08-09-06 1

Characters involved: Zoe_Lang & Flaxpaw

Salamandastron: Leaders' Office

Imagine that! Zoe! Sitting in the leaders' office! At the desk! Working on paperwork! The mind, it bends. It curves. It unwinds. The Colonel's head is lowered to her work, a quill scribbling away in paw.

Knockity knock knock. Someone's come to interrupt the colonel's paperwork, and that someone seems to be feeling slightly jaunty judging from the kncok at thye door.

"C'min!" comes the replying call. Zoe doesn't even look up from her work, simply keeps plugging away as she awaits the other's entrance.

Flaxpaw enters with a slight bang of the door, a wide smile across her muzzle, which if the colonel looks carefully, is a bit pasted on looking. She waves a hesitant salute. "Evenin, ma'm. hope I'm not interruptin?"

Hm? At the greeting, Zoe finally looks up. Just in time to see the tail-end of the salute. Her eyebrows go up and she inclines her head in a nod. "No, not at all. Have a seat, m'gel. Flaxpaw, righ'?"

Flaxpaw nods and comes into the office. "Yes, ma'm." She settles in, her pose at ease as she leans back in the chair and crosses one leg over the other, though she is clearly quite nervous and uptight from the way she fidgits. "Ma'm, just, erm, wanted t' talk t' you a bit.... about me leavin, erm, being thrown out of the patrol. An... other stuff."

Zoe_Lang's eyebrows go up a fraction more and she sits back, crossing her arms one over the other in her lap. "All righ', then. Let's talk. Since you seem t' know what you want t' talk about, why don't you start?"

Flaxpaw nods, uncrossing her legs to lean in to the desk, elbows rested on her thighs to support the lean in. "Well, ma'm 's like this, I hear majah wrote you t'ask about throwin me out an then he did. Jus... well, an you heard wot mister ender said t'me ma'm..." pause. "Don't want t'leave without tellin you wot happened, my side, ma'm. no beast's listened t' my side. I'm not complainin, ma'm, happy where I am now. Just, you'd be Harp's family, an I'd like t'explain m'self. Majah'd never listen. So.... guess that leaves you?" She finishes off kinda lamely after an animated start, seeming to get interested in the desk's contents.

Hum. Harp's family, eh? Guess that means Flaxpaw knows. Heh. Zoe shifts in her seat, unfolding her arms and instead steepling her fingers together, tapping the closest fingers, the index fingers, against her chin. Hm. She considers the desktop as she prepares to speak. "... Well, first thing's first. Majah Jarril did not write me requestin' that you be thrown out. He sent word of yer behavior and it was /my/ decision, not his."

Flaxpaw smiles quietly, reaching out to fiddle a little bit with a loose quill on the desk. "Ma'm, not questionin majah or your decision. Though I'd be surprised if he didn't request it, frankly." She looks up to meet the colonel's eyes, a little attitude, maybe in her half-smile.

"You may want t' get used t' bein' surprised, m'deah." The Colonel doesn't quite return the smile. Seems she's not sure /what/ mood to respond with. For the moment, it is neutral. "If you didn't come here t' question my decision, what /did/ ya come here for?"

Flaxpaw gives a slightly gusty sigh, like 'why won't the adult's understand?' XD She continues to fiddle with the quill. "Well, ma'm, he /said/ he would." Moody child look. "He wasn't fair that day, ma'm. Didn't understan..... a lot. Majah never will understan most things 'bout... most things." She sinks slightly into silence, seeming to have forgotten that she should be explaining her visit.

Another notch on the raised eyebrows meter is reached. Zoe looks... perplexed, if anything. There's something else to her expression at this point, too; she's verging on being bothered. "Flax... deah. If you came here t' explain t' me what all m'cousin does not undahstand, I should tell ya righ' off - m'not particularly interested in hearin' it. If you have somethin' t' say t' /me/, then by all means, say it."

That seems to snap Flax out of her fit of moods, and she looks back to Zoe, then to the desk again. "Well. ma'm, 's important that you understan wot I never expalined t' majah. See, me an Harp, we're... startin a new life. I want you t'understan, ma'm. I never turned my back on the patrol, ma'm, never intended t'... t' desert." Her eyes raise to meet the older doe's. "Just, you should know that. I don't want Harp's family t' think I'd ever..." Shrug.

As Flaxpaw speaks, the Colonel seems... distracted. Her gaze has turned to the desktop, and she appears to be looking for something. Just as Flax falls silent she seems to find what she's looking for, and plucks up a piece of parchment. She considers it for a moment, then turns it, holding it out toward Flax and depositing it on the desk before her. "D'ya know what that is, deah? It's an act o' love." The Colonel smiles faintly, considering the parchment as Flaxpaw likely does. It appears to be a standard form of resignation, and it is signed at the bottom by none other than Harper. "I c'n only think of /one/ reason fer a resignation from a fine recruit such as Harpah. Love. And the only thing I undahstand, the only thing that I /need/ t' undahstand, is that you wouldn't do anything t' hurt Harp. I think even the Majah undahstands that. All the rest o' that? It's the past. A'right?"

