#baronyofthesilverwolf

"Spinny AND bladey, technically. You spin it very fast and then hit it with a knife."

Helpful miming!

"Don't you worry about hitting the blade with the knife, and then it will shoot out every direction?" Honestly curious, and not at all concerned.

"Nah, you hold the knife. I mean, there's an armature, too, but I prefer having more control."

"I've been workin' on resin more than wood, because with resin you can get so many colors... lemmie..." She fishes out her phone to pull up pictures.

Art scooches over on the bench next to her and leans in close.

Pens, apparently - the bodies made of vibrant swirls of color in all kinds of combinations.

Black and gold, black and silver... a VERY hasty swipe that may have been black and purple and glittery...

"Y'didn't see that..."

"See what?" Completely innocent.

"What do YOU want for Christmas from Santa?" He asks, in all seriousness.

"Do you think a rocket ship may fit in that sack?"

"Oh, you know me. Ain't picky. Gonna be flyin' down to see Dad and Janice and Frankie and the baby over New Years."

He perks up. "How are they doing? Not much of a BABY any more, si she?"

She gently shoulder-checks him. "You're easy, at least. Books and pens and telescopes and you're set."

"Shush! No! It's illegal! Frankie's like.. like four foot tall!!"

"It is cool how your father's job lets him work remotely. I always thought that occupation sounded so Cold, just to work in a little box of an office all day, but if you can do it from a tropical beach, well, maybe that wouldn't be so bad."

"The baby is WALKING and TALKING."

"Is she swimming yet?" An unspoken question.

"Swimming before she walked, actually. But not.. uh.. s'far as I know, not swimmng-swimming?"

"Maybe soon, she's getting close to Chldling age. Though..." He considers, looking over at where Briar is standing on a table and proclaiming she is the lord of the glue...

"Maybe it's better to wait until she's older, because good luck keeping a baby selkie safe on shore."

"ALL WILL STICK TO ME AND DESPAIR!"

"Briar Rose, you sit your bum down right now or you are not getting any of these cookies!" Marigold calls out, using her dreaded middle name.

A hush falls over the room.

The Redcap starts to scowl, but then says... "Hey, are those snickerdoodles?" And hops off the table.

Relief washes over, and conversation resumes.

Snicker.

Art flaps a hand at Thistle, trying not to grin himself. "Shh, she'll hear you!"

"Scary thought - how long until we got a wilder there?"

"Not long now." Art says, realizing how Briar has.. not really grown, she'll always be short, but filled out and straightened up.

A crooked grin. "Just imagine th'holy terrors yet to be unleashed."

A shiver and a grin. "I'd rather not - but it is nice to think of them being wreaked on to the deserving."

"Oh, that reminds me - I found a bike I wanted to give to 'Wain, but it's pretty rough. Mostly rust, in fact. I was hoping you might be able to help me spruce it up... he's been asking for a "Real" bike with "Speeds" but it's not in the budget this year."

Her eyes light up, like the reflection of a cheerful fire on dark glass. "Oh? Yeah, I could help. He's a good kid."

"He got a favorite color? Be ironic if it was green, but I can work with that..."

"Uh, I think Purple?"

He gives a sheepish grin. "But he may just say that to get on my good side."

"Well, clearly, you're his favorite brother. Okay. I have purple paint."

"We can soup it up. Make it the envy of the whole neighborhood. Oh, oh, I bet I could improve the shift mechanism - we could add a hybrid motor that he could charge by pedaling, even, and..."

"Remember, he's only..." A pause, as a number is apparently pulled out of the air, "9 years old!"

"Right? Totally ready for some real speed..."

A chuckle. "You're the expert on little brothers." He admits/

"Not so little, in your case." And he ducks away with a goofy smile.

"He's almost as tall as you are!"

"HEY!"

"Five-four is average!"

A laugh, "At least I've still got a couple inches on you." A sidelong glance at Gwen.

TALL Gwen!

She huffs.

"Balboa is an outlier."

"Yeah, but I'm glad she's on our side in a tug of war. Or when getting something from the high shelves."

"Yeah, she's not too annoying to have around."