Hushed Willows oh, no, this is much worse

@Tambourine

Banner stood at the mouth of the Crook facing outward, taking in the sights of Marauder's Keep in the early morning.  No one else was awake yet - or so she'd surmised due to the light snores and stillness of her packmates - and the peace was certainly welcome.  The last few days had been a bit strange with Octavia and her son keeping to themselves, but it didn't seem to leave the pack in a dramatic uproar.  The dark brown female didn't know much and wasn't inclined to press for details.  If she needed to know, Stark would tell her.  Otherwise it just wasn't her business.

The short female drew in a soft breath and took a few steps outside, just enough for all four paws to be settled on the grassy, gentle slope at the Crook's entrance.  She wasn't quite ready to set off anywhere, but at the same time it seemed a damn shame to miss out on whatever adventures this misty morning had to offer.  Her head turned, bright green eyes looking back to where her packmates rested.  Stark was probably still sprawled out in the same spot she left him, Octavia and Tam close by.  She smiled.  It was good to see him so.. domestic.  It suited her darker brother quite well.

Whether or not matters had settled between the others involved, Tambourine had bounced back from the altercation between Tavi and the Ostregas. He still had some small scabs on the side of his neck which itched something fierce, but aside from that he hardly remembered the events of that day, to tell the truth.

He had woken a few minutes ago and promptly plopped onto his bottom to hike up a hind leg to scratch at his itchy neck. A movement near The Crook's mouth then caught the youngster's attention. He watched as a black-furred, green-eyed wolf slunk out into the open air. Tambourine jumped to his feet and scrambled after the retreating figure, bent ear flopping.

"'Ey! T'ick!" the littlest marauder yelped, mistaking her for the pack's familiar Gamma.

Tambourine's high-pitched voice was surprisingly loud for a wolf so small.  She cringed, her ears flicking away from the noise.  He'd called out a weird greeting.  Tick?  Was that even a greeting or was it a warning?  A puzzled expression settled on Banner's dark face while she looked around.  No, she was definitely the only one up.  No giant tick-beasts were rampaging around in the Keep, either, so it was probably a greeting.  For Trick.  Because that was the only thing that made any sense.

"Banner," she corrected gently.  Her head bent down to greet the boy, previous confusion replaced with a more affable look.  "Or just 'B', I guess, if that's too much.."  Ugh, what an awkward thing to say.  How the hell was anyone supposed to talk to kids, anyway?  The smile she offered him was apologetic, though she wasn't sure he'd understand.  "Good morning," she said in a rush.

When the wolf turned, it wasn't Trick. But this did not slow down Tambourine's momentum nor deter him in any way. He scrambled up to his older, larger pack mate and yelled another, "'Ey!" before quieting down long enough to hear her introduction, not that he necessarily recognized it as one. His tail waved and he grinned uncomprehendingly, though his stone-washed eyes grew bright with understanding when she bade him good morning.

"G'mo'ning!" he chirped back, then shouted, "Guess'ut! I has a peen!" the little wolf cub declared, apropos of nothing. Tambourine tried to lift one of his hind legs to show her, yet found himself swaying, so instead he plopped onto a hip, then rolled onto his back, legs spreading wide. "See?" he asked excitedly, showing off a pale pink tummy and his pint-sized family jewels.

phone post ._.

Damn, this kid was.. spirited. Banner blinked at his loud statement and sputtered when she realized that this random factoid was about to become show and tell.  She looked back inside the dimly-lit Crook and hoped to all hell that no one heard him.  Well, Tam's outrageous decibel level dashed that, but maybe no one understood what he was saying..

"Congratulations!" she proclaimed loudly.  Too loudly.  For the love of God, Banner wasn't prepared for this kind of thing.  The dark female nudged her mostly gray companion to roll back on his stomach and then hurriedly attempted to usher him farther outside to put a little more distance between the loud mouthed child and their sleeping pack mates.

"Why do you think that is?" she asked, a quiet chuckle following her question.  If he was going to yell all about it Banner might as well keep him talking.  For science.

