The Waiting Game

From Redwall MUCK Wiki


Characters: Aikuen, William, Amethyst

Location: Moledeep

Moledeep: Entrance

Aikuen is sitting on top of the mound. Well... Maybe he is more of being of a sneaky otter. He peers over the top, looking down at the door. Waiting it seems. There is no one else out here it seems. And its just the way he wants it... For now.

William hot and tired from working in the kiln all day. He's been busy restocking the kitchen and his own stores. That is replacing anything that's been broken or is of questionable age or ability to hold water. Since acquiring his potter's wheel he's nearly replaced all the old earthenware kitchen goods and now with Spring here he's making sure he has plenty of wares on paw for selling once he can get across the river to the underground market or be bothered to walk to the above ground market north of Redwall. The rat is taking a much needed break. Spying Aikuen up on the mound as he comes up the path Will changes course and heads for the otter rather than the tunnel itself.

Aikuen bites his tongue, his rudder slowly shaking from side to side as he waits. Surprise surprise to him when the rat pretty much sneaks up behind him. He blinks and twists, "Holy!... Oh... Hey Will!" he chuckles, "Didn't see yah sneak up on me like that!"

William grins, "Sorry about that. Saw you up here and thought it'd be a good place to rest a while." He studies the otter's face a moment then peers down at the entrance then back up at the otter. "Plotting?" he asks with a grin.

Aikuen smiles, going back to watching the entrance, "Oh I see. It's my favorite place around here..." he chuckles and nods, "Something like that. Aye!"

William hmms, "It is nice up here. Surprised you didn't see me coming but th path goes right along the entrance so parts of it may not be as visible from up here."

Aikuen still watches the door, his rudder going back to its shakiness, "...Eh, I was busy watching the door... It's a very interesting door you know." he snorts.

William smirks, "If you're doing this to sneak up on Mum you're doing it the hard way. It's very easy to sneak up on her."

Aikuen looks back at him with a confused frown. And stares. For a good minute before going back to watch the door, "Doesn't mean I shouldn't TRY to sneak up on her..." he chuckles, "Its all about being sneaky... And stuff..." he grins, "And getting her away from the kids. Now that was a challenge!" he laughs at that.

William nods a little, "I never said you shouldn't try. But unless you're planning to jump down there or drop things or something to get her attention I don't see how your plan would work. She can't hear us."

Aikuen grins and sticks out his tongue. Reaching into his pants and pulls out a hunk of fish jerky, "What better way to catch a lady otter. Then a good crispy hunk of jerky!" he chuckles, "...And then I'm going to jump on her..." He adds that last part. You know. For kicks.

Aik's gets an odd look from the rat, "Uh huh. ..... good luck with that. Try not to squish her when to fall on her." Sometimes his dad was really weird.

Aikuen smiles and chuckles, "...Oh, I wont. I'm not EXACTLY going to jump on her... Maybe..." another silly grin, "Just being a little random. She needs a good pounce once in a while!" Goes back to watching, "So. Monsuer Rat. What have you been up too?"

Amethyst comes out onto the path from the tunnel entrance her lute hung over her shoulder and staff in paw. Will hasn't come in yet so the blind ratwife presumes her husband is still working at the kiln. With this in mind she turns toward the gardens planing to amuse herself instead of bothering Will.

William shrugs a little. "Working. At th kiln. Replacing broken stuff from th kitchens and making sure I have plenty of things t sell for when it comes time t go to th market. Was thinking about going inside but it's kinda nice out here, when there's nothing t do," he says. Looking over the side of the mound he smirks as Amy appears. "Speaking of pouncing. ..." he chuckles softly still watching Amethyst walking around on the path. Seems she's not quite decided where to go now that she's outside. "I wonder how long it would take for her to figure out we're up here," Will muses mischievously to himself.

Aikuen pulls his head back slowly when the ratwife appears. That's not who he is waiting for. This might ruin his plan... Hrm. The otter pulls at his chin, going to rest on his back. When Will speaks he shakes his head, "A lot longer if you don't say anything," he mouths.

It looks like Amy can't hear them or she's ignoring them, hard to tell. The blind rat fiddles with her lute with one paw while following the front wall of the tunnel with her other, still walking towards the gardens albeit more slowly now. Lute tuning is serious business it takes a lot of concentration.

William nods though he /was/ being quiet. Well /he/ thought he was. "How long are you going to stay up here?" he mouths back to Aikuen. Will idlely wonders if it would be worth wile to throw something, not to hit Amy of course but just to get her attention. Maybe after the otter leaves.

Aikuen mouths back at Will, "Until Fira gets out here... and... Then some..." he blinks a bit before saying, "Probably till... Tomorrow afternoon..." he thinks about if for a second then nods, "Aye. That sounds about right..." The otters all love being outside.

Amethyst stops walking and sits down about a stone's throw from the entrance. She has become distracted by the piece of music she's been working on. The blind musician/healer-in-training plinks out a distorted bouncy tune which she continues to play over and over as she tries to pin point the off notes and experiment with various substitutions for them.

Aikuen nods a bit more, still mouthing "Though it might not last as long with you ratties still here..." I.E. When Fira gets here. He wants them to vamoose. He hrms a bit to himself before turning back on his stomach, to look back down at the door.

