Dnd Drabble- Butterflies

"Have I ever told you what animals I like best, Lockjaw?" Mim's heels swung out from the branch, her bright eyes leaning over to look at her friend.

"Depends, is that animal a butterfly?" The warforged underneath her replied after a moment, his neck creaking as he tilted his head to look up at her.

"Oh, so I have told you! Yeah, I just love love loooove butterflies," the girl chuckled as she leaned back against the trunk of the tree, tossing an apple from one delicate, nimble hand to the other. "My family used to work on an orchard, you know. There were always butterflies in the spring! I would chase them a lot, hoping I could catch them, but they would always fly away. That's why I wear butterflies on my shawl, they're the sort that can't flutter at all!"

"You know, there is a way to get butterflies to come to you, you know." Lockjaw commented, casting a glance over to the fluttering slips of gold and orange above him.

"Really?? Is it like some super special warden trick? Can ya teach me????" Mim nearly fell out of the tree as she scrambled down to where he was. "Please please please I wanna hold a butterfly so bad you have no idea Lockjaw really you don't-"

"If you quiet down, I'll show you," Lockjaw slowly shifted his position to face Mim, who was now bobbing up and down on her feet, giving the old warforged the biggest pair of expectant eyes ever seen on a girl.  "Now, keep being quiet, just like that. And breathe a bit slower, you're trembling like a leaf in a storm."

"I can't help it, though, I'm gonna hold a butterfly!!!" Mim chuckled.

"Not if you're acting like a newborn rabbit bounding everywhere," Lockjaw remarked, ever-so gently placing a finger on each of Mim's small shoulders and pushing them down to a relaxed position. "Now, breathe. Deeply and slowly, think about each breath you take."

Mim squirmed a tiny bit and bit her lip, but slowly she complied, each breath making her chest rise and fall slowly like the ebb of water on the shore. Lockjaw motioned for her to raise her hand up, slowly, slowly.

"Now, it's gonna come to you, okay? But you gotta keep quiet and still, precisely like I showed you," Lockjaw nodded, watching as a yellow butterfly glided right above them.

Mim concentrated her hardest. Staying still and quiet was never her exact strongest suit, but on the other hand, there were butterflies to hold. She closed her eyes and took a super deep breath. That's when she felt the softest little feeling brush on her finger. Her eyelids shot open, and she had to hold her breath for fear of being too loud as she gazed in wonder at the round-winged butter-gold butterfly that alighted on her hand.

She gave a glance to Lockjaw, quite sure that if warforged could smile properly, he'd have a smile at least half as big as hers.  His indigo eyes certainly glowed with amusement, or else it could be relief that he figured out a way to get her to be quiet.

Of course, after the butterfly flittered away it was all Mim would talk about all that afternoon. Khorvaire never had an odder pair. Probably.