GLoG

[Earl of Purple]

Voices from the Past

Natalie nods in understanding and acceptance, before turning to the summoned student. "What did you see down there? Anything interesting?"
The Prepared Student nods vigorously. "It's radioactive. And not by Imagine Dragons. I have so much homework for this weekend." The first sentence is spoken directly at Natalie, before she turns to one side and mutters most of the rest.

[Rebonack]

[Voices From the Past]

Radioactive.

Huh.

Well.

That'll narrow things down a bit at least?

Now our heroes just have the matter of making it back DOWN the very steep hillside. After some thought Khannie decides that the best way to do this is using one of her more clever illusions, namely by conjuring stairs.

Not many of them.

Just, like, five or so at a time. As the pair of explores descend the stairs behind them will fade and new ones will appear. That should make getting down the hill way easier.


[It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Thanksmas]

Wait.

Where are all the Thanksmas candles for the tables?

"Hey Cheasadh!" Khannie calls out. "Have you got the candles? I don't see the box with the rest of the Thanksmas stuff!"

Good to ask Cheasadh since she had asked to help with the decorations, too. Khannie has just gotta keep an eye on her friend lest she sneak too much pink stuff into the decorations. Wouldn't put it past the gnome to have begged Sally for some of the SO PINK decorations from the Garnet last year.

[Gullara]

[Summer Water Balloon Party]
Woblins and Dryadeer

"Yeah! Tuskfang is the best treasure hunter!" Balthuk's tail wags excitedly. Maltrika is busy staring into the hole.

"Hi!"

"Yes, I think the little foxes from the temple came here once. Got on immediately with the young goblins. It took me a while to have my own children, but living in a goblin colony always gets you used to them. You visited Underside with Brinika and Cheasadh, didn't you?"

[Summer Water Balloon Party]
Woblins and Dryadeer

Malachi certainly doesn't seem to mind sharing with his twin sister - it's all the other dumb older kids he knows are the real enemy of sharing. It's like they don't listen to anything mom and dad say!

"Look, mommy!" And now he wants to share with mommy, too. "We won! Can we keep it?" And put it somewhere special, probably. He asks because Dad doesn't let them keep too many rocks and sticks and bugs and things in the house. It's gotten out of hand before, bringing outside things inside.

[Summer Water Balloon Party]

Maltrika is watched by the spirit with the sort of cautious curiosity one would expect from most animals. This pretty clearly isn't the sort of spirit that can talk; it isn't nearly big enough for that. It's just a tiny little elemental, a mishmash of elements associated with tide pools.

The twins might be able to coax it out with an offering of some kind, but what would a tide pool spirit like?

That's a real mystery.

Khannie gives a nod to Reelshka. "Yeah it was pretty cool there. The riding beetles were great and the river was neat."

And there were a ton of kids everywhere. The goblins definitely put an emphasis on big families, just like the foxes do.

"I'm glad the kids are into neat rocks and stuff; it makes finding prizes really easy."

All the better to bribe the littles into doing work they might otherwise be opposed to.

As for the gem, it's just a bit of mostly common opal. A pretty white, faintly translucent color. But when the light hits it JUST right, there's some fire that dances in it.

[Summer Water Balloon Party]
Woblins and Dryadeer

"Of course you can keep it. It's your prize; you earned it." It's no ordinary stone, that's for sure. "When we get home we can find a nice spot in your room for it." Sakura suggests.

"We gotta put it by the window so the sun hits it." Kissa suggests, already imagining the glinting stone greeting them in the morning.

"That's a great idea." Sakura straightens up again, bracing her hand against her back. "But we've got to gather up your siblings and get going soon. How about you say bye now?"

Kissa, for one, takes home time in stride today. Her mom's got her expectant now. She nods and turns toward the others. "It's home time now. Bye bye!" She gives them a little wave.

