(Anyone who wants a trinket made for them, stop on by!)

He'd been in Pisces for a while now, comfortable with his Mama and his new family to keep him company. Nothing was bad here, nobody looked down on him or sneered at him or called him useless (He still felt useless, but that was besides the point). But in his little walks around the lake and the waterfall and the hills and all the neat little crevices, he's picked up things. Long grasses, little pieces of wood, a sharp bit of metal, flowers and beads, among other things, all sat in a big messy pile in front of him. He didn't find anything to make those hand-wraps he had envisioned so long ago, but that was okay. When he was strong enough (or brave enough to wander away from what he now considered home), he would go and find those things.

For now, he sat next to the little ponds with the many silvered fish, wondering idly if they'd let him take some scales to make things with, or if he could dive down deep enough to go fishing for some. Could the fish talk? It would be interesting to set up a rapport with them, but if imagined that if breathing air was uncomfortable, then they wouldn't want to speak with him anyway.

He didn't really blame them.

He huffed a little and looked to his little treasure trove and picked up some grasses and some flowers, humming to himself. He wove it carefully, losing himself in the making of it, making it strong and tasteful, with little white flowers crowning the purple ones in the center. He held it and gazed at it, smiling to himself. Yarrow thought it was rather pretty.

Zevruu had been wandering around when he came across a new cave. Curious, he had walked in, only to find more water. Great. He thought he had left all water behind, but that appeared to not be the case. He figured he may as well explore. He was just walking along carefully when a sound alerted him. Turning, he found another gembound appearing to be...making something? What were they making? Part of him wanted to go check it out, but another part wanted him to just ignore the other. If he approached, chances are he'd have to talk. He didn't want to talk.

He hesitated for a moment, before deciding to just go ahead and approach. It's not like it's the end of the world if he has to talk, even though it may feel that way. So he approached and sat a distance away from the gembound and watched curiously. He set the baubled stone he carried with him down, placed a paw on it to keep it in place, and watched. When he had finished, Zevruu thought it looked to be quite pretty, in all honesty. But he didn't say anything, just sat there slightly awkwardly.

"Speech" l 'Thoughts' l @Yarrowfeld

When he was finished with the flower crown, he set it down next to his trinkets and looked up, then froze. A big creature that loomed over him was just...silently staring at him, watching him, possibly judging him, and he swallowed, making a noise as he did so.

"U-uhm-" He started, and he paused to swallow again. "Do you...want me to..." He looked at the glowing stone near the big creature's foot. "T-to make that into something?"

He waited for a response, a rapport, a nod, anything, though nothing came. The big cat-like creature just stared silently.

"I c-can put it into a wooden carving..." He said quietly. "O-or a necklace...or a crown."

He looked down now, biting his lip. Could he, though? Or would he just bungle it up and make something terrible? He didn't want to ruin the perfection of the glowing stone, or worse, make something that would eventually fall apart.

Destiny had been all a-wander for a long time, her attention stolen by something that lay heavy on her mind. on her own, there wasn't much she could do other than think and talk to herself quietly, her small bill chattering. At the very least, she hoped these awful headaches would start to die... Time had passed, and the platypus had found herself in a familiar room, one that filled her with nostalgia and momentarily chased away the awful premonition.

Picking up the pace, Destiny waddled around. A flagrant glimmer of light told her where she was born, but something else caught her attention before she could quite reach it. She heard a voice, or, no, a couple of voices! Excitement trilled through her chest and she approached with a tin warble. There was a bunch of things here. Little flowers, stones... small pieces of wood... All very sweet. And then she looked up, beheld their owner. The tiny platypus, only around 15 cm long, was dwarfed by both these strangers but she didn't care. Happiness at finding someone here, in her very birthplace, was enough to drive away the thought of what she'd been told.

"G'day!" she cried happily, with a greeting warble of her bill. She looked from creature to creature and eventually focused on the antlered one, who seemed almost a little like herself. She found him quite dashing! The thought showed on her face and she opened her bill in a wide smile. "You're so handsome!" she cried immediately. "Both of you!" The little platypus scurried around in a happy circle, before finally pausing to catch her breath. How did creatures deal with running this much?

