James had finally gotten the support beams up and secured in the ground, and after a hard-earned break (and a nap), he was back to work. But framing a roof was a lot harder than he initially thought, especially seeing as he didn't have hands.

"Come on-", he cursed, finding winding and knotting a Hell of a lot harder than tying a simple knot with telekinesis and pulling on both ends with his teeth.

Especially seeing as he had a whole branch in the way. He'd at least managed to get off the smaller twigs and branches off the main one, this one being relatively straight. if he could just get these two triangles situated, he could start laying branches on the roof and tying those down. Alas, he had no hands, or even fingers. Just two stumpy hooves and his teeth.

Finally...

The vine wound around, up and over, up and over, in an X shape before tying itself straight. Perfect! He set it down and looked at his pile of branches, sighing. Only... that more to go.

@Sharp @Aerie

Pegasus had enraptured her ever since she'd first set paw there. The long, winding cave, the vast river running through, the way the birds sang pleasing songs that whistled through the wind. Sharp loved it even more than Eridanus, and the lizard found herself creeping back time and time again.

And, sure enough, it was as beautiful as ever. The moment she stepped through that rugged entrance she was hit by a gentle wind, the smell of wildflowers and mulch, and the sight of a beautiful meadow before her. The cave lights twinkled in clear air, but some mist still clung to the woods. Her plated chest rose, and fell, taking in the fresh air. Ah, what a wonderful location.

This time, though, she wasn't alone. Her elder child Aerie was snuggled up in her little bone cart, sleeping peacefully. Er, she hoped they were sleeping, and not messing around with the joints. The dragon was quickly outgrowing it, and she worried if she'd need to build something even larger to keep up. For now she just covered the conspicuously large gembound with a rough pelt and prayed the wagon held together.

A bit of laborious cart-pulling later, and Sharp caught sight of a (comparatively) massive gembound trying to put together... something. They were tall, and a funny dark brown, with big wings and a flowing tail. They stood before a various collection of logs and branches arranged haphazardly across the field, almost as if they were making something...

Well, this looked like a job for Sharp!

She diverted from her route and climbed up the short bluff to reach him. "Hey, Big-wing-friend! You need help?" the sungazer called, dropping her steering bone to speak. "--'Cause I gotta say, you look like you need help. And I'm very good at helping."

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@James

James' crest flew up and he turned his head to face Sharp, blinking.

"Oh- hello," he said, "I recognize you. You were a part of the tasks that the Three Kings gave us, right? I'm James."

He slowly stood up and stretched, grunting as his bones cracked, "Ah- I was the skinny brown deer-looking thing. I didn't have wings back then."

He eyed the cart and his eyes softened at the sleeping child within. He waved Sharp over and stood before the branches he had.

"Cute little tyke you have," he said softly, "What's their name?"

Looking back again, he smiled gently, happy to see Sharp taking such good care of the little one. James looked back and tried to use his magic again, hoping it worked. He carefully looped the vine around this L of branches, trying them together as well. Okay, two down, um... 12 to go! At least they were a countable number now.

@Sharp

So today I logged onto the Origin-dot-soundtrack-howl-dot-com and thought "oh shit"

The horse, luckily, saw the tiny lizard among the grasses. She couldn't exactly say the same for herself-- all those blowing weeds were really obstructing her vision, especially from the low angle she was constantly stuck in. But Sharp took a closer look when he started talking and-- lo and behold-- he was that strange horse from Orion!

Man, it really had been a long time since then, huh? She was just a tiny hatchling, covered in soft scales and digging through the dirt. There were many other gembound at the Three King's meet she waddled upon, and the stallion sure was one of them. But James was right-- he didn't have funny-feather-wings back then, nor that impressive crest. Or size. But hey, everyone changes from time to time, right?

"Oh, oh! James! Dark-hoof and Big-wing friend!" Sharp gasped, too excited to explain her strange nicknaming system. "You were that skinny brown thing, yes! I didn't recognize you at first, there were so many people there!" She kneaded the ground with her scaly feet before padding over to James.

"This is Aerie!" She swished her tail in the direction of the sleeping dragon. "I like to call them Fuzzy! They're a very, very special lizard you know! They have cool horns, never stop growing, do this funny thing where they float off the ground... lizard things! But enough about us..."

The sungazer turned back to the unfinished structure, careful not to disturb the slumbering child behind her. A few logs and branches forming the skeleton of a hut, slowly woven together by James's magic. Sharp didn't have magic like that, but she did have long fingers and determination, which probably worked just as well. "Need any extra paws for that? I not big like you, but I am pretty good at slipping into the small cracks and tying things up. Plus a bit of experience working for this white puppy. Of course, I do have a fee... but we can always discuss that once we're done, y'know? Building comes first."

So many long words! Marketing an engineering "business" sure is tiring. But she could never turn down a potential opportunity, and what better opportunity than a frustrated novice builder she knew (albeit only barely)? "Sound like a deal?"

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@James aaaaaaaaa

"You were smaller then, too," he said jovially, I would love some help. My lack of hands means I can't tie knots as efficiently as I'd like. I of course can handle the larger things like setting the beams in place using my magic, but the frames for the roof are causing me some trouble."

James nudged the frame they had, a triangle of three branches, tied securely, "Like this, only it would take me days to finish all of it, and it would take a lot of energy."

He had everything he needed. Clay, sticks, and dried grasses for the roof's thatching, more clay and stones for the walls, and of course, thick, sturdy branches and vines. More than enough, he was certain of. But of course, a lack of hands sorely hindered his progress.