[Earl of Purple]

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Thanksmas

Cheasadh shakes her head. "Not yet, Natalie's getting new ones. Mice got into the stores; the candles from last year are all nibbled. Keep an eye out for any more damage, but we don't think they made it into the other boxes." There is pink in the decorations! But it's not a Thanksmas colour so the gnome is actually not using that much of it. Mostly reds and greens. She's also wearing her GLoG cap, paired with a slogan-emblazoned shirt that makes little sense without Brinika to stand next to, as well as a pink cardigan and jeans. She's carrying a box of tinsel, though, not stars like Khannie asked for.

"Um, I do have some questions for you, if you've got a minute? Fine if not, though." Cheasadh blushes slightly.

Voices of the Past

Natalie doesn't use the stairs; she turns into an otter to bound down the slope, ready to turn back and summon her rucksack back to her. The Prepared Student, however, continues to stick around, and she does appreciate the stairs.

[Rebonack]

[It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Thanksmas]

MICE!

One of the great enemies of Thanksmas!

At least if The Nutcracker is to be believed, anyway.

"Heck. Well, I guess it isn't too huge of a deal," Khannie sighs. "Maybe we could melt down the nibbled candles and use 'em for a project?"

Her mind is already whirring, but that isn't too much of a shock. She's always trying to come up with fun new games and crafts for the littles.

"Course I've got time for questions, Cheasadh, what's up?" Khannie asks. She's got her tongue sticking out of the side of her mouth, focused on getting a string tied up properly. Even WITH fingers the little knots can be tricky sometimes. There's definitely something up with Cheaseadh's tone what-

Oh.

Is she blushing?

[Earl of Purple]

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Thanksmas

"No, Natalie threw them away. Mice can't control themselves, and didn't just nibble the candles. They went to the toilet on them too." Even the ones that went unnibbled have been disposed of, due to the risk of being contaminated.

Then Cheasadh takes a deep breath and just asks. "How do you know when you're into somebody, and when they're into you? Because... Because I don't want to ask my parents, it's a lot awkward, I tried Natalie and she just said 'you'll know when you know' and that didn't help because I don't know yet what I like so how will I know who I like?" Quite a big thing there.

[Murkus]

[Summer Water Balloon Party]
Woblins and Dryadeer

"Ohh, okay," Malachi agrees. Home time! Well, he wanted to stay a bit longer, but he has a big thing about not wanting to look like a baby compared to Kissa. So he also waves. "Bye! It was nice playing! Thank you again Khannie!"

[Rebonack]

[It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Thanksmas]

"Gross."

Why would the mice do something so gross like that?

Maybe that's why foxes eat them, to prevent them from fouling the world with their mouse pee. Khannie makes a mental note to try to remember coming her where she goes to sleep tonight to see if she can't hunt down some mice. The foxes at the temple eat them all the time, right? If a kitsune eating a mouse is normal then a kumiho eating a mouse should be alright.

Probably.

Maybe?

But then a really big question.

A REALLY big question.

"Um..."

Khannie kinda got blindsided by that one.

She thinks about that for a few moments, turning back to the stars she's hanging up again. Honestly, she's still trying to figure it out herself. Emotions and feelings make it all complicated! Especially since there are different sorts of feelings. Maybe she should just talk about her own experience? Maybe that'll help.

"Well, I dunno about anyone else but I've felt a couple different sortsa things? Like there are some people were I've felt all... flushed around 'em. Like I like them but it's all feelings. But with Arthfael I didn't feel quite as strong, but I really liked him because he felt like someone I trusted and wanted to be around. I admired how brave he was, how even though he was scared he would try to do what was right. And I could tell he REALLY liked me 'cuz of... I dunno just the way he paid attention to me and wanted to be around me?" Khannie replies, trying to keep her thoughts mostly coherent here. "I think... maybe... I felt stuff about lots of different people because I'm a teen fulla hormones and I'm trying to figure all these feelings out. But I think maybe there's more to it than just the feelings."

Khannie turns away, swatting one of the stars with her finger.

"Does that... make any sense? Or was that dumb?"

This is usually the time when small children loudly interject that ROMANCE is GROSS.

