[Petal of the Timid Cougar]The Trials of Building(Cinna)

[Asher Salvatore Arc]

39th of Summer, 512AV

In the Spires it was easy enough to find a place to sleep, the city was well guarded and much of the over-sized plants made for a comfortable bed and shade. All the same Salvatore figured it was high time he got to work on his own house. His questioning on to actually build a house and the fact that he had no real skill had lead him to the Timid Cougar petal. But upon entering he noted he was not the only one with this idea, the place had a short line but obviously people were picking spots and designs, height and anything else they could think of.

when it was it was his turn he stared at the Jamouran blankly, his mind had clearly not been on what he had intended to build. Smooth move. "Not my fault I didn't actually think of house to build it! Not exactly carved in stone" No stone allowed, so not a good excuse. "Yes, well...I--" He cut himself off, having lost the argument there was no point in continuing, besides the young man or woman at the desk was giving him a odd look.

"Right then, a house." No, duh. "I would like a house, I can pay of course and do the work myself." No, I really can't. I was never good at arts and crafts. He drummed his fingers on the desk lightly, "So, we just need to make blueprints? Or I is their payment required?"

[Cinna]

It seemed as if the whole petching forest was demanding homes today, the line long and the orders extensive, and Sharai simply didn't have enough workers to keep up with the growing demand. Most of the people were previous citizens before the Storm, their homes destroyed and were simply trying to regain what was lost. But there were some that we're new travelers wishing to stay permanently in the treetop city....which was great for business, but bad when there wasn't enough help. Sharai sniffed irritably as she sorted through the various papers as she let one of her assistants deal with the latest customer, and from the sound of it he sounded like a right fool. Sharai turned around from her desk and eyed the man up and down, noting that he looked like he had never worked hard in his life. He was scrawny and had an irritating voice, and seemed to have no idea how business worked which only seemed to irritate her even more. She wasn't about to let this buffoon attempt to build a home on her petal without some sort of guidance. Her fingers brushed up against the puzzle cube that she used and she picked it up in her hand, stalking over to the other desk and brushing her assistant out of the way. She squeezed her hand hard and the puzzle block fell apart, the pieces littering the desk and waiting to be put back together. She then looked down at him, staring at him hard as she crossed her arms across her chest. "Put it back together,"she said roughly, thinking that the man was wasting their valuable time. "This block is much like how we build the homes here on the petal. If you can do it in a decent amount of time then we will talk business. If you can't then you are wasting my valuable time, and I can't waste time on petching fools."

[Asher Salvatore Arc]

It was obvious the person he had been speaking too was not in charge though and he found a furious looking Jamouran woman looking down at him with a displeased expression. However Salvatore was too busy looking being fascinated by the Jamouran to actually listen to what was being said. For more than a few chimes he stood stupidly and smiled before blinking rapidly and picking up the pieces.

Fiddling with the piece he stared at the structure for a few moments before painstakingly beginning to put the block back together. This is pretty fun. “I have to agree, we should probably buy one. It will pass the time. Don’t you agree?” This was directed at the half finished blocks and he smiled at them before deftly settling the last pieces in place and placing it on the desk with a fond pat.

“That will do then?”

Though if anything the woman did not look the least convinced though she looked decidedly less annoyed than a few moments earlier. With a short nod she a brisk but efficient manner she carefully explained the rules of building a house and then escorted him out of the main building. As they walked she spoke with more and more practice and more conviction as Salvatore seemed to be paying attention. In truth he was paying no more attention than he had been in the office.

All the same he thanked her for her help and agreed to heed her instructions as she left him to inspect his little plot of area. It was nestled high in branches, not quite touching the floor of the petal and had sparse building supplies, it was obviously unfinished but haphazard and a tad unlivable looking. Likely the remains of a previous house still be taken down. “In that case I will put it back together.” Ha! Good luck with that.

Salvatore frowned a bit before simply sitting below the structure and looking up between the floorboards. This would be a bit more work than he had previously thought.

[Asher Salvatore Arc]

Beside him Salvatore had managed to make a small pile of dirt from a previous garden and now, with great concentration, smoothed it over. He knew what houses looked like but to build one was another matter. At first he had been daunted a bit at the prospect but now he only shrugged it off, his fingers moving like a child’s in the dirt to try and draw out his house before he simply grabbed a twig. It will probably come down around my ears. “That’s a distinct possibility.” That’s not reassuring. “Wasn’t trying to be. Now, what do you think?”

However the twig had no answer for him but he nodded just the same, looking at the dirt outline square and on top was a misshapen triangle.

To him it looked habitable which was all he could ask for in a house. Now the only problem would be building supplies. He had no doubt there would be plenty willing to help but for now he could probably gather his own supplies.

“Well, you’re right.” He said conversationally to the twig, “Supplies are important. There is no house without them.” Alright, so what am I using then? He eyed the twig in his hand with a grin, “Broken branches, obviously.” Obviously.

With taking any more time Salvatore began to look around from where he sat, scanning the area for larger sized left over debris. Seeing nothing of real use he stood with hop and thrust his hands into his pockets before strolling away as if without a care in the world, though his eyes roved to and fro looking for things he could use.

--

It was a more than a few bells before he found them. Well, seen them. Towards the lower part of the trees he could see where braches had fallen into the nets. Probably old but they looked sturdy from where he stood. A half grin stretching across his face Salvatore gave no hesitation or forewarning and simply stepped off the edge of the petal. Letting himself fall towards the net.