#anywhere

"An Onomatopoeia blade? " Tove looks intrigued "Those are rare aren't they?"

"Sure are" McKinley smiles

"What, like, it goes literally 'swish' when you swing it?"

"Well, don't get riled but..." She draws the blade... SHING it goes loudly, and more than that, the damasus patterns shift to spell that out , brightly

Then she makes another moiton and SWISH.. yes , literally, and if you watch, the word SWISH is on the blade

"But it's more than a gimmick " She says "As a rule, Onomatopoeia blades cut deeper than eqvuilent steel because they really make the target believe it. "

"Nifty."

"I'm proud of it" McKinley admits and slides it back into it's scabbard "But I never leave it unattended near kids if that's what you worry about"

Tove nods approvingly

"Toddlers are geniuses at getting into things."

"Oh sure... and I don't drop my eye from them on those out door adventures. Or in the kitchen, too many knives"

"You... understand that the welcome wasn't... personal, right?"

"I'm pretty bright, let me guess, you leaned on every applicant so far?" The Piskie says

"She's been firm as have I" Tove answers

McKinley nods "Figured. At first I got a bit ruffled. Got my pride you know? I will take guff from kids, but grown ups I expect to know better, but if it's something everyone is going through as a test? Well," A grin at Dagmar "Guess that makes you my big blue moat to cross huh?"

She nods.

"And you shouldn't hold my caution against Tove, or Jaymes, or CJ." A beat. "You wanna meet CJ?"

"Love to" She says "if he's not asleep or anything?"

"He just had jelly. He's UP."

"He's in the kitchen" Tove says "Go on in"

Tove looks at her daughter and mmms ("She the one? or... not sure?")

"Mmph." ("Not sure yet.")

A nod

And in the kitchen they go

With a some wjhat messy face (PBJ leaked a bit) CJ greets them "Sis, the sanwich was good! "

"Hey, CJ. I'm McKinley. Your sister was bragging about you. Said you're awesome" A smile "You awesome?"

CJ says matter of factly "I am what I am. Yup"

Dag gets a paper towel and turns on the faucet briefly to dampen it.

"You're sticky, that's what."

McKinely observes this, how Dagmar handles it, then says "Maybe he's both"

"it slipped" CJ explains about the jelly

"Mm-hmm." She wipes his face clean.

McKinkley "Sandwiches can be wiley prey. That your dog?" She looks over at Brown Dog who no doubt got some fallen jelly drops

"Yup. That's Browndog, he's our dog... there's also twobit. .. she thinks she's a dog. Dad's hers"

"Can I pet him?" McKinley asks the boy

"Sure, he loves people" CJ nods

McKinley turns her hand palm up for the dog to sniff.

Snuffle-snuffle wag?

Or snuffle-snuff growl?

"While there's a lot of fae hounds in the barony, Brown Dog and Two Bit are just dog dogs."

Brown Dog is a soft touch... but it's still a good sign that he wags and enjoys the pets that come after!

"Mm." Approval?

"oh you're a lover not a biter I can tell" McKinley seems sincere in her like of dogs as she pats him "Your folks tell you that having a dog is an important duty, a big job? Gotta treat em right?"

"Yup, and Sissy says that stuff all the time. " CJ says "But I'm not allowed to talk every puppy home from the lodge" A sigh

McKinley says "Well, sometimes you need to let other families have their chance to love a puppy too. After all, dogs teach us a lot, and maybe they need the lessons Brown Dog and your teacher are already teaching you, mmm? We have to be big hearted and share"

CJ sighs at the 'share' word but also relents "I suppose."

"Plus, Brown Dog and Two Bit are rescues."

"So is Odin."

"Huh, Odin another dog?" She asks

"Nope. He's a cat. Odin has pinions!" CJ says