To say that tensions were high in the group right now would... honestly be a huge understatement. Tensions were skyrocketing, and everybody was getting antsy in preparation for the coming raid. Worm was among those who were extremely eager to go on the road and get out there and save their missing groupmates, but he knew they needed to be patient and prepare before tomorrow, and people needed a way to relax. It had taken a bit of thinking for him to figure out how he could help with that, but then he had remembered the gifts he had recently given Rhea. In addition to giving her many stuffed animals to keep her big teddy bear company, he had also given her several storybooks he thought might keep her busy and in a different world that wasn't so full of agony and kidnapped groupmates and death and fighting and raids and everything else that was wrong with their world. Sure, a few good things had happened recently, such as Kiira miraculously showing back up in camp thanks to the work of the Typhoon, and Selby finally feeling better after the mysterious plant-inflicted sickness he had been struck by had rendered him rather immobile and ruined part of his house, but it seemed like the bad things far outweighed the good lately, and Worm knew he wanted to just lose himself in a story right now.

So, he had decided to gather up every book he had to his name, including several storybooks and all of the books that he had gathered up originally to teach himself how to read after he had first left the pride. Some of them were very simple, like a very basic abc book outlining the vocal sounds for certain letters and another book showing how certain whole words were pronounced. Some were more complex, like the book he had that gave the definitions and sounds for some more common complex words, and a general thesaurus and dictionary. In the end, it had taken quite a while for him to originally figure out how to read on his own, and the books had been helpful but hadn't exactly been a godsend when he hadn't known how to read them in the first place. Still, he was sure he had more of a grip on the strange language used in books than his brother did, and than most of his groupmates did, even though he wouldn't say it to their faces, since he wouldnt want them to think he was insulting their intelligence.

Seeing as he was sure that a lot of others probably wanted to acquire the effective skill of reading in order to learn new things and distract their brains, he had decided to host a class for it. Taking all of the books he had gathered, he moved out onto his porch and cleared his throat, slowly laying the books out with his paws and being particularly careful not to scratch them with his claws or pierce them with his teeth, since he hoped to one day acquire a nice collection of sorts that could even rival their library. Once all of the books were laid out where they could easily be seen and perused, he took a deep breath before sitting and calling out, his tail flicking from side to side behind him as he seemed deep in thought, [glow=#793B29,1,400]"Hey, uh, anybody who's interested in reading, come 'ere! I learned how to read a while ago, and I thought maybe I could host a bit of a... erm, class like thing, I guess. Especially for you, Rhea, since I gave you those storybooks recently."[/glow] He flicked his tail at Rhea in particular before looking down, shifting his paws a little. Sure, he knew how to read, and he remembered all the basic concepts, but he wasn't sure how much of a good teacher he would be. He had only taught Poetking a few things as they grew up, and he didn't have a ton of experience with voicing his thoughts out to others and expressing how the stuff actually worked.

Worm's heart sank a bit when Feza was the first one to approach, worried that the hyper female would infect the class with her jumpy and partying attitude just by being around. He didn't want to be outright mean about it, but his reading class was meant to be relaxed and easygoing, and a way to learn something that – at least he considered to be – an actually useful skill. He hadn't considered Feza's late night kazoo class to be all that useful, since Worm thought that not only would they never need to make music with those things, but he also thought that they sounded downright awful. They hurt his ears, and they had been loud enough in order to wake him up from his dead sleep at 2 in the morning. Admittedly that had soured him to the concept of the class, and he had very pointedly made sure that his reading class was in the mid day, not only because it was easier to read when it was daylight, but also because he wanted to show when a reasonable time to have a class was.

Sighing heavily as Feza began to ramble in her usual way, the lion took a deep breath as a way to stabilize himself and keep from snapping, although his tail lashed a bit behind him. He mumbled softly as he carefully pushed one of the ABC books forward so that the colorful snow leopard could look more closely, [glow=#793B29,1,400]"Yes, they're easy to read books. It wouldn't be a very good class if I started you off with an incredibly complex book, now would it be?"[/glow] He then nudged the cover of the book open with his paw, sitting back and rumbling as he focused his attention on the book instead of her in order to even himself out and not feel so aggravated, [glow=#793B29,1,400]"You can just use your claws to flip the pages, but you have to be very careful, alright? I don't want anybody scratching my books up real bad, cause I'd like to be able to teach people more in the future."[/glow] He wasn't sure who he would be teaching, but in case any more children showed up in the future, he wanted some simple books that he could show them. He almost sort of doubted another child would show up, since it seemed like Tanglewood had very few children around at all times.

