The Littlest Pavilion (Aiken)

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

3rd Fall, 510 A.V. Dawn After setting up a camp on the outskirts of the Sapphire Clan's territory in Endrykas, Sam had spent most of his time relearning what was dim in the far reaches of his memory. They were not quite a pavilion, not quite a herd, not quite a pack, but they were a windrunner, a Strider, two wolf pups, a kelvic, and a Drykas. It was a start. A seed. Sam had roused himself well before dawn, checked the campfire, and gone off, returning with a pail of water and a pail of mare's milk. He stoked the campfire with a fire-hardened stick, bringing the fire back to life. The mare's milk he set to warm so it would not be cold when the time came to feed the wolf pups; another species' milk was not ideal for the little beasts, but he was afraid that they weren't ready for raw meat yet. He would defer to Aiken, though. They did seem to love Sam, but Aiken was their adoptive father. He offered oats to Horse and Dohaina, who had been cropping the grass all night in their equine dozes, dreaming horse dreams. Only after they were taken care of did he start making his own breakfast, and something for Aiken if he wanted human food. He didn't bother looking at the tent, but listened for the emergence of the pups, who were generally noisy about their hunger. The sizzle of bacon and its cooking smell might very well wake them, though he hoped Aiken wouldn't give him that horrified look for feeding the wild things cooked meat. But Sam didn't have the heart not to give the poor things a treat or two when they begged.

[Aiken]

Aiken roused from his slumber slowly. He still felt how weak his back was, how the fur didn't seem to grow in just the same way as before. Despite this, the healing left him without scars or noticeable evidence he was ever wounded.

Carefully, he lumbered up onto four legs and trudged outside the tent. Just a quick whiff of the air brought in the delicious scents of cooking meat. If two-legs were good for anything, it was cooking. Aiken rubbed the side of his face against Sam's leg and sat down next to him.

The wolflings had been awake on and off through the night, still unaccustomed to being away from their mother. They had latched onto Aiken quickly, but they were still confused when he wasn't in lupine form. It saddened him, but he could only give them as much as he had.

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

Sam smiled down at the sleepy wolf and gave a sort of morning grunt of welcome; words weren't really necessary for most of their daily ritual, and he knew it cost Aiken something to change. A greeting needn't have him in human form. His hand reached down to ruffle the fur on the wolf's shoulders, and then he carefully picked a strip of mostly cooked bacon to share with him. The shape-shifter got grumpy when he was hungry, after all. The Drykas hummed quietly as he finished things up over the fire and scraped it into his bowl. Then he slid down cross-legged in the dirt next to Aiken so they could eat out of the same dish; he let Aiken indicate with his nose what he wanted and Sam shared it with him. The kelvic asked little safe affection, and Sam tried to make few demands upon him. Thus their partnership, such as it was, had little to do with mutual need, but rather a desire to travel together and now to remain in Endrykas together while the wolf healed from the glassbeak wounds.

[Aiken]

Aiken sat content in their little huddle, happy to pull a few scraps of meat from Sam's plate. He was ravenous, and couldn't muster up the spirit to change forms yet. It would only leave him weak, and he wasn't well off to have that be an issue. As much as conversation might have been comforting, he felt good enough knowing he could be close to Sam.

The living balls of fuzz started to rouse themselves, giving cute sighs and yawns as they stumbled around in their makeshift bed. They wouldn't be active for another few minutes, but it was warning enough that they would need to be attended to in time.

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

Sam had made plenty of bacon for the furry, four-legged ones. The rousing noises of the little ones alerted him to the fact that he needed to lay out more strips to sizzle and cook. Aiken, at least, could eat human food should the need arise, but Sam wasn't going to press him to shift forms until he was feeling better. In the meantime, he catered to the carnivores. While the new batch was sizzling, he ate a last bit of bacon and wiped the grease off on his hands before filling a pot with water. Next, he added a handful of herbs that he had already prepared. The smell that rose from the quickly boiling water was piny and antiseptic, and would likely upset Aiken a bit by now, but it seemed to be helping with the healing process. "I'll have to change the poultice when you're ready," he said quietly because he didn't have a way to say it without words yet.

[Aiken]

Aiken groaned with the scent. It smelled too clean, too civilized. It was the same as cough medicine to him; the stench made him want to gag, and then having to keep it on him for a long time only made it stay.

He stood up slowly and nodded. He would let Sam change the bandages, but he went to retrieve his charges first. They stumbled around, well away from the fire to be safe, and played with each other. Their yelps and barks and growls were just adorable as they bounced over one another for the strips of meat. Aiken laughed and laid quietly near Sam, waiting for his medicine.

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

Sam laughed with honest delight as he fed the little beasts, and glanced over to Aiken's furry face to grin, sharing the happy moment. They were a strange little herd, or pack, or family, but it was nice to have one all the same. Once they were sated, they returned to Aiken, who was their new father, to pester him as cubs were wont to do. In the meantime, Sam prepared the poultice with its astringent odor. It wasn't supposed to sting, so the inept would-be healer was probably doing something wrong, but it was keeping the wounds from infecting. He murmured a preemptive apology as he laid it across Aiken's back. "I'm going to have to find you a proper healer, someone with Rak'keli's favor, to make sure this heals right. Soon we're going to have to go hunting so we have plenty of food and plenty to trade for whatever else we need. Winter will be here before we know it."

[Mixcoatl]

The Lord of the Hunt is Pleased! The Lord of the Hunt showers you with gifts in joyous celebration! Sama'el Experience +1 Herbalism +1 Cooking Lore The Lure of Puppy Dog Eyes The Lure of Bacon Hey, Even Wolf Babies are Cute! Aiken Experience +1 Child Care Lore The Lure of Bacon The Adorableness of Children of All Sorts Additional Notes: Sorry I couldn't give you more for this thread! If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, don't hesitate to PM me! On that note, I now set off to find bacon, because this thread has made me remember its magical lure. I hate you.