Post by avalikia on Jan 22, 2010 4:43:31 GMT -5
Characters:
Aspen - Female Whitetail Deer
Roscoe - Male Whitetail Deer
Tehya - Female Whitetail Deer Fawn
Niabi - Female Elk
Aylen - Female Elk Calf (NPC)
Setting:
Maple Glade
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There are new scents in the area, thankfully all deerish scents. Buuut still. These new deer, whoever they may be, are strangers, and until she gets to know them Aspen is keeping a watchful eye on her children. Not that /that/ is a difficult task. Unless she says otherwise, they go where she goes, like it or not. And today has been productive! She's wandered, though thankfully she's stayed within the herd's marked areas for now, allowing the fawns to familiarize themselves with places that are ok to go and are not ok to go. And that was followed by playtime. Which was followed by attempts at getting the youngsters to at least try grass. And now the family has returned, little ones worn out and sleeping and Aspen glad for a bit of peace. The sun has sunk below the horizon with streaks of pink and purple hues still lingering in the sky. Dusk. She pauses, watching and listening for signs of others in the seemingly growing herd before she moves to the middle of the glade, tail flicking idly behind her.
Dusk is an appropriate time for the buck to wander back to the glade, though lately, he hasn't strayed far at all. Sticking to the territories in which his marks are placed, Roscoe has taken care to actually watch over his children lately. Specifically his daughter, Tehya. That girl was a bundle of energy, who had a taste for exploring that he admittedly shared when he was her age, if he could recall correctly. So, after a long day in the lands shortly to the east and north of the glade, he returns. The sun setting behind him, the whitetail is little more than a dark silhouette on the horizon as he descends down some of the small inclines in the ground, the scents of the forest tickling his nose. One, no, two scents in particular capture his attention, and they belonged to none other than Aspen and her daughter, Dawn. Deciding that he should actually -try- to be hospitable, the Prince takes slow steps, though long strides, to get to where she is.
Tehya gets woken up by some strange sounds. She opens her eyes and looks around and wonders what that strange noise was. As the locusts start going again. She stretches her neck to look around and spots the giant deer again and wonders who he can be, As she then stands and stretches and lets out a big yawn. Then looks back and watches the giant deer going toward another deer. As she tries to remember what her mother called that deer.
Niabi has actually found herself much more excited than nervous about visiting the whitetails, which was a little bit surprising to her after all the thought she's put into what she needs to discuss with Roscoe. But once she got started on the long walk here, she found herself instead focusing on the other whitetails. Which of them are still around? And did they, as she suspects, have fawns? New life is always exciting, even if they're a different species. And she has high hopes that Aylen might find them less scary than the very full grown elk that make up the other half of the herd. Her daughter remains obediently by her mother's side, wary of these new surrounding. Niabi can't help but be a little wary herself as the glade comes into view, though the strong scent of other deer is reassuring.
Aspen's ears swivel, hearing the approach of Roscoe before seeing him, though it's not long after before she does spy the antlered buck. "Roscoe," she greets in a one-worded way out of habit. One word is less wasteful, as the male deer isn't known to be very .. talkative. But! Remembering their last conversation, she slightly shakes her head, as if dismissing her lackluster greeting to replace it with something more fitting. "Hello Roscoe. Good to see you." There! Much better. The smile that she offers is smile but genuine as she turns towards the approaching buck, moving to meet him. "Patrolling, eh? Nothing dastardly or dangerous that we should be wary of, I hope?" she asks lightly, though with a twinge of caution in her tone, even as her eyes shift to the side at the sight of small movement. Spotting the waking fawn, she smiles warmly and gestures in her direction with her head. "Someone's awake."
Roscoe's head lifts a bit as he hears his name being called, and then the greeting. Grinning faintly, he perks his ears forward as to acknowledge the female, looking down and motioning his head toward the fawn as well, to regard the smaller company. "Nice to see you both as well." He said, which was quite a mouthful of a greeting, coming from the Prince. Her question has him grinning wider, and he shakes his head. "Just returning, actually. And no, as usual, nothing to report." Letting out a sigh, he knows that this is good and bad news. Though the whitetail numbers have grown significantly since last year, he still wishes for a larger amount. Turning his weighed down head to the side, he sees Tehya stretching, and his ears relax. Good to see that she is doing just fine as well, though admittedly, he hadn't seen much of his piebald son in quite some time. A tug at his lips, and he forced his thoughts back into the now as his nostrils flared at the scent of a familiar elk; Niabi. With a blink, his tail threatens to raise out of sheer anger that she would show up here.. but perhaps she just wants to visit, and not chew him out for not watching after the elk? Unlikely, but still..
Tehya looks over at Niabi and wonders why she looks weird and very different from the other deer. As she continues to look at her. Her stomach decides to rumble very loudly. As she blinks and wonders what that was. She tries to say what was that but it comes out as. "wh w s tat."
When she finally spots Roscoe, Niabi slows but she shows no immediate signs of anger. Or anything, really, her eyes just drift from him to Aspen, who she remembers if not very well. A polite nod is given, then her eyes go to the unknown fawn, who gets a friendly smile. "Good evening," she greets all three, "I hope we're not disturbing you?" Half a moment behind her mother, Aylen glances with an mixture of curiosity and fear at the adult whitetails, shying away from them and starting to head for safety of the other side of Niabi, when she spots the fawn and stops in her tracks, surprised. Gaping at Tehya, the elk calf doesn't seem to know what to make of her.
