By: GeoDuck

Mother Dorae watched as Fengi finished eating before picking the little girl up and going outside. She wanted to determine her walking abilities with a little exercise in the grassy field around the orphanage. She set Fengi down and took a few steps back before holding out her arms, trying to get Fengi to follow her for as long as she could.

After waiting for a few seconds, the confused little girl got on her knees and started crawling to her. Mother Dorae snatched her up and placed her on her feet where she started and took up the same pose.

“That’s a good job Fengi! Look at you go!” She cheered as she walked backwards, beckoning the little girl to keep waddling towards her. Mother Dorae watched as Fengi used her arms and tail for balance. She squealed with a stupid smile plastered on her face.

She fell forwards onto the grass with an, “eoufh!” Mother Dorae broke out in feigned laughter and brought her back to her feet. Fengi joined her laughter, giggling while she kept marching towards her slowly. Her stomping feet and tail made tracks in the remarkably soft wavy grass surrounding the orphanage.

“Woah! Look at you go! You’re doing great!” she said once again as she went to scoop up the teetering child. “See, you’re not doing too bad! I don’t know what he was worried about, we’ll have you running around by the end of the year.” she pinched on her nose and shook it while Fengi let out a nasaly giggle.

She shook her head loose of her grip and looked up at the sky. There were plenty of clouds now that it was well past midday. Ms. Dorae followed her head, looking up as well. “Yeah, I guess it’s about that time. Come on, let’s wake cousin Laere up. He had something he needed to say before I left.”

She walked around to the front of the orphanage, stopping when she saw Steiger walking over. The green dragon just stepped over the fence before saying hello, “Hey Ms. Dorae!” He stuttered for a second as he struggled to lift one of his hind legs over the fence, “L-Laere came over earlier. He helped me out, so I had him bring over a basket of eggs!”

She waved to him and smiled, “I noticed, we were running low too, so it all worked out.” with a sly smile she hoisted the baby in her arms to look at the dragon. “So I heard you and little Fengi here had a wonderful morning!” Fengi reached out trying to play with her big buddy again.

The dragon looked a touch bashful, “Oh, so he told you then. Please don’t tell the children, I won’t hear the end of it.” She laughed at that very true statement.

“Oh, I won’t. Don’t worry. So, what’s brought you over here?”

The dragon lowered his head a bit to get closer to her, “You know, I’m a bit low on farmhands now, and I’m of the understanding that winter is never easy for you all. And to be honest, for what you sold his farm to me five years ago, I, uh. Kinda feel like I robbed you a bit.”

She looked at him perplexed, “Don’t feel responsible for our financial situation. I gave you that farm because my father took care of the farm, not me. So when he died it was either sell it to you, or land development.” She put a hand on his cheek and smiled, “I know I made the right choice.”

He chuckled lightly, “Yeah, well actually. Laere had made a passing suggestion, since Vitaira is out of commission for who knows how long, I am in need of some workers. And I could pay with food.”

“Oh, Steiger, I know times are tough, but I can’t spare him. He’s already overworked as it is, trying to bring in what money he can and coming back here to clean.” She opened the door and put Fengi down on her feet, making sure to prop the door open.

“Oh, I wasn’t talking about Laere,” He said with a toothy grin. “I-I meant the kids.”

She crossed her arms while leaning up against the door. “Oh?” she tilted her head, “Well~ the boys could use a job.” She bit her knuckle, “If they did come to work for you, what would they be doing?”

He perked up a bit, “O-oh, uh nothing too hard, mainly doing the things I can’t. But I will be teaching them how to take care of the plants so I can be freed up to handle other things.”

She pondered the idea for a moment before she gave an answer. “I’ll let you know tomorrow. But I need to grab the kids. I promised to pick them up so they could fly home. They’re probably waiting for me already. So as much as I’d like to chat, I need to be on my way.”

The green dragon lifted his head, lightly bumping into the overhanging roof and perked back up, “Oops! Uh, alright! I’ll uh-be working in the fields tomorrow!”

She took the door handle and waved back to him. She laughed to herself and shook her head as she closed the door, “Where else would you be?” she sighed as she looked at Fengi playing happily with the toys again. “Alright, Laere wanted to say something.”

Walking over to the snoring man she put her hand on his shoulder and shook him awake, “Hey, Leery! Get up!” He snorted loudly as he shot out of the rocking chair. In his swift movement his wing got caught against the headrest of his seat. As he squealed in pain he carefully unstuck his wing and began rubbing the sore spot.

