GLoG 90

[Morty]

[Ironoak Cabin]

Tuskfang giggles. He looks as though he wants to lick Natalie himself, but his parents taught him not to lick people, and he thinks of Natalie as a person even if she looks like an otter now. Instead, he lets go and toddles over to where a stuffed wolf and a plush owl are lying around. He grabs them and returns to Natalie.

"This is Fuzzy 'n Flutter," he says.

[Infirmary]

"The gist of the saying is that if life gives you something unpleasant, like lemons are on their own, you should make something good out of it. Like lemonade," Sophie says. "If you just complain about having lemons, you won't get anywhere. Nurse Piper appears when she's needed, but maybe I could call on her."

((She's an NPC, though, so I'm not sure who'd control her.))

[Earl of Purple]

Ironoak Cabin

Natalie-the-otter takes the advantage of Tuskfang's departure to turn back into a human, growing in size and losing the hair as her skin turns back into clothing. She adopts a bipedal stance and stretches once the transformation is complete, then sits on the floor.

"Hello, Fuzzy. Hello, Flutter. Pleased to meet you." Natalie smiles, and attempts to shake the toy's hand-like appendages.

[Morty]

[Ironoak Cabin]

"Do you have any aminals, Talie?" Tuskfang asks.

"It's 'animals', Tuskfang," Reelshka says, then sighs. ""I have no idea where he learned to spell it this way."

[Earl of Purple]

Ironoak Cabin

"I have a teddy. His name is Sir Hairy. He's... at home, so I haven't seen him in a while." Meaning not at GLoG, and possibly destroyed in the fire that destroyed her house and killed her father.

[Morty]

[Ironoak Cabin]

Awww. Tuskfan's ears droop a little. Natalie doesn't have her aminal. That's sad.

"Wha's a teddy?" he asks.

[Earl of Purple]

Ironoak Cabin

"A cuddly bear, one that hugs back and listens to all your secrets and dreams and desires." Natalie had forgotten about him, but now she misses her aminal too. Especially since she's got some new secrets, dreams and desires to whisper. Her diary's a fairly adequate replacement, but doesn't really listen. And Natalie writes the secretest bits in a simple code; she grew up in a large house were servants were a fact of life, so privacy was personally obtainable, but even the best-hidden things eventually were found. Besides, codes are the most fun part of keeping a diary.

[Cyber Punk]

"The gist of the saying is that if life gives you something unpleasant, like lemons are on their own, you should make something good out of it. Like lemonade," Sophie says. "If you just complain about having lemons, you won't get anywhere. Nurse Piper appears when she's needed, but maybe I could call on her."

((She's an NPC, though, so I'm not sure who'd control her.))

[Infirmary]

((I see. Let's ix-nay that, then.))

"I see, though I like lemons on their own. The taste, I mean." Ruth replies. "Let us not disturb the Nurse's rest. I am sure there will be plenty of other chances to meet her. How often does the Infirmary receive patients?"

[Morty]

[Ironoak Cabin]

Tuskfang's ears droop some more and he toddles over to give Natalie a hug. Losing a cuddly bear sounds very sad.

"Can you get a new teddy?" he asks.

Reelshka sits back, letting her son talk to Natalie.

[Infirmary]

"We usually have a steady stream of people who need medical care and can't get it elsewhere," Sophie says. "It's fairly routine. Now and then someone comes with an emergency, or some serious injury. Or a curse, even. There hasn't been a disaster in a while, but when one strikes somewhere, we tend to have an influx of refugees and survivors."

[Earl of Purple]

Ironoak Cabin

"I probably should, but I haven't yet. Besides, it might make poor Sir Hairy jealous, and that would not be a very happy thing." Natalie will hug back, as she logs getting Sir Hairy the Second a priority next time she goes shopping or leaves GLoG.

[Morty]

[Ironoak Cabin]

Tuskfang raises his wolf and then his owl to his ear.

"Fuzzy 'n Flutter said aminals aren't jealous. You can have two teddies."

