Redsand Canyon operator

maybe @Towhee if you have the time? :)

he had remembered the promise that the wonderful warrior had made. her language of, ah, what had she called it? taro? he did not remember, truth be told, but he planned to make time to learn it all the same.

if, of course, her offer still stood...it was another day after all.

he would not insult her by looking around apartments for her, as if he expected to see her spend all of her time lounging. so he cut down to the sparring arena, wondering if he might catch a glimpse of her training.

The air grew dark as Towhee prowled through the woods east of the punishment grounds, a gopher swinging from her jaws. She would’ve liked to say she’d killed it herself, but she’d come across a hawk with its fresh kill near the south side of the forest. She hadn’t meant to rob it of its meal, but when she’d accidentally spooked the raptor into flight, Towhee hadn’t wanted the meat to go to waste.

She emerged from the tree line and strode toward her den, eager to enjoy her late dinner in peace. As she walked across the sparring pit, she saw Maxim headed this way and nodded to him, without any real intention of stopping. Towhee had been patrolling all day long and couldn’t wait to eat.

he was...perplexed! utterly, entirely, perplexed. she continued to prove a very interesting woman to him.

can i join? his neck craned awkwardly as he attempted to keep his face in her line of sight. admittedly he was uncertain if that would actually work — but perhaps his continued movement towards her would summon her attention anyway.

Maxim inserted himself in her line of sign, halting her. “Can I join?” She blinked, then squinted. She set her “kill” down at her feet to free her mouth for a reply.

I’d prefer to eat alone, Towhee said frankly. She didn’t feel like sharing such a small meal. If it can wait, I’ll rejoin you out here after my meal, she added, wondering what Maxim wanted. Possibly he just wanted to socialize, which was fine… but it could wait until she’d eaten.

maxim was like an obedient puppy in the face of towhee.

so at her words?

he nodded and then rounded back to go find somewhere to sit. somewhere that would not be uncomfortably close to her den while she ate.

He didn’t seem to take an issue with her command, so Towhee bobbed her head, reclaimed her meal and disappeared into her den. If he didn’t go too far, he might hear the absolutely disgusting sounds of her horfing down her supper.

A little while later, she reemerged. She looked around and spotted Maxim waiting patiently. Striding toward him, Towhee kind of felt like she may need to take a post-dinner dump pretty soon. But hopefully it could wait until the end of this conversation.

What’s up? she asked, taking a seat beside the Auxiliary.

he welcomed her return with a thump of his tail twice. then he settled himself into something more neutral. nonchalant, if you would.

last time we spoke, he wondered how many conversations she had. if she might remember the offer she had made to him. you told me of your sign language. are you too tired to teach today?

he would understand, if she was, but he certainly hoped she would not be.

In the beat between her question and his response, Towhee studied him. She tried to estimate his age. He looked young, maybe somewhere in the same ballpark as Meerkat. He was smaller than Towhee, though she couldn’t help but notice they shared similar streaking on their shoulders. His were woven into an earthier palette than her own dusky black hues.

Her eyes found his—spring green, pleasantly juxtaposed to his mahogany features—and then dropped to his lips. He inquired about Ptero. This subject always raised her spirits. She was proud of the language and enjoyed sharing it, especially since it eased the way as far as communication went.

-“No, I’m not too tired, though we don’t have long before it gets too dark,”- Towhee replied. -“We can have a quick lesson. I can teach you some of the most basic, intuitive signs. We can practice the alphabet too, ‘cause you can always fall back on spelling out a word if you don’t know the sign for it.”-

Her guts grumbled but Towhee ignored them. Surely her bowels could hold off until nightfall proper.

he watched how she moved when she spoke this time. he could only assume that this was indeed what she meant with her sign language.

i would like that. a quick grin before he...prepped himself? stretched his limbs some, prepared to move them in a way he never had before. mainly because maxim had no clue if he would even sign anything right.

what if he signed wrong? accidentally insulted her or said utter nonsense?

an embarrassing thought.

i am ready.

oblivious to her gut discomfort.

Still doing her best to pay no mind to the pressure building in her belly, Towhee went carefully and slowly through each letter of the alphabet, then moved onto some basic signs, like “hello” and “how are you?” and “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up.”

-“I don’t want to go over too much of it at once,”- Towhee explained, -“or you’ll get overloaded. It’s a lot. But if you remind me, I’ll try to make sure I use it whenever I speak with you. You’ll learn a lot through exposure and repetition.”-

A burp bubbled up in her throat. Not one to stifle such things, she let it loose in a whoosh of air, then waved it away from her face. Towhee’s gastrointestinal situation felt a little less urgent for it.

-“So, how’s life in Mereo treating you, anyhow?”- she wondered.

he would mimic the signs back to her until he got them right — or close enough to comprehension. and she was right. he was already feeling some sting of overload but he also did recognize certain words in her question.

like how and you.

and ignored her burp because he thought he was polite enough to not point out her, ah, gassy state. that would probably be a mood killer.

good, then he did his best to sign out the word by letter.

-G. O. O. D.-

i like order here, the wolves too. it is stable which is good. signed the last word again, a bit steadier this time. all of this shared with her with a bit more of a toothy grin on his features. some genuine look of pleasure on the usually stoic young man.

Maxim made an effort to spell out the word “good” and Towhee nodded her approval, though she mentioned, -“You added an extra flick that doesn’t belong on the ‘G,’”- and then repeated the movement slowly a few times so he could get a better idea of the letter’s formation.

He answered her question about how he was settling into the pack, sprinkling in a few signs as he spoke. Towhee smiled and replied, -“Good. You mentioned you’re a guardian, last time we talked. Are you thinking of working your way up? Do you have any plans for your future here?”-

oop. he figured mis-signing was bound to happen, but it did not soothe his ego any more when it happened. thankfully she was kind about it.

i would like to, but i have no exact plans. no intent to...challenge, if that is what you mean. not now at least. was challenging even a thing? he imagined such might disrupt the order that germanicus worked so hard to maintain.

perhaps -you- have advice or suggestions.

-“Nah,”- she replied when he said she might have some advice for him. That probably wasn’t what he wanted to hear, but it was the truth. -“That sort of thing is entirely up to you. I mean, I think that pursuing guardianship is absolutely worthwhile. I’m always happy to mentor and train when it comes to that stuff. But as for where you want to be in the chain of command, that’s something personal you have to decide for yourself.”-

She didn’t hear it, though Towhee definitely felt a lurch and rumble in her gut. She glanced upward and saw the sliver of sky over the canyon peppered with stars. It was pretty dark now. They’d gone over the fundamentals of Ptero like Maxim wanted. Now Towhee was thinking a quick visit to the latrine and then a long nap was in order.

-“I have to visit the ladies’ room. If you want to patrol together sometime, just drop by 1A. We’ll continue our Ptero lessons then too,”- Towhee reminded him, pausing for any last words before saying, -“Night.”-

he understood, and he would have to consider it wouldn't he?

he was newer among mereo but he certainly held the place in high regards. he held germanicus in high regards. why would he not wish to strive for greatness under their leader?

he could picture himself in a rank below the man. a dutiful follower and enforcer. perhaps it was going to his head, perhaps it was a boyish dream clinging to his maturing mind.

thank you, -towhee-. he figured signing her name (even if he most certainly flopped on a double E spelling) was a further show of kindness.

he would let her excuse herself to the ladies' room while he would part to his own apartment. right next to hers.