Mother Dorae snickered at her nephew before apologizing, “Oh-ha! Oh my gods are you, are you okay?!” her snickering got a reaction from both other people, Laere giving her an aggravated glare, and Fengi joining in on the laughter.

“Yeah, I’m fine…” He looked up at his aunt with tired eyes. “So, I guess this means you’re off to pick up the kids?” he stood up, still holding his wing. He stretched as high as he could, until he barely matched his aunt in height. He took a deep breath and locked eyes with Fengi, still giggling to herself. “What’re you laughing at, huh?”

Fengi ignored his agitated remark and kept on giggling. Mother Dorae brought herself back under control and tapped Laere’s shoulder, grabbing his attention. “Hey, don’t get angry, you’re the one who asked to be woken up!”

He let go of his wing and turned only his head to face her, “I did yeah.”

“Sooo~ you gonna tell me why you wanted me to wake you up before I picked them up?” she asked him inquisitively.

He stared at her, perplexed for a moment. “Oh! Right! Happy and Adrino, Tell them to keep their mouths shut around her. She reacts poorly to yelling, even if it’s not directed at her.”

She nodded her head in agreement. “Yes, especially Happy. Anything else you wanted to say before I leave?” She walked to the table and slung her bag over her shoulder.

He walked over to sit with Fengi on the pelt. “No. That’s about it. See you when you get back.” he picked her up and set her in his lap.

Mother Dorae stepped out the front door, “Alright! See you in a bit! I’m gonna stop by Niklaus’ with the kids!” She shouted as she shut the door. She secured her bag before setting off at a brisk pace. After gaining some speed she began beating hard with her wings and soon enough she was flying high above the grass towards the west edge of the inner city, opposite the palace.

Mother Dorae liked to watch people, just to look for anyone who stood out amongst the crowded streets. The streets below were bustling with activity. Plenty of people were flying above the buildings just like her. But there was always a heavy saturation of people walking or carrying things on the pathways below. Today she spotted a convoy of rich people from the inner city, gallivanting around flagrantly in the slums and backroads of the outer city.

She scoffed and spoke with a voice full of ire. “Posh cunts” As she lost sight of them she crossed her arms while gliding effortlessly. She gestured to herself while shaking her head, “When I had money, I never flaunted it around. Parading myself in front of poor people!”

“Assholes,” She remarked one last time. She took a deep, slow breath followed by a long pause and slow exhale as she continued her way toward the inner city. She liked flying high, so she passed over the smaller buildings and around the tallest structures. The streets were often crowded with hanging ropes, clotheslines, and any number of things a dragonette could possibly imagine, she thought it best to avoid it all together.

She continued to gaze down at the people below, spotting a moving market. It was big, and only one person was moving it. The cart was mostly empty, but she could see that it still had a hodgepodge of fruits and vegetables. ‘That must be a bitch to move by yourself when it’s full.’ she thought to herself.

After about twenty minutes of flying she had made it to the inner city, it was always funny to her. The way that you could tell which part of the city you were in solely based on the stone beneath you feet, or lack thereof. The outskirts were almost all dirt and no one cared if you dumped garbage out there. The outer city had stone, but it was all uneven in places and you still couldn’t go for a short walk without finding a bunch of someone’s trash lying about.

But the inner city. That was kept pristine, you could walk all day through there and not find a half eaten head of apple, or a pile of wood that was too wet to be used. There was also the fact that it was all made with such care, every stone seemed to be destined to be where it is.

This is all to say that you wouldn’t know where you were by the buildings and people around you anyways. While not everyone in the inner city was noble or rich, there were certainly more of them here.

She flew over the childrens school, where she saw them all gathered on the ramp leading into the tall building, being monitored by their teacher Mrs. Leika. “Ugh,” she groaned. She never liked dealing with her. Being a noble woman through marriage made her think she was above everyone else. She also believed that everyone should always be nice to her on account of her lameness.

She landed in the plaza across the street from the school, next to a water feature. Underneath the pool of water there was beautiful art of five dragons all standing proud. Walking around the pool she took a deep calming breath. “Okay, just ignore her as much as you can, pick up the kids and get it over with.” she brushed off her skirt and composed herself before walking across the crowded plaza.

The kids immediately recognized her walking between the dense groups of dragonettes. “There she is! Ms. Dorae is here!” Adrino shouted, pointing straight at her. The children all smiled and stood up eagerly waiting.

