Sleepy Fox Hollow abwarten

wylla had conceived, bloomed, and the time had galloped quickly. mahler stayed close, plying her with rich morsels or walks once the heat of the summerdays had dissipated. 
he felt younger, more jovial in his delight; he was easy to laugh and easy to point out the beauty of the hollow in which they had made their peace.
the morning moved toward another hot hour, though there was promise of rain to come. mahler hunted along the poppyfield for chipmunks which had seen fit to burrow beneath it.

HEY, gramps!! I’ve got a question.

Tierra had spotted Mahler across the way and made a beeline for him, sprinting with a knowing smile. The gramps was a slip, but she didn’t correct herself. He had to know he was a total grandpa, and while there was literally no such thing as a gilf for Tierra (eww, no thanks) it wasn’t like it was an insult.

So, I’ve got a title, right? Is there, like, anything specific I should do? Obviously there was recruiting and crud, but if he had a mission or something, she was totally down. She was totally ace at delivering messages. She’d done it for Germ all the time.

gramps? mahler lifted his head in a puzzled manner, then set down his mouthful of greenery with an amused expression thus raised to tierra. he pretended to think in an entish manner at her question, settling to touch his chin with a broad paw.
he harrumphed.
he did so again.
he gazed thoughtfully off toward the forest, committed to the evolution of gramps.
and then, at greatest length: "vell. i vent to tikal, in the canyon, and asked to trade. they have not yet called us. i vould like you to go to tikal and then epoch, and take them a good bundle of our poppies as vell as some good pelts made by our former gamekeeper, mayblossom. remind them ve of paleo are here to trade, and see vhat they vill offer in return. i need mountainside mint and maple sap, a good deal of it. suggest a hunt between us here soon."
his lips were wry.
"do not forget to trade for something you vant also, tierra. take paeon und anselm, they both vished to go. you might ask emmerich as vell. if you are all shrewd, you vill return vith more than you took."
the musiker's lively amethyst eyes twinkled. what did she think of that?

Ohh shitt, gramps had jokes. It was unexpected after spending so long with Germ, and Tierra had to smother a smile. She bit it back while he obviously played up the role, but he definitely cemented his spot as pretty alright in her opinion by not freaking out on her. Rad.

Then she was listening and trying not to get lost because one, his accent was totally ridic, and two, he was not messing around with giving her stuff to do. Totally doable, but woah.

Tikal and Epoch. Cool, check. Take them…. Something, who cares, she’d ask later or whatever. Here to trade, see what they got. She’d have to check what to ask for again too before she left because no way was she remembering that.

Take… a bunch of people. It’s pretty close. Couldn’t I just take Paeon? She’d promised her but she didn’t know the other two and wasn’t really digging the idea of her first scouting trip being with randos. No offense to them, but this was like… her job. What if they tried to tell her how to do it, or take over? No thanks.

"vhy paeon?" mahler asked quietly, dismissing all hint of tease from mouth or eye. there had been a reason for tierra's choice. he had considered this expedition to be more of a learning venture rather than a social call — but maybe he would not press it.
there were other things he could send the others to do in preparation for paleo's needs.
mahler watched tierra for a moment, and then looked toward where the canyon lay. "do you ever vant to go back? if it vere something. or to make it into something."

Tierra shrugged, her gaze shying away from the sincerity she saw in Mahler. She wasn’t used to being asked why. Because I know her, and she’s chill. I don’t think we’ll need that many. She didn’t want to admit that she wasn’t confident in her ability to claim control of more than just Paeon but that was definitely the largest part of it. If this was her debut mission then it needed to go well and it needed to be hers. Someone else taking over and doing it would be the legit worst.

She was caught doubly by surprise with his second question, and looked at the Canyon too for a long moment. There was a ton of stuff she missed about the canyon, but she knew immediately she’d never go back. None of that stuff would be there when she did. Her mom, her weird sister and nephew, Sybol, even Germ.

I’m pretty sure there’s a reason people keep bailing on that spot. Plus, why start something when I’ve got you guys? She waved her tail with a dismissive gesture, unwilling to show the sentiment that unexpectedly welled up when he referenced the canyon. So she missed Minne, and her friends… so what? She could make a billion new ones easy. No big deal.

mahler nodded gently, but he was not altogether convinced. yet the rearing of children still had ill-prepared him for the emotions of a girl who could not be so far off from phaedra's age.
he thought of her, suddenly and vibrantly.
"all right, tierra," the man granted with a low rumble. "take her and report back to me vhen you have returned." a breeze played about his heavy shoulders.