[Nexus] The Grove

[Slii Arhem]

The Stream - Next Day

"By concentrating. Hello, is your nose sufficiently healed?" Bark seamlessly addresses first Aeia and then Justinian in one breath, slipping another fraction of an inch forward as the rocks he's sitting on shift under his weight.

[Gullara]

[The Path]

"Do you mind?" The dryad asks. "Because I definitely don't. So you can do as much as you want, but don't think I'm gonna let you do everything."

Laela starts loudly blowing little spit bubbles as if to remind them of her existance. Sakura smiles and holds out her finger for the baby to grab. "And Laela likes when daddy takes care of her, doesn't she?"

[Frozen Messiah]

Somewhere

Audra locates the sorce of the flapping. She had never seen a fairy dragon before and this new sight brings out a small amount of timidness from her and she stays in the brush watching the creature fly around. Her eyes take in every movement it takes. "This is far better then thos people back there, especially the grumpy man. The lady seemed nice though." Audra whispers to herself and her cloud, the cloud just hovers there silently.

[Murkus]

[The Path]

"Do you mind?" The dryad asks. "Because I definitely don't. So you can do as much as you want, but don't think I'm gonna let you do everything."

Laela starts loudly blowing little spit bubbles as if to remind them of her existance. Sakura smiles and holds out her finger for the baby to grab. "And Laela likes when daddy takes care of her, doesn't she?"

"I hope so, cuz daddy's gonna be doing it a lot," Adir glances down at the child, attempting to rub her tiny head now that his hand is free.

"I don't mind taking care of Laela at all," He says, before smirking at Sakura wryly. "And we'll see about the rest. Unless the apocalypse happens to rear it's ugly head, I can still try to do everything."

[Gullara]

[The Path]

Sakura laughs and rolls her eyes. "You can try is right." Laela looks up as best as she can at Adir. She gives him a big, slobbery grin.

[Murkus]

[The Path]

"Hey, don't laugh! You've done enough," Adir says happily, trying to take Sakura's hand again. He can't help but grin back at Laela. "Now how about that picnic? I packed some stuff I think you'll like," It's hard to tell whether he's talking to Laela, Sakura, or both. The wry buck glances around a little. "We just need a place to sit down..."

[Earl of Purple]

Somewhere

Whilst the Fairy Dragon isn't actually beating its wings (yes, it is flying; yes, magic IS involved; no, you don't want to ask), it is not being particularly subtle about its flight. It's rustling trees as it floats past them deliberately, trying to provoke a reaction from the birds. It's failing, mostly- sometimes a young dove or pigeon flies off, but the sparrows and dunnocks that are its target audience largely ignore it. Fairy Dragons, after all, aren't predatory and are generally friendly unless it perceives danger.

[Gullara]

[The Path]

"Mm, I hope so. I'm kinda hungry." The dryad looks around. "I think the trees look a bit thinner over there." She tugs at his hand to lead them off the path. There's a small clearing not too far out of the way with plenty of space for them to set up. "How 'bout this?"

[Murkus]

Clearing

"Perfect," Adir says casually, dropping his basket. He slips the banket off of it, laying the checkered cloth on the ground so they can sit. Not that either of them would mind sitting on grass, but Adir seems to think it necessary.

"Here, can you unbuckle Laela for me?" He asks, turning around. If Sakura bothers looking in the basket, she'll see her husband prepared quite the spread. Fruits of various colors, a couple leftover pieces of cake, cheese and crackers... but more importantly, a bottle of chocolate milk. I wonder who that's for.

[Gullara]

[Clearing]

Clearly it's for Sakura to guzzle down all for herself. *nodnod*

The dryad slips behind him and does just that. That done, she sits down and peers at the basket. "Ooh, this looks good." Assuming the bottle is a baby bottle, Sakura grabs it and looks curiously at Adir. "And what's this for?"

[Murkus]

[Clearing]

Clearly it's for Sakura to guzzle down all for herself. *nodnod*

The dryad slips behind him and does just that. That done, she sits down and peers at the basket. "Ooh, this looks good." Assuming the bottle is a baby bottle, Sakura grabs it and looks curiously at Adir. "And what's this for?"

"Well, I was wondering if Laela would like chocolate milk as much as you do," Adir explains. He clearly doesn't know anything about what babies should eat. Of course, he figures Sakura can always remove the lid and drink it herself.

Meanwhile, speaking of babies, Adir undoes the sling for Laela and sets her free! Free to... roll around and slobber everywhere, mostly.

[Gullara]

[Clearing]

Laela is now lying on the cloth!
...She doesn't do much. Aside from peering up at her parents of course.

Sakura grins at Adir. "I bet she'd like it. We might want to wait a little bit though. I'm not sure she should be drinking this sort of thing yet... Probably another couple months." Aw, no chocolate milk for the baby. "I can drink it, though." She adds with a silly grin.

[Murkus]

Clearing

"Aw, what's the harm?" Adir asks, grinning at Sakura. His mouth widens, and he looks down at Laela in mock horror! "I think she just wants your milk, Laela!" At that, he attempts to tickle the child's sides.

[Gullara]

[Clearing]

Laela laughs and squirms under the tickle assault! "Oh no! You found out my plan!" Sakura exclaims, making an exaggerated shocked face for Laela. She cracks up and joins in on the laughter a moment later.

