ORIGIN

Lichen keeps her head low, tongue flickering to follow those mouth-watering smells of hot food. It had to be close, it was almost all around her now and getting harder and harder to distinguish where it was strongest. They had to be close, surely. She'd managed to push her way through a something that swung open when she pressed her nose against it, and it was much warmer here. Yet the smell were all-encompassing and getting harder and harder to tell apart.

What she couldn't see was that she'd stuck her head under the bounty board, upon lifting it suddenly a loud 'WHACK' sounded. A dull pain throbbed as she, this time much more carefully, extracted her head from underneath the board. Slowly up righting herself, gingerly, as if she expected to be in a tiny tunnel; open surprise crossed her features when she found she could stand up fully. "Can you tell where anything is? It's too smelly." Lichen complains loudly.

It only then occurs to her, she may have been so absorbed in her hunt to find the source of the smell, she hadn't told Aurelle where she'd headed -- not that Aurelle couldn't manage on her own, but it was simply polite to not just wander away from someone who couldn't see, at least without saying something. "Aurelle? Auureelle? Did I leave you behind? Aurelle? Auurreelle?"

Needless to say, Lichen simply stands stock still, calling loudly. And would likely continue to until the call was answered.

Lichen allowed herself to be ushered into a seat, her face melting into an offended look at being called smelly, only briefly before she had to concentrate on chair. Needless to say, chair wasn't exactly a concept she was entirely familiar with. It took some feeling around but eventually, she managed to sit her backside into the seat. Her tail trailed out the back of the chair, giving her enough balance to sit back on her haunches. Her arms tucked awkwardly against her chest, like a rex, uncertain what to do with them now they were off the floor.

Naturally, she stared directly ahead, unable to see if she'd been pointed in the direction of other patrons; and thus seemed as if she was staring them down.

After a moment, Lichen seemed to remember she was capable of movement, and began brushing her palms against her own chest; dusting them off in a gesture that came across as nervous, of all things. "Am I doing it right?" She whispered to Aurelle, suddenly very aware they weren't alone now she could prick her ears and listen.

"There's so many objects in here." Lichen added, complaining in her hushed tone. She had no idea how Aurelle had managed to usher her into the chair, but it was impressive. Maybe Aurelle had been here for longer than she'd said. Lichen truly had no idea how her friend navigated through all these overwhelming smells and sounds.

Lichen had been about to complain about how there was too many objects in here. While an open space was a nightmare to navigate, so was a place so cluttered. If you bumped into something in your way, how could you be certain you were still heading in the right direction? But she merely sighed as she heard Aurelle pad off. Sitting wasn't something she did very often, though it was entirely uncomfortable; she just didn't know what to do with her legs that were off the ground.

Lichen gingerly reached forwards with her arms, claws tapping against a wooden table, she focused on feeling out the shape of it. Then, rested her palms on it.

Two pieces of fruit, three peppers, two fresh bones, five cups of grains, three bundles of fire wood and a fish as big as Aurelle's forearm. Mentally she repeated it in her head like a mantra.

"Well, if it was a good fruit, then.." Lichen began before mentally wincing, it didn't matter how good the fruit was, she knew how excited Aurelle had been for the hot food. The two likely couldn't compare.

Two pieces of fruit, three peppers, two fresh bones, five cups of grains, three bundles of fire wood and a fish as big as Aurelle's forearm.

"Fruit, peppers, bones, grains, wood and fish." Lichen murmurs, "the places that smell of wet peat could have them all. But, they're far away." She didn't know the names of the south-east regions and had only visited in passing. But, most of list needed water, so she thought.

"Polaris." Lichen echoed. It was certainly much closer than the south-eastern regions, and likely much safer too. No amount of coins was worth them getting hurt or sick, or worse...

Polaris was an overwhelming place, but safe, which is what mattered the most. Precious pennies weren't worth anything if they weren't alive to spend them. So, Lichen made a sound of agreement. "Yes, Polaris. I think that would be a good place to start." Lichen made a light noise, a rattle in the back of her throat, approval.

With a thought, she pulled Aurelle's shawl off of her shoulders and lay it across the table. They may not be able to carry too many things, only one of them even had hands after all. But Aurelle had nice, soft things too. The shawl being one of them. Leaning across the table, she pinches the corners of the shawl between gentle claws. If the shawl could hold shoulders, perhaps it could be turned upside-down and used to hold other things -- or at least offer some way that Lichen could aid Aurelle in carrying things.

She twists and turns the corners of the shawl, trying to tie a knot here, threading one corner through the others and...

Yes, yes! It was all coming naturally, even with such undeft claws. Just a little knot here, which she could feel with her palm and poke the fabric into place with another claw. She had to feel out how big the loop was, the gaps in the fabric. Then, ah ha!

Lichen lifted the bindle trimphantly in her claws, loose enough that it while holding it in hand, claw or jaws, there was still a decent enough gap to be able to slip a few items inside without needing to undo it. This was by far, her finest work yet. A pure stroke of genius, a real lightning in a bottle moment. An entire bindle made from a shawl.

The pride seeps into her voice as she speaks again. "Put your arm out." Lichen requests, her tail wriggles on the floor in her excitement. Aurelle was going to be so impressed, she knew it. They were going to be coin-having masterminds at this rate.

Lichen did, briefly, think about lying. Saying the idea came to her in a spur of the moment stroke of genius, and not the more probable, she'd noticed someone had something similar once. The idea of Aurelle saying that she was clever lit up the dim parts of her brain into big neon lights, that spelled out 'Aurelle thinks I'm clever' in a perfect shimmering display. Treasured compliments that she coveted and sought out, just for one little lie.

The less-lizardy part of her brain, chimed in to remind her, that lying wasn't something you were did to your friends and allies. As tempting as it was.

"I think I once noticed a gembound with something just like that." She reluctantly told the truth. The bright, sparkling lights in her brain dimming as the possibility of a nice compliment faded.

"Perhaps we could get more things like that, with the coins. And, we could put the coins inside of it too, until we get a coin holder." Lichen nodded sagely, not that she knew how big coins were, she certainly hoped they weren't goliath in size.