Tal opened his mouth.
Closed it without saying anything.
Opened it again.
"I mean... maybe??" He scowled so fiercely at the jungle ahead of him that a curious sentient vine in their path hastily curled up and away and let the little procession pass by unhindered. "An' maybe your parents are lucky to still have even one o' you. Fuck." The last was said mostly under his breath, a little helpless at having the kid running verbal circles around him while his parents were on opposite sides of the continent doing Ludo-knew-what.
The river was a relief and Tal came to a halt on a sandy patch of bank. Boreal was just leaning forward with her jaws open wide enough to snag a mouthful of fronds when Tal turned around to check on the saplingtreelet and glared at her. "Iguana!" He reminded her with a jab of his finger in the air as she sloooooowly settled back on her haunches and closed her mouth, looking as innocent as a dragon could be. Tal huffed and went to lift the walking palm out with all of the care he reserved for his most fragile packages. He settled it onto a loamy spot near the water - but not too near. It was a walking palm, not a swimming palm - and gave it a final pat.
"Huh?" he looked back over his shoulder and then reluctantly made space. "Oh... sure. Yeah. Though I dunno if it counts as native t'here since it just got here."
Closed it without saying anything.
Opened it again.
"I mean... maybe??" He scowled so fiercely at the jungle ahead of him that a curious sentient vine in their path hastily curled up and away and let the little procession pass by unhindered. "An' maybe your parents are lucky to still have even one o' you. Fuck." The last was said mostly under his breath, a little helpless at having the kid running verbal circles around him while his parents were on opposite sides of the continent doing Ludo-knew-what.
The river was a relief and Tal came to a halt on a sandy patch of bank. Boreal was just leaning forward with her jaws open wide enough to snag a mouthful of fronds when Tal turned around to check on the saplingtreelet and glared at her. "Iguana!" He reminded her with a jab of his finger in the air as she sloooooowly settled back on her haunches and closed her mouth, looking as innocent as a dragon could be. Tal huffed and went to lift the walking palm out with all of the care he reserved for his most fragile packages. He settled it onto a loamy spot near the water - but not too near. It was a walking palm, not a swimming palm - and gave it a final pat.
"Huh?" he looked back over his shoulder and then reluctantly made space. "Oh... sure. Yeah. Though I dunno if it counts as native t'here since it just got here."