[Murkus]

Clearing

"Oh no! What are we gonna do Laela?" Adir says, scooping their bundle of joy off the blanket and holding her aloft. He spins the child around to face Sakura. "Quick! Get her!" The stag is gonna have far too much fun with Laela, I think.

[Gullara]

[Clearing]

Laela squeals with delight and reaches out toward her mother. "Oh no! You got me!" Sakura puts her fingers in Laela's hands so she can take hold.

They both are. *nodnod*

[Murkus]

[Clearing]

Adir holds the child out a moment longer, giving a chuckle himself. "Man, someone gets excited easy. I think she wants that milk, Sakura." The stag attempts to pass Laela off to her mother, mostly so he can start getting food out for the two adults around here.

[Gullara]

[Clearing]

Whoops, somehow forgot this.

Sakura takes Laela with one last giggle. The baby is still obviously excited, eyes wide and a big grin still present. "I think she'll just have to make do with my milk." The dryad cradles the baby in her arms and peers at the food.

[Murkus]

[Clearing]

Adir spreads their lunch out on the blanket, which along with the above, includes several strange little objects. They smell like fresh, buttery bread, but look like little brown spheres with dull points spaced evenly across their surface. "So when can she eat solid food, anyway?" He purses his lips. "Did that baby book I got you say anything, or...?"

[Gullara]

[Clearing]

"Yeah. I think it was around six months. A ways to go yet." Sakura replies, Her attention is drawn by the strange objects. "What are these?" She reaches out to grab one for closer inspection.

[Murkus]

Clearing

"Uh, they're called muffin-balls. Found em in the kitchen. No idea what they're supposed to be," Adir watches her take one, deciding to let Sakura be the guinea pig for this particular oddity. He just happens to look somewhere else, pretending to focus on adjusting the food for whatever reason.

The ball outside of the ball feels smooth and a little leathery. As she holds it closer, the smell intensifies, and is altogether quite appetizing.

[Gullara]

[Clearing]

Sakura gives the mysterious food item a sniff. Hm, smells good at least. She takes and experimental bite. "Mm, this is good. Try it." She holds out the rest of the muffin ball toward his mouth and gives him a thankfully close mouthed smile.

[Murkus]

Clearing

Sakura, depending on which part of the muffin-ball she ate, will have vastly different results. Eating one of the thorny points will result in a horrid, sour flavor. The rest of the ground-berry, however, does in fact taste like soft, spongy, bread. Quite buttery. The whole things about the size of a tennis ball, too, and there's plenty to go around.

"Oh, gods, gross!" Comes Adir's response. He spits out the rest of the thorny bit, shooting Sakura a mock-glare, brow flat. "Here I thought I was supposed to be the funny one. Har-de-har."

[Gullara]

[Clearing]

Sakura blinks in surprise (along with her player ) and looks at ground-berry. "What do you mean?" She takes a nibble of thorny side and immediately spits it out. "Oh ew, yuck."

[UncleWolf]

The Stream - Next Day

Justinian steps closer to Aeia and Bark, smiling a bit even though he's obviously shy and embarrassed. He tries not to look at Aeia too much, but after all this, he still can't help but steal a couple rather blatant glances. "Uh...yes, my nose is fine. I healed it yesterday." He admits, half distracted when he takes his mace and sets it back on his waist. In return, he offers Aeia a bundled wrapped in cloth. "We spoke about clothes yesterday, and I thought you might be curious about wearing some yourself. I hope I didn't step over any lines."

[Gullara]

[The Stream - Next Day]

Aiea peers at the bundle. Hm, clothes. "Oh. Thanks." Great, now that she has this there's no way she can escape wearing them. Not with Bark there. She unravels the bundle to see what he brought her.

[Slii Arhem]

The Stream - Next Day

"It is... good you are able to heal yourself. Keeping in good health is important." Bark rumbles from his place in the river, finally deigning to stand and climb back up onto the shore. His bedsheet is ridiculously heavy and damp, hanging limp against his legs, but the knot keeping it from falling down holds tightly.

"Have you recovered mentally as well?"

[Murkus]

[Clearing]

Sakura blinks in surprise (along with her player ) and looks at ground-berry. "What do you mean?" She takes a nibble of thorny side and immediately spits it out. "Oh ew, yuck."

Adir furrows his brow, the gears in his brain turning slowly. So she wasn't messing with him. He says, "Oh. So it's just the points, then?"

The stag takes another muffin for himself, sniffs it a moment, then takes a gratuitously large bite. "It is just the points." He plucks at the dark-colored tips and, oddly enough, they comes off rather easily. Eventually he has a small handful of them, and starts biting into the rest of the thing with gusto. "What kind of bread are these things supposed to be?"

References, references, cookies for references

[Gullara]

[Clearing]

"You're the one that brought them." Sakura reminds him as she picks off the tip from her own muffin/thing/whateveritis. "They're sure good, though."

MURKUS used REFERENCE!
The attack missed. D=

[UncleWolf]

The Stream - Next Day

Aeia will see a very short pair of Daisy Dukes and a rather small shirt within the bundle. Justinian flushes and looks away as she unwraps it, deciding to answer Bark. "My mind was fine yesterday. It was just a bit much to experience." Afterward, he risks a glance back at the dryad and giving a small cough. "Um...I figured with you running through the woods and everything, you wouldn't want anything like a dress and getting it dirty. These were recommended by a rather...enthusiastic salesman."