lark_in_flight | Team-building hedge maze adventures

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Team-building hedge maze adventures

Cosette has spent rather a lot of time walking the Milliways grounds in recent weeks, either with her father or with her husband. It's no Luxembourg Gardens, but there's a half-wild charm to the grounds all the same, and in any case she'd enjoy walking on the surface of the moon if it were with someone she loved.

So she's strolling along on a gentle path by the lakeside, her hand tucked into Marius's elbow. Her head is tipped against his shoulder, insofar as her bonnet allows.

Is that a squirrel up ahead of them on the path? How sweet, she thinks, and smiles at the little creature.

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Marius likes walking with Cosette-- it makes it easy to almost imagine that they're in Paris, that there isn't a mad magic bar just beyond the edge of the garden.

He is, admittedly, not really the type to notice wildlife, but that squirrel in the path is sitting so strangely still, and Marius would swear it is watching them approach.

Edited 2016-03-11 03:56 (UTC)

It really does seem that way! Which might mean nothing but an especially brave squirrel, or might mean only one of the small strangenesses of Milliways and its creatures; but then again, it might mean something more peculiar than that.

Cosette hasn't told anyone of the time that she was transformed into a lark for a few days. But she remembers it like a wonderful, exciting dream.

"Hello, M. Squirrel," she says when they're near, mock-solemn, with a little laugh trembling under her words.

How silly, to greet a small animal as if it were a person! And the silliest part of all is that here at Milliways, it might truly be a person. Either way, she's entertained by the very idea, and just in case it's true she ought to be polite.

"Hello, miss," the squirrel replies.

For a second, it seems so natural, to pass by someone and greet them, and to receive a greeting in return. Then Marius looks to Cosette in alarm. Did that-- did she also hear--?

Oh!

She thought about the possibility, but she didn't really expect to be answered. For a moment, she's wide-eyed.

Then she rallies. "Why -- why, you are a person, then! Aren't you?" A quick glance at Marius, with a certain you hear all this happening too, right? Okay! Just checking! look about the eyes, but mostly she's being determinedly bright and cheerful. "How do you do?"

How do you talk to a squirrel? Well, the same as you'd talk to anyone else, she supposes. And squirrels are little creatures, and so quick and scurrying and easy to startle, and no harm to anything but a tidy attic. So perhaps she ought to make sure to be reassuring, as well.

The squirrel sighs. It's remarkable how human it looks, the little shoulders shrugging up and down again as the breath rushes out.

"I am a squirrel, miss. But it is kind of you to inquire," he says. His voice is high and chattery, just as you might expect a squirrel to sound, though his tone is distinctly glum. "I confess, I have been better."

Marius is just staring. It is not very polite, but the squirrel is gracious enough-- thus far, at least-- not to comment.

Cosette, it must be said, is rather accustomed to handling social skills for the men in her life.

"Oh dear," she says, sympathetically. She's still confused, but all the same her sympathy is real -- it sounds so downcast, the poor little thing! (Which is adorable, for the record.) "Whatever is wrong? I hope it's nothing too serious."

Monsieur? Maybe not. Social scripts do fall down somewhat in the face of talking rodents, however courteous they may be.

"Oh, how kind you are!" the squirrel cries, clasping its hands. "I hope it shall not prove too serious, either-- but I will not burden you with my troubles!"

AWWWWWWWW.

That is, er. Cosette is a grown adult who absolutely takes other people's problems 100% seriously, even when they're small fluffy squirrels clasping their tiny paws together!

"Oh!" she cries warmly, and then remembers that Marius may not, in fact, be especially interested in standing around hearing about a squirrel's troubles. She glances at him quickly, trying to figure that out.

"That is -- we certainly wouldn't want to pry, M. Squirrel. But if we might be of assistance, I'm sure we'd be happy to listen."

Marius, perhaps beginning to think that maybe he is dreaming and should just accept this, says faintly, "Yes, of course."

"You are so terribly kind! But--" The squirrel glances around. "I could never ask you to simply stand here on this path! Won't you join me for tea? My home is just this way."

Edited 2016-03-11 05:41 (UTC)

Cosette is not entirely convinced herself that this isn't a dream, although she has enough experience of Milliways to more readily accept the possibility that it isn't.

At any rate, at the invitation, she glances up at her husband. What does he think?

...What does he think besides bewilderment, that is?

...bewilderment, mostly.

But oh, Cosette is looking to him. Right. Yes. His feeble social instincts stir, and he says politely, "Yes, thank you."

The squirrel looks terribly pleased. "Just this way!"

He switches to all-fours as he leads them off the path and into the trees. The light seems to change as they go, just subtly. The trees, though perfectly ordinary trees, are suddenly not quite like those in Milliways.

What is less ordinary is the squirrel's house, which is not the sort of tangled nest that squirrels generally live it, but a large, stout tree with a door set right into the trunk. The squirrel hurried forward to pull the door open for the Pontmercys.

