Simple Hearts Will Be Prized Again

[cryptoherpetology]

WHO: Alex Price, Karen Page, Kat, YOU (OTA)
WHERE: Inn Records, Kat's House, Schoolhouse, Somewhere Outdoors
WHEN: Dec 1-15th
OPEN TO: Karen, Kat, OTA
WARNINGS: Mention of Dead Animals (Mice)

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Lions, Tigers and Bears Sound Quaint (For Karen Page)

Alex has been spending more and more time in the inn since discovering the records, especially since Tony's mining expedition and the snake hunt. Mostly, he's been adding to what notes he can- especially for the ones he's been studying up close- mostly the fever snakes, since he's been handling those so much lately, but there have been pages on the snake bats and peacock cats added as well, since he's had so much experience with them up-close of late.

It's the ice mice that have him here today, with some anatomical sketches (including some that are clearly drawn from references of dissections) and as many of the field notes he's taken that he thinks will be useful. He isn't expecting to find someone else when he comes in, but smiles pleasantly when he spots a familiar face.

"I was starting to think this place was being haunted by the ghost of a librarian," he remarks to the woman he'd met in the corn. "It's Karen, right?"

King of (Birdlike) Cats for Kat

The peacock cats tracks aren't exactly like a domestic cat's, but they're similar enough that Alex can, after a couple of hours in the woods, he's able to locate a clowder (or would it be a flock?) of them. Most of the adults want nothing to do with him, and the juveniles are jumpy- except one, which has him confused at first, until he notices the way it's favoring three out of four legs.

When he arrives at Kat's door, the peakitten's left forpaw has been bandaged. Having just come from the wild, it's a good deal less plump than the litter he'd been fostering. Despite the frostbite, which he thinks might be the result of a failed attempt at preying on an ice mouse, and maybe some slight malnutrition, there are no other problems he can identify with the cat.

Boudica had just about thrown a fit with an unfamiliar cat in the house for as long as it had taken to bandage the poor thing up (he'd sacrificed one of his pillowcases for the cloth), so it'd been clear he couldn't keep it. Kat was the first person to come to mind- her notes on the animals here were enough to convince him that she wouldn't have any issue taking care of it, and she'd mentioned being interested in one.

Of Ice Mice and Men OTA

The mice in the schoolhouse are getting bold, if you ask Alex. Not quite as bold as he's used to mice being, given the... unique nature of the Aeslin mice that lived with his family. Thinking of their songs, their little shouts of "HAIL!" and the countless hours of theosophical debate almost makes him feel bad about the small knife he sends flinging through the air at the one he sees skittering across the plank wood floors, skewering it in place.

They're keeping his knife-throwing skills sharp, at least. Pun not intended.

Where There's Smoke... OTA

Like most people in the village, Alex is the type of person who runs towards screaming, so when he hears a surprised shout and the FWOOMF sound of something spontaneously combusting, he does just that. The fire isn't terribly large- enough that between the stomping of heavy hiking boots and armfuls of snow, he's able to smother the flame before it does too much damage.

"Are you alright?" he asks, checking his boots for signs of the treads melting, and finding them mostly intact. "No burns or anything?" It was hard to tell if the shout had been in pain, panic or both.