Not all those who wander are lost

Kyle Washington. Wanderer. Hunter. Adventurer's Guild Master. He/him. (Roleplay blog for ThistleberryHQ.)

[faithraines]

Birdie nodded as she took back her sketchbook and picked up the pencil, “Oh, I can see that, gotta have the big portrait to remind people who you are when you stand next to it.” She flashed him a quick grin before putting pencil to paper and starting to sketch - not as precise as she would usually be - a rudimentary idea of what that would look like. She looked away for a moment to roll her eyes at the weevil, “Annoying little thing, it probably wants the candy in my bag.” She shook her head before pausing her doodle, looking up at him with a smile, “I will definitely consider it. Hm? Oh, well, before I began work on my next masterpiece,” she teased, “I was sketching people dancing, having fun, being happy - I’m abysmal at the dancing myself but I like watching it, you know?” Okay, maybe abysmal was a bit of a strong word but she’d shied away from being the center of attention ever since her parents had disappeared, not wanting any more questions or sympathies that the dancing seemed to bring with it.

[kyle-washington]

"Yeah, 'cause otherwise, people definitely wouldn't recognize me," Kyle joked, though his demeanour was still relatively deadpan. They were a small community, and anyone who had been around a long time knew everyone else's business. They knew Kyle's father, knew of his brother's disappearance, and so they knew Kyle, the man who had taken over his brother's job out of some mix of necessity and grief.

"Can I take a look?" he asked, pointing at her sketch book and stepping a little closer to peer over her shoulder. She was talented, that was for sure. Kyle's talents were more along the lines of being able to take down a deer with only a single arrow and not waste any of the meat or fur. "That's the beauty of the flower dance," he said. "You don't need to be a good dancer. It's just about the vibes. About having a good time. Sometimes about flirting."

[emberapatow]

"Hey now! No such a thing as too many compliments, especially not to a pretty face like yours," Steph said, doubling down instead of stepping on that break. But she did make a mental note to seek out Elio and see those unbottoned shirts. Both to tease him about it a bit and to admire, of course - can anyone blame a girl for it, really? "And really, can't tell me people just don't compliment you - if they don't, they are just too dumb or something, too used to you. Cause I can't really imagine they don't notice those cheekbones."

All compliments were forgotten, however, when Kyle mentioned hunting, Steph's eyes flashing with enthusiasm, her entire body visibly perking up at the offer. "Of course I'd love to! You don't even have to ask, I'd be ready now if we could go, I absolutely want to go hunting next week." Was she over-enthusiastic right out of the gate? Possibly, but she didn't really care. The guild was one of the most interesting part of the town, she wanted to take part in its activity as much as possible. "How long have you been part of the guild, by the way?" she asked.

"That sounds like a very interesting--" she started but then stopped. Sure, from the outside that's nothing but a new adventure. Steph would have possibly even liked nymphs showing up at her own wedding (preferred mermaids, not that there was any wedding or any relationship even in sight for her), but then she thought of Renzie and Emilia and their wedding. "Yeah, no, I take it back, that must have sucked for the couple. I know Renzie and Emilia wouldn't have wanted anything like that - well, Renzie probably would have explained it all away, even here he finds ways to explain anything and everything into being not-magical. Is there any place around town, would you say, that could be good to-- you know, fully convince him. But also not to traumatize him right away, either."

[kyle-washington]

"And you never seem to run out of 'em," Kyle chuckled. Most people weren't as forward as Steph. Kyle considered himself a pretty confident person, but even he didn't usually have the ability to compliment people as brazenly as she did. Perhaps he was worried it would be misinterpreted. Or perhaps he was worried someone might actually take him up on the offer of some kind of intimacy. He wasn't sure he was in the right place for such things. "People compliment me. They say 'wow, Kyle, nobody brings me as much meet and fur as you do' or 'your dog is so well-trained'. He gave a small shrug, sipping his beer. "My cheekbones just don't usually get as much attention as you give 'em, that's all."