“Yes, Yes It’s me! Sorry I was late, Had to sort out some things with uncle Steiger.” she said to both the children and their teacher. They all walked behind her and waited for her permission to leave. “Say goodbye to Mrs. Leika, kids.” She said cheerily.

Mrs. Leika sat in her wheelchair dressed in a white cloth that covered the entire lower half of her body, down to her toes. “Bye Mrs. Leika,” they all said in a monotone voice, void of emotion.

The crotchety woman pushed her wheelchair closer to the edge of the ramp to speak to them, “Maybe they can show up for school on time, for once.” She stared down at Mother Dorae from the school ramp, “If you are so keen on being called ‘Mother Dorae’ you should start acting like one.” She spun around, rolling back inside and the doors to the school closed behind her.

Mother Dorae turned to face all her children, “Yeesh, that was bad. What did you guys do to put her in that bad of a mood?”

Happy spoke up like a smart aleck, “You mean besides being late for school because you dropped us off at the donation center instead of school?” Mother Dorae shot him a disappointed glance as she placed her hands on her hips.

“Don’t put that on me! I know you all know the ins and outs of the inner city like the back of your hand. I did give you permission to go on ahead!” Happy wanted to make a response, but as he opened his mouth, nothing but a “umm… huh.” came out as he realized he couldn’t deny that. She stood there smugly triumphant, “So are you gonna tell me what you did to make her even more disgruntled? Adrino?”

The short skinny boy froze, “Me? Uhhh well, we kinda.” he paused, trying to find a way to word what he knew he shouldn’t say. “Well, some kids, so we uh. kind of…” Tone facepalmed and sighed heavily, prompting him to cut to the chase. “We made fun of her in front of all the other kids during class.”

She rubbed her temples with her eyes closed, “Ough you kids are gonna be the death of me.” she said in an annoyed tone.

Happy, finding an opportunity quickly blurted out, “at least it was funny.”

She stared down at the tall six year old in front of her, “Oh it was? Then please, tell me. I need a laugh.”

He chuckled before clearing his throat, “She made us help her with class, getting stuff for her and stuff like that, so I decided to run everywhere. And when she yelled at me she asked ‘Why are you running around like a spastic?!’ I just told her, ‘Well someone’s gotta run since you can’t!’”

She was silent for a moment, “Happy, that’s not a joke. That’s just making fun of her for being crippled. You know what? This brings up a good point, Everybody, gather round!” The children gathered around her, so she could see them all. She stared directly at Adrino and Happy, “I need you all to listen, when we get home, under no circumstances are you to be yelling or fighting.”

The kids looked at her confused. Happy interrupted quickly, “Why?” Mother Dorae paused for a second staring at Happy in annoyance for a few seconds. He sheepishly apologized, “Sorry.”

She continued, “Fengi is traumatized, when people get loud she gets… scared. Not the normal type of scared, she will completely shut down and refuse to interact with anyone.” she pointed at both Happy and Adrino, “No fighting. She needs to feel safe here before we can help her.”

Adrino piped up, “Why are you pointing at me?! Happy’s the one who is always loud and fighting with me!”

She hastily answered, “Yes. Fighting, with you… Now come on, I’m not arguing with you over this, I want to stop somewhere before we head home.”

Alua looked up at her with big puppy dog eyes, “So, we’re still flying right?” She said quietly to Ms. Dorae.

As he knelt down to the young girl she put a hand on her shoulder, “Yes of course, I made you a promise, but first we’re gonna take a little walk to the edge of the inner city. Shouldn’t be more than twenty minutes if we hurry.” Alua pouted for a moment before she was picked up and placed on Mother Dorae’s shoulders.

Happy groaned, “Why do we have to walk, I hate walking.”

“Because you need the exercise.” Adrino remarked.

Ms. Dorae snatched his hand and scolded him for that. “Adrino! Please! What did I just say? We’re walking because I say we’re walking.” As they found their way onto the road they found themselves immersed in the crowds or people she shouted to the group of children, ”Listen, everyone hold hands. I don’t want to lose any of you.”

Walking down the street they passed the occasional street vendor. Every mobile storefront was different, you could find cheap cuts of meat in one place, kids toys at another, even masonry tools could be found on the street; if you walked for long enough that is. If you couldn’t find what you were looking for at the vendors, there were still the markets and actual store fronts that could be found mixed in with houses and other establishments.

She walked with the kids for a while. They passed by a food cart, jerky hung from the sides, and there were plenty of fruits in a large basket on the ground next to the cart. When the man behind the cart spotted Ms. Dorae and the children he placed a few green apples on the cart as they walked by.

