[C] Unlikely Places

"There are some mushrooms growing at the foot of that tree over there."

He replied, nodding behind the boy.

The fish would eat anything and once the fish started to get fed the ducks and birds would rock up too.

All off the animals here were spoiled.

Ti's body twisted so he could see where Naiad was talking about.

When he did spot the tree and the mushrooms growing beneath, he got up and darted towards it.

He picked as many mushrooms as he could carry in his hands then returned to his spot on the bank.

He rubbed one mushroom between his hands, breaking it up into big chunks, then began picking at it until it crumbled into little chunks.

As Ti sat by the water again the fish swam to the surface, they moved over each other continuously, trying to be the one closest to the boy.

"It's no surprise that all the fish here are quite fat."

They were little gluttons always asking for food like this.

"Not fat, just well loved," Ti corrected.

He began tossing little bits of mushroom at the fish, throwing some a little further out so the fish at the back had a chance to eat, too.

The boy smiled as he watched the fish eat what he was throwing at them.

He'd never fed fish before.

As sure as Naiad had said, as soon as the fish started to get fed ducks came swimming down stream to get a bite too.

"Lazy ducks."

He murmured, rolling his eyes, they were more than capable of going over and finding mushrooms themselves but they liked to be doted on.

Ti gave a soft giggle as Naiad muttered about the ducks.

"Is the one I helped there?" he asked, trying to remember what that duck looked like as he gazed over the ducks gathering around.

He tossed some mushrooms at the ducks so they could eat something, too.

"Yes, that one."

He replied, pointing to one near the back, his feathers were a little ruffled and out of place from his struggle and he still looked a little peevish.

Ducks weren't overly grateful creatures and it seemed unhappy about being stuck in the first place.

Ti tossed some mushroom to the bird being pointed out.

Hopefully feeding it would make it a little less angry. He didn't want to have a duck angry at him.

The boy picked up another mushroom and began breaking it up just like he did the first one.

The bird ate it eagerly, quacking a little more happily now that it had been fed.

Naiad put out his own hand toward the boy, tilting is head to the side slightly.

"May I have some?"

He asked, if he couldn't eat the child then he would at least have some of the mushrooms.

Ti reached out to grasp Naiad's hand when the man held it out.

He held the hand still with one of his own smaller hands and tipped the other to deposit the mushroom pieces he had into the Nymph's hand.

Ti gave the man a bright smile as he picked up another mushroom to begin picking that apart.

The small boy's hand was oddly warm, it felt strange against his much cooler skin.

He pulled his hand back steadily once it was filled and began picking at the mushroom, slowly eating the larger chunks.

He could tell easily what in the forest was edible and what wasn't, he had lived here for some time now.

Ti paused in picking apart the mushroom he had in his hand to watch Naiad pick at the mushroom he had just given him.

Ti had thought the Nymph would feed the fish and birds alongside him. He had't thought that he would actually eat the mushroom himself. How strange.

He was bought back to his task at hand by a particularly loud noise from the ducks.

He was almost scared that the ducks would attack him if he didn't carry on feeding them.

Everything had to eat, and he was quite hungry at this point.

Besides, the animals were getting more than their fair share, Ti had picked quite a few mushrooms.

Once the larger pieces were eaten and all that was left were small crumbs he tossed those into the water, letting the fish have their fill.

With the amount that Ti was feeding them, the boy didn't know whether the ducks would be flying any time soon.

He was weighing them down with a lot of mushroom.

The moral of this story was: don't let Ti control the amount of food people got. He was a feeder.

After the boy distributed this last mushroom, he clapped his hands over the water, getting rid of the last little crumbs.

"All gone," he told the birds nad fish, showing them his empty hands as if to prove his point.

All the animals still looked at him expecting more, they didn't know when enough was enough.

Though after a while of no more food being given out they dispersed, the ducks headed back upstream and the fish stayed around but spread out more evenly through the water, just in case.

"Little gluttons."

He tutted, shaking his head.

"At least they're cute."

Ti could forgive them for being gluttons because they were cute. He loved nature and being able to sit out here at the river and feed the fish and ducks was an incredible experience. Everything that he'd gazed upon today would get the title of cute.

Except for the Nymph himself.

Ti could think of a few other descriptions for the Nymph.

"That they are."

They were good company too, it was nice having the forest so full of creatures, it rarely got lonely.

"Plus the fatter they are, the less of them other predators have to eat."

He adored the fish, though they got eaten by larger animals, it was the way it worked and he wouldn't stop it because those higher on the food chain held just as much affection to him.

Ti plucked up a handful of grass and tossed it at the Nymph.

"Then don't complain about them being fat," he scolded playfully, his lips pulling into a little grin.

The boy slipped his feet back in the water and kicked them gently.

The cool water against his skin felt great.

"It's amusing to tease them though."

He replied, tossing the grass back at the boy before splashing him with water.

His entertainment choices around here were very limited, teasing fish and ducks for being fat was a good as it got some days.

Ti's mouth fell open in shock when he was splashed.

The he grinned and leant down to splash Naiad back. He swooped his arm wide, trying to throw as much water at the man as possible.

When was the last time he got to have a water fight with someone?

Naiad smirked as he was splashed, starting a water fight with a river nymph?

Silly boy.

He dipped his hand in the water and in one movement sent a continuous stream of water at the boy, as if he were squirting him with a hose rather than controlling the current of the river.

The boy whined as the Nymph controlled the water.

His arms came up as if to try and stop the water getting to him.

After a few moments of his unsuccessful attempts, Ti slid into the water, diving under and gripping Naiad's ankle, yanking down hard. Hopefully hard enough to pull Naiad under the water, too.

Ti didn't yank down hard enough to physically pull him into the water, not that Naiad was resisting.

Instead he simply let himself slide off of the rock and into the water.

He couldn't help but chuckle, pulling a nymph into the water.

Stupid boy.

Ti yelped under the water, face flushing a deep red as (as a result of being pulled down into the water) Ti's face became level with the Nymph's crotch.

The boy swam upwards, breaking the water and breaking heavily for a moment, trying to will the red in his cheeks not to be so bright.

He hadn't really thought that through.

If the Nymph was wearing clothing, it wouldn't have been quite so much of a problem.

Naiad laughed as the boy broke the surface on the water, his face was so flushed.

"Silly thing, aren't you?"

He cooed, his arms sliding around the boy and pulled him up against his own body.