Kyle loved when people were eager on the opportunity to hunt with him. He liked sharing his passions with people, and though there were many in their secluded region that enjoyed the woods like he did, many of them were more at home in their coffee shops and libraries. "I'll tell you when I'm planning on going out. I go almost every day, though, so it might not need to wait until next week, if you're that eager."

One thing he couldn't fault Steph for was her enthusiasm, and often, that came in the form of asking questions. "I've been out hunting, fishing, exploring in the woods pretty much since I could walk. My father was Guildmaster when I grew up." He was so used to people in town knowing the Washington family history that he didn't often need to explain it. "But official membership started when I turned eighteen. We don't accept anyone younger. Safety reasons. But they do often come on camping and hunting trips with us, if they're interested. We just try and keep 'em away from anything more ferocious than rabbits and deer."

[missraynie]

WHO: open! WHERE: the beach

even though she can't swim, there's something incredibly magical about the beach. the water is the perfect temperature, the sand is glistening, and there's still a couple weeks before she has to return to her classroom, to set it up for another school year. for the moment, life is peaceful and serene. she looks up briefly from her book just to take in the scenery. when she catches someone's eye, roselle gives them a smile. "hey, how's it going?"

[kyle-washington]

Kyle was very much a to-each-their-own kind of person, but he couldn't understand how someone could read on the beach with all the festivities going on. Kyle could barely focus enough to read a book in the silence of his own home. He'd much rather be out doing something. "Not bad," he shrugged. "What's the book about? Must be pretty good if you're able to ignore all the music and dancing."

[ephcmcral]

finn rolled his eyes as he swatted away kyle's hand from him. his hair may appear a tousled mess, but getting it to look that way took time and effort. "you'll get- stop. i don't want sand in it."

he brushed his hands off against each other to rid them of sand and reached for his beer, taking a sip. with his free hand he picked a couple of rocks up from the sand and turned them into windows as he neatly placed them onto the castle. "blasphemy, dude. i would never do that to my flower beds."

[kyle-washington]

"Aw, I'm sorry, little sand prince," he snickered, shaking his head and withdrawing his hand from Finn's hair to go back to sand castle building. Finn was very protective of his hair. It was cute. It wasn't that Kyle didn't enjoy looking good. He did. But most of the time, he was more concerned with practicality than style. He kept his hair buzzed relatively short for ease.

Whenever Kyle thought his wits had outdone Finn, the little shit bounced back. He always made Kyle laugh. "Okay, so no sex in Finn's flower beds. Got it." You could tell Finn was artistic by the care with which he placed the stones on their creation. Kyle never would have thought of that. Following Finn's lead, though, he gathered a few shells, attempting to arrange them to look like roof tiles. "Don't worry, bud. Lots of other kinda beds out there."

[misterturnip]

"It's pickled turnip juice, actually," he corrected, which didn't add to his defense whatsoever. "Picklebacks were all the rage in college, you know. Alcohol contains high level of histamine which gives you nasal congestion anyway."

Adrian took a mint anyway, indignantly popping it into his mouth. He didn't know if Willow had the same appreciation for collegiate rituals as he did.

He took another sip of beer in contemplation of Kyle's inspirational preaching and choked it down as terribly as he had the first time. Somehow it tasted worse the more he drank it and it certainly wasn't giving him any confidence to approach Willow without a tray of turnip pastries.

"But what if she says no and thinks I'm a creep? I live next to her. I'll have to see her when I go and collect my mail and it'll be incredibly awkward." Adrian cut a look toward Kyle. "Besides, if it's so easy, why don't I see you asking anyone?"

[kyle-washington]

"Pickle juice, pickled turnip juice, it's all the same." And all equally terrible. Kyle hadn't exactly been planning on kissing Adrian any time soon (or ever) but if that had been on his mind, the thought would have left him faster than a speeding bullet at the mention of pickled turnip juice on his breath. "Bro, I barely understand anything you just said." Kyle wasn't exactly the most educated of guys. He had a lot of lived experience, but not a lot of booksmarts.