[Earl of Purple]

Beginning to Look Like Thanksmas

"No, that does make sense. It's just... I got flustered around Asami after the maze, and... I don't really like Asami. I mean, I could, I think. She was nice in the maze, but she's not always nice. I like Darko more, and... he hasn't made me that flustered." But he will! Next time they meet, it'll be with Cheasadh remembering herself imagining kissing him and that is going to do it for her. If only she hadn't tried to figure things out herself before she asked Khannie. "I enjoyed myself around Darko more, which I think is important? Natalie seems to enjoy her time with her girlfriend. But... which came first, with them, y'know?" It's hard to figure out, since they almost immediately jumped to dating after they met.

[Rebonack]

[It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Thanksmas]

Phew.

Cheasadh doesn't think Khannie's take is dumb. Khannie's really glad here since that was a moment of vulnerability. There's nothing worse than laying out your heart and having it get slapped into the dirt.

"I think I kinda get that? There's this guy at school named Kol that I get really flustered around. Like... every single time. It's embarrassing," Khannie says, her face flushing at bit just thinking about Kol and how she's treated him. "But that's all just the feelings. I don't think he likes me? Or like, like likes me. But I don't think I would want him to be my boyfriend even though I feel so much around him. Darko's really cool, though. I think maybe Asami likes him, too? She's younger though, so it might just be a crush or something."

Khannie sighs, grabbing another star to hang it up.

"I wanna find someone I can make a family with. I know that isn't important to everyone but I wanna have my own kids some day. I dunno... exactly how that works with unicorns. It's weird. So, like, I know I haven't said anything yet but I'm gunna be a big sis pretty soon. My mom who is also my dad's gunna have a foal," Khannie confides in Cheasadh.

That's certainly some news.

[Meowmai]

[Birds and Babs- Treasure Hunt]

"He does seem to be very popular with the kids. Not that it should surprise anyone. My children did see wolves when we visited my family in Underside, but from a distance. And not cubs." Reelshka produces a folded sheet of paper from her pocket. "Treasure hunts are a bit of a family tradition. Their older brother loves them and they picked it up from him. Their cousins and their friend often draw maps for them. This one is simple but you might still have to help them."

The twins will be preoccupied doting on Silver and playing with him for a while.

[Birds and Babs- Treasure Hunt]

"Mhm. I had encountered wolves before Silver myself, but only really the one time up close. Even if that one time lasted a while." She takes the paper from Reelshka, peering at it curiously. "Oh, that sounds really fun! I think I could help out for sure. Never did treasure hunts exactly, but I used to explore the woods by my farm a lot as a kid, can't imagine this is all that different."

She turns to the twins, smiling as she watches Silver jump and scamper around between them, enthusiastically licking at faces whenever he is pet.

[Earl of Purple]

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Thanksmas

"Wait, she is? How old is Asami, and Darko would you say? They're tall, so... I kinda slotted them at 'my age or older', since most of the children I see here are my height, shorter than I am, or I knew them when they were my height." Cheasadh doesn't interact with a lot of human children that are just hitting their teens, so judging age there is a bit trickier than she'd like. Most of the children she interacts with are either goblins or dryadeer, with a few woblin-y exceptions.

"Jace is pregnant? Is... is that a unicorn thing, or a harpy thing? How'd he take it? When did you find out?" Is it because Jace is a unicorn, or because Veronica implanted her eggs in him somehow because Cheasadh only knows the one harpy and weirder things have happened.

[Rebonack]

[It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Thanksmas]

Parisitoid harpies that implant their eggs in people would be pretty terrifying.

"I think Darko's still in his first year of PREP, but then again I started school kinda early. So I guess maybe about my age? I haven't asked," Khannie admits. "And I'm pretty sure Asami is in the junior high program so probably a year or two younger than me?"

She doesn't sound certain. But then again, this is the Nexus. Uncertainty can be a good policy sometimes.

