Sun Mote Copse broken bottles arranged to make tea

SETTING: A beautiful little hollow deep within firebirds territory.
Weather:Overcase
cool
Midday
TERRITORY: Sun Mote Copse

TAGS: @Reyes + anyone else who wants to join!

Huffing the puffing, the small rose colored boy pushed the candy colored leaves across the wet grass until they joined with rest. What once was a small hollow filled with the vibrant yellows and oranges was now but bare with grass and dirt, all of their decor being stolen and swept up into a giant pile that threatened to fall over at any minute. 

"And that goessssss...there!" The boy whispered upon kicking the recent edition of his hill, packing them into its new home with maybe a bit too much enthusiasm.

He had watched as the pile grew from a small smattering of leaves to the burdened pile that it now was, unaware of who exactly was building it or why. It didn't really matter; Reyes was busy with his duties, and he only noticed because of how the layers of yellow seemed to glow where they sat. 

They caught in his peripheral vision with each pass. First when he was returning from one patrol and setting out on a second, then when he returned for a bite to eat at the caches. Now, having refilled the cache, he was done for the time being - but the pile sat there, heavy and wreathed in shades of fire.

There was only one thing he could think of to do: race at it full-tilt, and with a bellow, charge right in to the middle of it. The crunch of leaves was extremely satisfying. So was the snap of twigs and the chaos of leaves spilling every which way, which he snapped at or stomped on, until the pile was everywhere.

When he resurfaced he was laughing heartily, covered in broken bits of maple leaf.

Primrose was unaware of his secret admirer until it was too late.

In a quick flash a lone streak of auburn stole his attention and down, down, down went his creation he worked so hard on. Yelping as waves of leaves washed over him, the pale was boy was drowned out from seeing the purp until he hazily popped his head from out of the now silently still debris.

With sweet brown eyes wide of saucers, the young boy stared owlishly at the unknown wolf with mouth wide. Kingslend? Here? Now? The boy shook at the realization that not only had his hard work been destroyed and he was unable to enjoy it, but worse! It was ruined by a Kingslend wolf. Eyes welling up in tears, the boy stood still as fat droplets slid down his cheeks, and in a fit of tears he screamed.

Loud.

For all of Firebirds to hear.

Lurching from the cover of leaves, the bits scattered from his shoulders but not entirely. Reyes pawed at some as they collected in little lumps, kicking a heel back as he removed himself from the main mess. He stood there feeling very pleased with himself and turned to survey the scatterings.

If this were a cartoon you'd see it as:

Small leaf pile -- medium leaf pile -- messy leaves -- crying child -- leaf pile -- wait what?

Those glossy wide eyes, crumpled posture, and the sucking in of air were clues that Reyes was in for a fun time; then Primrose let it rip, erupting in a fit of screeching and crying that hit Reyes like a wall. He stepped back and heard the crunching of the leaves, this time with a touch of terror, because he knew -- he knew -- that he'd inadvertently destroyed the kid's pile.

Hey, heeey, hey buddy, hey, shhhh, stop -- stop that, c'mon. Reyes soothed, or tried to anyway, looking hastily around for any adults and truly expecting the full wrath of Niamh to descend upon him (whether this kid was her's or not; he had no idea).

Primrose's scream was close enough that Phox winced. Or maybe it was loud enough that he did so. Honestly, it was probably a little bit of both. What he found was Primrose and one of the newer recruits he didn't know well. What was his name? Ray? Phox didn't know, and he certainly didn't care right now.

He was trying to soothe the boy, but Phox had a feeling it wouldn't be that easy. With a heavy sigh, he pulled close to his son's side, tongue licking the boy's cheek. What happened, Prim? he asked. For the most part, Phox ignored the other wolf, hoping he'd get the message: I'll take care of it.

The kingslend wolf dared to sooth him, and in a stumble Primrose jerked backwards, ultimately fumbling into his dad with a shout. Gasping, he turned around to the sight of the dark man and instantly latched onto him with sobs. "T-The kingslend wolf!" The small boy cried to Phox. "He destroyed my leaf pile I worked ALL DAY on!"

Truth be told, the poor boy was more upset that there was a stranger within their lands and his father wasn't doing anything, but maybe he was just making sure Primrose was okay before he attacked? Spinning around, the pale boy blinked at the dark auburn other before standing up and puffing his chest out.

The kid recoiled from him and the crying didn't stop. Before Reyes could say or do anything else, someone swept upon the scene and at first he thought, oh shit is that Towhee am I about to earn a new hole --? but no, this guy didn't have the same fluorescent markings. He was all dark, and they crowded up to the kid pretty quickly. When Reyes saw that I got this look he was more than happy to back off.

Kids really weren't his thing. He sank back a few steps and then sat beside the ruined pile of leaves, looking away from the scene in the manner of a stranger on the street witnessing child abuse by a surly parent, although that was the opposite of the goings-on. He heard the kid screech something about the kingslendwulf and thought it was a stupid name for a boogey-man.