William nods trying to resist the urge to cover what remains of his ears. Amy's playing isn't bad but she keeps playing the same piece over and over and over. "Don't worry we wont be around for too long. Might even keep th twins occupied if the stoats aren't by the time we go in," the rat mouths over to Aik creeping back toward the edge to see what's going on now.

Aikuen is not used to having the same notes played over and over. So, right now, he is okay with the monotonous noise. He nods and smiles, "Ah good. I told Kentar to watch them tonight... But I'm sure they will be glad of the extra help..." he chuckles quietly.

William grimaces a little, the repetitive notes are getting to him. It may not be so bad for Aik but/ he/ doesn't have to hear it for hours at time throughout the day. Well, not as much as Will does. Fortunately for Will Amy prefers to practice out of doors just as much if not more than in their room. However he'd count it a good thing if he weren't outside as well and hadn't already heard that same piece of music (in his opinion) for several hours this very morning.

Amethyst plays the piece over again a few times with the corrected notes then runs through the whole song a few times to listen for anymore mistakes. This may take a while but it's not something that /has/ to be done outside should a beast wish to direct her elsewhere.

Aikuen waits for confirmation from Will about tonight. and since he didn't hear one, he is going to go with an 'aye' for that answer. So. Back to watching the door he goes. Though, now the fish jerky seems pretty good at the moment. So. He takes it out and sniffs it, "mmmmm...." he chuckles, "Nono Aik... This is for Fi... Not eatty for you!" Since Aik doesn't mind the music. Let her play on. Just when the Otterwife arrives. Fira wont mind much. But Aik might...

The otter gets another odd look from his son when he starts talking to himself. "Do you want me t go down and take her inside?" he asks as he doubts Amy can hear them very well over her own playing.

Aikuen is not looking toward Will. So the look gets a happy pass over from Aik. The otter is too busy acting like kid with a gift waiting for him. Think he should act his age? He should. He ain't gonna though. He hrms a bit at the question. Yes. He does want them gone. Course he also doesn't want to be a big meanie head. Oh what the hell, "If you don't mind, I mean... Pleas.e"

William tries not to laugh at the otter's request, "It's not a problem. I should be heading in anyway." The rat slowly stand up and sides down the mound, footpaws braced to slow his decent so he wont go head over tail on the way down. It may be faster but he'd rather land on his footpaws then his head. Once down he whistles to try and get Amy's attention should that fail he'll just have to go for the direct approach and try not to get hit if he startles her.

A shrill whistle cuts through Amy's thoughts and she stops playing. Turning to frown at in Will's direction she asks none too nicely, "What do you want?"

Aikuen nods and smiles, "Okay. Thanks Will-Bee." Its a name Venei came up with. Which... Aik likes now. He goes back to watching the door. Its getting pretty close to when Fira was supposed to come out now. Hopefully there was no chores that were to tough.

The new nickname is ignored for now but if it gets annoying Will will be sure to let the otters know. But for now he attention is on Amy who isn't very happy about her practicing being interrupted. Will can't help but smirk a little at her question. "What do I want?" he echoes cheerfully, "Oh you really shouldn't ask that." He moves to wrap an arm around his wife, "I was getting ready to head in and .... I thought ..." The male rat searches for the right words as his mate isn't in the best of moods. "I thought maybe ... maybe we could rescue the stoats from Ve an El?" he says trying to not sound like he's grasping for an idea.

Amethyst arches a brow at Will's suggestion. "Are you sure the stoats need to be 'rescued' /right now/?" she inquires not counting the stoats' sanity as a good enough reason to head in. Sure she loves spending time with the twins but it's a nice day and she was enjoying it before Will appeared.

Aikuen hums to himself as he takes a sniff of the jerky again. Then when the rat leaves he pulls out another object from his pants. This time... Its a lily pad bloom... An otter favorite at this time of year. And since is the first spring with Fi. He wonders if it will have the same effect. He smiles at the pink blossom before hiding it back in his pocket. He then chuckles. Cant help overhearing the ratties.

William tries to steer Amy back toward the entrance. "Probably not but wouldn't hurt to ask," he says now smiling, "Or if you'd rather leave them to an ottery fate we could /maybe/ pick out another book to read together." He hugs her close with the arm that's still around her. "Or if you have a better idea I could be persuaded to do something else, I guess." he adds stealing a glance at her face before walking faster toward the entryway giving her little choice but to keep up or be dragged along.

Amethyst's face softens and a small smiles starts to form as she thinks over her husband's new suggestions. "You can pick out a book if you want to. May be helpful if you stuck to what's actually on the pages like Aik does. .... Yes we'll go with that. Until I think of something else I want you to do." The blind rat nods to herself pleased thinking up a suitable alternative if the book reading doesn't work out." She nearly trips as he starts to pull her along but catches herself and is soon matching his steps. This doesn't save him from a sharp jab in the ribs for not giving her a warning first.

Aikuen waits until the rats are fully gone until going back over to peer over the door. Waiting and watching. Its a good twenty minutes before Fira Finally show up at the door. Looking around, guessing where Aik might be. First Aik drops the jerky on her head. She blinks as she picks up the jerky (taking a bite) and decides to not let Aik have his fun. And climbs the mound from where she is at. Aiks not there. She blinks a bit before being tackled from behind and pinned to the ground. Aik grins and gets all up in her face. Nose to nose, "Happy Anniversary Fira Tazan" he grins putting the lily in her hair.

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