Khannie laughs at the gnome's question, not out of scorn but out of delight. "Haha, it's a unicorn thing. I guess unicorns work kinda like pokemon do? Where if they're around someone they love they're compatible with an egg just happens. Except they get pregnant instead, I guess? Or sometimes not. Guardian unicorns are all unique magical critters so the way it happens won't always be the same. We found out from this lady named Ingrid and her... unicorn husband? I guess is what he would be? They're friends of Baccata's. The unicorn helped figure out what my deal is, too. He looked pretty creepy, but he was nice."

[Earl of Purple]

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Thanksmas

glances at Adrie It would, yes.

"Well, I hope Jace isn't getting morning sickness or anything. How creepy was the unicorn husband? I know Baccata, I've chatted with her before. She's got a pair of skulls, so... I don't think she's got any friends that aren't creepy." That's part of being a psychopomp, alas. They always have creepy friends.

[Morty]

[Birds and Babs- Treasure Hunt]

The paper appears to be a rough drawing of a part of the campground - the one they're in now. One quarter of it, to be specific; a bigger map cut in four parts. There's also a bigger, more detailed image of a flowerpot, with an X drawn on it. If Kes looks closely, there's also a black dot in the exact spot where she's standing.

Reelshka, meanwhile, steps up to her children.

"Have fun, darlings. And remember to be nice to Kestrel and listen to her, right? She's your caretaker while you play."

"Okay, mom!"

"Sure, mom!"

The kids manage to peel their attention away from Silver enough to respond to their mother. But then adventure calls to them.

"Can we go now?"

"Yeah! You and Silver got to help us find treasure!"

[Rebonack]

[It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Thanksmas]

"Dad's felt kinda sick. That's why we thought something was wrong with him and asked about it," Khannie explains, doing a downright admirable job of not laughing at her father's expense.

Having a kid the first time around was WAY easier.

Adult kangaskhans just come with a baby. And that baby was Khannie.

Now Jace is actually going to have to work for it.

At the next question Khannie opens her mouth-!

Then closes it again. "I think it would be easier to just show you," she says, lighting her horn and making a gesture near the base of the ladder. There's a little swirl of sparkles and shadow, forming a translucent and not terribly real looking rendition of the unicorn she met. The details are pretty good, but there's something about it that makes it look very obviously fake. The illusion sure looks like a unicorn, a black one, but he's emaciated with a crooked horn.

"I learned all unicorns have got a sorta thing they're in charge of and he's got starvation for his thing. Which... I mean, it isn't great. I guess he and his wife summon up these evil monsters that feed on doing evil stuff and just don't let 'em do anything bad until they go 'gurk!'" Khannie explains, doing her best impression of a dead face.

[Earl of Purple]

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Thanksmas

The horn's not just crooked; it's slanting to the left in a decidedly sinister manner.

"That's... definitely a creepy unicorn. And hey, if it works and makes the world a better place, it's a much nicer way of doing things than one might expect, yeah?" Although, judging by how skinny Ingrid is, there might be a little more to it. She does look to be always on the verge of starvation.

[Rebonack]

[It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Thanksmas]

Sinister as in its slanted to the left?

Anything that favors the left is sinister, after all. As opposed to dexterous.

"Yeah, I think so. I guess some black unicorns end up being pretty nasty since they gotta be around nasty stuff to feed. I was reading a little about 'em. Usually they don't actually cause the death so they're just thought of as bad omens," Khannie reports. "Sorta like how some people feel about big flocks of crows."

Huge flocks of crows aren't bad omens! They just know that if they follow a marching army around there's going to be lots of food. That makes them smart.

"So... do you?"

A beat.

"I mean, do you like Darko? It sounds like you might?" Khannie clarifies.

[Earl of Purple]

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Thanksmas

Yes indeed.

"I mean, I don't know? I... thought I'd figure out if I was straight or not by imagining kissing people. Darko, Asami, Grypnik and Orliika." The last two being goblins from her class in Underside. "It... did not help, like at all. Well, it did. Grypnik isn't my taste, but I thought I'd give him a go because all the girls talk about him with dreamy eyes. And he knows it." So attractive, knows it, and arrogant because the attention feeds his ego and... he can't really help it, but just obnoxious enough to get on Cheasadh's nerves. "Asami didn't... It felt better when I pictured her during the maze, as opposed to when we first met. She was a lot nicer in the maze than out of it. It's... oh no! This is TMI, isn't it?" Cheasadh blushes heavily and hides her face in her hands. She'd not quite intended to share so much, and... this is awkward and embarrassing.