"What are you called? Oh my, your collection is lovely." she nudged a little flower with her beak, her bright and opalescent eyes matching the small series of opal points on the back of her head. That damned gem...

@Zevruu @Yarrowfield

A new creature came up and saved him from his flagrant awkward mumblings, a sorry delving from any form of clear speech. He wasn't getting any reply from the big cat guy, not even a name, and Yarrow just grew shyer with each passing silent moment, his hands worrying themselves, his face flushing with heat.

So he turned to the new one who was quite smaller than him, and when she shone with a bright smile and a compliment, his whole face grew quite hot, and he wanted to hide in a corner. Handsome? Really? His brother was the handsome one, with his golden antlers and his pure white fur, not Yarrow, with his mud-coloration and his pale, scrabbly hands and his stiff back.

He chewed his lip and bowed a little to her, just as Mama said to, because it was polite, and he mumbled something to her because actually talking was beyond him at this point, and he looked at his trove, wondering what he could make.

He picked up some long strands of grass and began to braid them together, thinking he would make a necklace for her. It would be nice, wouldn't it? He kept his eyes down as he did so, but worrying thoughts dug into him, nervousness setting claws in him. The thoughts told him that making something that should stay strong and permanent out of grass was stupid and a waste of time because it would wither away or become brittle and fall apart in a few days. If he wanted to hang something from it it would be even worse. Feeling upset with himself, he set it aside and picked up the flower crown instead. He made this really well and he was proud of it, so he set it on her head gently and said that it was for her.

Of course he was going to have to talk. He really should have anticipated this. Giving a small sigh, he opened his mouth. "Uh, s-sure," he stuttered. He hated his stuttering, but he couldn't really do anything about it. "Y-you can make anything o-out of it."

As he was speaking, another gembound came up. Oh great, another? How many are there going to be? One was plenty enough for him. Despite the size of the other, Zevruu couldn't help but feel...intimidated? Perhaps not the right word. She seemed rather excited, a huge contrast against his and the hybrid's timidness. Or was he the only one who was timid...?

Nevermind that. Zevruu focused back on the two in front of him. He blinked in surprise as he was called handsome. Handsome? Surely he wasn't handsome. He was simply a serval, not even a very large one at that. He was small for his age, and he knew it. He always walked with a cautious step, and moved rather slowly. There was no way he was handsome.

The hybrid was now making something for the platypus, but it seemed as though he had failed. He then put on the flower crown he had watched him make earlier. Zevruu had to admit it looked quite nice on the platypus.

"Speech" l 'Thoughts' l @Yarrowfeld

Grinning happily and bouncing on her large flat feet, Destiny seemed not to notice the awkwardness of the two creatures before her, although after a few moments she settled down and allowed her belly to sink down onto the ground, as though she was lying down. Although with this little creature, there wasn't much difference between lying, sitting and standing.

And then she looked between them both, turning one way, glancing the other, and smiling happily. The brown one mumbled. He must be shy. Destiny couldn't help but feel sympathetic, and she smiled in what she hoped was a comforting way. perhaps her entrance hadn't been the best for these two in particular... the little one liked to put others before herself but she just got so excited at the thought of new faces, and all these new friends! She cleared her throat, raised her head and tried to be calm. "Name's D-Dest'ny," she lisped calmly, and bowed as deep as she could towards the creature who'd now bowed to her. She couldn't get very far, but her bill made a small tapping sound as she put it on the ground and her large flippers splayed around her head.

"Aha- A'm sorry, not very g-g-good at this. It ah... c-comes with being so short..." she gave a chittering laugh, which trailed away as she watched their cute little hands moving about something. She tipped her head to one side, eyes bright and wide as she wondered what they were doing. Soon they put it down, whatever it was they'd done, and she was about to offer some encouragement when they picked something up- a little ring made of flowers. How beautiful~!

"Did you make that?" she asked, her eyes so full of wonder.

How Destiny adored flowers! The little one looked amazed, astounded, and also... confusion entered her face as he placed it on her head. it rested nicely onthe growing crystal spires and she gently nudged it onto her brows with a large flipper.