Fortunately, Adrian seemed pretty accepting of the beer Kyle had offered him. He just hoped wherever she was, that Willow hadn't got any whiffs of the pickled turnip drink. "Why would she think you're a creep? Lemme tell you something, bro. Most guys who are actually creepy, don't worry about coming off as creepy. They're all ballsy and overly confident. Asking a woman to dance at a dance-themed event isn't creepy."

Adrian's question caght him a little off-guard though. Rarely did people challenge Kyle in return like this. "Well, it's pretty straightforward. I don't have a crush on anyone like you do on Willow." There were a few people he found attractive, but he didn't exactly lie awake at night wondering if he should ask them out. "But if you want me to show you, go for it. Pick someone. I'll go ask them to dance right now." He looked out at the party, gesturing with his hand.

[ephcmcral]

"yeah?" finn smirked. "what're you gonna do about it?" he rolled his eyes at the comparison of him and pixies, unable to stifle a small chuckle. "oh, blah blah blah. finn's so dainty. really original. you're gonna hunt me down? and then what?"

he picked up a small stick from the sand and with great precision stuck it into the growing castle. it was... a flag, or something. "you think?" he laughed, one eyebrow arching as he considered it. "you should come by my studio sometime, patrick. really get your hands dirty."

[kyle-washington]

Kyle shook his head with a low chuckle. Finn was definitely dainty compared to him. Kyle was a large, burly man, whereas Finn looked like he might blow away in a strong gust of wind. "Don't worry. I don't hunt for sport," he teased. "Only for resources." He reached out to lightly ruffle the back of Finn's hair. "Couldn't make very much out of this pelt."

He wasn't trying to flirt, but somehow he felt as if he was doing it anyway. He continued sculpting the sand with his hands, trying to get it as square as possible. "Yeah? You going to cover me in clay so I can cosplay as the Statue of David, or roll me around in the flower beds?"

[faithraines]

Birdie chuckled as she shook her head, running her fingers through her hair to fix it even slightly, “I think that’s very sweet of you to say, but I think I could have held my own even better if I hadn’t let it trip me.” As he approached she looked up at him with a smile, green eyes twinkling as she shook more sand from her sketchbook, “I have to be honest, I really don’t, I use it for stuff like this,” she flipped through her sketchbook for a moment before finding a page filled with drawings of various flowers, and handed it to him, the flowers on the page swaying as if caught in a summer breeze, “I’m a lover, not a fighter…usually anyway.” That took her off guard, The Adventurers Guild had existed long before she had and she’d always assumed that she was not the kind of person fit to join it - she believed the pen was mightier than the sword, but that might just have been because the sword was too heavy for her to lift. “You could? I wouldn’t have thought the guild had much need for an artist - headquarters looking a little drab?”

[kyle-washington]

“Touche,” Kyle answered with a small chuckle. Being aware of your surroundings was certainly a quality the members of the Guild should possess, but nobody was perfect. Kyle was more used than most to being consistently vigilant, but even he hadn’t noticed the weevils bothering party-goers at first. “You know, I was thinking of acting like some old British King and having a big portrait of myself hanging above the mantle along with a coat of arms,” he joked, making a little hissing noise as the weevil to usher it away as it considered stepping up to them again. “Naw, but for real, I might be handy with a sword and crossbow, but we don’t have many members who use magic like that. Just a suggestion, is all,” he shrugged, sipping his drink. “Whatcha drawing?” 

[emberapatow]

"I can't not compliment somebody this pretty and cool," Steph smiled, especially enjoying that smile of Kyle - it was something rare, from what she learned so far. "I'm doing fantastic. I really love events like this - I grew up in a small town similar to Thistleberry -, and everything is pretty and fun. What about you? Are you enjoying yourself?"

She gave a small nod. "Always looking to learn, yeah. You never can know everything and the guild is fascinating and really exciting - I know I haven't been part of it for too long, but I wanna do well and learn how to do it well. It's the chance I never thought I could have to a more exciting world than just our own normally. And I want to be able to get awesome at things as fast as possible." The guild was one of the strongest reason she was so excited to move here after Renzie told her he bought the cafe here.

