Claudius was confused once they stopped walking; the ‘structure’ he was looking at certainly did not look very much like a house. He glanced at Nian to see if he would say anything, but his companion was silent. When Nian dumped his pile of branches, Claudius stepped around him to do the same. He crouched down and set his sticks beside Nian’s pile, not wanting to disturb anything. He stood up again and turned to the other AniWayan, focusing his attention on the wolf as he began to speak. Claudius nodded quickly in response to show that he was listening. When Nian moved to grab a branch, he quickly stepped out of the wolf’s way to see what he was going to do. Claudius could see Nian’s plan a bit more clearly now that he was standing there – and now that Nian was showing him – but he didn’t want to mess this up. He nodded again as Nian explained where the poles would line up and explained how they would have to be placed at an angle.
Claudius folded his arms across his chest as Nian began to work, watching as Nian pushes the poles into the ground. He frowned when he saw what Nian was doing. Shouldn’t they be in deeper? What if it floods?
“Will that be d-d-deep enough? W-what about s-shifts in the ground as the g-ground unthaws in the s-spring?” He wanted to help Nian, but he wasn’t sure if this would work. He didn’t want to help someone build a home that wouldn’t last, afterall!