OOC: Sorry if this post seems a little bland, I'm not very good at starting threads. xD Just tell me if I need anything changed.

This is starting to come out nicely, the cocoa girl thought as she stared down at her handiwork with admiring, stormy-blue eyes. After a second of reviewing her work from a short distance, she bent back over whatever she was tinkering with. She reached for a short, rusty carving knife beside her without taking her gaze off of her little project and continued her product while, unintended, shielded her crafting from sight. Evelyn always seemed to be secretive about what she was working on, even though all alone she was worried that someone would see it before it was ready for other eyes to look over it. Despite her confidence, the wolf hybrid did not want others to judge her work before it was even finished.

She was sitting cross-legged with the object she was cutting on her lap on shabby porch stairs, her house itself looking no better. Sure, it was sturdy, but Evelyn has only started fixing it, only patching a small hole in the roof just the other day. Today, she decided to take a break and work on objects she was willing to trade like the small ax she was crafting, whether it was for other packs or people in Cercatori d’Arte was for the other person’s side of the bargain to decide. But the craftsman was simple, and would not ask for much for her work, and especially had a weak spot of human trinkets, which were abundant here in Nova Scotia. Yet, she had not have the chance to trade with anyone yet, thanks to her minimum inventory for things to give.

As Evelyn expertly shaved the wooden handle of the stone ax, she wondered about little things; being one of the newer wolves, she did not have much to worry about, so often thought about small concerns. Like what was she going to do once this ax was finished with, what she should do next for her home, whom was she going to meet next? Or what her next meal was going to be, as her stomach interrupted her thinking with a quiet growl. She let out a small laugh as her talking belly went silent, and then a contented sigh, and then concentrated back on shaping the ax’s handle.

*shame that her post was much smaller*

Evelyn was self-trained to basically ignore everything around her, and though sometimes it was a bad habit, it was not entirely foolproof. So when a hairless finger was shoved near her face, followed by an odd noise from the finger’s owner, the girl jumped with shock, nearly making the ax bounce out of her lap. Luckily, she managed to grab it before it could have been damaged, and after making sure its sudden movement did not do anything to disturb it, she looked up to see who surprised her. Again, she felt surprised to see a hooded, masked figure before it, but this time she did not jump, just merely stare for a few moments like a deer in headlights. Usually it was the wolf-dominant hybrid that made the sudden appearances when meeting others, so being approached without warning was not something she expected on a quiet day.

She quickly gathered her wits and placed the unfinished tool on one of the steps of the short stairs, as well as setting the knife by it. “Hello, can I help you with something?” she inquired, tilting her head to the side as she gave a small, slightly nervous smile. Evelyn had no idea who this was, but since he smelled like Cercatori, she did not feel suspicious. But she surely felt uncomfortable, since he was wearing clothing that concealed him that were made for a colder day than this, which did strike her as curiously weird. Yet, she didn’t let it get to her; she had learned not to judge others. Who was she do so, how was it her place? Once she was the subject of prejudice and had scars to remind her of it, inconspicuously hidden thanks to the pale green shirt she wore, and knew how it felt to be criticized like it was an old friend.

OOC: xD

It seemed that her jump had surprised Daemon when he himself astonished her in the first place. She could not help but smile induced by comic relief, that is until she saw his bare legs. That surprised Evelyn even further; she never before saw a wolf without fur on his legs, and had to blink back the confusion in her eyes. But the man covered up his naked limbs, and a few seconds later started to gesture at the unfinished ax. Again, the man made throaty sounds that she could not identify as words, which made the hybrid even more baffled.

“You… you want to see the axe?” Evelyn asked, puzzlement clear in her tone. It was obvious by the way Daemon was pointing at it that he wanted to, but the cocoa female did not understand why he wanted to. Nonetheless, she picked up the tool, and the male started to make gestures again. At first she wondered why he didn’t just say what he wanted to do, but then it occurred to her that maybe he couldn’t, and soon caught on that he was trying to communicate without words. It’s kind of like the game I used to play when I was little, she thought to herself, and watched more closely.