Banner seemed suitably impressed by his goods, prompting Tambourine to wriggle. She put a stop to this with her nudge and the boy obeyed the silent command to roll onto his tummy. He then lifted up onto all fours, bouncing as if he had springs in his feet as the black she-wolf led him further from The Crook.

She asked him a question and he stilled long enough to ponder it before exclaiming, "I pee f'om m'peen!" Obviously the word play tickled the youngster, for he began to giggle madly. Or maybe he just really liked that word because suddenly Tambourine was chanting, "Pee! Pee! Peeeee!" at the top of his lungs.

She halted a fair distance from the Crook, juding it to be just enough that Tamourine's voice would only sound like a dull roar to their sleeping packmates.  The kid was loud, so it was probably an excercise in futility, but Banner felt a little less guilty this way. 

Was it dumb luck that he began yelling at that very moment or did she have some kind of undiscovered sixth sense on how much he enjoyed the sound of his own voice?  Her low, throaty laughter contrasted oddly with his high-pitched giggles.  "Very good," she stated with a nod.  The dark brown female sat back on her haunches and then leaned close to her young companion, lowering her voice and shifting her eyes around as though she were asking him a very important and controversial question.  "But what about girls?  They don't have one for their pee."

He cackled, the sound fortunately more childish than maniacal. But Banner's next question caused him to fall into ponderous silence once again. It lasted perhaps three seconds before the pup grinned toothily, his pink tongue lolling from his blunt gray muzzle and his blue eyes sparkling knowingly.

"Gulls pee outta them's butts!" Tambourine declared loudly, an outburst which was punctuated with several loud, tickled guffaws. It was funny but it was also true; he had watched his mother squat and urinate many times. "I poop outta m'butt!" he added because relevant.

The boy's laughter caused her to snort.  He really had a wide range of ways to make noise.  The fact that he remained silent for a whole three seconds while he thought was kind of amazing in and of itself.  He seemed like the kind of kid to just talk himself through everything.  Though, she thought with a grin, that may come later in life.  He had plenty of time to gorw.

Banner nodded sagely when he responded, her features taking on a thoughtful look.  "Hmm.  Good point," she added.  Though it wasn't clear if girls peeing out of their butts or Tambourine pooping out of his butt was the better point.  If she were his age, they'd both be absolutely fabulous points.  "Seems messy for girls to it that way, huh?"  She looked thoughtful again as she watched the boy.

"Yeah!" he chimed, not really sure what Banner meant but happy to agree and go along with whatever she said. Tambourine fell quiet for another beat or two, a contemplative look crossing his boyish face (and, in fact, making him appear a tiny bit constipated) before he slowly questioned, "You sad? 'Cause no peen?" He really hadn't thought it through earlier in their conversation, though now it struck him like a ton of bricks. How sad for all the girls who were missing out on the pleasure of having wiggly jiggly junk!

Banner's eyes widened when a strange look crossed Tambourine's face.  If it were any other wolf, she'd guess that it was a thoughtful expression.  But this kid?  He could have been preparing to take an unceremonious dump for all she knew.  Quickly, she leaned away from him and braced herself for a gratuitous demonstration on his bodily funcitons.

But then he asked .. that.  "Uh," she began, not even sure how to answer at first.  "I've never had one before," she continued awkwardly, not sure if that was enough to answer his question.  "So how can I miss something I've never had?"  Banner blinked and made a face at herself.  Damn, kids were weird.

Her answer was a bit too abstract for him to grasp. He blinked, clearly trying to process, but failing. Eventually, his mouth opened again to ask, "Did it falled off?" What else could have happened to it? "Did it hu't?" His head cocked and a sympathetic look passed over his scrunchy gray face. His floppy ear wriggled endearingly. "D'you need hugs?!" Tambourine asked suggestively, already leaning tellingly toward Banner's nearer foreleg.

