It's a pleasant day for travel, and Deka's enjoying it - just enough clouds in the sky to cut the early summer heat, a nice breeze, birds singing in the trees, the clop of her draft goat's hooves on the trail, the twittering of her griffon friends as they flit from tree to tree overhead, keeping pace with her cart. She's excited, too: She's on her way to wizard college, but she's decided to check with any wizards she hears of along the way, as well, to see if she can find an apprenticeship, and the people in the last village she passed suggested she try here, at the arboreal mansion she's surely just a few minutes from being able to glimpse through the trees.
One hums his agreement, watching the workers curiously. He nods to the one spinning fibres. "Is that sort of like how you get the...yarn? For knitting?"
"Mmhmm. That's - hemp, probably? Plant fiber, sturdier, good for rope, not soft enough for yarn. Same idea though, twist it together to make it strong."
One nods rapidly. "Looks...interesting to do?" Pauses, tilts his head this way and that. "Soothing?"
She nods. "Probably something to do about that. Maybe find a druid to ask. Or see how wizards do it, with fire spells."
"Yeah." Pet pet. "Could just be - not a problem, when you're more okay. Happens sometimes. Like me - harder to talk when I'm around strangers too much, headaches, things like that. And fire is - often, emotions, might be a reason it happens more when you're scared."
"...Maybe yeah." Pauses. "Still wouldn't want to risk messing with yarn right now. That's important."
She shrugs. "First few months you're learning, not a big problem if it's ruined from fire. Good chance it'll be bad anyway. But not yet, sure."
One thinks, turning words over his head, and when he speaks it's like he's testing each word, not quite sure of their taste and form. "Think...better for me if setting yarn on fire not as likely? Even if the result isn't good?"
"All right. Good you know what you need. And we can -" she gestures vaguely. "Ask." Sigh. "Should teach you - sign, language, if you're staying."
He perks up a little. "Sign?" Pauses, looks at Deka worriedly. "Would that be easier for you?"
He's very cute. "Little bit. If I don't talk it gets harder to talk. But when I can't, good to be able to talk anyway." Her hands move as she speaks, little half-complete signs following along with her words. "Need my hands, though. Work on it tonight maybe. At the room."
He nods eagerly - and some of that is his eagerness to learn, and some of that is his desire to learn something that will make things easier for Deka. "I'd like that! -Uh, but you don't have to?"
He makes pleased sounds at the pets. "Yeah, but- You might not have the time? Or the energy? And that's-"
She gives him a second to complete the thought before answering. "Should be fine tonight. Might sometimes be tired but if that's every night, something's wrong. Until college, I guess, college might be harder. Might hire someone to teach you, if it's that hard."
He nods slowly after a moment. "Just...I would like to. But don't want to...be inconvenient?"
He ducks his head slightly, shy, but makes a content chirrup at the fur-ruffle. "If you- say? Not...used to that."
"Yeah. Well. If you stay you get a say in things, even if you want inconvenient stuff. Same as me, same as Figment and Phantasm. If it doesn't all work we decide together what we want to do - might be we don't stay together anymore, but - don't want you to go. Won't mind if you want to, but -" she shrugs. "Not going to kick you out for wanting things. And I am going to try to make it so we all get what we want."
One's quiet for a moment as well. "...Don't think I want to go either? Don't- know. Not used to options but... Been...nice?"
One doesn't really have anything to say after that, and instead curls up in Deka's lap, watching the people around them, until they'd need to head back to the artist.