Steph took a sip of her drink as she followed his movement, absolutely looking at both the part of his side that was revealed to her (can anyone blame her) and then at the knife attached to his belt. "That's hot," Steph said without even thinking twice about it. "And practical, of course, it's practical too. Okay, what was the wildest or strangest situation that has turned into guild business? Something that you never could have predicted, like at all."

[kyle-washington]

"You flatter me way too much. You know, Elio is walking 'round with his shirt unbuttoned. Make sure you save some compliments for him, alright?" Kyle wasn't too used to this kind of attention. Sure, he was handsome enough, but most people weren't exactly going weak in the knees over someone who frequently walked around covered in gunk and monster blood. He guessed for someone drawn to the Adventurer's Guild, though, that kind of thing was less of a turn-off.

Kyle appreciated when members of the Guild wanted to actually participate in things. Many people seemed to join simply because they thought it would make them sound attractive, so Steph's gung-ho attitude was refreshing. "Do you want to go hunting next week? I can show you some useful tracking skills, and we might stumble on a few not-so-normal critters in addition to the deer and rabbits." Kyle hunted regularly, often spending his days in the forest from sun up to sun down, and his only partner was usually his trusted dog Duke.

He sipped his drink as Steph grilled him on Guild business. "Honestly?" He chuckled a little. "I'm kind of always expecting it, hence the knife." He didn't like to go anywhere unarmed, even places like a flower dance on the beach. "But I once had a wedding interrupted by wood nymphs because the decorations for the wedding came from their sacred flower garden. I was like... thirteen? That was probably one of my first experiences with expect-the-unexpected."

[woolenwillow-deactivated2024033]

Willow followed Kyle’s paranoid gaze around the party in search of any quivering flowers or tripping dancers, but didn’t spot them. If anything she felt a bit bad for the wee pixies with Kyle on the prowl. She squeezed his elbow in thanks for the warning. 

“I’m good, hon. You know I love the dances. Maybe you should take a break from the vigil? You just look tense... And somewhat murderous.” Her faint smile fell at the mention of Finn and she rolled her eyes. Uncharacteristically, she held very little fondness for the flower peddler. “I have my own flower beds, thanks. It’d be a backhanded gift. He has it out for my sheep.”

[kyle-washington]

Kyle wrinkled his forehead a little. Tense and murderous weren't the best thing to hear when someone described you. "I can relax..." He argued, almost defensive. She wasn't wrong, though. He unclenched a little, exhaling to release some of the tension he was carrying.

"Out for your sheep?" he questioned. That was a strange idea to have about Finn. "What, is he some kind of fairytale wolf or something?" He didn't understand why anyone would have it out for someone's sheep. They just kinda hung out and chewed grass. How much of a vendetta could someone really have with such a cute, woolly thing? "He didn't try and sheer 'em or anything, did he? 'Cause I can tell him off if you need me to."

[ephcmcral]

finn wouldn't consider himself someone who needed protection from or by anyone, but he'd take the attention as it was offered. shamelessly. "you better." he smiled at the questioning. he should've expected it. "bet. we won't need shovels thanks to those." he bit his bottom lip and looked around thoughtfully before shaking his head. "what if we just..." he started scooping sand into a pile, sure that it would eventually amount to something.

[kyle-washington]

"You're such a little shit," he laughed as Finn teased him. Honestly, though, Kyle kind of needed it. People often tended to tiptoe around him thanks to his size and general demeanour. It was refreshing to be around someone who wasn't afraid to roast him a little. "You better be careful, or I might mistake you for one of those pixies."

The way Finn dove right into their little project was admirable. He wasn't about to let a lack of buckets stop them. Kyle joined in, flattening the sand into something that resembled a tower with his large hands. "You know, we could probably borrow a shovel and bucket from some of the kids around here, but it's kind of fun doing it this way. It's very Patrick Swayze in Ghost."

[seaoflcve]

"Hey, you don't have to tell me," Elio chuckles, rubbing the back of his neck, "The last Flower Dance I went to was in Pelican Town a couple of years back - I ended up pairing off with this gorgeous blonde girl, and I thought I was the luckiest guy in the Valley, but boy was she mean." And that's its own kind of heartbreak; the realisation that a person's face might be the only pretty thing about them.