"No news is good news," Aspen replies with a slight grin and subtle lift of her brows. "You'll miss these quiet days if ever they stray away from us. A thing, I hope, that's slow to happen.." said as her eyes are drawn towards Tehya. Mother instinct, it seems, even if she is not this particular fawn's mother. And with her two youngsters asleep (Dawn's not with her, though I might not have posed that well, sorry!) she finds herself wandering towards the spotted fawn, her expression warm and welcoming. "Hello hello," she all but purrs, pausing some feet away, which seems near enough to hear that tummy rumble. Suppressing a smirk, her ears press forward in concern. "You're hungry, hmm? If you're anything like my Dawn, you probably don't have any thoughts of even trying what's right in front of you, do you?" said with a chuckle as she lowers her head to nibble at the grass. But her head is quick to turn as Niabi's speaks, and her eyes flit to Roscoe briefly. Though as she glances back to the elk, recognition flickers in her eyes, and a grin begins to spread. "Oh, wow hello!" she offers amiably. "It's been...forever since I've seen you last."
The rumble of Tehya's stomach is what draws his attention backward, one ear flickering backward momentarily before he lets out a huff of breath, taking a few backward steps in order to push her gently in front of him with his muzzle. Keeping his eyes on Niabi still, he only looks away briefly in order to encourage Tehya to graze. Can't have his fawn going hungry now, can he? "Eat the grass, Tehya." He says gently, and then looks back off toward Aspen for a moment, then back to Niabi. Clearing his throat, he stands a little taller and a little straighter, looking the elk right in the eye. "Good evening, Niabi.." He said, though the politeness was forced. "What brings you all the way out here?"
Tehya blinks as the deer gets closer to her and then her ears flick forward as she listens to Aspen. Her ears then flick to side as Roscoe speaks to her. She looks toward him and tilts her head at him and tries her hardest to say grass? But it comes out "rass?" instead. Then looks over and spots the little elk and also wonders why that little deer looks different from the others also.
"Just shy of a year," Niabi responds to Aspen with a sheepish nod, "Good to see you again." Finally turning some attention to Roscoe, Niabi smiles, "I've come for a visit, just like I said I would. We do have a lot to talk about, after all." Never mind that Roscoe has specifically said otherwise! "But perhaps later. It's rather late in the day to be having a long talk. Aylen could use a rest." But the calf doesn't seem ready to rest at all. Indeed, Aylen takes a couple steps closer to the fawn and sniffs in her direction, before finally declaring, "You small!" Niabi chuckles, delighted that her calf has finally taken enough of an interest in something to stop clinging to her side.
Rass? Well, it's better than if she would've left the "g" /and/ the "r" off of the word! Aspen grins at the attempt and at Roscoe's interest in the little female. Not exactly the hands off approach at parenting he spoke of before, though she doesn't complain. His subtle changes are ... nice ones. She smiles to herself, though keeps the look subdued as she glances back to Tehya whose interest seems to be caught by the little...elk? "Oh," remarks Aspen, as if noticing the other youngster for the first time. "Congratulations," offered to Niabi kindly, seemingly holding no hostility towards the elk, who in the past had been rather kind to her. But as her eyes stray to Roscoe, noting his dominant stance, a hint of question rests behind her gaze. But her attention turns back to Tehya as the little, yet larger, elk approaches. She keeps an eye on them. They are just fawns...er, a fawn and a calf, and so fear of hostility isn't what she's wary of. Aylen is just so much larger, but she isn't going to keep them from interacting unless Roscoe says otherwise.
It's true that Roscoe wasn't holding up to his 'hands off' parenting approach, but truth be told, he was taking a bit of advice from Chanson, in some way or another. The other buck hadn't specifically spoken about anything that Roscoe should've done; of course not. More like, Roscoe was borrowing some of his actions. To treat a fawn with kindness wasn't overwhelming it with attention.. and he wasn't exactly nurturing his daughter in any way. Just showing a bit of affection, that's all. A very light chuckle comes from the large stag, and he takes a small nip at the grass too, though not enough to suffice for even a bit. "Yes, guh-rass." He says, accentuating the 'g' sound for Tehya's sake. It's when Aylen comes closer to his fawn that his head lifts, and he watches for a moment, unconcerned, and then turns back to Niabi. "You two are welcome to stay within the glade tonight if you would like, and we could have our talk in the morning." This is said with a respectful nod of his head, understanding that Niabi would be tired, as would her calf. There was no point in forcing what would be an unpleasant conversation, anyway.
Tehya looks at Roscoe and tilts her head some as her ears flick toward him. Then looks down at the stuff they seem to be talking about then looks back up at him. As she concentrates hard and finally succeeds for once. "Grass?" Then looks over at the Elk calf and looks up at her questioningly as if asking. What kind of weird deer are you?
The proud smile that spreads across Niabi's face makes her "Thank you" to Aspen almost unnecessary, but she says it anyway. "You too?" she asks, with a glance towards Tehya. She nods her thanks to Roscoe, glad that he isn't going to start out being difficult at least. But most of her attention gradually turns to Aylen, as she finds her calf's first real interactions with someone else fascinating. The calf matches the fawn's look, but after a moment she adds, "Hi." After all, that's what mom's always telling her to say to strange deer.
Is that a giggle? Oh yes it is. Aspen can't stifle the sound quickly enough to fully smother it, and she ducks her head a little, averting her eyes. Oh no. She wasn't giggling at you Roscoe. Hearing the usually reserved and aloof buck accentuate /guh/ rass for his young daughter's safe wasn't undeniably cute. Nope! Clearing her throat briskly, she turns her attention to Niabi, following her glance to Tehya. "Oh, no. .. Er, well /yes/, I mean, though this one isn't mine. I have two others. Male and female," she informs with a note of pride evident in her tone. Tail shifting against her haunches, she perks as her eyes turn to Tehya, beaming as she speaks the word correctly. "Very good!" she commends, nodding to her encouragingly. "That's right. Grass. Though 'hi' should be easier. Can you say 'hi' to the little fawn?" ... "Calf, I mean? Hi," she says again, grinning.
