The sheer amount of information that this island had been waiting to pass on would have been much too intimidating for anyone but a tiny, infinitely curious intellectual like Droman. They hadn't even been there for more than a week, and already, he'd discovered so much! There were good things — sometimes, if you opened your eyes, you could see pretty shells hiding in the shallows — and some
not good things — Mr. Crab is
not friendly; do
not chomp.
Our young scientist had become so wrapped up in his innocent discoveries that he'd forgotten to show mama and sis (oh, Droman, you've got to learn balance)! After finding two small, washed up fishies to give them as a gift, he set out in a search for
@Hemlock and
@Reed, hoping they would be willing to entertain him for a while.
droman has, for the better part of young reed's life, been about as interesting to her as a rock. she tolerates his existence (and, perhaps begrudgingly, will admit she cares for him -- what, he's family, she's not a monster) but is otherwise largely unimpressed with what he has to offer her. she vastly prefers mama and eirlys, who indulge in her need to be fawned over. tapat and celleach are okay. could do better with the indulging.
i digress. the princess is developing interests of her own -- no not just herself although that still features prominently on her list of favorite things. she is attracted to the tiny plants that have begun to force their way from the late-winter ground, intent on forcing spring to happen. the island hosts all manner of treasures -- strange plants and objects that capture her curiousity -- and she is glad mama agreed to her idea of returning.
she's chewing very thoughtfully on a dandelion shoot when droman appears, fish in mouth. she eyes him indolently, unmoved from her position laying across the edge of the beach where sand and snowy-grass intermingle. then mama shows up -- ah, now, there's a reason to move. she climbs to her feet and makes her way closer, intercepting mama's interception of droman with a happy whine.
Mama came first and sissy soon after, though the latter seemed to want less to do with his gifts than the former. A bout of disappointment came upon Droman, shown the slow half-tuck of his tail and gentle whines, but he was quick to get back on track. Mama!
he cooed after dropping the fish, Sissy, I got sumn'.
Hoping that Reed would be more receptive once she knew that he didn't mean any harm, Droman nudged the bigger of the fish toward her and prodded for his sister to investigate.
despite the obvious importance of her presence, mama seems interested in whatever droman has with him. if it is something more worthy of time than her, it is deserving of at least some of her consideration, so the firey-furred girl deigns to look over her brother's offerings. two small slimy fish -- her eyes narrow as she looks at her brother, curious how he possibly managed to catch them. "no way," reed challenges, mostly for the sake of being difficult, though clearly she's impressed at the thought.
then mama addresses her and she eagerly turns her attention to her, preening herself only slightly. "been lookin' at flowers," she announces, the way one would announce the discovery of some paradigm-shifting discovery. "just like mama?" reed confirms, squeezing close to her legs to take her usual position (to think, soon she'll be too big to do this!)
If there was one thing that Droman didn't like, it was being doubted. Reed's accusatory opposition to his gifts hit the young boy hard, stirring up an otherwise dormant anger in his chest. With Hemlock standing right in front of him though, he knew better than to have an outburst. Yes way
, he retorted with a matter-of-fact turn of his head, I did catch 'em, Mama. I catched 'em all by myself.
Technically, his sister was right; Droman had found the fish, not caught them, but it had still taken a lot of work.
Land plants weren't of much interest to Droman, so there wasn't much that he could pit against Reed in that rite. However, he had become quite intrigued by aquatic life, and maybe that was something Hemlock would find interesting. Me, too
, he announced with a proud puff of his chest, I'm gonna be like Mama when I get big.