#baronyofthesilverwolf

"That ain't half-bad, short stack."

And the boy finishes the song, "Whoo. What did you think of the song? It's by a lady named SJ Tucker. I wonder if Blue bell heard it before? " He beams at her praise. He knows by nocker standards 'not bad' is pretty good

"Bet Bluebell'll like it just fine."

"Thanks!" He says with boyish delight, then peeks "What were you working on?"

"Oh - a model engine for an Aethership. Trod-travel."

"Sky trods, in particular. They're tricky, y'see, because they're less substantial. Too easy to lose the silver if trying to navigate by foot."

"Or, y'know, fall right on through."

HIs eyes light up "You're going to make a flying ship? That's fantastic? What will you name it, or do you not know yet?"

Clearly in addition to liking music, Noínín likes going fast ,or going high. Lots of boys his age do

"You can't name a ship before she's done. Bad luck."

"Me and Art, though, we're gonna go see the stars. That's the plan."

"OH" He says "I didn't know that." He files this away under 'VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION'. Never name a ship before she is done "It's a SPACE ship?" He pauses "How do so few know about how awesome this hold IS? It's like.. you got dogs and horses and dancers and a great chef AND you work on things like SPACE SHIPS? " Incredulous "I didn't even know about it until I saw the old wanted ad"

"Aethership."

"But yeah, mostly a space ship." A bright flash of sharp teeth,

"What's Aether anyway? is that another word for trod? Or the sky trod stuff?"

But he does smile back

"Aether is... like, space, but magic."

He pauses "Like, how the stars are milky if you go far enough into the country, or folks may think there is no man in the moon, but somehow he has a face so there you go!" Boy logic

"Kind of. Probably at least one reeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaallllllllllllyyyyyyyyyyyy lost cow."

"And possibly One Cowboy's girlfriend" A nod sagely

A snort of laughter.

He grins back "When you get the ship all done, let me know if I can ride in it, and if i can't, that's okay. But can I play somethijng on the ground while you take off? Star Trek themes, or Final Countdown?"

In an attempt to be sly he adds "I bet it's good luck for a ship to have theme music"

"Oh, totally good luck."

"I knew it" He says "You want me to ask Monobrow for any advice on getting into space? I don't it's a thing for Unicorns, but they're really light on their hooves and they know stuff"

"Does he shoot rainbow rockets out his tail end?"

"Not if he's healthy" he says "That's like, really bad gas! But he can catch the light on his horn and reflect it to rainbows. Like. .ahm.. what's it called? Not prison..."

He snaps his fingers "Prism?"

"Prismatic, yes! I have some... in a drawer.."

"Cool, Monobrow really likes those" He says, the remembering something says "I'm sorry he was all up in your face like that earlier. He's friendly but not normally THAT pushy with people"

She shrugs. "Ain't most chimera like that?"

The nocker is rummaging through doors, pulling out paper clips and twine and pairs of scissors and stubby pencils and tinfoil...

"Never noticed it myself, last hold I was at , you had chimerical servants or the like, or they were skittish," He looks around "Never seen a hold with so many nevers ever. I LIKE Nevers. They make music without trying" he calls out "CHIME!"

Shamrock gives antother High Kick, but without looking whams an orange Never in the butt. They start to fight a bit as they chime all over in the scuffle. It's either a mishap, a hilarious show, or sad political commentary on a divided Ireland

"Oh, yeah, I understand Silverwolf has a lot of Nevers. They're kinda funny, though. Worth a laugh."

"YUP" He says "Stop fighting you two, or I shan't play flight of the bumblebee, which.. by the way, is like one of the best flying music bits for Nevers. PERIOD"

"Betcha can't get up to speed on that jaw harp." Goading, more than actual doubt. She wants to see him try.

She knows little boys well, having a younger brother, he perks up "Bet I can too!"

And just like that, he takes a breath, and begins to play with furious speed

And damn if he doesn't do a good job!

THe Nevers, caught up in the music, and (As ever) jazzed by being around Thistle, began to try to match the speed and race each other with frentic energy

"Don't you go near my greenware!"

Thistle tolerates a lot of nonsense from the Nevers. But she is very protective of her delicate pre-fired pottery.

"Can I see some of your creations sometime? I was warned never go in a nocker's workshop without their okay"

"And you don't come in here without an okay."

"Okay" He nods "But if you ever want some 'tunes' let me know. I wanna be super useful to everyone here so I can stick around"

"Yeah, I get that."

A relieved look "Thanks. You're not bad for a wilder, you know?"

A bark of laughter. "Thanks. I'll try to be more of a jagoff in the future, okay?"

"Not on my account" He laughs back, "Please."