down from a tree." he told Ea wisely. "I can't though. But Im trying to make my room. I thought maybe Flynn would have some ideas so Im standing on my head."

"Oh. Of course."

He had never quite figured out how to deal with Byrne, not being a people person for the most part and generally being confused by the other god on principle. Still, Ea remembered him as being amusing, and that made him worth trying to figure out.

"I think opossums do it by using their tail, though."

He nodded in a fashion he considered knowing. "Yes. A nice long one!" He wiggled his tail wistfully. "no feathers though. Mine's not long enough." He let himself tumble to the ground in a heap and straightened into a lotus position. "Beryl was trying to help too. But she didn't have to stand on her head."

"That's nice of her. What did she do?"

While he talked, the Hunt looked at the ceiling of the room thoughtfully. It was a pity there were no rafters - at least them they could've hung from their legs.
"Oh!" he fumbled at his neck and pulled the sketches from them. "She said all sorts of things, like nests and water where my fish could splash about and said my doors are nice!" he beamed. "Do you like them? Harmodious made them for me!" he pointed to the bronze edifices.

Eamnonn nodded in agreement, knowing few had his complete devotion to living surroundings. "They're lovely."

He glanced at the sketches, liking Beryl's ideas. "Actually, if you need help with any natural decor, I could probably lend a hand. My room is a full glade with grass, trees, and spring fed bathing pool."

He looked intrigued. "She wanted to put my fish in the wall." he noted wisely. "I want them to have room to play, but not so I can get wet." He pointed to the sketch, upside down as it was. "she said the nest would be high, but not so high that Buttercup wouldn't like it. I like it high, though." he frowned at the dilemma. He didn't want his fridge falling and getting hurt. "I like grasses and trees. Big trees. big, big ones."

He nodded, not really understanding what the other god was talking about, but too amused to care.

"Well, if you put them in the fish in the wall, all across the wall, they'd have plenty of room to play and you wouldn't get wet. Especially if you grew a big tree in the center of the room, and you lived in a nest at the top and... Buttercup had her own level a little further down where it was safe for her."

He looked flabbergasted and delighted at the same time. "You mean more than one nest?" He liked that idea. He liked it alot.

"But if the fish are in the wall, won't they fall out?" he frowned. "Water can't stand on its head, you know."

Eamnonn smiled and pointed at the windows.

"Those are made of glass, which is like very hard water. You can see through it, and it's very thin but strong. Humans use it to make all sorts of things, especially places for fish to live. If you make a hole in your wall that doesn't go all the way through, and put a box made out glass in the hole, you can fill it with water and gravel and plants and fish. They'll be happy, and have lots of space, and you can see them through the side of the box that faces the room."

"Glass." he repeated "glaaaaass" he tasted the word a bit. "Sounds like a sheep."

It didn't look like one though. Perhaps a distant cousin race. Could one make clothing from it?

Getting up, he padded to where Ea pointed and tapped on it for a few moments, considering. "hm."

He would have to think on that, as hard as thinking was. Glass.

"What tree is big?" he asked, turning back to Ea. "with lots of nests in it."

The Hunt considered this, trying to think of the best type of tree to recommend.

"Do you want a tree with leaves or a tree with pinecones?"

"Yes." Byrne answered without hesitation.

Eamnonn chuckled. "Right, a magical tree it is then. Mix a beech tree, a maple tree, and Douglass fir tree. That's what you want."

He wrote that down, or tried to. The words looked rather scary once they were connected letter by letter. But he beamed at them anyway, and they beamed back at him.

Jumping up, he hugged Eamnonn, ire forgotten. "Thank you!"



The Hunt tensed for a moment, instincts telling him to defend himself before he realized was getting hugged. Oh, okay. He hugged Byrne back gently.

"Sure thing. Do you want me to talk to Harmodious about the tree for you? I bet he could make it."

Hm. "MMmh." he repeated aloud. "Could you?" he looked at the beaming letters and didn't remember that they actually should have made words. Instead they just...beamed. "I bet he could!"

He was sure that by now, he was quite simply getting bored. Staring at these papers had ceased to have meaning to him. He was tempted to merely go back out to his tree and stay there. A room had seemed a neat idea at the onset, now it just seemed like a headache.

He...wasn't good at important things.

Sniffling quietly, sprawled out as a cat with his wings unfurled, he stared morosely at the door as if asking it mutely to tell him what should be beyond it.

Annoyingly, the door failed to respond.

He started, qings flaring a bit as he turned his head.

"Oh, hi." he said. "You were the lady with my mop, weren't you? How is it doing?" He wiggled his toes, but it was a rather forlorn motion now.

"oh." he replied. "No, I didn't. I thought you took it with you. Poor mop, it must be lonely all by itself down there." he rolled over on his stomache. "Im trying to make a room. Only I don't know what I should make it."

"Harmodious made it empty." Byrne offered. "I have to fill it. But these papers are what it should look like. But Im not sure how it will work. It's important, so I don't want to do it wrong."

He frowned. "I always hate important things."

"I don't know if I can." he said "I don't think the magic resets itself. I think once it's done, it's there for good. I want to make sure it's right, that way."

He sighed. "But I don't think it's right." he fretted.