It took him a moment to realize that Aspen giggled, and it took him /another/ minute to realize that she was giggling at him. Raising his head taller, he clears his throat and lowers his brows. It wasn't funny.. Tehya couldn't pronounce something, and he was just helping her out. Though he meant nothing with this stare, he did so nonetheless. Before a small grin broke, of course, when Tehya pronounces the name of the foliage correctly. "Yes. Grass." He finalizes, though Aspen had did that for him already. Taking a step backward, he blinked, and fell silent. Talking about calves and fawns wasn't his thing. So, he wouldn't participate.
Tehya looks up at Roscoe for a second. Then her ears flick forward toward Aspen as she hears Aspen speak to her. She looks over at the calf and tries her hardest. "Hi." Then looks around and spots a cricket hopping around. As she then goes chasing after it.
Let's see, that would make at least three fawns, wouldn't it? Niabi smiles, glad that the whitetails have done so well. Pity she couldn't say as much for the elk, but perhaps this year will be better. "Congratulations," she says with a smile, "Children are always such a blessing." Though the fawn is very fascinating, Aylen hangs back and just watches, reluctant to leave her mother's side for just a cricket.
Aspen slightly puffs out her cheeks to hold back whatever other giggling attempts may try to slip past her mouth, staring back at Roscoe owlishly. The air in her cheeks is let out in a huff before she smirks at him, elegantly lifting a single brow. "What? Is it my fault that you seemed /almost/ cute with the way you helped your daughter?" said with that same smirk, tone light and teasing. An ear twists to Niabi before her head does, and her congratulations is met with a grin and nod. "Thanks, and yes they are. Our herd is fortunate to have had so many, and they're all doing well." Brown eyes drift to Tehya as she darts off after something or another, and she chuckles to herself, glancing back to Aylen. "Is she always so shy?" asked curiously.
Again, Roscoe does well to keep his inner frustration hidden. Not that he's very frustrated at all; /talking/ to his daughter was something in itself, much less correcting her in a slightly comedic way. So, he could understand if Aspen was laughing at him. Keeping his smile, the buck watches the two children, but shows no concern for if they're at a safety risk or whatever. The calf seemed nice enough, really shy, which was a bit of a relief considering that the whitetail fawns were generally a hyperactive bunch. So, Roscoe rolled his eyes and chuckled lightly at Aspen, before his eyes moved back to the calf and fawn. "They certainly are." A blessing, that is.
Tehya as she is chasing the cricket. The cricket changes directions and starts heading toward the calf. As she is still looking at the cricket and not realizing she is heading straight toward the calf. She looks up at the last second and tries stopping and ends up tumbling right into one of the legs of the calf. She blinks and looks around with a puzzled look, "hat appened?" As she then gets her legs untangled then gets them back underneath her as she stands back up.
Ah, so the fawn is Roscoe's. It might have surprised Niabi to see Roscoe behave that way, except she's seen plenty of males fall for their children in her day. Most of them just didn't have quite so far to fall. Of course, Niabi would be lying to herself if she thought that Aylen hadn't changed her, nevermind that she's had calves before. "That's good to hear," Niabi responds to Aspen, "I don't know how you manage everything with more than one at a time." By which she means the pregnancy, actually having them, and then raising them all: everything. Turning her attention to her calf at Aspen's question, Niabi sighs a little and says, "So far, yes. She was born while I was on my way here, and we've only been here a short time. She hasn't had much of a chance to me anyone besides me." But Niabi hopes that Aylen will ease out of it on her own. Aylen bleats a worried, "Mommy!" when the fawn runs into her, quickly regaining her balance and running around to the other side of Niabi. Niabi is quick to offer a soothing, "It's okay, it was just an accident."
"They certainly keep me busy, and they have even before they arrived. I don't remember ever being so hungry in my life," Aspen laughs, shaking her head at the memory of her insatiable hunger. "And it had to be just the right type of grass or leaf or they weren't satisfied, and neither was I." She smirks to herself while watching the young whitetail collide with the startled Aylen, though like with her own children she leaves Tehya to stand up again on her own. "Speaking of hunger.." mused as her stomach gives a quiet rumble, "I should be off to feed before the fawns wake." A look to Roscoe, "I won't be gone long."
What happened? Unfortunately, the red-eyed buck wasn't paying too close attention to his daughter as she collided with the calf, and so the sudden shout of 'mommy' had him a bit discombobulated. With the threat of his tail raising, Roscoe's ears flew forward and he stared down wide-eyed at the two children, before he let out a breath and grinned. "Careful, Tehya.." he said in a soothing sort of voice for once, and took a few steps forward to gather the small fawn back to their side of the conversation. "Can run into others.." his voice is laced with a bit of laughter, and he looks back up to Niabi. "Sorry about that, she's still working on controlling those legs of hers." One ear flicks back at Aspen's announcement of leaving, and he nods his head.
Tehya her ears flick toward Roscoe as she then looks up at him and tilts her head some. AS she is starting to get use to talking but has not quite got it down pat yet. "Who ewe?" As her stomach then rumbles again. As she has already forgotten about the cricket and calf.