“Hey Ma’am! You look like you lot could use an afternoon snack, what say you to a couple apples, eh?” He shouted. He caught the children off guard, Happy jumped from his sudden announcement. Ms. Dorae snapped her head to face the salesman. Alua nearly fell off Mother Dorae’s shoulders, fortunately she was holding onto her horns like handlebars.

With speed she shot down his proposal, “No, We have food at home thank you.”

“Are you sure? He looks pretty skinny!” he pointed at Adrino, “Skinny boys need food to grow!” he picked up an apple and tossed it around in his hands, “Come on, buy one I’ll give you another one half off!”

She shook her head and began to walk off before Happy spoke up, “I am pretty hungry. Mom, can we please get the apples? I’m sure Alua is hungry too!” she groaned as she held onto Alua’s feet hanging from her shoulders.

She turned her head around to look at Alua, “Are you hungry?” Alua locked eyes with her, and nodded timidly. “So that settles it, fine we’ll take the apples.” she said, disgruntled, as she turned back and walked up to the vendor. She opened her purse and took out three copper pieces.

“That’ll do!” he said as he traded the two apples for three copper pieces.

Happy snatched both of them and handed one off to Mother Dorae. She split the apple down the middle and tossed one half up to Alua, “Here you go!” She turned around and passed the other half to Tone, “Eat up.”

“Happy, I want you to split that apple with Adrino, okay? Now, what do you say?” She said in a pleasant tone.

Happy put pressure on the apple and it split unevenly into two pieces, and handed the smaller piece to Adrino before answering her. “Thank you Ms. Dorae.” He said with a full mouth. Alua was careful with how she ate the apple, taking her time with many small bites. While Happy simply devoured the whole thing, including the core in several large bites.

Mother Dorae interjected while they chomped on their apples, “time to get going, Hurry up the sun’s not going to be out forever.” She tugged on Adrino’s arm and the whole group continued on the path back towards the orphanage.

Happy slumped and groaned again, “Where are we even going? And why do we have to walk!”

Ms. Dorae answered him in an aggravated tone, “We are going to Niklaus’ place so I can have a talk with him, We are walking because I said so!” Adrino had just finished his apple before he piped up.

“I don’t mind walking mum! Thank you for the apple!” he smiled up at her and walked a little closer to her, still holding her hand.

“Thank you honey, and good job using your manners.” she said to the skinny boy at her side. They walked down the familiar street and Mother Dorae piped up, trying to cheer up Happy, “Look we’re almost there! Just have to make it past the market and we’re practically there. Then when i’m done talking with Mr. Niklaus we’ll all fly home.”

They walked into the crowded and lively market. Everywhere you looked, something was being bought, sold or traded. The street was packed with men and women of all shapes and sizes, and there was just as much variety in the various items being sold. Ms. Dorae tightened her grip on Adrino’s hand, “Happy, hold onto Adrino’s hand. Tone, come hold my other hand. Almost there guys, it won’t be long now!” She shouted over the noisy crowd. The children did as she said and they squeezed together in an attempt to forge their path through the madness.

While they tried to find a way past everyone, Tone bumped into a woman carrying a small bowl filled with jewelry. They became tangled and he fell on top of her, sending her to her ass. As they fell, jewelry flew all over the ground. Landing with a thud on the hard stone walkway they each groaned in pain.

The young woman looked around, letting out a frustrated growl. “Augh! Dumbass!” She shoved the boy off her and got to her feet. Tone rolled over and got up as quickly as he could. Ms. Dorae looked at the young woman with disdain.

She held him by the shoulder and pointed at scattered items, “Sweety please pick up what you spilled. As for you, young lady. It was an accident, keep in mind that you didn’t notice him either!” Her rising tone drew attention from the crowd around them.

He began frantically apologizing, “I’m sorry ma’am! I just couldn’t see much and I was holding my mom’s hand and I just bumped into you! I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to!” He got on his knees and began picking up her spilled jewelry for her, placing it into the bowl on the ground. He hastily found all the loose bracelets, necklaces and gemstones that were scattered between people’s legs.

He scoured the ground for any missed jewelry and in a shaky voice affirmed that it was all gathered, “O-o-okay I think that’s all of it ma’am! I’m very sorry, p-p-please forgive me!” The young woman snatched the bowl from his hands and Ms. Dorea pulled him towards her, out of the angry woman’s reach..

