[Hopetoun] Doolally Frogs

[Vega]

20th Ashan, 721

Wren had been with them a few trials now.

On the first trial, he had cried a lot and Vega had held on to him whenever he did. She never told him to stop crying, or even that everything would be alright. Vega knew it was important not to make promises she couldn't keep, especially since he didn't know her well. So, she'd held him and comforted him, but not promised what she could not promise. Then, she'd told him stories, tales of their lives and legends - she'd talked to him about where he was, things like that. And, in the last few days Vega had discovered that Wren was a very serious young man who thought about things, considered things, and liked to ask questions. That was fine with her, she let him take the time he needed and she never minded answering questions. They had begun to develop a relationship, the two of them, and she was happy to take that at the speed appropriate to Wren.

Her personal goal was that the boy would smile.

He didn't, Vega had noticed. Most children did, even when they were in situations which were traumatic. It seemed to her that serious was Wren's default position. That was fine, but she couldn't quite help but think that it wasn't fine. Vega was not inclined to deep thought or such. Instead, she was a bundle of instinct and her instinct was that this was an opportunity.

But words were not going to cut it.

"Hey, you," she said, sitting down next to him, and she held out a small bunch of flowers she'd picked. "These are for you. I thought, if you wanted, we could start a few projects together. They're things I'm goin' to do, an' I'd like you to help, if you want?" Wren accepted the flowers and examined them. "Thank you, Vega," he said quietly and then, with a slight glint of interest in his eyes, he wondered. "What are the projects?"

"Well, I'm righ' glad you asked, Wren." She grinned. Vega, in contrast to the young man in her care, smiled a lot. "I've got three things what I want to do. First one is that I want to make a book, with all the flowers an' stuff that we find here." Gesturing to the small bouquet she'd just given him, she nodded. "I thought we could dry an' press whole flowers, an' then put them in a book. On the left-hand side, there could be the pressed flower, an' on the right hand side there could be facts - not just about the flower itself but about times we've seen it, or used ir - or even stories about it. What do you think?"

Looking at the flowers intently, Wren considered it. Then, he nodded. "What are the other projects?" Wren looked at her with a curious gaze, and Vega knew that he was genuinely interested. That was good.

"Well, the second one is that I want to start makin' arrows an' things. An' I want to teach a few of the folks here. I wonder if you'd help with that?" Wren glanced at her with a questioning gaze. "I'm not good at that kind of thing," he said. "I don't know wood work."

"Well, no. But that's the third project, see." Vega smiled as he looked askance at her. "I want to teach you wood workin' an' do that by us makin' a sort of archway, with the words 'Welcome to Hopetoun' on it, an' either side of it there'd be a tall fence, an' in that will be carved the story of Hopetoun, an' how it came to be." She ruffled his hair, fondly. "I already asked Darius, an' he's happy. I'm not good with letter an' stuff, though. Arlo taught me to read a few arcs ago, an' I want it to look good. So, you help me with the letters an' things, an' I'll help you learn woodworkin'."

Wren frowned slightly, concentrating on her words. He looked at her and there was a query in his gaze, but he didn't speak it. Vega smiled and answered the question he hadn't spoken.

"You're right," she said. "I'm doin' these things to help you. But that isn't the only reason I'm doin' them, far from it. They're things I've been thinkin' of since we got here, an' so I'm using wantin' to spend time with you as an excuse for doin' them."

With a sigh, Wren nodded. He liked it, Vega knew, when his questions were answered and his worries were put out in the open. "I think it's important to keep busy, an' I promised Hart I'd help you the very best I could. Plus," she said with a smile. "I can't go runnin' off huntin' an' stuff can I? I've got a baby on the way, an' I need to find things to do what mean I won't go doolally."

Wren raised a quizzical brow. "Doolally?"

"Yeah, you know. Like, when you're so full of up worry an' stuff, or you're that bored, or for whatever reason, that your brain feels like it's bubblin' inside your head an' then, with a poppetiping, it feels like you're jus' gone too far, an' you're cooked. So, you cry. Or laugh. Or sleep. Or start talkin' to yourself or hallucinate frogs."

A ghost of a smile flickered across Wren's face. "Frogs?"

Vega nodded seriously. "Doolally frogs, aye. So, we doin' this then? Together?"

After a moment where he considered it, Wren nodded. Vega grinned. "Excellent. Thanks for savin' me from the doolally frogs. I'll try an' do the same for you. Lets get supplies then, shall we?"