"Oh, I understand," Niabi says quickly to Roscoe, "Been there, done that." Still, she fusses over Aylen, making sure that the calf knows that everything is perfectly alright with a couple of comforting nuzzles. We can't have her first time meeting another young deer turn out to bad, can we? Aylen eventually settles, and almost immediately starts watching Tehya again. Seems she's not going to let a little thing like that put off her interest in the fawn.
With Roscoe's nod, Aspen wastes no time in moving off towards other parts of the forest. "Good to see you," spoken to Niabi in departure, for leaving without a word would be something beyond rude. A slight smile, then the doe is off, disappearing within the shadows of the brush and trees.
Roscoe's brows raise slightly at the question posed by Tehya, and he blinks as well. "Who am I?" he asks, correcting her as well. "I'm your father, Roscoe." He says, and bends his head down to give her a soft nuzzle once again, though that's probably just about enough affection. Fathers were there to protect their families, not to overwhelm their offspring with affection. That was what the mothers were for. Unfortunately for Tehya, her mother was once again, missing. Not unusual, but it still worried him to an extent. Eyes shifting over to Niabi, he takes in a breath. "On your way back, you hadn't happened to come across Tix, have you?"
Tehya tilts her head at Roscoe. As her ears stay turned toward him. "Your my fafthy?" As she then turns and looks over at the calf and tilts her head some. "Who you?" Then decides she wants to imitate the big deer and lowers her head and tries some of the grass but has trouble in keeping inside her mouth at first.
Frowning at the question, Niabi shakes her head, "No, I didn't. And the deer I smelled were unfamiliar to me until I was nearly here. Should I have?" But if he's asking, that means that he doesn't know where Tix is either and that can only be troubling. Aylen starts a bit when she's spoken to, but is quick to answer, "'m Aylen. Who you?"
A frown forms across Roscoe's maw, and he shakes his head. "No, it's no problem." he says, and forces a grin for Tehya's sake. "Yes, I am." he answers her question quietly, obviously a bit disappointed and saddened at the fact that Niabi hadn't seen the doe on her travels. But, no reason to put a damper on things. Not when everything was going fairly well. Again, he dips his head and nudges his daughter gently over toward Aylen. "Go.. play with her." he says, unsure of what 'orders' to give her. All he knew, was that he needed to be going soon. That would mean that Tehya would have to join him for at least a portion of the trip, until she was tired enough to rest here in the glade, or until a doe was available to play the babysitter. So, the longer she had to play with Aylen, the better, for her sake.
Tehya blinks as she is nudge toward Aylen. She looks at her as her ears flick toward her. "Your name is maylen?" As she then tries to say her name. "I am Tehya." Then looks back toward Roscoe. "Did I get it rite father?" As she then lowers her head again and gets some grass and manages to keep it in her mouth this time as she chews on the grass.
Niabi quirks an ear at the 'no problem', but doesn't comment. She knows that Tix is prone to wander, but if Roscoe's asking about when she came back and not since she's been here it means that Tix may be wandering very far indeed. "Well, I'll let you know if I see her first," she says, figuring that's all she can do at the moment. Actually looking herself is out of the question until Aylen can accept a babysitter so that Niabi feels free to go to slightly more risky places; since arriving she's been careful, feeling somehow that she needs to make up for the danger she's already put Aylen in by having her while she was traveling. Aylen, in the meantime, quickly says "AY-len" very carefully so that the fawn won't make another silly mistake with something as important as her name. Then the calf resumes her quiet observation of the little Tehya deer.
Really, Tix had been on his mind a lot, but he wasn't /too/ worried about her. She'd only gotten into trouble once, right? And that was quite some time ago. With fawns to protect, the mother doe was surely more careful with herself as well. So, he remained calm as usual. "Thank you," he began, and nodded his head, "I would appreciate it." What's this? Roscoe, showing gratitude? Unthinkable! His head dips down a hair, and he grins at Tehya. "Yes, you did, Tehya. Very good."
Tehya smiles and jumps around for a bit. Then stops and looks back over at the calf Aylen. "Oh Aylen." As she then suddenly lets out a yawn. "Excuse me there." As she then looks around the glade for a bit and searches for something but does not find her. Then looks over at Roscoe. "Where is she?"
Niabi merely nods to the thanks, not thinking too much on the fact that it was given. She's too busy trying to decide how worried she is, feeling sad that this means she won't likely see Tix soon, and wondering the same thing as the fawn. She says nothing, but keeps her expression neutral in order to avoid upsetting Tehya any further, especially when she notices that the mood is starting to cause Aylen to look to her mother with a hint of confusion on her face.
Roscoe wasn't expecting a great reaction from Niabi due to his apology, and thus didn't really pay attention to her acknowledging nod either. His focus was on Tehya, who he knew would have to come with him if he were to leave the area, and he did have to leave now. Keeping his eyes on his daughter, he blinked at her question, and took in a breath. Avoidance was a good way to get out of this situation, he figured. "Come, Tehya. We have to be going. Say goodbye to Aylen now, and we'll see both her and Niabi shortly." Turning on his hooves, the large buck didn't bother waiting for the little doe very long, though he did keep his pace slow so that she could catch up easily.
Tehya looks over at Aylen and lets another big yawn. "Well it looks like I have to go now. Bye Aylen. It was nice to meet you." As she then turns around and slowly walks away. Hopefully giving time for Aylen to say bye also.
Niabi sighs inwardly at Roscoe's avoidance of the question, but can hardly blame him in this situation. Deciding it's probably bedtime, she turns as well to find a nice place to spend the night, near but not quite in the glade. Aylen is quick to follow her mother, but she turns to look back at the fawn, still intrigued. "Bye." the calf calls back quietly, before the pair disappear behind the trees.
