table © Alaine
ooc: sorry for the quick reply, thought I'd pop one in before I left for the week X3
She took his outstretched hand, and the coyote's palm was dwarfed by his own. Caillen thought little of his size and general strength. He was a notably humble persona, more through naivety than anything else, but liked to think of himself as willing to help. Especially, willing to help pretty ladies like her. When Clover sprang lightly to her feet (for her graceful movements, no matter how lithe the wolfdog was, surely made him look a clumsy dolt), Caillen immediately stepped back to give her space. The strict rules of how to react with the opposite gender were carved in stone in the youth's mind - His mother had taught him thoroughly of the manners required to treat a lady proper-like. To crowd her would be to insinuate himself as being an improper fool!
The boy looked down at her with a charming grin, his lopsided ears flicked eagerly forward to hear what Clover had to say. He wished to impress her any way possible; Through his strength, if she wished him to cart something, or perhaps through his persistence and agility if she wished him to hunt. Caillen hunted very rarely, and lived off as little fresh meat as he possibly could. When he did make a kill, the youth was thorough in making sure every last bit of the animal was used, so it would not have died in vain. He wondered if she would think that odd - Many other canines did. But it was the way of his ancestors, and the way he would stick to.
His sky-blue gaze followed her golden-straw one, traipsing their surroundings to look for something starkly obvious. There were trees, but he had no axe with which to fell them; If she wanted kindling, perhaps he'd be able to break off some of the larger birch-branches...
Wavering attention was brought back to the pretty lady by her lyrical voice, the gentle giant smiling in eager expectation of a task to further win her favor. However, at her blunt question, he seemed to go into a momentary coma - Still smiling, blue eyes still sparkling, but motionless as romantic brain short-wired the concept. Now, Caillen had had similar prospects before, and were it not for his run-in with a few more domineering members of her gender, his innocent brain would never have leaped to the stark insinuation that it did. But, alas, that was the case, and a sudden blush turned the ivory of his inner ears red. However, Clover continued talking, and thankfully her eyes had dropped from his face such that she might not have seen his utterly embarrassing reaction.
Caillen quickly came to the conclusion that Clover had not meant what he had thought. At least, he thought that she had not thought what he thought she meant to think. In any case, her lovely smile had disappeared, and she seemed troubled by his lack of an answer. His tongue felt like thick bark. "I... Err... Well..." Come on, you idiot! Spit it out! "O-of course! Of course that would be good. Fine. Yes, of course I will!" Oh, smooooth.
With a mental face-palm, the youth shook his head slightly, before allowing a more genuine smile to breach his white incisors. It was an innocent invitation, and he would have been an insensitive fool to turn her down. Wanting to smooth over his awkward blunder, Caillen held out his hand towards the tapestry she had bundled up. "Please, let me carry that for you miss Clover." He would wait for her to lead the way, and then spring into merry step beside her. What a peculiar pair they would appear, walking together through the woods!
Speak think walk
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