He sucked in a breath and awkwardly offered up an explanation: I didn't do anythin' to 'im. There was this pile'o leaves I've been watchin' grow all day and... Reyes grimaced and raised his eyebrows, then shrugged. Didn't mean to set him off, for fuck's sake...

Primrose explained (between sobs) that this Kingslend wolf had destroyed his leaf pile. Phox frowned, looking at the pile and not really noticing anything wrong with it. Then again, he hadn't seen it before. Prim... this isn't a Kingslend wolf. This is one of the Firebirds. He smells like us, not Kingslend. Phox hadn't met any of the Kingslend wolves, but he highly doubted this was one of them.

The other adult offered an explanation, but Phox shook his head. It's alright, he said, only a little annoyed that he'd tried to put reason to anything. Primrose and his siblings were still young, and this was just one of those things. Maybe you can introduce yourself, let him know you're not a Kingslend wolf?

The boy blinked owlishly at his father. "He's not?" Primrose echoed, head tipping to the side. "But he's brown like them, and-and-and his eyes!" Turning back to his father the boy then cuffed a paw upwards, begging for the man to lean down towards his level to whisper "and he's mean like them too... he said a bad word..."

Primrose knew that other wolves in Firebirds tended to have a fowl mouth—mostly Towma, but he loved her and she was always nice to him despite the words that fell out of her mouth...er....well—her lips and signals. But this wolf—this man was unknown, and Primrose had only ever seen the dark coloring among their mean neighbors.

Tentatively, the pale boy inched closer to the man with head down and tail up, his nose sniffing enthusiastically at the air in hopes to be proved wrong—which he was. The male smelled like Firebirds.

Biting his lip, Primrose scowled at the earth on what to do before swallowing his thick shame and returning his gaze to the man like a guilty child. "Im PrimroseWhoAreYou?!" He screamed a bit too loudly and quickly.

Reyes would have split if he'd felt like burning yet another bridge, pitting another wolf of this new home of his against himself. Better to be diplomatic about this, even if the child was buzzing like a very loud mosquito in his ear; he could be thankful the mother had not appeared instead, figuring a protective woman would be more heavy-handed.

The man did not appear offended by Reyes' offhanded comment, but the child was. The innocence dwarfed everything else about him and all that Reyes could think was, Wow, was I ever this mundane? Which was entirely unfair. He'd forgotten his own fears at that age—the terror that Vengeance had instilled within him. 

A cringe began to set itself upon his face as the boy reached forth to sniff at him, confirming truths, and then they sank back—an introduction prompt, still screeching. Reyes looked to the swarthy man standing as a protector over the boy and his expression said, Do I really have to..?

He sighs, puts on his most charming smile (which looked quite fake and strained), and did his best to alleviate the kid's worries. My name is Reyes. I solemnly swear I am not a... Whatsit, again? Kings Landing? King Slender? Not that, whatever that is. He crouches a little lower so he's at least eye-level with Primrose for the next bit. I am very sorry for messin' your pile, kid. Want me to... Rebuild it? I can make it bigger, if ye want?

I think this’ll be my last one unless Prim throws another fit haha!

Primrose seemed hesitant to accept the reality, but eventually he came to his senses (namely scent), and it changed his attitude about the thing. Somehow, Phox had managed to diffuse what could have been a really ugly situation, and he was glad to have arrived when he did. Reyes didn’t seem to mean anything bad, and it reminded Phox of when he’d teased Alyx with the rain and mud all those months ago.

Phox took a step back, deciding to hang around for a little bit longer before getting back to checking on the caches. Reyes had already offered to help rebuild the pile, and as long as nothing uprooted the new calm, Phox would be on his way.

"Kingslander," the boy corrected with a slow nod, his bright eyes staring up at Reyes. He found the mans name strange, having difficulty repeating it back—mostly tripping over the 'e' sound. But after a few tries he got it, giving himself a pat on the back whilst looking back to his dad for some sort of confirmation.

Sooner or later, his dad turned to leave and while primrose missed him, wishing he would stay a little bit longer in order to see Primrose's work the boy knew he wouldn't be hard to track down. He could always beg his father to watch him.

"It's okay, mistakes happen!" He sing-songed to the other adult. "And yes please! I want to make it even LARGER than last, it'll for sure be quicker with the both of us!" Primrose giggled, instantly circling around and starting to push the leaves back.

The past issue was surely forgotten.

end here??

The boy was surprisingly forgiving. Reyes noticed as the darkly coated man slipped away, seemingly pleased with the end result and the end of the crying, and Reyes watched with a slight plead to his gaze (don't leave me with this -- dude --?) and before anyone knew it, Reyes was left alone with the child. They seemed pleased to have someone there to do the manual labour for them, and Reyes was panicking mildly, not wanting more waterworks. Best to do as he's told (even if its by a kid); when Primrose begins to pile the leaves again Reyes chuckles to himself (awkwardly) and then begins to do the same, shuffling colors together in greater waves, until he's so distracted by the act of building alongside Primrose that he's no longer bothered by the scenario.