Submission (#4665) Approved

“Hey! Wait!” Angelia called out toward him.

Hesitantly, Dax stopped. He turned around and waited for Angelia to approach him. She came running and then he saw the adult elnin approach from behind her.

Dax stood there awkwardly in front of Hermes and Angelia as they approached them.After the look Angelia’s father had given him, his fight or flight instincts had triggered and he ran away as quickly as he could. Unfortunately, he didn’t get far.

Angelia looked super happy to see him but Hermes, her father, looked scary. He wasn’t smiling like his daughter, and Dax felt like he was towering over him. He held his wing muscles taught, afraid he’d show weakness if they lowered or folded.

He didn’t know what to expect.

“Dad said I should invite you to dinner!” Angelia said with a chipper sing-song tune, using her paws to gesture to him in a grand fashion as she spread them wide.

“Oh.” He said.

Angelia’s smile beamed and Hermès’ pout softened slightly as he looked down at his daughter.

“Okay. Thank you.”

Upon hearing the confirmation, Angelia grabbed him by the paw and pulled him to the kitchen.

“We have to help dad prepare dinner!” She said giddily, digging around until she pulled out two stools.

“This one is Pan’s but you can use it since she’s not here in Bellmoril with us right now!” She said as she handed Dax a little wooden step stool.

“I miss her, do you have any siblings?” Angelia asked as she walked around the kitchen gathering up food from various cabinets.

Dax looked at her scurry around, and he nodded to her. He had quite a few siblings, actually. Not only his direct litter mates but his mother had quite a few other children. Off the top of his head, he could count five he saw frequently.

“I have quite a few siblings in Faerindell with my mother,” he said, going over to help her carry the collected items from the cabinet.

“Oh my gosh!” She said excitedly.

“What should we do with these?” Dax asked her, siding up beside Angelia with the items she had collected.

“Let’s put them on the table! Dad should be here soon! Daaaaaaad! Daaaad we’re ready!”

Not too long after, Hermes showed us and came over to the table. He ushered them to bring their stools over and once the two kittoms were saddled up beside him, he directed them on some kittom safe activities.

Dax tore up leafy greens and placed them in a bowl as well as put in various prepared vegetables that were also ready for the salad. He concentrated hard, a little nervous about the items going into the meal.

Where was the sugar? And candy? The sweets?

He kept his comments to himself but his actions said he was nervous about touching the vegetables. It wasn’t as bad as his mother but it felt so weird in his paws.

Eventually he finished and he carried the dish out to the rooftop balcony where they were going to eat. He looked around the city, all the stone buildings and cobblestone roads broken up by the blazing red and autumnal trees both in the city and in the forest on the outside of the city,

In the distance, he could see the mountains highlighting the forests in the distance. He could see the eldertree as well, towering over the lands with its golden maple leaves that stood out in the highlight of typical blazing leaves that surrounded much of the lands.

It was pretty nice here.

He put the bowl down on the table and that’s when he heard Angelia squealing as she came out.

“Dad made stew!” She exclaimed as Hermes appeared with a pot and carefully carried it over to the table while Angelia carried the bowls and utensils.

Well, some things didn’t seem different, Dax thought as he sat down with them. Their meals were exactly like eating at home with his family.

“Thank you,” he said. He didn’t know until now how much he missed home.