Aspen - Female Whitetail Deer
Roscoe - Male Whitetail Deer
Tehya - Female Whitetail Deer Fawn
Niabi - Female Elk
Aylen - Female Elk Calf (NPC)
Setting:
Maple Glade
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There are new scents in the area, thankfully all deerish scents. Buuut still. These new deer, whoever they may be, are strangers, and until she gets to know them Aspen is keeping a watchful eye on her children. Not that /that/ is a difficult task. Unless she says otherwise, they go where she goes, like it or not. And today has been productive! She's wandered, though thankfully she's stayed within the herd's marked areas for now, allowing the fawns to familiarize themselves with places that are ok to go and are not ok to go. And that was followed by playtime. Which was followed by attempts at getting the youngsters to at least try grass. And now the family has returned, little ones worn out and sleeping and Aspen glad for a bit of peace. The sun has sunk below the horizon with streaks of pink and purple hues still lingering in the sky. Dusk. She pauses, watching and listening for signs of others in the seemingly growing herd before she moves to the middle of the glade, tail flicking idly behind her.
Dusk is an appropriate time for the buck to wander back to the glade, though lately, he hasn't strayed far at all. Sticking to the territories in which his marks are placed, Roscoe has taken care to actually watch over his children lately. Specifically his daughter, Tehya. That girl was a bundle of energy, who had a taste for exploring that he admittedly shared when he was her age, if he could recall correctly. So, after a long day in the lands shortly to the east and north of the glade, he returns. The sun setting behind him, the whitetail is little more than a dark silhouette on the horizon as he descends down some of the small inclines in the ground, the scents of the forest tickling his nose. One, no, two scents in particular capture his attention, and they belonged to none other than Aspen and her daughter, Dawn. Deciding that he should actually -try- to be hospitable, the Prince takes slow steps, though long strides, to get to where she is.
Tehya gets woken up by some strange sounds. She opens her eyes and looks around and wonders what that strange noise was. As the locusts start going again. She stretches her neck to look around and spots the giant deer again and wonders who he can be, As she then stands and stretches and lets out a big yawn. Then looks back and watches the giant deer going toward another deer. As she tries to remember what her mother called that deer.
Niabi has actually found herself much more excited than nervous about visiting the whitetails, which was a little bit surprising to her after all the thought she's put into what she needs to discuss with Roscoe. But once she got started on the long walk here, she found herself instead focusing on the other whitetails. Which of them are still around? And did they, as she suspects, have fawns? New life is always exciting, even if they're a different species. And she has high hopes that Aylen might find them less scary than the very full grown elk that make up the other half of the herd. Her daughter remains obediently by her mother's side, wary of these new surrounding. Niabi can't help but be a little wary herself as the glade comes into view, though the strong scent of other deer is reassuring.
Aspen's ears swivel, hearing the approach of Roscoe before seeing him, though it's not long after before she does spy the antlered buck. "Roscoe," she greets in a one-worded way out of habit. One word is less wasteful, as the male deer isn't known to be very .. talkative. But! Remembering their last conversation, she slightly shakes her head, as if dismissing her lackluster greeting to replace it with something more fitting. "Hello Roscoe. Good to see you." There! Much better. The smile that she offers is smile but genuine as she turns towards the approaching buck, moving to meet him. "Patrolling, eh? Nothing dastardly or dangerous that we should be wary of, I hope?" she asks lightly, though with a twinge of caution in her tone, even as her eyes shift to the side at the sight of small movement. Spotting the waking fawn, she smiles warmly and gestures in her direction with her head. "Someone's awake."
Roscoe's head lifts a bit as he hears his name being called, and then the greeting. Grinning faintly, he perks his ears forward as to acknowledge the female, looking down and motioning his head toward the fawn as well, to regard the smaller company. "Nice to see you both as well." He said, which was quite a mouthful of a greeting, coming from the Prince. Her question has him grinning wider, and he shakes his head. "Just returning, actually. And no, as usual, nothing to report." Letting out a sigh, he knows that this is good and bad news. Though the whitetail numbers have grown significantly since last year, he still wishes for a larger amount. Turning his weighed down head to the side, he sees Tehya stretching, and his ears relax. Good to see that she is doing just fine as well, though admittedly, he hadn't seen much of his piebald son in quite some time. A tug at his lips, and he forced his thoughts back into the now as his nostrils flared at the scent of a familiar elk; Niabi. With a blink, his tail threatens to raise out of sheer anger that she would show up here.. but perhaps she just wants to visit, and not chew him out for not watching after the elk? Unlikely, but still..
Tehya looks over at Niabi and wonders why she looks weird and very different from the other deer. As she continues to look at her. Her stomach decides to rumble very loudly. As she blinks and wonders what that was. She tries to say what was that but it comes out as. "wh w s tat."
When she finally spots Roscoe, Niabi slows but she shows no immediate signs of anger. Or anything, really, her eyes just drift from him to Aspen, who she remembers if not very well. A polite nod is given, then her eyes go to the unknown fawn, who gets a friendly smile. "Good evening," she greets all three, "I hope we're not disturbing you?" Half a moment behind her mother, Aylen glances with an mixture of curiosity and fear at the adult whitetails, shying away from them and starting to head for safety of the other side of Niabi, when she spots the fawn and stops in her tracks, surprised. Gaping at Tehya, the elk calf doesn't seem to know what to make of her.