[Rebonack]

[It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Thanksmas]

"I dunno if it really works like that?" Khannie admits, though she's definitely not an expert on this subject by any means. "Like... there are some girls at school that are really pretty, but I still think I wanna have a boyfriend. I think maybe part of it's figuring out the difference between what you want and what you're feeling? 'cuz those aren't always the same thing. Like-"

She wrinkles her nose. Should she say anything about this subject?

Cheasadh was just really vulnerable about how she's feeling so Khannie feels like she should reciprocate.

"So like... for most of my life I wanted to be human, right? But after a lotta time and talking with Sophie I figured out that wasn't actually what I wanted. What I wanted was to get over the trauma of getting stolen from my dad when I was little. And I felt like being human, like if I was human instead? That would make all the bad feelings go away. But when I finally got my Wish they just... didn't. The problems were with me, they were in my mind. And making my body different didn't make 'em go away."

And how does that relate to crushes?

"I dunno. What we feel and what we think and what we want are all jumbled up things. It's hard to untangle 'em. It sounds like you're looking for someone who's gunna treat you nice? Since... I mean... your first family doesn't sound like they were that nice."

Khannie hasn't heard all the details, but she's certainly heard some of them.

[Earl of Purple]

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Thanksmas

"My mother... was, when she thought she could get away with it. But she believed everything my father said, and what he said was... Was horrible. He wanted control and dominance, and he had it in his household. One of the things he did say was that humans, elves and the other big people were all crazy. Air gets thinner higher up, and with their small noses they couldn't get enough air for their brains to work properly. But then he went and worshipped a human god, so... I don't know if he believed it or just wanted us to believe it." Her brother is somewhere, likely still following her father's teachings. She doesn't know, nor does she want to. She hopes he's got better, but... it's doubtful.

"It's why I'm not annoyed at Jace for not looking after me and leaving me here. He wasn't in a position to help, he'd not asked for it, either. He only took over when his tenant- who had volunteered to look after me without asking him- proved incapable. I'm in a lot better place now, and I know he feels odd about it sometimes. It's hard to imagine it being easy." Cheasadh doesn't know how much of the story Khannie has, as it all occured before she was on the scene. Due to time wobbles across dimensional barriers, in Nexus terms Cheasadh is older than Khannie despite being physically younger.

[Rebonack]

[It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Thanksmas]

Yikes.

Yeah.

Cheasadh's first family were really creeps.

But... it worked out, right? "Dad's had a lotta people at our house. Not in a while, though."

The age of constant room-mates is a thing of the past. Though who knows! Maybe now that her dad is out having more adventures again that'll change? Weirder things have happened for sure.

"Yeah, dad wasn't really looking for kids. I mean, he didn't even mean to have me. I was basically a crazy magical accident. But I dunno if it really matters where I came from or where you came from, just where we go. Or something?" Khannie reasons.

It might be proper to say that Cheasadh started existing here in the Nexus before Khannie. But thanks to spending a few years in an accelerated time stream their ages are pretty similar. Weird stuff definitely happens in the Nexus, that's for sure.

"Glog's not a bad place to grow up. I mean, we basically got to grow up here together anyway? And Brinika's really cool; I know she makes a great sister for you and Underside's a great place to live," Khannie reasons.

Everything is better sized for Cheasadh there, too. The Vallarm house is too big!

[Earl of Purple]

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Thanksmas

"Oh, it's been great. And since there's less stairs here, it's a lot easier. I mean, your house is nice, but with those tall ceilings and the length of a human leg... the stairs can be quite hard work." Not so much now, as she's grown over the last seven ish years. But it was pretty tricky when she was younger. "But yeah, I love Underside. Even if I do really stand out, at least everything fits." Not many goblins are blonde, for one thing.

