LOTA [B/C Adoptable RP]

[Malverne]

Vin'Dorai slumpe in defeat when she couldn't dig up anything on her cousin. The whole 'mute bard' thing had gotten old after a while and Vin was in desperate need for new gossip. Being a healer, she talked a lot, just to keep her patients distracted from their near death experiences.

"Aw, that's too bad," Vin said, pouting a bit, "I wouldn't have thought Jax was a normal kid. Considering how wacky he is now." Vin ruffled Jax's hair, smiling.

Jaxim ducked out of Vin's reach, and shot Syliin a glance. He was holding his bag's strap rather tightly, thinking of the perfect incident that Syliin could have mentioned that would have Vin'Dorai completely unbearable for ages. Vin was fun, but she got into these moods.

He pulled out his pad of paper and pencil, and started drawing. He ended up with a rough sketch of himself, a few months ago. Syliin was right, because he had grown almost half a foot in the past few months. The sketch-Jaxim was quite short in comparison. He showed Syliin the drawing, answering her question, then quickly sketched another one. It was Syliin, surrounded by a bunch of young centaurs, with a question mark next to it.

Still taking care of kids? was the question.

[Angelic.Demon]

Jaide picked up her bowl as well as Noa's discarded one and walked with them to sit beside Lynn. She placed Noa's bowl to the side and put hers down in front of her, putting a spoonful in her mouth as Lynn looked deep in thought. Jaide swallowed and turned to Lynn. "You've barely been back and yet you've managed to meet someone and get asked out. Ohh Lynn, were Anthea and I not enough for you?" She said grinning, knowing Lynn would get a bit flustered.

Jaide woke Lynn out of her thoughts. She glared at Jaide when she noticed that grin. "Oh be quiet. You know I love to spend time with you guys and that I miss you." She said, calming down and looking at Jaide's bracelet, avoiding eye contact. "But it's nice to be around someone who knows what its like to leave and come back. I always feel kinda of awkward the first few days back. I don't know what to do other than come and tag along, helping you two."

Jaide didn't know how to respond seriously to that.
"And it doesn't hurt that he's attractive, right?"


Anthea walked up to the stream and sighed happily. She walked to the edge of the river and knelt down beside the water. She put her washcloth beside her on the ground and stuck her hands under the flowing water. Thea cupped them, and lifted the water out onto her face. The cool feel of the water felt amazing against her still tired eyes. She repeated this twice more, feeling more awake each time. Anthea lifted up her washcloth from the ground and wiped the cloth on her face, drying her skin. She wished she could go for a walk to wake up her muscles, but decided against it. She got back up and slowly began the walk back to the campsite.

[Dr. Tick Tock]

Aon tolerated his brother's clinginess for much of the morning, practicing swordplay with him and watching him practice his archery. He was actually enjoying it, and after the morning meal he dragged Noa off with him to follow the foragers and "help" them. Which meant, of course, eating whatever they picked.

As noon meal came closer, Aon wandered back to camp, leaving Noa to continue indulging on strawberries, and went to talk with some workers. He would have to start collecting their materials again so he would have things to trade.

It turned out to not be a difficult task; as he came to the center of the camp, many workers who weren't working on the noon meal rushed up to him and began talking. They must have known him well enough to know the exact day he was finished with resting and back into his profession. He kept his attention on all the voices around him as he replied to each one. "I don't think I could carry that many blankets, but we could certainly see. Oh, a letter? No, I don't think we'll be passing by that herd. Don't bother with that fabric, if you want to get some good trades this time of year, you need to sell heavier clothes."

Syliin shook her head. "I don't think he's 'wacky' at all. I've had to watch children who are much worse. I'm sure you've had to treat children much worse, as well." She smiled delicately, turning to the picture Jaxim held up. "Oh! Yes, I am. In fact, I just left some of my infants with another caretaker to go see the woodsmith. Maybe you'd like to meet them sometime?"

[Malverne]

Jaxim hesitated for a moment before nodded somewhat enthusiastically, smiling. Jax was sometimes wary of small children, either because of their incessant questions that he couldn't answer, or because they were always yanking on his hair, but he liked Syliin and he was in a good mood. He drew a third picture, of himself completely covered in small children with Syliin laughing in the background.