The kid had a blank look on his face and damn if it didn't look cute.  And then more questions, more inquisitive looks.  Banner choked down her laughter with a couple of well-placed coughs.  Hopefully it was just smooth enough for Tambourine to believe.  "Yes," she said gravely, lowering her head and heaving an incredibly dramatic sigh.  One word to answer all three questions - brilliant.

Groaning as though the weight of her secret were suddenly too much to bear, Banner flopped down on her stomach.  "How will I go on?!" she wailed, faux-despair etched clearly on her dark features.

When Banner admitted to her agony and slumped to the ground, Tambourine mashed his little body against her. "Don' c'y!" he crooned into her face, licking at tears that didn't even exist yet. His attempt to comfort her may have been a little over-the-top but his sympathy was entirely genuine. He felt very, very sorry for poor, pained, peen-less Banner.

With that said, he didn't give much thought before suddenly blurting, "Y'can bow m'peen!" There was no way the kid was going to pronounce borrow correctly right now. He rubbed his face against Banner's black shoulder like some strange-looking cat, wrinkled ear flipping and flopping against his forehead.

Speaking of ears, something made a strange whining, buzzing sound in the upright one. Tambourine jerked, eyes watching as a big fat bumblebee drifted lazily around their heads. Momentarily forgetting his new friend's sorry state, he eyed the hovering insect and declared, "I'm could eat tat bee!" Little jaws flung wide, he then launched himself at it.

wrap up? <3

She decided it was much easier to cover up her laughter with distressed wails than fake coughing.  Banner smothered her the last of her chuckles as Tambourine attempted to comfort her with affection both physical and verbal.  Ah, he really was a sweet little thing.  If nothing else, the kid's heart was certainly in the right place.

Her cries stopped when he suggested that she could borrow the parts she lacked.  The dark chocolate female blinked owlishly at him as best she could while he rubbed his face all over her shoulder.  Well.  That was a.. different suggestion.  She opened her mouth to make some half-baked reply about how completely unnecessary - though appreciated! - it was, but Tambourine's attention was off somewhere else again.

"Uh.." she called out after him.  Well, sort of called out.  It was more like a slack-jawed groan.  The kid wanted to eat that fat little bumble bee!  Banner stood up suddenly and moved a little closer.  "Maybe.. that's not such a good idea..?"  she attempted to reason with him.  "Let's head back to see your mom!" she said suddenly, excitement filling her voice.  Maybe going back to see Octavia would somehow be more enthralling than a buzzing insect.  At his current decibel leve, Tambourine woudl easily wake the rest of the pack, but that was a risk she was willing to take at this point.

Sure! :D

Although the bee moved slowly, Tambourine was far from an adept killer. He missed the buzzing insect by a mile and went tumbling ass over teakettle, kicking up a small cloud of dust. Another child might have cried about it but the little troll just giggled as he came to flop on his belly. He peered around for the bumblebee but it had vanished, so his pale blue eyes sought Banner instead.

He grinned brightly at the mention of his mother. "Mum!" he agreed exuberantly, bouncing onto all fours and bumping into one of Banner's legs. Without waiting for his junk-less friend, he spun and bounded back in the direction of The Crook, reentering as enthusiastically as he had exited it not so long ago, his voice bouncing off the rock walls (and definitely awaking anyone still asleep within) as he repeated his cry of, "Mum!"

He'd missed the bee by a mile - thank god! - and was soon tuned in to finding his mother.  And waking up everyone in the Crook, all the creatures who lived among the willow trees, and probably the ghosts of animals gone from this Earth for centuries.  Banner cringed at the pitch of Tambourine's little voice, but she knew it was for the best that he get back to Octavia.  Ah, the death stares she'd likely get from her packmates for bringing such a loud ass kid back in screaming at this early hour!

They'd get over it.

Banner barked out a laugh and followed behind her young companion.  She'd make sure he got back to his mother and then materalize into the shadows and slink back out into the early morning when no one was looking.  That all sounded much more graceful than she'd ever be able to manage, but the short female had high hopes that she'd make it back outside unscathed.