"F-for me?" she asked, looking dumbfounded. And then her face, once more, broke into a wide grin. "Th-th-thank you! O-oh, this is wonderful! I do so love flowers! It's so very b-b-beautiful, th-thank you, thank you!"

@Yarrowfield @Zevruu

Yarrow looked between the two guests of his he had, noticing that they both stuttered just like him, and were both shy in their own ways. Sure, she might be really bubbly and happy, but he of all gems could hear that hesitation in her voice, the unspoken question of overstepping bounds and not knowing where they even were. He met their eyes and smiled a little at them, feeling more at ease - especially when she complimented and thanked him for his gift.

He grinned bashfully at her, fingers interlocked. "Y-you're welcome..."

Feeling happier than he remembered in recent days, feeling at peace with knowing his gift was appreciated and loved, and that these two might understand how painful shyness felt - he dug through the treasure trove and picked a solid block of wood that fit nicely into his little hand, and the sharp bit of metal wrapped with cloth at the blunt end, a makeshift knife.

He looked at it, seeing what he wanted from it, and took a deep breath and started to carve. Quick, big chunks were gone first, then smaller ones, more decisive ones that gave rough detail and form, and he lost himself in the making of it. After a while, a cat-like form began to take shape, with a decent pocket in the left shoulder and a little ring carefully made in the middle of the shoulder blades.

He had no idea how long he was taking with this, not at all. He looked from his carving to the big silent one who came first, and soon his carving took the shape of a serval. He picked up the glowing stone delicately from the ground and put it into the pocket he made, and it slid with a soft click, permanent and in place. Yarrow held it out and looked at it, to the big one, and back to it, made a few little adjustments here and there.

Then he dug into his trove, setting little flowers and bits of things aside, and found a long piece of leather that hid under a pile of long grasses. He twitched his lips, wishing he'd known it was there so he wouldn't have wasted his time, but he threaded it through the ring of the wooden serval and tied it with a hoop knot.

He held it out to the serval silently, smiling. Would he like it?

Zevruu watched vigilantly as the hybrid began to make something for him. He found it quite fascinating to watch his nimble fingers carve away at the piece of wood. He seemed to be completely focused on the wood before him, not even paying attention to anything else. Some time passed, and before long, a cat-like form began to appear.

Zevruu continued to watch, eyes wide in wonder. He blinked at the hybrid took the stone and placed it into a pocket on the wood. After a few adjustments were made, he watched as the other picked up a piece of leather and threaded it in the ring, and then handed it to him. "I-It looks good," the serval murmured, sniffing it a bit. The phrase was perhaps an understatement. Zevruu thought it looked absolutely amazing.

"Speech" l 'Thoughts' l @Yarrowfeld

Looking happy, abashed, and proud as she stood as tall as she could on her short legs, Destiny wanted so desperately to run around and find a puddle where she could see herself and the flowery crown that now adorned her tiny head. Bouncing around for a moment, she scurried over to the nearest puddle, only metres away but still quite the trek for such a tiny creature. As she reached it, she was panting; but she looked down at herself, and twisted her head this way and that s that she could see the flowery crown in all its glory.

It might have been a little bit big; if she leaned forward it fell down her brow, but the back of it was held in place by tiny prickles of fire opal and Destiny would like to think that she'd grow into it, someday. "It's p-p-perfect!" she cried in amazement, bouncing and breaking into a ferocious waddle on her long journey back towards her new friends. Arriving back, only a few feet away, she was panting again, but she was also smiling, and her dancing eyes were bright with awe.

She was glad she'd returned when she did; for now, she got to watch the hybrid at work. Staying silent as she watched his delicate paws move as she imagined he might need some kind of peace and quiet, Destiny was truly and utterly fascinated, seeming completely hypnotized right until the moment the finished art was held out towards the serval. "Oh! It's you!" she beamed, as if it wasn't obvious already. "It c-c-captures the real thing very well. Yes! It's so... amazing...!" she breathed out happily, looking completely and utterly stunned.

@Yarrowfield @Zevruu