The short woman began rifling through the contents of the bowl, “IF A SINGLE PIECE IS MISSING I SWEAR I’LL!-” she screamed before being cut off by a very deep voice shouting out from the crowd.

“YOU’LL WHAT?” the voice said. The crowd at this point was silent. Those who watched the incident with baited breath now had their attention being brought to the shouting man. From behind Mother Dorae came a tall, old wingless man wearing a dirty, ragged smock.

Ms. Dorae instantly recognized him. “Mr. Niklaus, I was just on my way to find you!” she said cheerily.

He smiled and replied in a quiet, personable tone, “Well isn’t that just a wonderful coincidence then?” His attention snapped back to the young woman threatening the six year old in front of him. “As for you. You better just move along! You don’t want to mess with an ex-royal guard do you?” He took a step closer to her.

She took a second to react, Staring at where his wings should be, “N-n-no sir.” She respectfully whispered before backing away into the crowd. Niklaus huffed, turning back to the group he put on a big smile and knelt down to hug one of the kids.

He excitedly stood back up, “So! How’s my favorite little girl in the whole world doing now huh? How’s the orphanage getting along?” He took her hand and started walking with the group.

Ms. Dorae giggled, “Come on Niklaus, when are you going to stop calling me a little girl?” She said bashfully. They began pushing their way through the crowd again. This time Niklaus took the lead and soon enough the market was behind them.

After a short walk on the outskirts of the inner city Niklaus came to an intersection and stopped on the corner, “Here we are, home sweet home.” He made his way up the steps and entered his woodworking shop. “There’s a new park down the street, added just last year. If you want the kids to go play while we talk about old times?”

Ms. Dorae thought that was a great idea. She lowered Alua from her perch before telling the kids to go have some fun while they caught up. “Go on, you heard him. I’m sure you would rather play than hear riveting talks about donations, and having to ration food. Right?” He stuck his head out the door and pointed in the direction of the park.

Happy looked up at her and quietly asked, “are we going to have to ration food again?” Mother Dorae nodded solemnly.

“I’m not quite sure yet, an opportunity has made itself known.” As the children headed off down the road the two adults waved to them.

As Happy and Adrino ran towards the small green patch between buildings, Alua and Tone followed behind, walking. They reached the park, it had a monument to the royal guard in the center surrounded by shrubs and there were a few small trees in the corners. On either side of the statue there were benches.

Adrino promptly headed over to the statue and began reading the plaque on the statue, Happy on the other hand plopped down, huffing on one of the benches. “What’s it say, smart guy?” Happy got out between breaths. “That was a bit further than ‘down the street,’ don’t you think?”

“You chose to race me, You didn’t have to. But if you want to keep up with me you should stop eating so much!”

Happy got his breathing under control just as tone and Alua caught up, “Hey! I’m not fat,” he said as Tone passed him, hoping to get backed up from his friend.

In a calm conserved voice Tone spoke, “Adrino, you heard what mama said. No fighting.” His voice was stark in contrast to how he spoke in the market, the shaky and nervous facade was gone. All that was left was a collected and well spoken voice of a young adult.

“Thank you!” He said, pleased with Tone’s back up. The satisfied feeling was short lived though, as when he turned back to face him he reiterated what Adrino had said.

“You should lose some weight, Happy, maybe we won’t all need to ration if you go on a diet.” As he said this, Happy didn’t even bother arguing with him, just walking over to a bench and sitting down with a big sigh.

Adrino turned his head back to the plaque and gave it a quick read. “Dedicated to those who served and died in our defense. Their sacrifice will not be forgotten.” He hoisted himself onto the slab and began climbing on the statue.

Alua was sitting on the grass in the shade of a small tree when she saw him start climbing, “Uh… I don’t think you should be climbing that… someone might see you.” He didn’t listen to her though, he was already swinging from one of the arms.

Happy looked to Tone, who was standing with his back against a tree, “So… do you really think we aren’t going to have enough food this year either?” The oldest child gazed back at him and reached into his pants pocket, pulling out a small brown bag. The bag jingled when he held it up. He tossed it to the large kid. He caught it, upon opening it he saw that it was full of silver pieces.

“Where did you get this Tone?! This is enough to pay for food for the rest of the year!” He whispered loudly. Tone walked over, snatching the bag from his hands.

“When I bumped into that girl, it wasn’t completely by accident. I suspected she had plenty of money from all that jewelry she was carrying. Turns out, I was right.” He looked at everyone’s reaction. Happy was confused, Adrino seemed conflicted, and Alua was looking quite excited.

