The Perk, Monday morning

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

After radio, Jon decided he needed good tea. Which meant he was having someone else make it, despite Nyssa protesting she knew how. She hurt his heart enough, he didn't need that. Not that he was telling her that.

"Wouldn't you like a hot chocolate? Possibly with whipped cream?" he tried instead. She lit up, and Jon did his best to smile back.

He got them their drinks, and then they settled in at a table where they could watch people outside and in.


[Open post]

Comments

[wee_little_crumbler]

How did Gareth manage to escape his mother? Good question. He had his ways. And he was intending to go see his mom and his new big sister to see if they needed any more help at the forge, but then he got distracted, as he was wont to do. Maybe he could bring his mom and Zephyr some coffee! His mom loved coffee, and his mother loved tea, and maybe he could bring some of that for her, but there was the small problem of the fact that he didn't really have money to buy those things, and, besides, he mostly just got distracted by the pastries in the case, too, and that was how there ended up being a very small boy with a mop of hair incongruously messy compared to the neatness and quality of his very nice clothing, staring at the baked goods with wide eyes and a watering mouth and thinking maybe if he got back to his mother before she noticed he was gone, he could convince her to come back here and get him some.

[the_beheld]

Oo, someone her size! Nyssa scrambled down from her chair and over to the new boy.

"Hi! I'm Nyssa, who are you?"

[wee_little_crumbler]

Gareth was distracted enough by the baked goods that he was maybe a little startled when someone came up to him, but his eyes lit up when he saw that it was someone his size as well! He didn't get to spend a lot of time, with other kids his size, so this was a great opportunity.

"Hello, Nyssa! I'm Gareth!"

And even though his mother wasn't there to remind him this time, he did remember his manners and correct himself to add, in a much more proper and polite tone, "Gareth Blackstone-Adler." With a confident nod. If she was here, Mother would be very proud. "It's very nice to meet you, Nyssa."

[the_beheld]

"Nyssa Blackwood-Sims," she answered properly. "Hey, we nearly have half the same name!"

[wee_little_crumbler]

"We do!" Gareth brightened even more at that realization. "Wood and Stone, too! Those are both very important materials for building things! And that's a lot of names for both of us, but it's still not as many names as my sister Zephyr has. She has so many names, I can't even remember them all, especially since I just met her, but she's nice. She's going to be a knight, and so am I, but I still have a long way to go before I'm old enough, you have to be older than two hands to be a knight."

Which was fine, it gave him plenty of time to be a dinosaur and an astronaut first.

[the_beheld]

"Oo, neat!" Nyssa grinned. "I don't have any sisters, or brothers. And I probably won't be a knight, because my daddies say the monarchy is an antiquated and useless concept, but I think it sounds neat anyway!"

In the background, Jon facepalmed.

[wee_little_crumbler]

"Mom feels the same way," Gareth said with a chuckle. "You should've seen the look on her face every time Zephyr mentioned that her dad is a knight, but Mother likes to keep up on all the royals. I mostly just like the dogs. Like Clementine! That's Mother's dog. She's all wrinkly, like a raisin. And Mom has lobsters."

[the_beheld]

"Lobsters?" Nyssa nearly shrieked, then remembered and kept her voice down. "I've never heard of anyone with lobsters for a pet! Are they super nifty big ones, with like, saws for hands and laser eyes?"

What? That would totally be a neat pet!

"My daddies have a cat, and papa says she's called Killer of Spiders, but da says she's called Mimi. She's really pretty and soft."

[wee_little_crumbler]

"They don't have saws for hands but Mom does make them weapons!" Gareth told Nyssa excitedly, with his own little winced and a glance toward who he was figuring, by now, was one of Nyssa's daddies, because he was forgetting to keep his voice down, too, and compensated for it a little by whispering now instead. "I got to watch them do battle yesterday, but it wasn't as exciting as it sounds, they need to do more training, I think.

"I would like a soft cat that kills spiders," he decided. A cat that killed spiders was much cuddlier than a Crumbler that did it, although, really, mostly his mom just took care of it, because she wasn't afraid of anything. "Is she really fluffy? What color is she?"

[the_beheld]

"Oo, can they fight again? Can I watch?" Nyssa asked, bouncing a little. "She's really fluffy, and really good at killing spiders, but da says she shouldn't kill too many because they eat bugs, but papa says spiders are awful. Oh! She's black and brown and white, lots of spots all over."

[wee_little_crumbler]

"We'd have to go over to the forge if we want to watch them fight," Gareth told Nyssa, importantly, because he knew all about forges, "that's where Mom keeps them here, but I'm sure she wouldn't mind. But we have to be careful to keep our hands to ourselves and not touch anything, because it can be dangerous in a forge."

There was a small, considering pause.

"I don't think there are spiders, though, at least. Mom and Missus Crumbler probably scare them all away!"

[the_beheld]

"Oo! Papa, can I go to the forge with Gareth to watch the lobsters fight?" Nyssa called out. "I'll be good and won't touch anything unless a grownup says it's okay!"

Jon smiled at her a bit sadly. "Um. Sure, if...if Amaya will be there, I'm sure she'll keep it safe."