"Oh, Shikoba! She's adorable!"
Ni'awtu was standing by, watching the tiny colorful mouse moving about with energy and enthusiasm, carrying herbs and plants from one pile to another. Sorting them out from newest to oldest so they knew which would need to be stored away and which used straight away to make some medicine. Shikoba had a burrow dug out long ago for storage, full of many different rooms organized in only he knew how. It was a much easier method of keeping all her ingredients and products close at hand and down somewhere cold so they would last longer. Business was never very booming for her and she never minded. She enjoyed making medicine, sending it out with the aid of other small animals to search for anyone in current need. She didn't need payment for anything like that. The extra paws of Elowen had been very useful around her work area. While Shikoba helped her mix different herbs together, the female mouse would scamper about to organize and fetch different plants he called out to her for.
Ni'awtu wouldn't have minded if Elowen stayed around indefinitely. She wasn't sure if her little mouse friend agreed, however. "And very helpful to have around."
"Aye," Shikoba answered, moving a thick twig about in a mixture in a small bowl, his eyes down on his progress, his voice sounding a bit far off in his distraction of his work. "That she can be."
The mare picked up on something in her friend's voice, an intuition that only knowing another creature for a long time could give you. "Do you not like her?", she asked, keeping her voice quiet and soft so it travelled less on the breeze.
Shikoba stopped in his stirring, watching the distant colors of the female mouse going back and forth. Sometimes the feather in her hat would disappear, telling him that she had ducked down into the storage burrow to organize something away. She had picked up on what he asked her to do very quickly and now could do it without him explaining where anything went. He couldn't deny that he was a little impressed with her. Though he wasn't sure how he felt for her beyond that. She was simply useful to have around.
"I'm not sure if I'd say that, exactly," he finally said, noting a quick look in the mare's face. "No, don't you be getting any ideas. Just cause you went soft around the edges...."
Ni'awtu giggled at him, bending down to his level to place a small jar by where he stood. "I've always been soft."
"Now you are softer." Pulling the twig out of the mixture, Shikoba laid it down beside the bowl. What he had finished mixing wasn't something that one needed a large dosage of. Just a single drop on the tongue would be enough to help the stomach with most aches and gurgles.
No need to make a large batch of it for the carriers to carry around. Better something small and easier to carry.
Next to the twig sat a wooden spoon, something he had pooched from a human village not too long ago. Ni'awtu was far too kind to steal from them herself. Or even burrow or ask for anything to be made for her. When they had need of something, he simply left to get it himself. Maybe one day he could have a series of tunnels built, leading safely to the village for the next time he needed something.
Maybe that would be a good task for Elowen and himself, when there was a break between making medicines? At least something to keep them busy. Ah, what was he thinking. The village was a long way away, even for a large animal like Ni'awtu, however. They would never finish it in their lifetimes. Not even come halfway to finishing it. Would be nice, though, he had to admit.
If they couldn't do it, he continued to think, perhaps a team of rabbits could. As Shikoba used the spoon to scope the mixture into the jar, he thought about how nice that would be. To have a tunnel going from here to there. So much was he into his daydream, he didn't notice Elowen had come up beside him to watch what he was doing. His eyes suddenly focused on her and he startled, flicking what was in the spoon all over her face.
"Watch yourself!" he cried out, dipping the spoon into the mixture to scope up the last bit of it. "That's a powerful medicine you are now wearing.
Elowen gave a squeak when the medicine hit her in the face, her paws going up as if to defend herself from getting more of it on her. "Ack! I'm sorry!" She rubbed at her fur, scrapping the stuff off in handfuls. A small pile of it pooled around her feet, the tip of her tail hiding underneath it. "I was finished organizing and wanted to know if there was anything else you wanted me to do."
"Oh, Elowen, dear!" Ni'awtu gasped, bending her head closer to the colorful mouse as Shikoba ignored her to continue with his job. "That stuff isn't dangerous, but it feels unpleasant. I've gotten many on my own nose over the years."
It sure was! Elowen could feel it clinging uncomfortably to her face, no matter how hard she scrubbed at her fur. She could hear the lid of a jar going on near her, Shikoba finishing up his duty. By now, she'd gotten it out of her eyes, but it continued to be stubborn with coming off entirely. And it stunk. Her sensitive nose was burning with the smell.
Turning towards the direction of a small brook, she trotted away without saying anything else, her brain focused on nothing but getting rid of the stuff.
Ni'awtu watched her go, concern written all over her face. She so dearly wanted Elowen to stay with them, but putting her to work and throwing goop onto her face wasn't the way to go. But she was so much bigger than a mouse, she was afraid of trying to help in situations like this. Her hoof could easily crush their bodies.
Instead, she focused on Shikoba, who now sat with the bowl tipped on its side, a cleaning rag in his hand. Also something stolen from the village, she bet. She gave him a few nudges with her muzzle towards the direction little Elowen had gone.
At first, he tried to ignore her. Why should he care if the other mouse had made a mess of her face and had to clean it off? She was an adult, she could do it herself. She didn't need him hanging around, telling her how to do this and that all the time. But the more he ignored her, the more insistent Ni'awtu became with her poking. Until she nearly knocked him over into the bowl.
"Fine!" he squealed in a high pitched voice, one hand on the top of the bowl to avoid falling face first into the medicine himself. Lowering his voice, Shikoba straightened up, patting down his chest and belly fur. "Fine," he repeated, more dignified. Ni'awtu grinned down at him and handed him another rag. He sighed and took it, making his way towards the brook.
He found Elowen hunched over it, her paws quickly splashing water onto her face, scrubbing hard at it. Globs of the medicine floated downstream. He approached her, clearing his throat and holding out the rag for her.
"I suppose you'll need something to dry your fur."
Elowen looked at him, her paws still raised up to her face. She blinked a few times and took the rag gratefully, burying her face in it.
"Thank you," came her muffled reply. She looked at her reflection. There didn't seem to be any of that vile stuff left on her face, though it was hard to tell with the current making ripples of her reflection. She felt at her fur to make sure.
Sighing once more, Shikoba took the rag from her, telling her, "Here" until she presented him her face. Dabbing a corner into the brook, he rubbed it gently against one of her cheeks where she'd missed a bit of the medicine. Once he got it, he picked it off the rag and flicked it into the brook. Maybe some fish with bad stomachs would eat the stuff. Then it wouldn't have all been a waste.
Looking back at Elowen, Shikoba stiffened, seeing an adorable look of gratitude on her face. He looked away, embarrassed by this show of emotion. He was hardly a sentimental mouse. The only one to receive any kind of emotion besides anger or annoyance was Ni'awtu. He loved her and he wasn't shy about showing it. In his own way. This one, though...She seemed fine with showing everything to everyone. He couldn't imagine being this seemingly trusting with everyone he met.
"Thank you very much, Shikoba," Elowen said, flashing him her brightest smile.
----------
Wordcount: 1513