He was patting his hips, as he was wearing something; at first, Evelyn had no idea what one could wear, but after a moment of thinking, she remembered seeing a packmate wearing a belt, and asked Daemon, “A belt?” She still didn’t know what he wanted, until he pointed at the ax again, making excited noises once more. Maybe he wanted to trade? A belt or at least something like that, for something she had, like perhaps the ax? Well, better to ask than just guess. After a few moments of thinking it through, she said in a questioning tone, with her head tilted to the side once more, “You want to trade, don’t you.”

OOC:

Though Evelyn was formally certain that Daemon wanted to see the axe, but he continued to pat down his body, and she wondered if he was again trying to convey another message. But after a few moments of watching him, it seemed that he was searching for something instead of trying to communicate. When she mentioned the word belt, the older boy’s attention focused back on her quite suddenly, but did not make any noises as she continued talking. She smiled as she saw he responded with vigorous nodding of his head, proud of herself that she managed to under what he was trying to say without words.

After he confirmed her thoughts, Daemon began to point towards where Evelyn assumed he came, and it occurred to the hybrid that perhaps he had a house here in Thornbury, where he kept his things like she did. “Okay, one moment,” she said quickly as the man kept insisting, and gathered up the tool and knife, and a ragged bag that laid sprawled on the porch. Once she wrapped up the axe in a cloth to secure it and placed it in the bag, she rushed after the hasty wolf. The contents of her bag was filled with tiny human trinkets that she liked to kept on her, but also some of her creations; ever since she was told that trading was important to d’Arte, she now started to carry some of her smaller goods on her at all times. The game of trade, as the girl saw it, was at anywhere at any time, and one had to be prepared for moments like these.

They reached his dwelling faster than she would have guessed, and paused for a moment to analyze the house. It was a two-story building, much like her own, though somewhat different in design, her house using more limber than stone to construct it. But what stood out the most was a thing that stuck out the side of the house, which instantly caught the girl’s interest; she never before saw a tower of any type, and wondered how it was made, curious if she was capable of making such a feature, even if she wasn’t into building houses. It was just her natural craftsman part of her being that took in all of these details, and she had to mentally push these thoughts aside as Daemon, also pausing, bustled into his home with her following behind.

OOC: Pfft, sudden spark of inspiration. xD I blame your wonderful writing that is awesome to respond to.

When Evelyn entered the towered-house, she was surprised by the large number of masks scattered around the premises, or at least what she could see. The windows, oddly, were covered with something thick, which she would later on find out on her own that it was leather. Because of the lack of light, the cool air sent a sudden chill down the girl’s back as the air temperature changed as she walked into the house. The place was most unlike her own; her house’s first floor was almost a single room, with a counter in a corner that showed it was once a store of sorts. The second floor consisted of a short hallway leading to two rooms, but Evelyn only used the master room, the other still covered in dust, and the areas of leisure─ the living and dining room─ were on the first floor, but almost unnoticeable when entering for the first time.

From what the hybrid could see in the dusky room, she spotted the table that was covered with objects that weren’t masks, and as she got closer identified them as belts. Daemon rushed over there before her, and Evelyn waited as he picked out the ones he wanted to trade with. They were notably white, seen even in the slight darkness; she did not know that hides were plain when first made into leather, but their color didn’t distract her for long. As she looked over them in an analyzing silence, she began to develop a likeness to this man’s craftsmanship, even if accessories were not in her realm of fondness; she wore human clothing for comfort, but dangling things that hung from the wrists and waist she found useless, other than her goggles.

“May I?” the girl asked politely as she stepped closer to the belts, wanting a closer look at the two; they both had their advantages and were different from one another, and made her choice difficult. If he allowed it, Evelyn held the two belts in either hand, her blue eyes following carefully over each. Neither were worse than the other in her eyes, so now she had to fall to practicality; the pouches were nice for carrying more items, but if she got the one with empty loops, she could place her personal tools there, leaving more space in her bag for objects. After another moment of quiet thinking, she tore her gaze from the belts with a smile, said decisively, “I like this one better, though both are wonderful,” and held the one with the loops higher than the one with the pouches.