The pegasus turned and picked up one of the triangles, setting it down on the roof and carefully balancing it with another leaning against a tree, setting a long tree trunk along the top.

"Quickly," he urged, "Come up here and secure these, please, before they fall."

@Sharp

The horse was nice, which was great! Sharp looked up at him with big eyes as the pegasus arranged his logs and explained how his hooves were hindering the process. She subconsciously wiggled her fingers-- the lack of thumbs always made crafting a pain, but she figured she had reason to be grateful for them. But hands or not, the deal was set, and the lizard was bound to get something out of this.

She set her bone cart soundly on the grass, whispering a small "Stay right here, 'kay?" to the oversized dragon sleeping inside. James had set a wooden triangle against the roof frame ('Triangles are a good shape!') and Sharp quickly scampered over to secure it, grabbing a couple vines before scampering up the skeleton. It was really cool being up high, with the wind blowing in her face and everything. But now wasn't the time to appreciate the view! It was the time to build!

Sharp gripped onto the vine with her nubby teeth and pressed the tips of the logs together with her claws. With a bit of struggle, the tiny lizard wrapped the twine around and tied it to the best of her thumbless ability. She then grabbed another length and moved on to the next, occasionally looking to James to see if he had anything to add. Despite her small size she moved surprisingly quick and secured quite a few in a short time.

A small breeze blew through Pegasus, and Sharp was relieved that it didn't immediately collapse into a broken pile. The sungazer poked her head back down and looked at the massive stallion below her. "How does that look so far?"

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@James

James nodded once and smiled, "It looks perfect. I'll carry another one close to the other end, and then we can tie the longer branch on top of them to keep the whole thing stable while we do the rest of the frame."

He flew back down and grabbed the triangle in his teeth, fluttering up and setting it in position, nudging it before holding it steady, a hoof on the top as he hovered.

"Thank you," he said in relief, "I have a child on the way, too, and I wanted to have a nice house up and ready for them when they arrive. I may have bitten off a bit more than I could chew, but at least they don't need babysitting until they hatch, so I can rope my daughter into assistance."

There were some items other than sticks and branches laying around. A gem structure, shiny and big, a mosiac of colors. It was carefully sheltered under some leaves, and there were other things too. A pile of clay, rocks, some furs, even some stone dishes. Personal items, some of value, some only kept because of the use they had, like a cracked stone dish that was stained with fruit juice.

"So...", he said slowly, "What do you do? Aside from cart around the small one."

@Sharp

Sharp nodded happily as James grabbed another frame and set it into place. She seemed to do a nice job with the previous ones so she simply repeated the task: crawl over the frame with twine in jaw, weave it all together, finish with a flourish. Nice and simple.

The little lizard listened passively as he spoke and she worked. Let her eyes wander across the prairie when they were finished. He was a parent, hm? That must've been exciting! Sharp's motherhood was largely moments of anxiety mixed in with childish playtime, and she assumed James's experience must've been the same. The sungazer even built herself a new den too! They shared so many similarities. And that was cool!

"Mmmm..." Sharp dropped the line of rope she still held between her nubby teeth. "I collect shinies! Nice, shiny shines. And glowy things too. They make me feel good. I'm planning to set up a nice shop oneday, so I can get a lot of shinies just by doing things for people!"

Her spiny tail wagged gently against the logs. "Oh, and I have another lizard at home! Her name's Huma and she's the kind of lizard that has only two legs and big wings and fluffy feathers and a beak. Very special lizard, you know," She gave a wise sage nod. "They don't travel with me much, though. Just hang out in the jungle cave with their puppy friend. I have friends in the jungle cave too-- we call ourselves the "Edenfolk" but they were actually talking about moving here someday. I think that's why I came here to start with." Sharp's voice had transitioned from her "business speak" to a rambly, excitable babble long before she was done."Oh! I forgot how much I was talking," she gasped, suddenly back into business mode, "Sorry about that."

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@James

"Your family sounds wonderful," he said, speaking as he worked, the frame coming together much quicker than it would have with just him doing it.

James moved onto the second section of the roof, lifting up frames for Sharp to tie up. This was almost fun, or at least enjoyable with a friend.

"Shiny things are nice," he said, "You ought to go to the crystal caves, it's completely made out of gemstone, and it reflects like mirrors. I'm certain you'll love it."

He fluttered to the ground and started to set up wooden poles along the sides of the house for added structure and so he could layer the sides with stones and clay, making it stronger and more resilient to the wind and the elements. A house fit for his wonderful family.

"Thank you for helping," he said gratefully, "Having someone to help and talk to is lovely."

@Sharp

Sharp smiled down at James, her little teeth glinting. "They are!" she agreed.

The dark pegasus lifted up more frames, and the sungazer hurried to grab onto them. Place, tie, next. The grain of the wood felt so nice under her claws. All the while she hummed a little tune in her scratchy little voice.

James spoke again. Sharp's head snapped up at the words. "Gemstones?-- oop!" So enraptured was she by the idea of a cave made of crystals that she didn't notice the board slipping from beneath her talons. Silly Sharp. Her voice started back the moment she secured it again. "Well thank you, too! And-- gemstones! An entire gemmy cave! That-- Wow! I have to see!" her back leg scratched at her stomach. "Hm, I think I saw something like that! But it was just a tunnel, and I couldn't explore it much since there was a lot of fighting and funny-white-ground-stuff going on. Not a fun time." Not very fun indeed: from the perspective of a few-inches-tall lizard like her, watching the Polaris battle go down was like watching armageddon.

"You asked me what I do, right?" her spiky head poked down from the roof once she was finished with her part. "I'm wondering, what do you do?"

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@James