[Rebonack]

[It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Thanksmas]

Goblin noses are smaller and goblin ears are bigger, too. Those are both, of course, very important.

"I think we've all been super-lucky. It's a lotta stuff to be thankful for. That's why I love Thanksmas so much," Khannie says as she hangs up the last of the stars and begins climbing down the step ladder.

That task done, she turns her attention to-

The tree!

Decorating the Thanksmas tree with ornaments and placing the fancy candle sticks is one of her favorite parts. Everything is so bright and the fresh cut tree smells nice. Even the smells of Thanksmas are great.

"Wadda you girls think? Should we try to theme the decorations this year? Like maybe use a buncha stuff that's the same sorta colors?"

She sticks her tongue out at Cheasadh.

"Prolly not pink, though."

[Murkus]

[It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Thanksmas]

Blue comes scurrying up from her latest task. The little faun-girl looks up at the tree like it's the most amazing thing in the world, her hands down and spread at her sides. "I thiiiink..." She gives it a serious ponderance. "We should do a animal theme." She likes animals. What a shock. What kid her age doesn't?

[Earl of Purple]

It's Beginning to Look a lot like Thanksmas

"Of course not pink! This is Thanksmas, not Valentine's. Red, green, white and purple are Thanksmas colours." Purple might be nearly pink, and also not a colour Khannie usually associates with this holiday.

"Animals is a good idea." Ignore what happened to the candles! Those aren't the right animals.

[Rebonack]

[It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Thanksmas]

Yeah don't let animals into the candles.

But otherwise!

"Yeah, animals sound like a cool idea. Hm... most of the ornaments we've got in the box are the shiny bauble sort. They're not really animals. We've got some clothes pin reindeer. Some sheep ornaments made outta cotton balls. And some felt sheep, too. I feel like we're gunna need more than just a couple reindeer and sheep. Or else a whole lot more of 'em."

That's very true.

While reindeer and sheep ARE both lots of fun they'll need more than that!

"Oh hey, we've got a squirrel in a Santa hat, too," Khannie says, holding up the blown glass ornament in question. "Oooh, and a pinecone hedge hog. I dunno if this is enough to decorate the whole tree with, though. We might need to round up the kids and make some more animal decorations."

That'll be a challenge. Round up a gaggle of kids to glue googly eyes onto clothes pins to make more reindeer ornaments.

[Ironsmith]

[Playdate]

Time to couch Braon in having a normal conversation, it seems. Has Sophie ever witness her have one of those? Their encounters outside their office usually turn into therapy sessions anyway. Braon seems to be in constant attack mode with others as well.

"You can talk shop, for one. You're both magic-users in your own ways. And I admit I don't know a lot about how your magic works myself. I've just witnessed its effects."

[Playdate]

"I was referring to Cain and Bertin not being too rough with each other, not regarding keeping an eye on them," Trick says bluntly, her tone flat in a way that suggests 'I am not fighting you over this; you were wrong and made a mistake, and this explanation is a correction'.

The tiefling shakes her head then, "But we can absolutely keep an eye on them from a distance. I have just the spell..." she mutters an incantation in Infernal, "Capy za py ehy ao zmy vypal darv vorv itz iw ph wuqmz."

And a small green eyeball, about the size of a golf ball, appears above her outstretched hand, "This is what's called an Arcane Eye. I work with soulstuff and planar energies; in this case that means creating an artificial entity to house the eye's magical structure, linked to my mind, which allows me to see through it. I can get into specific details, if you like."

Bertin lets out a long set of giggle as the other boy climbs all over him to gum at his horns. He's finding this absolutely novel! This isn't something mommy or mum ever do!

Janos, however, is feeling the sting of being constricted by someone while others are playing, and he starts trying to disentangle himself from Ciara's arms, which ends up being that he grabs her and starts pushing at her... which may end up starting a new game instead of actually getting her away!