F

Flaxpaw gets a little bit teary-eyed, her paw going out to take the parchment and look it over, smoothing it though it likely has no need of that much smoothing. Then she looks back to Zoe and gives a small nod, attitude gone now. "He... didn't need to...." she looks back down. "guess that's how we're goin t' go be farmers, then." Her paw kinda keeps smoothing the letter as she considers it. "He's a good buck, ma'm. We'll-" little not-cry gulp. "We'll be alright. He's the world t'me now."

"Just make sure that ya find somethin' of yer own in that world, eh? Yer more'n just Harp, 'n' he's more'n just you. No mattah how much ya love each othah. Undahstood?" It's worldly advice giving time. That's Zoe for ya.

Flaxpaw has that kinda dreamy not-so-practical look on her face briefly "yeah, sure...." ermf. She snaps out of it with a sheepish grin. "Yes, ma'm, 'course we are... yeah." Her head tilts slightly to the side. "Wot about you an mister Ender, ma'm?" pry pry.

... Uh? Up shoot her eyebrows again. Worldly advice has flown from her head, to be replaced by sudden heat rising in her face. Whaaaat? "What... /about/ me 'n' Endah?" Um WHAT?

Flaxpaw grins, and gives a small nod. "seems he fancies you, ma'm. judgin from the way he left me t'come runnin back here." She tilts her head to the side. "He's a lonely old rabbit, ma'm, a nice chap. don't see wot's wrong in it?" yeah, she's just opened mouth and inserted not-so-lucky hare foot.

"... Well, deah, the 'wrong in it' would be that I a'ready have a mate - Lieutenant Oxeye." Each time she says this, Zoe feels a little bit more... ridiculous. Heh. The Colonel shakes her head ever so slightly. "We have a daughtah t'gethah - Miette. M'sorry if this hurts Endah, but it's not somethin' I c'n help."

Flaxpaw nods slowly. well, that's news. "Er... sorry, colonel. Just, he was so eager t' get back here...." She looks down atg the letter again. "One more thing, ma'm, if you don't mind? Me an Harp... we're goin t' need money for this trip to Redwall. c'n you maybe.. suggest some way of gettin it?" pushing her luck after that last attempt at conversation.

Hmmm. Once again, as Flaxpaw speaks, the Colonel becomes distracted. She has begun to dig around in her pockets, searching for something. Only a few seconds of silence have passed before she seems to find what she needs. She pulls out a small leather pouch from a pocket, which she sets down gently atop Harper's resignation paper. It doesn't clink because of the way she sets it down, but it has a rather suspicious shape to it. She doesn't say anything for a moment, though eventually she smirks. "Considah it a... very early weddin' present."

Flaxpaw's eyes go wide, and she starts to shake her head in refusal at the gift, but then the wedding present comment causes her to look down at the parchment again.... a parchment the colonel will be lucky to see back on her desk at this rate. She reaches a paw out sl;owly to take the pouch, a huge smile spreading across her muzzle. "T-thank you, colonel... ma'm... erm... Zoe?" heh, what to call the in-lawy doe to be? Finally she seems to decide on the whole family's family thing she's so into, and springs up to circle the desk, going to hug the other doe.

Whoa! Zoe didn't expect that. XD Laughing a surprised laugh at the hug, the elder doe nonetheless reaches her arms around to return the hug, giving Flaxpaw a couple light pats on the back. She smiles warmly, shaking her head ever so slightly. "Yer welcome, deah. And Zoe'll do jus' fine. Be sure t' write t' us, here. M'sure I'll see you sometime when I visit. But until then," and the young doe gets a final hugging squeeze, "Good luck."

Flaxpaw steps back, all swimmy-eyed again. "Thank you, Zoe. I'll write. Harp.. sure he will too." Grin. Then she reaches in her pocket and pulls out a small hankie thing embroidered around with small blue flowers, and shoves it quickly into the older doe's paws, "T' remember me an Harp 'til we see you. Family now." then she turns on her heel quickly to stride for the door in what seems to be a retreat before she really cries. Emotional child.

Flax is heading for the door even before Zoe has a chance to turn over her paws and look at what has deposited there. She does so, and by the time she looks up with a faint smile, the door is opening and Flaxpaw is exiting. Her farewell is little more than a murmur. "... Goodbye, deah. May the spirits be with ya in yer journey." She smiles, turning her attention back down to the paperwork spread across her desk. It's back to the grind for her, but at least it was a pleasant distraction.