Gallantly taking Kyle's hand, Elio starts to manoeuvre them out on the dancefloor, taking up position amongst the other couples. “I think we both know that the metaphorical ship on my euphemistic flower has already sailed,” he says with a cheeky wiggle of his eyebrows, “But no, not yet. It's still early, I'm holding out to see if I make a connection with anybody." Even if it's just for today. In Elio's experience, a thing being fleeting doesn't mean it’s without value. "What about you, man? Anyone on your radar?"

[kyle-washington]

"My man," Kyle laughed a little, giving Elio a congratulatory shoulder pat at the tale of his exploits. He was glad the young man seemed to be having a good time. Just because Kyle carried the weight of the world on his shoulders, that didn't mean everyone should. In fact, that was the very reason Kyle did it; so others didn't have to. "I mean, if you're not looking to settle down, ain't nothing wrong with a little meanness. More Elio for the rest of us, right?"

He wasn't a very good dancer, but he'd been to the flower dance enough times to at least have some idea what he was doing. Many might have seen him as hypermasculine, and in some ways, they were right, but he didn't particularly care about gender roles, and was perfectly happy for Elio to take the lead. "You telling me your garden is blossoming?" Kyle chuckled a little. "Couldn't have fooled me by walking around with those abs on display. You almost make me feel like I should unbutton my shirt, too."

Honestly, Kyle didn't really consider himself someone who had time for dating. Any potential partner would likely be quick to become irritated with him disappearing into the forest and the caves all the time, dropping everything whenever there was an emergency or someone who needed help. "There's plenty of good looking people in this town I wouldn't mind dancing with, if you catch my drift, but I don't know if it's in the cards to go any further than that."

[renzieaanand-deactivated2023071]

"Pixies? Ohhhh, like to make them sound cute and not pests like 'weevils'." Renzie justified the name in his head, as ignorant humans were apt to do when faced with anything paranormal. Find a 'logical' explanation. Renzie gripped his utility knife, but he'd never used it on anything living before. Handy for popping stubborn jar lids, or cutting duct-tape. But at least Kyle seemed pleased, and maaaaaybe the 'atta boy' kinda gave Renzie a good kind of thrill. 'Note to self: have Emilia use 'atta boy' for bedroom purposes.'

"Well truth be told, I was kinda playing hacky sack with the teens, too. Yeah, I know - but it's good to be young at heart, right? Did you play hacky sack before?" Renzie imagined Kyle was performing way cooler feats in his youth, than perfecting hacky sack tricks to impress his peers.

"So Kyle! The Adventurer's Guild. I was thinking - " But Renzie cut himself off when Kyle found and cornered not one 'weevil' but four. And they didn't look like insects or four-legged critters. They looked...

"Whoa!" Renzie leapt closer to Kyle, as the little blighters seemed to cackle in glee, skittering onto the beach and lobbing the hacky sack between them. Like they wanted a playful game of catch, with Kyle and Renzie as 'It'.

"What the -?! We should follow. Should we follow? Hey you! Come back here!" Renzie scurried forward. Every now and then the hacky sack would come lurching towards him; but when he lunged for it, the little ball went shooting back to the 'pixies' like it was tied to a string. "How are they doing that?"

[kyle-washington]

"Or 'cause it's simpler," Kyle suggested. He couldn't expect most people to know the exact names of the creatures that sometimes dwelled among them and made themselves a nuisance. Renzie struck Kyle as something of a city person, or at the very least, someone who was used to a far simpler life than the one that was offered in Thistleberry Valley. To his credit, though, he embraced it. He had met plenty of people who were less eager to get involved.

"I've been learning about this stuff ever since I was a little kid, and sometimes even I come across creatures I'm not familiar with. Sometimes you just gotta call 'em the closest thing you can think of." Kyle appreciated people who showed an eagerness to learn. That was why Steph had made such a good impression on him when she had joined the guild. Her and Renzie might have only been related by marriage, but it was nice to see that it was a family trait.

