Well, he was ready to help, but instead he was left blinking dumbfoundedly, staring as Carja utterly decimated the tree like a chew toy. ”Uhh, okay,” was all he said to that, taken aback. Well, she was big, he guessed.

Attikias cleared his throat, shook his head, and walked forward. ”Do you eat the whole deer, though? I mean, I can still hunt for everyone-- You’re still a guest, and I’m not gonna make you do everything around here.”

After all, he wasn’t the one literally dragging trees across the camp. ”Set it over- uh, there, I think,” he thought out loud, pointing towards an emptier spot and walking towards it. ”I could probably use this for a new hut…” His hand idly came up to scratch at his jaw, thoughts rolling in his head as he lowered his axe.

Well, he might not need to use the weapon, anyways.

He perked when Carja spoke again, blinking. It was a clearly unspoken ‘what’s up’ look, head cocked and hair falling to the side.

Oh. ”That looks like it hurt,” Attikias rumbled out loud with a faintly humorous tone. Part of it was laced with concern, but- well, he was genuinely kind of impressed. ”How’d that happen? I’ve never even seen one up close.” She probably tried to hunt it or something, or decided it might taste good- does she like fish? He glanced down to the tree. Maybe he could get some fish for her.

His eyes trailed back up at the mention of his children. ”Well, one’s a quarter deer. But it’s not really that weird.” Right? He blanked for a millisecond before tuning back in. ”I mean, I’m friends with Thalia’s dad, who’s a full on deer. And a Master’s a deer now. I think if I tried to hunt them they’d kill me before I even had a second chance about it.”

He tried to laugh, but it trailed out, realizing the severity of just how small he was. No- it was fine, and he shook his head and returned to smiling.

”How about we try and clear a sort of area like, as a whole? Push back the treeline evenly, in case we wanna use the space for some more things, too. It’ll give you more room to take off too, I think.” He hefted up the axe to point as he said all this, gesturing to the line of trees with nothing in front of them.

Attikias blinked a bit faster at the answer. Three? For him, a deer could last for- well, a while before it spoiled, but- well, maybe he'd have an excuse to get more leather now, then. Still. Three. Wow, yeah, that did make sense for something big like her, but he still shook his head as it set in. "No, it's fine- i mean, we can both do our parts? I still wanna make you that saddle, and the spiced food, too. It wouldn't be enough to fill you up all the way- maybe you don't have to eat three at a time if you ate kind of our portions?"

He rumbled, digging the point of the axe into the ground. "Maybe not. Deers, uh- we don't eat a lot at a time. Maybe double our portions- I'll show you when I do cook next." He gave a wave of his hand, and returned to business.

Right. Attikias took part of the tree that she dropped to nudge it closer to some vases, careful not to nudge them as he rolled it. Yeah, that might be good wood to use. He nodded to it, leaning on the axe as he was already gauging uses for it in his head.

He turned to Carja when she spoke again. "Really? You don't know what saved you?" That could be possible- after all, it was dark in the water, sometimes, and he didn't want to imagine the panic that had raced through her at the time.

As she returned to the area, he trailed behind her, dodging her tail and carrying the axe. "Yeah." As if he needed to, he pointed from the awkward statue to the pile they were making now. "I don't think it needs to be that big into the trees if we make it long. Maybe? I don't know how much space you'll need, really." She landed fine in his camp, but what about taking off..?

With his hand out on the axe, he stood leaning once more, watching. A wince came when she slammed into a tree. "Here- yeah, maybe do the dragging and I'll get them started for you." Now that looked painful.

Clearing his throat, Attikias stepped up to the plate as she dragged the fallen tree away, readying himself. He hesitated amoment, glancing about the tree to get it just right, before slamming down the weapon into it with a solid 'kaTHUNK'. What he didn't account for, though, was the feedback his arms got at the shock, and he shut his eyes tight to it. Right. Okay, that hurt. But, it probably felt a lot better than literally slamming yourself into it.

And so he went to work, cutting into the thick tree with his new weapon-made-tool.

Attikias had nodded as she spoke, listening while he kept on working. He wasn't certain if adjusting to their food schedule would be easy, but it'd be worth the try anyways, right? One axe hit another tree, and he felled this smaller one, stepping about and working in tandem with Carja.

Big and tentacled? "Huh," was what he said to that, pausing briefly. He hadn't seen anything like that, but he couldn't go deep into the water anyways. He'd never even seen much of Redfangs, either. "I haven't seen much bigger than you." He let himself rest on the nearest tree, rubbing at his jaw in thought.

He paused as she looked up. "Those trees? Even if they are big, I don't want them to break under you or something. 'Sides, you'll need a place to land, or keep your stuff if you want to, or something." He shoved at the one closest to him, testing its cut. It should be good for Carja to shove, and he moved on to the next, wearing away the plants in notches.

"Spices? It uh-" he thunked the axe into a tree- "makes your food taste different. More flavor. It kinda hurts if you eat too much, but if you powder it up it's real good." He reared back again, aiming to swing once more. "Do you uh- you know how some things are hot when you eat them? Not temperature, but like as a flavor? A lot of them do that." He glanced up to Carja, thinking. If she hadn't had them before, might be good to start small. Then again, he didn't know how much he'd need to spice a whole bite for her. It'd be a lot larger right? His tail flicked in thought before he turned his attention back to his tree, shoving at it. "I think this one's good."

And he continued on to the next.

Attikias's breath had grown labored over the course of this, but they certainly were making progress. Stopping for a moment, from his axing and prep for Carja, Attikias leaned back against a tree and wiped sweat from his velvety brow.

"That'd work," he rumbled, sliding down just a bit and fanning himself with his shirt.

It took him a moment of cooling off before he shot up, his muscles complaining at the movement. "You wanna take a break? I can show you to the river," he spoke as he shoved a thumb to the wide path.

It'd certainly need to get cleared if Carja wanted to fit through, but hopefully it wouldn't be that bad.

Attikias nodded and let his tool rest on the tree he was just leaning against, stretching out as well as he stepped forward. "Right, then! I could use a drink myself," he spoke as he stretched out his arms on either side.

Once he was done, he followed behind Carja, his hands clasped behind his back. "Ah, yeah- a lot don't stay around here anymore, but they show up every so often. Hopefully you'll get to see 'em all eventually."

On their way to the river, he'd tell her of Thalia and Vivilene, Hunter and Angela, all of his children- adopted or not- their little quirks and what it was like to raise someone. Love poured through his every word, as he filled up a small canteen for himself, as they worked off and on for Carja's nest.

It was obvious the man had love for his family. And, it was obvious, too, he'd accepted Carja into it.