Subject: Gall raised her eyebrows.
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Posted on: 2019-10-16 03:51:53 UTC

"Oh, do we get to answer now? 'Cause I get it if you're feeling like you've got to make with the long talk on account of needing to compensate for being so small a bean sprout would look down on you." She grinned. It may have been intended as a friendly invitation to share in the fandom reference—ironic as it was, since she was by far the shortest adult in the group—but it was hard to tell with her.

This time, Derik cut in. "Don't," he said, half warning to his partner and half plea to Tom not to rise to the bait. "We're... all right. Gaddie's in fine fettle. He's sleeping through most nights now, and I thought that would make everything easier, but his crawling might be the death of me." He scratched absently at his jaw, as he sometimes did when feeling uncertain. As usual, his emotions were a mixed bag, in this case of pride in his son's rapid development and fear for the new kinds of trouble he could get into. The fear was under control thanks to his practice of mental discipline, but that only meant it was prevented from becoming full-blown panic. It still gnawed persistently at the back of his mind.

Gadrik, meanwhile, was craning his head around to get a look at the people his parents were talking to, blue eyes bright with curiosity. Gall obligingly turned sideways, and Gadrik reached out toward the glinting metal bits on Thoth's costume and body, making excited burbling sounds.

"Aww, look who wants his own sword already!" Gall cooed, petting the baby's curls. "That's my little Viking!"

"You see what I mean?" Derik said weakly. "He goes right for the most dangerous thing in sight. No offense, brother." He glanced up at Thoth with a watery smile, then away again. The costume and the apparently real hair were amusing, but the sight of the metal jacks gave Derik the willies, which he wouldn't care to admit if he didn't have to.

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