(Bijou, Taro, Koshi & Taisho)
Wordcount: 1031
Taisho was always busy. He didn't mind, he liked getting his paws dirty in the soil as he dug new tunnels for the clubhouse. The others helped, soemtimes, but they were small right now as a group. He rather they collect the sunflower seeds or relax in the sun or whatnot. Taisho enjoyed organizing as well, and making sure everyone in the clan had a nice place.
It relaxed him, it soothed him, and he wasn't one to really seek out adventure as much as Taro did. Now that was a ham-ham that enjoyed exploring everything he could. Taisho had a special fondness for the orange and white bun.
Which, speaking of, was just coming back through the tunnels. The other hare was small compared to him, coming mostly to his chin when they stood at full height. Taro's mate Koshi was just around the same height, but Taisho knew he was quite large for a hare. None of the others let that intimidate them thought.
"Hamha, Taro!" Taisho greeted as the other neared him. He was working on a new tunnel that would eventually lead down into a new room that would belong to Vieno. The Weather Frog was the newest member, and he was almost done with Vieno's actual room. He would need Bijou later to help decorate it and get it ready for the other to have a place to sleep.
"Hamha, Boss!" Taro greeted in return. He scurried a bit closer, trying to peek past Taisho's large form and into the den behind him. Taro was just that nosy, but he meant no harm of course.
Taisho just puffed up, blocking the view from Taro with a laugh. "I'm not quite done yet!" The entrance to the den was a bit larger than Vieno needed. They were small, the same size as Bijou - a tiny little slip of a thing, but Boss needed room to work. If they decided to make their entrance smaller with stones and sticks later, that was on them.
"I'm sure Vi will like it," Taro said instead of trying to peek around Taisho again. "I can go find Bijou if you want her help with it, though!" Taro was a friendly little thing, and Taisho laughed, nodding.
"I have something else for you to do and I'd like to tell you about it in a moment" Taro make a small 'heke?' sound, but he followed Taisho anyway, scrambling after him as the larger hare was able to outpace him easily.
Taisho lead the paid out of the tunnels up into the sunflower fields above. It was a nice day, though the ground was still damp from the previous rains. The earth smelled fresh and soft. Taro always liked the smell of the sunflowers after a good rain. Taisho didn't speak as he lead them away from the mouth of the clubhouse.
They stopped a bit away, but Taisho never went too far from the entrance. Suddenly, they stopped, and Boss's ears stood at attention, listening for something. "This way," he said, and the two scurried off in the direction the sound came from. The pair came across Koshi, the large grey and cream hare was planting some new sunflowers that would last later into the season now that the ground was soft.
Bijou was not far away, collecting smaller flowers that wouldn't grow into sunflowers.
"Good, you're all here," Taisho huffed. He wasn't used to being up in the sun and running. The tunnels weren't so hot and he was used to digging. He was silent for a moment, ignoring the 'heke's' from the trio. "You can say no, but I have something to offer Taro that I wanted run by all of you..."
Bijou frowned, adjusting the flowers that were tucked behind her ears. A nervous habit. Taro was adventurous and outgoing but managed to find some shy, quiet mates.
"W-what is it?" Koshi stuttered, uncertain. He hovered closer to Taro, near shrinking down to try to appear smaller than Taro, though it didn't quite work. Taro nuzzled his mate's cheek though, now that it was easier in reach, and to soothe the anxious hare.
"I just wanted to ask you, if Taro is willing, if you two would be ok with Taro going out to find more Ham-hams." He didn't know how it would go over with Bijou and Koshi, but Taro seemed to light up. There were practically stars in the orange-cream hare's eyes.
Taro turned towards his mates, paws clasped together in a silent plead to let him go. He wanted to go, he was ready to go. He could bring back so many others. He hadn't known this would be the offer, but Bijou and Koshi hated when he put himself in danger. His eyes got even bigger as the two of his mates deliberated quietly between them.
Koshi relented first, a sigh coming from the large hare. Bijou looked somewhat annoyed, having not won this silent argument between them. Koshi nuzzled her a bit to apologize, and Bijou sighed as well. She leaned into Koshi and nodded.
Taro gave the biggest smile and cheered.
"You'll be safe," Bijou commanded, and Taisho huffed a sigh of relief.
They needed the members, their numbers were small and there was a safety in numbers that their tiny little clan didn't provide for the moment... That did mean that he had a lot of work ahead of him... "Thank-Q, Taro - Bijou and Koshi." If it was his mate, personally, he probably wouldn't let them out of his site, but he was grateful these two knew of their mate's desire for adventure.
"I'll go get started on more dens. You can leave whenever you're ready Taro," He smiled at the trio and dashed back to the tunnel to the clubhouse. He was already making plans - he would need to have way more entrances than just this one if they were gonna have more members... Maybe he could find someone to help him dig...
That was a problem for another day though. First, he had to finish Vieno's room and then he would worry about it.