GLoG 93: Something something something babies

[Deathkeeper]

Main Lodge

Gabriel waves to the totally human girl with one paw. He delicately taps a back hoof against Gwen's. She needs to get up and do something!
Gabriel is usually good at getting Gwen to not just sit in the corner but it also means he has to stay next to her a lot of the time. That's okay because she's his sister but it can be kind of a drag sometimes. They need to say hi to these people so they can get to the book stack and find out what sounds various animals make!!

Lake

Glory goes trotting up immediately to Brinika.
"Gilda got bit by a bug and her pawsies is blowing up!" she assures Brinika, who is clearly not a nurse but might know one.

[Rebonack]

[Lake]

"My paw isn't blowing up!" the very wet Gilda objects.

It IS a bit sore, though.

Though, frankly, being wet right now isn't a bad plan. It's pretty hot! And being wet helps with that. Clearly Gilda meant to fall into the lake.

"I like it outside. Do I have to go?" Gilda complains.

And then?

An amazing thing happens.

A little fairy dragon will come flitting down from on high with a pair of large brightly colored berries in her claws. She'll attempt to dunk them in pookie's honey pot and then start crunching away on them. It looks like Maridia, Khannie's familiar, has joined the mischief. She's about the size of a small cat with glittery orange scales and a few yellow patches poking through.

Gilda gasps at the sight of Maridia and her great big butterfly wings.

"What's that can I eat it?"


[Main Cabin]

"Hi Gabriel! Hi Gwen! I'm Khannie!" the definitely human girl says with a wave.

Gwen...

Doesn't say anything.

She just goes scampering off toward the nearby basket full of picture books.

Khannie seems a little put off by being snubbed, so she just returns to trying to get her spell to work right. At the moment she's got a bright green cube that smells strongly of mint.

[Morty]

[Sapling Cabin]

"You have to forgive Gwen, Khannie. She's a little shy." Reelshka looks down at Gabe. "Go ahead and play with what you want, Gabriel." She then turns to Miranda. "Let's take a seat. I'd like you to tell me more about yourself and why you've come to us."

[Lake]

Brinika's ears perk up when she hears of Gilda's... predicament.

"Her paw's not going to blow up because a bug bit it. And you can go back outside later, but first our aunt wants to see- no, you can't eat her. She's our friend's familiar."

[Ironsmith]

[Sapling Cabin]

Miranda does as she's told, taking a seat in a nearby chair. She gives Reelksha a friendly smile as she takes a moment to get her thoughts together.

"All right. You already know my name, so we can skip past that part." Miranda begins. "About me... well, I'm an ex-agent for a group called ARC. I don't expect you to know who that is, but the takeaway is that I've had a hand in saving our old world a few times. It kinda wears a gal out, though, so when my friends and I got stranded here in the Nexus, I thought I'd better go into a different field for a while. Grew up as the oldest of three siblings, by seven years, so I did a lot of babysitting back in the day. This seemed like the logical conclusion."

[Earl of Purple]

Lake

"We can go put a plaster or something on your paw, so it feels better whilst we're there. Then we can come back out and I'll show you the slide." Cheasadh stops a moment afterwards, trying to think if it's possible for a griffin to use it.

Pookie frowns at Meridia, and tries to pull his honey pot away from the fairy dragon before sticking his own paw in and pulling it out to suck on. This is why Pookie is always sticky.

[Deathkeeper]

Main Lodge

Gabe curls up by the table with a picture book.
”Don’t be mad she doesn’t talk to nobody.” Gabriel assures Khannie.

Lake

Well the thing is that everyone knows butterfly wings go on butterflies. And if they’re on something that isn’t a butterfly it’s a fairy.
”You can’t eat a fairy Gilda you’ll get turned into a slug!!” Glory insists.
And Gilda wouldn’t be good at catching frogs like that.

[Rebonack]

[Sapling Cabin]

Khannie carefully considers all this information.

She's torn, here.

On the one hand, really really wants to pet one of these hippogriff cubs. On the other, touching people makes keeping her disguise going really hard.

UGH!

Why does life have to be so difficult?

"You don't have to talk to me if you don't want to," Khannie decides to settle on.

Gwen replies with the smallest of smiles as she begins coloring in a coloring book. Her little claws work best with the great big jumbo crayons.


[Lake]

"She can't eat me I'm too fast and clever," Maridia insists, poofing out her chest as Pookie tries more or less unsuccessfully to protect his honey from the little dragon. She'll scramble over him like a squirrel on a tree to stick her head into the pot. Barring that, she'll lick his hand when he withdraws it covered in honey.

This is more or less normal behavior.

Every time Khannie and Maridia come to GLoG Maridia will lurk around just waiting for Pookie to find some honey so she can steal it.

