#fenixtj

"Tabby shouldn't be out here, Mamacita must be worried sick!"

The kitten squeaks in protest, it was exploring and was doing just FINE thank you.

A shuffle, scuffle sound, and then, "Um. I'm not stuck. I just like it under here, it's nice and cool and out of the sun. Do you have any more of those cinnaminnies? I can camp out for days if I have enough rations."

"Pooka? " She turns and sees "Oh CONNOR! THAT's where I seen that tail before"

"Ariel? Jack said he saw you, and you had new friends here, and he talked about it for HOURS and since he's a pooka I knew it was all fibs so I had to come see for myself." His voice muffled from under a bench

"Is this your friend, Ariel?"

"We should help him out. And oh, Tabby..."

She takes the kitten and scolds. "You are supposed to stay in the library!"

"Eh!" Goes the Tabby, looking rather pleased with itself.

Two dusty white hands poke out now, and he squirms a bit. "Maybe just a tug?"

"We can try!"

Tabby is placed gently down, and she reaches for one pooka hand.

"Oh this isn't fair. Rivervale folk are coming here all the time but we can't dart into Rivervale?"

"Jessica said no."

Ellie's hand grasped, and he gropes for Ariel.

Ariel takes it, and pulls

Tug!

It takes a bit of tugging, and then a soft rrrrippp sound, and the boy slides free! With a small tear in the back of his pants where he got snagged. A blink, and he sits up, twisting in a circle to check it out. "Oh, snacks. Miss Kerri is gonna scold me, this is the third time I've torn up my clothes this week."

"oo sorry"

"Oh no! Maybe Miss Maria or Miss Rosa could help?"

"But first, the kitten has to go back to Mamacita."

"I learned not to try staples because they look okay first, until you try to sit down." A doleful look, but then a silly grin.

"Oh, ouch, yes." She retrieves Tabby-kit, who is already crawling off in a new direction.

"Who is Mamacita? Oh, wait. Important first." He stands up and bows to Ellie. "I'm not sure if playbows count. I'm Connor-sometimes-buddy, Ember of Rivervale at your service. I practically run the place, but Ariel, I don't come here all the time, this is my first time only ever. And I just wanted to find a tree."

"Hello, Connor, Ember of Rivervale. I am Countess Eleanor Hyacinth de Violette." A proper curtsy.

"Mamacita is the mama cat, she has four kittens."

"A Countess, that's important, right? I'm not that good at my counting once I get into the big hundreds. FOUR? That's not so many to count. She should just make sure that she has one for each paw, and then she can keep track!"

"Except this one keeps escaping!"

"I try to do the timeses and divides but they are boring, and sometimes there are other things outside." He nods sympathetically to the little one. "It's hard to behave sometimes when the world is more interesting."

"She is a very bold kitten, yes. Come, you must meet Mamacita."

Ariel says "oh sorry, I should have introduceed. I'm off today " The satyress says

"I thought you were Ariel." A cheeky grin.

Ariel rolls her eyes

"Constance has named Mamacita Marion, who is a librarian. And they live in the library, so it works." Leading the other two.

He trots along, wide eyes taking in whatever they pass. "It's so warm here..."

"Yup.. your pants are open it's letting the hot air in" A pause "And hopeuflly not out"

"Isn't it? Much warmer than PA..."

He laughs at Ariel. "Tell me about the jesters? Is it like a circus? I've never seen a circus."

"OH, we have them visiting! Some will get to stay, and there's two pooka and two piskies..."

"Tonto is a buffalo, and he's almost as big as a troll!"

"A Buffalo! Those ARE big. He should come to Rivervale, though, because then they could do a play about Paul Bunyan and his blue ox. If we have enough blue dye, that is."

A little giggle. "That could be funny. He tells funny jokes."

"You have to have lots of jokes around, when you live with Trolls. Sometimes they forget to laugh. Except for Sir Vali, sometimes he forgets to be serious."

"And then there's Bonk, and Bonk's an armadillo pooka, and he's very goofy and silly... he's louder than Tonto..."

"OH, Sir Vali is a Beaumayn! Like me!"

"Oh! They are fun. He's always filled with jokes and stuff that makes people go..." And he rolls his eyes overly dramatically and gives a big HUFF "Like that. But I like his jokes. He's my...." He wrinkles up his forehead, trying to make sense. "My almost-sister's not-dad?"

She considers. "I think that's how trolls laugh."

"Oh, I gotta go!" Ariel says "I forgot I promised.. oh I'm sorry.. be back later." Whatever she's got to do she's late..and no catching a satyress

"Ope..."

He watches her go, appreciative of the speed. "I could catch her if I wanted to, but she has something important to do so it's best to let her go."