[Vega]

20th Ashan, 721

Putting the flowers in a press was easy enough. They had plenty of supplies which they could lay on top of them. So, Vega and Wren arranged the flowers from the small bunch which Vega had brought him, laying atop a piece of parchment. Then, when they were happy, they put another piece of parchment over that one, and then put it between two large flat stones which Arlo used for cooking when they were camping overnight. These, she put in a box and put that in a warm, dry area of the camp.

"Right, Wren, we can give that some time I reckon." Vega patted the bench where she was sitting - and Wren sat next to her. "I made this," she said. He looked down in some apparent surprise. "It's beautiful," he said. Vega smiled. "I tell you what else it is," she said. "It's useful. Look." She'd made the benches back in 717, when Arlo was off on some weird nonsense with U'frek and she'd been making sure that she was useful around the camp. "When you're livin' an' travellin' in the wild, like me an' Arlo do," she said. "Space is important. So, I made these. See, they fit exactly into our cart, an' I made planters what hang off the back, see?" Wren watched as Vega showed him where the planters hung. "Then, the seats lift, see, an' that's where we store all our stuff, when the cart is movin' - with the planters hangin' off it, still. So, we're travellin' an' growin' things."

He looked at the benches, or specifically the one that Vega wasn't sitting on, and she was impressed with how much he explored them. He was working it all out, Vega thought. Really working it out and thinking it through. When he was done, she smiled. "So, what I want to do is for us to make somethin' that's beautiful, an' functional, but what is also useful. Useful in every way it can be." Wren nodded. "I like that idea," he said and Vega beamed. "Good. Right. So, what we're goin' to do, is you an' I are goin' to put together a proposal. An' then, we're goin' to send it to Darius. After he's given us the ok, we'll get started on it." Wren considered this and nodded again. "Alright," he said.

"Ok, so, if we're goin' to have an arch, it should be in a fence. So, you reckon we should put this where the docks are goin' to go?" Wren nodded his head. "Awesome. Right, so maybe a big arch, with torches of yellow dragon wood on it? You seen that stuff?" Wren shook his head. "Well. How many times have you seen me addin' wood to the fire since you arrived?" Vega asked and Wren frowned slightly, thinking about it. "I haven't," he spoke with a slight tone of surprise. The camp fire had been burning, after all. "That's because it's Yellow Dragon Wood. It's well handy, it is. It burns an' burns an' never burns out. Actually, that's a point. We should ask Sir Chip if he could grow a Yellow Dragon Tree for us." Shaking her head slightly, she made a mental note.

"So, warm torches what are always lit, an' a sign. The story of Hopetoun, an' a board, maybe. Anythin' else?" Wren thought about it, considering the thought of what people might need as they arrived. "A map?" Vega grinned and nodded. "We could carve a map, an' then it can get added to as the place develops. Or, if they move things around, a new map in it's place. That's a great idea, Wren!" He looked at her, a sudden glance that seemed to be checking if she meant it. She did, quite obviously, and he looked pleased.

It wasn't a smile, Vega thought. But it was a start.

"Righteo then, let's start writin'," she said, and started to write but stopped before she got any ink on the paper. "You wanna write it?" Vega asked and the serious young boy took the quill and then lowered his head to look at the parchment. Vega did the same and, heads touching as they did, they wrote the proposal to Darius.

[Jackalope]

Experience: +10 xp

Knowledge:
Skill
Caregiving: Always be honest, it puts people at their ease.
Caregiving: Address worries to help someone.
Caregiving: Sometimes, giving someone a job to do is a means of looking after them.
Psychology: A serious demeanour can be a personality trait
Psychology: Keeping busy can help someone overcome worries
Psychology: Make goals fun and hopefully, they won't feel like work.

Skillplay: Appropriate to level

Loot: None.

Injuries/Overstepping: None.

Renown: +5.

Comments: Wren smiled! Well, he almost smiled. A ghost of a smile. But who wouldn’t smile at doolally frogs?

I’m glad this thread exists. I’d been wondering how Wren was going to adjust, and how Vega was going to adjust to having Wren. The idea of keeping the serious young man busy while also involving him in doing things to improve Hopetoun was a brilliant idea. And the reveal of what doolally frogs refers to, and how it fits in with the theme of the thread was fantastic.

Let me know if you have any questions/feedback. Enjoy your rewards!