Gilda, meanwhile, reluctantly climbs out of the lake and gives her wings a beat, rising into a hover. Her paw still kind of hurts so she'll just fly wherever they're going.

Glory's observations are really astute!

Maridia will beam a toothy little smile while Gilda sticks her tongue out at her sister.

"Fine," Gilda grumps, trying to sound tough while hiding her anticipation at trying out the slide. "I'll go."

[Morty]

[Sapling Cabin]

Leaving Khannie to talk to the kids and confident they're in her sight, Reelshka continues talking to Miranda.

"Yes, I believe I understand. We do get people here who want to retire from some kind of intense life or other. We try to provide a safe environment to do just that. Do you also need a place to stay, if you only arrived here recently?"

[Lake]

"She's a fairy dragon, so close enough. She won't turn you into a slug but you shouldn't eat her anyway." Brinika turns to lead the way to the daycare. "Have you tried asking Pookie for his honey, Maridia?"

[Ironsmith]

[Sapling Cabin]

"If it wouldn't be too much trouble." Miranda replies with a small smile. Technically, she didn't need much of a "place" to stay, since she could camp out pretty much anywhere, but the offer simplified things considerably and she wasn't going to turn it down. "Although, if it's not an imposition, is there any way I could get a room to myself? I don't mind the company, but the sleeping arrangements I'm used to will probably be a little... awkward, for someone who isn't used to them."

[Morty]

[Sapling Cabin]

Reelshka nods as she turns to look at the children again.

"You'll likely have to share a cabin, but a room should be no problem. Most of our rooms are sized for one person. Though if you don't mind me asking, why would it be awkward to share a room with someone?"

[Ironsmith]

[Sapling Cabin]

"I'm going to guess you've never seen a sleeping tank before." Miranda replies. "They're very good for you, both in terms of comfort and keeping up with medical needs. They also preclude the use of clothing. Any clothing." She shrugs. "It's not a problem where I come from, since everyone uses them." She drums her fingers against the chair for a moment, letting Reelksha digest that information before continuing. "As an aside, I probably ought to pass some of that on to you guys. The whole thing's like taking a bath in panacea every night; I'm sure you'd benefit from a topical use of it."

[Morty]

[Sapling Cabin]

"No, I don't believe I have." Reelshka's ears move up and down. "But I think I get the picture. You submerge in this tank for the night?" It seems she's quick to pick up on this.

[Ironsmith]

[Sapling Cabin]

"Pretty much." Miranda replies with a shrug. "Standardized accommodation back home, a bit weird when everyone else is using beds." She leans forward a little in her chair, rolling her shoulders to keep from getting stiff. "So... yeah. Hope that satisfies your curiosity. Did you have any other questions for me? Qualifications, maybe?"

[Morty]

[Sapling Cabin]

"Ah, yes." Reelshka nods, putting the issue of the sleeping tank aside and focusing on the more pedestrian concerns. "You said you babysat your siblings, but do you have other experience in handling children? There's always other things that need doing, besides. Running a campsite requires many hands."

[Ironsmith]

[Sapling Cabin]

"Not really, no. I was too tied down to the house to babysit elsewhere, and more recently... well, you know. Not a lot of kids in the field." Miranda shrugs. "I mean, there were days when managing these four other wackjobs *felt* like wrangling a bunch of toddlers, but somehow, I don't think you're gonna count that."

[Morty]

[Sapling Cabin]

Reelshka smiles.

"You'd be surprised. I think having to deal with my former co-workers prepared me both for running this daycare and taking care of my own children. Some days everyone just wants to run off their own way and it falls to us to pull them along in a useful direction, doesn't it?"

[Earl of Purple]

Lake

Cheasadh disagrees that Gilda won't be able to catch toads as a slug. She think she'd be able to catch one toad as a slug, but do so as bait.

"You're also easily found and even worse near honey than Pookie is. At least Pookie provides the honey himself." Whereas Meridia doesn't try to share any of her things with Pookie.

Pookie lets Meridia stick her head in his honeypot. Then he'll try to push her in, before pulling her out and starting to lick her. Unless she's able to fly away with honey-dipped wings.

[Ironsmith]

[Sapling Cabin]

Miranda thumps her hand against the arm of her chair in agreement. "Yes! Thank you!" She lets out a little laugh. "And god forbid they do any infighting. It's hard enough to keep everyone on the same page when they're all willing to work together. If I had a nickel for every time I had to pull our honeypot off of someone, I could've retired years ago!"

[bc56]

Someone pushes open the door to Hawthorn Cabin and steps outside. She's a demonic-looking girl of about 19, with six horns on her head, red skin, black eyed, batlike wings, and a long, barbed tail. She seems very annoyed. "What is making that sound?" She walks towards the woods on the edge of camp, where the sawblade sounds of cicadas are filling the air.