He then pushed forward a few more books of very simple stories meant for small children, rumbling as he flicked an ear, [glow=#793B29,1,400]"I figure that we can start off with learning the basic letters and sounds, and then we can go into using those sounds to actually read the stories. Most of them are pretty easy stories that were meant for little human cubs."[/glow] He had the tendency to refer to human kids as human cubs, just because he was so used to thinking of children as cubs after living in the pride for so long. He then glanced around off of the porch before rumbling loudly to garner nearby attention, [glow=#793B29,1,400]"I'll be happy to begin the lessons, but I think I'd like to wait for a few more others, especially Rhea. I gave her some books recently, and I'd like for her to be able to enjoy them properly.[/glow]

Wormwood blinked and perked up a bit when another creature showed up to the class, and it was none other than Bink. He didn't know too much about the tiny avian yet, but he seemed cute enough with the way he frantically reacted to most things. Worm had definitely felt bad when he had scared the living daylights out of Bink when he had first arrived, and since then he had tried to not seem too crazy intimidating with every step. This, however, had gotten a bit harder ever since he had grown his wings, since they made him seem even larger and more overwhelming in the way he stood and moved, especially if he let them unfurl from his back. The lion had made no assumptions about whether or not Bink had read anything before this scenario, but he still felt a vague sense of surprise when the small creature spoke up and explained that he knew how to read. He found it pretty sweet that Bink, despite knowing full well how to understand the strange scribblings in the books littered all around, still wanted to stick around and hopefully help out.

Chuckling a little, Worm nodded at Bink and rumbled in a calm tone as he glanced between Feza and the crow before pushing a few more books forward – being careful not to catch any of Bink's feathers beneath the tones even larger than him, [glow=#793B29,1,400]"Of course that's fine with me, Bink. More people helping out is always nice, and you can act as a sort of... teacher's assistant. I'm sure that you'll be very useful, considering I don't entirely know how to teach an entire group of group members how to read their ABCs."[/glow] Which was... honestly the truth. Back in the pride he had learned how you teach certain things to cubs and other lions lower on the totem pole than him, but what he was usually teaching were more physical things, such as fighting and hunting. Both of those came naturally to him, and reading had been something he had to work hard in order to get a grasp on, so he wasn't sure how easy it would be to communicate the skill to others – especially considering Tanglewood's wide variety of ages. Rhea could take to reading as natural as a butterfly to flying, her younger brain processing his teachings much faster than others, while someone like Perseus could sit there staring at a book in frustration, his mind struggling to process the new information. This was, of course, negating the fact that Perseus was blind, and couldn't read anything but braille anyways.

Wormwood didn't notice Selby approaching at first, since he was so used to the medic being silent and soft in their every interaction that he barely noticed him closing in until he felt a tentative tap on his shoulder. Turning to face the male, he immediately noticed the faint excitement that the other's voice betrayed, and he almost laughed when he heard the anticipation in Selby's every word. The only reason he didn't laugh was because he knew just how much reading could influence a person, as it had influenced him since he had finally learned how to. He had learned how to read just a bit after everything with Poet had happened back in the pride, and he had needed something to calm his upset mind in those hard times. He had turned to stories, particularly those of legend, or the very same storybooks that he had given Rhea when he had brought her the basket. Those stories had made him feel less alone, and horrible, and the characters taught him how to be calmer and more kind, especially to himself. The storie had desperately made him wish that his parents had been as kind as the families that had so often been in the stories. Although there were some that made him feel sort of better about his family, like the story of Cinderella and her horrible stepmother and sisters. At least Poet had always been kind to him. Poet would always be kind to him, he was sure.

A soft smile coming to his golden muzzle, Worm mumbled softly to Selby with a firm nod, [glow=#165042,1,400]"Of course you can help, Selby. I'm sure you'll be very helpful to the class as a whole."[/glow] He liked Selby, and he liked the other's calm demeanor compared to a lot of the members of the group, so he wouldn't mind having Crow's son around to help with the class. Hopefully if they spread the work between all of them, then nobody wouldn't get anything out of the class in the end. That was pretty much Worm's worst fear, that nobody would actually learn anything about reading, when all he wanted to do was help the illiterate members of the group so that they could enjoy the stories that had given him so much comfort all those years ago. After all, he didn't know everybody's life stories here, and maybe some of them could need the comfort that old fairytales – or any other book, really – could provide them with. Even if they weren't having any troubles, stories could still just make you happy, and Worm wanted everyone in Tanglewood to be happy.

And then he was snapped out of his warm and caring thoughts by the arrival of someone he had never actually even met before. Looking up as the wolf approached, Worm opened his mouth to say something – he wasn't sure what yet, perhaps an introduction, or a welcome to the class – but he was suddenly interrupted by Miami's rather vulgar self introduction. The male pinned his ears to his head for a moment before taking a deep breath and grumbling lowly, [glow=#165042,1,400]"The whole point of this class is to learn to read these books, in case you didn't notice what we've been saying."[/glow] Normally he wouldn't be so passive aggressive at somebody he had just met, but it wasn't exactly like Miami had been particularly nice when he had approached in the first place. When the wolf seemed to settle down and seemed to come around to at least listening to what he had to say, Worm couldn't help the small grin that came to his face. Flicking his tail in Miami's direction, the lion purred deeply as he nodded, [glow=#165042,1,400]"No, I don't suppose it can hurt. I should introduce myself to you anyways. My name is Wormwood. I don't believe I've ever seen you around here."[/glow]