[Playdate]

Ugh. Trick's one of those casters. The kind that thinks she's so clever because she's got so much theory backing up her spellwork. Braon's seen that type before. And if she really thinks she's going to intimidate her with that kind of-

The fiendling closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. Calm, Braon. She sighs. Trick's not trying to show off. And even if she is, there's no version of this conversation where getting upset at her is going to work out well for Braon. Especially not if she lets it distract her from her babies; being inattentive is how accidents happen.

Still. She can't look the tiefling in her smug face. Or at least Braon thinks it's smug. She hasn't seen her smile before, apart from now... and even then, she's married to Sophie, of course she'd look smug all the time. Braon would too, if she were in her shoes.

No, she's going to have to turn her attention back to Sophie. She's the only other adult here she isn't presently resisting the urge to curse with an affectionate rock. As much as Braon dislikes her at times, she has to admit that by now, the therapist clearly has her best interests in mind. Or at least what she thinks are Braon's best interest. She tries, is the point.

Her temples still flaring with poorly-concealed displeasure, Braon opens her mouth to say something in response... only to realize she hasn't given nearly enough thought as to what that would actually be. Her first instinct is something cutting, but no, she's trying not to have this conversation fall apart within ten minutes of starting it. With that option off the table, all that really comes to mind is somehow talking shop, as Sophie had suggested, but that's...

No, she can't do that. Trick would talk circles around her, like the backwoods illiterate she is. Down that way lies madness. She can't actually admit to that, either, for reasons that should be readily obvious to all present. And changing the subject was as good as admitting to that shortcoming, so that was out, too.

So the only answer she can give Sophie is a rather concerning rise in blood pressure, her skin visibly progressing from beige to pink to purple, accompanied by escalatingly heavy breathing.


Cain, meanwhile, continues to gum Bertin's horns, but after finding they don't taste particularly good, eventually loses interest, plopping back onto his rear and releasing the other boy from his grasp. His attention turns to his brothers, who are chasing each other around the circle of stones, crawling as quickly as their stubby limbs can move. He doesn't move to join them, instead seeming to just be thoroughly entranced by the motion.

Ciara laughs as Janos successfully pushes her away, grabbing her feet as she rolls onto her back. She stays there a bit, giggling and kicking in delight, looking up at Janos as though for some indication that he was enjoying this new game as much as she was.

[Meowmai]

[Birds and Babs- Treasure Hunt]

The paper appears to be a rough drawing of a part of the campground - the one they're in now. One quarter of it, to be specific; a bigger map cut in four parts. There's also a bigger, more detailed image of a flowerpot, with an X drawn on it. If Kes looks closely, there's also a black dot in the exact spot where she's standing.

Reelshka, meanwhile, steps up to her children.

"Have fun, darlings. And remember to be nice to Kestrel and listen to her, right? She's your caretaker while you play."

"Okay, mom!"

"Sure, mom!"

The kids manage to peel their attention away from Silver enough to respond to their mother. But then adventure calls to them.

"Can we go now?"

"Yeah! You and Silver got to help us find treasure!"

[Birds and Babs- Treasure Hunt]

Kestrel looks over the map, although she's not entirely sure if the dot means something or is just there by accident. Still, seems fairly straightforward. She smiles at the kids, before turning for a moment to look back at Reelshka. "I'll take good care of them, don't you worry!"

She returns her attention to the young woblins, nodding and smiling. "Of course! Shall we take a look at the map together now? Then we can get going!" Silver meanwhile is hanging close to the kids, evidently still wanting more attention and is being so tragically denied it.

[Murkus]

[It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Thanksmas]

Blue looks around. She's happy to help gather kiddos! Especially if they're her siblings. But she isn't sure if all of them are gonna want to help do arts and crafts. Blue likes arts and crafts, but not all her siblings do. "We could always get grown-up help too." She suggests. They're usually good at arts and crafts and very accommodating toward Blue. "Oh, or we could go buy some! Do you have any money Khannie?" She might not get that the point of the crafting ornaments thing is the crafting.