"No news is good news," Aspen replies with a slight grin and subtle lift of her brows. "You'll miss these quiet days if ever they stray away from us. A thing, I hope, that's slow to happen.." said as her eyes are drawn towards Tehya. Mother instinct, it seems, even if she is not this particular fawn's mother. And with her two youngsters asleep (Dawn's not with her, though I might not have posed that well, sorry!) she finds herself wandering towards the spotted fawn, her expression warm and welcoming. "Hello hello," she all but purrs, pausing some feet away, which seems near enough to hear that tummy rumble. Suppressing a smirk, her ears press forward in concern. "You're hungry, hmm? If you're anything like my Dawn, you probably don't have any thoughts of even trying what's right in front of you, do you?" said with a chuckle as she lowers her head to nibble at the grass. But her head is quick to turn as Niabi's speaks, and her eyes flit to Roscoe briefly. Though as she glances back to the elk, recognition flickers in her eyes, and a grin begins to spread. "Oh, wow hello!" she offers amiably. "It's been...forever since I've seen you last."
The rumble of Tehya's stomach is what draws his attention backward, one ear flickering backward momentarily before he lets out a huff of breath, taking a few backward steps in order to push her gently in front of him with his muzzle. Keeping his eyes on Niabi still, he only looks away briefly in order to encourage Tehya to graze. Can't have his fawn going hungry now, can he? "Eat the grass, Tehya." He says gently, and then looks back off toward Aspen for a moment, then back to Niabi. Clearing his throat, he stands a little taller and a little straighter, looking the elk right in the eye. "Good evening, Niabi.." He said, though the politeness was forced. "What brings you all the way out here?"
Tehya blinks as the deer gets closer to her and then her ears flick forward as she listens to Aspen. Her ears then flick to side as Roscoe speaks to her. She looks toward him and tilts her head at him and tries her hardest to say grass? But it comes out "rass?" instead. Then looks over and spots the little elk and also wonders why that little deer looks different from the others also.
"Just shy of a year," Niabi responds to Aspen with a sheepish nod, "Good to see you again." Finally turning some attention to Roscoe, Niabi smiles, "I've come for a visit, just like I said I would. We do have a lot to talk about, after all." Never mind that Roscoe has specifically said otherwise! "But perhaps later. It's rather late in the day to be having a long talk. Aylen could use a rest." But the calf doesn't seem ready to rest at all. Indeed, Aylen takes a couple steps closer to the fawn and sniffs in her direction, before finally declaring, "You small!" Niabi chuckles, delighted that her calf has finally taken enough of an interest in something to stop clinging to her side.
Rass? Well, it's better than if she would've left the "g" /and/ the "r" off of the word! Aspen grins at the attempt and at Roscoe's interest in the little female. Not exactly the hands off approach at parenting he spoke of before, though she doesn't complain. His subtle changes are ... nice ones. She smiles to herself, though keeps the look subdued as she glances back to Tehya whose interest seems to be caught by the little...elk? "Oh," remarks Aspen, as if noticing the other youngster for the first time. "Congratulations," offered to Niabi kindly, seemingly holding no hostility towards the elk, who in the past had been rather kind to her. But as her eyes stray to Roscoe, noting his dominant stance, a hint of question rests behind her gaze. But her attention turns back to Tehya as the little, yet larger, elk approaches. She keeps an eye on them. They are just fawns...er, a fawn and a calf, and so fear of hostility isn't what she's wary of. Aylen is just so much larger, but she isn't going to keep them from interacting unless Roscoe says otherwise.
It's true that Roscoe wasn't holding up to his 'hands off' parenting approach, but truth be told, he was taking a bit of advice from Chanson, in some way or another. The other buck hadn't specifically spoken about anything that Roscoe should've done; of course not. More like, Roscoe was borrowing some of his actions. To treat a fawn with kindness wasn't overwhelming it with attention.. and he wasn't exactly nurturing his daughter in any way. Just showing a bit of affection, that's all. A very light chuckle comes from the large stag, and he takes a small nip at the grass too, though not enough to suffice for even a bit. "Yes, guh-rass." He says, accentuating the 'g' sound for Tehya's sake. It's when Aylen comes closer to his fawn that his head lifts, and he watches for a moment, unconcerned, and then turns back to Niabi. "You two are welcome to stay within the glade tonight if you would like, and we could have our talk in the morning." This is said with a respectful nod of his head, understanding that Niabi would be tired, as would her calf. There was no point in forcing what would be an unpleasant conversation, anyway.
Tehya looks at Roscoe and tilts her head some as her ears flick toward him. Then looks down at the stuff they seem to be talking about then looks back up at him. As she concentrates hard and finally succeeds for once. "Grass?" Then looks over at the Elk calf and looks up at her questioningly as if asking. What kind of weird deer are you?
The proud smile that spreads across Niabi's face makes her "Thank you" to Aspen almost unnecessary, but she says it anyway. "You too?" she asks, with a glance towards Tehya. She nods her thanks to Roscoe, glad that he isn't going to start out being difficult at least. But most of her attention gradually turns to Aylen, as she finds her calf's first real interactions with someone else fascinating. The calf matches the fawn's look, but after a moment she adds, "Hi." After all, that's what mom's always telling her to say to strange deer.
Is that a giggle? Oh yes it is. Aspen can't stifle the sound quickly enough to fully smother it, and she ducks her head a little, averting her eyes. Oh no. She wasn't giggling at you Roscoe. Hearing the usually reserved and aloof buck accentuate /guh/ rass for his young daughter's safe wasn't undeniably cute. Nope! Clearing her throat briskly, she turns her attention to Niabi, following her glance to Tehya. "Oh, no. .. Er, well /yes/, I mean, though this one isn't mine. I have two others. Male and female," she informs with a note of pride evident in her tone. Tail shifting against her haunches, she perks as her eyes turn to Tehya, beaming as she speaks the word correctly. "Very good!" she commends, nodding to her encouragingly. "That's right. Grass. Though 'hi' should be easier. Can you say 'hi' to the little fawn?" ... "Calf, I mean? Hi," she says again, grinning.
