Hushed Willows Toymaker

For @Faele <3

In his free time between checking their caches and bringing meals for their guests, Kyrell had altered his usual patterns. His patrols varied and he tended to end his days on one side of the territory or the other. A lot of his effort went into trail keeping. The consideration being that their guests had yet to learn the land.

Today he could be found at the Fisherman's keep. Laying upon the bank with a freshly caught squirrel set at his side. In this instance, he had removed the tail. Having stripped the tail of bone and muscle it sat between his paws. Absentmindedly being flipped back and forth.

His brow was furrowed. While it appeared he was staring straight ahead, he was searching his mind. He was forgetting a step.

In the late night, at moon high and a cloudy winter sky,

 Faele walked through the icy grass of the hollows.

And just beyond her, she saw a boy! Lying at the lake, with a squirrel tail tucked between his paws. He looked kind of oaky, and a little bit like silt. With these dark socks, and these sharp jade eyes. He was flipping the tail between his feet and the laughter that built in her belly was stifled by her lips forming a smile. He was funny.

She crept closer with a dipped head and her shoulders hiked to a fluff on her neck.

"Hello. What are you doing there?"

A whisper caught in his ears and his eyes focused sharply as he returned to reality. He jolted, halfway lifting himself off the ground. Squirrel tail flung a few feet away. He quickly located the voice's owner and released his breath.

One of the Moonglow women. Small and round and equipped with a mousy voice to match her demeanor.

The tension dissolved from his shoulders. He loosened the rest from his body in a long stretch. Picking himself off the ground and rising to address his new company. He lifted a brow to their guest.

Well, hello there! Did one of you ladies need help with something? He finally registered her question. It wasn't just to send him jumping out of his fur. Ah, well—.

His gaze went searching now. Cast to the ground to recover his project materials. A low hum in his throat as he picked his way over to the tail. Reclaiming it, he muttered past the bushy fur. I was working on a gift.

"Oh, no." The laugh that she held in finally brought itself out while her teeth pinched the inside of her lip. Her eyes sparkled with fairydust wonder, the prompt embarrassment of her intrusion flooding her belly.

"I just wanted to see what you were doing."

She didn't remember the last time she had properly spoken with anyone and-- a boy now! A boy! But this boy was doing something. "A gift. That must be very special." Sheepish, feathery, her feet brought her just a bit closer, her nose examining it from afar! "May I ask who you are making it for? I've never seen this kind of work before." And now she was so...fascinated to know more about this craft!

Kyrell's ears strained towards the little gray woman. Soft and quickly spoken, he had to intentionally listen to catch her words. With a brief brandish of the tail, he placed it at his feet.

I was trying to recreate some toys my family made for my parents for their litters. A soft scrap of fur is much nicer for teething babes than, well, mom. The squirrel isn't going to complain about pokes and nips from puppy teeth.

He lowered himself to the ground, inviting the Moonglow woman with a thump of tail to join him.

Was trying to do something nice for Reverie and Boone. We've have a bit of a rough start here in Hearthwood. His set his forested gaze upon the small woman before looking at the incomplete project between his paws. But I'm uh, working off of memory. I remember my uncle making foxtails when I was younger. But I'm forgetting some steps I think.

Fascination bloomed in an incredible way!

His family made toys. Little toys for the children. The little babies! Why, her family had never been so smart as to make toys.

"That must have been such a wonderful experience for them. I've never," she was breathless for that second, taking a moment to breathe, "never made toys before. Is this your first time?" How did he do it? How long did they last? It must have felt so nice for a young pup to be able to teethe on something they would not get scolded for. Not stick or bone, but something soft and gentle. Why, if she had toys, they were definitely not this cute.

When the invitation of his tail tapped, she quickly scooted herself beside him and lay down. Bubbling with excitement to hear of this passion! She stared intensely at the toy. 
"Well, I think it looks really good so far." The smile on her mouth would not leave, and she turned her head to this man again before focusing upon the toy. It was so small and squishy!

He watches as the girl's eyes widen with unadulterated excitement. Her voice barely more than a whisper to his ears, but he heard every ounce of awe it contained. His smile matches her own as he tries not to let her feed his ego too much.

Why, thank you. He playfully bumped his elbow into hers. And to answer your question, yes. I've sat by and 'helped' before, but never got to try it out by myself. He rolled the tail between paws, displaying what he had so far accomplished to his new acquaintance.

I'm struggling to remember if we had any tricks or additional steps. I know you want the raw side of the skin to dry out, but I'm trying to figure the best way to go about it. It's not like a normal fur that has a top and bottom that can be turned over, you know?

Taking a deep breath, he exhaled slowly. Allowing his exasperation with the project to be shown. He wished he had be more persistent about learning when he still lived with his folks.

Trial and error is great and all, but I'm just now realizing I have a bit of a deadline.

“Oh.. I see.” She understood the problem. How were they to turn a little tail to dry? Faele tried to think, often flapping her tail about excitedly in her thought, and then falling terribly still. “Maybe,” she took a breath in, and then tried to add on a little more, “I can- I can help.” But then when she tried to think of things, well, she fell short. So, to this she looked to the man she was pretty sure she’d now spoken with for hours. Her intensity upon this project overwhelmed her with joy for him, so that he might have the best gift of all. 

Well, they had to figure out something to dry this tail!
“What do you think we should do?”