Now it was her side she had to offer. She handed back both of the belts so her hands can be free as she dug in her bag. After a moment of contemplating, she brought out a few of her own creations, including the axe, all laid out on a cloth on a free spot on the table. They were all tools, since Evelyn seemed to think Daemon had taken interest in, but she also created all sorts of things besides that; if someone asked her to make a certain thing, she’d try to the best of her ability to craft it to the person’s words. What she showed was as followed: another axe, but this one was somewhat bigger, as if used for hunting instead of cutting wood; a short dagger that could be used to collect small plants, not very useful in a fight for its short stone blade; surprisingly a short-handled pickaxe, and how the wolf had managed to fit that into the bag was unknown; and lastly a knife that, instead of stone, was made with slightly rusted metal, recreated from an old one, similar to the one she had personally used, but much sharper.

OOC:

She felt uneasy as the man started to go over her works; is this how every maker feels like when their creations are finally looked at, whether it is leather or wood? Evelyn was before certain that she done well with the tools, but her coiling stomach spoke otherwise: what if Daemon was disappointed, thought that she had better than what she actually had? The trade could only work if both sides were satisfied, and though she was happy with his offering, she feared that her own wasn’t enough. Anxiety that was so unlike her crawled in the back of her mind as she glanced between the male and the tools, almost too nervous to notice the he had lit some candles for light. Then her heartstrings plucked a fast tempo as the furless wolf started to pick up the two knives; was he going to point out flaws, perhaps show his disappointment in them?

But Daemon showed no signs of any such thing as he also picked up the bigger of the axes. She also saw that he was eyeing the pick with interest. Evelyn nearly let out a huff of relief as it seemed that he was pleased with what she had, instead of the disgust that she had dreaded for. After her heart settled down to its normal rate, she finally took noticed of the dyes and focused on them for a moment, curiosity in her blue eyes. The man began to gesture and point once more, first making motions with his knife, and then pointed at the belt, then the dyes, and back again. She was reminded that the belt was plain, but the stuff in the jars was colorful, maybe to be put on the leather? Evelyn stepped closer to inspect the jars, and noticed the labels that looked like scribbles in her eyes.

She first wondered why he would just put random lines on the containers, but then realized in her mind they must have been words, writing of his or another. But it wasn’t the fact that the handwriting wasn’t neat, or that she read a different language; she was certain by the way the words were all bunched and mixed that it was English. In her old pack, she was the one black sheep, being taught to read yet not being able to do so, like her eyes wanted people to stare at her with confusion when they gave her lessons that she couldn’t understand, not matter what language. But Daemon didn’t know this, and hopefully he didn’t want her to read the words, just look at the colors. “I like this color,” she decided after a moment of looking over the dyes, extending an index finger at the deep brown, reminding her of the bark on the trees, which would do well with not looking conspicuous when hunting. Though some flare of color would have been nice, just for the looks, like a splash of red, or perhaps a pinch of blue. But she wasn’t sure if he had other dye colors, and didn’t think about decorations that he could possibly have, and wondered if she could find some herself if not.

OOC: We can perhaps wrap this up after a few more posts.

Evelyn didn’t completely understand the knife gesture; she assumed it was part of the coloring process. Even though she lived a human-like style, she was ignorant about some of the human ways that were left behind that Luperci were able to copy, and dying was one of them. She watched curiously as Daemon grabbed belts that were already completed, and quickly looked over them, her eyes hungrily eating at their detail. The one that stuck out the most was the one with the leaves and their stems, and pointed again that she liked that design with another extended finger, not finding the need to speak, but just gesture like the male did. Before meeting Daemon, Evelyn wouldn’t have believed that she would have been able to hold conversation without words, but here she was, commutating without speaking, a conversation at its most primal level.

Daemon seemed to be slightly distracted as he was thinking over the plans for her belt, so the girl took that moment to get a better look around the room, now that there was small light to see better in. Unsurprisingly, there were more masks that were hidden in the darkness, but the odd thing to Evelyn was that each was different. Whether it was color or perhaps design, each mask was not the same as the other, and that intrigued the hybrid. After a moment of looking around, she turned back to the boy, and thought what she should do now. It didn’t seem that the belt was going to be finished in minutes, so she wondered if she was supposed to leave; in any case, she gathered up what tools Daemon didn’t claim for himself and stuffed it back into her bag.

But then something occurred to her: what was this wolf’s name? The follow-up thought was that did he even have one. She knew she couldn’t ask, since Evelyn very well knows that he couldn’t talk properly, at least not at this moment. But not knowing his title bothered her; what if she one day wanted to tell another about his wonderful leather creations, would she just have to tell them to refer to a cloaked, furless wolf?