It took him a moment to realize that Aspen giggled, and it took him /another/ minute to realize that she was giggling at him. Raising his head taller, he clears his throat and lowers his brows. It wasn't funny.. Tehya couldn't pronounce something, and he was just helping her out. Though he meant nothing with this stare, he did so nonetheless. Before a small grin broke, of course, when Tehya pronounces the name of the foliage correctly. "Yes. Grass." He finalizes, though Aspen had did that for him already. Taking a step backward, he blinked, and fell silent. Talking about calves and fawns wasn't his thing. So, he wouldn't participate.
Tehya looks up at Roscoe for a second. Then her ears flick forward toward Aspen as she hears Aspen speak to her. She looks over at the calf and tries her hardest. "Hi." Then looks around and spots a cricket hopping around. As she then goes chasing after it.
Let's see, that would make at least three fawns, wouldn't it? Niabi smiles, glad that the whitetails have done so well. Pity she couldn't say as much for the elk, but perhaps this year will be better. "Congratulations," she says with a smile, "Children are always such a blessing." Though the fawn is very fascinating, Aylen hangs back and just watches, reluctant to leave her mother's side for just a cricket.
Aspen slightly puffs out her cheeks to hold back whatever other giggling attempts may try to slip past her mouth, staring back at Roscoe owlishly. The air in her cheeks is let out in a huff before she smirks at him, elegantly lifting a single brow. "What? Is it my fault that you seemed /almost/ cute with the way you helped your daughter?" said with that same smirk, tone light and teasing. An ear twists to Niabi before her head does, and her congratulations is met with a grin and nod. "Thanks, and yes they are. Our herd is fortunate to have had so many, and they're all doing well." Brown eyes drift to Tehya as she darts off after something or another, and she chuckles to herself, glancing back to Aylen. "Is she always so shy?" asked curiously.
Again, Roscoe does well to keep his inner frustration hidden. Not that he's very frustrated at all; /talking/ to his daughter was something in itself, much less correcting her in a slightly comedic way. So, he could understand if Aspen was laughing at him. Keeping his smile, the buck watches the two children, but shows no concern for if they're at a safety risk or whatever. The calf seemed nice enough, really shy, which was a bit of a relief considering that the whitetail fawns were generally a hyperactive bunch. So, Roscoe rolled his eyes and chuckled lightly at Aspen, before his eyes moved back to the calf and fawn. "They certainly are." A blessing, that is.
Tehya as she is chasing the cricket. The cricket changes directions and starts heading toward the calf. As she is still looking at the cricket and not realizing she is heading straight toward the calf. She looks up at the last second and tries stopping and ends up tumbling right into one of the legs of the calf. She blinks and looks around with a puzzled look, "hat appened?" As she then gets her legs untangled then gets them back underneath her as she stands back up.
Ah, so the fawn is Roscoe's. It might have surprised Niabi to see Roscoe behave that way, except she's seen plenty of males fall for their children in her day. Most of them just didn't have quite so far to fall. Of course, Niabi would be lying to herself if she thought that Aylen hadn't changed her, nevermind that she's had calves before. "That's good to hear," Niabi responds to Aspen, "I don't know how you manage everything with more than one at a time." By which she means the pregnancy, actually having them, and then raising them all: everything. Turning her attention to her calf at Aspen's question, Niabi sighs a little and says, "So far, yes. She was born while I was on my way here, and we've only been here a short time. She hasn't had much of a chance to me anyone besides me." But Niabi hopes that Aylen will ease out of it on her own. Aylen bleats a worried, "Mommy!" when the fawn runs into her, quickly regaining her balance and running around to the other side of Niabi. Niabi is quick to offer a soothing, "It's okay, it was just an accident."
"They certainly keep me busy, and they have even before they arrived. I don't remember ever being so hungry in my life," Aspen laughs, shaking her head at the memory of her insatiable hunger. "And it had to be just the right type of grass or leaf or they weren't satisfied, and neither was I." She smirks to herself while watching the young whitetail collide with the startled Aylen, though like with her own children she leaves Tehya to stand up again on her own. "Speaking of hunger.." mused as her stomach gives a quiet rumble, "I should be off to feed before the fawns wake." A look to Roscoe, "I won't be gone long."
What happened? Unfortunately, the red-eyed buck wasn't paying too close attention to his daughter as she collided with the calf, and so the sudden shout of 'mommy' had him a bit discombobulated. With the threat of his tail raising, Roscoe's ears flew forward and he stared down wide-eyed at the two children, before he let out a breath and grinned. "Careful, Tehya.." he said in a soothing sort of voice for once, and took a few steps forward to gather the small fawn back to their side of the conversation. "Can run into others.." his voice is laced with a bit of laughter, and he looks back up to Niabi. "Sorry about that, she's still working on controlling those legs of hers." One ear flicks back at Aspen's announcement of leaving, and he nods his head.
Tehya her ears flick toward Roscoe as she then looks up at him and tilts her head some. AS she is starting to get use to talking but has not quite got it down pat yet. "Who ewe?" As her stomach then rumbles again. As she has already forgotten about the cricket and calf.