[Cyber Punk]

[Infirmary]

"I see. I shall remain here for the time being, in case of any emergency."

Ruth clasps her arms in front of her and smiles at Sophie. "It has been lovely meeting you, Sophie. I hope that we become very dear friends. However, I need to meditate. I shall use the corner if that is alright?" It'll ensure that she remains in the Infirmary, just in case.

[Morty]

[Infirmary]

"Of course. No one will mind," Sophie says. "I'll leave you to it. I live in Maple Cabin if you ever need me." With that, she takes her leave.

[Cyber Punk]

[Infirmary]

Ruth smiles and nods, then goes over to one corner and begins to meditate.

[Earl of Purple]

Ironoak Cabin

Natalie smiles. "That's good. I'll have to get a new one, then. I'll come bring him here to show you when I've got him, yeah?" Now I need to decide if the teddy becomes possessed by some form of animating spirit or is from the Toy Story universe or not.

[Morty]

[Ironoak Cabin]

"Yeah! Then me and you and him and Fuzzy and Flutter can all play together!" Tuskfang squeaks enthusiastically. Reelshka chuckles and goes to stand next to him.

"You're handling him well, Natalie. His endless enthusiasm can be hard to keep up with."

[Earl of Purple]

Ironoak Cabin

"That sounds awesome, Tuskfang!" Natalie smiles at the little woblin. "It's OK, Reelshka. We otters are pretty playful creatures." Since that's what she told Tuskfang she was, rather than a human. She's Talie the Otir.

[Morty]

[Ironoak Cabin]

"Do all otirs look like humans too?" Tuskfang asks. Shapeshifting seems to confuse him a little. Reelshka shakes her head with a smile.

[Evergreen Cabin]

At another time, Reelshka is leading Tuskfang by hand towards the cabin. The woblin is looking around and sniffing curiously.

[Earl of Purple]

Ironoak Cabin

"Just the magic ones, Tuskfang. Oh, wait, is that something in your ear? Hold still a moment, please." If Tuskfang does as asked, Natalie will demonstrate her magical nature by pulling a bright red handkerchief out of Tuskfang's ear. Well, no, it's not out of Tuskfang's ear, but the whole idea of the trick is to make it seem like it was.

"Reelshka, do goblins naturally come with handkerchiefs in their ears?" She'll wave the article in question around, to demonstrate it.

[Cyber Punk]

[Evergreen Cabin]

Inside the cabin, Asher wakes up and yawns, covering his mouth with one hand.

"Momma?"

He can't find his mum. She must be working, then. He knows she's around because he can feel her closeness around. If Tuskfang is able, he'll smell Asher. He smells earthy, in a pleasing sort of way.

Asher also does sense the duo arriving at the cabin and opens the door, shielding his eyes from the sunlight.

((My headcanon is that it's always day in GLoG and always night in AMEN.))

[Morty]

[Ironoak Cabin]

Tuskfang's eyes go wide as saucers and he tries to grab the handkerchief. Reelshka grins.

"They don't. Must be magic, then."

[Evergreen Cabin]

"Hello, Asher," Reelshka says. "I've come to introduce you to my son. This is Tuskfang. Tuskfang, this is Asher," she adds, looking between the two boys. The little woblin says nothing for now, but his tail wags excitedly.

[Cyber Punk]

[Evergreen Cabin]

"H-hi Rilshka!" Asher says, excitedly. "Momma isn't h-home!"

Then his golden eyes fall on the little woblin and he smiles really big. "H-hi!" Another kid his age. He's so happy he starts to jump up and down. "C-can we b-be f-friends?"

[Earl of Purple]

Ironoak Cabin

Natalie happily gives the hankie to Tuskfang. It's clean, used for tricks, rather than anything else. "Okay Reelshka. I am a magic otter, so I think finding handkerchiefs in little boy's ears is a perfectly normal thing for me to do." She could repeat the trick, but one of the things her book on sleight-of-hand says is that tricks are most spectacular the first time, though most of her friends have probably had things pulled from their ears, noses and mouths simply to help Natalie practice.

