October 12th, 1894 - Harvest Festival

Alvin was so used to being roped into anything vaguely Potts-related at this point in his life, that he didn't even attempt to stutter an excuse to get out of helping at the Harvest Festival. Nobody argued with the combination of Laurel Potts, Betty Plunkett and his own mother. There was no saying no and so he didn't even try.

He'd spent most of the morning setting up booths for the vendors and other activities, and by the time the festivities actually started, he was ready for a nap. At present he was sporting a daisy crown that a Potts niece had plopped on his head and he'd promptly forgotten about, rolled up sleeves and an expression of pure exhaustion. The funniest part about it was that the day was hardly half over. Alvin was wondering if he could slink away for a little bit, find a bale of hay or the loft of the barn to sneak away to for a few minutes and catch a power nap.

First a snack, then a nap, he decided. He was due to help with the wagon rides at some time, but he thought he could sneak in what he needed to in order to get through the day. After stopping at the Honeyduke's booth with a hot apple cider and a donut to dunk in it, Alvin was heading toward the barn when a runaway pony caught his attention. The pony rides were on the far side from here, so now he was wondering just who had gotten run over in this process.

"Whoaaa," he said as he jumped in front of the pony (thankfully not a full-sized horse that would in fact trample him), tossing his snack to the ground so he had both hands free. "I don't think you need to be sprinting through here," he said as he caught the pony by the bridle. "You made me lose my snack." He mumbled, looking down at the lost treats glumly.

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If something was bordering on fascinating, Feiyu found a way to experience it. So it was with the Harvest Festival, which he'd heard about from someone he wasn't supposed to be eavesdropping on, in a public house he wasn't supposed to be visiting.

Naturally, the Harvest Festival wasn't the sort of event that people of his ilk were invited to, so Feiyu had come in disguise. And by that I mean the young Animagus had warped into Sable form. A soft little creature with a twitchy bronze snoot. There were plenty of trees at East Ridge Farm, so the creature remained quite unseen, nipping from shade to shade, branch to branch, though occasionally braving the open spaces, winding between people's ankles as he gazed up at all the rural activities and merrymaking. Bordering on fascinating more or less summed it up.

Then he was almost trampled by a pony, squeaking in alarm. But although he froze, Feiyu was not one to flee. So he remained stationary, the fur on his back rather wiry... then his eyes fell upon something that had fallen from a young man's hand. The little Sable padded over to the discarded treat, then sloooooowly picked it up in both tiny paws. Oho — what was this?

  

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Alvin was trying to get the pony to calm down with soothing sounds and some long pats to her neck. He'd always been reasonably good with animals, sans cats for some reason, but he'd never had much experience with anything quite so large. Maybe he ought to find Sloane wherever she was; his sister had turned into quite the animal whisperer. Still, he knew where the pony belonged and figured he might as well get it back. So much for his snack and nap idea.

Looking down at his lost apple cider and donut, Alvin was surprised to see some little weasel of some kind he'd never seen before picking up his donut. "Well I guess you can have it," he chuckled, feeling rather like some strange sort of version of a fairy princess from one of those childhood books his mother had always read. Weren't they the ones who were supposed to attract all of the woodland creatures? Why couldn't this luck extend to Splash sometimes? Keeping an eye on that thing had been a chore.

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Feiyu saw the human glance down at him with surprise (using a face he might have noted as particularly good-looking, had he been in human form) and then offer reluctant permission. Psh, as if Feiyu needed the permission.

In any case, he did find himself intrigued by the sweet treat. He'd never seen one of these circular things before, all dusted with sugar. And yes, in human form he tended not to eat food that had landed on the ground... but in sable form sometimes he allowed himself little animalistic whims.

Feiyu gave the doughnut the tiniest of nibbles. Bleh! It tasted terrible! (He had failed to notice that a dead bug had taped itself to the fallen snack.) Aghast, the little creature threw the doughnut with all his might.

  

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"Well then," Alvin chuckled. He'd never seen a creature with such vehement dislike of something. It was amusing if nothing else. "I would have eaten that, thanks." He teased, apparently still channeling his inner fairy tale princess. No matter that it had been on the ground. He thought a small critter would be less discerning. He was holding the bridle of the pony, stroking the creature's neck idly. It had calmed down, which was helpful, would allow him to walk it back to where it— (a quick glance) she, belonged.

"Good luck finding something that tasty then." Alvin chided. "I've got to take a walk and get a new one for myself." It wouldn't be hard, he supposed, as he could probably swindle his way into a replacement, citing the incident, surely somebody would take pity on him.

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The waifish creature gazed up at the young man, suddenly quite amused at his amusement — not that such an expression could be aptly shown on an animal's face.

Though the icky taste lingered a little, Feiyu recovered quickly, especially as the human he'd adopted implied some light adventuring. They were going on a walk, eh? Okay then, Feiyu decided, shamelessly inviting himself along without a moment's hesitation. He trotted along by the man's ankles like some bizarre pup.

  

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Alvin had gotten the pony to follow along at a slow pace, back toward where she belonged. He hadn't checked to see if the little marten-esque creature had scampered off. Turns out, it was following along. Maybe he was having some strange out-of-body experience, but normally he was not surrounded by creatures like this.

"Coming along, hm?" And he was talking to it why? He'd been hanging around with Sloane too much. She talked to and about every creature she'd met since returning to the zoo and while he was glad for her, he was still mostly baffled when she talked. "I should find my sister, she'd know all about whatever you are." He chuckled. Was it a magical creature? Come to think of it, Alvin wasn't even sure he'd ever seen such an animal around here before. Was it somebody's pet? What a strange experience this was.

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Feiyu was not entirely happy to discover that the pony would be coming with them, so he granted it a wide berth, ensuring the man was a reliable barrier between them.

But perhaps more disconcerting was the fellow's next words — he sought his sister so Feiyu's identity could be clarified...? Oh he didn't like that. The little sable came to a standstill, looking up at his human companion with suspicion in his large eyes — and perhaps a hint of betrayal. He'd thought they were off on a little adventure, not that his cunning disguise was on track for discovery.

  

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