Pocket full of posies

With the go-ahead from his brother, off Stratum went in search of some twine. He was pretty sure he'd seen some among his dad's stash of crafting supplies. Surely he wouldn't be mad if it went missing, because they were using it for crafting.. right? How could he be upset if it was being used for what it was supposed to do? Ambling along towards the den, he searched for the high up spot where his parents seemed to think their things were safe from inquisitive young paws. Up on a shelf well above his head, he could see the pale string wrapped up neatly. Now he just needed to find a way to get it down...

The subtle rustling of feathers behind him caught his attention. Oh yes, here we go. Spinning around, the boy laid eyes on the giant bird that trailed his father constantly. "Marshal!" he whisper-shouted with a big ole grin. The dark bird cast a wary gaze upon him, head tipping to one side to fix him with a beady stare. "Can you get the twine down? I can't reach." he whisper-shouted again. When the giant bird didn't move, he scampered a few steps closer. Yes, child, bully the bird big enough to carry you off and leave you on a cliff somewhere.

"Dad won't be mad, I'm gonna use it properly!" he pleaded quietly, ears tipping back nervously as he tried to pester the large vulture some more. He backpedaled, and pointed with an oversized paw at the bundle of twine that was well out of his reach. "I'll put the rest of it back, come on!" he said, a little louder this time. With what could only be labeled a defeated sigh, Marshal hopped a few steps closer and with half a beat of his massive wings was able to bring the bundle of twine back down to puppy level. Wriggling with glee, he trundled over to mash his forehead against the bird's chest. "Thank you, Marshal!" he giggled as he took off running with the twine to rejoin his brother.

As soon as he'd caught sight of Crux again, he'd all but forgotten the debacle involved in getting a hold of his prize. Ambling over to the arrangement of flowers at his brother's paws, he dropped the bundle of twine beside them and blinked down at the pretty colours that had been constructed in his absence. He listened dutifully to the explanation, and filed away the notion of "complementary colours" for later. Clearly Crux was way better at all of this than he was, so he was more than content to watch while the other boy snipped twine between his teeth and carefully tied knots around the stems at fairly regular intervals. And there it was, a neat little garland of flowers to decorate the mysterious feast! "I bet this is gonna be the prettiest thing in the whole feast." he announced, confident that no one else could have possibly constructed anything better. If not for the feast, then possibly in the entire world. There were so many flowers, and so many nice colours! No one could make a better one, no way.