Welcome to Gaia! ::

Tam nods and pulling down his favorite sweater he makes a nest for her to rest in next to Kero, hoping to keep the mud contained. Washing the sheets right now was not something he was looking forward to.

"I tell ye what, Princess. I could read ye a story... or I could sing ye one... I know quite a few tales which will not only help ye feel better but tell you a fine story as well. Would ye like that instead?"

He covers her with his jacket and sits down beside her, pulling his special harp from it's airy closet. The tiny rosewood harp gleams in the muted sunlight of the late afternoon.

Kero rolls over blinking with confusion. "Why's Sal crying?" he asks worriedly.

"She ran afoul of a hornet's nest." says Tam with a sigh. I'm going to try to sing the swelling and pain away, want to help?"

Tam frowns. "How about the story of Tamlin... the... ummm, clean version. Not the one Corby taught ye way back when... but the one I sang at Mica's party last year... it tells a good tale, of a young man taken away by the fairies... and won free by his maid.... and has a healing element in it as well... Would that one suit ye, Princess?"

"Hornets have these stingers on their tails that carry a tiny bit of venom... so not only have ye been royally poked, but ye've been poisoned a tiny bit too. It won't kill ye, not unless yer allergic to it, but it will make ye very uncomfortable... kind of like yer daddy's stinger... only his is much bigger and more dangerous... Understand now?" says Tam running his fingers over the harp, checking it's tune.

He looks at Kero and nods. "Remember.. we're going to do a set of three here... one to set the spell, two to put it in motion, and three to lock it in place... got that?"

The tale, itself, is a simple bardic legend, cleaned up for general listening and not very long, but Tam embellishs it a bit and pulls it out. Thus by the second time round, Salunia's eyes are showing signs of getting heavy and by the end of the third time through, she is out cold and snuggled up against Tam's side.

He looks down at his muddied sheets and laughs ruefully. "Well," he whispers softly to Kero, storing his harp back into it's airy casing. "Ye can't say I didn't try. I'll just wash them tomorrow, I guess, She's going to be out for a while. Go down and tell Fortuny and Hope what happened for me, okay. I'll stay here to keep her company, so she doesn't wake up alone."

Tam looks down at the sleeping cub and sighs. She was such an earnest individual, so straight forward and determined, putting her whole self into what she did. Part of that was because she was so young and didn't know better, but he knew a good portion of it was due to her personality as well. He prayed nothing ever destroyed that for her. It was, if anything, her most endearing trait. Curling up about her to help keep her warm, he gently eased her closer. The hell with the mud, she needed comforting right then and he could always take a bath later. Falling asleep he noticed tiny white hairs beginning to sprout on the back of his hands.

Oh well, maybe Bez was right about him in a way as well... the mothering instinct was strong in him and the more he suppressed it, the more it wormed it's way free. Squirming slightly, pulling her long legs up under her and snuggling up against the cub, the lioness, Ai, sighed once more and closed her eyes. Being a hermaphroditic shapeshifter was hell when yer body simply didn't know which form it was supposed to take.

Ai rumbles a thank you and snuggles down next to the cub... adding her own melodic purr to Kero's music.

When they both finally drift off, he puts his pipe away and sneaks back down stairs, laughing to himself. Hopian sees this and frowns.

"What's so funny about my daughter getting stung all over by hornets?" he demands testily.