Vin glanced at the picture and giggled.

"You are wacky," she said, messing with his hair again. "But it's a nice wacky. I never have a problem with you yelling at me when I'm trying to fix you up, which is the main thing that makes kids hard to treat, you know? I shut 'em up fast though." Vin laughed again. "I'm kidding. Either they're hurt bad enough to be too scared to make noise, or not hurt too badly and just wailing for attention."

[Angelic.Demon]

Throughout the morning Lynn noticed her fingers tapping anxiously against her side, and how her body shifted every few minutes. Excited energy flowed through her body, making it hard for her to stay still. Every time someone came to Anthea for a question or some help, she noticed herself tittering a little. When Anthea decided to go in search of a few herbs she was low on, Lynn was excited to finally get out of the camp and do something with her hands. She hoped the walk back from the forest she was currently in would distract her. Anthea brought her out of her thoughts back into the world.

"Lynn, are you listening to me?"

Lynn laughed a little and smiled at Anthea. "Sorry I was lost in my thoughts. Though really, when have I manged to listen to your rants about herbs?" she replied, realizing they had reached the edge of the camp sites already.

Anthea huffed, feeling a little insulted. "Well I didn't realize that knowing that peppermint leaves are a good remedy for a cough is boring. You think with how much you travel you'd want to know these things," She replied, swerving to avoid a running colt, "What if you got sick and needed to heal yourself, what would you do?"

"I'd deal with it when I got to the next herd. Like I'd really be lucky enough to find the rare herb I'd need."

[Dr. Tick Tock]

Syliin laughed at the picture, her smile bringing a slight natural blush to her cheeks. "I'll make sure to tame them for you, I promise," she told Jax, then began walking again, herding Vin and Jax along with her so gently that they probably didn't even notice themselves begin to walk again. "Yes, children don't tend to hurt themselves badly enough to warrant any actual tears of pain." She 'tsk'ed and shook her head. "Just little attention-mongres, all of them."


Aon had managed to quell the crowd around him, promising times and dates for when he would come by various workers' camps and get some products from them. It wasn't long before it was just down to two centaurs, a centaur close to Aon in age, whom Aon was slightly good friends with, and an elderly centaur who was interested to hear about his family in one of the herds Aon had visited.

He liked the elder, who he didn't know very well but decided to try and change that rather quickly into their conversation. He was quirky, and had a good sense of humor, and Aon could be comfortably laid back with him, an easy smile never fading off his lips. He could tell the man was a bard, or used to be a great one. "Yes, I think I saw a woman of that description," he said, laughing at the other centaur's simile of "hair like the ruffled feathers of an angry prairie hen." "She didn't talk to me, though. Didn't seem very interested in my goods."

[Angelic.Demon]

OCC: "Didn't seem very interested in my goods"... my brain too that the wrong way .__.

As Anthea and Lynette were passing by the campsites, Anthea often turned to wave at a familiar face. She sighed and shifted the basket of herbs she held in her hands. "Lynn I swear, sometimes I don't know what to think of you. What're you thinking about now?"

Lynette gave a friendly smile to the people that Anthea acknowledged, noticing that she didn't know as many of the people in town as she would like. She made a mental note to herself to meet some of these unfamiliar faces before her next trip. "Oh nothing important. ." Lynn said, her hands subconsciously playing with her own basket.

Anthea narrowed her eyebrows, confused. She was about to reply, but decided not to push the subject. The two were finally coming close to their campsite, and passing through the center of the campsites. Lynette noticed Aon in the center of the circle talking to a couple of centers. She continued to walk beside Anthea, admittedly a little slower, but lifted a free hand to wave at Aon.

