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Aurin holds his mother's hand as she leads him from the street to his aunt and uncle's house. He's been here only a couple of times, and can't remember most of them distinctly; they're sort of awkwardly related, his dead father's half-brother and the wife thereof. But now they have a baby parunia, and that means there is a dragon related to Aurin who is not too far from his age, only thirty-one years younger. This is apparently the sort of relation that it will be particularly enriching for Aurin to meet. They can do this now instead of waiting a month, because parunias don't die when they're babies; this one is safe, unlike the miscellaneous cousins on his mother's side he's never met because they are all in too much danger to get attached to (and have all succumbed to that danger). So here they are. Even though it was a very long flight and he couldn't ride his mother for takeoff and landing when she had to be a heron, only for the middle part.
Alys knocks on the door.
greatcomposure
Mial has a nap.
Then, because he promised, he drags himself out of bed and lumps around the house until he locates his mother.
"What is it, love?"
"I'm sad for no reason, is there a spell or something that'll make me not?"
"I don't know of any spell that will do a thing like that," she says, scooping him up and kissing his forehead.
"Okay," he sighs. "Thanks." And he flomps his head on her shoulder.
Then, because he promised, he drags himself out of bed and lumps around the house until he locates his mother.
"What is it, love?"
"I'm sad for no reason, is there a spell or something that'll make me not?"
"I don't know of any spell that will do a thing like that," she says, scooping him up and kissing his forehead.
"Okay," he sighs. "Thanks." And he flomps his head on her shoulder.
Finnah checks up on him, after dinner, asking Koridaar:
"Did Mial ask you about his being sad for no reason?"
"Did Mial ask you about his being sad for no reason?"
greatcomposure
Mial lumps around the house.
But a few days later, of his own accord, he birds and flies in a little circle. Then he goes and finds his mom and asks her to find him something to do, anything, as long as it's something he hasn't tried yet. She thinks about this request for an angle or two and then comes back to him with a book on paper folding, which he digs into with rapidly accelerating glee. By the end of the week, he's bouncing around like nothing ever happened, and when he finishes learning all the different figures in the book he asks his mom for more.
But a few days later, of his own accord, he birds and flies in a little circle. Then he goes and finds his mom and asks her to find him something to do, anything, as long as it's something he hasn't tried yet. She thinks about this request for an angle or two and then comes back to him with a book on paper folding, which he digs into with rapidly accelerating glee. By the end of the week, he's bouncing around like nothing ever happened, and when he finishes learning all the different figures in the book he asks his mom for more.
Mial is kind of relieved too, but when he's not being a lump of Mial it's hard for him to remember what it was like.
The paper-folding hobby, unlike many of the other activities he has tried during his childhood, sticks. It provides an outlet for some of his irrepressible energy. Not all his energy, but some.
The paper-folding hobby, unlike many of the other activities he has tried during his childhood, sticks. It provides an outlet for some of his irrepressible energy. Not all his energy, but some.
Finnah, meanwhile, is busy doing flag dancing and playing an elaborate game with collectible tokens and trying to make fudge that doesn't burn or otherwise fail at being fudge.
Mial will happily test her fudge efforts, and offer critique on request. Or sometimes without request, if a batch turns out particularly badly.