He grabbed Happy by the horn and shook his head gently to get his attention, “Listen, if you keep this a secret, we can all have food with money to spare. Adrino with the money mom will save we can get you more books. Alua we can buy you some new clothes, and Happy… I guess that falls under food. But, before any of you get any ideas. This is only to help out momma. So DON’T tell her anything! Or she will refuse the money and make me return it or Gods forbid, donate it to someone else.”

Alua was the first to speak, “Well I think that was a very good decision. She definitely had more than enough money, is she really going to miss a few silver pieces?” Adrino tried to say something but his hand slipped and he fell, landing on his back in the soft grass beneath the extended arm of the statue.

“Augh! Don’t worry I… I won’t tell a soul… ouch.” He got to his feet holding his sides as he flared out his wings checking to see if he had hurt them.

Happy looked like he was still thinking about what Tone said. “S-so you pickpocketed her?” he blabbered out. Standing there, mouth agape, Tone looked at him with disbelief.

“No, I found this bag of pieces in the river yesterday. You can’t tell mom about it, its a surprise.” he said in a “So sarcastic you’d have to be deaf to miss it” voice.

Happy perked up, “Don’t worry, I’ll keep it a secret!” the rest of the kids groaned in unison.

---

After waving the kids off, Niklaus offered Ms. Dorae a hand, helping her up the steps and through the door into his woodworking and furniture shop. He walked her over to a table and pulled out a chair for her. “So deary, what brought you over here?” He said as he walked into a back room.

She took a look at his office, there were wood carvings everywhere. Carvings of dire wolves, pjeltor, valgrufs, any thing under the sun. you name it, he had a wood carving of it. The table was also covered in wood shavings, it seemed like he had just finished chafing something down before he left.

“Oh, am I not allowed to check in on my favorite uncle?”

From the other room Niklaus chuckled, “No that’s be fine by me, i always enjoy your company, but i’m not stupid. If you were here just to catch up you wouldn’t have brought the kids.” she could hear cups being set down onto a counter and drinks being poured, he came around the corner with two drinks and handed one to her. “So, are you gonna tell me why you decided to drop by?”

She looked at the drink in her hands, it was water. Niklaus was thoughtful in a way, he knew that she had to fly home with the kids, so getting drunk before that wasn’t the smartest thing to do. She took a big swig from the large mug before setting it down on the table, “I needed that thanks, haven’t had a drink since I left this morning. Well, I did come over to ask you if you could make another chair for us. We had to sell a couple a few years ago to make it through, remember?”

He shook his head solemnly, ”Aye, I remember. You came to me crying because you didn’t know if you could feed the kids that winter. But you pulled through didn’t you? So… I’m guessing you just got another mouth to feed, and another ass to seat.”

She laughed at his attempt at humor, “Yes, Nik, we’ve got another ass to seat. I do have good news though, I can pay you this time!” She pulled out her bag and set it down on the table. She opened it and pulled out two silver pieces.

Niklaus immediately refused, pushing her hand back into the bag, “No, no. This is the least I can do for my bestest little girl.” Ms. Dorae shyly laughed.

“No, really it’s okay, I’ve already budgeted it! I have enough to make it through this year. Please take it.” She pleaded with him to take payment, but Niklaus wasn’t having it.

“I’m not taking money from an orphanage, I’ll have it by tomorrow. I will see you then.”

She was confused for a moment, “So when do you want me to swing by and pick it up?”

“I don’t” came the quick reply from Niklaus, “I’m going to deliver it. I want to see the new face, plus I’ve got a whole heap of figurines and toys I’ve been meaning to bring over for a while now!” he walked away from the table with his drink, passing behind a corner.

Mother Dorae secretly lifted her mug and slid the two silver pieces underneath it. “The kids would love some more toys! You always make them so intricate and beautiful. Well, thank you for helping us out back there, it means a lot. Tone probably sees you as his hero or something now.”

Booming laughter came from the doorway as he turned the corner, “Ha! Maybe he does, I like being the hero. Anyways, I’ll see you tomorrow hun, It’s always a pleasure to see you. We’ll talk more tomorrow, fly safe.”

He took her hand and walked her out the door, “We will, Thank you again, By the way, I think you’re going to melt when you see Fengi tomorrow. It’s like she found all the world’s supply of cuteness and took it all for herself.”

“I’ll have to see that to believe it. I’ve got to get to work, have a good night!”

“Good night uncle Nik!”