[Dr. Tick Tock]

OOC| lol of course she was interested in THOSE goods. Everyone is interested in Aon's goods ;D

Aon had his hands splayed and was rather attentive on giving enthusiastic hand-helped descriptions of some of his wares. He almost didn't notice Lynn's wave. His words lulled a bit as he smiled and lifted his hand in return, then focused back on his attempts to sell a "beautifully woven, unique blanket" to his semi-friend. Truthfully, he had taken it from a novice weaver who had seemed so eager to please and be complimented that he felt he had had no choice but to pay a good price for it. Still, it was rather unique, even if it was clearly lacking in the traditional knowledge of weaving, stitching, imagery, and color. Aon may not be well versed in such things, but being a merchant meant he had to know enough about all of the work he bought to be able to judge when he was being squandered.

[Angelic.Demon]

Anthea decided to give up on conversing with Lynn. It was obvious her focus was somewhere else, and it was more frustrating for Anthea to try to hold a conversation that to just enjoy the day. The weather wasn't too bad, although Anthea didn't mind the cooler weather coming in. She always found this season particularly beautiful, with the changing leaves providing a new view of the forest. Sadly, the cooler weather also meant she had to go foresting more often to collect as many herbs as she could before the plants died. With the rate that the air was cooling down, Anthea realized she would have to go collect again in the afternoon. Who knows what night the land would frost over and kill the vegetation she needed. Although Thea was comfortable with the amount she had stored, she always liked to have extra stores for the cold season. Especially Echinacea and goldenseal for the abundances of colds that are sure to come about...
She shoved aside her mental check list for her forging later, as they approached her campsite. Already there was someone there looking for help. A young woman was waiting patiently by the firepit. She sighed, passing her basket to Lynn, who unthinkingly grabbed it, and went to talk to the woman.

[Dr. Tick Tock]

After convincing the man to stop by later to see the quilt, Aon trotted back to his fire. On the way there, though, he happened to see Anthea and Lynn at theirs. He'd actually been so concentrated on his job that his head had, for the first time since he met her, been absent of her face. It was immediately filled again. He slowed to a hesitant walk, and after a few moments of indecisiveness, moved up to Lynn's side. She seemed strangely preoccupied with her thoughts, but since he was already here, it would be awkward to simply walk away. He cleared his throat. "Sorry to interrupt."

[Angelic.Demon]

Lynn hadn't realized how much she zoned out until she felt a basket placed into her hands my Anthea. She was caught up in her daydreams. She had no idea why, but Aon was constantly on her mind today. She kept thinking about how sweet he had been to her over their past encounters, and how comfortable she felt being around him, unnerving as it was. She still felt a bit restless and nervous, as excited as she was to see him. Of course, she still was so lost in her thoughts she failed to notice Aon walk up until she heard his voice, causing her to jump a little at the sound.

"Oh! Hi Aon, I wasn't expecting to see you so soon.." She said, a little embarrassed after her reaction.

[Dr. Tick Tock]

"Oh... sorry," he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. "I didn't... I mean, I wasn't thinking..." He cleared his throat. "I was just... I thought we could go for that walk now, before noon meal. If- if you aren't busy, of course!" She was probably busy. That's probably why she looked so occupied. Oh god, he was such an idiot.

[Angelic.Demon]

"Oh no, I'm not busy!" she said quickly. "I'm actually not really doing much of anything. Well, I was helping Anthea forge, but I don't think she doesn't need me now." Lynn said, turning to see Anthea talking to the young woman who was gesturing toward her arm. She turned back to face Aon and smiled. "I'd love to go on a walk with you."

[Dr. Tick Tock]

Aon blinked at her, trying not to smile as she spoke. "I'd love to go on a walk with you." That brought a grin to his face. "Fantastic! I won't disappoint you, I'm a great walker." He strut in a circle, holding his knees high, just to prove the point. Then he looped his arm around one of Lynn's and started back the way he had came. "I'm borrowing your friend for a little while, Anthea! I promise to have her back by noon meal."

[Angelic.Demon]

Lynn laughed at Aon's antics, but tried to stop him from dragging her away. "Wait a second!" she said laughing a little more, "I've got Anthea's basket". Sh gestured to the basket on her arm. She moved out of his grasp to place it by Anthea's bag of supplies, and hurried back, saying a quick goodbye to Anthea as she walked back. She looped her arm through his again and placed her hand on top. "So, where shall we go?" she asked, looking at Aon.