[Morty]

[Sapling Cabin]

Honeypot? Reelshka isn't quite sure what it means, but she gets the general idea.

"My previous job was an architect in a mining and construction company, so at least I didn't have to deal with all that while saving the world. But... I don't know if I'm the first goblin you meet, but we tend to argue a lot when you put enough of us in one place. And myself, my cousin and our friend were in charge of quite a few."

[Ironsmith]

[Sapling Cabin]

"You should see my papa's house around Christmas." Miranda jokes. "Only half the people who could attend, do, and we still get noise complaints every year."

Still got noise complaints every year, she mentally amends.

"Ah, I think people are just like that in general." She hastily adds, not wanting to dwell on the subject. "Get too many people wanting too many different things in the same place, and even if there's enough to go around, they'll still fight over it. Kids especially." She gives a little smile, having brought the conversation full circle.

[Morty]

[Sapling Cabin]

"Oh, I know it very well by now. I hope you're ready for it." Reelshka smiles. "I certainly never expected to be running a daycare, but it sort of sprung up here. We've always focused on giving shelter and aid to people who needed it and took in children who had nowhere else to go. Eventually one of our caretakers suggested opening an official daycare. You'll probably meet her soon enough. Her name is Sakura Frescot."

[Ironsmith]

[Sapling Cabin]

This was going well. If Reelksha was considering having Miranda meet with a founder, she could only assume she was practically in already. As long as nothing suddenly stood out that would make her look undesirable for the job.

Miranda mulled that over a moment, checking for herself if she had any such quality. To her knowledge, the answer was "no", but that just put her more on edge; if Reelksha found this hypothetical thing and she didn't, she'd get rejected and wouldn't even see it coming.

...Ugh. That was pre-academy thinking. Had getting sent to the Nexus made her regress that much? Things were gonna be fine.

[Artemis97]

[Near the Woods]

The demonic looking girl might come across a man practicing archery near the forest. He's tall and broad shouldered, but his age is hard to guess due to his long silver hair and close cropped beard. He's dressed simply, in high leather boots, dark pants, and a loose white shirt. Leather bracers adorn his arms, to guard against the twang of the bow string. He nocks an arrow and looks down the shaft, one eye shut, before letting fly at the target. A near perfect bullseye.

Nearby, a large black direwolf lazes in the sun. He wears a thick leather collar, and there's more gear beside him. What looks like a saddle, a pack, and a sheathed longsword.

[bc56]

Near the Woods

Instinctively, the demon girl hides from this stranger, crouching down behind one of the trees that's buzzing so loudly right now. She peeks carefully around the trunk. What is he doing? Practicing archery? In this racket? Could he be the source? She doesn't think so. He seems like a good shot though, and that's a little scary.

[Deathkeeper]

Main Lodge

”It’s okay. You got homework?” asks Gabriel as he studies the speech patterns of animals.
He’s right there, Khannie. Being both fuzzy and fluffy at the same time. With big hooves too big for him. Just waiting to be pet.

Lake

Glory nods triumphantly. She pumps her wings and gets herself just higher than Gilda before settling back down.
Gilda won’t admit it but her wings have grown in faster. Glory will get to fly for real before Gilda does!
She doesn’t have much stake in the honey battle, though.

[Artemis97]

[Near the Woods]

The direwolf picks his head up and looks in the girl's direction, his ears swiveling to zero in on her. His nose starts sniffing and he lets out a quiet "wuff," which gets the archer's attention.

"What is it, Shadow?" The man asks, lowering his bow and looking around in the direction the direwolf was looking. His mossy green eyes are keen, and he'll probably spot the girl, or at least her movement. "Who's there?" He calls.

[bc56]

Near the Woods

Oh no! He knows she's here! What if he...
The demon girl curls up, folds her wings, wraps her tail around herself, and tries to make herself as small a target as possible. The movement probably makes enough noise that even if the stranger didn't see her moving, he'd probably hear her.

[Artemis97]

[Near the Woods]

The man frowns. Leathery wings wasn't a sound he usually associated with good things. Still this was a safe wood, and there were plenty of unexplainable things in the Nexus.

"I'm not going to hurt you." He says, moving to lay his bow and arrows down by his pack and the direwolf. He kneels next to shadow and rubs the wolf's ears. "Shadow's a big softy, really. Do you want to meet him?" He was fairly certain there was a person out there. An animal would have scampered, or froze. He doubted a beast was watching him. Fey wouldn't be spotted unless they wanted to be. He decides to wait for a moment, see if this person would come out on their own.

[bc56]

Near the Woods

The girl stiffens, waits. She hears the sound of the man putting down his weapon, and slowly, carefully, gets up and brushes dirt off her dress before stepping out from behind the tree. "Uh... Hi? I'm, uh, Sekhmet." She still looks very frightened.