Whatever Renzie had been about to say about the Guild, it was quickly interrupted as they stumbled on the weevils. They were strange creatures, not exactly like insects, but not human, either. They were about four to six inches tall, green and yellow in color, and somewhat resembled what you might imagine if a dandelion had turned into a person. "They're fast, and smart." Kyle clicked his tongue, making the kind of noise you might use to reprimand a dog that was jumping up at you. "Hey!"

He clapped Renzie on the arm, encouraging him to follow as the little nuisances hurried along the beach. "They have mild magical abilities. Clearly, they like messing with us." He wished he had Duke with him. Weevils were often less eager to mess with a snarling dog than with humans, probably 'cause the dog didn't take any bullshit. "Y'all, I can quit playing nice any minute now. Give the ball back to my friend, and I'll get you some snacks instead, sound good? The alternative ain't gonna be fun."

[faithraines]

Where: the flower dance Open: !

It wasn’t long before Birdie had decided to tie the laces of her boots together so that they could hang from the small satchel she’d slung over her shoulder. Now, with her toes sinking into the sand she was happily standing at the edge of the festivities with her sketchbook open and pencil moving. There were a couple of drawings of hands being held, of some of the stalls she could see, and of the pixies and weevils she’d spotted hiding in various places. She was so engrossed in her drawings that she didn’t notice the pixie hovering near her feet, waiting for the perfect opportunity to trip her, not until it was too late. Her sketchbook landed first, the pencil bouncing off of it and into the sand, before Birdie hit the ground next to it. When she’d spotted the tiny culprit she hissed an old, magic word at it and watched as it was thrown across the beach with a squeak. “stupid little thing.” She hissed as she got back up, dusting herself off and shaking the sand from her sketchbook, but as she turned to make sure she was alone she made eye contact with someone, “I’m really hoping you didn’t just see that, I probably looked like an idiot.”

[kyle-washington]

Kyle had very much spotted Birdie challenging the pollen weevil, and winning. He’d been keeping an eye on the creature, following it across the sand. Kyle had been reconsidering his approach, just slightly, since Willow had told him he looked tense and murderous. Yes, he could very simply track all the pests down and dispatch of them, but pollen weevils were clever, and they’d likely band together to attempt some manner of revenge if he was too heavy-handed with them. Best to just watch them from afar, only intervening if they really overstepped. “Oh, I wouldn’t say that,” he said, approaching her and looking her over as if to make sure she was uninjured. “I’d say you held your own pretty damn well. You use magic like that a lot?” Kyle, for all his skills, had never been one to master the art of magic. “You ever considered the Adventurer’s Guild? We could use people like you.”

[ephcmcral]

finn rolled his eyes at the teasing, but did so with a smile. "i just have very fragile bones. it's not my fault," he added with a small shrug. at the hand on his shoulder he almost didn't catch himself in time top stop himself before leaning into the touch. it was platonic, yet he savoured the feeling of his love language being met so innocently. he picked up some sand and made a fist to watch it trickle back down onto the beach. he then swiftly moved to sit cross-legged instead, twisting his bottle of beer into the sand to make sure it wouldn't tip over. "no. we're building a sand castle."

[kyle-washington]

"Like a bird," Kyle answered. Finn made him smile, and since his brother's disappearance, he felt as if that happened all too rarely. He would take the easy conversation wherever he could get it. There was a reassuring simplicity to being around Finn. It made him feel comforted. "Don't worry. I'll protect you from any pixies that wander over here." He watched as Finn scooped up the sand. Finn could be trouble, but Kyle loved the way he could also be so child-like and innocent. "A sand castle? With these big old bear claws?" He teased, holding up his large hands. "Alright. You're on. Do you have a bucket? Oh, maybe we can use one of the containers you brought the flowers in."

[renzieaanand-deactivated2023071]

Kyle was so cool. That was just understood, Renzie and Emilia both discussed at length and agreed: the dude must be one helluva badass, if he was Guildmaster for the Adventurer's Guild. And at such a young and handsome age too!

