"Oh! Of course!" Tobias smiled brightly, all too eager to go see the fish. Just don't fall in or Alex will have a panic attack when he sees you… Twitch…
Alex smiled, leading Tobias off into the woods, shifting instinctively.
Tobias was a bit startled when he shifted, but went along with it. It's their thing, I guess… I shouldn't put it too much into question….
Alex watched him for a moment, before padding off towards the river.
Tobias saw that they were coming up on the river, and he bolted to the bank and crouched down, getting extremely close to the water to get the best look at the swimming fish. They're just so cool….
"Careful you don't fall in" said Alex padding up next to him, his claws digging in to the edge of the bank.
“Oh, I know….” Tobias muttered absentmindedly, watching the fishies in the water — swirling and swimming around with the flow. They’re just so cool…. I never want to leave this place….
Alex shifted smiling as he watched the boy. He sighed, knowing that he'd missed quite a lot of his own son's life. Eventually he lay back, pulling out a cloth and a strange looking flute, cleaning and polishing it quietly.
Tobias reached out and put his hand into the water, gracefully touching a fish as it swam by. “I want one….” He said slowly and quietly.
(I’m imagining these fish are like Koi fish, just a heads up, if that’s alright)
(No worries! I haven't really done much so far as wildlife.)
Alex laughed, watching Tobias. "Unfortunately we don't have a place for you to keep one"
He frowned, glancing back at Alex. "Not even a bowl of glass full of – wait… What's that??…." He asked, noting the odd flute.
"It's my flute" said Alex, "I've had it for as long as I can remember."
"….What does it do?" Tobias asked, his head still turned over his shoulder at Alex.
"It's just a musical instrument" said Alex
"Oh…" Tobias said with the smallest bit of disappointment. "I thought it was magical or somethin'…." He turned back and watched the fish in the water, letting his fingers slip by them.
"Not everything has to be magic" said Alex, "Honestly Life would probably be simpler without it."
"Then you should come to our world…." Tobias muttered. "The only magic people have is physical illusion…. You know… Pulling rabbits outta hats, making the card disappear…. The basic stuff…."
Alex rolled his eyes. "Unfortunately I have a family here that I care about too much to leave behind."
"That makes sense… I was just saying you should pay a short visit…." He swished his hand around in the water when he suddenly twitched, yet was oblivious to it, as he was too busy watching the fish.
Alex noticed the twitch, but thought nothing of it as he turned back to polishing his flute.
Tobias swished his hand around the fish, almost petting them. Aww…. So close… He twitched again, and he got a sudden chill.
"You cold or something?" asked Alex, noting the weird twitching.
"A little…." He took his hand out and dried it off on his hand on his shirt. "I mean… I'm alright otherwise…." He twitched again.
Alex watched him suspiciously, but ignored it some more. I'll mention it to his sister later…
Tobias plucked a blade of grass a little ways from him and stuck it in the water. Some fish 'sniffed' it but others swam right by. "What do these fish eat? I bet they're hungry…."
"Honestly I have no clue" said Alex, "I'm usually more worried about what I eat."
"Well of course… But I'm not hungry…." Tobias mumbled, sticking the grass further into the water. Here… Try eating this….
Alex smiled, pulling out a small loaf of bread from his pocket. "Try this." He said holding it out to Tobias.
Tobias grabbed the bread from Alex and said thank you to him before putting it in the water. The fish went crazy, swarming to the bread piece as it floated slowly down the river. "Whoa!" He cried, "Those fish really like that bread!"
Alex blinked in surprise, "that was unexpected…"