[Morty]

[Ironoak Cabin]

Tuskfang grabs the handkerchief an promptly tries to insert it into his ear. He blinks in confusion when it doesn't work.

"How's it work?" he asks, perplexed. Reelshka laughs.

"You shouldn't ask a magician to explain her tricks, Tuskfang."

[Evergreen Cabin]

"Well then, I'll keep an eye on you both," Reelshka says.

Tuskfang, meanwhile, stares back at the angel boy and grins widely.

"Yeah! We can be friends! Are you a griffin?"

[Earl of Purple]

Ironoak Cabin

"It wasn't my ear, Tuskfang. I don't know how it got there." Natalie's pretty happy to teach those of her friends that want to learn, as Reelshka may find out if I'm remembering the Tree scene correctly.

[Morty]

[Ironoak Cabin]

Reelshka probably knows. Tuskfang, of course, doesn't. He keeps fiddling with the handkerchief.

"How'd it get there, mom?" he asks, craning his head back to look at his mother. Reelshka smiles. "It was magic, Tuskfang. Magic is weird. Like spirits." Tuskfang nods. He knows spirits.

[Earl of Purple]

Ironoak Cabin

"I could always put it back, Tuskfang. Maybe you'll notice how it's done that way." Natalie smiles, quite enjoying Tuskfang's bafflement and amusement. It's the whole point of stage-magic, and something she's lost with most of her friends since they see it done so often.

[Gullara]

[Salix's Willow]

Brinika sighs and her ears droop. This isn't going well.

"They don't like it when things move suddenly," she says to Asher. "They're kind of like rats that way. All little animals learn to run away when something moves."

Salix's Willow

"It's called the fight-or-flight response, with flight meaning 'running away', rather than literal flight. Rabbits, rats, squirrels, mice and so on rely on running away to stay alive. Wolves, bears, rhinos and so on are more likely to pick fighting than fleeing." Though rhinos have very poor eyesight, and a very good sense of smell, making them more dangerous because they won't see the sudden movement until it is close enough to them that whatever making it will have a very hard time escaping.

[Salix's Willow]

Asher flinches at the scolding, and for a moment it appears as though he'll start crying again. Then he sees Brinika's ears droop and instead goes to her and hugs her. "I'm s-s-sorry for m-making you s-sad." That's what it means, right? Her ears drooping?

He nods as Natalie speaks, smiling. Natalie is real smart! "Y-you know l-lots of t-things, Nata-lee!" He squeaks out. He wants to be cool like her at her age.

((Sorry about the delay. Couldn't post all Thanksgiving weekend.))

[Salix's Willow]

"Be more careful. This is their safe place, but they still know when to be scared." Salix adds. She walks right up to a couple rabbits who are just inside their holes. They don't even flinch, even as she reaches out and pets the top of their heads. The same rules don't apply to the children of the forest, of course. There's nothing scary about her.

[Morty]

[Ironoak Cabin]

Tuskfang nods.

"Yeah! Puttit back!" he asks Natalie.

[Salix's Willow]

"It's okay, Asher. I'm not sad," Brinika says, as she hugs him back. "Handling wild animals is hard if you're not a dryad like Salix. And Natalie does know a whole lot." She nods.

[Cyber Punk]

"Well then, I'll keep an eye on you both," Reelshka says.

Tuskfang, meanwhile, stares back at the angel boy and grins widely.

"Yeah! We can be friends! Are you a griffin?"

[Evergreen Cabin]

"W-what's a griffin?" Asher asks confusedly, still grinning. It's like a contest of who can grin the widest! "M-momma says w-we are neffy-lim! I'm not s-sure w-what it means!"

[Morty]

[Evergreen Cabin]

"Carth has wings. An' he's a griffin," Tuskfang says, looking up at his mother. Reelshka shakes his head. "Not everything that has wings is a griffin like Carth, Tuskfang." She then looks at Asher. "A griffin looks like a cat with the head and wings of a bird."