"Oh, I understand," Niabi says quickly to Roscoe, "Been there, done that." Still, she fusses over Aylen, making sure that the calf knows that everything is perfectly alright with a couple of comforting nuzzles. We can't have her first time meeting another young deer turn out to bad, can we? Aylen eventually settles, and almost immediately starts watching Tehya again. Seems she's not going to let a little thing like that put off her interest in the fawn.
With Roscoe's nod, Aspen wastes no time in moving off towards other parts of the forest. "Good to see you," spoken to Niabi in departure, for leaving without a word would be something beyond rude. A slight smile, then the doe is off, disappearing within the shadows of the brush and trees.
Roscoe's brows raise slightly at the question posed by Tehya, and he blinks as well. "Who am I?" he asks, correcting her as well. "I'm your father, Roscoe." He says, and bends his head down to give her a soft nuzzle once again, though that's probably just about enough affection. Fathers were there to protect their families, not to overwhelm their offspring with affection. That was what the mothers were for. Unfortunately for Tehya, her mother was once again, missing. Not unusual, but it still worried him to an extent. Eyes shifting over to Niabi, he takes in a breath. "On your way back, you hadn't happened to come across Tix, have you?"
Tehya tilts her head at Roscoe. As her ears stay turned toward him. "Your my fafthy?" As she then turns and looks over at the calf and tilts her head some. "Who you?" Then decides she wants to imitate the big deer and lowers her head and tries some of the grass but has trouble in keeping inside her mouth at first.
Frowning at the question, Niabi shakes her head, "No, I didn't. And the deer I smelled were unfamiliar to me until I was nearly here. Should I have?" But if he's asking, that means that he doesn't know where Tix is either and that can only be troubling. Aylen starts a bit when she's spoken to, but is quick to answer, "'m Aylen. Who you?"
A frown forms across Roscoe's maw, and he shakes his head. "No, it's no problem." he says, and forces a grin for Tehya's sake. "Yes, I am." he answers her question quietly, obviously a bit disappointed and saddened at the fact that Niabi hadn't seen the doe on her travels. But, no reason to put a damper on things. Not when everything was going fairly well. Again, he dips his head and nudges his daughter gently over toward Aylen. "Go.. play with her." he says, unsure of what 'orders' to give her. All he knew, was that he needed to be going soon. That would mean that Tehya would have to join him for at least a portion of the trip, until she was tired enough to rest here in the glade, or until a doe was available to play the babysitter. So, the longer she had to play with Aylen, the better, for her sake.
Tehya blinks as she is nudge toward Aylen. She looks at her as her ears flick toward her. "Your name is maylen?" As she then tries to say her name. "I am Tehya." Then looks back toward Roscoe. "Did I get it rite father?" As she then lowers her head again and gets some grass and manages to keep it in her mouth this time as she chews on the grass.
Niabi quirks an ear at the 'no problem', but doesn't comment. She knows that Tix is prone to wander, but if Roscoe's asking about when she came back and not since she's been here it means that Tix may be wandering very far indeed. "Well, I'll let you know if I see her first," she says, figuring that's all she can do at the moment. Actually looking herself is out of the question until Aylen can accept a babysitter so that Niabi feels free to go to slightly more risky places; since arriving she's been careful, feeling somehow that she needs to make up for the danger she's already put Aylen in by having her while she was traveling. Aylen, in the meantime, quickly says "AY-len" very carefully so that the fawn won't make another silly mistake with something as important as her name. Then the calf resumes her quiet observation of the little Tehya deer.
Really, Tix had been on his mind a lot, but he wasn't /too/ worried about her. She'd only gotten into trouble once, right? And that was quite some time ago. With fawns to protect, the mother doe was surely more careful with herself as well. So, he remained calm as usual. "Thank you," he began, and nodded his head, "I would appreciate it." What's this? Roscoe, showing gratitude? Unthinkable! His head dips down a hair, and he grins at Tehya. "Yes, you did, Tehya. Very good."
Tehya smiles and jumps around for a bit. Then stops and looks back over at the calf Aylen. "Oh Aylen." As she then suddenly lets out a yawn. "Excuse me there." As she then looks around the glade for a bit and searches for something but does not find her. Then looks over at Roscoe. "Where is she?"
Niabi merely nods to the thanks, not thinking too much on the fact that it was given. She's too busy trying to decide how worried she is, feeling sad that this means she won't likely see Tix soon, and wondering the same thing as the fawn. She says nothing, but keeps her expression neutral in order to avoid upsetting Tehya any further, especially when she notices that the mood is starting to cause Aylen to look to her mother with a hint of confusion on her face.
Roscoe wasn't expecting a great reaction from Niabi due to his apology, and thus didn't really pay attention to her acknowledging nod either. His focus was on Tehya, who he knew would have to come with him if he were to leave the area, and he did have to leave now. Keeping his eyes on his daughter, he blinked at her question, and took in a breath. Avoidance was a good way to get out of this situation, he figured. "Come, Tehya. We have to be going. Say goodbye to Aylen now, and we'll see both her and Niabi shortly." Turning on his hooves, the large buck didn't bother waiting for the little doe very long, though he did keep his pace slow so that she could catch up easily.
Tehya looks over at Aylen and lets another big yawn. "Well it looks like I have to go now. Bye Aylen. It was nice to meet you." As she then turns around and slowly walks away. Hopefully giving time for Aylen to say bye also.
Niabi sighs inwardly at Roscoe's avoidance of the question, but can hardly blame him in this situation. Deciding it's probably bedtime, she turns as well to find a nice place to spend the night, near but not quite in the glade. Aylen is quick to follow her mother, but she turns to look back at the fawn, still intrigued. "Bye." the calf calls back quietly, before the pair disappear behind the trees.