mykidisthebest

[it's a dragon he recognizes, with some of his crest feathers askew and a twig stuck between his horns]

[his tail flicks in surprise. he didn't know anyone else was wandering around oops]

Charon? What are you doing out here?

[how honest does he want to be

...]

Attempting to preserve the illusion of competency.

What are you doing out here?

[...that first sentence says more than enough]

Catching cute fluffy forest critters for Aides and Mute to pet. Or whoever wants to pet them, really.

Want to help?

[inclines his head, much as he might in human shape]

How may I?

Can you smell any rabbits as you are right now? This time of day they're probably sleeping in their burrows. I was going to lure them out with food, but I want to make sure that if I do, I can find a mom and all her babies.

I can smell somewhat better than usual like this, yes. Though I don't know where to start distinguishing by type of rabbit.

[slithers out of the bush, wings flicking to shed plant debris]

No need to distinguish by type. Just see if you can smell three or four of them together. They don't usually group up like that unless it's a mother and her kids.

[motions for Charon to come closer so he can pull the twigs out of his horns]

[sits by him like a cat to let him do it, tail coiling neatly around his feet]

I do smell rabbit, but not in the entirely immediate area.

Really? Darn.

[gestures towards the underbrush a few yards away; there's a small burrow hole nestled near the roots of a tree. and then he finishes picking shrubbery off of Charon]

There's a burrow there, but the last two I came across were empty too. I think they've been clearing away from the edges of the forest since there's more foot traffic coming in and out now.

Hmm, even this deep? Well, we can track them down. --thank you.

[shakes his head to fluff his crest out again]

Did you want to take the hay ovr there--?

Yeah, they like the hay. It's a treat for them, I think.

[scoops the hay back up into the bag; if there's a lil dirt and moss that comes with it, well, the rabbits won't mind.]

Lead the way.

[folds his wings as tight against his back as he can so he snags on less of the greenery, huffs the breeze, and then decidedly stalks off in a more bnnuy direction, as requested]

[throws up an illusion around them as they go, just to keep interference down, and falls into step a little bit behind him]

[he has no skills that enhance stealth or anything. but even in this shape, barring not always being able to judge when a wing or tail will brush against something, he moves very quietly.

pauses when he spots the occupied burrow, putting a red dot of illusion to mark it for Lethe while keeping his distance]

[gives him a thumbs up and quietly makes his way closer to the burrow; at some point he simply vanishes when he activates his stealth skill, but a bunch of the hay appears and makes a line from the burrow over to a spot a few feet away.

Lethe reappears next to Charon and takes a seat on the ground; he keeps his voice low, but not to the point of whispering]

They'll come out on their own in a bit. As long as you don't move you won't startle them. It just takes time.

Mm.

[after consideration he just settles flat to the ground to wait, both his primary and rudimentary eyes closing to narrow slits]

[that seems to be the plan. Lethe gives his dragon shoulder a little pat and settles in to wait; he curls his tail around himself in such a way so that it is barely touching Charon's tail, and doesn't speak. though he keeps still and silent, Lethe lets his eyes wander, taking in the forest, the quiet burrow, and Charon himself. there's nothing else to do, after all.

and it does take time. it's close to an hour before there's any movement from within the burrow, the scuffling of a curious rodent that might be interested in poking its head out.]

[Charon is very versed in the art of the long wait -- not just from home, but when he kills game in the forest it's as an ambush, never a direct engagement. he might as well be a statue but for his meditative breathing.

one set of his eyes opens wide at the scuffling, however]

[Lethe sits up a little straighter, eyes bright as a lil nose pokes out. it takes a few more minutes, but a rabbit does fully emerge from the burrow to sniff at the hay; it seems aware of Charon and Lethe, but is not running away. only points in their favor.

when it has comfortably munched on some of the hay, Lethe holds out a hand--it gets a small, wary startle out of the bunny, but it hops over to sniff at both of them curiously]

If she lets me, can I put her on your back?

[a bright little YES illusion appears on the ground in front of him]

[ehehehehehe

it takes a minute for the bunny to warm up to Lethe, but, well, sixty seconds is actually really fast for a wild animal to warm up to someone? he is scratching her under the chin in no time, and she allows herself to be scooped up and deposited onto Charon's back. her lil bunny nose sniffs at his scales as she INSPECTS HIM to make sure he is an Approved giant lizard.]

Edited 2023-10-19 00:17 (UTC)

[he waits until she seems more settled to speak up, wanting to disturb her as little as possible]

This is why you tame and train monsters at home, I presume.

[she is doing a bunny flop right on his back and rolling herself around; Lethe is hovering to make sure she doesn't accidentally roll off of Charon's back]

Mm, yeah. It's not like this with every animal or monster--if it's aggressive, like the gatordawgs, then it's way harder. And a lot of monsters are naturally aggressive like that. But most animals are neutral, so I just have to bribe them a little. Wild bunnies are wayyyyy easier to deal with than a griffon, for example.

[oh my god. he does not really have an idea what is going on, because he cannot see the bunny, but he does very slowly lift his wings a bit to make, like, something she can roll into instead of off]

The rabbits where I am from are extremely aggressive, but at least these are a milder sort. How do you intend to retrieve the kits?

Edited 2023-10-19 00:33 (UTC)

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