"Do come in!"

"Oh, how sweet!" Cosette cries softly, though she manages to keep it an undertone. It's like something out of a fairytale.

In they go. Cosette expects to barely fit side by side into the tree, despite the squirrel's confident hospitality. Instead what she finds is a snug room, quite large enough for two people and a squirrel, and cheerily decorated despite the wooden walls. There's a table, covered with a lacy tablecloth, and cupboards, and even a little stove.

The squirrel bustles in, closing the door behind itself. It's a good deal taller suddenly -- more than waist high, now.

Marius does a double-take as the squirrel passes, then looks hastily down at himself. He seems to be all there, just-- smaller? And he wouldn't even guess that, save that the squirrel now seems so large, and all its furniture seems to be just the right size for them.

"Do take a seat," the squirrel cries as it sets about preparing the tea things. Marius moves hesitantly towards the table and pulls a chair out for Cosette before sitting himself.

"Now, then," the squirrel says when it returns to the table with a little tray of acorn-shaped cookies. "Where was I?"

Well, if Marius isn't worried, she won't fret. She won't worry! Everything will be fine, if he's here with her, and if he isn't afraid. She'll just -- sit down and have tea with a squirrel, like civilized neighbors.

She can't wait to tell her father about all this, later.

"You were telling us of yourself, monsieur...?"

Does he have a name? Do squirrels have names? What's the propriety of introductions to magically talking woodland creatures, anyway?

And of course Marius isn't afraid! Because he is a man! And this is a squirrel.

He's just... slightly perturbed. But that's been his default state since arriving at Milliways anyway.

"Ah, yes!" The squirrel nods and takes a seat. "My name is Aloysius. I live a humble life here, as you can well see! I have no longing for finery, for fuss. But I have been charged with a wicked crime!"

...

Whatever troubles Cosette was expecting a talking squirrel might have in its life, that was not one of them.

"By whom?" she asks, uncertainly, when it's clear that Aloysius expects a response.

"There is a fine hedge maze not far from here, just that way," Aloysius says, gesturing towards one of the little windows. "Its keepers are proud of it-- and rightly so! It is truly a wonder. The hedges grow high and thick and straight-- once inside, it is quite impossible to tell where you or going, or to see any marks of the land outside! And along the path, a row of perfect, lovely trillium flowers! And I am accused of picking them!"

"Is... is that such a terrible crime here?" Marius asks, glancing at Cosette. She knows more about flowers than he does-- perhaps she will look horrified?

"Oh, yes," the squirrel says solemnly. "Once picked, you know, a trillium takes seven years to bloom again."

Cosette is looking blank. Earnestly sympathetic! But... blank.

She's never heard of trillium. (Because Cosette knows very little of non-European flowers.) Perhaps it's a magic flower? That would make as much sense as anything.

"That's quite a long time!" she agrees, sympathetically. (How long is a squirrel's lifespan, anyway? She has no idea.) "No wonder the gardeners are careful."

How do you ask a stranger, who also happens to be a talking squirrel, whether he in fact committed the crime he's accused of? But he seems such a nice squirrel that surely it must have been an accident if he did. Right?

"They are indeed," Aloysius says solemnly. "They keep a very close eye on the entrance and exits to the maze-- and that is how they spied me leaving, and knew, when the flowers were found plucked, that I was the only one who had been inside! But I did not pick them!" he cries. "I would never do such a thing!"

"Why--"

He seems so earnest, and he's such a sweet squirrel -- he's been nothing but polite and kind and generous, bringing them to his house, giving them tea and cookies -- he can't be lying, can he? He seems so sincere, so indignant. And to be judged a criminal -- even if he did do it, to face that stigma all his days -- and especially if he truly is innocent--

It's that memory that puts an extra warmth in her voice and firms her chin with determination, when she cries, "Why, of course you wouldn't! You've said so and I believe you, M. Aloysius. You've said it and they ought to believe it's so."

She doesn't look at Marius, because -- because, well, she's looking at the squirrel, that's all.

Marius, on the other hand, is very definitely looking at Cosette.

"Can anything be done?" he asks.

Aloysius the squirrel sighs. "I would like to prove my innocence! But I cannot think how. There must be some secret entrance to the maze! But if so, I have never seen it, and I am not permitted to return to the scene of this crime."

Cosette does turn to Marius, now, with a look of uncertain inquiry. It's also, quite unconsciously, a little beseeching.

She doesn't see how they can help. But Marius is so clever, and a trained lawyer too. Surely he must have some kind of notion? At least for something Aloysius can do to help his own situation?

"Have you no-- no police, no inspectors, who might investigate this for you?" Marius asks, but Aloysius shakes his head sadly.

"Well-- well--" Marius casts an uncertain glance back at Cosette. "Suppose you showed us where it is? A-- a fresh pair of eyes, you know, perhaps we might-- see something."

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Team-building hedge maze adventures

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