So when Kyle immediately folded Renzie into hunting (at a Flower Dance! So cool), Renzie immediately crouched and leaned in as if they were in some quiet forest, hunting the last unicorn. "Pollen weevils? That big?" Renzie thought weevils were little insects, no bigger than a carpenter ant. But maybe they grew big in Ferngill Republic, so Ren just accepted this. Kyle obviously knew what he was talking about.

"All good, I'm allergic to cats or dogs," he assured Kyle, misinterpreting magical sneezing for plain animal-dander allergies. "Not your first rodeo hunting these, uh, pollen weevils, huh?"

It was exciting, that Kyle was asking for his help. Anxiety crawled up Renzie's throat, not wanting to fail; or worse, disappoint the freaking Adventurer's Guildmaster himself. He furtively nodded with what he hoped looked like eagerness, until Kyle asked if he had a knife. Renzie laughed then.

"What? Are you kidd-" and only then Renzie spotted Kyle's knife and he sobered up immediately. "Ohhhhhh. Uh. Wow. No, not like - not a big as yours." (Ha ha. Joke he'd have to tell Emilia later: 'Kyle's is bigger, baby'.). He patted around his jacket, then pulled out his trusty utility tool, which had a little blade. "Will this do? Are we...killing them? Cripes, is there gonna be blood? Oh boy."

[kyle-washington]

Kyle would never have been one to describe himself as 'cool', but if other people saw him that way, it was their perogative. Kyle was of the impression that in a community like Thistleberry Valley, people had to work together. He didn't grow his own vegetables or cultivate his own honeys and jams. He wasn't a blacksmith or a painter. Everyone had something to offer, and it just so happened that what Kyle had to offer was animal carcasses, skins and meat. And he was pretty handy with a crossbow, too. It would have been a little much to bring that to the party though.

"Pollen weevils," he repeated. "Some people call them pixies. They're not too different." Kyle honestly hadn't truly expected Renzie to be armed with anything at all, so the little pocket knife was a pleasant surprise. "Atta boy," he said, "You probably won't need it, but it might be useful." He was glad it was pollen weevils and not something more threatening, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to simply ignore them when a child's hackey sack was at risk.

"Come on. The kids want to play their game. We can't let them down." He was glad Renzie wanted to join him. Kyle wasn't the grumpy, old get-off-my-lawn type. He was glad if people wanted to be involved. He thought they should learn, be proactive. "It went this way." He headed in the direction he'd seen the small creature skuttle away too, away from the dance floor and past some flower decorations. It had been joined by some friends, about four of them now tugging at a different corner of the stolen item. "Hey, hey, y'all got something that belongs to a friend of mine," he interjected, and they all squeaked and turned to look at them.

[ephcmcral]

"i know him," finn confirmed. he absolutely did. he could identify him from a strand of his hair alone, pick him out of a crowd based only on his silhouette. he knew him. "stroke your ego?" he teased, though something in his expression changed. now they'd hit his sore spot, because something about dancing seemed so intimate to finn that he often steered clear of it, the only exception being the kind of dancing where you simply could jump and flail your arms around. anything that involved any sense of genuine human connection scared him off, like clockwork each time. so up went his walls. "we don't have to dance for me to do that. i get it, though. i'd wanna dance with me, too."

[kyle-washington]

"Oh, you wanna stroke my ego some other way, huh?" Kyle got the impression there was something more to Finn and Elio than simply 'I know him'. He was good at reading people. He didn't push it though. Relationships in small towns could be complicated, and he always got the impression from Finn that he wasn't the type to get overly involved. "You don't wanna dance with the big clumsy hunter dude?" Kyle teased. "You afraid I'm gonna stumble around like a big ol' lug, step on your dainty little flower boy toes?" He reached out to lightly clap Finn on the shoulder. "All good. We can just sit here and watch the waves or something."

[kyle-washington]

Task 001

For the flower dance, Kyle donned a simple floral shirt with a little more boldness and color than he'd usually wear, along with some shorts to enjoy the warmth of the encroaching summer. Kyle never goes anywhere completely unarmed. He likes to be prepared. Under his shirt, he has a knife holster in his belt, along with one of his trusty blades, just in case there's any trouble.