Humming contentedly, Geoffrey skipped from a nearby bush to a small, muddy puddle. He plopped down beside it and happily flung the leaves he'd collected into it. The puddle was full of mucky lumps whose origins weren't all immediately identifiable. Some, like twigs, were easy to identify. Others, like the small, spiny lump beside it were a little harder to identify. The little brown spikes that stuck through the muck could be the barbed spines of a burr. Or, equally as likely, they were the legs of a beetle. It was hard to say which was true.

And it didn't really matter, because seconds after the leaves were added Geoffrey picked up a big rock and started to grind it into the muck. Leaves, twigs and beetles/burrs were crushed under the weight of the rock. After awhile the pieces were nearly indistinguishable from one another and the puddle took on a creamy, frothy texture.

Satisfied, Geoffrey stepped back to look his handiwork over. It was medicine. Good, in his mind, for all problems. He didn't have anyone in mind to give it to, but he thought it was a good idea to keep it on hand just in case.

Thus far, life was pretty darn good.. not that Caelia really had a good basis on which to judge the quality of her life. All she really knew was life here in Celestial, with her mother and her four siblings, and for now that was plenty for her. Sometimes they drove her a little crazy, but mostly she loved them, already growing to learn that they were the most important things in life. Packmates could be trusted, too, but in the end... she was learning that family was all you really had.

Caelia lived and breathed that mantra. It was rare that she was found away from at least one sibling, at least at such a young age, and so following her brother to wherever he was off to was only natural. The pale, slender girl trotted carefully through the moor - so as not to muss up her fur, of course - as she trailed after Geoff's scent.

It wasn't hard to find him, though when she finally did she wasn't quite sure what he was doing. The girl wrinkled her nose, tilting her head as she eyed the pile of muck in front of him. "Geoff! The child exclaimed softly, beaming gently at her slightly larger brother. "What are you doing?" Her gaze was uncertain as it lingered on the pile of.. whatever mush that Geoffrey had concocted.

Unlike Artur, Geoffrey didn't mind when his sisters followed him around. While he could entertain himself it was much more fun to play with someone else, and as there were no other puppies in the pack, playmates were scarce. And grown ups, in his limited experience, weren't much fun. His mom was awfully fond of rules and that was a bit of a bummer.

"What are you doing?" Caelia asked. He puzzled over her question for a moment, not because he didn't understand or because it was difficult to answer, but because in his mind the answer was obvious. There was one member of their family who, it seemed, never got to play. One sibling who was always sick and never got to join in the fun. "It's medicine for Cairo," he said cheerfully.

He picked up a stick and gave the muck a stir to pop the bubbles that had gathered on its surface. Geoffrey then knocked the muck off the end of the stick and set it aside. "I want him to get better so I made medicine with all my favorite things in it." There were crickets because they were hoppy and fun, leaves because they were a pretty shade of green, burrs because their spines tickled his nose and made him laugh, mud because it was fun to squish between his toes. Everything in it made him happy so it had to be good, right? And medicine was made of things that were good for you.

Caelia watched her brother carefully, noting that he seemed slightly surprised to see her - if she had to guess, at least. Likewise, he didn't answer her quickly at first, which made her wonder if he'd expected the question at all. The answer most definitely was not obvious, at least not to her, hence the way she was wrinkling her nose in faint disgust as she peered from the concoction to Geoffrey and back again. After a moment he finally answered, saying it was medicine for Cairo. Oh. That made sense... or, at least helped her make some sense of whatever weird mush that Geoff was making.

"Oh. That's nice," Caelia commented finally, though that didn't fully erase the slightly confused expression she'd been making, and her voice had a touch of wariness. After a moment, though, the slender girl finally sat down, maintaining a cautious distance away from her brother's puddle. Even if she thought it looked gross, it really was a quite nice gesture, and she hoped it might work, if he could be convinced to eat it at all. "Do, uh, you think it tastes good?" Squinting at the muck, she was fairly certain she saw something shiny that might be the shell of some kind of bug, and its leg - or, even worse, the leg of something else. Caelia tried to hold back a frown, not wanting to discourage him. He probably knew a lot more about this stuff than she did, anyway. "Or is it not medicine for eating?"

Did it taste good? Geoffrey eyed the concoction, noting a twitchy grasshopper leg in the murky froth. He hadn't considered how it might taste when he'd made it even though he'd assumed, like most medicine, that it would be eaten. The taste, he decided, might be a problem. His brow furrowed.

In an instant he changed gears. It didn't have to be eaten, did it? Nah, their brother could just rub it on his chest or something! "It's not for eating," he said confidently even though the muck had been for eating only moments ago. "We'll just rub it into his fur and it will make his breathing better!"

He peeked at Caelia curiously. "Would you like to make something for him too?"

Caelia wasn't exactly trying to doubt Geoff's ability to help their brother, but the concoction really did look gross. Just eyeing it, seeing a bug's limb twitching within it, made her feel nauseous and she didn't want poor Cairo getting sick everywhere just because the taste was bad. Wouldn't that be pretty counter intuitive? Caelia furrowed her own brow too, studying the mixture with more concentration now. Geoffrey seemed to be considering it, too. She noted he'd looked a bit concerned a moment ago, but suddenly he was declaring it wasn't for eating, but to rub into his fur. Oh, that sounded much better, definitely. The thought of bug parts all over Cairo's fur was a bit icky but definitely not vomit-inducing, so she nodded in agreement. "And if he doesn't want it?" Caelia questioned, trying to think ahead and go over every possibility. "Should we just try to sneak up on him and squish it onto his fur while he's sleeping?" The thought was mildly amusing and the girl found herself giggling softly at the thought. Though she really wasn't sure their brother would appreciate the mess, she was willing to try it to help him. His question had her shaking her head slightly. "I'm not sure what I'd add," she declared, deciding Geoffrey definitely knew more than she did. Might as well leave this stuff up to him. "But I definitely want to help give it to him!

While Geoffrey would have liked to give the medicine to Cairo nicely, he would settle for subterfuge. It was for his brother's own good; the medicine would make him feel better. The boy nodded solemnly. "Yeah, if we have to we can do that." His sister's giggle crackled his solemn expression. He grinned at her, amused by the prospect of jumping a sleeping Cairo and smearing him with medicine.

"Well," he said, eying the goop, "I think it's ready so wanna try to give it to him now?" All they needed to do was find something to carry it in. Geoffrey didn't think they'd be able to coax him to the puddle and even if they could, they probably shouldn't since he was sick.

Even though Caelia had no interest in whatever Cairo was doing, at least not for her own sake (though the thought of helping Cairo get better was quite appealing), she was glad he'd found something that interested him... even if only temporarily. The idea of sneaking up on their brother was quite amusing, though she suspected their mother might not be too pleased to find them squishing muck into Cairo's fur if she caught them. Though she wasn't totally sure it was worth the risk, well.. she might be willing to give it a shot. At his declaration that the mixture was ready, she nodded in agreement. "Let's go," Caelia replied with certainty. They'd have to go find a way to bring this stuff to Cairo, which she was sure would be a feat in itself. Maybe a super big leaf might suffice if they were both really careful with it? She really wasn't sure, but she felt a newfound sense of purpose and urgency, and with that she set off with him to figure it out. -exit Caelia-